Funny Filmy Quote I have heard in a long time...

Sahil Gupta : "How can someone cast Tara Sharma in a lead role and name the movie 'suno na' !?!

Voting and Gloating

A little too late in the day… sorry but I had to mention this… ideally this post should have come two weeks ago when I cast my vote but it’s coming on the day of the results…

It all began when I read on the front page of some tabloid which said that our very responsible and publicity hungry Shah Rukh Khan flew down all the way from South Africa leaving the IPL just to cast his vote. Isn’t that something? I really wish we had such celebrities who would make a difference… RUBBISH!!

‘People expect politicians to solve problems immediately. But it’s not that easy. It takes time. That’s why we should vote and give a chance to better people’, this is what the biggest star in the country said.

Off course, this comes exactly a few days after Aamir Khan also said he came back from the U.S. just to cast his vote. And off course he forgot to mention that he would be shaking a leg for a big fatty’s Indian wedding in a few days where apparently he had been paid a bomb. Yeah, strangely since his KKR isnt really on a row, this producer, actor, entrepreneur decided to make money by other means. Nothing wrong in that, but don’t give me crap that you came from South Africa just to vote…

PR is a booming business… even my Wilson college has hired an agency for Christ’s sake. Thanks for voting Shah Rukh… no thanks for gloating!!

Final Screening at Universal

This video was taken during the final screening of the March 8 week film-making students films at Universal Studios. Was pretty good and was attended by class-mates and their families and friends. Also some members of the cast were present as well. Liked Luis and Sabine's movie the best.

Our direction professor Joshua Adler gave away our certificates. This video was shot by my class mate Carol Bermudez.

Beautiful Photograph

While searching for references for the film that I'm working on I stumbled upon this picture. It's been a really long time since I fell in love with something instantly.

At first glance you might not even think it's Indian but look closely. There's an Ambassador taxi there behind the poster of the foreign film. A perfect blend of the West and India.

The entertainment tax-free movie playing is Jack Lemmon's Days of Wine and Roses. To be honest, I hadn't heard of the the movie until now.

This picture was taking in the 1963 by photographer James Burke. Look at the ticket rates- Rs 4, 3, 2, 1, .50. Simply amazing vintage. Can someone help me with the name of the movie hall?

The fact that it is in B&W makes it even more beautiful. I don't want to dissect this picture anymore... just savour in it's beauty people!!

Added a couple more...

These photographs is copyrighted by LIFE.

The cowboy goes yonder

Phew, its been a month since my last posting... simply too much work... am out of shape as well... so now its time to get back to doing the things I always did... you don’t need to know what those things are :P

And the cowboy is dead... Feroz Khan passed away two days ago... it’s really sad that another Hindi cinema gem has left us. I still remember for some reason watching his Yalgaar on VHS... I must have seen it over 15 times... not because I liked it but well... I owned the VHS and lack of something better gave this dud more viewing...

Gaurav and I had once upon a time thought of one the most ambitious project over tiny brains could come up with and Feroz Khan was one of the actors we wanted to cast. However, that project I don’t think will ever happen. Believe me, it's not lack of creativity or lack of producer that won’t make this project happen but the fact that we had over 20 old timers in there.

There are many Indian actors and directors I want to meet in my life-time and Feroz Khan was one of them. Unfortunately, that’s never going to happen.

Feroz Khan’s biggest contribution to my growing up years was the fact that he was the one who bought Biddu to compose in India for his film Qurbani… His Aap Jaisa Koi Meri Zindagi Mein Aaye was a rage but it was Biddu’s entry into the Indipop scene that really caught my attention and the nostalgia still remains. Thank you Mr. Khan for that… R.I.P. Pasha!!

Death of a Bookman

More than any other sale, I would always wait for the annual Strand book sale to begin. And when Strand's news letter announcing their sale would arrive in my inbox I would immediately make calls to find a partner to give me company. I would curse the Crossword sales mainly because what they offer in their 10 day sale is what you get at Strand all year around. Majority of my books in my book collection came from Strand. So it was indeed sad when I read that the owner Mr. T.N. Shanbhag had passed away.

The first time I came across the man was at Strand's annual sale at Sunderbai Hall in 2004. Incidentally that was the first time I had gone for their sale. As I was exiting, Mr. Shanbhag in his suit (clearly he was dressed for the occassion) gave me a polite smile and a mini bow. I smiled back not knowing who he was but I had the feeling he might have been the owner. I was very happy with what I had purchased and I felt that he could see my joy. There seemed to be a sense of satisfacton on his face. Here is a man who offers a minimum 20% discount of every book at any time of the year. Now in this high revenue/ profit seeking world seeing someone do such a service for over 50 years is astounding. You can't help but connect with this man.

I still remember my first purchase from Strand. Their sale was on and I purchsed two books with the money I made editing student films. The first one was Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema by Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen and the other one was So Many Cinemas by B.D. Garga. The latter (also one of my favourite books) originally cost Rs. 1800 but Strand offered it for a sinful Rs. 595. Wow!! I had read the book in Wilson College's reference library and wanted a copy of my own but found it a little too costly back then. In this year's sale it cost Rs. 500. Talking about a great bargain. These books are still part of my priceless collection.

It is sad that newspapers donated only a small corner of their sheets to announce his passing away while the Khans and Kapoors and even Sawants get a full page coverage over a stretch mark.

Not knowing much about Mr. Shanbag personally, I felt this posting was kind of incomplete. So am posting a couple of links which might give you more idea of the man and his contribuion towards society in his own Strand way.

http://strayingaround.blogspot.com/2009/02/strands-shanbhag-passes-away.html

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2003/02/09/stories/2003020900620200.htm

My dad had mentioned Shanbhag to me once and he was proud of the fact that he was a Mangalorian just like us. I don't know the name but I know the person who is always so involved in the sales (the thin uncle with glasses, polite smile and a soft voice) will continue Mr. Shanbhag's legacy.