Review: Mission Istanbul - Kissin Miss and Bull

Bhaktas,

This is your friend, guide and philosopher, Baba Bangali. Before you think that this is another lame excuse to trash a movie, let me clarify. This not just another review and unlike others we don’t give the movie away nor do we comment on the abject performances. It sure was an ardous task but nevertheless I sat through it. Why you may ask, why does one inflict upon himself such acute agony. This time around there was a reason and it was this dame, She is a favorite at Dappan Koothu and we go to everything to cover her. If this isn’t a run-of-the-mill review then what is it, you may ask. Well Bhaktas, this shall be more of an advice column much like agony aunt. Only difference being that I’m not dealing with relationships but management mantras, image branding and career choices. Sounds interesting? Read on!
>>The Guru Speaks

Jai Mata Di Lets Rawk

I have always been a secret Himesh fanboy ever since ‘Aap ki Kashish‘ way back in 2005. I was never a big fan of his Salman Khan movies but Emran Hashmi has inspired Himesh bhai in ways like never before! Himesh has often been hated and is the butt of all jokes at gatherings and my adulation has therefore always been restrained. I feared being mocked at for my Himeshmania and hence it was always either on my iPod or at home on full blast while roommates were in school. Now I have a CD of Himesh hits permanently in my car and living alone means that I can listen and croon along whenever I want to. You may hate him, you may love him but when you hear his songs in an auto you’ll find your heads nodding to the rhythm. Forgive me Ganeshal for I have sinned yet again and come out of the closet! >> The Himeshmania continues

Preview: Kuselan / Kathanayakudu

The stage is set and all eyes are now on Thursday night’s mega release Kuselan. Kathanayakudu as it is named in Telugu will feature the Superstar who has been riding higher than ever after last year’s runaway hit ‘Sivaji‘. The film also stars Meena, Vadivelu, Nayantara apart form the Thalaivar himself, and has been directed by P.Vasu who is back with a bang after the roaring success of ‘Chandramukhi‘ which also featured Rajnikanth. Incidentally Rajnikanth isn’t playing the lead role in Kuselan and will instead be playing himself in the film. The lead roles are being played by Pasupathy in Tamil and Jagapathi Babu in Telugu, the rest of the cast is more or less the same for both versions. Kathanayakudu will see Sunil and Bramhanandam don the mantle of comedians, that Vadivelu and Santhanam handle in Kuselan. The music is done by G.V.Prakash who is the nephew of maestro A.R.Rahman, and is already quite a hit amongst radio stations and TV channels. Kuselan is being produced by K.Balachander’s Kavithalaya while Kathanayakudu will be produced by Aswini Dutt’s Seven Arts. K.Balachander also produced A.R.Rahman’s debut film Roja, now that’s some trivia you never heard before! Who am I kidding? You guys are too smart for that. If you haven’t read by now then for the record Kuselan/Kathanayakudu are remakes of the Malayalam movie ‘Katha Parayumbol‘.
>>A look behind the story and what it promises

Cuil: First Look

It’s been a while since somebody challenged Google at it’s game. Cuil was launched a couple of days back and it has everybody pouncing upon it. For the first few hours the servers were down owing to the exponential increase in search load. Bloggers are in a hurry to get their reviews out on the latest Google-Killer. While the industry response has been pretty balanced, some have gone for the jugular. A majority though prefer the wait-and-watch approach for there have been many such so-called-google-killers in the past and Cuil is no different. The only reason Cuil is generating so much interest is because the people behind it are xooglers(ex-Googlers).
>>If you dig techy stuff then click for more analysis

why do you blog

Bhaktas,

For a change its not that I-am-so-smart boy genius but your favorite friend, guide and philosopher, Baba Bangali here. Over the weeks this so called witty-blogger has been putting me to face all his awkward questions for which I am forced to answer. While you laugh at the idiocy of my replies, I keep researching on improving my impromptu skills. So now my friends let us put him in the firing line and see how he rankles at my acerbic questions as I wield the mic.
>>Now comes the camel under the hill

Maal kaalchur and no thunder

Heard in a famous mall in Chennai

(At Lifestyle)

Girl: I love Puma, It’s so very European you know…
Boy: (blank expression)

(At Van Heusen)

Another Girl: Only my man can wear pink (Hands her boy-toy a pink shirt)
Another poor guy: (blank expression)

I generally don’t eavesdrop and snoop around coochie-coo couples but this was more like in the face. I fail to understand this so-called-maal-kaalchur and therefore we goto our resident genius philosopher the one-and-only ‘Baba Bangali‘ who is second only to the ‘Great Gounder‘. In my quest for knowledge to ensure that I am not ill-prepared and caught in a maal kaalchur crisis, I humbly ask the great baba.
>>Conspiracy Theory?

kar ke kalam se

Below are some ramblings from my friend kar who blogs under the moniker ‘sthitapragnya‘. It was actually left as a comment to an earlier post, but I found it post worthy and wanted to share it with all of you.

sunaai hai tumne yeh jo daastaan
khuda bhi hoga isse maezbaan
kyonki samajhta hai woh bhi yeh baat poori
ki hai uski bhi isme apni majboori
jis illat ki baat tumne chhedi hai
uski raahat-o-dawa bas ek hi hai
kehkashaanon mein chhupi woh naaznee
wahi tabeeb banegi tumhare marz-e-dil ki
jaao usise poochho is dard ka ilaaj
jaao, der na karo, kal nahin aaj
bas itna jaanlo
meri baat maanlo
ae mere yaar, jab rab khud is ehsaas ka gulaam hai
tho socho zara, woh bande ke dard ka kaisa hakeem hai?

Welcome to the blogosphere kar, and hope to read more from you.

PS: Please ask the original author for a transliteration, as I don’t speak chaste urdu.

Aditi…….

You can take the Rathore out of Ranjhour, But you can’t take the Ranjhour out of the Rathore

Dear Aditi,

As I write this post, every girl who shares her name with you is gleaming in joy every time this song is played on the air. How I wish you were with me every time I break into a song out of tune, How I wish I could talk to a portrait and how I wish I had such a spunky gang of friends. Teen movies flunk at the box office with the same ease that it takes to make them. All you need is a bunch of bright and bubbly kids, some cool clothes, a good dance number and corny/witty one-liners. So tell me Aditi, why do they all fail except for this time? I’ll answer it myself, this time there were no stern and opposing parents, lecturers weren’t ridiculed, no college bullies or ladki-ko-chedo sequences. Just simple everyday sequences with a generous helping cinematic liberty thrown into the mixture.
>> Has de has de Has de

Jet Jet Baby…….

For those following this blog would have realized by now that I’m in the desh, and the previous post was quite a hint. I travelled on a combination of Jet and AA and want to tell you that apna desi
Jet
wins hands down!apna desi Jet wins hands down! The ambiance, the soft spoken flight attendants, the in-flight entertainment, the service, and free drinks! As opposed to AA that charged you $6 for a sip, Jet had unlimited alcohol and stuff like Remy Martin, Absolut, Bacardi on the house(er flight).

I’m no guzzler but the food was what fascinated me, aaloo parathas, with pulav and raita for lunch. That was followed by pav bhaji a few hours later. The poor chap kept walking through the aisles offering juice and ensured everybody was tucked in comfortably at night.

For anyone flying to the desh, try Jet. They operate from Newark and fly to Delhi, Bombay and Madras. AA and other international carriers can sure learn some mehman-nawazi from the guys at Jet.

PS: This post isn’t sponsored by jet, but if any Jet employees are reading this then I’d appreciate a discount on my next purchase!

rog…….

Teri aankhon ke kaajal ne neend chura li
Teri mehekti khushboo ne hosh uda di
Phirta hoon gali gali aawaron jaisa
Eh parwardigaar, lag gaya mujhe yeh rog kaisa?

PS: Writing something like this after a loooong time. Let me know if you liked it…