Movie Review: Bheja Cry 2

Bheja Fry when it came had the advantage of being new. People and intelligent people (critics) started the dialogue of having low-budget-high-quality movies. Bheja Fry grossed marvellously at box office. Since then, there have been many successful products Phaas Gaye Re Obama, Tere Bin Laden, etc.

However, this one (sequel to Bheja Fry) is not like its predecessor.
Rating - 2.25/5

Story -
The original idiot (Bharat Bhushan, played by Vinay Pathak) is back as a tax officer, who wins a TV show and is awarded a cruise ticket. How can just winning the show please him? He wants pleasure (love) too he likes Minissha Lamba (TV exec). Also on the cruise liner, along with them; we have a Ajit Talwar (played by KK). He is a big business bro but fears from tax people for obvious reasons. He wants everything girl to be near him and tax officer to be away from him. He plans to topple the taxman off the ship into the ocean. But eventually ends up with him on an island to meet another two characters Amole Gupte (R Burman! No not R.D. Burman) and Suresh Menon (strict taxman). Rest continues

Cast
Vinay Pathak as the fatso goody irritating tax officer is a pleasure to watch. Not much to speak, just that he is too adorable. But he has to do diverse roles now else he will surely be stereotyped. A word of caution for him has already been mentioned in Chalo Dilli review (here).
KK Menon seeing him after a long time. The class in him is of a certain quality but the lines given to him does not match with his calibre. Better dialogues could have brought him more accolades.
Minissha Lamba not worth a Bheja Fry brand.
Amol Gupte is ok. But watch out for Suresh Menon. Like we saw Sudesh Lehri in Salman Khan starrer READY, here we have Suresh Menon in Bheja Fry 2. He is witty enough and scenes having his presence are hilarious. Professional artists have a different tough!

Bheja Fry 2 should have been written better. Also there is lack of good effective punches in this edition. The Movie says in its trailers the original idiot is back. Its a lie. The camaraderie which we saw in Bheja Fry 1 involving Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Ranbir Shorey, etc is missing in the sequel. Infact, sequel of a movie like Bheja Fry should not have a new cast at its core.

What works: Comic scenes in parts, Glimpses of quality of the star cast
What no: weak story and dialogues

SPEAKing PICtures verdict : It's Bheja Cry instead of Bheja Fry. Miss it

My bags are packed, I am ready to go...

Away from the shor (noise) in the city, I will restart the race. God has created a highly competitive path for me, and I will walk it. There is a difference between knowing the path and walking it. Time has arrived to walk it and ace the race on the route.


Main udaan bhar hi lunga, Aasmaan chu hi lunga,
Mere ang khil gaye hai, Ho mujhe pankh mil gaye hai
Mujhe pankh mil gaye hai (x3)

Pawan sa udna hai, Baadal se judna hai,
Ho mujhe pankh mil gaye hai
Mujhe pankh mil gaye hai (x3)

(I will surely fly, I will surely touch the sky
My limbs have come out, I have got my wings…)

(Flow like wind, Get attach to clouds
I have got my wings…)

The TV commercial of Future group has motivated to the extent that I have started re-dreaming about restarting. It has given me that dope of optimism which burns my oxygen to the most optimal level.

My work life only gave me money (that too the least I presume), all along I was afraid to take risks. I was STAGNANT – not going anywhere. Stuck in the concrete; not in mud, not in quicksand. Now I have left work (temporarily), attempting to enjoy the life with loads of fun and studies (I doubt I will study!!).

In my past three years, I have seen many people – selfish, extraordinary, good, awesome, better than best, bastards, hilarious, boring, good genuine people and humans without heart. Analysis of this past says no growth in whatever manner you can think of, but some parts of my soul do like my past. I have figured out to let people go (when you can’t make them turn towards you). The knowledge gained of my failure has created that wisdom quotient for me. I have become wiser instead of successful. I have learnt more than what I have earned. By that definition in some stream of philosophy, I am somewhat successful. I should be happy! But I was not. Sitting in office was a pain, I have escaped now.

Failures were one thing in common. To escape from my first job, I tried running all the way. Gave 10 interviews, all rejected. Sometimes luck was against me, sometimes it was I myself. After a point, I took a stand not to switch from my first job (loyal anyone?). I decided to go ahead and study again.

A break from work. A break from monotonous life. A break from AC. A break from boss. A break from coding. A break from office tea. A break from stagnancy.

Work is not paid anymore; it is rather appreciated and respected. Life is not monotonous anymore, it is rocking now (and changing @ 25 hours per day). There is no AC in life, but I have managed to create some human fans of mine. I am my boss now (managing my own decisions). I don’t code lifeless programs, I create inspiring masterpieces. I don’t drink that fcuking stupid powdered tea of office, my thirst is satisfied by normal cold water. I am not feeling stagnant anymore. Today as I write from my hostel room, life’s quality has manifolded multiple times. It is rocking and depreived of sleep. I have entered into a B-school.

AG @ IMT-G (Mobile: 9717739518)
* - feel free to contact for all sorts of collaboration (research, consultancy, creativity, guidance, etc)

ps: SPEAKing PICtures takes you to college again :) Expect enjoyment here. CHEERS

EVERREADY - Charge yourself with Salman's Ready

Dhinka Chika Dhinka Chika Dhinka Chika Dhinka Chika Aey Aey Aey Aey! And here I am looking into my good English thesaurus to get the meaning of these so very filmy words. Obviously I cannot find them. They are meaningless, just like the movie BUT works for the Indian public. I do realize that a critical review will be of seldom use, therefore my wisdom says to judge by the fact whether it worked as an entertainer for me or not?

So did READY worked like an ‘EverREADY’ for me? Rating – 3.25/5 (Yes! Partially)

Story –
Story is simply senseless and mingling mindless. Sanjana (Asin) has to find a suitable shelter for a couple weeks and enters as a prospect bride in the Kapoor family. This Kapoor family like Bollywood Kapoor family is full of characters - a trio of Ram-Laxman-Bharat Kapoor (played by Mahesh Manjrekar, Manoj Pahwa and Manoj Joshi respectively) along with their jewellery infested wives. We also have Prem in it (Prem who? Hum Aapke Hain Kaun obviously!). The Salman Khan, son of Ram Kapoor in the movie. After the Kapoor family intro, the first half is about how Prem comes to know about Sanjana’s reality. The first half contains some mindless comic dialogues (thanks to Sudesh Lehri) and they superbly work for audience.
The second half is the time for Chaudhary family. Any bollywood actor would not like to marry a girl without her parivaar ki marzi (family consent). How can Salman be an exception? So now he will only marry Sanjana once her Don-Uncles are satisfied with the couple. The Don-Uncles are hairy, plotting and look rather comedians than villains. But again, it works (mentioning this phrase thrice now). Rest of the story is about how Prem (Salman) manages to get all things in place and also the Parivaar ki marzi from Sanjana’s Don-Family.

Star cast –
Salman Khan. Like I mentioned in my review for Dabang (read here), Salman has found that USP in him which will help him to retain the cult status – Body looks (takes off clothes in every movie) and being casually funny (a must for paisa-vasool entertainers). Nice and pleasing to see that works. He sells this movie to you. You go to this movie for him.
Asin is watchable to watch and has a chulbul (naughty) presence. Going by the fact that the makers of Ready was looking for an actresses which could bring resemblance to Ready (Tamil version) actresses Genelia D'Souza, Asin was an apt choice. She works. But her make-up disappoints.
Sudesh Lehri – he rocks. You can laugh at his professionalism everytime you see him on screen.
Paresh Rawal can be seen trying but his dialogues are a bit weak.
An initial shock was received by me when I saw Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Kangna Ranaut in the movie within first 5-10 minutes. Needless to say they were extras (special appearances).

Music of Ready is THE thing which makes you EVERREADY - Peppy, Tipsy, Chichoora (did I said Chichoora) and Lip-exercising. Songs like Dhinka Chika has pure shades of southern touch. Another song like Character Dheela is written for Salman. And what to say about lyrics –

“Ishak ke namm pe karte, sabhi ab raas leela hai
Main karoon toh saala, Character dheela hai”

Chichoora is the best adjective. Go to any disco in New Delhi and the posh people will be dancing on it.

Apart from the music, the situational comedy also works in places. And that is due to high quality of comical artists in Ready. However, the script sometimes tests your tolerance for absurdity and lets you disappoint. Writing scenes where climax has rose fighting, heroine hallucinating and thinking hero taking off his shirt, etc are just not needed.

What works – Salman, Sudesh Lehri, Songs
What not – absurd scenes forcibly put in the movie

Speaking Pictures's verdict – EverReady. Charge yourself now. Paisa Vasool Entertainer

ps: I watched this movie in Amritsar. The crowd loved the show. However, the trailer of Ghayal Returns (starring Sunny Deol) gathered maximum cheekhs (roars) and ceetties (whistles). They still love Sunny Paaji (dil se re). Waiting…

YaaBaa DaaBaa do0O for Kung-Fu King Po0O

Heeeeee-Hawwww...YaaaHoo

Po0O is back. Kung Fu Panda is that brand of cartoon movies which typifies the art of associating absurd characters with their allotted roles. Imagine a fatso Panda doing Kung-Pu (and not simple pawing)? Imagine a goose as father of a giant Panda? Kung-Fu Panda made us believe that and illustrated the power of animation movies by becoming a big hit. The first edition was also an Oscar nominee.

Dear Movie viewers,
I am glad to inform you that Kung-Fu Panda 2 sets the same standards and enjoyment level like its predecessor. Therefore, it has been rated at 4.5/5

Story –
The giant Panda Po0O is now The Dragon Warrior in the Valley of Peace and along with the Fantastic Furious Five, he has to now deal a new enemy. The Peacock that is (super surprise) – Lord Shen. The evil Peacock (yes I used the adjective evil for a Peacock) wants to end Kung-Fu with the help of a canon-gun and our Super Strong Six (Po0O + the Furious Five) now have to stop him. Along with this, Po0O also has to find solace with his inner mystery about his origin.

Voice-Cast -
The life in the cartoon characters in an animated movie is given by its voice. The Incredibles, The Toy Story series are prime example. No wonder why characters like Woody in Toy Story cannot be identified without Tom Hanks’s voice.
Po0O, the Giant Great Panda cannot have an effective presence without the voice support of Jack Black. The voice is as tangy as the Panda’s Kung-Fu movements. Expressive, funny and effective (most importantly). Be ready to hear Jack Black as voice artist for Po0O in the next edition (as you tend to identify characters by their voices, example – Tom Hanks as voice artist for Woody, the cowboy and Tim Allen for Buzz LightYear for all Toy Story parts).
Tigress is voiced by Angelina Jolie and this time around, both the dialogues and the voice seem more effective. Lord Shen voiced by Gary Oldman makes him hear villainous. Rest of lot is all good.

Kung-Fu Panda 2 has great visuals (not a surprise as coming from DreamWorks Animation). The movie has some great scenes (even fight scenes) with great comic timing. The dialogues and one-lines are top class supported amazing well by all voice artists. The story by Glenn Berger and Jonathan Aibel serves all. Apart from Kung-Fu fight scenes, there are great set pieces where we see introspection and self-questioning. Kung-Fu Panda 2 is fulfilling both to eyes and soul.

What works – cartoons & characters & everything about them
What not – nothing negative just that movie should have been longer (greed of a viewer)

Speaking Pictures's verdict – YaaBaa DaaBaa do0O for Kung-Fu King Po0O. Kung-Fu the summer heat with this. Must watch.
ps: I seriously pray that Kung Fu Panda 2 will not inspire a movie like Chandni Chowk To China to be remade.

BMW Vision (BMW Batmobile)

In one of my earlier post where I blogged about Delhi Auto Expo 2010 (here) I was quite critical about BMW pavilion and their show of strength. May be BMW read that post and asked their headquarters in Munich (Germany) to send some stuff which has hooking power. Obviously not grass!
So on a Saturday, while I was strolling and rolling in CP (New Delhi), I saw BMW Vision (I call it BMW Batmobile)…
a car with muscular cuts, plenty of neon lights, transparent built, powerful engine, patented technologies, future perspective and I can go on but I have a office to go tomorrow morning…
BMW Vision (BMW Batmobile) here…(click on pic for full view)



Incase you need a higher quality pic of any the posted above, please drop in a comment with your email
ps: I am still a bigger fan of Merc than BMW.

a light meal in 'Stanley Ka Dabba'

I used to study in a school which had canteen among its permanent absentees. I always used to get angry about this cruel fact whenever I use to hear my after-school tuition peers discussing the day’s happenings at canteen. I relived some moments back today. Stanley is a beautiful movie and very well suited incase you like light-hearted ones.

Rating – 3.75/5

Story –
Stanley is a bright kid who studies in fourth class and doesn’t bring his dabba (tiffin). However his classmates are there for him and Stanley erases his hunger from his peers’ dabbas. The children of class are natural actors and it’s a pleasure to watch them.
Like every school, here too we have a strict strange teacher (fantastically stereotyped) – BabuBhai Verma (played by Amol Gupte). He loves plunging into his students’ dabbas and is the ‘bad-teacher’ of the movie. The race for dabbas is now like a cartoon series – Uncle Scrooge vs Beagle Boys (Stanley vs BbB). The first half of the movie is better paced than second half. The climax has a message which also reveals the answer to Stanley inability to get his piece of tinbox.

Since you are in school, how can you miss out on regular characters (without which a school-movie does not complete)? So, there is a Rosy Miss and a Mrs. Iyer (again fantastically stereotyped). Rosy Miss is the cute English teacher and Mrs. Iyer belongs to science. These characters brings movie close to real life and helps the movie to create that school ambiance. You can easily identify them with teachers in your life (abbey mere school mere bhi bilkul aisi hi ek Miss thi!).

Star Cast –
Partho (son of Amole Gupte) as Stanley is brilliant. He is natural throughout. Not to leave out his gang. Amole Gupte (writer-producer-director-actor) is a researcher of children behavior and his effort shows. His observations of children’s activities have helped him to write child-sequences and a judgment on his creative abilities won’t be wise especially after witnessing Taare Zameen Par. Divya Dutta as Rosy Miss is sweet. Divya Jagdale teaching science looks real and rational.

However, music needed to be a bit more emotional and touching. Nevertheless, nostalgic feelings do arise after watching Stanley and as they say! Everybody loves to peek in his future once in a while. Stanley Ka Dabba opens a chance of going back to fourth standard.

Speaking Pictures verdict – Innocent unadulterated pleasure with cute smiles. Who will like to miss it! GO for it.

What works – great acting, school nostalgia, special moments of fourth grade
And what not – music, lack of quality emotional content (like we experienced in Taare Zameen Par)

ps: I remember as we didn’t had a canteen, our class teacher use to ask the class to contribute food incase somebody missed his lunchbox. But the catch was she too tasted the best meals from that collected lot. Movie dekh ke confirm ho gaya ki chaalaak thi (That she was clever is confirmed after watching this movie).

Enagaging 'Shor in the City'

Horns! Bombs! Noise! Loudness! Violence! Blood! Knife! Wives! SxXx! Ashanti ! Shor are words not new to us. Infact they reside in our society quite abundantly. No wonder the material for this movie seems apna sa (familiar to us).

Rating – 3.75/5

Story –
Shor In The City (siTc) comprises of three nested stories all based in Mumbai –
1) an NRI from land of opportunities coming back to India to create opportunities HERE. However! he still likes the girl with think accent. His life changes once he encounters goons demanding protection money.
2) a lover who is being force to see polished bridegrooms BUT she loves somebody else - A batsman who aspire to be in the local Ranji team and can go to any limits to fix his place in the team.
3) a newly-wed couple who are shy of each other and are still not known to each other. The couple is an interesting one where the wife is educated and the husband runs a book piracy business (in an ethical manner that is). His supporters are small time robbers and they all manage to pull off quite a unique robbery that of a book manuscript before its official release.

Star Cast –
In a movie like this, stars don’t work. We need actors and there were quite a few in siTc…
Never heard talent Pitobash Tripathy – plays the character of Mandok and who survives by committing small crimes. His make-up is in your face and has a fantastic resemblance to Natha of Peepli Live.
Tusshar Kapoor – one of the finest star’s son acts in this movie surprising everybody. Surprising here he gets something to speak (courtesy - channel Ekta) and gives a good performance. He maintains the same subtleness as he did in Gayab (unwatchable) but maintains dignity throughout.
Sendhil Ramamurthy is good in the role of NRI with his accent complementing the character very well. All other actors except Nikhil Dwivedi (main lead of My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves! remember) and Preeti Desais (plays the character of accented girlfriend of NRI) are fine.

The best part of movie is its story and compliments must be given to the trio of Raj Nidimoru (also the director), Krishna D.K. (also the director) and Sita Menon for writing an engaging script. Music is a standout in Shorr. Saibo and Karma (Suraj is back) are numbers of opposite taste and have that typical new song addiction. Screenplay is ok, could be better along with cinematography.

Speaking Pictures verdict - You know you are watching something worth enough if you don’t have any clue about the ending till the last 15 minutes. Shor In The City as a thriller works on this and does not disappoint. Definitely watchable.

A bit of philosophy – “Karma is a bitch”. Do you agree? I do!

“Mere ghar mein shor hai, Mere dil mein shor hai,
Ab kahan jao, Jab mere chain mein bhi shor hai”
(Noise is there in my house, noise is there in my heart, where to go! When noise is there in my comfort)

"Luv Ka The End"...boring from start

College flicks are always lovely to watch. They are free-flowing and are most fun-filled with the most important ingredients like youth-energy, rebellion against system and never-say-die attitude. But not this one. Luv ka The End can easily be ‘substring’ed to ‘The End’.

Rating – 1.5/5

Story –
Story is about a girl, Rhea who first feels needy to get through her virginity tag as she becomes an adult. Then she finds the whole ‘yes! I lost my v tag’ pleasure-episode was with a cheater (Luv Nanda) who merely participated in the episode to score some ‘elite’ points. Now! maturity comes to girl and she transitions herself to an avatar to seek revenge from the cheater and say ‘Luv ka The End’.

Star Cast –
Shraddha Kapoor as Rhea is good. Her sweet face is pleasurable to watch and she successfully manages to put a face of that ‘teenage-virgin-victim’ quite effectively. Taaha Shah as Luv Nanda is just ok. Rhea’s accomplices have given satisfactory but somehow I was never able to transition myself in the college ambience, which speaks of the set-up of the movie and basically everything else in the movie, which is standard. Sadly nothing stands out.

Some half a decade ago, when I was in college I too played a similar character (male casanovish-type character) in a college play. It was thoroughly entertaining and I had become a stereotyped ‘bad guy - MCP’ for quite some time post that play. The whole point I made through his self-confession was the severity and the leverage this kind of topics can have for collegiate.
However, ‘Luv ka the End’ does not capitalize on these issues and there is no effective engaging story in it.

Speaking Pictures Verdict – it is not a decent watch especially when we have two better movies (Chalo Dilli and Shor In The City) still playing out.

Movie also gets credit for having the worst and wannabe B-grade lyrics to fill the desires of the current youth. Read yourself -
“Mera jism, jism, Mera badan, badan, Main hun taza mutton mutton, Khol dilo ke button button.” (My body body, my figure figure, I am the fresh meat, open the buttons of your hearts)

Chalo Dilli (with message of chalo jindagi)

“Babu Moshai, Zindagi Badi honi chahiye, Lambi nahin” – Anand
A cult movie dialogue which says a lot about philosophy. The plot of this movie is simply out of this dialogue. And like the plot is its whole set up (quite simple). May be because this is the first work of Bheegi Basanti Productions (fantastic name for producing Hindi movies).

Rating – 3/5

Story –
The whole movie revolves around two characters - Mihika Mukherji (Lara Dutta), who is big-time into investment banking has more than 600 people directly working UNDER her (why a capital-wala UNDER here? Wait). She is clean, drinks purest form of water and likes to walk on high sleek heels. Other character is Manu Gupta (Vinay Pathak); gutka-freak large-hearted person who wears loud clothes out of Govinda’s wardrobe and carries more luggage than Govinda did in Coolie No. 1 (Govinda – man of inspiration here). By the way, is Manu going the soon-to-be name of Hindi movies (on the lines of Prem and Raj of 90s)? It sounds appealing to the opposite gender, is short, cool, funny and recently proved rhyming (Tanu Weds Manu).
Going forward, this story here is not new and has been spotted many a times in Bollywood – a road trip with two absolutely different personalities. They meet, they clash, they learn and we enjoy. Something same happened here. M&M (Mihika and Manu), both set their journey to Delhi from Mumbai and end up being in Jaipur. The road trip is now between Jaipur and Delhi where these two characters travel together meeting regular interesting people - dhaba owners, village goons, corrupt ticket collector, helpless inspectors, B-grade hotelier, system cribbing Bengalis and many more. The two characters of opposite nature learn to adjust with each other with social messages being shared in sporadic manner. So! In the end do they fall in love?

Star Cast –
Vinay Pathak – who will be the first choice to play character of a large hearted fatso? He has done these types of character many a times (previously in Dasvidaniya, Bheja Fry) and his performance momentum continue here too. Fantastic enjoyable performance with high-end quality but he needs to beware of such stereotyping.
Lara Dutta – she was never made to act but he has given a satisfactory performance in Chalo Dilli (remember she is also the co-producer, so I think the pressure worked). Her performance as a snobbish posh high society executive is not up to mark but she covers it later during her road journey. Vinay Pathak’s influence clearly visible.

Rest of the stuff is average (songs, cinematography, etc) except some of the come-on-laugh-now dialogues which are quite unnecessary. As an example, imagine the above mentioned UNDER me dialogue with Lara’s bums in focus! Also the movie starts with a lot of PJ settings (majority given to Lara) but thankfully it doesn’t reaches irritation levels.
Another drawback of the movie is its pace. It starts slow and just when it starts to bore, it gets to reasonable levels accept the emotional climax. The transition from a light hearted situational comedy to emotional ‘be-happy’ message giving ending is just too sudden and does not attract attention.
Anyways, the movie is a much respite as the comedy in parts is good and brings casual smiles. The best thing about light-hearted movies is that you needn’t bring your brain to use, it’s all so cosy!

Speaking Pictures Verdict - watchable ‘paisa-vasool' stuff.

But why did they name it Chalo Dilli (why not my write-up’s title - Chalo Jindagi)? Chalo Dilli seems to be a freedom movement slogan and after seeing the movie, the title seems disconnected.

“to ye kaunsi badi baat ho gayi” – Manu
“bhaiya gobbar khana tha to haathi ka khaata” – village goon

Open letter to MDI professors on their admission policy

To: apanjwani@mdi.ac.in, skumar@mdi.ac.in

Respected,

Firstly, I am honoured to write to you as you have quite uprightly mentioned your contact information. Not many do in our country. Small things like these prompted me to apply to the institute with which you are currently associated – MDI, Gurgaon.

I must recall you about myself. Infact this was the first question you asked me during the interview.
MBA aspirant’s name – ANKIT GUPTA
Just to give you a brief idea of my profile – X (80.6), XII (81.4), B.Tech (CS, Jamia) (8.05/10), 1 International research paper (LA, USA), 2 international tech journal articles, 3 yr work ex (CSC) – work on legacy transformation + consultant to 10 Indian life insurance companies, Blogger (feat in HT), Cartoonist (publication @ IIT Kanpur), Movie Jockey (Desimartini.com), winners at many nationwide contests organized by the likes of United Nation Volunteers India, NDTV 24*7, Mouthshut.com, winner at multiple events in college fests, scholarship holder at university…

And most importantly, highlighting my real credentials – 95.6 in CAT 2011

I must also recall you the day I was fortunate to meet you. I appeared before the MDI panel (you as one of the members) on 7 April 2011 (2 PM slot, panel 1) and even though I had a major doubt on my chances, I wanted to give a full best try because this was my last GDPI (may be of my life). Hope you can recollect the day. Nevertheless! Since there were a lot of candidates, it’s my duty to remind my episode with you.

GD topic – Greatest threat to India. I won’t comment on my performance as it involves many variables of perception and evaluation. Let us assume to be default and move on to PI which was of 30-35 mins. How am I so sure about the time period? My real brother accompanied me to get some MDI specific motivation and was waiting outside.
PI [Prof. Ashok Panjwani sitting on left (w.r.t me) & Prof. Sunil Kumar on his left]. Some of the sample questions asked by the panel of which you were a part –
* About me (answered to satisfaction)
* Asked to draw a cartoon (I made a cartoon sketching both of you! I believe you can recall me now)
* How come an international research paper
* How do you manage your time
* How will you stop corruption in India in 3 steps
* Why e-governance not much successful
* Passport service has not change even after IT coming into it
* Is ITC successful with its e-chauppal thing
* What calls do you have (IMT, IMI, TAPMI)
* Any iims (no sir)
* Will you join them (yes sir)
* Is it a wise to join them after 3 years of work-ex
* Why not MBA last yr itself
* Interested in which specialization
* What kind of profile are you targeting after MBA…
…etcetera…All answered in above-avg/excellent replies (strictly my view)
Sir, I would also remind you of the fact that I too asked a question. Ques was “what was the CAT score weightage in final selections for MDI”. I also explained you the logic and the difference it would make incase of 70% weightage is given to CAT score (absolute marks); consequently I would need 11 more than an aspirant who secured 99 out of rest 30%. Response was –
Prof. Sunil Kumar - wait till the results are out and so will be the criteria
Prof. Ashok Panjwani – we don’t take absolute scores and take only percentiles. There are only marginal differences…you too have a chance

…obviously I didn’t. I ended up being at 2015/2177…this sums up for me…I doubt anybody in 95 range got through

So, as a part of consequence management I would like you to address these-
1. Why did MDI even called us (unfortunate ones with 95 percentiles)? To laugh upon us!
2. Why a 30 min interview? False hopes! why can’t just discard in first 5 minutes!
3. Why a false show-off that ‘you too can get in at 95?
4. Why doesn’t MDI puts a separate page on its site elaborating expectations from its future students?

One obvious learning – everything is worthless except scores. This is how it works in India. You have made me realize my rock bottom moment of my academic career. You have made me realize that even learned people like you (being passouts of premier colleges like IIT Kanpur, IIM Ahmedabad), value only and I repeat, only scores.
Why will somebody study to research & innovate and not for scores! Why will (sorry! Why should) somebody do something new in his last year projects and not aim for 100%tile. After all we all want that in India (don’t we)?
Quoting Infosys chief mentor N R Narayan Murty from his book -
“India filed 363 patents compared to 84271 filed by USA, 35350 by Japan and 5938 by Taiwan”

Hoping in the subsequent years, MDI creates a more practical approach to accept its students otherwise going by the admission policy of our premier institutes (including MDI), we shall never go ahead in the above quote of Narayan Murty…firm believe I have (unfortunate but true just like my rejection).

I sincerely hope this request is not unheard and brings some ignition.

With warm regards,
Ankit Gupta

ps: I should not mention this sadist post here but don’t know why I am doing this. Incase anybody finds the content of this post objectionable; accept my unconditional apologies in advance. No intend to defame anybody (person/institute). Free to discuss anything in comments/anywhere

Was I prepared or was I not?

May be yes…hmm…may be not. Yet another failure and yet another post for the unread category here. OK. Why? I don’t know. May be you know but then why will you know, it’s my ‘self-branded’ issue. Customized for me! See. I am exclusive…ye God made me like that but that exclusivity is the issue here…puzzling you guys must be feeling…

Miserable naa! Grass is what you need my reader anonymous friend? Ok no…wait let’s have a small talk here…the complicated issue is that I have been rejected this time around (too), which is not the first time…but this isn’t the problem. Problem (the concerning one) is I am worrying less for my rejections. Strong immunity I have [smiles] but I fear…I want to worry more, scratch my head, my hair, my skin and my fcuking dear aha aha (take your age’s help). I should not or may be should…be happy…I am moving towards wisdom…infact I am running towards wisdom…I am way ahead of this world…they are pathetic losers and I am the winner…the rejected one…yo baby (call me at my cell…before it gets busy…)

But all wisdom gained is insane….sane is practicality - the scores, the fame, the repo, the auro (shouldn’t it be aura), the fcuking count and not that insane one-liners [just me self-happy-happy closets]. Even though I am insane…I cherish it now…I learn more but earn less…learn/earn [love that mathematical divide between the two…wish it could get me more marks]…creative naa! Ya but are we missing technology here…oh! No…my country (mera desh) is so very advanced…basically it decides its intelligent human capital on two numbers (10 and 12)…oh! But why! 10 - because we love tendulkar (person in whose respect 10th class board was constituted so that young bright innovate non-mugging brains can get opportunities to score centuries on virtual 3 hour battles…me failed though) and 12 – because we admire time…watches…rolex ones… sry chu SRK I hate everything you endorse…I hate everything then…

But the point is I am not dejected, I am not elated…I am confused between the two…oho! Rejection has brought me sanity (in good English! Sense of perspective)…rejection, a word to rejoice, enjoy and celebrate and more than that it gives you something to live on…experience of life…memories of fighter…bravo writer…macho…even without 6 packs…babes not wonted here…I will taste them only when I taste success…cost efficiency you see…am good at management
RIP writer…time to doze off…

I will admire if you understand the zest of my above piece…and for all who are didn’t…and are thinking has he being fcuked (in literal sense) or is he living on grass (in true sense) or is he a non-me…

I just admire the feeling of being rejected…so much pure it is (unmatched purity)…fantastic is life this one…

Rejected once more…Amen…

Biutiful, its Biutiful

An obvious thought - Why a person who knows only two languages – Hindi + English would like to go to a movie in Spanish in a multiplex based on principles of loot? It’s clear that this one is not meant for everybody (incase it was directed for masses, it would have been dubbed and then released in India). However, that is not the case. The movie is released with English subtitles.

Rating? This would be first movie where I don’t intend to give rating since it is not for masses; it has a select taste making it valid only for select people.

Story –
It is a tragedy thrown in with international flavour (Spanish) devoid of any masala. So you have the protagonist dying from cancer. His earnings come from kickbacks from illegal African immigrants and Chinese warehouse owners. In return for a commission, he makes sure that these groups get a living (manage to survive in ‘not-ours’ land). His means of getting money may be unethical but his character is not bad. Consequently, you see him helping these illegal immigrants. Apart from the terminal illness, he has two school-going children and a psychic wife, who is a ‘whore’ as commented by her son. Yes! The story gets even more tragic from here on…but story doesn’t have any loose threads and the credit should go to its writer (Alejandro Gonzalez).

Cast –
Javier Bardem is the only person I effectively saw in the movie. This Spanish actor got the limelight at the world scale after ‘No Country For Old Men’ (winner of Best Picture Oscar in the year 2007) where he got the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. In that he gave a mind-blowing performance as a psychic killer; here he is a tragic hero. In Biutiful, every second scene has his presence (something comparable to SRK in My Name Is Khan). Movie is nothing without him. He meets tragedy with grace and acceptability.
His scene presence is filling and the pull he attracts is astonishing (very interesting observation – just see the posters of ‘No Country For Old Men’ and ‘Biutiful’, he is featured SOLO!). But I doubt him getting the best actor Oscar (2011)…Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network was much better.

The movie might not have many famous names in its actor list but it sure contains some remarkable works. Scenes of dead children in coffins, dead Owl with eyes wide open, etc add to the tragic feel of the movie. There is a chilling scene where many Chinese immigrants’ bodies are floating in the ocean (recall if you can pictures of scores of dead whales being washed up on European coast! Discovery channel might help you in this). An additional thing to point out is that atleast 60% of the movie (guess it must be more) doesn’t have a background score. Especially the first fifteen minutes, with no background score it sets up the tone for whole 2.5 hour long movie.

Verdict -
Oscar have fetched ‘Biutiful’ enough fame. Infact it has already been rewarded at other movie festivals. But with so very sadistic feel and depressing tone to it, you somehow don’t like it as against its hype. I can recall tragic movies than this one…

Caution – this is a 2.5 hour non-English movie (shown with subtitles), a non-entertainer or something very close to ‘opposite of entertainers’ (bollywood context). Take a wise call for your money!
People who can identify tragedies (not failures) with them can go for it…

Biutiful is beautiful movie in its own right…would like to use a line from Life Is Beautiful

“This is a simple story... but not an easy one to tell”

ps: attendance in the multiplex on the first weekend was good, comprising of more than 50% of foreign nationals.
pps: an interesting observation – Biutiful share the same starting and ending lines…and guess where can you find this same concept. Many! But one noticeable is Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting (he too is in Oscar race this year with 127 hours).

The Social Network - do get connected to it

“Bosnia. They don't have roads, but they have Facebook.”

Nobody can be more explicit than this. It tells the spread of the growing social networking phenomena over our globe and this is what appeals you to go for this movie, the title of the movie Alone. Ok! The title helps attraction to the movie but what next! Remember expectations are high here!

Story –
The story is adapted from a novel (The Accidental Billionaires) and is about the making of world’s fastest growing site FACEBOOK and its makers - Mark Zuckerberg (the youngest billionaire of world), Eduardo Saverin (his best friend), Sean Parker (Napster Co-founder) and also the makers of ConnectU (then Harvard Connection). So you get to know about everything; right from what prompted Mark Zuckerberg to open his terminal and start coding a social broadcasting concept (and if somebody is guessing the girl reason, YES, after getting ditch that is). The insane geek nerd (Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg) does this impossible coding work and makes FaceMash, whose functionality gives you the liberty to select better of the two girls (judged only by their faces). Everybody in the campus LIKE facemash and Zuckerberg reaches fame. The makers of ConnectU motivate Zuckerberg to work on their project. From there the movie is all about the story of Facebook amidst betrayal, superb non-emotional geekyness and intense storyline of the ‘The Social Network’.

Cast –
Jesse Eisenberg is just awesome. He looks, behaves like a perfect nerd. He is the ideal GEEKY NERD I have ever seen in my life (and you can trust me on this as I work in the great Indian IT sector with many flop geeks and nutty nerds all day). Eisenberg’s attitude and focus towards what he thinks makes him perfect. He makes you believe the real Mark Zuckerberg would be like this only…and when you are able to do that, you are in running for the best actor Oscar. Mark my words.

Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker seems apt. His flamboyance does the trick here. Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin is again superb but the point about ‘The Social network’ is that the movie is all about Mark Zuckerberg and revolves around him, all your admiration is therefore towards Jesse Eisenberg and nobody can deny that.
Every other aspect of the movie remains sidelined thanks to Jesse’s fabulous performance. He overshadows named like Justin Timberlake (pop singer) and David Fincher (acclaimed director) in the movie. The social network is a stand out work of one person… Jesse Eisenberg

Verdict – Like (super duper Like), Poked Jesse Eisenberg for Best Oscar and sent him a friend request…

ps: Social network is not a social movie, it’s best to watch alone. I know the suggestion sounds quite ironic…but irony is a part of reality in today’s socially connected world.

ये पल, मेरे पल, आने वाले पल

written sometime in early Nov 2010...I don't know what to call it; a poem, a chandh, etc; but its genuine

aana wala hai ek pal
usko aane do
kyu darr rahe to hum
phele beet to jana do
pal mein jo likha hai vo honi hai
pal se bhaaga to haar to honi hi hai
bas ja us pal mein
aur dekh le vo pal
pal do pal ki baat hai pyaare
dekh le inko nahi to
agli baar tak intezaar kar

us pal ke liye kitne pal hai tune kiye barbaad
raat raat neend uda ke pal ka kiya intezaar
ab jab paas hai to phir wahi ehsaas
ye pal hi to jo banaenge gagan chumti saas
ab chal pal na barbaad kar isko soch ke
pal se jo kehna hai bas palo mein hi soch le
likh le yahin vo pal ko syahi se
ab jab lamha aa gaya hai sunhera kar de unko

ye pal, mere pal, aane wale pal
(ये पल, मेरे पल, आने वाले पल)

"What Rajni can, No ROBObody can"…Movie Review - Robot (Enthiran)

Facts of Life - ROBOT (Endhiran in Tamil) is the most expensive movie made in India till date (infact Asia till date), costing just over Rs 162 crore. The team of ROBOT includes SUPERSTAR Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai Bacchhan, director Shankar with a technical team which did graphics for Jurassic Park, music maestro A.R.Rehman, singer Mohit Chauhan, etc.

Story –
Story here is not of a classic but of an entertainer (Rajini movies are known to be entertainers i.e. classic entertainers). So, we have the superstar Rajini playing a scientist (Dr. Vaseegaran) with the weirdest hairstyle one can ever imagine (and inspite of that, he has a girlfriend Sana, played by Aishwarya Rai), Clearly the makers wanted to borrow the looks of Galileo and Newton. Dr. Vaseegaran has a dream lab where he assembles his robot (human-android), Chitti. Chitti is covered with the skin of Rajni and therefore, fulfils the ever-hungry appetite of Rajni fans. Dr. Vaseegaran trains Chitti so that it could be selected to help defence services but then comes Danny (Dr. Bohra). During the evaluation round, Danny uses his chattur dimag to puzzle Chitti and inturn gets him rejected from the panel due to its lack of understanding of emotional issues. Vaseegaran fights back, use new theories and sampling techniques to train Chitti and efforts are successful; Chitti learns to love, cry, party, emotional atyachar, etc.
But the age old theory comes true now…man’s invention becomes his own enemy. Chitti starts to love Sana and can do anything to get her. Period. Rest is the fight for mankind to stop the ROBOT…

I have to mention that the first half (1.5 hr) was a smooth ride. However, second half is dragged a bit. The makers of the movie could have shortened the movie by 15 mins. The movie rises to its peak in the last 15 minutes where climax is very nicely shot.

Superstar cast –
SuperStar Rajni is a God in his own way and once you start following him, you don’t question him. Rajinikanth has many irrational jokes dedicated to him and the best part about those jokes is that people do take those with utmost seriousness (example - Rajinikant doesn’t wear a watch. He decides what time it is). This movie is about Dr. Vaseegaran, the scientist and Chitti, the Robot (both played by Rajinikanth). Every second frame has Rajini in it (he is the hero, he is the villain . As a professor, he is humble and fitting. As Chitti, he is ok but not as good as his prof role. The style and the movements are more robotic as expected.
Aishwarya Rai is looking beautiful (especially after Ravan). Danny is usual class (one of the many B-grade actors who comes and acts but never gets appreciated). Rest of the cast was alien to me as I don’t follow southern movies much. But all were good.

Music & Lyrics –
Music given by AR Rehman is standard (just like his CWG anthem). Lyrics - My past experience has made me accustomed to the sometimes funny, sometimes absurd, sometimes technical lyrics of southern movies when they are made into Hindi.
Couple of samples -

1) “Kilimanjaro, ladki parvat ki yaaro
Isska roop nihaaro yaaro yaaro
Mohenjodaro, issko dil mein utaaro
Jungle jungle pukaro yaaro yaaro”
(this song was shot at Machu Picchu, one of seven natural wonders of world; many in audience thought this was special effects too)

2) “Pagal anukan pyaar dil mein kitne hain
Neutron electron neelay naino mein bolo kitne hain”

Believe it or not! These lyrics are written by Swanand Kirkire (twice winner of National Film Award for Best Lyrics)

Visual Effects –
The money spend can be seen in graphics. The first half is so very beautiful. The visual quality on 70 mm is better than most of bollywood flicks. To maintain the visual quality of similar levels in second half was challenge as a lot of Chitti look-alikes appear and to maintain facial expressions on all them was difficult. That is the only part where visual effects lack. You will have to appreciate the effects when cohesive transformations of robots take place to Anaconda, Terminator, etc.

Acknowledgment – I haven’t seen such in-depth use of technical nomenclature in an Indian movie before. Some fine observations – the name of Dr. Bohra (played by Danny) has a fascinating similarity with Dr. Bohr (pick up any chemistry book and you will find him). Use of ZigBee protocol by the Robot which is a communication protocol similar to Bluetooth. I have to say the engineer inside me was also satisfied appreciating the research behind the technical script. I give half star extra for this.

SPEAKing PICtures’s verdict – 3.5/10 (see for Rajni if not for anything else). It is not a cult or an excellent movie but surely a 160 crore movie with so much effort needs to be appreciated.

ps: I have seen only a handful of Hindi dubbed south-Indian movies. To say Robot was the best of them won’t be wise. Robot is good, Aparichit was awesome. Interesting fact is both of them were directed by Shankar (awesome visionary skills).

Answer to the biggest question about Commonwealth Games 2010 @ New Delhi

“CWG – source of silly humour thesedays. Prove it” ------- 10 marks

As a Delhi blogger who had this noble thought to invest his hard earned money to buy CWG 2010 tickets on the first day itself, ‘disappointed’ is what I feel now. However, today when you read my write-up, intend is to make you happy; not disappointed.

We have to go back to the important year of 2003, when India was selected to play the host for 2010 edition of Commonwealth Games. India (the land of non-violence) silently paid an acceptable ‘wealth’ to all commonwealth nations to come here and participate. Under the leadership and guidance of our honourable ‘much’ respectable Suresh Kalmadi, CWG 2010 was allotted to India and from then onwards, it was Suresh Kalmadi’s baby.

The Indian government saw the navigating capabilities in the wings of pilot Kalmadi and formed an OC (organizing committee) to oversee growth of Kalmadi’s baby (i.e. CWG 2010 games). Kalmadi’s foreign aids were two expensive imported Mikes (Mike Hooper and Mike Fenell). Days went pass. Years went pass. The Indian government forgot about the games. But then came...the Indian media

The Indian media ran a reality check and in process discovered nothing but what was obvious – corruption in OC. CWG mess got the 9 PM slot of news channels thanks to numerous financial frauds investigations and Bang Boom Blast happened in OC. The useful abbreviations (CVC, CBI, ED, PMO, etc) came into scene for a few days but still Kalmadi assured the world that his baby is getting healthier day by day. God heard this lie and directed the rain Gods to give Delhi an over flowing Yamunaji (can you believe that!). Heavy rains collapsed all plans of juggad work for Games and since then the baby is transferred to Cabinet Secretary, Delhi CM, and Minister of Urban Development with Prime Minister of the nation watching its growth (indeed a lucky baby).

Lately there are more negatives attached to these games than positives, but I hope you aren’t feeling disappointed. So what if ‘salt packet sized’ countries like New Zealand, Whales and Scotland pokes you with their hygiene standards and then without any justification complains about dogs using beds and paan stains and dangerous sockets and filth and dengue and security. Man! this complaining is so very imperialistic…so very uncool!! Surely Birmingham is behind this (let special branch of Delhi Police investigate this and submit a report).

And by the way, why are these countries cribbing at all. Haven’t they researched that paan is a flavour of perfume (also condom nowdays). It erases your stress, especially after that lane-designed traffic mess. Somebody please tell them that the strains were to ‘globalify’ paan (one of the cheapest food items which can be quite handy during the times of recession in commonwealth).

And hey, how dare do they complain about dogs using beds. If athletes who run 100 metres deserve a lavish sleep; have a heart for these dogs that run miles on Delhi pot-roads. Animal lovers? PETA? Where are you?

About the more serious security issue. As an Indian I can assure you about foolproof security. Infact you will most probably be getting an individual army soldier as he is now abundant. He is now even making pedestrian bridges for us; a fine example of building the nation (saving the country as usual).

Then there is another very amusing story. South Africa ambassador to India finds a snake! Isn’t South Africans known to love wildlife? Why can’t he arrange a visa for that poor lean flexible specie and rehabilitate him in South Africa? Afterall Delhi is on a mass cleaning mission (say no to authorised species be it snakes or monkeys or migrants).

Oh! I forgot to tell you about my hygiene standards. They are surely different from that of Lalit Bhanot. You see we are diverse in India and we are diverse in everything.

And how can we miss out on our sports minister; CWG is a shaadi for him. For many b-school students, CWG mess is now a case study and a prime example of ‘juggad-theory’ failure. It seems that the preparation of CWG resembles the last minute preparations by a student before his exam. In reality the student might pass but the probability that he will top this way is rationally low.

Lastly, you must be asking what about CWG 2010’s mascot Shera (my friend). I met him yesterday and he told my disappointed soul something by which he is still bearing a smile. As Shera says “bade bade desho mein aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hai”.

Just a second, somebody is there at the door. Oh! It’s the private courier wala with my commonwealth tickets for opening ceremony. See you there and hey! Do spot me in that 40-50 crore Helium balloon.

ps: apologies for not mentioning about athletes. Hope you are not disappointed (and if incase you are, try making a Jaane Bhi Do Yaroon, afterall you won’t get a better opportunity)

SPEAKing PICtures will be back with the review of the opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games 2010.
Till then LET US ALL SUPPORT THESE GAMES.

Creative Shoots @ Old Delhi

Old Delhi is not just food. There is no shortage for shooting exciting creative moments there. Some stills I took during my recent trip to old Delhi –

1) Old Delhi curfew look – Chandni Chowk Market is absent on Sundays. A perfect opportunity to take a silent picture there. Nobody will believe it’s actually old Delhi.
2) Count your Pigeons? Observe the different figures of pigeons. (I messed up a perfect set-up, still to learn basics of still photography)
3) Karan Arjun (duplicate) with Red Fort in backdrop. Simply Awesome

DaBang - DA 'big' BANG Salman starrer

A lot of years back some foreign scientists discovered THE BANG theory (for some that was BIG enough entertainment). But some people in India thought we need to do something extra for entertainment, so they created the desi sounding Da Bang (which eventually entertains more…very much more).

Story –
Story of Dabang is something staple for bollywood. Steps to generate 1 –

1) Choose a hero - Take the industry stud (a famous one), give him the police wardi with rule-breaking tactics and ask him to keep a symbolic moustache to get that UP look.
2) Choose a heroine - a new face to work with our stud. Make sure her surname is commonly known.
3) Add a plot – Take an anti K-Jo’s WE ARE FAMILY stand and create the hate angle between our stud and his step bro and step papa. Let there be ma to console.
4) Pick the villain – Try to find a fool who inspite of looking so helpless can dream to be deadly like Mogambo. Give him the techniques to motivate the step bro to go against the stud.
5) Use the glue - throw in a lot of PJs/one-liners to join the above mentioned steps in a cohesive manner and make a movie out of these steps.
6) Publicity – Follow “da BIG bang” Dabang promo campaign wherever you go. Also, ask your stud to wear ‘desified’ RayBan goggs with striking little hearts to get that awesome poster look.
7) God's Help - Place your bets on the stud and wait it EID.

Casting –
The industry stud, Salman Khan plays the role of dabang inspector Chulbul Pandey. This role (infact the whole movie) is written for him. His dialogue delivery and action sequences are perfect. The trained eye will appreciate the effort put in by Salman in this movie, whose producers are his very own bhaiya-bhabhi. Infact, if we replace Salman Khan with Ravi Kishan, Dabang will become a Bhojpuri movie; Salman takes it from Bhojpuri to Bollywood.

Heroine Rajjo in the movie is Sonakshi Sinha (daughter of Mr. Khamosh, guess who?). She is good in Dabang and will gain a lot of leverage from this. Rest of the cast (Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, etc) is satisfactory. Except two persons. Firstly, Arbaaz Khan (again that dead wood acting from him) and secondly, Sonu Sood (plays the villain Cheddi Singh). Will any sensible person cast a tamed spider-like-personality in front of Spiderman! No obviously. Then why cast a Sonu Sood in front of Salman Khan? They should have watched Singh Is King carefully (remember! Sonu Sood was the real King in that movie).

The music by Sajid-Wajid suits the Dabang style. Direction is good but screenplay is loose in parts. Salman’s earlier flick WANTED had more grip over story.

Speaking Pictures’s verdict – watch in Cineplex in front row seats and enjoy Chulbul Pandey.
Rating – 3/5 (paisa vasool)

Where does Salman go after Dabang?
Salman Khan, one of KHAN pillars of bollywood industry realizes that he can’t pull off SRK’s romantic flicks or Aamir’s superior class. Salman’s USP is his body and not his acting. He knows this fact and is therefore, trying to create a different liking for himself. Paisa Vasool entertainers are now his forte…expect more

ps: can Steven Spielberg and James Cameron make DABANG in Amerika with their latest technology? Na! I guess even they have to do this the Indian way.

(thanks to Indra devta & Shanky for rains, I watched Dabang in a Cineplex and not in a multiplex. All smiles)