Indian cinema != Bollywood

I was delighted to see the NDTV entertainer of the year award for the year 2007 being given to Rajnikant. Not because I am a hard core Rajni fan or a big admirer of the movie Sivaji . But because of the fact that Indian media has started to recognize beyond the horizons of bollywood. There have been always quality movies which come out of 'woods' other than bollywood but most of them have gone unrecognized. For instance, it fails my understanding as to why was Paheli sent to oscar last year and why is eklavya being sent this year. I know of many movies which were better than them in Tamil, the only regional language movie I follow and am sure others following will give more of such instances. So it is time the term bollywood gets redefined and no longer means Indian cinema. World should realize that bollywood is not Indian Cinema and there is much beyond that. Its time we stop seeing the movie industry from a myopic view point.

One last note on Rajni, according to me he is the most bankable actor in the whole country. Have him in the movie and you can definitely achive six sigma level success or may be more.


Check out the video.

Battle of Perth 2

This happens to be the most exciting test match of my cricket crazy years. And hence ,I am writing a daily account of the match here. India are right at top at the moment. Indians began the day well on an aggressive mode with Viru going for the shots. It is a pity Sachin and Dravid failed to capitalize on their first innings form. Dhoni played a hand after a really long time . But the hero of the day has to be Pathan. Sent in as a the night watchman after Wasim Jaffer failed yet another time, he played a gem of an innings. Laxman played his usual best against Australia. RP Singh gave some thrills towards the finish and Indian tail wagged than longer giving Australia a record score to chase. Aussie run chase has begun on wrong note with both openers failing to fire again and Pathan the tormentor again. Ponting seems to be steadying the ship with his aggressive best. This is a cracker in store for the weekend.
Being an Indian fan and also a Steve Waugh fan, I want Indian team to come victorious and as of now the prospects look 70-30 in favor of India. With the early morning conditions , Indians could well peg back the Aussies with some quick wickets. Hail India!!

Battle of Perth 1

With the verbal battle between CA and BCCI over , the focus now shifts to the action down under in Perth. With Australia showing some discipline on the field , no sledging so far in the match and only genuine appeals and Indians putting up a fight on field rather off the field, this match is poised to signify positive cricket again. The focus is on whether Australia can manage to win without their usual sledging and mental game and if India can come out of the mental block of not winning on a pacy wicket of Perth. All in all a cracker of match in store. Hope the better team( for me India :)) wins.

Australia : Down Down

Australians are the champions, in one day cricket, test cricket and non-cricket. Yes, what happened in the one of the first test matches of the new year was NOT cricket. Right from the horrendous umpiring decisions ( a whooping 11 in number) to the 'sportsman spirit' shown by the Aussies have been unprecedented. And I sincerely hope no one repeats also. This Australian team has earned the dubious distinction of being the most 'aggressive' and unfair team I have ever seen play cricket.
When you have players who nick the ball with a loud noise and still stand their ground hoping umpires would rule them not out and the same player who has clearly grounded the ball while taking a catch off the pad appeals his heart out , you know something is not right and this is not a fair game. I had high degree of respect for Adam Gilchrist as he was one of the most honest and fair player in the Aussie team but when he appealed for Dravid's pad nick which would surely be visible to the keeper, it was clear to me, this team is all out in full strength in full cooperation to win the record 16th test by ANY means. Sincere appreciations to Anil Kumble and the Indian camp who have tacked the whole issue very nicely putting across their views in a very tactical way. Till last night I thought it was 14 men against the Indian team including the 2 ground and 1 third umpire, now it is clear it is a 15 member team, including the match referee. I mean how can you give a decision without conclusive evidence. And that too on Australian charges, who have been synonymous to sledging in the past,present and the future. This is not cricket and this series doesn't deserve to be finished. Indian team should call off this series and come back home and teach Australian board a lesson. Teams like Sri Lanka, Pakistan will endorse this move of Indian team if it happens as they have also been subject to hostile reactions.

In a nut shell, the cricket has lost in this game and an over aggressive and unruly 'mob' of men has won. Winning a match is not everything. Winning hearts is more important and Kumble's men have won that.

World of ads

Some days back had a very good experience. Through one of my friend from the ad world I got to see some of the best ads which have been featured on television ever. It had memorable ads like mile sur mera tumhara,hamara bajaj, nirma, titan watches,surf excel, le sancy soap, and many many more. It was truly a nostalgic and wonderful feeling , reminding one self of the childhood days when we used to see 20 minutes non stop ad before mahabharat serial used to begin and then non stop serial. If we compare these ads, my personal favorites were the one of cadbury's dairy milk. The music, the theme, the catch line of " kuch khaas hai zindagi main" all are stupendous.

Click here to view my favourite one.