Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Reality doesn’t bite anymore, it entertains

So Kamal Khan (in) famously known as KRK, at the home of Big Boss, in a fit of (scripted?) fury lashes out at fellow inmates and in the heat of the moment hurls a bottle at them. Not so grievously injured inmates and grievously injured egos do it for KRK and he is out of our lives for the moment, or so we would like to think. There he is back again in our drawing rooms telling us his version of the story on news channels…controversy certainly woos publicity, especially from the ‘breaking news’ hungry news channels and we keep seeing re-runs of the great bottle throw across channels.

Welcome to the lah lah land of reality TV. Every channel now has woken up to the‘reality’ of reality shows. They sure seem to work. Roadies did it for MTV and Big Boss for Sony. And just how many tear jerking soap operas can the channels churn out. So here they are; the next in line to numb our minds.

From public declarations of extra marital affairs (Sach ka Samna) to the choicest abuses and backstabbing specials in a dating game (Splitsvilla) to Swayamwar of item girls (Rakhi ka Swayamvar) they sure are dredging them out from everywhere. Borrowing from Baby Borrowers (Patni, Patni aur Woe, yeah yeah this is how I like to spell it), Big Boss from Big Brother and then just plain making it up as they go (Part II: Rahul’s Swayamwar)…So there are girls just waiting to be the ‘perfect bride’ and some slugging it out to be perfect parents, models overcoming their fears and phobia’s to become khiladi’s and then some volunteering to slug it out in a jungle (I don’t know about the creepy crawlies, but the contestants sure behaved like animals)

Where do we go from here? To the slums and to relive past lives, presumably. Another channel that wants to make its presence known and garner much needed TRP’s is putting its swish, ignorant- of –the- hardships of life contestants in slums, and yet another is planning on inviting us into the past lives of celebrities (we know all about their present lives, silly) through a past life regression analysis.

So after a hard day’s work, when you want to vegetate in front of the idiot box, trust me you get to do just that.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Musings some and Observations some

Whats with AB?....Why why would he take up something like anchoring Big Boss? One can see him as the host for KBC: understated, suave, the poser of intelligent queries, maintaining the fine line between approachable and intimidating... but what is he doing as the host of a vacuummed -of-intelligence voyueristic freak show? Guess AB is too busy with advertisements to take time out for introspection or is it that AB the persona is bigger than AB the person and we expect too much from a man who can be bought for too little...

Moving from AB and his principles or lack of them, whats with this city and and the redevelopment mania?...recently took a walk along a convenient short cut on an errand, and felt like alice would have on tumbling into wonderland...gone were the quaint old buildings,replaced with cookie cutter towers. All look principally the same, tall to qualify as a tower,painted in bright colours, sporting fancy names, a compound full of shiny parked cars and a surly looking watchman. So though miss the sight of charming old lived- in buildings,am glad atleast employment through watchmen and daily wage labourers is on the rise...

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Of Kaminey, Caulfield & Lalbaug cha Raja

Yep, the only common thread twixt the three is me. Happened to experience all three in the same week...and yep as usual all three got me thinking...

Lets start with the god that lords over mumbai. Lalbaug cha raja. This diety is the biggest celebrity this side of town. And as i learnt last weekend, getting a glimpse of him, with both your feet on the ground and your belongings and bearings all in one place,is no mean feat.

Having declared myself as agnostic, i can conveniently jump from one side of the fence to the other. So from the believer side of the fence, family in tow proceeded towards lalbaug. Only to find the whole city in a serpentine queue for the darshan. After much jostling, shoving and pushing (lost my fav watch in the process) got 2 minutes of face time. But must admit is worth it. The moorti is quite magnificent and radiates a quiet benevolence. But might stick to watching him on the telly next time around than have the whole city treading on my toes. Guess, just about everybody is hungry for miracles.

From celebrated dieties to celebrated directors. Kaminey sure generated a lot of hype, thanks to all the 4 star reviews and was eagerly looking forward to it. But came away disappointed. The first half holds your attention only because you are busy trying to figure, what the hell is going on?...And though the film finally moves and starts making sense in the second half, it is not riveting. It is a huge exercise in join the dots and some dots like the mushy psychology of guddu and charlie's past botch it up.I did like the dripping with maharashtrian nuances bhope. And i loved priyanka as the fiesty maharashtrian mulgi.The sweety-guddu angle was nicely handled, and wish it had gotten more screen space than charlie's antics and weird dreams.As far as black comedies with confusion go, give me a jaane bhi do yaaron anyday.

Caulfied...ah holden kills me...he really does. After all these years, catcher in the rye can still grip and move you. What really makes it super as far as i am concerned are the sarcastic gems. Like when he is dancing with someone wooden, - it was like dancing with the statue of liberty, he says. And all those fictional role plays of him getting shot and bleeding from the gut, that he conjures up just about anywhere to amuse himself.Yes, holden kills me. It’s an exceptional insight into the mind of an intelligent, witty but somewhat rambling introverted teenager. Holden with beyond his age maturity, his craving for intellectual conversation and his feeling of not being understood...is a summing up of teenage angst of introverts at its best. Like holden says, a good book is one, when you want to call up the author and speak to him. I think a good book is one when you want to really call up and speak to the protagonist.So Holden, you are in queue, right after am done with sherlock holmes.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Ruminations that rhyme

The actions might have been impulsive
The consequences however linger,
Soot laden experiences are accumulated
At the risk of sorely burnt fingers

Hindsight is an expensive rear view mirror
Paid for by life’s little mistakes,
The trick is to get it the right size
The past then doesn’t catch up, it just reflects.

Through all the valleys and troughs
And the wisdom gathered from failures
The trick is to rise up, defenceless and still trusting
And re- enter the ring in spite of the jeers

Creativity, humor, love and friends
Curiosity, intellect and mirth
This merry –go-round is worth another spin
To stagger laughingly and fall back to earth
 
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