How Good I am!!

Let me just tell you how good I am.

• So I was just thinking to myself how good a director Sriram Raghavan is. Johnny Gaddar and Ek Hasina Thi are some of the best Bollywood movies of the last decade.
• Then I think how good Ashwini Khalsekar was in Johnny Gaddar. She is the actress who played Inspector Asha in CID.
• Then I realize the guy who played Ins. Daya was also in Johnny Gaddar.
• And that Ins.Abhijeet was in Ek Hasina Thi as Saif Ali Khan's friend.
• Ergo Sriram Raghavan definitely had something to do with CID. I run over to imdb and sure as hell, Herr Raghavan directed several episodes of CID.

That's how good I am!!

Should we expect ACP Pradyuman to show up in Agent Vinod

If Bollywood were Hollywood we would have seen CID: The Movie long ago!

Reworking Shyamalan Titles

I spent the last weekend volunteering at the Florida Supercon and I noticed that a lot of the other volunteers were really excited for The Last Airbender. I am too and I hope its a big hit and he gets to make the thriller with Bruce Willis and Gwyneth Paltrow that he is currently shopping around the studios. Anyway it struck me that all of his titles could actually be titles for very different and very generic films. Let me elaborate:

1) The Sixth Sense: A sex comedy much in the vein of "The Ugly Truth" about how men and women want different things.

2) Unbreakable: The story of the "unbreakable" spirit of one young man with congenital "Insert Handicap"as he struggles to achieve his childhood dream of becoming a "Insert Sport/ Musical talent".

3) Signs: A romantic "its meant to be" kind of comedy about a boy and a girl and how fate puts them together no matter how much they try to get away from each other. In the end they realize "its meant to be" and boy stops girl just as she is trying to baord a ship to go off to do research in Antartica.

4) The Village: The story of a group of friends through the ages as they hang around New York's Greenwich Village

5) Lady in the Water: A small town in shocked by the discovery of a dead girl in the town river. Suspicions start flying and skeletons come out of the closet as everyone discovers its not so innocent a town as it would seem.

6) The Happening: A teen comedy about a loser who becomes the talk of his high school when he accidentally gets photographed with a Miley Cyrus/Selena Gomez type teen sensation. In the end his fame dies away and he learns the importance of being himself. Of course he gets the girl-who-was-his-friend-all-along-and-secretly-loved-him-but-never-told-him-and-he-was-too-blind-to-see-her-for-what-she-was. The film would be called The Happenin'.

7) The Last Airbender: a film about the airbending culture, a slang term in Kite-boarding for the really slick move where you use your board and kite to appear to float over water. We see the young kid who moves into a surfer town and gets involved with the surfer crowd and discovers himself through kite-Boarding. A coming of age/finding yourself/letting go type of movie.

Side note on Signs: The guy arrives at the port too late and sees the ship leave, as he turns around its the girl with her luggage. She never got on in the first place. Aaaawww!! so cute! Makes me wanna go strangle a puppy or two!

NY Pilgrimage

Why such a long hiatus you ask? well, its not that I reached a point where I had nothing to say anymore. Nor is it the fact that life in Miami is so engrossing that it leaves no time for anything else. Its just that I couldn't get my damn phone to transfer some photos to my comp. See, I had to say goodbye to NY/NJ properly before I started writing about Miami. You know they say you could live in Paris all your life and still never see the Tour Eiffel. Same thing happened to me in NJ. I had never been to the Statue of Liberty and a couple of other places. So before leaving I did a blitzkrieg visit of the all the famous sites. Then I visited some other places which were special for entirely different reasons. I humbly present the following:

1) Tom's Restaurant - Seinfeld

Throughout my teens I watched Friends while skipping the weird show that preceded it on Star World. How could I be so oblivious, so short sighted? Seinfeld is one of the greatest TV shows ever. EVER! Now, I find Friends lowly, even pedestrian. Seinfeld is avant garde. Seinfeld will still be hilarious 50 years from now. We need to beam Seinfeld into space so that Aliens realize that humans too are an intelligent species capable of much genius. Every Seinfeld episode is quotable. Seinfeld should be part of school curriculum. So I had to pay my respects at the below holy shrine before I left. The exterior shot of Monk's Cafe that is shown in almost every episode. In reality its Tom's Restaurant and they didn't actually shoot anything here, just the exterior shot. There were other people taking photos too.

2) Central Park - Marathon Man

Method actor Dustin Hoffman, actually ran a mile or two before each scene so he really appeared out of breath in the film. The following scene takes place just before the Nazi guy's brother crashes his car. Marathon man is such a fine film, it makes me wanna go out and run, even though its not exactly about running marathons.

"Is it safe?", "Is it safe?", "Is it safe?"

3) Washington Park - When Harry Met Sally

The following pic is Where Sally dropped off Harry after they share a long drive home from college. WHMS probably is the quintessential "can a guy and gal just be friends" film. Its not a chick flick, its not a romcom. Its a drama set around a relationship. I took the pic from the wrong side though. If you lean into the screen and spot a yellow car in the pic to the right, thats Sally's car right there. Go on .. lean in.

4) Manhattan Bridge - Once upon a Time in America

This is one heck of a film. Part male bonding/ friends through the ages, part Crime drama and part mindf*k. Sergio Leone may be known for his "Stranger with no name" flicks but this right here is undoubtedly his masterpiece. The following pic is not only the poster but also one fine and poignant scene from the film. This was the hardest place to get to and even though I though I was in the actual point, I should have maybe moved a couple of hundred yards closer.

5) The Soup Kitchen - Seinfeld

The place featured in this epic episode is now closed down. So indeed, No soup for me. There's a board that says that its available for rent. When I went around looking for it , I knew I was in the right place but just couldn't spot it. I asked a shopkeeper if there was anyplace to get soup nearby, he said there was, but if I was looking for the Seinfeld place, it was closed down. He pointed me in the right direction and said a lot of folks came by asking for the place.

Now that that's done, hopefully I can start writing about Miami!

Entourage is Friggin Awesome!!!

Jyeah,Jyeah!!...... Jyeah,Jyeah!!!! I haven't fallen in love with a TV series like this since I sat up all night watching the first season of Dexter back in undergrad. Entourage is an absolutely amazing show and the coolest thing is that its just about four guys hanging together. Its such a simple concept, but the execution and the characters will make you fall heads over heel in love with it. Never thought four normal guys living the good life in Hollywood, surrounded by movie stars, cars, girls, parties would make for some friggin' awesome TV. Its like Sex and the City, just for guys. You cant help but love the characters. After just 2 seasons Vince, E, Turtle and Drama are all my homies now.People you would love to hang out with. Turtle & Johnny Drama alone are such great characters, I wouldnt mind seeing them together in anything. Infact they should make a comedy about just Turtle and Drama. That could work out real nice. And Jeremy Piven is hilarious as the short tempered agent , Ari Gold.

Each season (so far) is based on a simple story line , but the story telling is so compelling and the characters so endearing you cant but gobble down episode after episode. The first season was about Vince scoring a indie flick. The second mostly about him scoring a big budget-er with James Cameron. Simple ,rt? And with all the movie actor cameos and movie references, any cinephile would love it endlessly. Another thing is that these folks are living it up , Hollywood style .Their lifestyle is relaxed, so chilled out that it makes you wish you had something like that. Its an inspiration almost, to get off you lazy ass and work , do something so that you are somebody. I am so prepped up right now, its like everything is gonna be alright. I can do anything I want. I finally got around to writing this blog article. Now Iammago run a mile. See you later Chicken, say Hi to your mother for me.


PS: Mark Wahlberg produces Entourage.
PS2: Thank you Pompi for forcing me to watch the first episode.

We Have TV !!!

Long have you eluded me. No more.

After a gap of 5 years , I finally have TV at my home. I haven't had access to a TV since I left home 5 years ago for college, save for the brief stints at home on holidays or the time my roommate went out and bought a TV for our room that lasted all of 2 months. The pure joy and convenience that a TV provides is unbeatable. We have over 200 channels , 15 movie channels among them. Instead of just discovery and NGC we have over 8 lifestyle channels. Oh, How I missed you Discovery. I am amazed at the wide variety at offer, but that in itself has posed a problem. There were times in India when there would be nothing good to watch. I termed it "Dead Time"- " a period of air time be it audio or video where the viewer/listener is offered nothing that can hold his interest for long". We have a strange variation of that here in the states. I haven't yet come up with a lame name for the phenomenon, but its a period of airtime where there is an abundance of programs that attract the viewer such that he/she is pulled everywhere and in the end settles nowhere.

Still I am elated with the return of TV. It brings back fond memories if nothing else. Unkown to my parents there existed a system of understanding between I and my brother. We had divided everything in the house between us. EVERYTHING. Rooms, household objects, mixies,TV, furntiture,and even our parents. So the TV ended up being mine, but my brother got the TV stand. Furthermore the TV was in the living room, which my brother had got in turn for both the bathrooms. So even though the remote lay in my hands, and I controlled what the family would watch - to which he complied - ,when something came that he just had to watch ,he would leverage control by moving the TV stand and pulling the plug of the TV saying I had no right to his "electricity". A truce would finally reach where he would get to watch what he wanted, but the remote would be in my hands, and I got wandering rights during commercial breaks.

"I am 12 years old, TV is my life" - Kevin McCallister, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

I heard this on TV and was so happy that I was 12 years old too and in fact TV was my life too.
I was proud of my knowledge of TV timing when I was in school. I knew what was on at what time.I liked that certanity. Of telling time by what was on the TV. Like the furniture of my house, I knew where everything was. I knew how late night TV smelled. I knew how afternoon Tv tasted. I was the Lord of TV.

Awesome TV

I never thought 2 guys cutting a piece of wood would make for good television, but damn was this saturdays Roadies good.Nihal beat the living shit out of loud mouth Vikrant and it made for some nailbiting moments.I bet on Nihal earlier with my roomies and won 6 bucks.He came through this time, otherwise he too was all talk and no results.I wanted Anmol to be in but she quit that was pathetic.Last season it was Bani.This season its Nihal.And Sonel cheering him finally made me like her,but I still think shes dumb.I want Ashu and Shambhavi to win in the next ep.
This is seriously awesome TV!!!

Pimp my ride...

This is one great show on VH1..This is the better part of the reality TV affinity that all the music channels seem to have acquired.Rapper Xzibit selects one lucky guy/gal driving around with a dilapidated jalopy of an excuse for a car.he then proceeds on to the proverbial pimping!!With the help of West coast customs,they do a mind blowing refurbishing of the car.They put so many accessories,and do such a great job, you wont believe it.i think the accessories come out costing more than the old car.. it is a bit campy at times.but still it is fun.There is always a scene where the West Coast customs guys sit around a table and discuss what to do.It goes something like this.
Big mike"This car has no sponge in the seats, no dashboard.Diggy Dogg what are you gonna do?"
Diggy Dogg:"First of all I am gonna..then.."
Big mike"That will look sweet.The paint job looks real bad...El hombre what are you gonna do about that?"
El hombre:"I am gonna give a aqua blue turquoise coat,since this girl is into surfing.."
Big mike"Niice.This gal also likes hip hop music .Jesse what are you gonna do about the stereo
Jesse:(whos always holding a tester to show he is the electronics guy)I am gonna provide 5.1 stereo surround woofer system, plus I am gonna throw in a DVD player."
Big mike"Gee.. wont that be expensive?"
Jesse"I donna give a *beep*.. its MTV's money"
Big mike"So what are the tyres gonna look like when you are done with them,Donny??"
Donny:"They are gonna be round you dumba$$..."
Big mike:"this car also needs a good engine work., what are you gonna do about that,jerry?..hey wheres jerry??"
Jesse:"He quit.. and so will I if you don't shut the $#%# up.."

What do the lucky guy/gal have to do in return?? They jump around screaming and a lot of *beep*ing ensues as they cant believe that this is their car.They hug everyone and shake everyones hand.You cant believe ppl can get this lucky.its almost like a spanking new car, and its customized.There was this one episode where the guy was given a DVD player cum projector which was installed in his trunk.He couldn't believe it and said if he could just get some DVDs to watch on the thing,next thing you know Xzibit hands him a dozen DVDs.Stop with the giveaways already!!It ends with the guy/gal looking into the camera and saying"Thank you MTV for pimping my ride!!!".. thats compulsory.


Trivia aka unnecessary info:
Xzibit is a play on the word Exhibit.
VH1= Video Hits One