2006 February archive at Rhythmic Dissonance

Archive for February, 2006

Feb

Vanilla Sky

Raj 18 Comments

Categories: Lists, People, Television and Movies

I finally saw “Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind” on HBO last Saturday. It was really good. This was the first time Jim Carrey looked like a normal man to me rather than looking like someone whose teeth are too keen on breaking free from his mouth. For some reason, the movie reminded me of “Vanilla Sky”.

Things are getting pretty ugly on Indian Idol 2. Sonu Nigam is upset that the contestants are giving too much time to publicity events and makeovers rather than singing and he’s right to a large extent. But he has that unique quality that makes him look like a jerk no matter how right he might be. He makes even Anu Malik good.

You may or may not have seen Indian Idol 2 so let me catch you up on the 9 remaining contestants.

Panna Gill: Everyone on the show thinks he looks good which is a lie. He can barely sing but survives bcos apparently teenage girls think he looks good too.
Monali Thakur: She looks good, has big eyes. Sings well too. She should have lasted till the final five but is sadly out now.
NC Karunya: Great singer. Looks like a case of Abhishek Bachchan-cloning gone awry. Would probably make it to the final three.
Ravi Tripathi: The biggest f**ktard ever on the show. Terrible singer. All contestants hate him, as do the judges. Makes a fool of himself every time he is saved (no thanks to the retarded people who vote for him).
Sandeep Acharya: Udit Narayan’s rajasthani cousin. Looks okay. Sings fine. But we don’t need another Udit Narayan, do we?
Amey Date: Most deserving but slightly dumb. People don’t seem to like him much so he may lose which would be sad.
Meenal Jain: Simple yet efficient. Judges love her, people don’t. Why? Because people suck. She is good but not too good. Final four probably if the Indian public somehow remembers that they vote for the best not the worst.
Anuj Sharma: He’s just got in when Jolly Das had to quit bcos of chicken pox. Heh. What luck. Looks lost. Don’t know much about him yet except that he has a girlfriend.
Antara Mitra: The village belle. She thanks people in Bengali every week and why does she think people should vote for her? Because she is from a small village and if she wins, it would send a message to all girls in small villages. And what exactly would that message be? That as long as you are from a remote village, we will make you win no matter how bad you sing.

You might have heard about model and actress Kuljeet Randhawa’s suicide. Read about it here. Now, everybody may not have known her but being the big TV buff that I am, I did. In fact, I really liked her. The news of her suicide was all over the news channels yesterday. The spooky thing is that she was a friend of Nafisa Joseph, who committed suicide one and a half year ago. They even acted together in CATS, a bad Hindi version of Charlie’s Angels. Sad!

Feb

No Comments

Raj 22 Comments

Categories: People and Blog

I’ve always felt that comments are the biggest reward for a blogger (dumb awards, notwithstanding). And as a blog reader, I’m very generous with comments. Whenever I visit a blog that I like, I never forget to leave a comment. And whenever I visit a friend’s blog, I leave a comment irrespective of whether or not I have something to say. That’s because I know how much comments mean to a blogger.

There was a time when I didn’t get a single comment, though I always had a regular reader in Akanksha (who never commented on the blog in the beginning but directly told me what she thought of the posts). And I was kind of okay with it. But if a post doesn’t get a single comment now, I would probably go crazy.

An important aspect of commenting is the reply you get from the bloggers. I always check for replies to the comments I make and I’m mostly happy with the way people have replied to my comments till date. There are few bloggers, however, who simply refuse to reply to a comment, which is rude. If they don’t care about comments then they should simply turn comments off. In the past few months, I’ve commented on countless blogs but two bloggers who deserve a mention for being the best comment-repliers (in the order in which I discovered their blogs) are:

Megha & Sayesha

They get an average of 50-60 comments on each post and yet they manage to reply to all the comments in detail and without much delay. And I think their promptness in replying to the comments is one of the many reasons why they get so many comments in the first place. Needless to say, I’m a big fan of their blogs.

I try my best to reply to all the comments here ASAP but if I’ve ever forgotten to reply to your comment or not given it due attention then this is your one chance to let me know.

Speak now, or forever hold your peace.

Feb

Venial Sin

Raj 10 Comments

Categories: Internet, Television, Blog and Life

One. That’s the number of posts I wrote last week, which is a shame.

I wanted to write a post on Friday but since Kamasutra worm was supposed to manifest itself that day, our infra guys decided to shut down the proxies completely.

Now, you need to know that Internet is an energy source for me so without it, I felt extremely weak. I was unable to work properly. I did have some fun though. I watched two episodes of Family Guy that I downloaded some time back.

So anyhow, I promise to be regular now. In the meanwhile, please read this post by one of India’s most elite bloggers, TTG, who is in Melbourne now. I share his views on the topic of the post and if I could write better, I would have written something like this.

Feb

Triple Treat

Raj 12 Comments

Categories: Reviews, Television and Movies

I rarely watch 3 movies in 2 days but since I did and that too, good movies which I wanted to watch for a long time, I decided to share my views with everyone here.

Requiem for a Dream

The film depicts the lives of four different people living in Brooklyn on their quest for satisfaction in life. It shows the direct and indirect effects that drugs and various addictions have on each of the individuals, and then portrays their downward spirals from the hopes of blossoming dreams into the helpless state of moral and physical decay. – From IMDB

The first time I watched it was back in 2001. I had to look for it in 3 video shops before I finally got the VCD and the print was really bad. I remember liking it back then but it never had the effect it had this time. The movie is absolutely brilliant. It has an award- worthy performance by Ellen Burstyn. Other cast members - Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans (first time I see him in a non-comedy) are good too. The maker succeeds in making you feel as helpless as Ellen’s friends by the time the movie ends. The scariest thing about the movie is that the main characters are happiest right before their fall starts. In spite of being a serious movie, it is very slick and stylish. It’s a must watch for everyone. But remember, it’s a downer.

Paheli

A folk tale - supernatural love story about a ghost who falls in love with a newlywed woman. – From IMDB

I couldn’t see it last year cos I had other movies (Bunty aur Bubli and Parineeta) on my must watch list and couldn’t watch it after that because my DVD player doesn’t work with my TV (which is such a sad part of my life that it deserves a post!). So Star Gold, of all channels, gave me the opportunity of finally watching it. I expected it to be bad given all the negative comments it got after it was sent for Oscars but it was surprisingly good and not boring at all. The movie is entertaining and has good performances by Rani Mukherjee (who’s my current favorite). She looks hot even in traditional clothes. The fact that such movies aren’t made anymore works to the movie’s advantage. The movie never gets too serious or melodramatic either. Plus it has some scintillating songs.

The song, “Dheere Jalna” is one of my favorite songs from last year. It just doesn’t have great music and good singing but awesome lyrics too. All credit goes to Gulzar, of course.

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi

The film reflects the intensity and fate of three young characters, who start out on the same platform but board different trains and reach a destination of their own making. – From Rediff

I wanted to see it ever since the Indian blogosphere went crazy over the movie last year but got the change only this Monday, thanks to Star Gold again. (I guess, they are finally tired of showing dubbed English movies.) It’s again a great watch. The movie has got me interested in the late 60s and early 70s’ India – something I don’t know much about. The movie is very real. All actors too give a real performance. Kay Kay is good and Chitrangada Singh both looks good and acts well too but its Shiney Ahuja who steals the show. He is very natural. The movie is a little amateurish but still makes an impact. The surprise ending totally caught me unawares. It was great to see a good film by Sudhir Mishra after Chameli.

Incidentally, this film too has a song that I love. I loved “Bavraa Mann” the moment I hear it the first time in 2003. The song has great music (Shantanu Moitra), has been sung well (Swanand Kirkire) and has fantastic lyrics (Swanand Kirkire).

Since I’m in the mood, here are few lines from the song:

Bavre se is jahaan mein bavraa ek saath ho
Is sayaani bheed main bas haanthon mea tera haath ho
Bavri si dun ho koi bavra ek raag ho
Bavri si dun ho koi bavra ek raag ho
Bavre si pair chaahne, Bavre taraano pe
Bavre se bol pe thirakna