Monday, July 19, 2010

Poster Prediction

I am a sucker for Bollywood movies both good and bad and its amazing how Bollywood has evolved in terms of technical aspects and the the other creative aspects except the script and storylines .There are a couple of movies that I would like to warn you about but that will be some other time. In this post I would like to share with you my new found pastime of predicting about the movie through posters.


KAJRAARE

This latest flick starring Himesh Reshammiya releases on Aug 6 2010. From the looks of it it appears Reshammiya has invested in a newer hairstyle which confirms his penchant to look as ugly as possible.In the background the female protagonist with the flowing loom of a cloth implies she is just there for a few fleeting moments. It could also mean that the nasal rendition of reshammiya’s vocal chords was too much for to bear so she took a back stepping.The ruins in the background suggest that Reshammiya will ensure that the sensible audience’s three hours are completely ruined.On a optimistic note the strap on Reshammiya ‘s shoulder may be a glimpse of a huge bag implying that he will pack his bags and leave 
and spare the viewers any more bad acting- singing -action rolled in to one performer(?) Reshammiya.


   

                                                                                  

LAMHAA                                                                                                    

         This movie has already released on 16 th of july but I haven’t watched it and since I think the poster may have a  connection with the Kajraare poster I have decided to include this one in this article. The poster with the badass Sanjay dutt suggests that though there are other actors besides him but does that really matter .My interperetation of the poster is that Sunju Baba rules the movie and has maximum scenes.He is a bad guy complete with the latest ammunition and the unshaven look.The toothpick clenched between his lips compliments the badass look since the pastime of most badass guys in bollywood is to chew on toothpicks incessantly.the backdrop suggests that sunju baba is in the lonely desert maybe looking for Reshammiya before he signs another loser movie.

                                                                                                              










 
  MILENGE MILENGE

 
Alright this one has released too and after a huge delay for whatever reasons. That’s not important and will pose no problems in my discourse over my limited postergyaan .What I thought was interesting in this poster that it describes the real life situation of the protagonists .Even though they are forced by the nature of their jobs and their respective professionalism to complete this movie,they manage to convey it to the audience as well as each other that this is strictly professional and refuse to even look at each other .The backdrop of the city silhouette suggests that this movie is set in an urban environment
where the traffic situation may force the protagonists to tell each other irritably that “yaar traffic main phasa/phasi hoon . bola na Milenge milenge.”


                                                                                                                           

           KHATTA  MEETHA                                                                                          

Releasing on 23rd July it is a typical Priyadarshan movie with a lot of people vying for space even on the poster.Trisha the female protagonist and southern movie starlet obviously has more scenes than most of the people in the background ,thus her presence is several places ahead of the supporting cast in the poster.Akshay Kumar ‘s recent idiotic movies have taken a toll on him too and he seems to hit himself with his umbrella in his last attempt to do something sensible with his life.I cannot see anything either khatta or meetha at least from the poster but I am really hoping for the viewers that the movie doesn’t leave a bitter aftertaste after braving it for the stipulated two hours plus.

       

                                                                     

                                                ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAI

 This one hits the theatre on 30th of July and is obviously about Mumbai.The protagonists are badguys with their thick mop of a hair as well as moustache and colour coordinated sunglasses with their respective mean machines.AjayDevgan looks his part of the man Bombay once feared but I am not so sure about Hashmi. He looks confused about whether to give the ferocious look or the seductive one and what results is a mixture of the two making him look like a fearsome serial kisser oops.... killer.

That’s all for now on poster prediction . Watch this space for more gyaan on posters.                                                     

Saturday, July 17, 2010

A beautiful evening spent at Saung Angklung Udjo


Saung Angklung is a lesser known place in Bandung,Indonesia. This in English means Hut or shelter for Angklung. It was established in 1966 by the late Mr Udjo Ngalagena and his wife Uum Sumiati. This beautiful place serves as an art studio,a place for art performance and is also instrumental in providing art education to students as young as 3 years old. All students acquire this training on art for free, since it is a tourism project of West Java based on cooperative values. All this because Mr Udjo believed that Angklung is the art and cultural pride of the Sundanese( Bandung is Part of Sunda region of west java ) and everything possible should be done towards conserving this cultural pride.

The daily performance begins at 1530hrs and ends at 1730hrs.Each visitor has to buy a ticket for 50,000 rupiah (5USD).The entry ticket includes a free drink which offers a choice between fruit tea and and a traditional drink called Bandrek (hot drink made of palm sugar, ginger and lemon grass along with spices and with a generous topping of shredded fresh coconut).I chose the latter and went back for a refill. The performance started at 1530 hrs and a very charming hostess with a peculiar accent kept us entertained in an amphitheatre.

The first thing on offer was a wooden puppet demonstration with a beautiful live background music playing on various Indonesian instruments. The puppet art or Wayung as it is called in Indonesia is very famous art form in this region of west Java. Normal show of puppetry involves story revolving around Ramayana, of course with Indoensian adaptation of the mythological story.  

The next performance was a dance and song procession called Herelan which is traditionally played during circumcision celebration and harvest season. The circumcised boy is treated like a king for a day with all villagers pampering him and singing and dancing in front of him. There is a procession to commemorate the ceremony and this procession is carried out on a palanquin. 

Later what followed was a peek into the varied and beautiful Sundanese culture through Mask dance and Peacock dance.

Thereafter they presented the Angklung and played various universal songs like “peter pat ‘, and” Do Re Mi’. Angklung is an  instrument made from Bamboo arranged vertically . The length of the bamboo and circumference of the bamboo gives the instrument a particular octave tone . Each piece has around six bamboos and seven such parts make one full Angklung . After the performers had performed each of the audience member was given one part of angklung each representing one note of the octave .They were numbered from 1 to 7 denoting the musical notes do re mi fa so li to. And we set to try our hand on playing the Angklung . The sound emanates from holding the instrument with left hand and shaking it from bottom with the right one. The pitch varies from a short shake to a long to a very long shake. After some warm up he made us play songs like” falling in love”. The conductor was giving us signals with his hand and each signal represented a particular note. What followed later was sheer magic when we all played our individual Angklungs in accordance to his hand signs and later a whole symphony based on the numerical notes. It was an orchestra played by the audience and the environment was charged with our collective excitement and love for music. Due to some over excited audience the music at times was totally out of melody, but on a whole it resembled harmony.

Indoneisan culture is full of various forms of dances and music, and each of the 33 provinces have something unique to offer. In the last 15 months of my stay I have rarely noticed an Indonesian who has no understanding of music and melody. Family karaoke are a upbeat trend here and on any given social occasions they are more than willing to exhibit their love for music. Unlike in India where we have to request audience to come forward and sing, here in Indonesia you have to request audience to restrict their participation. I hope to catch a further glimpse of varied Indonesian culture during Cultural Night to be held at our college in a week’s time . Till then Selamat Membaca ( Happy reading )  

P.S. Watch this video to understand Angklung better

Friday, June 18, 2010

Futile Facebook Groups

Facebook is a constant provider of silly, mundane updates. Although it is predictable in many ways, it is also a source of entertainment. The other amusing part of facebook is some of its incredibly hilarious groups. They are hilarious because they are extremely useless groups and I can’t imagine someone taking time and effort to create these groups in the first place. I am listing a few of them. Please feel free to add some more to my list.

If you ever find this group, join it.

Oh My God! You can’t be serious.

I accidentally typed ;) instead of :) and now it’s awkward.

Tell me about it

Panicking when your finger gets stuck in something stupid

Like what?

I always manage to find the dirty side to what people say!

Wow!

Texting the person next to you stuff you cant say out loud

What happened to the old fashioned hand written notes?

When i can drive, I am SO running you over.

Beware of this driver.

Going to MacDonalds for a salad roll is like going to a brothel for a hug.

What a comparison?

Inbox (1) makes me nervous.

These groups surely are making me nervous.

A Lion would never cheat on his wife.. but a Tiger wood.

Pun intended

“Will there be boys there?” “No mom, it’s a nun party.”

Obviously Mom, what is a party without boys? 

I Thought You Were Hot Until I Clicked on "View More Pictures" 

How rude and truthful.

Alcohol Improves my Foreign Language! :P 
Yeah…slurring definitely sounds foreign.

30 Things To Do In An Exam When You Know You're Going To Fail It Anyways!

It’s a pity that I am not a student anymore

Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?
Cheeky and cheesy

For those who have ever pushed a "pull" door

ME ME ME …I do it all the time

When I was your age, Pluto was a planet.

And now it is official that I am ancient.

Geometry can kiss my Angle-Side-Side.

I wish teachers encouraged that.

Join this group, invite all of you friends, and then leave.

What a waste of time and energy

If 100,000 people join, my fiance' will let me name my second son Spiderman 

And what have you named your first son mate?

If 500 000 join this group I will change my middle name to Facebook

Now it is getting a bit too much …have you signed an affidavit yet ?

I have a tendency to laugh at inappropriate times

Always honey always.