Wednesday, November 26, 2008

My 5 lesser known great Hindi movies


I have been requested (read arm-twisted) to write these "My Five" posts. I have been accused of having over 20 items in all my "Top 5" lists. So this would probably be the first of several posts forcing me to (restrict and) list my top 5.

This is my list of "5" lesser known Hindi movies (post Lagaan) that I would recommend:

  • "The Blue Umbrella" & "Raincoat":
    Although this list is not in any specific order, these movies definitely deserve to top the list.

  • "Maqbool", "Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi" & "Manorama: Six Feet Under":
    These movies are quite popular but have not been as widely watched. I am often surprised to find out that some people haven't even heard of them!

  • "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" & "Tashan":
    Whenever I tell someone I like these films they immediately have this look on their face that says: "Hmm, so THIS is the kind of movies you like... And I thought you had a decent taste in films..." Anyways, I still feel "Tashan" is 2008's "Om Shanti Om", and "JBJ" is a wonderful musical that is so much better than "Saathiya" or "Bunty Aur Babli".

  • "Dor":
    I usually don't include remakes in my movie lists but I am yet to watch "Perumazhaikaalam" and am willing to give Nagesh Kukkunoor the benefit of the doubt, especially since this movie is so good.

  • "Black Friday" & "No Smoking":
    "Black Friday" is a definite no-brainer considering it was stuck-in-cans for several years, and "No Smoking" may be extremely unsatisfying but it is equally interesting.

  • "Eklavya":
    This is almost in the same category as "JBJ" and "Tashan": Movies-people-love-to-hate. I was simply blown away by this extremely well-shot film and still don't understand why someone will compare this gem of a movie with the highly overrated "Dharm"!

Okay, I know my math (I know there are 11 instead of 5) but despite leaving out several others, I couldn't get rid of any of these :) (I also know I have 2 by Vishal Baradwaj and 2 by Anurag Kashyap in there but I wanted to include "Makdee" too!) Let me know if you think any of these need to be kicked off the list.
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Kenny Boi


Note: This post may have spoilers about Survivor Gabon.

Yeah Kenny, one of my pre-season picks in Survivor: Gabon is doing extremely well and is very likely to win if he reaches the final 2 (or 3), which also makes him a huge threat for others to get rid of (with 7 people left now).

I wasn't happy with his early plays like aligning with Crystal or getting rid of Ace etc. But all that seem to have worked out for him - till now at least. But he better watch out since given the current set of remaining players, all of them are equally likely to blind-slide anyone - just to get to the next round. These people are so fickle (especially Sugar and Susie) that the last person to talk to them is going to have his/her way.

What I want? I want Matty gone ASAP. Clearly he will not think twice to get rid of Kenny and Kenny can always convince the others to get rid of Bob & Corrine (since they already have favorable numbers in the jury). I am also concerned about Sugar since she is still holding on to her idol - which is a major threat.

I think, the next two episodes are going to determine the winner. Let's see.
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The Ghajini in me


Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with the movie Ghajini.

Although I have been aware of how disorganized I have become lately (which has also become a nightmare for the "OCD" part of me), I have been attributing that to having too many things on my plate. However before doing something about that, I need to stop being forgetful.

In the past few days alone I can count several instances where I forgot my cell phone, cap, bag, course notes, keys, watch and some more things that I don't remember now :) I am blaming all this on having too many ToDos in my short term memory (which can only store 6 at a time, apparently).

(I think) I have figured out a solution though. Will keep posted on whether it works.
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Thursday, November 06, 2008

Doodles


I have finally scanned and uploaded all my doodles (and sketches) - at least the ones that have survived the move off-campus.

Btw, some of them may not make sense or might make a different sense than intended :) And all of them have my name in one of more places - so beware of passing them off as yours, unless of course you are my namesake.

You can have a look at all of them here: http://cs.uc.edu/~rangana/doodles.html



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Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi


"Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi" is one of my favorite Hindi movies of the "post-Lagaan" era. Considering how few people have seen it, it must definitely be a cult-classic, except that I think it is a bit too classy for that.

Anyways, it was all I could think of after watching "My brother, an only child".

Clearly there is a lot common to both the movies than just the two-guys-one-girl story set in the past in a period of political unrest. However, the movies differ quite a bit too. While "Hazaaron..." focussed on all the three characters with the female character driving the film, "My brother..." is essentially a story about brothers and could even do away with the romance.

Still, I felt that the films are like so alike that if one didn't know any better, he would assume that either is a copy of the other, set in a different place with a slight twist in the plot or that both are by the same director who is suffering from a block and is recycling his own works.

I would have forced my roommate(s) to watch "My brother..." to get their reactions on this topic. If only they were part of the "cult" that has seen "Hazaaron..."...
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Walking back home


I was returning home around 11:30PM from college. I wasn't expecting what I saw.

There were more people outside than usual; happy, shouting, greeting everyone and just jumping out of joy. Cars honked at each other and I heard variations of "We did it" and "Hurray" in between chants of "Obama" (my favorite: "No more Bush people"!). With celebrations everywhere, it was definitely a big change from last time (all I remember is a "Sorry, World!" sign that someone was holding up).

However, it came nowhere close to those nights when India thrashed another team in an ODI match :)
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