Halla Bol

A movie about how an actor forgets when his acting stops and life begins...a movie about our everyday fears...and doubts about whether courage pays off or not.

Halla Bol is the story of Jessica Lal...ofcourse with lots of fiction. But it manages to question the very root of our actions..fear. Fear of being implicated by the system, fear of losing our 2 pence of security and fame, fear of standing against a raging crowd....it's very easy to be courageous when you are standing in a group and have people behind you....it is equally tough doing it alone...

The movie made me wonder what an ordinary person like you and me would have done. Sameer Khan (Ajay Devgan) was still a hero...someone who had money and could pick up the phone and call the commissioner. Would I have the same courage? Would I be able to put my family at risk for the victory of truth? It is not something that I can answer in this blog...it is a strength that I would need to find in myself if god forbid, one day I need to.

Ajay Devgan has acted fairly well...but risks the danger of being typecast. He has done too many of these angry man against the system kind of roles and needs to experiment a bit now...In all fairness, the movie belongs to Pankaj Kapur. I had forgotten what a brilliant actor he is...he can take a scene and raise the bar like nobody's business!

What the film lacked though, was a good set of dialogues. The script allowed for some very potent dialogues to be used but they were forsaken for extremely ineffectual ones. Pankaj Kapoor in a very volatile scene saying "Tumhare bete ka character badal gaya hai" was a complete disaster for one!

All in all, movies likes this force us to think once in a while, they shake us up and question the bubble of our existance. An excellent attempt.

Rating - 3 out of 5

The Blue Ocean that Nano swims in

Ratan Tata unveiled the realisation of his dream and his promise to India at the Auto Expo last week. The Tata Nano is all that he had promised, it is compact, doesn't compromise on style, gives brilliant mileage and sticks to the magic figure of Rs.1 lakh.

My take on the Nano:
1) It should be targetted towards three sections of society. Firstly, it should target young families-couples with 2 young children who till now could not afford a car and thus have been driving precariously on their Bajaj Scooters. These are the people who will value the car as it will protect their children from the harsh weather and also give them a status symbol in their community. B-towns would be the best place to target this group.

The second section it should target are parents of college students. Parents are ready to shell out Rs.40000-70000 on two-wheelers for their children but are constantly worried about their safety. The Nano will be a safer option and will also not allow very high speeds.

The last section is retired people. Their need is a car that is low in maintainance, should not guzzle fuel and should not be too heavy to drive. The Nano will give them all this at a very affordable rate.

2) Critics are sceptical of this launch with the logic that the Indian roads are not yet geared for such an increase in 4 wheelers. Frankly, this is a wake-up call for the government. A growing economy means that the consumer has more choice at affordable rates. But providing the infrastructure for him to excercise this choice is a task that the government needs to take on and fast.

3) Though Auto Rickshaw and cab drivers are looking at the Nano as an alternative, Tata Motors should avoid this at any cost. Once a car becomes associated with a public transport vehicle, its perception doesnt allow retail consumers to flaunt the same. Indica and Qualis are good examples of this.

It is very easy to be critical of this car. It's only 624cc, the wheels are too small and thus cant take rough roads, it doesnt have boot space and on and on. But think of this from the perspective of that middle aged supervisor who needs to drop his children to school in the rain or from the perspective of an aged couple who have to brave public transport as 2 wheelers are too dangerous and 4 wheelers too expensive for them. Ratan Tata has done something phenominal here...he has caused a shift in the market scenario. Instead of competing in the red ocean where all the big sharks are busy outdoing each other with new luxury cars, he has gone and created a new market itself. This, my friends, is the best example of Blue Ocean Strategy in our times.

So laments my pitiful heart...

A part of me died today....it's withering away as we talk....I never knew that it is possible to love someone so much that the absence of them from your life can hurt so much that it seems like someone pulled your heart out of your body. Love is a strange thing...it hits you when you least expect it and you can never be whole again! But for all the pain it is capable of causing....one thought of him..one whisper of his voice makes it all worth it...

It's strange that we are the ones that make ourselves vulnerable...put our happiness in someone else's hand. Allow the person to make you smile or cry at the drop of a hat...

But then again what is life if lived for yourself...if there is no one in your life who can affect you...you can not be a fool in love..the only fool is he who has not loved.....

Growing up...

If you know me, or know someone who knows me, you will be privy to the fact that I am a sucker for festivals! I love them…the lights of Diwali, the colors of Holi, the cheer of Christmas, the biryani of Eid….all of them. Regardless of which faith they belong to, I love the fact that they are a reason for people to celebrate. To feel special and get a chance to do things to make others feel special. The same is the reason that I am crazy about birthdays / anniversaries and the like. Mine or someone else’s. I’m the sort of person who would go and tell everyone I know that my birthday is coming up a month beforehand…on the other hand, I am also the kind of person who would plan something special…a surprise …a gift…a single flower in the most unexpected of places…for people close to me. And I’ll let you in on a secret. I still have my stocking under my pillow every Christmas eve and without fail, Santa has delighted me with goodies year after year.

But as time passes by, I am forced to wonder if this forced cheer is foolish. Am I refusing to stop being a child? Does the innocence of magic and snowflakes and birthday excitement suit only children? Perhaps it’s time I should leave all this behind. The joy of giving gifts is paled when the person getting it is half as excited as you are….ofcourse because your childish excitement is difficult to match! Perhaps this New Year I won’t make a fuss about sitting at home and reading a book….and this Christmas I won’t go with friends to distribute sweets to children like we always did in college…sitting pretty with a glass of wine would be more fitting….and perhaps after all these years, Santa wont find my stocking under my pillow…coz perhaps it’s time I grew up…..

Gujarat and Me....

Life is strange....however accomplished or 'arrived' we think we are, it brings us back to reality with one swipe of the wand....

A couple of years back, I was giving my interview for entrance to MICA. I was surrounded by engineers all giving the perfect interview answers....and then my turn came. The interviewer asked me, "what has had the maximum impact on you as a person?". In all my candor I gave him the only answer that came to my mind. I saw the worst of Gujarat....I went through the trauma of the Bhuj earthquake and an year later, saw Ahmedabad burn in the aftermaths of Godhra.

How did this affect me as an individual? It made me realise that nothing is permanent. People spilled out on the streets of Ahmedabad to help the injured after the quake. They stayed up all night trying to give hope to the ones who were burried in the rubble. There was no caste or religious demarcation....it was all for humanity. All this goodness came shattering to the earth when the same people an year later took up arms to kill their neighbours, friends and strangers. I saw mobs running on roads with fire 'mashaals' trying to find a person belonging to the other religion so that they could make a spectacle of his death.

It made me realise, that however big you become, when the moment of truth comes...god's children are all the same. Rich and poor alike slept on pavements, in cars, in gardens and just about anyplace they could find after the earthquake for fear of their cracked houses coming tumbling down. They helped each other, cooked food in community kitchens and joined hands in a bid to come out of this tragedy together.

I also understood the real meaning of fear. Fear was not about losing your job or something as mindless. Fear was standing on the 10th floor of a building watching it sway like a pendulum....looking out of the window and seeing buildings crumble like matchboxes...driving through roads where on either sides, people were stuck in rubble - shouting for mercy from the pain....Fear was sitting on the terrace of your building watching the mob below, wondering where you will hide if they come upstairs. It made me stronger...and helped me understand how the things we give importance in life are actually worthless.

For someone who was not there, all this may be over-exaggerated drama. For someone who was, a reflection of their truth and for me, a way of life. On the on-side, the interviewer surprisingly thought similarly and I did make it through to MICA...the only candidate selected from all of Gujarat. Some answers after all may not be perfect...but as long as they are heart-felt, perfection doesn't matter....

Egypt Explored - 1

My series on my trip to Egypt .... there are so many aspects to this crazy country that a travelogue will not do it justice! So I decided to pick up pieces of my experience and pen them down separately....



Egypt for the uninitiated is not a vacation! So all those people who want to go to a foreign location and kick off their shoes, do NOT go here....you will tear your hair out and by the time you come back, you will probably need a vacation to get over this one!

Having said that, I'll tell you about the kind of people who 'should' go here. If you love to explore...to experience new cultures...if you love history and architecture....if you are game to open your mind and heart to this land of wonder, then my friend, you can't miss Egypt!



It is a pandora's box. You will have people trying to sell you clothes, souveniers, taxi rides, camel rides, the camel itself, and just about anything they can think of...they will follow you and say "You are Indian?? Very good India....Maharajas...Amitabh Bachchan" and flash a toothy smile before trying to make their sales pitch...the scorching heat of the day sun will drive you nuts and you will go beserk when the book seller sells you an English newspaper for Rs.200....



But Egypt is more than that. If you can deal with all of this, then they embrace you with open arms and surprise you with their warmth. Taxi drivers offer you cigarettes, they are apologetic about the hassle you go through, educated professionals on the road are more than happy to haggle in arabic with a shopkeeper for something you want when you hit the language barrier....and the sights of Egypt are all ready to astound you! Standing in front of the Pyramids of Giza, one can not help but be awed by the 455ft giant structure made with rocks each weighing 1.5 tonnes put together at a time when they had no wheels, pulleys or iron tools...add to that all this has withstood earthquakes, invasions and all unimaginable exploitation! Every ruin in Egypt takes your breath away....be it the Luxor Temple, the Karnak Temple or the Valley of Kings for the sole reason that these dont appear to be ruins. These structures are 4000-5000 years old but stand straight and proud, displaying their mesmerizing writings engraved in the stone and hold their own....

All in all, go to Egypt if all this excites you....if you like standing in the middle of history and absorbing the experience. Egypt leaves you gasping....ironically, gasping for breath...for water...and for some more....

Dussehra time!!

Happy Dussehra!! I can shamelessly admit, I am a sucker for festivals. I love them! Festivals of any religion...any geography and absolutely any motivation get me smiling. There is a spark in the air, strangers smile warmly when crossing each other...everyone is dressed up in their fineries...there is a certain magic around these occasions that you and I can't really explain.

And the mother of all festivals in India has to be the Dussehra-Diwali month! I was crossing a Ramlila ground last night and they were getting all ready for the famous Ravana burning act. And it got me thinking....the story of Ravana as told in India makes us see things in black and white. There is no scope for grey. He was evil. Ram was good. Good kills evil. End of story. But I see contemporary India moving away from this school of thought. I see us questioning things. What motivated Ravana to act like he did? Was he justified in doing so? Was he really all that evil?

JK Rowling got Dumbledore to say a very thought provoking statement in one of the books. Dumbledore told Harry - "There is no good or evil. All of us have a little evil in us. It is our choice which voice we choose to act on."

This is the grey that we recognise today. All of us have skeletons in the closet....some words said, some acts done that we wish in retrospect that we had not. But that doesn't make us evil. We can choose to bury them and select a different path...and the beauty of this moment in time is that there is a chance we will not be crucified for our thoughts and we won't be burned in full glory to signify the victory of good over evil....