Sovereign Saint

Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath!

2012-01-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

Well, its been long I wrote a blog and so here it is my Comeback post! Just came back from Agneepath and well this is what I got to say about it...

So, the bottomline of AGNEEPATH is, you brutally kill a dude's dad and he will take 15 years to get back to you BUT you mess with his girlfrien' and boy he will come for you in less than 24 hours, like seriously!

Agneepath 2.0 (allow me to call it that) is a remake and what a remake it is. The director Karan Malhotra it seems has done some tweaks to the original Amitabh-starrer Agneepath and well, brought in some great ones at that.

So, you all must be knowing the story, the film opens like the older twin with master Deenanath reciting the Harivanshrai Bachan poem- Agneepath (a great poem, first to have two major bollywood movies to its credit, gotta be good huh?!). So, ya that is the opening scene and then the story moves in the same way, there are some minor changes with Kancha Cheena (Sanjay Dutt) being non-suave, non-sohpisticated, cruel, bald bad guy (nothing like the dashing Danny Denzogpa) and his plan for Mandwa is lil different from older Kancha, that doesn't matter really cuz the end result is the same, Master Deenanath, poor fellow, has to die. What bothers me here is nobody lets the poor guy explain the situation (you will know the situation when you watch the flick) and also, in an instant everybody turns against him. And so he dies. And this lil Vijay sees the lynching of his father and rest is just about how he gets back to Kancha for it.

The high-points of the movie:

*Entry of the HUNK aka Hrithik Roshan, agar is jahan mein kahi hotness hai to bas yahi hai yahi hai yahi hai. He looks super hot and he has acted real good, like real awesome. Avery different role from what he has done earlier, the shades of grey have come out so well in his character. He deserves a pat on the shoulder, though noone can help him escape the comparisons with Amitabh, but, he has done a genuine job out of it and that also will be noticed.

*The character addition of Rouf Lala, played by Rishi Kapoor. Well, I don't think anyone would have done the role with so much aplomb. What a performance Rishi Saab, what a performance! It was amazing, simply.

*The character of lil sister of Vijay Chauhan, played by a lil girl. Who again has done a fantastic debut job. In the earlier one it was played by Neelam and sister was not so little in that one.

*The moment when Hrithik kills Suraj (sidekick of Kancha) and does the "Pura naam Vijay Deenanath Chauhan"- the earlier version by Amitabh made the line a well known phrase and I don't think anyone can do the same "haaaaain" and thank god Hrithik didn't attempt it BUT he does it uniquely too and it is a great scene.

*The scene where Rishi Kapoor is trying to sell Hrithik's sister and obviously she is saved by Hrithik. But, the fight scene that ensues between Rouf Lala and Vijay is superb.

*The whole cinematography has to be given the due credits. The lightings, sets and camera angles are really cool.

I didn't like the mom though. Vijay's mom. The character is so confusing. huh! I mean she boycotts her son for a good 15 years because he has taken to himself to take revenge for his father's death but when finally the final battle comes she is all for it! And I am sure when at the end the dying Hrithik asks his mum "Maine thik kia na maa?" he is totally being sarcy and pat comes a super sarcy reply "Main prarthna karungi, ab jab bhi is duniya mein aau, teri hi maa banke aau..". Like really??

Also, the nexus between the polie and gangsters again comes to forth. Why else would the commissioner save Vijay's a$$ despite knowing everything about him?

All in all a good flick, total bollywood. Don't even wanna imagine it in Hollywood, only Indian actors are superheroes, who can despite being stabbed, twice, with a three inch knife have that much power left in them that they first kill the villain, double their size and then die. (oh also, the stab wound suddenly dissappers in the next scene, continuity prob KJo?)

Though, I would still go by the original theory. Kancha should have never killed Priyanka aka Kali, I mean the dude just got married to her, have a heart! They didnt even book tickets and you kill the freaking wife! Not a good decision I say.

Go watch it this weekend and am waiting for your comments on the movie and the post! :)

Happy New Year, Prime Minister!

2010-12-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

Wishes to the honorable PM,
With all our heart, Mr Prime Minister, we wish you happiness for you and us. In the new year we would want you to wipe the onion tears off our faces and please no petrol, potato or pulses' tears either. We would wish peace for you and us, when in new year we expect not to be caught off guard with pressure cookers blasting in the middle of a bustling market or gathering and really we just don't miss gunmen roaming here and there freely shooting at us at their free will so we would like you to ensure they don't pay a visit in 2011. We wish you good health and would want the same as citizens when our relatives and friends don’t die of malaria, dengue, Swine Flu, Chikungunya or any such disease which is well preventable or at the least curable. And the least we would wish you faith, faith which we would want you to restore in our leaders and the fact that our tax money will not again be used in corruption or scams 2G, 3G or CWG!

Once again, we wish you a very happy new year, Mr. PM!

When will Delhi drop the “unsafe” tag?

2010-12-13T01:41:00.000-08:00

Being a delhiite since birth, I love my city to the core, there isn’t any other place I’d rather be than here. But, since few years, since I started to understand the depth and the consequences of being in an “unsafe” city, I have realized that Delhi is anything but the “best” place to be for women.

I have friends in Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai who always used to tell me how those are “safe” cities, how they never feared venturing out alone on the street even at 10 pm and honestly, I used to wonder is that really possible? Till I experienced it myself, when I went to Pune.

I was so pleasantly surprised when I could see an auto at around 12 at night, hail it, hire it (without ANY bargaining, mind you!) and reach my destination without any problems, anyone staring at me or anyone looking at me as if I am some sort of a fly in a spider’s web. My mind was so relaxed while walking at Pune’s roads where no one eve-teasd me, no one passed comments and no one looked at me as if I just landed from Pluto or something!

While I am not saying that these incidents do not happen at all in Pune (A very brutal rape and murder in Pune 5 years back) but the situation certainly is not as bad as Delhi. I, myself, have had bad experiences everywhere, from bus to auto and while walking. People either keep staring at you like you just came out their favourite TV serial or keep passing comments which are often lewd in nature. Now either Delhi’s men over frustrated or the women over-hot! Well that was on a lighter vein. It’s a much more serious issue we are dealing with here.

In Delhi, no woman feels safe, especially those who come from other cities. I wouldn’t blame them. When I myself have witnessed and dealt with cases where 2 year old little girls have been raped and just left on the road, where women have been raped, teased even molested, where even actresses and celebrities have been groped, Delhi sure is not a place to be if you belong to the fairer sex.

What is it with Delhi’s men seriously? It’s the frequency of the crimes committed and the taken-for-granted law and order of the city that gives the encouragement to people to commit such crimes and think they will easily get away with it.

In the recent gang rape case of a BPO employee, where two accused have been arrested and one has surrendered, all the guilty perpetrators should be given a punishment which gives a clear message that now Delhi will not tolerate these crimes against women. As I write this entry another gang rape of a teenager just happened which takes it to a total of 4 this month.

Delhi is the capital of India, such a beautiful city, with a rich heritage, all the good food, good shopping options, blessed with all the seasons. All it needs to do is shrug the “rape capital” tag. The city really needs to pull up socks and shed this and soon.

Yes judicial system sucks, here crime never results in punishment and when it finally does, well, half of he accused are dead, old or simply past that stage where they would reform post the punishment. The other half has already committed ten more crimes for which ten more cases are registered.

I as a girl who likes to go out, hang out with friends, as a women understand that there is no crime greater than rape, nothing can help in overcoming that trauma and if the authorities can do anything to prevent such incidents they should well be on their toes by now.

Women should only be afraid of cockroaches, driving and sale-less seasons, not their lives. They should only have a fear of visiting in-laws not a fear of getting molested, groped or raped.

DELHI’S “FROWNING” GLORY

2010-06-27T00:29:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered, while walking on the road, why you never see a smiling face? Why all you see is frowns and lines on the forehead? Our very own Dilli is now quite famous for being the rage capital too. It’s no more dilli dilwalon ki, it’s instead gussewalon ki.
Once, I happened to cross paths with a foreign national. He seemed to be a chef of one the fine-dining restaurants of the mall I was visiting. As soon as we crossed each other, he getting out of the elevator and me getting in, he splashed one of the most charming smiles to me.And, guess what!? I did too!!
Then it struck to me, we just don’t generally do that here. No one passes me a smile and of course even I don’t. People just don’t look at each other with warmth; they rather have suspicion all over their faces. Either they are angry or just generally upset. What is common in Delhi is that people like to wear their worries on their faces. They get angry at the drop of the hat and they want to bash up the first person they can lay their hands on.
The fact of the matter is that we are all stressed at the rising inflation; we are all worried about trying to make the ends meet. But if we take out a single second and wonder how would we feel if just walking on the road to our different destinations, if just one stranger nods at us and gives a bright smile? Wouldn’t it be really amazing? Wouldn’t that gesture say that friend it’s the same with me too, cheer up! On the other hand wouldn’t we feel great if we just spread smiles to people on our way. It always is a treat to see an innocent smile perched on anyone’s lips. And with the Commonwealth Games coming up in our city, this could well be our very first step towards being great hosts. So, just smile and get smiles back. Fizz away the frown from your faces!

Hockey, where are you?!?

2010-02-21T06:44:00.000-08:00

Hockey. The sport that paints many pictures in my mind. The first one is someone getting hit on his head by a hockey stick amidst a school going kids' fight. Second, bad guys in a typical B-grade bollywood movie of say 90s carrying it to bash up the hero (who in all certainity wont get bashed or even if gets bashed will get up from the pool of his blood, if his mother or sister or lover calls for help or the villain injures his ego, anyway coming back to issue) and lastly, me memorising hockey as India's national game in the smallest of classes i remember, along with the national flower, national animal, nationam emblem, etc. None of the memories, whatsoever includes the sight of my family (or any family i know well) sitting an enjoying a hockey match.

I am no sport junkie. I am indifferent to all sports equally. But, usually in my childhood years I had to put with the "punishment" of foregoing my favourite cartoon or movie 'cuz a very crucial cricket match was on and my brother HAD to watch it.

Never had I heard or seen anyone watching or talking about a hockey match.

So, when recently people were talking about the Hockey World Cup and lack of interest in Indian public, i realized that it is not new. When did hockey started to extinct? more importantly, How and Why??

The Hockey World Cup starts in another ten days, in India. And frankly, if not for those Hero Honda ads, how many of us really knew about it? Why did Hockey never capture our hearts and minds? Why do hockey players never come to limelight? Why is the national game ignored like it was embarrasing to own it up? I mean seriously more people know about kabbadi than hockey. No offence to kabbadi, but hockey is our NATIONAL game. It DESERVES to be known, respected and taken pride for.

By this post i just want to urge my readers (if there are nay who actually follow my blog) please GIVE HOCKEY A CHANCE. Try and see the matches, cheer India, talk about hockey. If it is watched it will be given more coverage. If it is given more coverage more people will know about it and talk about and then again it will be given more coverage. And then maybe, just maybe people who should realise will realise that hockey is our national game and it is no less than any other sport. If you watch it, you might even like it, and people even if you dont like it the way you like other sports, you will do something for your country. And belive you me this is the easiest and most interesting way to do something for your country.

So, I am going to follow hockey matches and cheer India, pray that India takes the cup.

Will you?!

Bhai-log dhyan se padhna.

2009-11-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

So what should I write now? A lot has changed since my last post. So as an influence of what all has happened in my life in the past few months my views are forming ang changing everyday.

A few days back my class was campaigning in our campus against urinating and spitting in public or roads. This cause is personally very close to my heart as I think there is not a more disgusting way to show that you have absolutely no respect and concern for your nation and fellow citizens as well.

It may seem as a small problem and why the hell am i writing a whole post on it, but trust me it is a deeper issue. Its not just ignorance on part of the citizens majorly men in this case but a more deep-rooted feeling of considering it a right to pee and spit on roads by them.

I feel like stopping every person i see spitting or relieving him/herself on roads and ask how do you do at home? wherever you feel like? Dont you always go to the place called toilet?

I know then poeple have two counter answers to it,
firstly, are there any public toilets in our country or lets say are there any clean public toilets?
Well to that I would day that atleast if thats your defence stop spitting and for toilets well if you have observed there are many more public toilets than maybe 5-7 years back. And my dear fellow citizens dont women control their bladders, then why cant you??

Second arguement is that there is a lot of population that doesnt really have a toilet in their homes, the BPL families who have no option but to relieve themself in open.
Well ya i agree that is a major issue and honestly i dont have an answer to that all I wish and hope is that this one is soonsolved, till then please stop spitting atleast.

According to me this is one of the bigger issues and if as a nation we dont have basic sense of sanitation and cleanliness then we rather not bother about being a superpower coz people trust me that way outta your reach!

So bhai-log aaj se sadak pe na thookna, na susu karna. PLEASE.
Trust me it IS demeaning to your surroundings, people and country.

I am a girl...

2009-03-30T02:59:00.000-07:00

When i am born
Noone rejoices
no celebrations and
no loud happy voices
the curve of lips takes an upside twirl,
meet me I am a girl.

When im growing up
noone is happy to
see me stand for the first time
to hear my laugh or see my smile
noone is happy to see my hairs' curl
meet me I am a girl.

When I start school
its not so cool
cuz' its no use to let me learn
as it is i may not even earn
I might as well learn
how to sew and n cook
at my degree whos even gonna look
knowing housework is for me the wisdom's pearl
meet me I am a girl.

Now that i am big enough
and have realized how tough
has the life been so far
that door of hope is always ajar
thoughts inside me are forming a whirl
IS IT MY FAULT THAT I AM A GIRL...???

This may not be true for all girls but is for many. An honest not-so-heavy attempt to say that Girls are no less than boys and in fact i firmly believe that they sometimes even prove better children. If nothing else at least give them an equal chance of life.
Don't abandon girls, as it is, its not their fault that they are girls, in fact it is NOT A FAULT to be one. I am one and a proud one.

The 'T' Word

2008-11-20T03:34:00.000-08:00

Of course, no prizes for guessing the word (yea yea it’s TERRORISM). And NO I’m not here to do some solid government-bashing, nor am I going to propose some breakthrough mind blasting solutions n I really don’t want any resignations, they are all bloody same.…..
What I am wondering at is Do we ever learn from our expeirnce, if yes then What? What the hell have we learnt from all our past experiences?

We as citizens…. don’t we have any role to play when our nation is being attacked like this, multiple times this year? Of course! We can Protest. We can blame the Government. We can demand resignations. We can accuse neighboring countries. And obviously we can light candles.
Well I think there’s more we can do. We can for a start root out their basic purpose, we can help by not getting “terrorized”.

There is one thing that keeps coming to my mind, in this particular incident, there wer just 2-3 terrorists in the Taj, and they killed more than 100 people there. If, if those 100 people just charged at those two f****** A******* then probably 2 would have gotten killed, may be four ok 10? 20? But to think of it won’t those 80 people have survived and look at the bigger picture their operation would have stood an utter failure..!
Agreed, maybe I’m saying too much coz’ I wasn’t there… you know how can I say such things, the one who is there only he knows, you can’t jus charge at people with AK 47s, etc etc etc, but come on is it entirely impossible?

Forget this; the whole picture that we portray of our country is an invitation one to such “non-state actors”. There are so many internal disturbances in our country, so many differences that perhaps they realize that they have so much to deal within their nation they don’t know or care what is coming from outside.

And our government I really don’t think there is any thing left to say about them. The only thing to be proud of in this nation is our army and of course the police force. The NSG Commandos. Media… I think media never understands its role in such situations and just underestimates its power. In such a time when our nation is reduced to nothing else but a sitting duck, all I can say is that first, choose your candidate carefully, second always always vote, and finally lets just promise ourselves that this time there wont be another such thing, that this time we will learn from this and from this time WE WILL TAKE RESPONSIBILTY rather than pity.
We don’t need such callous politicians who donot know how to respect a martyr and his family, we don’t need such leaders who take ages to take decisions and we will sack all these public SERVANTS who have forgotten (just coz’ we let them do so) that India still is a democracy and they are here to serve US.
WE THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, WILL PLEDGE TO ABOLISH THIS T word FROM OUR DICTIONARIES.

LeFt--RiGhT--LeFt...

2008-07-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

hmmm...No No..its not about that silly soap. Neither am i planning to give lessons on marching. Though i can.. was good at it in school.

Anyway, my modus operandi here is just a humble attempt at trying to understand what is going on.

Well, Im noone to comment on Indian politics as i donot even know the "P" of politics and frankly I'm least interested. But, its quite intriguing and being a media student/professional im expected to know, understand and comment on each and every issue irrelevant of my interest in it.

Ya so coming back to it. What exactly is going on....? Nuke deal.

All i can observe through newspapers (as i detest watching news channels, they should'nt be called so even acc to me) is that left is up in arms against UPA , ok ya Manmohan ji for every thing in this world. Poor soul!! No matter what he does, he is always met by protest and disagreement. Does being an Opposition mean that you must not appreciate any honest humble attempt too?! i truly am looking for answers as im quite a nerd in these things.

Does Nuke Deal spell so much "danger" for our nation that all the other matters are being ignored? If they have to criticize and demand answers why donot they pressurize on the Loan waiver issue in the current bill?

Or for that matter the reservation case? Why and how will the government manage if one more tribe is up in protests demanding reservation or OBC status? or what about the Women's reservation or Women rights or Inflation? ooohhh!! is there any shortage of issues to "fight" about? i seriosuly donot understand this "left-right-left" around the Nuke Deal. and also i would like to ask why isnt either side clear on their stand on this issue too? sometimes left supports it n next day it again is not for the motion. I mean would you please make ur minds up ? People like me have a hard time understanding the newspapers one day and if you change your stands everyday how will we cope..? for our sake please...

And one more thing im not here supporting or not-supporting nuke deal. I personally feel that Nuke Deal could have been a very good resource had it not been dragged soooo much. And now if they just move on our nation is not that dependent on the deal. We have plenty of resources only if we learn to sort out internal differences and instead put the energy to exploit those.

This entry is truly from the heart and i humbly invite comments.
Next i think "left" will blame poor manmohan ji for an earthquake or tsunami. .. quite possible..!

Those Little Fingers.... Haunt me.

2008-02-07T23:14:00.000-08:00

I once again got inspired by reading an article.... sorry but thats how i am until i see something i identify with and think it is worth bringing light to, im not writing it here..

India- two digit GDP-superpower-economic giant.

wats so "wow" about this fact i donot understand. oh no i am no cynic , i reaally admire my nation for the position it has acquired in such a less time,but, we let this fact overshadow all other More Important facts.

Facts like -

we are still the country with the most corruption.
we are still the country with millions of people living without food,shelter,clothe or they are laying their hands on these things in all possible wrong ways.
we are still the country where rural population has no reach whatsoever to the "more" modern.
we are still the country with less electricity ;ess water and much much more people.
we are still the country with low very low tolence level and inspite of being secular up in arms on the slightest provocation.
and this one which moves me most-
WE are still the country which has endless ever expanding number of people who are begging on the streets AND majority of them being kids ageing 0-16 yrs.

i donot know whether it makes an impact on nayone else or not but when i see any small kid knocking on my car window with his/her little fingers i really feel i have a meaningless life.
i think it is just not their fault and their parents have no right to throw them into this dirty gutter of begging. if they cannot sustain kids they should not have them. but then maybe it is yet another vicious circle of life.
those little fingers DO haunt for some time but then i again get on with my life, i DO feel helpless for sometime, but then one cannot sulk forever.
what happens to Human Rights of those small children, they too have full right to education. they too deserve to be going to school having fun, playing learning english, science, arithmetic.
there might be NGOs for them people must be thinking (who at all feel anythng) but WHAT ARE WE DOING? and trust me this we includes me on the top. isnt it our responsibilty , we supposedly the better off people, isnt it our duty to level up societies is everything in this world just for blaming our authorities, "sarkar kuch karti nahi hai" "inko ghar kyu nahi deti" "inka kuch karti kyu nahi"
why do we forget at such times it is democracy and WE are equally responsible, we should also help them in anyway we can.

i personally feel little children begging on the roads is worse than child labour. i feel we have equal rights in terms of the basic requirements and what is their fault that they are on the other side of the window? what have they done to deserve this? such questions keep haunting me and will keep disturbing till i do my bit and i know one day or the other i will do my bit.
i just wish that along with becoming a superpower our country also becomes a super nation, where there are no people living on streets and depending on the cars stopping on the red lights.

whenever i see those twinkling eyes on my car window i see so many dreams in them ....maybe because dreams donot see the economic status of the eyes they are resting into. and why should they?
till something is done about this donot ignore those little fingers knocking at ur window, donot look away from those beautiful eyes, donot run away from them.
lets hope we donot ride so high on our economy elephant that we donot see what it is treading on.
go ahead do some reality check for urself
as for me Those little fingers will haunt me.

Amreeekanisation..!!

2007-12-18T05:16:00.000-08:00

so many times i have heard people say this line" arey waha gaye ho....bilkul amreeka ban gaya hai" referring to some place where there are tall buildings or malls or maybe some development. Americanisation as some may call it is nt just developing nation (our nation to be specific) on the lines of America or western culture, i have realised its connotation is much more deeply n socially rooted.

it's a process which involves people, common man as we say. we have these never ending comparisons with America, we compare even the smallest development in the country with America. when we see malls mushrooming in and around our cities we strt comparing them with america,, America has become a sort of benchmark which certainly is not a good sign.

just a few days back when the news of two 7th standard boys shooting one of their classmate came in, i remember one of the newspapers gave the headline"our Americanisation is complete" comparing the incident to the similar one that happened in "the" America. well i dnt understand that why do we have to look up to the US for every small good and bad. we are well off a nation in fact in the cmng years we are gonna overtake even our godfatherly America.

people need to be made realise that america is no idol, we need to look beyond think beyond and act beyond, even we have to look uo to any nation why not China or Japan or even African nations for that matter.

so just think people, Bikul Amreeka nahi banana India ko.....INDIA banana hai.. aur India ko INDIA hum sab ko milke banana hai....

this was somethng i hv been thinking for months nw.... every now and then i heard someone say this ki ekdum amreeka lagta hai,,,, i really detest this phrase, this phrase depicts the utter desire of people to see their nation become n immitate some other nation instead of creating an identity. we as citizens of india should be the ones to popularise promote n propagate our culture which is deeply admired all over the wolrd,,, bt instead we tend to promote westernisation.

i hope we the people of india realise the duties ( ya dat may sound heavy,, bt it very much our duty) to erase this concept of amreekanisation n look beyond.....!! :)