Himesh "Topi" Reshamiyya

Once upon a time, there was music in the world. You only had to listen to the mellifluous voices of Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar . . . to the compositions of Naushad, Shanker-Jaikishen . . . and you’d go searching for your soul. Fast forward 20 years, you are listening to a din called “music” and braying called “singing” to an ass called "singing sensation" and the ass himself being called “Himesh Reshamiyya” and you go searching for cotton or anything you can stuff your ear with!

There was a time when any FM channel you tuned into, HR was there to haunt you. And then there was a hiatus, he was no longer heard or seen. His signature stubble, cap, and the asthmatic nasal voice were gone and everyone could hear the sounds made my nature and the little voices in their heads! But all good things don’t last forever for Himesh was back with a thicker stubble, longer visor, and a deeper asthmatic voice and not as a singer but as an actor singing coyly with a heroine (just stepping into her teens) and getting naughty (what the hell was that growl and grunt) with nymphet Mallika.

He dons his lucky cap and a deadpan face be it happy or unhappy scene during day and night thus proving he’s a versatile actor. Mahesh Bhatt, you better watch out for the next Rahul Roy of the big screen!

The movie is called App ka Suroor and the tag line reads “A Real Love Story”. I think it should read “Come find out Himesh kisko (apna) topi pehna tha hai”.

Big B or Rajni

If Chennai is known for sand, sun, sambhar, and Superstar, Bombay is known for beach, babes, bhelpuri, and Big B. But forget the rest, the battle is between Superstar Rajni and Big Bachchan! Who's the bigger of the two on celluloid and outside celluloid is the question media is posing to the zillions of "fan"atical viewers?

With their astronomical salaries, India has no need to approach IMF for its pecuniary deficit. But when is enough just enough, that these veterans who donned the grease paint and graced the 70 mm for over three decades are not ready yet to call it quits and are giving the younger starlets a run for their money!

With Big B's baritone and Rajni's style tricks, the audiences across the world continue to remain enthralled while the fan-following shows no sign of ebbing! Strong prayers from the hysterical fans brought the former star back from the hospital while the latter from Himalayas and their career graphs only display an unabated upward trend.

Big B or Rajnikanth? The quintessential debate continues while the cash registers are ringing!

Traveils of Ms. Going-2-B-First-Citizen

First of all, I fail to understand why only septuagenarians (and higher) are considered for the coveted title of First Citizen--The President--in a populous country like India where there is no dearth of people under any of the age bracket!

When did cotton head, spectacles, dentures become the prerequisite for running for President? As if failing physical health demonstrated enthusiastically by our former first citizens was not enough to judge them, Ms Pratibha Patil has gone a step further by demonstrating her failing (or ailing) gray cells with an uncalled (and unverified) remark that ladies were forced to wear veils to protect themselves from the Mughal invaders.

The lady who is running for President should at least think twice before:

• uttering something (even if reporters are thrusting their mikes into her mouth to hear her shaky frail voice) before verifying it
  
• stirring a hornet's nest with a communal remark in a secular (read sensitive) India

Learn some tact lady before gracing the throne! Being the first citizen is no joke!

You are not me to get away with shooting off your mouth!!!

Online DVD Rentals

To foster my hobby of movie-watching, I felt it was time to take membership in one of those online DVD rentals, which are mushrooming all over the city promising to cater to movie buffs like me.

Not having many friends who share my passion of Hollywood films (I have a friend who did not even know who Sharon Stone was and he was a GUY. Yeah lucky me!), I had to resort to the next best thing---Google. I keyed in DVD rentals + Bangalore (yeah Bangalore still works, thank god for small mercies!) in the search box and a few sites popped up.

The list was really small and included:
· Seventymm
· Friday Boxoffice
· Netflix
· Blockbuster
· Catch Flix
· Fusion Rental

And their collection was smaller still! Some of them had the nerve to call it a library with a measly collection. The movies highlighted under New Releases have already been aired even on Star TV.

The membership fees (read deposit) are almost the same starting from as low as Rs 300 going upward to Rs 3000 (for a lifetime membership or for renting unlimited DVDs) including free pickup-and-drop facility. In some cases, the deposits were non-refundable. The monthly fee again varied from Rs 300 to Rs 1000 (with DVD rent ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 99). Some libraries have constraints on the number of DVDs you can borrow and the number of days you can keep a DVD. Some have a referral program where you refer your friends (at last six) to join the library and you walk away with a free membership!

I spent more than an hour browsing through the collection of each of the libraries and finally rose from my chair with an epiphany that for a measly Rs 250 (cable connection), I get to pick and watch movies from at least 5 English movie channels. Should I be screaming Eureka!

Year of the Sequels

Oops, shocked that I have changed my blogspot background to Barbie pink??? Well, I thought what the heck! lemme try being girlie for a while. Promise it'll only be for a while, so that your boss doesn't catch you reading pink blogs ;-)

This year seems to be the year of sequels, mostly the finale of the trilogy. So we have in line: Spiderman 3, Shrek 3, Pirates of the Carribean 3, Ocean's Thirteen. Phew! That's a lot of sequels!

Spiderman: I liked the comic version better than watching a sissy guy on the big screen, who can't even ask his girlfriend out on a date, but is up to all antics once he gets in to the web costume! Apart from the silly gadgets and sillier morons donning them, the only thing to look forward to the series is an innovative kiss (remember, the upside down passionate kiss in the rain in Spiderman 2).

Pirates of the Carribean: Captain Jake Sparrow and his escapades continue to keep the audience in splits and asking for more. The funny (sorry I don't find him sexy) Johny Depp and the bootylesscious Kiera Knightly are good reasons to go grab the tickets even if the movie is strictly meant for kids between 12 and 15.

Ocean's #: What heist are these guys planning this time with Clooney duhlin planning all the moves? The number on his team only keeps getting bigger and nope we are not complaining as long as you add another hunk and don't you dare remove Dillon and Pitt and Roberts and Zeta Jones and we promise we'll be there for you!

And saving the best for last:

Shrek: Forget the stupid supermen and the pirates and the robbers, I simpppppppppppppply have fallen in love with this obnoxious ogre. And who cannot help but love the donkey and teh fire-breathing dragon and Princess Fiona and the cat. Oh they make a lovely family portrait :-) Only thing that makes the picture complete would be me! Shrek, where art thou! Take me to your swampy land.