A gutsy foreigner girl survives in Mumbai doing an odd-job against the wishes of her mother, all in an effort to search for her father, more so, to search for that someone who cares for her. This is the backdrop of “That Girl in Yellow Boots” which is very real and captures your full attention initially.

Ruth (Kalki) is a survivor in the big city, who works in a shady massage parlor and doesn’t mind giving the extra ‘handshake‘ service to make an extra buck.

The movie is a time-slice of Ruth’s life where she struggles hard, both as a foreigner in native land and as someone who is lonely and longs for unconditional love. How she manages her job, her eccentric boyfriend, the gangster who comes out of nowhere, the cop, the regular customer who cares for her, and the passport office officials makes up the rest of the movie. Kalki revels in this role (I am a major fan by the way). Her attempts to learn Hindi and her sustained efforts to look for her father seem genuine and you can’t help but sympathize with this girl in yellow boots who puts up with all of it with a brave face.

Positives

• Some very powerful performances from Kalki, Prashant Prakash (her boyfriend), Puja Swarup (as the spa owner) and the Kannadiga gangster (Gulshan Devaiah) who steals the show with an absolutely fantastic display of acting talent.
• A very crisp and tightly held screenplay, not peppered with the usual mainstream songs which is a major relief.
• The lighter moments during the movie are hilarious to say the least, with some very genuine situational comic sequences which help to tone down the serious aura that lingers around.

Negatives

• Too many cameos (although most of  them are good), which are more of a distraction than a means to take the plot forward. Naseerudin Shah’s role as the regular customer who cares for Ruth could have had more depth.
• The plot in itself is a not multi-layered, which makes it tough to keep the momentum going on the solo track of Ruth looking for her father in the monster metropolis.

Its hard-hitting, bold, in-your-face, and leaves you queasy at the end. This is another one of Anurag Kashyap’s masterpieces that you should not miss, if you have the stomach for it that is.

Yesterday was the first time that I went to see a play. The play was “The Real Inspector Hound” by Quaff Theatre (Mumbai), which was a part of the Metroplus Theatre fest 2011. And, I must say, it was a very rewarding and a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I had been wanting to watch a play for a long time, but had somehow never got around to doing so.

There were a lot of apprehensions when it came to watching plays in an auditorium. Will the dialogues be audible? Will the tickets be too expensive? Will I be able to follow what’s going on if I zone out for a moment or two during the play? Would it be too hard to understand the intent and the purpose of the play? Will I be able to get a good look at the actors if I get a seat in one of the last rows?

Yes, I did have these and many other equally bizarre questions looming in my head even while I was booking the tickets for this event.

It was difficult for me to convince others to come along because I myself had not done anything like this before. “Lets go watch a movie instead”, “PLAY!!!”, “Ummm, only if the tickets are very cheap”, “You go, watch and then tell me how it went” were the kind of responses I was getting from all and sundry. I finally found one friend who was ready to take the plunge. And let me tell you, it was worth the effort. I got to witness some remarkable performances from the masters on stage.

Let me first start off by saying that theatre has been made very affordable with passes being sold at Rs. 100/250/400 apart from student passes which were priced at Rs. 50. So, its not an exorbitant expenditure on an unknown experience. In the worst case, it’s as good or as bad as watching a bad movie in the multiplex (…and don’t tell me that you have never ever watched one).

The environment is very different from that of a movie hall. You can’t have phones ringing or walk in anytime during the play as it causes immense distraction to the actors on stage. You can’t hoot or whistle, and nor can you be a pain in the neck for the people sitting on either side. Its a much more civil and well groomed gathering, where everyone has come to have some quality entertainment being delivered on-par with international standards.

At first, you may feel out of place but once you get in, you follow the crowd (something we Indians are so very good at) and blend into this new kind of fabric easily. As far as following the dialogue or getting a good look at the actors is concerned, trust me, all those misconceptions will vanish the moment the play starts. The  level of involvement is very high as the play unravels and consumes you to allure your senses in every which way that it intends to.

Go for a light-hearted comedy if you are not the one for political satires and strong social statements. But, go and experience this almost-forgotten and yet-to-be-mainstream form of entertainment and it will give you a different take on the world around. ‘Play’ is the way.

(Image: wemedge  from sxc.hu)

Hindu mythology says that there are only three major events in a person’s lifetime: Birth, marriage and death. It also says that since you are fully conscious during only one of these three events, you better celebrate that event with all possible grandeur, and make it memorable.

But in the life of an Indian ‘ex-teen but yet-to-be-called-uncle’ youth, there’s one other event that’s as eventful and memorable as the other three, and  during this one too the person is fully conscious. Wondering what I’m talking about?

Yes, its the first trip abroad/overseas for ‘higher’ studies. That is when you get overwhelmed by the ‘Oh I’m gonna be an NRI… I’m going to the developed world… the land of many more opportunities… where the money is good and the girls are even better… where there’s plenty to explore and enjoy… where the beer flows like water’ feeling .

Once the visa and the I20 are in hand, pandemonium sets in – resigning from the work-place, throwing farewell parties, getting sentimental about leaving all your co-workers, shopping a million times for a zillion things, learning to cook, packing all the stuff, buying some more stuff, then re-packing all the stuff, meanwhile getting in touch with all friends (new and old) and letting them know of your departure date (hoping they come send you off at the airport).

You start counting the days to the departure date with a mixture of excitement, enthusiasm, confusion and a fear of what the unknown new world has in store ahead. It’s pretty much like waiting for the wedding day, where you are the bride  -getting all elated and decorated during the last few days,  as well as the groom – developing cold feet due to fear of commitment. You splurge everywhere on everything – on the necessary, the unnecessary, the unnecessary-now-but-maybe-necessary-later, the necessary-now-unnecessary-later, and the dad-thinks-its-necessary-because-Raju-uncle’s-son-took-it-along stuff. Your savings get wiped out in a jiffy, and then you begin to sport the t-shirt with the logo ‘My dad is my ATM’ and live true to the logo.

Your mom makes you go helter-skelter all over the kitchen trying to teach you to cook basic stuff. Your friends make fun of the remnants of the dried lentils and pulses that they find on your hair when you go to meet them after the disastrous cooking sessions. Your uncles and aunts ask you to go visit some specific temples to get visas, and some others to get call letters from particular universities. Dad keeps giving you career advice every time he catches you taking a break after weighing the bags and finding out that they’re all packed just right.

And then there is the climax at the airport. There’s a colossal wastage of time and resources at the airport. Twenty plus people driving in 4 to 5 cars come to send off this one guy/gal whom they have seen all this while in life ( 20 odd years). They come all the way to the airport, spending on the fuel and the food and singing all the way in cars or hired cabs. But the irony is that they don’t pay that little extra amount on the entry ticket to get into the airport. They all huddle outside, at the entry point, and keep waving like there’s no tomorrow.

It can’t get more dramatic than this. People waving, grandmas crying, moms wiping the sweat off their brows, dads sipping on coffee and scratching their heads thinking as to whether their children have taken the right decision or not. Then comes the final stretch, from the entrance to the sliding doors, the stretch that you have to take alone, the stretch where you keep looking back each second at all that you will be missing henceforth. Alas,  and at last, you disappear amidst the chaos within the airport and the send-off is then deemed complete.

It’s quite an amazing, intriguing and tiring event, I must say.

Image : klsa12 from sxc.hu

Director/Writer: James Cameron

Actors: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang

A tweet review would be – “A visual and aesthetic treat. This marks the beginning of an era. Cameroon has done it yet again.”

Right from my cousin who’s in primary school, to my friend in college, to my NRI uncle, absolutely everyone has been mesmerized by this masterpiece. This has to be one of the very few movies that has lived up to its hype and has actually delivered more than it promised.

The Plot:
Firstly, we have a US Govt. commissioned space mission to the planet Pandora, in search of the mineral ‘unobtanium’ (loved the name) which is precious and can solve the energy crisis on planet earth. Then we have the locals of Pandora, the Na’vi people, a tribe of ten-foot tall blue skinned, pony-tailed humanoids. Then we have the paraplegic war veteran, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who is brought in place of his scientist twin brother who dies before the mission. Then we have a person’s “avatar”, a body made by combining the genes of the person with the native Na’vi genes. These avatars are controlled by their owners, who are in an unconscious state in a lab in the human base station. The purpose of developing avatars is to form a better connection with the natives, and persuade them to move from their traditional land to make way for mining. Lastly, we have the military forces led by Colonel Miles (Stephen Lang) who thinks that war is the only way to handle the situation in Pandora.

Jake being an ex-marine, initially tries to straddle two boats at the same time – being loyal to the military as well as the scientist camps. But as he mixes with the natives and understands their affinity towards the ‘Home tree’ (the center of their existence), he takes the side of the natives in this unfair and unjust battle. His falling in love with the king’s daughter only hastens the process of the increase in his affinity for the natives. Jake takes it on himself to save the Na’vi race from the human onslaught and that shapes up as the epic Na’vi versus humans battle in the climax.

The Positives:
All the lead actors have done justice to their roles, but a special mention must be made of Sigourney Weaver who plays the lead scientist, and Zoe Saldana who plays the warrior princess (and is Jake’s love interest as well).

Each scene is picturesque. The level of detail in each frame is astonishing, setting very high precedents for the movies that use CG henceforth. The first half is breathtakingly beautiful, where you cannot but observe each and every intricate detail in Pandora’s landscape.

The subtle references made to the US attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq hit bull’s eye each time around. The tone in the dialogue when the colonel says “We’ll fight terror with terror” is so similar to the many speeches given out by Rumsfeld, Powell and Bush.

The Negatives:
A very predictable plot, nothing novel in it. But as some critics have said, there have to be some things that shouldn’t be experimented with in an experimental big budget movie like this, and Cameroon chose not to tamper much with the storyline.

Some of the characters are not well-rounded off. It is these characters that could have given much more depth to the wafer-thin storyline.

All in all, it’s a must-watch. It’s Cameroon’s gift to the world of cinema, and boy what a gift this one is. Go book your tickets for the next show and join the ‘Avatar’ fan club.

(Have you watched the movie yet? What are your thoughts on the movie?)

Image : PAHO

Off late, the swine flu virus aka H1N1 has been everywhere.  The one place you can always always find it is your TV set. Some channel, or its cousin, is sure to be saying one thing about it, or another. No one, however, tells you that if you look at the facts, you will find that the swine-flu has a lesser mortality/death rate than diarrhoea, pneumonia or TB. Yes, H1N1 has caused mass-hysteria, but can you blame the poor virus for that? Our friendly, neighbourhood reporter has done his very best to ensure that you are scared of catching the virus if you so much as step out of your house without wearing a mask.

While we raise such a hue and cry over H1N1, there is another, far deadlier, virus that has quietly spread beyond control. It’s the D.O.R (Death on Roads) virus. It has two variants: death due to driving, or death due to being a pedestrian on road. If you think talking about D.O.R. is another case of raising a storm in a tea cup, just take a look at some figures specific to India:

Swine-flu
Deaths reported(till date): 26
Number of infected cases : more than 1000
Estimated loss to GDP(if it becomes an epidemic) :1 – 1.5% of GDP (as given by World Bank)

D.O.R
Deaths reported: more than 300 PER DAY
Number of infected cases : the whole illiterate driving population
Estimated loss to GDP(it has become an epidemic) : 3% of GDP

WHO has released is first ever Global Status Report on Road Safety (which can be downloaded here) in which India has been accorded the dubious distinction of being the world leader in the figures for number of deaths due to road accidents. The report also goes on to say that by 2030, road accidents will become the fifth largest killer in the world.

Now, just take a moment to think, and decide for yourself,  which is deadlier and should get more media coverage!

Lets take a look at what the government can do about this. Regular road review programs, improving the quality and quantity of roads, strict enforcement of rules and regulations are some of the things the government could start with.

Another huge problem in India is that there are many drivers on the road who have no business being there. You guessed it, I am talking about the driver’s licence. It’s a joke, a mockery, a sham. This test is a very serious affair in developed countries. Dubai’s driver’s test is supposed to be the toughest and the most rigorous. People have been known to fail the test as many as 20 times. Their test is so trusted that the same license is valid in many other countries. Compare that with what happens in our ‘Shining’ India? – You don’t even need to know how to drive to get a license. You can simply get one and can use the license to practice ‘Live’ on the roads, along side ‘Live’ people. That just goes on to show the value we accord to our lives and to those of our fellow Indians.

I got my licence through a broker. At the time, I barely managed to drive a 4-wheeler, but the broker made a good deal and got me a combo license – which gave me the right to drive 2 as well as four wheelers – a license to kill. But, I have decided not to unleash my madness on the roads, and avoid being  a danger to myself and the society at large.

One thing, however, that the government can’t do is to change our mindset. They give us the road, but it’s upto us to use it. If we, as the drivers, choose to be illiterate, ignorant of the road rules, and don’t value our own lives, even the good Lord Ganesha can’t help us. We all see the advertisements about not mixing drinking and driving, but who doesn’t have a friend who says, “Oh forget that, I drive better when I am drunk.”

Develop a road-sense if you don’t already have one. Follow the rule whenever, wherever possible. Rules are meant to keep us from succumbing to D.O.R. and, if not for your own sake, think about the countless other fellow drivers and pedestrians that are likely to end up injured – even dead – because of your callous driving. Unless you develop this superior-sense, India, I’m afraid, will never shine.

Lastly, before you go buy yourself an N95 mask for the flu, buy yourself a helmet, get your vehicle insured and get it serviced. The media may still not take notice, but do your bit by educating your peers about D.O.R. – you will be saving many a lives.

This post is addressed to all the MBA aspirants, to clear a few misconceptions that have percolated through, I don’t know how but they have. This article may not help you take better decisions, but will definitely help you ask the right questions and have a better idea of what’s going on in this world of B-schools. This is a totally qualitative post not based on any facts but on pure observation and judgment (being in a B-school for a year now helps).

Ok, simple question first up. Why do you want to join a B-school? No googly here, it’s for the money. Period. The pay packages that managers get are better. People who give answers like “to increase my knowledge base / to add value to my resume” should go see a shrink.

How does one pick one B-school over another? It’s mostly hearsay, coupled with some rankings given by online forums like Pagal Guy. But these rankings don’t reflect the whole picture. Each B-school has its flagship program which has better placements than the other programs offered. But when the rankings are done, the whole institute is taken as one unit. These forums should follow the ranking model used in the US where they have department-wise rankings of all the universities. Be it the placement figures or the faculty, it’s always department specific. Before joining a B-school enquire about the placements and the profiles offered with respect to each department.

What about placements? When we look at a B-school, all we’re interested in is the placement figures. How were the placements last year? What was the average package? What was the highest? These are the general buzz questions which are answered in every B-school’s website, and on online forums like Pagal Guy. What they don’t talk about is the detailed nature of the profiles offered (they just mention the sector-wise distribution), the weightage (sector-wise) given by companies to related or unrelated work-experience or the number of people each company selects. (they generally just give a list of all the companies that come on campus. Little do people know that some companies don’t recruit even a single student.)

The figures put up on an institute’s website are invariably inflated, and inflated in ways which are very tough to decipher for any outsider. Scale down each of those figures by 20-25% minimum to get the actual scenario. And the worst part is, every B-school is a part of this charade. Each one trying to top the other, in showing inflated, untrue figures, all in an effort to get the students with the better scores (who may not necessarily be the better students). Don’t just go on hearsay. It’s your career. Do a little more research. Take informed opinions. Talk to people studying in the colleges, people from the industry too, if possible.

How important is it to have good academic scores? Some institutes do not guarantee placement for students who do not satisfy certain academic requirements (having a minimum CGPA). Many B-schools chuck out academically poor students too. So, for all those who think that cracking the CAT is the final frontier, think again.

How should one prepare? Extremely subjective! Do what works for you. There’s absolutely no standard template for success.

What’s the one most important thing that one should know? For the interviews, knowing the current trends in the industry is important. But having a good answer for the “Why MBA?” question is the most important thing. Again, there is no one answer to the question that fits all. You have to think for yourself and find an answer for yourself. Once you know the answer – and it is a genuine one- it will give a boost to your overall preparation.

So, if you are preparing for an MBA degree, plan well, and do your homework. If you do that, you should have a happy and a fruitful journey getting your MBA degree.

Recently, we heard Sachin say that the current Indian team probably has the best Indian batting line up ever. We also saw the almost quixotic Ravi Shastri equating this side to the great West Indian team of the early 80′s (this team goes out and attacks the opposition, having faith in the depth of their line-up…really?!?!).

Now let us leave Sachin aside. He is arguably the best batsman India has ever seen, but he is a part of the team, and he may have got emotional on this one instance, in such a long and respectable career. What is hard to ignore is that commentators – some of whom have never ever played cricket at any level – make such sweeping statements, without any credibility whatsoever.

Just because they have got a mike in their hands, the commentators do not get the right to say things that are not true, and, some might say, border on the foolish side of things. I have some simple questions for these commentators, who are out to make this Indian side look like the invincible team that they are not, and who, in the process, end up making a complete fool of themselves.

1. Is India the number 1 side now? In tests or one-days? (As of 11th march, they are 3rd in both the rankings)

2. For how long did the ‘invincible’ Australian team dominate this sport? Has the current team come anywhere close to what that team had achieved? A team is the best only when it has been on top for a long time, been dominant and set standards in every aspect of the game.

3. How many sides are going through a re-building phase due to retirements, Indian Cricket League and the likes?

4. Who are the major performers now? The players who are performing majorly now – Sehwag, Yuvraj, Sachin, Harbhajan – were a part of the team that went to the finals of the World Cup in 2003, a team that had Ganguly and Dravid who have both scored 10,000 plus runs in the One Day International (ODI) format of the game.

Yes, this side has had a good, very good run in the past one year. This run has also coincided with other sides losing key players to retirement and other reasons. What’s more, flatter tracks, better bats, changed rules (power plays), are all favoring a batting style that is nowhere close to elegant.

But, all I ask is for us to not jump the gun. Give them time to prove themselves before you put them on a pedestal. Otherwise, you’ll have to put your foot in your mouth and hide for cover…which I guess is not a problem for the un-ashame-able commentators.