Happy Birthday Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino: 27th March

The man behind the masterpiece works of hollywood; Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and KIll Bill. Tarantino has directed 5 movies for Hollywood, and all of them aer well known:

Reservoir Dogs
Pulp Fiction
Jackie Brown
Kill Bill
Death Proof (aka: Grindhouse Deathproof)

Though he has also directed a movie "My best friend's birthday", but thats not that well known.

All the above mentioned 5 movies are considered as legends of cinema. Each one of them showcase the charismatic work of Tarantino.

(1) Reservoir Dogs: This film tells an unusual story about six criminals who are united to form a team which will execute a robbery. Only the man who forms this gang knows the true identity of each one of them. He is also aware of their nature, so he warns them not to try to intrude in any one's personal life. But being like street dogs, these criminals try to pull off the perfect crime, quarreling in between then laughing with each other then again suspecting each other's behavior, only to end up to find that one of them is an undercover cop. Beautifully crafted with interesteing characters played by Steve Buscemi, Harvey Kietel and Michael Madsen. Reservoir Dogs is film of its own kind. Quentin Tarantino himself played a small role in the movie. It was his 1st masterpiece.

(2) Pulp Fiction: Now what to say about this movie? this is an oscar winning movie by Quentin Tarantino, tells the story of some strange characters from the world of crime. Two assasins work for a mobster. They have their individual confusions in lifes. One of them is ordered to take care of the don's wife, only the don is unaware that the guy is having a crush on her. Other one thinks that God wants him to leave that job and is sending him signs. There is another story of a boxer who double crosses the don, and then ends up saving his life by helping the don in some "grave" situation. This film won the "palm-dor" at the Cannes film festival. Tarantino won an oscar award for best director for Pulp Fiction. John Travolta, Samuel Jackson, Uma Thurman gave an oscar worthy performance. Bruce Willis also played an important part in the movie.

(3) Jackie Brown: Story of a woman who is used by a don to execute a smuggling and how the woman with the help of her friends and fooling the cops gets the mobster killed along with his associates. Samuel Jackson again recieved an oscar nomination for his performance in Jackie Brown. Film also featured Pam Grier, Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda in some amazing roles.

(4) Kill Bill: One of my all time favorite movie. A completely different cinematic experience. I regret I did not watch this movie in theatres. Kill Bill is a revenge based movie made in 2 parts: Kill Bill Vol.1 and Kill Bill Vol.2. A woman ex-assasin tries to leave her job when she finds out that she is pregnant, but her boss named "Bill" and her fellow assasin friends did not let her go. They kill her to-be-husband and everybody who come for her wedding. The woman herself is shot by Bill in her head. But she did not die. After recovering from coma after 4 years, she finds out that she has lost her child. Then she sets out on a killing rampage. She hunts down all her previous associates, 2 of them have left the business of killing. But she shows no mercy and kills everyone. And finally she tracks down Bill and finishes him. This movie or a set of movies show exceptional performances in terms of acting (Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah), action (action sequences by Lucy Liu, Gordon Liu; in the vol.1 movie, the bride i.e. Uma Thurman kills around 88 people), music (soundtrack of both the movies are just amazing) and the overall direction (the one and only Tarantino)

(5) Death Proof: All the 4 movies above had few common things which are actually trade mark of all Tanatino movies: a mob, or mobster, assasins, indiscriminate bang-bang, reversed chronlology (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill) or messed up sequence of events/ scenes (Pulp Fiction). However the concept of Death Proof or Grindhose: DeathProof is somewhat different. From what I read from the internet, Grindhouse was the name given to some older movie theaters where a person, on a ticket of 1 movie, can enjoy 2 B-grade movies which were generally full of ghore, violence, sex, etc. Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez (another Hollywood director) used to work in such Grindhouse theaters in their childhood. When they grew up and became successful film directors, they jointly made a movie titled "Grindhouse" which was actually a 2-in-1 movie, inspired by the B-grade movies of that time. Grindhouse featured 2 movies, one by Robert Rodriguez "Planet Terror" and another by Tarantino titled "Deathproof". In between these two movies, there were fake trailers/promos of similar movies which are never going to come. This was a kind of experiment which worked.

Deathproof is a story of a crazy psychopath who calls himself "Stuntman Mike". He has a car which he used to call Deathproof car. Stuntman Mike used to lure girls and used to take them for a ride and then he would deliberately try to accident the car with some other heavy vehicle so that no one could survive. He takes on a ride a girl (RoseMcGowen) and kills her in an accident. He too suffers badly in the accident and remains in hospital for a long time. But his car Deathproof still remains intact. After recovering from the hospital, he again find some new target, a bunch of girls, who themselves are looking for a new adventure. But this time Stuntman Mike makes a mistake. He under estimates them. Deathproof is a real fun to watch. Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike has given an amazing performance.



Right now Tarantino's new movie "Inglorious Basterds" is ready for release this year. It stars Brad Pitt and the backdrop chosen this time is 2nd world war. I am eagerly waiting for this movie.

Now why I like Tarantino. I definitely do not have a clear answer to this question, But I like the way he experiments, specially the Grindhouse thing. Most of us would have thought , what a silly idea to implement. But he implemented it. The dialogues in his movies are really impressive, specially in Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. I also liked the original soundtracks of all his movies, specially Kill Bill.

There is a way to think and implement what you call "Out-of-box". Quentin Tarantino knows how to do that. He is unique, amazing, no doubt about it. This arian is also a talented actor. I saw him in "From Dusk Till Dawn". He did a terrific job. The amazing story of the movie "True Romance" was written by him. This is a man whom I would call a person with a difference. This is a man who does what he thinks is good. It requires creativity and courage and Tarantino have that in ample.

Happy Birthday Gary Oldman

21st March. Here starts the ariens time. Astrologers define arians as people who are active, sporty, adventurous, moody, etc. I dont know, though I myself am an Arian. There are few personalitiies from the entertainment industry whom I admire and who are also arians. I will write something about them on their birthday.

21st March: Gary Oldman

As I have already written in 1 of my posts, I am a big fan of Gary Oldman. Recently I watched some of his old movies; "Rosencrantz and Guilderstien are dead" and "Romeo is Bleeding". Romeo is Bleeding is an amazing movie. One of those rare films in which Gary Oldman does not die in the end. He was playing the protagonist. A corrupt cop, who is double crossed by a female assasin wonderfully played by Lena Olin. Rosencratnz.. is a humorous movie based on some unimportant characters of the Shakespear's play "Hamlet". Oldman and Tim Roth were the lead actors. Oldman plays the role of Rosencrantz who is a bit confused but very curious man. He tends to discover a lot of phenomenas which were unknown at the time of Hamlet.

Gary Oldman in "Romeo is Bleeding"

I have liked his each and every performance. The best one I think is in the film, "The Contender"; in which he played the role of adamant Shelly Runyon. Next comes his performances in "True Romance", "Hannibal" and "Lost in Space". I liked him in "Leon-The Professional" too.
On 21st, I am planning to watch his movies, "Immortal Beloved"; in which he plays the role of Beethoven and "Tiptoes" in which he plays the role of a dwarf.

Eagerly waiting for his upcoming movies: "The Book of Eli" in which he is again a villain,against Denzel Washington; after playing a good commissioner in "The Dark Knight". Another one is "Rain Fall", in which he is again playing the bad guy. I would prefer to watch him in a negative role rather than playing another Sirius Black of "Harry Potter". New animation film of Jim Carrey based on Charles Dickens story "A Christmas Carol", in which Gary Oldman is giving voice to multiple characters.

Gary Oldman in Rain Fall

Gandhi on Sale ?

When I heard the news of Vijay Mallya buying the belongings of Mahatma Gandhi in an auction, I felt a sudden respect for the "King of Good times". Such a great man, who bought back those precious things to India. One week later I read an article in the Times of India entitled "Buying back Gandhi". The words written in that article were harsh but they changed my view completely. This happens when you listen to an influential person. May be the same thing happened to me but I am still in agreement with the author of that article. And no counter argumnent has yet been able to change my stand.

The author first questions the crazy reaction of Indians on the news of auction of Gandhi's (I prefer to call him Gandhiji) belongings. He says why we were so concerned about that auction in the first place when we dont feel concerned either about Gandhiji or his work. But when someone tries to showcase the belonging of that famous personlity, we suddenly felt how can he do that? how can he sell the belongings of Gandhi, those things should belong to India. The author says that how different we are from Taliban now, they also keep their women inside their house and when the world wants to look, they frown (This is something I dont want to comment upon). Now,these things have come to India. What have we achieved after this. We will just showcase them in some mueseum or some Gandhi memorial, where they will lay forever, and people will come and see that these things belong to that great man whom his country respect no more.

Secondly, the author asks, why we feel that Mr. Mallya has done some great job by buying those things. Has it got something to do with respect towards Gandhi or towards India? Mr. Mallya is popularly known as a liquor baron, and Gandhiji is known as Mahatma. Does this incidence show that we have got enough money to buy back our father? Has money become the criteria to decide the greatness of Indians and their respect towards the country? Quite a thoughtful say.

Now my view point, I too believe that bringing back the things of Gandhiji does not make any sense when we dont follow what he has taught us. Lets face this fact, we, Indians are way ahead from others in hating Gandhiji.Every other person I meet on any day has some or other "strong" reasons of his own to hate Gandhiji. "agar wo nahi hote (its actually 'hota' most of the times) to India kab ka azad ho jata" (Had Gandhi not been there, India would have got freedom much before) , "Gandhi ne barbaad kar diya desh ko" (Gandhi destroyed the nation), "one person I hate from the bottom of my heart is Gandhi". MOst of them speak as if they would have created wonders had they been born a little earlier. They dont think twice before cracking some seriously vulgar jokes on Gandhi. Hating Gandhiji is like fashion these days.

Their ideals are Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh. I dont question the greatness of those great men either. I am also not here to defend Gandhiji. A person of such stature needs no support.

I only want to ask one basic question to all those people. The young generation gives tremendous respect to the national anthem, national amblem and national song. Wherever they hear Jana Gana Man, they stand there to honour our national anthem. Half of them dont even know the meaning of the words of the national anthem. But they respect it, thats more important. Wherever they see Tiranga, the tri color flag, they salute to pay respect. They dont question that why there are only saffron, white and green and why not purple, yellow, pink, I like pink, so I wont respect National flag. No. They dont say that. They just accept the tri color as it is and pay respect. No questions.Why? because forefathers of our nation have given these things the stature of national symbols. We dont question them but respect them.

However, when it comes to Gandhiji, whom the same forefathers of our nation has given the title of "Father of the Nation", these people face difficulty in showing any respect. Their own beliefs, questions and doubt comes in their minds before showing any respect towards Gandhiji.

I feel tremendous respect towards the Father of the Nation. I will not comment on his policies adopted during Indian independence movement. Because I am not very much aware about that time period and I feel whatever we hear, read or know about the history of that time is based on some view of the narrating historian. And personal views has biasness specially when you are commenting about the policies of a leader. So I will not comment on his policies, though one thing I would definitely say. You take any famous leader of the Independence movement, be it Bose or Bhagat Singh, it is a well known and widely accepted fact that they never had mass following, otherwise Netaji would need not go to other nations for help and Bhagat Singh would not not be living incognito. It was only Gandhiji who had a mass following. People respected and followed what he used to say. I was overhelmed when I saw a pic showing the funeral procession of Gandhiji and I could see infinite number of people behind. This was the charisma of the leader whom the followers used to call "Bapu".

From all that I have read and heard about Gandhiji, I can put my view that Gandhiji's motive was not just the independence of India. His motive was much more sacred. He wanted the character upliftment of India. He wanted the character of Indians to be pure. Something that has not been achieved as yet. His teachings of Self-dependence ("Swavalambi") is very important. He used to say that people should do all their work for themselves that they CAN do. Even while in South Africa, he himself used to clean his commode and would not allow the sweeper to do that. Would any of us do such work when we know that a sweeper comes for this ? This shows the thinking of that man who used to believe that no person is so meanly cursed to clean others sh**t.
The usage of "charkha" also shows that we ourselves can make our clothes, and no dependence on externally manufactured thread. This is called simple living.

Vijay Mallya's lifestyle is far from simplicity. Mallya's victory in the auction is in one way a defeat of Indians. Its an irony of life that a liquor baron has bought the belongings of Mahatma. Though I myself am very happy that Gandhiji's belongings are now in India but somewhere in my heart I know that we have been insulting Bapu since 1947.

The Power of words

I remember during my engineering days, I met a lot of people who used to listen to ghazals. One of my friends once said "yaar mrinal, aisa lagta hai ki ye ghazal mere liye hi likhi gayi hai" (It seems that this ghazal has been written for me). That time I used to marvel at the magic of the words of the lyricist that people start believeing that its actually written for them.

Later I realized that when we are sad, low at self-esteem and at that time we listen to a ghazal, we believe that its written for us. Its again the power of words which capture the emotions of the audience. Here I am presenting the lyrics of some famous ghazals which I like.

1. "Seene me jalan" film:Gaman, lyricist: Shahriyar, singer: Suresh Wadekar

This is one of my favorite songs. The lyrics indictaes the psyche and thoughts of a person who is very sad and frustrated at his mediocre life. However, despite of being very depressed, this guy is not at all jealous of lives of others. He thinks that everyone faces, in one way or other, some pain in life.
The mediocricity in his life has brought some kind of deadness in his emotions. His heart longes for some kind of excitement in his life. He has reached to an epitome of lonliness where he needs some friend. His life lies at the periphery of a circle and he is at the center

(This is my own philosophy)
Why circle and why not sphere? Well lets get a bit technical here. Circle is a 2 dimensional figure which can be drawn on a paper. It has only two entities a center and a periphery. A person whose life lies on the periphery of a circle and he himself is at the center; is always at a constant distance from his life (which we call radius) and there is no one to fill that distance. A sphere on the other hand is a 3 dimensional figure, and there are particles between its center and the outer surface, which is not just a periphery but has many dimensions. The particles are defined by our close friends and soulmates, etc.
A person whose life is a circle and not a sphere is alone. If he is happy that happiness belong to him alone and if he is sad, the sadness belongs to him alone, there is no one to share.
(philosophy ends here)

This guy is surprised at the present state of his life, what is the reason for this?
has he changed? or has his outlook towards the life has changed? he does not know the answer.


2. "Is mod se jaate hain" film: Aandhi, Lyricist: Gulzar, singers: Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar


Now this is Gulzar at his best. The lyrics mainly talks about paths and turns that we encounter in a journey. Here the journey is life, and the paths and turns refer to various situations we encounter.
It is the decisions that we take in such circumstances that decide whether our lives are going to be exciting one or in a sad state. The decisions that we take in such situations define the fate of our relationships whether they are going to be as strong as castle of rock or as weak as a house made of twigs.
Sometimes in life good times and situations would just come and go in a flash. And sometimes wherever we go, we pave our ways with happiness. The protagonist says that in the midst of all this, I look for that turn which will take me closer to my beloved.
Sometimes happiness make us wait for long and just when we start smiling, the time changes. And sometimes life becomes still, a path without a soulmate is stationary. It does not move. The protagonist says that I am still hopeful that there will be a turn or path which will led to my beloved.


There are lot more songs like these, I'll keep posting bout them. Thanks for reading!

An encounter with a SRK fan

File photo of a HERO who was once an ACTOR

One of my team mates is a BIG time fan of Shahrukh Khan. Yesterday on office email I had a very lengthy discussion with her regarding SRK and his movies. Now, I have met a lot of people who are die-hard fans of Shahrukh. And believe me I enjoy a lot criticizing SRK before his fans. Yes, you can say that I am sadist in this aspect.

But I have a reason for that. I used to be a big time admirer of Shahrukh in his initial days of career. I especially liked his performances in movies like Baazigar, Darr, Raju Ban gaya Gentleman, Dil se, Josh etc. But after Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge, when he started this "Romantic icon of India" image, he became too intolerable for me. I personally cannot appreciate a person changing his style of delievering his talent because of monetary gains. Thats what, I think has happened with SRK.

Shahrukh's pathetic latest movie RNBDJ

When the movies like "Main Hoon Na", "Om Shanti Om" and "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" created history at box office, I could not bear it. How can Indian viewer be so stupid to appreciate such movies, when at the same time they are appreciating movies like "Bheja Fry". What can be the reason for the fans of SRK who like his "these" performances? I think I got the answer when I was discussing with my team mate. Here is the excerpt of the same discussion.

It started like this: [A photo of Shahrukh Khan]
"There are few things I have learnt from making movies.
You cant hire the sunset......
.....Somethings should never go according to a script
Somethings should be real"

SRK's fan: I LOVE THIS GUY!!!!!

me: REALITY!!!!!! AND SHAHRUKH!!!!!
BOTH THINGS DONT GEL AT ALL
(Its the women's week, you should not disagree with a woman!!)
Women’s week hai to kya hua? Hum women ki tareef karenge CHHAKKON ki nahi !!!!
(So what if its a women's week, We will praise women , not eununch!!!)

SRK's fan: One guys I HATE!!!.... Frm d bottom of my heart is MRINAL RAI.

me: y??

SRK's fan:MEIN srk K LIYE KISI KO BHI HATE kya ..MURDER ker sakti hun...He is d BEST!!! N will always b
(I can even murder anyone for SRK)

me:No wonder y he is so popular. Half of India's population is like you...
I mean women :D!!

SRK's fan: And the rest half is in the process of liking him…to which planet u belong?…

me: Rest half consist of men..... I know he is trying desperately to make them start liking him!!
He might have begged for any role in "Dostana" (a gay comedy movie)and I think any role could have suited him in that movie.

SRK's fan:Ha ha …sad at u guys don’t appreciate honest hard work of a self – made ‘ loyal’ human.

me: See, u urself started laughing when u associated words like “honest” “hard work” and “self made human being” with him!!!
If he is loyal to his wife, what difference does it make to his acting?
Saif broke up with his wife but is much finer “actor” than shahrukh
Shahrukh is just a “hero”; no more an “actor”

SRK's fan: Swadesh, chak de!!Answer to counter the baseless point u have. Saif has d same repeated expressions …same humor…same stupid ..un-smart face.
Plus the word SELF –MADE!!..is imp….
Saif is sharmila n pataundi’s son…money n background 2 back him up….
N with the pathetic skills he has…he can never b compared with SRK.
Ever!!!!!”

me: Bas only 2???
An “actor” who is in industry for more than 10 yrs hav only 2 movies to show that he is an “actor” not just a “hero”!!!
And truely his fan following in India and abroad is not bcoz of swades or chak de, its bcoz of the idiotic Johars and Chopras products he keeps working in. The latest xample was that rubbish rab ne bana di Jodi
“Saif has d same repeated expressions …same humor…same stupid ..un-smart face."
Does Shahrukh sowed different face, expression, humor and “smart face” in KANK, Main Hoon na, RNBJ, K3G???? I think he is the most repetitive actor (oops hero!!) in the industry today
"Plus the word SELF –MADE!!..is imp….
Saif is sharmila n pataundi’s son…money n background 2 back him up….
N with the pathetic skills he has…he can never b compared with SRK.
Ever!!!!!”
Being a son of sharmila and pataudi never helped him,
Watch omkara and u will know the difference between Rahul/Raj/Ram and Langada Tyaagi
Shahrukh WAS a good ACTOR now he is just a money minded REPITITIVE HERO

SRK's fan: One role dat u r toking about…
His performance in movies like DDLJ, KANK n K3G..(Main hoon na was real gud dude!!) was best in its time…
Look u r toking about 2 completely diff time frames….

purane movies ab thode funny dikhne lagte hain….lagda tyagi k pehle k films k baare mein baat ker k batao ..

(older movies look funny these days, what would you say about the films before langada tyaagi ?)

"mein hoon aashik..aashik aawara”…yuuuuukkkkkkkk!!!!!!!

me: What saif did in aashiq aawaaraa, shahrukh is doing now,
Now whom wud u call mature??
I myself liked his performances in josh, baazigar, KHKN raju ban gaya gentleman, and Raam Jaane (where is that shahrukh now?)

K3G and Main Hoona were YUCKKK for me
Old movies wont help him regain what he has lost in the minds of ppl who USED TO BE his admirers (like me)

SRK's fan: Watch billu barber today … U will like it…he is himself…just like wot he is in actual life..tell me if u liked it,

me: I will definitely watch billu barber coz i realy like irrfan khan!!
He is a true dedicated “actor” who don’t go by what audience want but go by what he can deliever to the audience.
U know he is the only “Khan” ACTOR of India whom the Hollywood salutes.

SRK's fan: I like him too… But I simply adore SRK. I DO!!!
And I m not asking u to like him too… I just said I love him….
N I will not question ur liking towards ane actor….or artist in this world….
Ppl have d right to have an opinion ..and questioning it …donno..doesn’t mk sense.
Wot an artist does is HIS/HER way of expressing talent…some are appreciated …some are loved….some are worshiped..!!!!

Ppl watch movies for entertainment…pure fun.. Hum kitne bhi msgs ..dekh lein …sun lein ..kerte vohi hain jo kerte aaye hain..
(no matter how many messages we type or things we say, we will do what we have been doing)

A wednesday …gave a strong msg…. wot difference did it make….u think about it for a day n forget it… Do u do anything with the msg ….plz tell me frankly…. Delhi-6 also had a msg….a nice msg…but NOT UNDERSTOOD..neither is appreciated.. Movies are watched for fun…now a days

me: True
The irony is actors like Irrfan khan, Om puri, Naseer, Pankaj Kapur always come under appreciation, While ppl like shahrukh khan who started like these above mentioned actors but after getting money and appreciation forgot everything, these ppl come under worshipping category.
The bottom line is that we all like to see world far away from reality, we all like to see heaven and those who show it are worshipped by us...
We cant believe that its ppl like us (above mentioned actors are those with whom common man can hav sync) who can change our world to heaven.

Movies r always watched for fun, never for msgs, nor any film maker makes movies for msgs.
But u shud not compromise the immense possibilities of ur talent for money!!

Anyway, its after all matter of personal choice, I see movies as piece of art and not just entertainment, thats y we discussed this long
Lets end it
Cease fire!!!

SRK's fan: Ppl like me r filmy..look for sweetness.. Like sweet things said…
SRK’s movies r diehard romantic movies ..on love ..
Veer-zara ..acc 2 me…is a great love story….(may b not practical)…
But as u all said (I donno who exactly said it..) “WOTZ WRONG IS HOPING..”
Wot is wrong in dreaming that …I will b taken care d same way SRK did in K3G…or DDLJ…dat my guy will fight all odds for me…
Wots wrong in dreaming dude??

me: Nothing is wrong in dreaming, and if it make u happy thats the best thing to do
We both stand at two xtremes of choices so we shud not discuss it further.

SRK's fan: Okay!!!!! This was gud….
Made me realize why I like SRK…
Thanks dude…

So that was it,

I came to know why SRK fans will keep liking SRK and when would I start liking him again. Well that time doesnt seem to be near.....

In the end here is my new sketch of a famous actress. Can you recognize who she is? coz it was difficult to recognize her in the pic from where this sketch is drawn.

recognition for Rahman; not for India

Last week I was watching A R Rahman on Tv giving statement about his experience of getting the most prestigious Oscar Awards. He said that what pleased him more was to see the child-actors of the film SlumDog Millionaire (who were actually from Slums)walking on the Red Carpet. The words he used were "Art does not discriminate".

I think thats a wonderful thing he has said. If we associate the word "indiscrimination" with art, we will see its actual beauty. Admirers of art should not discriminate talented people on any basis. It is the power of the expression that these young talented kids deliever with their talent that led them to the Red Carpet.

However this should not suggest that the Oscar, in anyway, was an admiration of the portrayal of the conditions of slums in India. Most of us are associating the victory of SlumDog with the victory of India.
However this is NOT true. We should always bear following things in mind:

1. SlumDog Millionaire was NOT an Indian movie. All the actors were Indians but the movie was not. The crew was completely foreign. Director, producer, and technicians were all hollywood. Most importantly, the language was English, and there were subtitles in english when the dialogues were in Hindi.
A film to represent India or Bollywood has to be atleast in Hindi or in any other Indian language.

2. SlumDog Millionaire never portrays and never claims to portray the conditions of slums in India. The movie was based on a novel and the story was of a guy who belonged to the slums. Not every slum guy (the use of word "Dog" is highly offensive if you try to associate the movie with conditions of India)goes through what the leading character of this film went through. It was an unusual story of a slum guy. The tagline itself says that the guy was "born to loose but was destined to win". Now to show this 'born to loose' part, the author of the novel has chosen the backdrop of Indian slums and the director of movie has taken out the title "SlumDog". Thats it. No other association with India and poverty of India.

3. SlumDog Millionaire was a not a nominee for Best Foreign film, while Lagaan was a nominee in that category. Nominations from our country would always fall under this category. This time "Taare Zameen Par" was sent for the nomination but unfortunately that film, which I like more than SlumDog, could not make it.


However, the victory of A R Rahman and Gulzar is definitely a victory of Indian talent. Though people like Gulzar does not need a recognition of Oscar to prove their charisma. Rahman has definitely made us proud.
But we sould make this thing very clear that victory of this movie at the oscars does not mean that portrayal of poverty of India is a sure shot way to get International recognition. Fie on any such recognition which you get by mocking at misery of others.

The very next week Rahman also got Filmfare award for his musical score in the movie Jodha akbar, He siad that this makes him look more familiar :). Thats the best part of an artist. No matter how high you fly you should always keep your feet on ground. That is actually called HEIGHT!!

The lust for foriegn recognition can make us alien to our own country. This reminds me the lyrics of a television serial:

"बादल को छूने की चाहत तो थी

उड़ने का सपना नही था मगर

दे दिया मुझको एक अजनबी आसमान

मेरे पैरो से मेरी ज़मीन छीन कर

हम परदेसी हो गए"