It was a long weekend after a long time so I wanted to hit the road. This time we decided to drive down to Chikmagalur.
I do a great deal of research in finding the right place to stay-because the quality of stay decides to a great extent whether your trip is good or not so good.
I hate to stay in hotels on my personal trips. Hotels are the same everywhere- standard, boring and undistinguished. If you really want to get a feel of the place, see how the locals live, listen to their stories, taste their food and get a slice of their culture- then home stay is the place for you.
So, when I was surfing for home stays in Chikmagalur, I landed upon this website of a property which was really appealing. I immediately called up the owner to make a booking, but he apologetically told me that the place was running full.
But I decided to try my try my luck here. Almost in a pleading tone, I asked him “can you recommend any other place to me?”
I held my breath as he took a long pause. Then he spoke “Ya, I have friend Raghu, he has a beautiful place. May be you can check there” and gave me the details before hanging up.
When Raghu picked up the phone I hurriedly introduced my self and explained my situation “Raghu, I am planning a trip over this weekend, and looking for a place for seven people for two nights”
“We have a two bedroom cottage, with a huge living room. Even the bedrooms are quite big and we can provide extra beds, I think you guys can fit in well” Raghu replied.
The thought of having the whole cottage to ourselves, not having to share it with other guests and the idea of privacy instantly tempted me.
Like an eager tourist, I probed “can you give me an idea of the location of your home stay? Like how far it is from the town and what is the view like?”
He was composed “you can visit our website and get all that information” he said
“Ok. Can I call you in half an hour?” I wanted to check the site before I took a decision.
Frankly speaking- I was not very impressed with what I saw on scenic acre’s website. The template was dull and images were just about average. It looked like something which has been put together in a hurry, over all it didn’t excite me much.
I wasn’t very convinced, if I have to book a place the website has to win me over first. But as I didn’t have any other options I decided to go ahead with it.
While confirming the booking I casually asked Raghu “Do you have dogs on your property?”
He thought I had some reservations against dogs so tried clarifying to me “We stay next door, i.e. our property is next to the cottage and we have three dogs there-two daschunds and a three month old Labrador pup. But we don’t allow them to go near our guests”
I just jumped with joy when I heard this and solved the misunderstanding “Sorry, I think you got it wrong. Both my wife and I are absolute dog lovers and every time we travel we try to find a place that has dogs. In fact, one of the reasons why we prefer a home stay to a hotel is because of this”
This information about the dogs and especially about the three month old pup completely swung my decision in favor of Scenic acres. I thought that he would make up for what ever is missing in the home stay.
We reached Chikmagalur by lunch time and the home stay was very easy to find. It is located about 5 kms from the town on the way to mullainagiri hills. As Raghu had gone for his game of golf, his wife Kalpana welcomed us at the Scenic Acres.
All of us loved the property. The location, view and the ambience was perfect. It is a colonial style cottage with a red brick exterior. It has a beautiful garden with many fruit and flowering trees. The girls immediately settled on the two hammocks hung by trees, while we took a walk around the property. The cottage even has an extended expanse of grass land, which overlooked the hills. Interestingly there was a badminton net set up there.
The rooms are airy, spacious and clean. They mostly used the cane furniture which is basic and functional.
The best part of the cottage was however the living cum dining hall. This place has windows all around and also a fireplace. There are many games in the home stay that the guests can try their hand at- there is a magnetic dart board, a punching bag and boxing gloves, volleyball, badminton, caroms, scrabble and even an indoor golf putter set.
Coming back to Kalpana, she completely won us over with her warm smile and impeccable hospitality. Really soft spoken, she gave us a great deal of information on the places we should see, about the flora and fauna of the region, about the local customs, on intricacies of coffee plantation and the lives of planters, and lot of other interesting trivia.
Though there is a resident cook, she personally supervises all that happens in the kitchen and makes sure that you are served the authentic malnad food. The food is to die for- the variety, the portions, the desserts -my mouth is watering just thinking about it.I have stayed in so many home stays, but I have to admit that I have never been so pampered for food ever.
Kaplpana can probably teach a lesson or two to most of the hotel management graduates on how to delight your guests.
Who also needs a special mention here is Pushpa- the domestic help at Scenic Acres who will make sure that you are always comfortable and she is always just a call away.
The main hero of the trip however was Jackie- the Labrador pup. My wife and I were most eager to meet him, and the first thing we requested Kalpana was to bring him over to our cottage. Jackie is absolutely adorable, playful and mischievous. Though, I had a difficult time clicking him (as he hardly stays at any place). Man, I want to do another round before he grows big.
We chatted up with Raghu in the evening when he gave us insights about the coffee cultivation, processing and trading. He told us that his family has been into plantations for four generations now. We were surprised to know that he also has a cinema hall in the town. Unassuming and warm, Raghu instantly put us at ease. He even gave us a guided tour to his coffee curing plant in the town.
We had a great time just lazing around and soaking in the beauty of the place and the weekend just flew by. Even before I left the place I wanted to come back again. I strongly recommend Scenic Acres to anyone planning a trip to Chikmagalur. It is the way a home stay should be-not like a paid accommodation but just like staying at your friend’s place.
PS: click on the Chikmagalur icon on the right side of the screen to view pictures from the trip.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
At the red light
selected by BlogAdda as one of the top posts for the week's 'Spicy Saturday Picks'
Link: http://blog.blogadda.com/2009/02/21/blogadda%E2%80%99s-spicy-saturday-picks-feb-21-09
It was a Monday morning. I woke up exactly an hour after the alarm gave up on me. I reached for my cell phone and quickly typed this message “I am sorry, I overslept. Had a party last night. Would be late to office”.
“Ok” said the new inbox message; my boss had given up on me.
It’s a twenty one kilometer drive from my home to office and there are precisely seven signals on the way. I have mentally classified them as good and bad signals, depending on time taken to cross them.
There are two particularly bad signals where the traffic comes to such a standstill that I fear ageing there.
While vehicles stand and stare the red light, a swarm of street sellers spring into action. It’s their show time. From peanuts in paper cones, to deep fried samosas, to ripened guavas, to cheap Chinese toys and cell phone chargers, to dog bone shaped head rests for your car, they sell many such interesting things. Fighting for your attention are also the beggars, eunuchs and the child acrobats with their noses and cheeks painted like clowns.
I was running very low on fuel so I turned off the ignition but kept the music playing. As I was listening to “Masakalli”, I heard a tap on my window. It was a kid wearing a tattered ‘baniyan’ and holding paper cones in one hand. I ignored him and increased the volume, thinking he would move ahead. But he kept tapping on my window harder and harder. As I gave him a stern look, he stopped tapping and came closer; almost sticking his face to the window he started saying something. There were patches of fog forming on the window because of his breath. It was really annoying.
I pulled down the window to the half and yelled “aage jaa na yaar. Dimag mat kharab kar”. Not minding my pitch, he requested “do rupay ka hai. Le lo na saab”. “Subah subah Kaun khata hai mungfali, jaa bhai” I tried shooing him away. Now he started making pity faces. A good salesman I thought “Bhai aagey bhad, yahin khada rahega to signal green ho jayega aur tera dhanda nahi hoga” I gave him a sales tip.
He refused to budge. He was looking through me. This time he spoke “ kaunsa film hai?” On the seat next to me, there was the CD cover of ‘Delhi 6’. I picked it up and showed him from behind the window “Padh Kya Lika hai”. There is an innovative mirror insert on the cover of the ‘Delhi 6’ CD, so he kept looking into it. I could see his amusement on seeing himself on it. I kept back the CD answering his question “Delhi 6 hai ye”. He didn’t get me, so I said in a language I thought he might understand “Dilli che hai movie ka naam”. “Dilli, who to shahar ka naam hai” he responded with a smile.
“Acha tujhe bada pata hai. Tu kahan se aaya hai” I asked. “Bihar” he spoke unclearly. “Arre, main bhi UP se hoon. Tu yahaan kaise aa gaya” I couldn’t believe I was talking to him. “Amma yahan kam karti hai, building ban raha hai na, wahan” . "Aur papa?" I didn’t know why I asked that. He just kept looking at me blankly. “Kitney saal ka hai tu?” I questioned him. He just kept moving his finger on the dust settled on my window, as if a kid drawing in his work book.
“Aath?” I asked. He smiled like he meant yes, but looked unsure. “Dus?” I questioned again. He gave me a bigger smile this time. I realized he didn’t know his age. Playfully I said “Tera birthday kab hai”. His eyes sparkled when he said “Happy Birthday” and then he went quiet.
“ Acha movie dekhta hai? Film?” I wanted to distract him. “Haan” he liked this topic. “Favourite hero kaun hai?” I wanted to know. “Shahrukh Khan” He said with a sparkle in his eyes. “Ohoo…mere baazigar, yeh bata ki movie kahan dekhta hai? Hall me”. “Showroom mein” and he pointed out to the fancy electronics store on the other side of the road.
I knew that the signal was going to turn green “Acha chal ek packet de de” I said. Wanted to pay him for his time I wasted. He gave me a paper cone. While I paid him a coin, I asked him “Kuch khaya subah se?”. “Nahi” he moved his head in disagreement. I gave him back the paper cone. “Yeh meri taraf se, yeh bechna mat, tu kha isko”. With a big smile he surprised me with a “thank you saab”. I could see the signal turn green. While the vehicles before me were preparing to move, I asked him the last question “Naam kya hai tera?”. “Sanju” he said and ran towards the pavement.
The next morning while waiting at the same signal, I was looking for Sanju. Wanted to see if he recognizes me and gives me any special attention.
I kept waiting but he didn’t turn up. Instead a eunuch came to my window. I wanted to ask her about Sanju. I pulled down my window and held a ten rupee note. She took the note and blessed me, while she was walking away, I asked her “who mungfali wala kahan hai, dikhayee nahi de raha”. “Who aaj nahi aaya saab” she informed me. I was thinking aloud “Aaj Sanju nahi aaya”. She turned back and asked me with an expression of surprise “tum usko jaante hai saab”. “Nahi Aise hi” I said. “Usko kal police pakad ke le gayi sir”. “What?” I exclaimed. “Usne kal chori kiya na saab, ek ladki ka mobile leke bhag raha tha toh police ne usko pakad liya”. The signal turned green.
Link: http://blog.blogadda.com/2009/02/21/blogadda%E2%80%99s-spicy-saturday-picks-feb-21-09
It was a Monday morning. I woke up exactly an hour after the alarm gave up on me. I reached for my cell phone and quickly typed this message “I am sorry, I overslept. Had a party last night. Would be late to office”.
“Ok” said the new inbox message; my boss had given up on me.
It’s a twenty one kilometer drive from my home to office and there are precisely seven signals on the way. I have mentally classified them as good and bad signals, depending on time taken to cross them.
There are two particularly bad signals where the traffic comes to such a standstill that I fear ageing there.
While vehicles stand and stare the red light, a swarm of street sellers spring into action. It’s their show time. From peanuts in paper cones, to deep fried samosas, to ripened guavas, to cheap Chinese toys and cell phone chargers, to dog bone shaped head rests for your car, they sell many such interesting things. Fighting for your attention are also the beggars, eunuchs and the child acrobats with their noses and cheeks painted like clowns.
I was running very low on fuel so I turned off the ignition but kept the music playing. As I was listening to “Masakalli”, I heard a tap on my window. It was a kid wearing a tattered ‘baniyan’ and holding paper cones in one hand. I ignored him and increased the volume, thinking he would move ahead. But he kept tapping on my window harder and harder. As I gave him a stern look, he stopped tapping and came closer; almost sticking his face to the window he started saying something. There were patches of fog forming on the window because of his breath. It was really annoying.
I pulled down the window to the half and yelled “aage jaa na yaar. Dimag mat kharab kar”. Not minding my pitch, he requested “do rupay ka hai. Le lo na saab”. “Subah subah Kaun khata hai mungfali, jaa bhai” I tried shooing him away. Now he started making pity faces. A good salesman I thought “Bhai aagey bhad, yahin khada rahega to signal green ho jayega aur tera dhanda nahi hoga” I gave him a sales tip.
He refused to budge. He was looking through me. This time he spoke “ kaunsa film hai?” On the seat next to me, there was the CD cover of ‘Delhi 6’. I picked it up and showed him from behind the window “Padh Kya Lika hai”. There is an innovative mirror insert on the cover of the ‘Delhi 6’ CD, so he kept looking into it. I could see his amusement on seeing himself on it. I kept back the CD answering his question “Delhi 6 hai ye”. He didn’t get me, so I said in a language I thought he might understand “Dilli che hai movie ka naam”. “Dilli, who to shahar ka naam hai” he responded with a smile.
“Acha tujhe bada pata hai. Tu kahan se aaya hai” I asked. “Bihar” he spoke unclearly. “Arre, main bhi UP se hoon. Tu yahaan kaise aa gaya” I couldn’t believe I was talking to him. “Amma yahan kam karti hai, building ban raha hai na, wahan” . "Aur papa?" I didn’t know why I asked that. He just kept looking at me blankly. “Kitney saal ka hai tu?” I questioned him. He just kept moving his finger on the dust settled on my window, as if a kid drawing in his work book.
“Aath?” I asked. He smiled like he meant yes, but looked unsure. “Dus?” I questioned again. He gave me a bigger smile this time. I realized he didn’t know his age. Playfully I said “Tera birthday kab hai”. His eyes sparkled when he said “Happy Birthday” and then he went quiet.
“ Acha movie dekhta hai? Film?” I wanted to distract him. “Haan” he liked this topic. “Favourite hero kaun hai?” I wanted to know. “Shahrukh Khan” He said with a sparkle in his eyes. “Ohoo…mere baazigar, yeh bata ki movie kahan dekhta hai? Hall me”. “Showroom mein” and he pointed out to the fancy electronics store on the other side of the road.
I knew that the signal was going to turn green “Acha chal ek packet de de” I said. Wanted to pay him for his time I wasted. He gave me a paper cone. While I paid him a coin, I asked him “Kuch khaya subah se?”. “Nahi” he moved his head in disagreement. I gave him back the paper cone. “Yeh meri taraf se, yeh bechna mat, tu kha isko”. With a big smile he surprised me with a “thank you saab”. I could see the signal turn green. While the vehicles before me were preparing to move, I asked him the last question “Naam kya hai tera?”. “Sanju” he said and ran towards the pavement.
The next morning while waiting at the same signal, I was looking for Sanju. Wanted to see if he recognizes me and gives me any special attention.
I kept waiting but he didn’t turn up. Instead a eunuch came to my window. I wanted to ask her about Sanju. I pulled down my window and held a ten rupee note. She took the note and blessed me, while she was walking away, I asked her “who mungfali wala kahan hai, dikhayee nahi de raha”. “Who aaj nahi aaya saab” she informed me. I was thinking aloud “Aaj Sanju nahi aaya”. She turned back and asked me with an expression of surprise “tum usko jaante hai saab”. “Nahi Aise hi” I said. “Usko kal police pakad ke le gayi sir”. “What?” I exclaimed. “Usne kal chori kiya na saab, ek ladki ka mobile leke bhag raha tha toh police ne usko pakad liya”. The signal turned green.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Meeting Aamir Khan- Luck by chance
This post has been selected by BlogAdda as one of the top posts for the week's 'Tangy Tuesday Picks'- link: http://blog.blogadda.com/2009/02/10/blogaddas-tangy-tuesday-picks-feb-10-09#more-338
There is a scene in “Luck by chance” where Konkana and Farhan are in a supermarket where there is ‘write a slogan and win a refrigerator’ contest on. While Farhan wants to fill the form, Konkana is quite cynical about such contests. They have a conversation about this before he fills the form, which loosely translated in English sounds like this-
Konkana sarcastically asks- “Do you think if I fill this form, there is a chance that I would win the fridge?”
To which Farhan responds-“I know that if you DO NOT fill the form, there is NO chance that you will ever win the fridge”
I watched “Luck by chance” on the night of 4th Feb and this particular dialogue lingered in my mind the whole night- and will always- whenever I encounter a similar situation of filling forms, writing captions, etc to participate in any contest or lucky draws.
I had an afternoon flight to Hyderabad on 5th (Thursday) and was scheduled to travel to couple of other places, returning to Bangalore only on Sunday.
I landed at the Hyderabad airport and was on the bus to the arrival terminal, when I switched on my phone to call up my wife. But before I could dial her number, the phone rang up. It was an unknown mobile number- I thought it was the driver who had come to pick me up. But a female voice greeted me. I suspected it to be one of those spam credit card/loan kind of marketing calls and didn’t pay half attention to it. It didn’t help that the signal was also poor. Her voice was cracking and I couldn’t make sense of anything that she said.
As I was stepping out of the bus I heard her say something like “he wants to meet you”.
I exclaimed “Who?” and then I added “may I know who is on the line?”
She started all over again “I am Aamir Khan’s assistant and I got your number off the blog. You are one of the short listed candidates that he would like to meet. How are you placed at 4.30 PM tomorrow? Can you come to IIM Bangalore campus?”
I was numb with excitement, all I could manage was “whattt…how…wow”
Taking a deep breath I pulled my self together “are you sure?” “ya” she said in a very matter of factly manner, “so can you make it?”.
“Yes, yes” I almost screamed as if the opportunity was slipping out of my hands “I mean, I am supposed to be travelling tomorrow, but I will cancel all of that. Ya…ya I will be there. Thank you so much. I can’t believe it”.
While she wanted to hang up, I foolishly let my suspicion out “I hope this is not a kind of prank call or something, because I am cancelling my travel and rescheduling my whole trip”.
“No. It is true and you can bring along a person with you. Only one” she said in a tone that you can add a smiling face to.
After this, I wanted to call the whole world to announce my luck. Didn’t know where to start. The first call was to Tanu, my wife. Before she could ask me “have you reached?” I mumbled out “We are meeting Aamir tomorrow?” “Stop kidding” she said. “No. God promise. Keep yourself free in the second half. I have to make couple of calls, I will call later…Yahoooo” I screamed like an excited kid
I walked out of the arrival gate with a spring in my step and in all my excitement missed out the cabbie who was standing with a board displaying my name on it.
For the next hour and half or so that I was in the cab, I was busy on the phone. The driver’s name was Ali and all this while I could see him intermittently glancing at me in his rear view mirror- especially each time I mentioned “Aamir Khan” in my phone conversations.
When finally his curiosity crossed the threshold, he asked me “Sir, are you talking about the cine star Aamir Khan?” “Yes” I replied proudly.
“But why does he want to meet you?” he asked me in an offensive way- like what has such a big star to do with a looser like you. “Just like that” I acted snotty.
“Sir, who apna bhi favourite hai. Apne Ghajini dekha kya? Ekdum mast acting kiya hai. Apna bhi salaam bolna usko” “Bilkul” I said thinking about how movies connect each one of us, across geographies, religions, languages and economic backgrounds.
I reached my hotel quite late that night. I was completely exhausted and had an early morning flight. Even a hot shower could not put me to sleep. Random thoughts about the upcoming meeting kept playing in my mind.
I wanted to revisit the place where it all started. So I switched on my laptop and logged on Aamir’s blog. I have been reading him since the beginning, but he is quite an infrequent blogger. Like with movies he posts after long gaps. Thankfully, unlike movies the gap between posts is just in months.
His last blog is titled ‘Thank You’ and was posted on 16th Jan. where he thanks the readers for liking Ghajini and credits the audiences for making it the biggest grosser of all times. He also apologises for writing after so long and tries to explain how busy he has been. Then he goes on to talk about his stay on the IIM Bangalore campus and how he enjoying it and finally getting some time to catch up on his sleep.
What was interesting and kind of news making stuff was what his closing lines said. I am quoting them as they appear on the blog-
“Would like to meet some of you who live here in Bangalore. So post me your contact details if you are up to it and I’ll try and work it out”
Almost instinctively I wrote a comment on the post- “Hi Aamir, Congrats for the success of Ghajini- though it is not one of my favourite Aamir Khan movies. I am glad you like 'India after Gandhi' and more so about the fact that you like to read on varied topics- its people like you who have redefined the way we look at actors. I would (and more importantly my wife) would love to meet up with you. If your schedule allows you, please do call me on xxxxxxx. All the best for your future endeavours”
There were some eight thousand five hundred plus comments on this post, thousands of them had people leaving behind their contact details and pleading Aamir to meet up with them.
I knew Aamir is an avid reader and has a keen interest in History. Next morning, I picked up‘The Life of Mahatma Gandhi’ by Louis Fischer from the Landmark bookstore at Hyderabad airport. On the first page I wrote this small note in my best possible hand writing- “Be the change, said Bapu. And you are one of the very few ‘change agents’ of our generation. Love and luck”
Aamir spent over an hour and half with us. Sporting a schoolboy-ish haircut, dressed in an ‘ed hardy’ kind of pink t-shirt and loose faded sky blue jeans he could easily pass of as one of the students of the institute.
The first thing he said was “yaar lets sit closer, these chairs are too far pull your chairs closer”- that really broke the ice.
As it was his last day of shoot in Bangalore, his in-laws were also there. He affectionately introduced them as “amma” and “appa” and ordered chairs for them as well.
One thing which I noticed about Aamir is his ability to connect with his fans. He made the whole setting so comfortable and casual.
We bombarded him with questions about three idiots, slumdog millionaire, rahman’s oscar nomination, movies that he is very proud of and not so proud of, fitness tips, about his stay on campus, his next directorial plans, upcoming movies, politics, his thoughts on a sequel to Andaz apna apna, his dream team to work on a movie, and many more.
Interestingly, he wanted to know our views on what worked for and what did not work for Mangal Pandey. While we were talking about Mangal Pandey, I got a feeling that he really felt for the movie and wanted it to work.
He also shared his interest in the epic tale of Mahabharata. We all got a taste of his perfectionism and importance he assigns to preparation and research when he said “A story of that scale would take at least five years for research and prep itself”, before he could finish, all of us unanimously screamed “Noooo… we want to see you at least once a year, please don’t deprive us of that”
I don’t think I can put down Aamir’s views on all these things, but what I want to tell is the fact that he was brutally straight and honest in his opinions. Not even once, during this whole session, did he mince his words or sounded guarded. He even jokingly asked us “I hope none of you is a journalist here. Yaar yeh sab kahin likhna mat. Hungama ho jayega”
All this while I was thinking about this parallel-y “How much has this industry changed. Five years ago could we even think of meeting our favourite superstars, let alone like this? Technology and blogging in particular have changed so much. What is more interesting is that the established stars like Aamir and Amitabh have embraced it so well. This is definitely the changing face of the Indian cinema, a new era and I am so lucky to be witnessing this first hand”
I got his autograph on Ishan’s flipbook. He read my quote on the book and gave me a modest smile.
Aamir has a very special way of making people feel important, for instance, when he asked us about our suggestions to improve his blog. He listened to each one of us so carefully, as if taking a mental note of all that we are saying. His genuine desire to make the platform more useful for us could be felt effortlessly.
It was a dream come true for a movie fanatic like me. While we were walking back to the main gate of the institution, it suddenly stuck to Tanu “Oh I forgot to ask him- among thousands of mails how did he choose to meet the ten of you? I am thinking what must have been the selection criteria or was it a kind of lucky draw”.
“I know the answer” I said, “How?” she was curios.
“Luck by chance” I believe.
Konkana sarcastically asks- “Do you think if I fill this form, there is a chance that I would win the fridge?”
To which Farhan responds-“I know that if you DO NOT fill the form, there is NO chance that you will ever win the fridge”
I watched “Luck by chance” on the night of 4th Feb and this particular dialogue lingered in my mind the whole night- and will always- whenever I encounter a similar situation of filling forms, writing captions, etc to participate in any contest or lucky draws.
I had an afternoon flight to Hyderabad on 5th (Thursday) and was scheduled to travel to couple of other places, returning to Bangalore only on Sunday.
I landed at the Hyderabad airport and was on the bus to the arrival terminal, when I switched on my phone to call up my wife. But before I could dial her number, the phone rang up. It was an unknown mobile number- I thought it was the driver who had come to pick me up. But a female voice greeted me. I suspected it to be one of those spam credit card/loan kind of marketing calls and didn’t pay half attention to it. It didn’t help that the signal was also poor. Her voice was cracking and I couldn’t make sense of anything that she said.
As I was stepping out of the bus I heard her say something like “he wants to meet you”.
I exclaimed “Who?” and then I added “may I know who is on the line?”
She started all over again “I am Aamir Khan’s assistant and I got your number off the blog. You are one of the short listed candidates that he would like to meet. How are you placed at 4.30 PM tomorrow? Can you come to IIM Bangalore campus?”
I was numb with excitement, all I could manage was “whattt…how…wow”
Taking a deep breath I pulled my self together “are you sure?” “ya” she said in a very matter of factly manner, “so can you make it?”.
“Yes, yes” I almost screamed as if the opportunity was slipping out of my hands “I mean, I am supposed to be travelling tomorrow, but I will cancel all of that. Ya…ya I will be there. Thank you so much. I can’t believe it”.
While she wanted to hang up, I foolishly let my suspicion out “I hope this is not a kind of prank call or something, because I am cancelling my travel and rescheduling my whole trip”.
“No. It is true and you can bring along a person with you. Only one” she said in a tone that you can add a smiling face to.
After this, I wanted to call the whole world to announce my luck. Didn’t know where to start. The first call was to Tanu, my wife. Before she could ask me “have you reached?” I mumbled out “We are meeting Aamir tomorrow?” “Stop kidding” she said. “No. God promise. Keep yourself free in the second half. I have to make couple of calls, I will call later…Yahoooo” I screamed like an excited kid
I walked out of the arrival gate with a spring in my step and in all my excitement missed out the cabbie who was standing with a board displaying my name on it.
For the next hour and half or so that I was in the cab, I was busy on the phone. The driver’s name was Ali and all this while I could see him intermittently glancing at me in his rear view mirror- especially each time I mentioned “Aamir Khan” in my phone conversations.
When finally his curiosity crossed the threshold, he asked me “Sir, are you talking about the cine star Aamir Khan?” “Yes” I replied proudly.
“But why does he want to meet you?” he asked me in an offensive way- like what has such a big star to do with a looser like you. “Just like that” I acted snotty.
“Sir, who apna bhi favourite hai. Apne Ghajini dekha kya? Ekdum mast acting kiya hai. Apna bhi salaam bolna usko” “Bilkul” I said thinking about how movies connect each one of us, across geographies, religions, languages and economic backgrounds.
I reached my hotel quite late that night. I was completely exhausted and had an early morning flight. Even a hot shower could not put me to sleep. Random thoughts about the upcoming meeting kept playing in my mind.
I wanted to revisit the place where it all started. So I switched on my laptop and logged on Aamir’s blog. I have been reading him since the beginning, but he is quite an infrequent blogger. Like with movies he posts after long gaps. Thankfully, unlike movies the gap between posts is just in months.
His last blog is titled ‘Thank You’ and was posted on 16th Jan. where he thanks the readers for liking Ghajini and credits the audiences for making it the biggest grosser of all times. He also apologises for writing after so long and tries to explain how busy he has been. Then he goes on to talk about his stay on the IIM Bangalore campus and how he enjoying it and finally getting some time to catch up on his sleep.
What was interesting and kind of news making stuff was what his closing lines said. I am quoting them as they appear on the blog-
“Would like to meet some of you who live here in Bangalore. So post me your contact details if you are up to it and I’ll try and work it out”
Almost instinctively I wrote a comment on the post- “Hi Aamir, Congrats for the success of Ghajini- though it is not one of my favourite Aamir Khan movies. I am glad you like 'India after Gandhi' and more so about the fact that you like to read on varied topics- its people like you who have redefined the way we look at actors. I would (and more importantly my wife) would love to meet up with you. If your schedule allows you, please do call me on xxxxxxx. All the best for your future endeavours”
There were some eight thousand five hundred plus comments on this post, thousands of them had people leaving behind their contact details and pleading Aamir to meet up with them.
I knew Aamir is an avid reader and has a keen interest in History. Next morning, I picked up‘The Life of Mahatma Gandhi’ by Louis Fischer from the Landmark bookstore at Hyderabad airport. On the first page I wrote this small note in my best possible hand writing- “Be the change, said Bapu. And you are one of the very few ‘change agents’ of our generation. Love and luck”
Aamir spent over an hour and half with us. Sporting a schoolboy-ish haircut, dressed in an ‘ed hardy’ kind of pink t-shirt and loose faded sky blue jeans he could easily pass of as one of the students of the institute.
The first thing he said was “yaar lets sit closer, these chairs are too far pull your chairs closer”- that really broke the ice.
As it was his last day of shoot in Bangalore, his in-laws were also there. He affectionately introduced them as “amma” and “appa” and ordered chairs for them as well.
One thing which I noticed about Aamir is his ability to connect with his fans. He made the whole setting so comfortable and casual.
We bombarded him with questions about three idiots, slumdog millionaire, rahman’s oscar nomination, movies that he is very proud of and not so proud of, fitness tips, about his stay on campus, his next directorial plans, upcoming movies, politics, his thoughts on a sequel to Andaz apna apna, his dream team to work on a movie, and many more.
Interestingly, he wanted to know our views on what worked for and what did not work for Mangal Pandey. While we were talking about Mangal Pandey, I got a feeling that he really felt for the movie and wanted it to work.
He also shared his interest in the epic tale of Mahabharata. We all got a taste of his perfectionism and importance he assigns to preparation and research when he said “A story of that scale would take at least five years for research and prep itself”, before he could finish, all of us unanimously screamed “Noooo… we want to see you at least once a year, please don’t deprive us of that”
I don’t think I can put down Aamir’s views on all these things, but what I want to tell is the fact that he was brutally straight and honest in his opinions. Not even once, during this whole session, did he mince his words or sounded guarded. He even jokingly asked us “I hope none of you is a journalist here. Yaar yeh sab kahin likhna mat. Hungama ho jayega”
All this while I was thinking about this parallel-y “How much has this industry changed. Five years ago could we even think of meeting our favourite superstars, let alone like this? Technology and blogging in particular have changed so much. What is more interesting is that the established stars like Aamir and Amitabh have embraced it so well. This is definitely the changing face of the Indian cinema, a new era and I am so lucky to be witnessing this first hand”
I got his autograph on Ishan’s flipbook. He read my quote on the book and gave me a modest smile.
Aamir has a very special way of making people feel important, for instance, when he asked us about our suggestions to improve his blog. He listened to each one of us so carefully, as if taking a mental note of all that we are saying. His genuine desire to make the platform more useful for us could be felt effortlessly.
It was a dream come true for a movie fanatic like me. While we were walking back to the main gate of the institution, it suddenly stuck to Tanu “Oh I forgot to ask him- among thousands of mails how did he choose to meet the ten of you? I am thinking what must have been the selection criteria or was it a kind of lucky draw”.
“I know the answer” I said, “How?” she was curios.
“Luck by chance” I believe.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
To Nani, with love
This is the last post of the year. 2008…what a year it has been. Let alone the news and events like nuclear deal, IPL, Olympics, polls, Obama, terrorism, recession, etc. Even at a personal level the year has been quite eventful.
Two life changing things happened to me this year and these involved the two most important people in my life.
In February, I got married to my college sweetheart after almost a year and half of convincing her parents- It had to be the most cherished moment of my life.
In October, my Ammumma (nani) passed away. She meant the world to me and it has been my biggest loss till date. Her departure has left this huge unfillable void in my life.
I met up with an old friend of mine in a coffee shop today, and during one of those mindless conversations- this came up. He casually asked me whom would I dedicate the passing year to. Probably he just said it as an uncaring comment and didn’t expect any answer for it.
But that just kept me thinking- till I finally wrote this blog.
Here it goes… If I had to dedicate this year – I would dedicate it to my nani.
Nani, I will tell you a secret today- as a kid I read a story once which said that God loves kids the most and because he can’t be there with each one of them all the time, he sends his favourite angels to take care of them as their nanis.
Its not that I believed in these fairy tales, but this one just seeped quietly into a corner of my mind and just stayed there.
How else can one explain the love and joy that you brought to our lives?
Nani, I remember that you were the only one who used to believe in the lame excuses that I used to make to avoid the school as a kid. You always tried your best to negotiate with ma on my behalf.
Your energy was infectious. We never needed an occasion to devour your ‘halwa’ or ‘kheer’, we just had to mention it and you would ever lovingly indulge us with your delicacies. You made it look so effortless that you put the younger lot to shame.
Let not people mistake you for a docile housewife. You are the most powerful and assertive women I have come across. You stood like a pillar with your husband, almost single handedly raising seven children, so that he could become one of the most successful lawyers in the state. I have heard the stories of how you would run the huge household with almost an iron fist- taking care of the huge joint family, the bungalow, the properties, the fields, dogs, cows, workers and the cars.
You were so well traveled and had so many stories to tell about so many cities that I suspect that I got the travel bug from you. From holidaying in Kodaikanal, to playing ‘ping pong’ in colonial Ooty, to helping your son settle in IISC Bangalore, to getting a major surgery done at AIIMS, to accompanying your husband on his trips to cities as distant as Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Mysore, Roorkee and to god knows where all, you have seen it all.
I am told that, when it came to some of the most important personal and professional decisions, your husband trusted you the most for advice. Though you went to school only till fifth standard (I know how much you regretted it) your common sense was astounding.
How can I forget how you used to stay up with me all night in my eleventh hour preparations for board exams. You almost fell sick by the end of my exams. If it wasn’t for you- I would have never survived them.
As a kid, whenever I had to buy a toffee or chips or comics or anything that my parents didn’t approve of- I would always come to you for money. Tell me something, you kept the change in a knot on your ‘pallu’ only for me, right? Because you stopped doing it as I grew up. Oh how much I miss that knot nani… it almost opened up the doors to my happiness. I wish I had access to something like that even today.
You proved that modernity has nothing to do with age. From short skirts to love marriages, you had such liberal and progressive views on each one of them, that if I put them here, some fundamentalist party might raise a protest against you. For you, the terms like ‘generation gap’ were non existent. Your ability to look at things from our perspective made you so endearing. No wonder, all my friends bonded so well with you and instinctively called you ‘nani’. I must add that you had a charming effect on female friends of mine and I leveraged it to the maximum effect. Wink.
I remember you weren’t in your best health around my marriage time. While we were concerned about how you will travel to Jaipur, you were the cheerleader of the party. You packed your best clothes before any one of us and what a power packed performance you gave there. We had to restrain you from dancing in baraat but from the corner of my eye I could still see you doing a jig in the car.
On the night of the reception you were the first one to walk up the stage to get clicked with the couple (By the way nani, I framed that pic and it now adorns my living room). You were the most beautiful woman that night- and even Tanu would agree with me on this.
Nani, a night before you left us- you spoke to Tanu for good fifteen minutes (she misses complaining about me to you) while I was busy watching some stupid show on the TV. I thought I would finish that and talk to you in leisure… but that was the biggest mistake of my life.
If I could undo just one thing in my life…I would have spoken to you that night.
Two life changing things happened to me this year and these involved the two most important people in my life.
In February, I got married to my college sweetheart after almost a year and half of convincing her parents- It had to be the most cherished moment of my life.
In October, my Ammumma (nani) passed away. She meant the world to me and it has been my biggest loss till date. Her departure has left this huge unfillable void in my life.
I met up with an old friend of mine in a coffee shop today, and during one of those mindless conversations- this came up. He casually asked me whom would I dedicate the passing year to. Probably he just said it as an uncaring comment and didn’t expect any answer for it.
But that just kept me thinking- till I finally wrote this blog.
Here it goes… If I had to dedicate this year – I would dedicate it to my nani.
Nani, I will tell you a secret today- as a kid I read a story once which said that God loves kids the most and because he can’t be there with each one of them all the time, he sends his favourite angels to take care of them as their nanis.
Its not that I believed in these fairy tales, but this one just seeped quietly into a corner of my mind and just stayed there.
How else can one explain the love and joy that you brought to our lives?
Nani, I remember that you were the only one who used to believe in the lame excuses that I used to make to avoid the school as a kid. You always tried your best to negotiate with ma on my behalf.
Your energy was infectious. We never needed an occasion to devour your ‘halwa’ or ‘kheer’, we just had to mention it and you would ever lovingly indulge us with your delicacies. You made it look so effortless that you put the younger lot to shame.
Let not people mistake you for a docile housewife. You are the most powerful and assertive women I have come across. You stood like a pillar with your husband, almost single handedly raising seven children, so that he could become one of the most successful lawyers in the state. I have heard the stories of how you would run the huge household with almost an iron fist- taking care of the huge joint family, the bungalow, the properties, the fields, dogs, cows, workers and the cars.
You were so well traveled and had so many stories to tell about so many cities that I suspect that I got the travel bug from you. From holidaying in Kodaikanal, to playing ‘ping pong’ in colonial Ooty, to helping your son settle in IISC Bangalore, to getting a major surgery done at AIIMS, to accompanying your husband on his trips to cities as distant as Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Mysore, Roorkee and to god knows where all, you have seen it all.
I am told that, when it came to some of the most important personal and professional decisions, your husband trusted you the most for advice. Though you went to school only till fifth standard (I know how much you regretted it) your common sense was astounding.
How can I forget how you used to stay up with me all night in my eleventh hour preparations for board exams. You almost fell sick by the end of my exams. If it wasn’t for you- I would have never survived them.
As a kid, whenever I had to buy a toffee or chips or comics or anything that my parents didn’t approve of- I would always come to you for money. Tell me something, you kept the change in a knot on your ‘pallu’ only for me, right? Because you stopped doing it as I grew up. Oh how much I miss that knot nani… it almost opened up the doors to my happiness. I wish I had access to something like that even today.
You proved that modernity has nothing to do with age. From short skirts to love marriages, you had such liberal and progressive views on each one of them, that if I put them here, some fundamentalist party might raise a protest against you. For you, the terms like ‘generation gap’ were non existent. Your ability to look at things from our perspective made you so endearing. No wonder, all my friends bonded so well with you and instinctively called you ‘nani’. I must add that you had a charming effect on female friends of mine and I leveraged it to the maximum effect. Wink.
I remember you weren’t in your best health around my marriage time. While we were concerned about how you will travel to Jaipur, you were the cheerleader of the party. You packed your best clothes before any one of us and what a power packed performance you gave there. We had to restrain you from dancing in baraat but from the corner of my eye I could still see you doing a jig in the car.
On the night of the reception you were the first one to walk up the stage to get clicked with the couple (By the way nani, I framed that pic and it now adorns my living room). You were the most beautiful woman that night- and even Tanu would agree with me on this.
Nani, a night before you left us- you spoke to Tanu for good fifteen minutes (she misses complaining about me to you) while I was busy watching some stupid show on the TV. I thought I would finish that and talk to you in leisure… but that was the biggest mistake of my life.
If I could undo just one thing in my life…I would have spoken to you that night.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Random thoughts on Yuvvraaj
Originally published on PassionForCinema.com
I’ve always found it a challenging task to transform a dramatic script into a spellbinding musical,
Though I’ve done this before with films like Karz, Meri Jung, Khalnayak and Taal…………..
……….Imagine a film where: Salman is a dreamy singer…
Katrina is a leading musician…
Zayed grooves to a chaotic disco sound…
Anil kapoor enjoys only classical music…
Imagine the symphony of sounds created by all these characters.
Now imagine my struggle to match my visuals to rahman’s
Mesmerizing sound and Gulzaar Saab’s magical lyrics…
This is Yuvvraaj.
Hope you enjoy it!
Subhash Ghai.
This personal note from Mr Ghai is the first thing that would greet you when you open the audio CD jacket of Yuvvraj.
Frankly speaking I even liked two or three tracks from the album.
I think Rahman’s music grows on you over a period of time and it peaks after you have seen the movie.
There were also special comments (on the CD cover) by Mr. Rahman and Gulzar Saab testifying Ghai’s genius in matching up the visuals to the music.
Testimonials from these two gurus convinced me to break my resolve of abstaining from all Subhash Gai movies post Kisna (actually Yaadien. I gave him a second chance with Kisna).
Finally, I saw this movie last night.
I read a quote somewhere which vaguely meant that the most dangerous stage in a creative person’s life is when he starts to copy himself.
There isn’t a better way to describe Ghai’s latest effort- why only the latest one- if you look at Mr. ghai’s impressive body work- right from Ram lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Trimurti, etc- and try to draw a common pattern among them- it isn’t difficult to decipher the common overriding formula.
All…ok…say most of his movies would have two central characters (often brothers) with conflicting ideologies- one has to be an idealist while the other a bit confused and mixed up. Throw in a widowed mother, raped sister or a murdered father to sensationalize the plot and villains with obvious streaks of quirkiness (BAD MAN).
In the end the good always wins over evil with a climax sequence involving a song and a fight that happens simultaneously.
Also, if you don’t doze off half way through the movie- you might see the showman himself in a blink and miss sequence doing his bit of clowning around.
Let me talk about Yuvvraaj- if not anything, the movie has at least made me aware of Hindi’s rising popularity in the western world. The Goras babble dialogues in Hindi as it was official language of Prague and Austria (that is where the movie was supposedly shot).
Now a bit about the cast-
What can I say about Salman Khan- bad is no bad when worse is expected.
All thanks to his past few misadventures, I have no expectations whatsoever from him- but so great is the man that- he manages to disappoint me even then. Almost like cricket commentators who change the stance with every ball, the actor (if I can call him that) takes it scene by scene- with utmost adherence to inconsistency in all departments- from looks, to mannerisms to even hair styles.
Zayed is next in the row- I can’t even use words like career worst for him because he doesn’t have one. Playing a role that might be the closest to his real life (he plays a rich spoilt kid) Zayed gives a whole new definition to the word “wooden”. With his hair expressing more than his face and the rest of the body put together- you helplessly laugh at the scenes where this guy is trying hard to weep.
Though I’ve done this before with films like Karz, Meri Jung, Khalnayak and Taal…………..
……….Imagine a film where: Salman is a dreamy singer…
Katrina is a leading musician…
Zayed grooves to a chaotic disco sound…
Anil kapoor enjoys only classical music…
Imagine the symphony of sounds created by all these characters.
Now imagine my struggle to match my visuals to rahman’s
Mesmerizing sound and Gulzaar Saab’s magical lyrics…
This is Yuvvraaj.
Hope you enjoy it!
Subhash Ghai.
This personal note from Mr Ghai is the first thing that would greet you when you open the audio CD jacket of Yuvvraj.
Frankly speaking I even liked two or three tracks from the album.
I think Rahman’s music grows on you over a period of time and it peaks after you have seen the movie.
There were also special comments (on the CD cover) by Mr. Rahman and Gulzar Saab testifying Ghai’s genius in matching up the visuals to the music.
Testimonials from these two gurus convinced me to break my resolve of abstaining from all Subhash Gai movies post Kisna (actually Yaadien. I gave him a second chance with Kisna).
Finally, I saw this movie last night.
I read a quote somewhere which vaguely meant that the most dangerous stage in a creative person’s life is when he starts to copy himself.
There isn’t a better way to describe Ghai’s latest effort- why only the latest one- if you look at Mr. ghai’s impressive body work- right from Ram lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Trimurti, etc- and try to draw a common pattern among them- it isn’t difficult to decipher the common overriding formula.
All…ok…say most of his movies would have two central characters (often brothers) with conflicting ideologies- one has to be an idealist while the other a bit confused and mixed up. Throw in a widowed mother, raped sister or a murdered father to sensationalize the plot and villains with obvious streaks of quirkiness (BAD MAN).
In the end the good always wins over evil with a climax sequence involving a song and a fight that happens simultaneously.
Also, if you don’t doze off half way through the movie- you might see the showman himself in a blink and miss sequence doing his bit of clowning around.
Let me talk about Yuvvraaj- if not anything, the movie has at least made me aware of Hindi’s rising popularity in the western world. The Goras babble dialogues in Hindi as it was official language of Prague and Austria (that is where the movie was supposedly shot).
Now a bit about the cast-
What can I say about Salman Khan- bad is no bad when worse is expected.
All thanks to his past few misadventures, I have no expectations whatsoever from him- but so great is the man that- he manages to disappoint me even then. Almost like cricket commentators who change the stance with every ball, the actor (if I can call him that) takes it scene by scene- with utmost adherence to inconsistency in all departments- from looks, to mannerisms to even hair styles.
Zayed is next in the row- I can’t even use words like career worst for him because he doesn’t have one. Playing a role that might be the closest to his real life (he plays a rich spoilt kid) Zayed gives a whole new definition to the word “wooden”. With his hair expressing more than his face and the rest of the body put together- you helplessly laugh at the scenes where this guy is trying hard to weep.
Anil Kapoor and Boman Irani are perfect examples to of what a bad script can do to even talented actors. This has to Boman’s shallowest performance till date- he doesn’t look convinced of his role even for a minute and that shows so badly on the screen.
Yuvvraaj from now on will also hold the distinction for the most uninformed and insensitive portrayal of autism. I think the brief to Anil was simple- play a mix of Rani Mukhurjee in Black and Sridevi in Sadma and he does that to a T.
There is also Mithun da in there- but you can excuse him in the acting department because for most part of it- his wig was really obtrusive and overpowered his performance
Poor Kaif woman is lost somewhere between these stalwarts in a role that only demands her to look good and at times even confused. In many promotional interviews before the release Miss Kaif has talked at length about getting trained in playing a cello, so that the portrayal looks realistic- though the effort is commendable, the lady would do pretty well with a crash course in acting at Ghai’s film school.
Then there are the infamous villains- a mama ji in a wheelchair who plots evil but hides it under his religious get up- complete with rudraksha, tilak, etc
And a bhabi who is desperate to be aadhi- gharwali (symbolism- non existent blouses and vulgar perfume squirting in a public setting)
Ghai is known for his in film placements- but this time around I think a brand of potato chips had refused to put money in his film- so there is a fatso who is just shown munching chips all the time- a clever negative publicity for the brand.
Also, there are few insignificant negative characters whose job is to just fill the frame and add to the magnitude of evil (the more the people the badder the evil)
The art direction is so grandeur and in your face that it never lets you forget that you are watching a movie and that it doesn’t look like this in the real world.
The plot and script is so weak and fake that as an audience the only emotions you ever feel are that of indifference, anger and boredom.
The inconsistencies are so obvious that they leave you with a feeling of being cheated- that is when you were not expecting anything from this fare- Its as if the gang that put the show together is taking us on ride- completely disrespecting our intelligence, patience, time and money.
Last but not the least- the songs for which I saw the movie in the first place- were so out of context and meddlesome that I ended up forwarding each one of them- For the first time because of the movie and their place in it- I will completely give up on the music of this one.
I felt a sense of liberation when the movie ended (with Mithun’s words of wisdom “Independent you live, united you stay- that is a happy family”) - and the end credits (inspired by OSO) started rolling.
I just hope that Mr. Ghai is not taking too many classes on direction in Whistling woods, or we would have many Yuvvraajs in the years to come.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye: Movie Review
Originally published on PassionForCinema.com: If there has been one film that I have been anticipating for the longest time- it has to be ‘Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye (OLLO)’. In fact I rate Khosla Ka Ghosla as the second best bollywood film I have seen in last five-six years (the first has to be ‘Maqbool’- but I will save it for another post).
What an impressive debut KKG was- it was heartening to see such a simple tale of underdogs- with characters etched out so well- that you almost feel that you know them from before. Indeed, by end of the movie, I knew the Khosla family so well that even in any other situation – I could imagine- exactly how they would react.
When you raise the bar so high- in your first movie itself, it’s quite a task to stand up to the huge expectations with a worthy follow up. While a few directors have done it successfully, many have disappointed us as well.
So did Dibakar disappoint me?
Not at all. Actually, I came out quite impressed from of the hall.
OLLO- is a brilliant second movie from a very talented director. What impressed me more is the fact that Dibakar has picked up a rather complex story this time as compared to simplistic one before. There are lots of layers in the story and there is an amazing sense of maturity that marks the narration.
A single story can have many interpretations, and what I am about to write is my take out from the movie- which. It is a very personalized account of how I comprehend the movie.
The movie follows the growth of Lucky from his teens to thirties and his journey from innocence to notoriety-all this with the back drop of Delhi (Guys lets accept it- nobody does Delhi better than Dibakar)
The initial scenes clearly establish Lucky’s strained relationship with his father and his uneasiness with the other woman in the house (father’s keep).
Also, it gives you a glimpse into Lucky’s world of aimless friends and their collective dreams and aspirations. Their fascination for good things in life (cars, chicks, etc) is obvious but what sets Lucky apart from his group is his self belief- and that is brilliantly captured in this one line Lucky keeps saying through out the film- “Kyon main kar nahi sakta?”
I also thought that his becoming a ‘Mona’ sardar symbolizes his giving up on social conformity.
Lucky is an incorrigible thief- it’s almost like he has a kind of compulsive disorder to steal- and sometimes through the things that he steals- you get a hint of his feelings at that point in time- his deprivation and loneliness-he steals a greeting card (reminiscing his first love), family photograph (His longing ness for a family), a king size teddy (the child within).
But the movie is not about stealing- it is about Lucky’s emotional vulnerability, his pining for love- the only thing he can’t steal. All the people who befriend him have a selfish motive (except his girlfriend, but again I am not sure- because there is a scene where she asks him to keep the money on the fridge). His father, surrogate father and the business partner (all three played brilliantly by Paresh Rawal) are the three fatherly figures who inflict him the maximum pain.
These are the few scenes which stand apart for me- teenage Lucky’s first encounter with a neighborhood girl in the greeting cards shop and subsequently their first date in a restaurant, Lucky asking Dolly what she wants to eat in a night club, his first date with Sonal and her reaction to school girls in short skirts, Dr. Handa’s insights on the male dog and the lady dog, the conversation between Sonal and Lucky’s bhabi.
There are some nice touches which were like master strokes- The kid sardar’s air fighting sequence when Luck’s father is chasing Lucky out of the house for demanding a new scooter, the hanging wires, air conditioners and the election posters in the background when Lucky is taking the girl on a motor bike ride, the zebra striped interiors of the black Mercedes that Lucky steals for Goga Bhai., Sonal’s pink cybershot, a shot of Lucky’s bare feet while he is escaping on a stolen Enfield from the police station.
I also quite liked the scene in which Lucky does these car stunts with Sonal- the muted closed ups worked very well for me.
All performances are good, but these guys deserve a special mention- the sardar who played Lucky’s childhood part, Lucky’s partner in crime- Bengali and Dolly.
Ofcourse Paresh Rawal is magnificent in all three avatars. Also, Neetu Chandra packs a poised performance and renders an understated composure to her character .
One guy who carries the film on his shoulders and deserves a standing ovation is Abhay Deol- the ease and subtlety with which he plays Lucky is mind blowing. I can’t stop myself from diverting from the topic here to have a look at the movies that Abhay has done so far- Socha Na Tha, Ek chaalis, Manorama Six feet under, Honeymoon travels and now OLLO (upcoming Dev D)- what a range- no wonder he has become the poster boy of the new age- popular- niche bollywood cinema.
The music is well researched and does a great job in enhancing the narrative- it perfectly compliments the mood of the movie.
It’s refreshing to see Delhi as a backdrop- with each of its locality having a distinctive character and how well Dibakar captures it.
Finally, what looks like a simple funny movie is work of a painstaking research and original thinking and I guess that’s the way forward for Indian cinema.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Coorg: Plantation Trails
I was supposed to be in Istanbul for a marketing conference, but I couldn’t renew my passport within the stipulated time- so I was left alone in Bangalore while the rest of the team was sightseeing in a foreign land. However, I was adamant that even I should get out of the city- if not abroad then at least to a serene hill station. My consideration set comprised of Chikmagalur, Wayanad and Coorg (Written in the order of preference).
When I go on such weekend escapes I love to book myself into a home stay- unlike star hotels- home stays are not standardised, which makes them much more interesting, warm and personal. You can actually experience a slice of the local culture when you are putting up in such an arrangement. Right from the people you chat up with to the food you are served and even the way the house is done up, everything offers to you a piece of the location. In short, Home stays have a character to them which is so missing in most of the hotels.
I was keen on Chikmagalur and Wayanad, but couldn’t manage to get a booking in any of the places where I wanted to stay. I had been to Coorg some three years ago and to put it frankly- I didn’t like it much. I thought that the whole thing about it being the Scotland of India was a bit over hyped.
I remember- in my last trip I landed up there without any prior planning and that it was a peak season for tourists didn’t help. We were lucky enough to get a decent place to stay (Home of a retired army official) but the places we went see were the typical tourist attractions.
That is not my idea of a vacation. I hunt hard to find locations which are like unseen and unspoiled by tourist hordes. I romanticise the idea of cutting off from the civilisation and love staying at places, which if I may say so, at least appear to be virgin and undiscovered.
Coming back to this trip, after hours of googling “homestays in Coorg”- I landed up on this link called ‘Plantation Trails’ which are Tata coffee’s holiday homes in Coorg. Frankly speaking, I didn’t even know that Tata had something like holiday homes. I even liked the idea that this was not listed on the first few pages of my search results (on Google). So I safely assumed that this was definitely not one of those most common places for tourists to stay.
The details of the property like location, facilities, tariffs and bookings are well detailed on the Tata coffee’s site and were quite useful in getting a sense of the place. When I called up their Bangalore coordinate, he told me that the accommodation was only available in Glenlorna tea estate which is near Hudikeri- some 27 kilometres ahead of their flagship property- the coffee estate in Pollibetta. Incidentally, Glenlorna is the only tea estate in the coffee country of Coorg.
Luckily I got a special monsoon package which offered twenty percent discount and complimentary dinner. As breakfast was already a part of the package I just had to pay for my lunch and snacks above the cost of the room.
The bungalow at the estate is on a hillock and offers a bird’s eye view of the lush plantation. It has five rooms in total and we booked luxury rooms which were particularly large and come fitted with air conditioners (Though I wonder who uses them) and geysers for hot water (Now that’s a must). The rooms are tastefully done and are mostly occupied with dark wood furniture that lends a strong colonial character to the place, also, they are well coordinated with fab India-ish bed covers, table cloths and floor mats. I have also been made to understand that most of these plantation trails bungalows are former homes of estate managers which have been done up by their wives.
There is a common dining room where breakfast, lunch and dinner is served to all the guests staying in the estate- though you can order tea and snacks to your room. There is also a television with a Tata Sky connection in the living room. The best part of the bungalow is the front porch which offers the most beautiful view of the tea plantation. I spent the most part of my trip here- in the front porch- cuddled in a warm blanket, sunk in a comfy cane chair with my legs stretched and resting on a low lying table and sipping liters of piping hot ginger tea and devouring on dozens of onion pakoras- all this while watching rain.
It almost rained continuously through out our stay but that just added to the thrill of the vacation. I can’t remember any other time in my life when I just watched rains like that and enjoyed them so much. To say it was romantic would be an understatement. The purposeless of that moment was so fascinating and in a strange way extremely rejuvenating. We went for a long walk to the river that flows through the property and morning jogs along the hills. Umbrellas were our constant companions and again I don’t remember when I used one before.
They can also organise a visit to the tea factory and a guided tour of the coffee and tea plantations if you want, but we opted out of such guided tours and enjoyed our own excursions in and around the plantations.
The staff is extremely courteous, helpful and hospitable. The meals were elaborate and delicious and the fact that you can get such food in such an isolated location is incredible.
The other guests who had bookings and were supposed to arrive had last minute cancellations and that came as blessing in disguise for us as we had the whole bungalow all for ourselves.
I strongly recommend this place to anyone who is planning a trip to Coorg and you better make it soon for they might lease this bungalow to one of the corporates pretty soon and might not entertain the regular guests then.
Also, I heard they are inaugurating a similar property in Chikmagalur sometime towards the mid of August. I am sure I will be one of their first guests. See you there.
When I go on such weekend escapes I love to book myself into a home stay- unlike star hotels- home stays are not standardised, which makes them much more interesting, warm and personal. You can actually experience a slice of the local culture when you are putting up in such an arrangement. Right from the people you chat up with to the food you are served and even the way the house is done up, everything offers to you a piece of the location. In short, Home stays have a character to them which is so missing in most of the hotels.
I was keen on Chikmagalur and Wayanad, but couldn’t manage to get a booking in any of the places where I wanted to stay. I had been to Coorg some three years ago and to put it frankly- I didn’t like it much. I thought that the whole thing about it being the Scotland of India was a bit over hyped.
I remember- in my last trip I landed up there without any prior planning and that it was a peak season for tourists didn’t help. We were lucky enough to get a decent place to stay (Home of a retired army official) but the places we went see were the typical tourist attractions.
That is not my idea of a vacation. I hunt hard to find locations which are like unseen and unspoiled by tourist hordes. I romanticise the idea of cutting off from the civilisation and love staying at places, which if I may say so, at least appear to be virgin and undiscovered.
Coming back to this trip, after hours of googling “homestays in Coorg”- I landed up on this link called ‘Plantation Trails’ which are Tata coffee’s holiday homes in Coorg. Frankly speaking, I didn’t even know that Tata had something like holiday homes. I even liked the idea that this was not listed on the first few pages of my search results (on Google). So I safely assumed that this was definitely not one of those most common places for tourists to stay.
The details of the property like location, facilities, tariffs and bookings are well detailed on the Tata coffee’s site and were quite useful in getting a sense of the place. When I called up their Bangalore coordinate, he told me that the accommodation was only available in Glenlorna tea estate which is near Hudikeri- some 27 kilometres ahead of their flagship property- the coffee estate in Pollibetta. Incidentally, Glenlorna is the only tea estate in the coffee country of Coorg.
Luckily I got a special monsoon package which offered twenty percent discount and complimentary dinner. As breakfast was already a part of the package I just had to pay for my lunch and snacks above the cost of the room.
The bungalow at the estate is on a hillock and offers a bird’s eye view of the lush plantation. It has five rooms in total and we booked luxury rooms which were particularly large and come fitted with air conditioners (Though I wonder who uses them) and geysers for hot water (Now that’s a must). The rooms are tastefully done and are mostly occupied with dark wood furniture that lends a strong colonial character to the place, also, they are well coordinated with fab India-ish bed covers, table cloths and floor mats. I have also been made to understand that most of these plantation trails bungalows are former homes of estate managers which have been done up by their wives.
There is a common dining room where breakfast, lunch and dinner is served to all the guests staying in the estate- though you can order tea and snacks to your room. There is also a television with a Tata Sky connection in the living room. The best part of the bungalow is the front porch which offers the most beautiful view of the tea plantation. I spent the most part of my trip here- in the front porch- cuddled in a warm blanket, sunk in a comfy cane chair with my legs stretched and resting on a low lying table and sipping liters of piping hot ginger tea and devouring on dozens of onion pakoras- all this while watching rain.
It almost rained continuously through out our stay but that just added to the thrill of the vacation. I can’t remember any other time in my life when I just watched rains like that and enjoyed them so much. To say it was romantic would be an understatement. The purposeless of that moment was so fascinating and in a strange way extremely rejuvenating. We went for a long walk to the river that flows through the property and morning jogs along the hills. Umbrellas were our constant companions and again I don’t remember when I used one before.
They can also organise a visit to the tea factory and a guided tour of the coffee and tea plantations if you want, but we opted out of such guided tours and enjoyed our own excursions in and around the plantations.
The staff is extremely courteous, helpful and hospitable. The meals were elaborate and delicious and the fact that you can get such food in such an isolated location is incredible.
The other guests who had bookings and were supposed to arrive had last minute cancellations and that came as blessing in disguise for us as we had the whole bungalow all for ourselves.
I strongly recommend this place to anyone who is planning a trip to Coorg and you better make it soon for they might lease this bungalow to one of the corporates pretty soon and might not entertain the regular guests then.
Also, I heard they are inaugurating a similar property in Chikmagalur sometime towards the mid of August. I am sure I will be one of their first guests. See you there.
PS: You can see the pictures of the trip by clicking the Coorg widget on the right side of your screen.
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