Best Songs

So this looks like my three part series which comes to songs. So let me gather myself first.
Before we start a few things about music. I hear very less music and I really mean it. I do search for good movies though I dont get them often but I dont yearn for music. Therefore most of the songs I hear is from the entertainment industry. So this is like reading from someone who himself doesnt know. But this is my opinion about songs.

Songs are better than movies in the sense that they last for few minutes and you can play them again if you didnt understand them. But some songs go further and you just cant understand them anytime you hear them.

1) Meaning
Most people appreciate songs which have some meaning. Unfortunately if the movie is not meaningful how the songs in it will be. There is one incident I should tell you before I move on. I heard the songs of Paheli few years back. The lyrics were so beautiful that I was bowled over. I have not seen the movie till this date. But my friends and everyone told me that the movie was bad. But I could not help wondering if a movie can have such a meaningful and beautiful songs how the movie can be bad. In last few years I have come to realize that if the movie itself is good it will have superior quality of songs. Though I myself have come across many counterexamples. There are countless worthless movies of 70-80-90s which had good lyrics. Hats off to the lyricist who can write good song in an average movie.
Lastly to contradict myself I have to say that the movies should not have songs at all.

"Mathura Nagarpati Kaahe Tum Gokul Jao"
Movie - Raincoat
Lyricist - Rituparno Ghosh(if I remember it correctly)
Music - Debojyoti Mishra
Singer - Shubha Mudgal

This might be the single songs I have heard countless times. Something is different in the whole songs. Even if we forget the meaning the songs it is a gem regarding the words the lyricist has used. There are words which you will never find in a songs and then the lyricist rhymes it with a equally difficult word in the next line.

"Dhere Jalna"
Movie - Paheli
Lyricist - Gulzar
Music - M.M. Kreem
Singer - Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal

This is the song which I loved in Paheli. Mind you there are other beautiful songs in the movie. But I loved this one. Just play this on a lonely Sunday afternoon to feel it.

2)Words
Words are very important in a songs. Its the quality of words which in effect shows the quality of movie for which this work is being done. Though not everything is in black and white this thing is usually true in a world of movies I see( I mean the world of movies in which there are songs).Here are a few such songs

"Mathura Nagarpati Kaahe Tum Gokul Jao"
A repetition from above but I cannot help it. It is such a songs with such beautiful words. The words themselves are so expressive that I loved it the moment I heard it.


"O Sathi re"
Movie - Omkara
Lyricist - Gulzar
Music - Vishal Bharadwaj
Singer - Shreya Ghoshal and Vishal Bharadwaj

This recent songs from Omkara is full of beautiful words and very unconventional. I am not writing the words here because they wont look good in English and I don't blog in Hindi. But do hear them for a change. May be you wont like the song( which I think is terrific) but listen to the words.

3) Music
Then there is always the music or the tune of the song. We have been very grateful in this department. There are many great music directors we have here. I have the songs of two of the best I know

AR Rehman
"Chhoti si Aasha"
Movie - Roja

If there is any songs that will make everyone in the crowd to sit up and take notice this has to be it. The other things which makes this a beautiful composition is how many instruments we hear in a single song.

Ilayaraja
"Ae zindagi gale laga le"
Movie - Sadma

Its befitting that standing with Rehman is another great from the south. As with Rehman this song too has so many instruments played and the the synchronization between all is amazing.

4) Singer
Lastly to end sometimes it is the singer who is able to give soul to the song. It is this type of song that I have not heard much. And frankly I am not much into it. So I dont think in near future I will hear such songs. But I do have one of my favorite song of this type too.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
"Sano ek pal chain na aave"
Some songs are to be experienced. This is that type of song whose meaning is experiencing the song.

best tv shows

In India, Television is nose diving in the quality of the content. A place where News channel don't show news. You cans expect this here.
This blog is for some of the memorable tv serials I saw . And some which I seeing now.

Planet Earth Series (David Attenborough)
First and foremost if you have not seen this see it as soon as you can. Some of the most beautiful and breathtaking shots I have seen in my life. I would not have seen them had this had not come along the way. I saw some of the most beautiful mountains, deserts,waterfalls,birds,caves and what not.


The Private Life of Plants(David Attenborough)
Though I just saw one episode of this, it instantly went into classic status in my book.

Malgudi Days(Shankar Nag)
Malgudi Days shines as a perfect example of what a classic serial is. R K Naraynan is known for his simple but beautiful stories. And how beautifully Shankar Nag has put all that on the screen.

Bharat Ek Khoj(Shyam Benegal)
Shyam Benegal is a pioneer in his own right. I can think of no one who could carry this serial the way he did. Some were real treat to watch. For the people who have not seen it, may be they can buy it or search it on the net. Do anything to watch this classic.

Byomkesh Bakshi(Basu Chatterjee)
This brilliant detective serial by Basu Chatterjee mesmerized me because it was unlike any other detective serial. How witty Rajat Kapur is shown again unlike any other.

Flop Show(Jaspal Bhatti)
The greatest of the comedy shows in India. Even today I laugh when I remember some of its episode. A classic which made a pun on the social and day to day issues at that time.

Mahabharata(B.R. Chopra)
I have not read this epic. But seen the serial by the same name. Mahabharata and Ramayana are the two epic which became hugely popular in India. But I can safely say that Mahabharata which is a far better and complex story is way ahead. Some of the things are hard to understand even after watching this great epic. May be some day I will read the epic myself.

Udaan(Kavita Chaudhary)
People say that todays serial are women oriented. They are not. If you really want to see a serial which really shows the women and her status and her struggle in this cruel society then watch Udaan.

Shriman Shrimati(Rajan Waghdhare)
I used to laugh so much while watching this one. I still smile thinking of the characters. Jatan Kanakia as Keshav Kulkarni was the star of the pack.

best movies

The movies I am writing below are very special to me. For some I couldn't sleep in the night after watching them. Some I couldn't understand it when I first saw it. Others were hard to digest because of the treatment the director gave to the movie. Some were so simple yet so beautiful.

Indain Movies
A small thought about Indian movies. I have not really seen many movies. All the movies I have seen are from the popular cinema. I am trying to watch the real stuff but am unable to find them. I read somewhere on the net that it is easier to find good Indian movies in foreign than India. I hope it is not true.

Black Friday(Anurag Kashyap)
Black Friday directly goes into a classic status. The reason being the treatment given by the director Anurag Kashyap.
As wiki puts it , this kind of cinema is
"There are a number of traits that make neorealism distinct. Neorealist films are generally filmed with nonprofessional actors (though, in a number of cases, well known actors were cast in leading roles, playing strongly against their normal character types in front of a background populated by local people rather than extras brought in for the film). They are shot almost exclusively on location, mostly in poor neighborhoods and in the countryside. The subject matter involves life among the impoverished and the working class. Realism is always emphasized, and performances are mostly constructed from scenes of people performing fairly mundane and quotidian activities, completely devoid of the self-consciousness that amateur acting usually entails. Neorealist films generally feature children in major roles, though their roles are frequently more observational than participatory."
If you have seen Black Friday you can relate with each and every sentence written above

Bandit Queen(Shekhar Kapur)
Bandit Queen is special. Before this movie I used to see happy go lucky movies of 70s-80s-90s. In these type where there is hero-heroine-villan. I used to like those movies a lot. Its pity that if you are used to these kind of movies then you would never see let alone appreciate good movies. Bandit Queen shattered all my beliefs. Into the world where no one is good or bad. Only the circumstances make people. It is not that I didn't know this. A movie has the power to take you a ride in the wonderland(like the previous movies) or show you the wonder land itself.

Ardh-Satya(Govind Nilahani)
Considered to be the finest Hindi movies of all time. People say that this movie gave birth to many such movies in coming decades. But no movie could match the intensity of Ardh-Satya.
A gruesome movie for the people who are used to watching regular cinema.

Guide(Vijay Anand)
Dev Anand's only classic. Disregarding its length and all the songs(which are beautiful for a lonely afternoon) it was my entry into the kind of movie which are philosophical. Its climax is the best I have seen in years. Other most important point is that this movie is base on book and rarely have I seen Hindi movies based on books.

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro(Kundan Shah)
A comedy is hard to make people say. And a comedy of this kind is even harder. A black comedy by Kundan Shah has already achieved classic status due to its climax.

Recent Good Movies
Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi(Sudhir Mishra)
A part of our history which is neglected is the last 50 years. Infact we tend to neglect everything which we think was bad. This is our history which the director saw and wanted to make. The movie goes along but what is important thing are the clues the director scatters about our history. A full fledged movie would have been even better.

Moksha:Salvation (Ashok Mehta)
Moksha is venturing into a kind of surreal world. The director played with my mind in this movie. I continued the movie because I could sense something is not right about this movie. How wrong I was. The amazing part of the movie is its climax. It has a real classy climax.

Raincoat (Rituparno Ghosh)
To end with a love story inspired by "Gift of Magi" by O Henry. Real love story should say what love is. And if you want to see what really love is you have to see Raincoat. A pure form of love in which both the boy and the girl cannot see each other in pain but are not able to do anything.

Now lets movie on the foreign movies now.
I must confess that I have seen very few Foreign movies.

Foreign Movies
Ladri di biciclette
aka Bicycle Thieves(Vittorio De Sica)
Some movies don't look to be great when you see them the first. While watching the movie I didnt find it to be so great. But when you think about the movie afterwards you will find that there are not many movie which can match the raw power and simplicity of this movie. A neorealistic approach which I have mentioned above is used to make the movie which makes it different.

Battaglia di Algeri, La
aka The Battle of Algiers(Gillo Pontecorvo)
Some movies have so much emotions that they swept you away. Some dont have any. This is one such movie. With series of event unfolding emotions take a backseat. In such a environment even simple dialogues make huge meanings. I can remember such dialogues from the movie which would otherwise would be just a passing scene in other movies. But due to the raw power of the movie, those simple scene make a huge impact. See it to love a different kind of a cinema.

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso(Giuseppe Tornatore)
Some movies comes from the heart of the director. This is a must see for those who think from heart. So many beautiful quotes are there in the movie. It will remain will me for the rest of my life.

Krotk Film o Milosci
aka A Short Film About Love(Krzysztof Kieslowski)
If you have not seen any of the Kieslowski work then you are definitely missing something. A Short Film about Love is one of his beautiful work. If you are truely in love see this movie to confirm it.

M(Fritz Lang)
This classic comes from Hitler torn Germany in 1931. The movie is about a child-murdered who is on a killing spree in a town in Germany. The movie doesn't show the murdered himself in detail but the consequences of his killings in the soceity. Such are the cosequences of his act that other criminals take up the role of catching him and criminals infact catch him in the end. And this is where the movie takes an amazing turn. They set up a pseudo court with criminals as judge and a pseudo lawyer for the child murdered. This is the climax of the movie by far the most thought provoking climax I have seen.

Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le
aka Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Again a movie which is made from the heart. Its so simple yet so effective. The story is so simple that I can write it in one line. But how beautifully the director has presented his story. Watch it to love it.

Mulholland Drive(David Lynch)
Watch this if you are really crazy. And if you think thats not enough watch the other David Lynch movies. I was one of those crazy people to get informed about this new type of direction which I have not seen. Nothing is obvious in the movies. Not even a single scene. Watch it at your own risk.

Recent Good Movies
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind(Michel Gondry)
In my book this will go as one of the classics. With so much originality in script and screenplay this is the movie to cherish. A movie which tells us at least something about what love is.

Syriana(Stephen Gaghan)
If you thought that Crash and Babel are good, then Syriana has to be the best of such kind of hyperlink movies. It shows us various kinds of character which are affected by event in a different way. It shows simple characters, the wicked ones and those who are on the both sides of the coins. A superb movie with one of the best background scores. It would be hard for you to follow the movie, so I suggest to read something about it before actually seeing it.

Being Cyrus

This is the movie about Cyrus( Saif Ali Khan). About how it is like Being Cyrus.
The movie starts with Cyrus joining the pottery school of Dinshaw Sethna( Nasseruddin Shah )
Dinshaw's wife Katie( Dimple Kapadia ) begins to seduce Cyrus. She has her own plan and wants to change her boring life. Dinshaw on the other hand is always in his world, never bothered of anything other than the art for which he gave all his life.

Dinshaw's brother Farrokh( Boman Irani ) also has an eye on beautiful Katie. He hates Dinshaw and vice-verse. Farrokh and Katie make a plan to use Cyrus to kill Dinshaw father Fardounjee Sethna(Honey Chhaya) who has a lot of property in Mumbai. They also plan to kill Farokh's beautiful wife Tina Sethna(Simone Singh). In between all this hiccup is Inspector Maninder Lovely (Manoj Pahwa) who accidentally saves Tina's life.
What Cyrus does in this situation.
Watch out the movie for that.

What marks this movie out is its dialogues. Some of the best dialogues I have heard.

Here are some of them
"Ordinarily people would consider me distinct from usual emotions of human life. But how ordinary people are anyway. I suppose I look life a little differently. My impressions are moulded by the series of event that were not in my control and I have grown this life from the outside"

"As children we never imagined that there was a world out there that the other people spent all their life grabbing at. As much as we wanted to break out from that world nobody ever told us that the more we grab the more will we loose a few pieces of ourselves"

"Leo Tolstoy once said all happy family resemble one another. Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. This is about the Sethna family the two brothers, their old father Fardounjee and a few variants thrown in for good measure. This is my side of their story"

And then the humorous ones
About Nasseruddin Shah ( Dinshaw Sethna)

"I apprenticed Dinshaw Sethna sculpture evongaurd now vanished into obscurity. A recluse whose work had once won several accolade which they knew nothing about"

"First smoke of the morning and the stars would always come out for him"

About Katie ( Dimple Kapadia )
"Katie was a piece of work. My eyes would rarely get past her swish of hip and bounce of breasts. I would blush profusely and she would love it. Most people make eye contact, Katie liked to make breast contact every chance she get."

"So I went along for I was sure of one thing if I wanted I could play Katie like a violin"

About old Fardounjee Sethna
"It wasn't about the bruise. What sicken me was the sight of how helpless and vulnerable he was.
How quickly everything seem to break down once you get this old"

"Even as the word spilt out I could tell he been having a foggy day in neverland. I have seen statues with more expressive eyes"

And last but not the least.
"Once the game is over the king and the pond go back into the same box"

A good movie can be judged on how the lesser know actor act in the movie.
Honey Chhaya as Fardounjee Sethna is too good.
Same goes for Manoj Pahwa as Inspector Maninder Lovely who is brilliant.
As for the other noted performance is Boman Irani.
Naseerudin Shah has few scenes in the movie but we get to see what we expect from him.
Dimple Kapadia looks beautiful.
Saif is everywhere in the movie. With such a good director we expect that he will get a good performance out of Saif Ai Khan. Saif does his job cleanly.

One has to mention some notes about the director Homi Adajania
One has to be very tough to make such a movie and get out with flying colours. I have seen very few directors with such a impressive debut.

mandal2

I first met with the reservation system during the engineering admission( may be I was fortunate till then). I was confident of getting the seat in VJTI( my rank was somewhat 30 ). So I didnot face any difficulty in taking admission in VJTI. But it was after coming in VJTI that I saw the bad face of reservation. I always thought that the reservation is for the backward class. But I hardly saw a face from the so called backward class who really backward. ( Sorry to those who really think they indeed deserved reservation ). Most of people I met from the backward class in my class were in a better economic position than me. ( Again sorry to those who think otherwise ). It is not that I think the student from the general category are more intelligent. We all were equally bad( I mean it ). I know for sure that most of the so called backward student themselves dont support the reservation. But who will give away the sweet icecream( I wouldn't ). So it is not their fault. It is the government policy which is at fault. So we should all oppose Mandal-2.
Most of the people getting benifit of reservation are not poor at all. And people who are poor dont get education at all. The priority of the government should be to give at least primary education to the poor. Mid-day meal is a good project which support this cause. But is the primary education enough. No it isnt. Primary education means nothing here. You cannot be self-sufficient just by primary education. Or for that matter secondary education. We can see woman from previous generation who have secondary education but are totally illeterate. But that another issue of woman illiteracy.
So that means that we have to give them reservation in higher studies. Its true but why only backward class. Why not club all the reservation into one class, the economical backward class( and you know what I mean by that ).
If the government really cared about the poor it would have suported the Narmada Bachao Andolan. But on one side it is taking the home away from the poor and on the other promising them higher education.
From the medieval till the recent past and even now, the people from the backward class were oppressed. Now the people from the higher class feel that they are opressed. History it seems is not without a sense of irony( lifted shamelessly from The Matrix )

Please feel free to write your comments

bhanji

Here are the photos of new member of our family

israel

Recenty I went to Israel.
Here are few things I learnt about that place

Let me think..............
Ok

1) I was with my my senior team member Meir Ivgi. This was my first day in Israel.
At the dining table I to;d him that I dont eat meat, fish , beef , etc .....
He replied "what do u eat then?".
Well the reply was simple but the way he said it he meant to say that there is nothing to eat
if u r a vegeterian
It amazed me because I think there is so much variety in vegeterian food.
But people in that part of the world are different from us as far as the food goes.

2) "How can you explain the existence of 32 crore God in ur religion? Allah is one.". This was the question raised by our taxi driver Ashraf. Well it is not that I dont know the question. I have heard it many times. I can even give u the usual answer "The routes are different but the
destination is same". But I dont like good sentences. They mean everything to the one who
has originally written them but almost nothing to the one who uses them. So Ashraf the
simple answer to this question was that I cannot justify it. I have read that in some of the sacred hindu book( i mean the book greater than the ramayana , mahabharata , bhagavada gita ) God has been refered as "it". Any guess why.........

3) "In 1948 , a group of Jewish people came and occupied this land forcefully. They said that God has given them this land. But this is not true" by Ashraf. Ashraf is an Israeli Muslim. You can see the anger in his sentence. I know that there are such angry muslims in India too. Not good for a country where its people are angry......

4) The last thing I observed that there were so few Christian people at the birth place of Christ. I may be wrong but I did not see many people there.


So thats it now some photos

1) Jerusalem
A good place if you are intersted in seeing a historical place. A sacred place for Christians



The place where Jesus Christ was born








A church at jerusalem. Most probably Nativity church






The place where Jesus sat before he was crucified
Hope I am correct.











The streets where Jesus walked with the cross before he was crucified. It an irony that I saw very few Christians living at this place.









A church on the way where Jesus took his final journey. As always I forgot the name of this place....









Beautiful landscape at the back
On the way to Dead Sea









Picture from the Masada fort.