Source: http://www.sunscreen.com.sg/backgrounds/Aerial_View_of_Singapore.jpg
It’s been a week since I have touched down in Singapore and I am already in love with the place. Yes, I have seen many places around the world. But being a tourist is a world of difference from staying in a foreign country and working there. Everything seems so orderly, neat and clean (Yes, maybe except Little India :P). Whether its people not jumping queues or them not generally rushing into the public transport (buses or trains), everyone really seems to follow all the rules to the T. I assume this is normally the case in many countries of the world. But having been exposed to too much of disorderliness for many years, this is a welcome and refreshing change.
Month: June 2013
Source: http://static.indianexpress.com/pic/uploadedImages/bigImages/B_Id_384839_Raanjhanaa_poster.jpg
Cast: Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol
Director: Aanand Rai
Producer: Krishika Lulla
Music: A.R.Rahman
Plot: Kundan (Dhanush) is a simple guy who lives in Banaras and is madly in love with Zoya (Sonam Kapoor). They lose themselves into each other during their school times. But Zoya’s parents get to know about it and send her to Delhi for further studies. There she meets Abhay Deol and falls for him instantly. She decides to marry him and with the help of Dhanush, she convinces her dad to get her married to Abhay Deol. But wait.. there’s a twist. Abhay fakes his name as Akram while his real name is Jasjeet. He does this so that Zoya doesn’t have a problem marrying him. But her parents eventually find that out and beat him up to death. Strange, right? Nevermind, there are more stranger things in the movie and I suggest you don’t waste your time and money watching it!
Source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gii24bakFtE/UaBOmsHd7gI/AAAAAAAACgQ/l189xZaXphk/s640/Fukrey.jpg
Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Varun Sharma, Richa Chaddha, Vishaka Singh, Priya Anand
Director: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba
Producer: Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani.
Plot: Fukrey’s plot revolves around four young guys and their aspirations to make more money. Choocha [Varun Sharma], Hunny [Pulkit Samrat], Lali [Manjot Singh] and Zafar [Ali Fazal] are the four youngsters who with Choocha’s dreams, dream to make more money so that they could buy their exam question papers. Richa Chaddha plays a female gangster in the flick, who decides to invest in their ‘dream plan’ leading to many twists and crazy turns!
Source: http://careersuccess.typepad.com/.a/6a0105360968fe970b01543606b506970c-800wi
Look at your friends. Some of them are pursuing ‘Engineering’ while others have taken up ‘Medicine’. A couple of years of struggle and they will make good money and be happy in their respective lives. For them life is like a bed of roses. Look at you. What did you tell me you are doing? Arts? What is this? Are you crazy? What will you earn? How will you keep your family happy? How will you support us? God. Did we bring you up to see this day?
How many of you have had a discussion like this with your parents / guardians? Everytime in life when we try to do something different or something interesting or something new, there are numerous obstacles we are forced to face. Whether its our near and dear ones not supporting us or us failing in whatever endeavour we pursue, obstacles run behind us all the time.
Madhumita Mukherjee grew up in Delhi and did her medical education from Calcutta National Medical College. She has been living and working in England since 2001 as a Paediatrician. She has a special affinity for epistolary novels as well as novels written as journals and diaries like ‘Diary of a Provincial Lady’ by E.M. Delafield, and ‘I Capture the Castle’ by Dodie Smith. Besides these, she takes special interest in novels with medical themes such as ‘A Country Doctor’s Notebook’ by Mikhail Bulgakov.
‘The Other Side of the Table’ is her first novel. She joins us here for a small tete-a-tete –
Aseem: Who or what inspired you to begin writing?
Madhumita: Nothing in particular and certainly not anyone. I suddenly had the time for the wrong reason and I wanted to distract myself by telling myself a story…
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/photo/20399833.cms
As they opened my eyes, all I could see around was trees and more trees. It seemed as though we were deep in the jungles where the four prominent states met. Having worked in NGOs in the most difficult of regions around the country whether it was Kashmir or the North East, I always knew what to expect in war torn troubled areas. I had always seen people being tortured to death whether it was physically through assault or mentally and psychologically through rape. I was working in the Naxalite corridor for the Mukti Foundation helping the poor and the downtrodden when I was simply taken away by the Red Army.
Source: http://infimovies.in/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Yamla-pagla-deewana-2-poster1.jpg
Cast: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Neha Sharma, Kristina Akheeva, Anu Kapoor
Producer: Dharmendra
Director: Sangeeth Sivan
Plot: Gajodhar(Bobby Deol) and Dharam (Dharmendra) are two con artists who are on a mission to rob a ‘used-to-be-millionaire’ Mr Khanna played by Anu Kapoor. Paramveer (Sunny Deol) works for a bank in Scotland and he’s sent to recover loan installments from Mr Khanna who’s now drowning in a heap of debt. There are a lot of crazy things that happen while everyone tries to do their part. Gajodhar falls for Suman (Neha Sharma), daughter of Anu Kapoor. But when they realise that the ‘rich’ daughter is not Suman but Reet (Kristina Akheeva), the whole movie turns into one hilarious flick! On the other hand, Joe Armstrong also known as Dude (Anupam Kher) is on his own mission of making a name for himself and wants to grab Mr Khanna’s land for building the eighth wonder of the world! The film makes you laugh till your stomach hurts and if you see a chimpanzee drinking bottles of whiskey and making paintings which can touch everyone’s soul, you just can’t stop laughing.
A veteran journalist, Oswald Pereira has worked for leading newspapers and magazines in Mumbai, New Delhi and Muscat. Oswald, who has taught journalism at The Times School of Journalism, is an editor and an English language trainer. Oswald is the author of the widely-acclaimed, best-selling crime thriller, The Newsroom Mafia, published by Grey Oak Westland in December 2011. He was born in Thane, Maharashtra, and studied at St Xaviers College, Mumbai. He now lives with his wife and son in Noida. Revenge of the Naked Princess is his second novel.
He joins us for a small little chat –
Aseem: When and how did you decide to start penning down novels?
Oswald: Before entering journalism, while doing my post-graduation in Economics in Bombay University I wrote my first novel in the young adult genre. It was liked by the editor of a top publishing house. But the editor-in-chief overruled the editor. I was unfazed and wrote my second novel in which the protagonist was a priest who falls in love with a girl. Then I joined journalism and reporting and writing front page stories seemed far more exciting than churning out fiction. My two novels written back then, which still remain unpublished were a forgotten story. They still lie somewhere among my old papers that include a big scrapbook of hundreds of news stories.
Source: http://gallery.oneindia.in/ph-big/2013/03/yeh-jawani-hai-deewani_13637752014.jpg
What do you expect from a Karan Johar movie?
1. Good performances and good chemistry between the leads?
2. Soulful music?
3. Beautiful locales?
4. Story?
5. Melodrama?
Does the movie deliver on all these counts? Let’s check it out?
Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (YJHD) is directed by Ayan Mukherji whose first movie was “Wake Up Sid” and produced by Dharma Productions. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechlin and Aditya Roy Kapur in lead roles. The movie has been in the news since the time the promos began airing on TV.
It’s the story of Bunny (Ranbir), Naina (Deepika), Aditi (Kalki) and Avi (Aditya). Its the story of their friendship and love. Its the story of growing up from just studying and enjoying life to becoming mature adults. Its the story of these four which begins from an adventure holiday and moves on to one of their marriages.