It’s OK to touch defeat

Only if you have tried. The principle of fighting for 10 failures inorder to gain one success point is so0O very powerful but on a true note, a harsh experience too. You will never want to lose whenever you try. So the question is to decide and form a tradeoff matrix. For you, what is important – the final success or a learning experience. Finance & statistians will say wins (or bottomline) whereas HR & Service-operations will say experience. Marketers will say depends on the degree of value augmentation. The mind will enjoy with success while the heart will be contented with a satisfactory experience.

  

Now how to decide on parameters of that matrix. Well there is no shortage for that. Factors will vary - Hard Work, Smart Work or controllable factors whereas some will be dependent like competitions. Specially on a macro-level, the trade-off is between confidence in SWOT analysis and confidence in analysis of external forces (5 forces model, etc).

Now analysis too is a damn subjective thing. Here and then, a factor missed out and flip your analysis from positive to negative. That’s where the team comes in. And team can be strong in skills but moreover, team has to be strong in diversity. Think more, Talk more, Teach more, Trade more – all will fetch a comprehensive answer or atleast points. Well the focus is not on analysis but on the matrix.

So, confidence is set and now lets us put that into quadrants. The fourth quadrant is the place where it gives you that shock. Rock bottom is general rule of failure in this while success is accepted with a pre-competing start to it. It’s like a wave which knows it will culminate in a big way as soon as it starts. The diagonally opposite end is where you learn maximum. You start with a try and end with a superior state. You then move to quadrant above where failure hurts moral and ego. You again are thrown back. The experience in this case is a bit more painful. But the most pain lies in quadrant 3, wherein chance of being lost is high in failure. Because it’s difficult to go back and look into internal faults.  

The idea of the matrix is to figure out why are you disappointed. Is losing a primary condition for it? Or something else can result in same. Is there a role of expectations? Or is it expectations are directly proportional to rewards? Is Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta updesh “to work without expectations” only way to cut out disappointment (incase of a failure)? Is this practical? Even a bit!!

Search! Bing! Google. Answer is within me. Getting a YES/NO feel (wow). Actually the writer is reaching that level with every experience now, where answer can be figured out. It’s again a trade-off between too much thinking on a non-value product (i.e. loss) and a personality SWOT. The instincts are working brilliantly. Nothing seems to be stop. The subjectivity is untangled into a straight line (without directional arrows). Don’t know where it will lead but surely it’s useful.

Something has to conclude (I can fake for the benefit of the reader, if he survives till here) - Participation, Expectations, Fall, Rise, Think, Reward, Awesome are just moments to grow experience i.e. one’s diversity. These will NEVER reflect in your cv, nobody will appreciate EXCEPT you. The idea to hibernate into a blanket and type ferociously within a blackout is to make the world a nice place to live (lose).

Failure is mandatory else you won’t appreciate it

&

Hope is obviously a good thing (added for the sake of rhyming)

(writer is a management student. Dangerous breed!)

Barfi supersedes Rasgolla, Gulab-Jamun, Sandesh, Chum-Chum

Incase you are a collegiate; you must have heard Barfi in conversations (more in recent times). “Chalo Barfi, aaj mess mein khaana acha nahi bana”, etc. So when you hear movies in talks with such day to day attachments, you know how popular it is. Barfi stands out as an entertainer and deserves a rating of 4/5. Barfi is unique – it plays with sounds more than words; it is therefore apt to write about silence more than the story. Here it goes -

Silence –

The movie started in a ‘past before-past recall’ inspired fashion with narratives from many characters. Barfi, the protagonist is a deaf dumb guy who lives in Darjeeling. He falls in love with a rich guy’s daughter – Shruti. (goonge-raja ko rani se pyaar). But then, villains bhi to hain. They have an autistic daughter, Jhilmil, who falls in love with Barfi. The rich girl goes for a richer option and Jhilmil finds an apt match in Barfi. Sab settled. But hey, what if I tell you Jhilmil is kidnapped and Darjeeling’s police are mad about catching Barfi and the thrills just goes on. You have to watch from here.

It’s class. It plays less with words but more with emotions. The pace fluctuates. At one point, I thought, it will be a thriller (a really cult one But…). Sadly the ending was just too fast. It had the potential to become a cult thriller. And for that it would have to shed some of its silence and emotions, still iLike Barfi. First half is simple & sweet, second half is shorter and you are given an impression – it summed up too soon (as if there was a time limit given to the director).

Star cast –

Ranbir Kapoor- this movie brings him in the comfortable zone of stars. He has delivered a hit with yet other unconventional role. Awesome man, awesome.

Priyanka Chopra (Jhilmil)– if one person was inspired from SRK’s ‘my naam is khan’, she was Priyanka. And she is better than Khan (as expected)

Illeana Dcruz (Shruti) – acting is satisfactory. Looks spectacular in some scenes, reasonable is some. In the series to rate fresh bollywood faces, she lies in - Diana Penty > Yammy Gautam > Illeana Dcruz > NehaSharma

Sangeet -

The music is scintillating. Background score is full of piano and violins. It puts you in the comfortable zone, which is devoid of tension. Songs are apt and works tremendously well in tandem with screenplay. Post the watching experience, you will love the songs even more.

Pritam kaise karte ho bhai?

Barfi is a movie which distinguishes itself from other ones, which attract sympathies due to involvement of handicap characters. The comic timing of the dumb-deaf character seems genuine and impresses you. Here you don’t feel sorry for them, you enjoy them.

What works: the acoustic sounds, acting, Darjeeling, Barfi and his sweetness

What not: the confusion of making a thriller or a romantic, work of MakeUp artist (really bad)

SPEAKing PICTures’s verdict: Not many movies speak so much silence. Barfi calms you. It’s poetic. It gives you a soothing feeling. You feel litee after watching movie (litee means tension free). Go for it, even if you are a Diabetic – Must watch.  

Will it win Oscar?

NO (Anurag Basu’s logic of inspiration does not work for me). Similar comparisons were drawn with Taare Zameen Par and Children of Heaven. The latter did not even qualified for the finals, even though it is easily one of the most emotive movies of recent times. And atleast one needs to pay homage for the inspiration taken. Sad that was not done. Enough said - Barfi is still must watch.   

ps: some appreciation for a song from Barfi (Phir Le Aya Dil-Reprise version) -

"dil jo keh raha hai sunte hi jao

abhi to raat baaki hai

dil se apne aakhoin ko jagao

wo jo ruki si chaah baaki hai"

(dedicated to this night)

Hoping, more movies come out with names of sweets, Gulab-Jamun, Rosgulla :) (cheers)

Kya Super Chichoore Ho Bhai Tum

“isko tum supercoolkehte ho…kya super chichoore ho bhai tum” My accomplice’s honest words.This movie is purely for college chichooras who like to exact fun from double meaning dictionary. Rest will watch only if theyhave spare time and no other movies to go for. The reviewer was in the second lot. Rating – 1.5/5

Story –

Full of Double Meaning bakar. BraOne. Dildo la re. Ma-ch*-doon-ga. Baba 3G, word ‘suit’ is made to sound ch*t, disk into di*ks, stuff on dog &gays...you must have figured it out by now

Casting Couch –

Chunky Pandey –Baba 3G. The dude is a niche in himself.

Pussi-aahaarCup-poor – you can realize Tusshaar Kapoor’s potential in this (strugglingactor). This man will soon be an illustrative example for TV channels. TimesNow will run Total Recall specials saying“Tusshaar – man who discovered reality’ through movies like Gayab and these ones. And the most impressivevalue in him – his Ekta (admiringloyalty to his most frequent employer)

Riteish Deshmukh– above average

Miss India SarahJane Dias – barbaad

Anupam Kher – thisparticipation here is part of his debranding exercise

Neha Sharma – Diana Penty > Yammy Gautam > NehaSharma (both in terms of acting & looks)

Music is good especially a couple of songs. Movie’s target group is adults but if you are an established adult (by parameter of age), the humour effect will decrease as the movie pass on.

What works:some double meaning stuff, you can expect time pass

What not: the overdose of double meaning stuff

SPEAKing PICtures’s verdict:go if only the chichoora in you say ‘Yes’(and if you have problems in that, introspect yourselves by watching a couple of American Pie movies)…

ps: in school, my vice principal had the surname Brar. Somebody removed the latter R. It generated some serous laughs, but it was in school…without spending 200 bucks

Independent Cinema

Independent cinema is actually widely present. Life is nothing but a cinema from one angle but nobody bothers to capture (sach ka saamna karo mere bhai). But, the happy scene today is that people are pissed off with 40+ overactors and those K…k…r (kabaadi!) types stars. So, with the advent of ‘within-range-SLR/DSLR’ (am still out), people are gaining confidence to experiment with something meaningful and not just stardom.

The company with which I am currently associated is promoting this angle. Their brand Tzinga, a sensible energy drink is energizing independent cinema through its facebook platform. So! Thanks to them I have a better perceptive towards that angle. A couple of their movie associations.

Will not review The Forest and Love Wrinkle Free, rather will review somewhat more independent. Someone recommended this short movie, goes by the Pyaar Vyaar aur Cigar (referred as PVC from here).

Review –

The name is catchy as it has been well adapted from the genre of movie-names like ‘Love, Sex aur Dhoka’ and ‘Pyar, Ishq aur Mohobbat’. Though start is clichéd and nothing exciting (the first impression was too amateurish and one did thought investment of his 11 mins; would that be worth it, afterall it looked day-to-day software work). But time investment for me wasn’t an issue (vaise bhi am a vella these days…yawn). The whole movie was 11 mins long.

My rating for this movie is 2.5/5.

Story –

Raja ko rani se piyar ho gaya hai par picture abhi baaki hai mere dost (kyuki isme sutta bhi hai). Raja cannot leave his sutta (because sutta has this recall equity in it, best illustrated by the legendary song - “ek baar se dil nahi bharta mudd ke dekh mujhe dobara…tan tana tan tan tantana..”). That’s it. Nothing spectacular except the twist!

Star Cast –

Actor – good, Actress – good, Harami Dost – like you have in your daily life

Analysis –

Short movies or for that matter independent cinema need to have a strong story. Only that can attract the initial traction. Story in PVC lacks that. The start is standard and there is a high probability that you may not see the whole movie (though critics will, they have to, it’s their job, they did it for RGV’s Department TOO).   

So if your eyes are governed by law of inertia, you will somehow complete the move and eventually see the best part. The climax is the best part – nice late twist (should be a bit longer though) but awesomely shot. Better than many bollywood ones.  But cinematography is not all good especially in the first few scenes. The backdrop is too bright for girl while the boy gets the darker side (MCP huh!). It seems that the sequence for boy and girl are disjoint shots and then emerged in that phase. The remarkable ones are college scenes like taking-it-out-on-your-roomie, the daaru-hooka-sutta-focus-group-discussion.

PVC moves on an awesome background score (movie won’t be half good without it) and there is some smart camera work in parts but the screenplay is weak. One advice which I got from an experienced cinema-maker can be used here. The start of any short movie should be with a poster of the movie, depicting the ‘attitude’ of the movie. That is the best way to convey your movie since trailer for short movies are not possible. Obviously, if you can make a movie, poster will be a child’s play. So, PVC could have a poster in the starting depicting Pyaar, Vyaar aur Cigar (would have been impactful). Another interesting activity which is practiced by many is to test-screen the movie and then ask for feedback and adjust to them (whatever is within range) - the makers of PVC should have done that too!

Short films don't have marketing budgets, you don't hear that buzz from them. But the makers of PVC have done commendable work to release it around 'World No Tobacco Day'. Kudos!  

Should I see PVC - yes

What works – background score and camera work (in parts)

What not – story, dubbing (in parts)

SPEAKing PICtures Verdict – Watch it for its climax and college settings

ps: PVC features ‘cat’ in special appearance towards the end (the shots are I think borrowed from Discovery channel but don’t know why?)

'मेहनत की कमाई'

Socha ki aaj bhout dino baad kuch karenge naya

Jaane anjaane mein kisi ka karenge bhala,

Is dhoop mein paani ko amrit kar denge

Aur nahi mila agar koi, to us amrit se naha hi lenge

Chalte hue, jalti hui dharti humari saathi bani

Joote ki dhul se dosti bhari

Na jaane un kawao ko kya thi dushmani

Humare upar bikher di gandigi

Par pairo se jindagi tab bhi chalti rahi

Mana chinta se nahi badalega kal

Santosh tabhi milega jab milega vo pal

Karm karo, fal ki chinta nahi

Nirdeshye ye tha Shri Krishna ka

Par kalyug me Mahabharat ki koi aukaat nahi

Kal petrol bada hai, Aaj saadak par hai bheed

Kal gussa tez tha, Aaj shayad dhoop

Ab kuch aur nahi kehne ko…

Bas yahi ki

Ghoomte hue humare muk pe hassi khilli

Jab har raha ke maud pe hume zindagi milli

Koi samaan bech raha, to koi pasina

Mehnat ki kamai mujhe aaj garmi mein dekhi

One for the pilot…who was once at @Siachen Glacier

Going to sleep after a long traffic jam and watching some not so good news - highest rise in petrol prices. And like me every aam aadmi is in a bit of awe, how come Rs 7.5 rupee hike! (aise kaise). But the story isn’t about that.

Just read yesterday’s newspaper – one of the headlines mentioned "25th anniversary of the Siachen operations passed in silence" (read full article here). Awesome article, a bit senti though. But how many of us are bothered about it.

I read the story, I liked it. Thought why not share it. Googled ‘Siachen’ and bang! appeared a new article saying ‘Army pilot killed in Siachen glacier crash’ (story appeared May 23, read here). A bit shocked.

No mainstream 24*7 news channel highlighted the fact about 25^th anniversary or the pilot’s death. Everybody was interested in the petrol price hike. Which brings me to the point, can’t we take even 5 sec to share the news (even in our day to day life, we share the news when anybody passes away). I feel sad about the pilot’s well-wishers and relatives for the loss of his life. It is a loss for all of us! But sadly it seems, petrol is a bit more important.

R.I.P pilot