Friday thoughts ...

1. My Dad’s birthday today .. one of the best men I have ever known .. to date I do not remember a single time when my dad has scolded me or hit me ..
2. The Bajaj avenger ad … good stuff .. I forgive / feel like God wala ..
3. Music is best appreciated at arm’s length ..
4. If you consider the 2 by 2 of blogging styles .. with content on the x axis and style on the y axis .. I probably lie on the top left quadrant (redux! … more like sweating an asset .. high roi .. beg pardon, got carried away) ..
5. A lot of ‘serious’ blogs these days get slightly carried away and become extremely wordy and intimidating .. almost like you sat to blog armed with thesaurus .. labyrinthine I say! .. literary red tape ..
6. Maybe we take ourselves too seriously these days .. the world for the most part has forgotten to step back and smile at itself .. which is ok.. except that this sometimes becomes pretentious .. but then who am I to comment ..
7. In 1989, a sixteen year old boy took guard and the world changed forever – Kboy on Sachin .. only a bong could have said that ..
8. I read somewhere that .. Great people discuss ideas, normal people discuss events, shady (I forget the exact word used) people discuss other people .. now, where does that leave me ..

PS: I think too much :)

Thought collage …


In order to afford being humble, you need to be really high up …
- Anon.
Case in point, SRK’s current streak of self depreciating humor: OSO – “Main rahul .. naam toh suna hoga .. “ .. also during a press conference .. “I’m sure Aamir will do it better than me, I just earn a little more money at the Box Office” … this after 10-15 years of shouting from the rooftops that he is the best ever .. the man has attitude; no two ways about it .. :)

****

A favourite ad remains the Pepsi Aamir – Ash starrer (of the Hi I’m Sanjana, got another pepsi fame) .. remember it? .. ya, this is from the Doordarshan days .. also remember “Daawwwnnn Karnaassshh” from talespin? .. these days I surf right through some 100 channels without stopping at any .. Sigh ..

*****

One of the best characterizations I have seen in recent times has been that of the two moles in The Departed – while Matt Damon is his usual brilliant self in the role of the cocky, assured detective it is Leo Dicaprio who gives a fantastically layered, nuanced performance of one of the most heavily thought through characters I have come across ..

*****

That is the biggest problem with people who mean what they say. They expect others also to do the same ..
- Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner

Deep.

*****

Taare Zameen Par review ..

This one has to be the best movie of 2007 – without any consulty qualification whatsoever. In fact I am also tempted to bring out my movie assessment template from posts buried aeons ago and I think I shall give in .. [:)]
So, to refresh reader memories the template consisted of

Level 1 assessment – Vision .. what is the movie trying to say? .. (sample collateral review, OSO vision statement = Go forth and ham! .. in spite of gems like yenna rascala and mohabbat man)

Level 2 assessment – How is the message being conveyed? .. the script comes in here, the events chosen to depict the movie message .. that sort of thing .. this is where I think movies like DCH / Last samurai / Finding neverland / Seher kick ass and most bollywood movies fall flat ..

Level 3 assessment – How has the message been translated on-screen? .. in other words, the sheer execution in terms of acting / choreography / direction / set detail etc come in .. there are several movies which have done this well in recent times ..

Imho, TZP hits the ball out of the park on all three counts – brilliant / extremely relevant message (especially in the Indian context), a fantastic script and impeccable execution. Oh and the music is to die for. SEL have really surpassed themselves with this one – I cannot recall any song sequence more impactful than the Kholo kholo crescendo .. Adnan Sami goes berserk with Mera jahan and Maa is one of the best songs in a long time, used to perfection. The Aamir Khan stamp is indeed visible all through the movie – be it in the richness of detail, the startlingly real characters or the kid’s brilliant performance. And the little touches like the notepad and the paint drop – pure celluloid magic.

*Bows*