While surfing for the 'how-to' mannuals, i bumped into two interesting sites. Thought to share -

Wikihow - answers to all your 'how-to' queries..click the link, (Wikihow) type the keyword into the search engine and get umpteen 'how-to' manuals related to the keywords...

& Buzzle.com- interesting news stories and articles covering everything from animals to tourism.

International Festival to be held in Indore

Just wanted to share the news with friends and colleagues -

(Courtesy - Hindustan Times)

The commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, Indore, will host the first 'Global Film Festival' to be organised in the city on the lines of Goa Film Festival from October 8-15.

During the festival, important national and international fame films will be exhibited and the best film, best actors and actresses will also be honoured for their good work, official sources said on Thursday.

The state has number of prominent religious, tourism and natural spots where film making process can be encouraged, the minister said.

The meeting also decided to invite national and international fame film personalities for taking part in the festival.

The Culture Secretary has already held a discussion with cinema halls and hotel owners in Indore in this regard and discussed modalities for showcasing the event, the sources added.

For any further information (hotel bookings, visitor's guide etc.) you can log on to -

http://www.indore360.com/portal/International-Film-Festival-Indore.html

'Wanted' movie review

The reviews were mixed..some said it was yet another cheesy Bollywood masala flick, some thought it to be one of Salman's best! And after watching this full on msala action-comedy, i have no doubts agreeing to the latter of the two extreme opinions..the lovable protagonist of "Hum Apke Hain.." or "Judwa" or "Karan Arjun" has surely aged in his looks but when it comes to being Salman we've cherished ever since, he still does it with the same elan again and again and again..and we love him so much for that..don't we?

yes, the movie was a highly unrealistic-bollywood-ish kinds..a dozen hoodlums being thrashed to the ground by our brave hero in a single stunt, a desi inspector ogling at the heroine with immense devilish thirst in the eyes, a geeky yet international Don, a heroine, depressed in her search for love, still, changing her make-up and nail-paints every now and then in the worst of times..it's funny really..but yet we liked it all..and how! i never knew Prabhu Deva can don the director's hat so well!

The movie reminds us of the fact that at the end of the film when the audience come out of the movie-theater, they are least interested in carrying with them an emotional baggage of a heavy-duty drama or suspense..they sometimes want to feel lighter too. Cinema is all about entertainment for the general masses at least, may be not for the so-called "elite" or for the more serious ones..

i particularly liked the fact that the cut-away scenes were not the usual prolonged ones..they were short, funny, sweet and gave a sense of correlation of the happenings and the timing of their occurrences ..the introductory part of "Radhe" (the hero of the film) was a bit boring but then as the film proceeded with its mirch-masala and cheeni-thoda-sa-kum style, it went on to surge the adrenaline of the audience well glued-up in their seats..

the scene where the villain (Ghani Bhai) with a typical south-Indian accent, was taken captive by the police is hilarious..screenplay writer Shiraz Ahmed's job is surely commendable as even the dialogues, especially Salman's when he says - "jab main ek baar commitment kar deta hu toh uske baad main apne-aap ki bhi nahi sunta" (which is also the concluding line of the film), and the ones delivered by Vinod Khanna before he's shot by the "Gunda" in the film ,are extremely well constructed..

i couldn't believe that the guy who seemed to be so shy whenever he was asked to comment on a performance or give some suggestions or even introduce a guest on the small screen when i saw him judging the popular show "Boogie-Woogie" can be such a good director! Bravo to him and to the crew!

A productive week

The week gone by reminded me of the Mumbai locals what with the time running at parallel speeds. By the time you realize you've just entered or rather been helplessly pushed by the swarm of people into your compartment, you're already at your destination; all tired and lost!..

My office work, people i met, decisions i made, everything was indeed a whirlpool of sorts!!

The most interesting part was when i met the most precious brand the creative world has gifted us - not "Liril" or "Lalitaji" or "Humara Bajaj", (the Bajaj campaign still gives us goose-bumps filling us with the feeling of pride and national integration!) but the creator of the legendary ads - Mr. Alyque Padamsee! His wit and child-like enthusiasm was unmatchable! I think this is the sign of all the creative geniuses - No matter how much the dusk clouds the colour of their eye, their heart still feels the bloom..

While addressing the students of a business school here in Indore, with ingenuity he spoke about entrepreneurship, "brandvertising" (an innovative nomenclature coined by him for the clever marketing of brands..where he explains that simply put, a great ad is the one which generates great sales..), about the history of the now national ad-anthems like "Liril", "humara Bajaj", "marzi hai aapki aakhit sir hai aapka", our very own "lalitaji" ..the ones which we associate our childhood with, about conducting FGDs (Focus Group Discussions) and much much more!!

Trust me, the next five hours with Mr. Padamsee were engagingly informative and thoughtfully insightful!! On a rathar informal note, after his speech i took his advice on my documentary film - "Adrashya Nari" and discussed how can it be better platformed, about the ethics of his "Fair and Handsome" ad campaign and the sensibilities of promoting the product in the Indian market and on our way to his destination - the indore airport, we discussed everything from women empowerment to Indian marriage system to his personal life experiences and so many other issues..and as we'd guessed he knew about almost everything under the sun!

Hid inspirational talks on Mahatma Gandhi, the young India and the advices on building brands and positioning was indeed contentful and detailed..his humourous narratives had us all rolling in the aisles! While seeing him off to the airport he handed me a boquet of flowers and wished us all good luck..

the experience was amazing and that of a lifetime! it was such a pleasure to meet the blue-eyed boy of the adworld! We love him for the everlasting impacts his cerative formations have left on us..they'll always remind us of our childhoods and will remain in our hreats forever.

CAKE RECIPE

Many of my friends, (especially the "nudge-nudge-wink-wink" college spinsters to newly transformed adorable housewives) had been asking me about the recipe of the scrumptious chocolate cake i prepared last week at mom's place for a hen party, to share it with my "Framily" (Frenz and Family). So quite simply, i gave them the link of this page and at the same time thought of sharing this simple and time-saving recipe with my; as Amitabh Bacchhan popularly calls them in his blog, the "EFs" or Extended Family..:)..

There you go -

Ingredients -

2.25 bowls Wheat Flour
1 bowl Sugar
1 bowl Milk
1.5 bowl Curd
1.5 teaspoon of Baking Soda
1 teaspoon of Baking powder (Sodium Bi-carbonate, different from baking soda)
a pinch of salt
one-fourth slice of butter.
Flavour - chocolate syrup, vanilla or any other

Preparation -

Mix the ingredients n keep it for five minutes in the microwave..n Tada!! You have the recipe selling like hot cakes!!..:)

it's the last Monday of the "Sawan Somvars" and the temple near our house is scintillating with colourful lights and lamps..and in fact it's not just the lights but the sound too seems to travel at equal speeds..the sound billowing out of loudspeakers, lashing out at unimaginable decibels actually seems to reach God quite conviniently, screeching the ordinary ears of human beings..interestingly the only thing to laugh off was the tunes on which the bhajans were being played..the famous tunes of "Pankh hote toh udd aati re..." from the movy Sehra and "tutak tutak..." picturised on i guess Neelam?? a movy buff like me can only think of Sandhya in her famous dance moves when i hear the tune..anyways, but i seriously think we really need to do something about the relentless rise in noise pollution..

kids, who come to play in the nearby garden even during the exams, are giving a scared expression on their faces..maybe they're wondering why the people from the surrounding residential area haven't turned up to shoo away the people (like they always do with them) making these screeching sounds at such ungodly hours....probably the kids are seeing the same people adding to the racket... n so they have turned to some peaceful place to frolic around..hopefully the noise would disappear when they return home...

बातों से बातों तक

बातों से बिखरती कुछ नई बातें, उनमे से उल्हज्ती और उलझनों को सुलझाती हुई और बातें, अंगडाइयां लेती हुई सुबह-सी बातें, रात की गहराई नापती धुंधलाती बातें... युहीं बातों से बातों तक, उन सभी लम्हों को समेट कर मेरी आंखों ने इस झील के किनारे रख छोडा है..इन बातों को किनारों से उमड़ कर झील के शांत पानी पर लहराते देख रही हूँ ..उसी बातों के पानी से अपना चेहरा छूकर जब मैंने झील में झाँका तोः एक नही, दो चेहरे देखे, एक मेरा, एक तुम्हारा...

my previous post and the responses it gathered, egged me on to post some insights regarding the facts of being balanced and at the same time being creative..

our creative geniuses like Eienstien, Shakespear and others were highly balanced individuals!!

Eienstien himself stated once -

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”..and it was this attitude of his of always being on the move to keep his BALANCE working, that made him what he's known for..

in a management training program called "a balanced mind" that i was a part of, it was taught that a fully active and balanced brain adds energy and creativity to the individual, which is a necessary ingridient of a successful leader and that only a balanced mind can think of some creative or rational solution to a given problem.

Got to meet Mr. Shyam Benegal in a recent inaugural ceremony of Cinevision Film Club in Indore. in spite of so many questions being asked, .some sensible, some tacky, he was very patient in fielding all of them with great maturity..

i fortunately got a chance to raise a query. ..i asked him how he managed to arrange for the finances for the art films he has devoted most of his career to...he said that though after toiling with the initial phase and so many years later in the film industry, it is now not a big issue for him to manage for the finances..

later in the evening i managed to catch him in a rather informal mode and asked for his blessings for our new company and took his autograph/photograph on one of my favorite books on poetry, which includes some of my compositions too...:)