Dev D.

Dhruv! Where have you been? It’s almost been a month since your last post. We need our weekly fix of Dhruv’s views and opinions. Please write something.

Thank you anonymous (and imaginary) people for the requests for another post, and how can I disappoint my (imaginary) friends? 

Though to be honest, I don’t have a reason to why I haven’t posted in some time. It’s not like I have been too busy or occupied. But still I’m always short on time. I guess its a side-effect of college. But the side-effect has a side-side-effect, I get to watch a lot of movies and listen to a lot of music and then tell you people how I feel about them. YAY! (No?)

So today, I tell you about Dev D.

 

Super cool poster for a super cool movie

 

 

So after waiting for weeks I finally got to see Dev D. I hadn’t seen any of the Devdas’ before, so I was really looking forward to seeing a modern day version and to finally know what its all about. Firstly, this movie is definitely a step forward for Indian cinema. The movie is extremely dark (in nature, and the print) which made it tough to watch it on my laptop since the print wasn’t the best thing since sliced bread. I will not go into details about the plot, but will talk about certain points I like. 

 

It touched some of the plagues of modern India, for instance, reckless driving under influence by rich brats, exploitation of homeless girls, hypocritical society, mass circulation of MMS pornography (its ironic that I read about the Noida MMS a day before watching the movie) etc. What set apart this movie from other run-of-the-mill bollywood movies was the realism – in everything from costumes to accents to looks to dialogues. Nothing seemed fabricated. Even the walls of the rooms the characters lived in had brilliant posters and graffiti, stuff that is not paid attention to in mainstream bollywood. Abhay Deol was very apt as the drug addicted, alcohol guzzling, rich brat. This is his second movie I have enjoyed in the past few weeks (other being Oye Lucky Lucky Oye) and he probably figures in my list of top 5 bollywood actors (I have no clue who the other 4 are). So does Anurag Kashyap in my list of top 5 bollywood directors. I do know who the other 4 are – Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Priyadarshan, Rajkumar Hirani and Ram Gopal Verma.

 

Moving on, best aspect of the film : its mujical soundtrack. After hearing it around 10 times, I think its safe to say its my favorite bollywood soundtrack after Rang De Basanti and Joh Jeeta Wohi Sikander. Title track Emosional Atyachaar follows a very complicated curve of I hate this bs –> Wow this is catchy –> Eww annoying –> Man this is brilliant –> I’ll commit suicide if I hear it once more –> It’s my favorite song of all time. I think I’m on stage 4. Nayan tarse, Mahi Mennu, Pardesi are all brilliant songs with nice lyrics and great electronic, playable-in-a-club beats. I’m impressed by the fact that they could fit 18 songs into the movie without me getting frustrated.

 

I also saw Dilli 6 also. That does not deserve another post, though.

Super Bowl, Ads, Best, Of, 2009

Yeah, I, absolutely, love using commas.

I immensely enjoyed Super Bowl XLIII. I wasn’t supporting Cardinals or the Steelers, just some hard sacks, long TD passes, defensive TDs and some good ads.

This post is about the last item on my list. Let’s start.

 

10)

Am I biased because I drive an Audi A6? Yes Not at all. Gotta love the digs at Mercedes.

 

9) 

It’s been a year since ETrade launched its baby commercials during last superbowl, and this one continues the series of awesome dubbing over infants. I’m just glad he doesn’t puke.

 

8) 

I would fly Roadies Airlines, won’t you? More like watching a concert. While flying.

 

7) 

Isn’t this what Superbowl Ads are all about? High budget, jaw dropping moments with a grandma being forced to sit next to a giant pig. Brilliant.

 

6) 

People, including me, have come to expect a lot from beer ads during the superbowl. Mencia’s accent reduction class was a classic. Heineken has some great ones as well. This was probably the best beer ad of the recent superbowl. Conan O’Brian was hilarious as the ‘Vroom Vroom Party Starter’.

Note to self : Do not do weird commercials in distant countries once I get famous. 

 

5) 

Troy Polamalu tackling a white-collar executive is the recipe for a great superbowl ad.

 

4) 

I think Pepsi knows the secret of getting featured on my blog – pack as many freak accidents as you in under 30 seconds.

I’m still a Diet Coke guy though, and it has nothing to do with the fact that we share the same initials.

 

3) 

I don’t know how to describe this ad, apart from the fact that it made me happy. The bottle animation towards the end is memorable. Love it.

 

2)

Any ad involving a creepy office guy and a guy’s genitalia getting hit by a crystal ball has to make any top 5 list anywhere in the world. No arguing.

 

1)

This. This ad. This ad is. This ad is annoying. This ad is annoying but. This ad is annoying but brilliant.

 

That’ll be all for today. And few more days.

Ze Bailout

Consider this your lucky day, because today I tell you my views about the bailout.

Firstly, I would like to tell you my political stance. I consider myself to center-right, but extremely liberal at the same time. The fact that I’ve been living in the US for the past two and half years, coupled with the fact that I’m planning to do a Certificate in Finance in addition to my major (CS, which is) has spurred my interest in US Economics and all the razzmatazz that comes along.

So there is a credit crunch. People spent way too much, saved nothing. The American dream – “Work hard and then get whatever you dreamed about” was misinterpreted to be “Get whatever you dreamed about, then work hard”. But as we all know, motivation does not work in reverse. And now that people have realized their mistakes, they are not willing to commit them again. Which proves that leaving the Economy as it is and ‘let it sort itself out’ agenda is not the most appropriate.

Thats one of the biggest problems I see with tax cuts. Yes, people will have more money in the pockets. Will they spend it? No. They would save it, to protect themselves in the future. This doesn’t help the treasury because they want to get money flowing in the market again. The only solution I see is ensuring more Americans have a constant stream of income, better known as paying jobs. The confidence level has taken a hit, and would be tough to restore unless the common man is assured that spending money, taking loans etc will not lend him/her in to the same kind of trouble.

So as I see it, its paramount for the bailout bill to create jobs for American people – at all levels. Infrastructure projects are good, since they require hiring of a large number of people. Also, the government needs to ensure they don’t enter a trade lockdown with other countries, since it leads to contraction of your market.

Pure speculation – I feel a temporary depreciation of the price of the dollar would do the economy real good. A lower $ value means more foreigners invest in Wall Street and FDIs increase (as can be seen by the sudden surge in stocks at the start of last week). It also means that foreign products get more expensive, hence forcing US companies and individuals to look inwards for alternatives, which in turn increases the domestic cash flow. The Mexican Peso collapse in 1994 is a good example.

Bottom-line – Tax cuts are good, but not a comprehensive solution. Creation of more jobs coupled with smart thinking and decision making of families seems to be the only way to get the economy back on track. Let’s all do our part

Slumdog Millionaire

Yes, I liked the movie. No, this is not a review.

I just want to post my views about others views. ‘Others’ include people like Amitabh Bachchan (the undisputed king of Bollywood), family and friends, and even some real slum dwellers from Mumbai. 

Firstly, I need to boast. Ever since I saw the trailer of this movie on Apple’s website, I knew it would be big. Yes, I do have a tendency to judge the potential of stuff (movies, as well as people). Examples include Andrew Flintoff (I had him in my Lancashire playing 11 when no one had heard of him), Rakhi Sawant (the first time I saw her on TV I knew she would be in the news – for good/bad reasons) and Jessica Alba (or Max Guevara).

Now that I’m done boasting, let’s get back to the issue in hand. (Indian) People seem to be unhappy about the fact that a gora came to our country and showed so much poverty. People go on to claim that Danny Boyle tried to sensationalize poverty in India and this is not reality. Well, all I can say is that its time to remove the Fendis and Diors from your eyes and see the reality for yourself. I am almost entirely sure that whatever Boyle portrayed in the movie has been happening in every major city of India since Independence. Riots, child abuse, human trafficking, the divide between the have and have-nots; these are as real as the sun and the moon, and its high time we as Indians realize it. Being patriotic is one thing, but believing that we have already achieved an utopian India is the most unpatriotic thing possible. 

Secondly, Bachchan seems to have claimed that this movie is only gathering so much support because it was directed by Boyle. Yes Mr Bachchan, this movie is gathering so much support because it was directed by Boyle. 

But Dhruv! Aren’t both the sentences same??

Yes, they are. But the meaning behind them is not. Danny Boyle has directed some of the best movies EVER made – 28 Days Later and Trainspotting. From a bollywood actor, a industry where the success of the films mainly just depends on the cast, such a statement seems highly hypocritical. I don’t understand why people try and hold onto and apply Nationalism to all weird things, like the direction of an Oscar-bound movie. I would have loved to see David Dhawan or RGV direct this movie, but thats mainly because I love watching absolutely ridiculous movies.

Instead of being proud of the movie, most Indians seem to be critical of the fact that it shows life in India in bad light. Once again, for most people reading this blog from India, you, me, we alone don’t comprise of India. Go out of your house and look around. We are a minority. Why do we completely refuse to see (or admit) this fact? Instead of celebrating our way of life and hows there’s a sense of calm under all the chaos, we are trying to refute the reality of people in our country. 

If I got a penny for every time I heard someone talk about how Discovery channel only shows Varanasi and sadhus instead of our metros and our 5 star hotels, I would have been able to buy a can of Diet Coke. Why would Discovery channel show our hotels? We are not the only ones who have them. Heck, I would rather look at hotels in Dubai and Vegas than in India. Western media is bound to show the stuff they find intriguing – camel races, snake charmers, sadhus, and slums. I don’t see anything wrong in it. I agree, to some extent this is responsible for putting an image of India as a land of snake charmers, but we (me and you) are responsible for changing this image. I have my American friends ask me stupid questions about India all the time, but once I reply back, I’m pretty sure thats the last time they ever ask that question to an Indian.

It seems like I’m just rambling now, so I’m going to end this post with this – Instead of getting pissed off at the fact that someone called you out on the reality of the country, do something to change it. And if you can’t, feel lucky that you as an individual are not part of that reality. 

Oh also, check this out, a real life slumdog millionaire

 

Third time lucky?

Hello everyone. Sometimes I really wonder why I can’t stick to doing the stuff I think about doing. Whether it be learning to play the guitar, working out, cleaning my room, or, most recently, maintaining a blog. But then I just give up wondering.

This would be my third endeavor to try and maintain a blog, and just like with many other great people in the history of the universe, I hope I’m third time lucky. Previous blogs had been shut down for various reasons – from not thinking about what I’m posting and who all are reading it, to genuine lack of time. Unless ‘The Man’ (straight from School of Rock) gets third time lucky as well, I will put in my fourth best effort into this blog (first three being occupied right now).

I will try to post about my opinion on things – from news to sports to technology to you. I might even post about my life as an undergraduate. Or maybe about how to build a chair from scratch.

I’m kidding about one of the above, up to the readers to decide which one.

 

I plan to fool around with WordPress a little more before properly advertising this site (by which I mean put a link on Facebook). Hey, I might even get a proper domain name for the blog. So be afraid, very afraid.

Did I say afraid? I meant excited.