The new king of Bollywood

When I first read on Rediff that there was to be a bollywood remake of Othello, called 'Omkara', I told myself it was a recipe for box-office disaster. Then after I read about the casting, I had this image of a producer like the kinds of Naseeruddin Shah in Bombay Boys ... who wanted to make a bad movie so he could launder some black money...

Ok, Ajay Devgan was cast in the title role... after watching Company I didn't doubt he could play Othello. But Saif Ali Khan and Viveik Oberoi?? Saif would have made a decent Cassio... but Viveik Oberoi as Iago?? Note how quickly I jumped to the wrong conclusions. When I later read that Saif Ali Khan was to play the role of Iago, I couldn't believe my eyes. Chocolate boy Saif as the evil Iago?? No way.....

So over the weekend Arun got his hands on the movie, and I was like, oh well, beats watching Superman Returns in Japanese. 30 minutes into the movie I was ready to apologize to Saif Khan for any misgivings I might have had of his histrionic capabilities. Saif Ali Khan HAS to be the new King of Bollywood. His portrayal of Langda Tyaagi is way more than superb and brilliant. His performance is exquisite! Pure art. If he doesn't get ALL possible awards for that role, then there is something seriously wrong with the Indian Cinegoers, Critics and film jurists alike. He's simply the perfect Iago, oozing evil from behind a veil of innocence.... It's time for the rest of the Khan's to move over and make way for the new King of Bollywood, Saif Ali Khan.

Ajay Devgan as Omkara (Othello), Viveik Oberoi's Kesu (Cassio), Kareena Kapoor's portrayal of Dolly (Desdemona), Konkona Sen Sharma's Indu (Emilia) and Naseeruddin Shah's character of Bhaisaab (Doge of Venice) were beautifully played. Bipasha Basu as Billo (Bianca) sucked big time. She was way too plastic. Yes, she was there just for the item numbers, but still, I'm sure there are better actresses who could have played that role.

The desi setting for Othello was brilliantly conceived. The background was the murky politics of the region. Character development was brilliant! It was gripping to the end! I don't think I have really raved about a Bollywood all this much.... ever! For a tragic ending, it was brilliantly shot. From start to finish, Omkara is gripping!

I recommend this as a must watch. However, if you are looking for a long song and dance production, with hazar bizarrely outfitted extras in the background, this is not for you.

Bollywood's most sophisticated and stylish offering to date. All hail Omkara!

Who let the doc tag??

I always thought PhD students (at least going by the ones that I've seen) didn't have enough time in a day to get their research done... Looks like I could be wrong about that. A certain researcher in a certain university in Bean-town seems to have all the time in the world to play tag! I refuse to be a spoilsport, so here goes...

This is how one plays tag online..
1) Say who tagged you
2) Say eight things about yourself
3) Tag 6 people

I was tagged by that jobless doc in Boston.

8 things, eh?? Lets see....
I WANT chaat... desperately..
I DON'T want to make the aforementioned chaat.
I WISH I could have something nice for lunch (something NOT cooked by me)
I genuinely believe that if I wish hard enough some inspired soul WILL open a Mexican restaurant in Tsuruoka.
SOMEDAY I will wake up on time to watch a sunrise here(so what if it happens at around 4:30 am).
I HAVE conclusively proved that a cellphone dropped in a pot of boiling sambar will never work again.
I NEED retail therapy to feel good.
I'm WAITING for the local release of X-Men 3.

(Wow... how colossally boring!)

Now let's play tag... Anitha, Deepak, Arun (much against my better judgment), Joji, Gouri.... you're IT! And here's right back at you, Dents.

Who let the dogs out?

Who let the cat out of the bag?? What cat?? What bag?

Thanks to Dents' constant linking, we discovered YouTube. The first time I looked at the Youtube site, I found 'Kajra Re' on the first page. This little one absolutely loves that song, and sings it so adorably I ended up bookmarking that for her. As a natural progression, we found links to other songs that she liked, Hakuna Matata etc.

And with a little searching and browsing we discovered we could find a lot of old favourite music videos too. Arun wanted to see if he could find The Ketchup Song. It did have such a catchy beat. So talking of catchy beats, we thought we should find Macarena too. I remembered certain 2-left-footed types (other than me of course) trying to dance the Macarena. It was such a craze when we were in college!

And then one of the videos we were watching actually had a link to... I am not joking.. "Who let the dogs out?" The little one actually sings that one now! Of all the good music she could have picked up, she had to like that one song (if one can call it a song)!

Now first thing in the morning, she comes up to me and says, "may I please watch Ketcher (ketchup), Macarena, Kajra Re and Who let the dogs out? Please??"

What a start to my day.....

As a very irrelevant postscript, does anyone who remembers a certain party remember the part where a certain artist type would, in the middle of conversations, suddenly ask, "but folks, Who let the dogs out?" And then everyone else would religiously reply "Who? Who?" And then, the artist would pick up the intercom and go "Security, 1 plate baasundi.. "

How to give a 3 year old a haircut

1. Take said 3 year old to a hairdresser, preferably one run by elderly ladies who are sure to pamper her silly
2. Take out dictionary and try to explain how you want her hair trimmed
3. Listen to responses that don't make sense as the words used by hairdresser do not exist in your dictionary.
4. Put dictionary back in handbag.
5. Start miming. Fold, twist, mime scissors, cutting motion etc and hope message is getting through correctly.
6. Seat daddy-dear on barber chair and let 3 year old watch him being draped in towel etc.
7. Seat 3 year old on daddy's lap, and cover her with towels etc.
8. Confer again with hairdresser using abysmal vocabulary and sign language and agree on length.
9. Hairdresser shall start snipping at this point.
10. 3 year old insists that she doesn't want her head shaved and will wear her ponytails from now on.
11. Explain to 3 year old (before onset of tears) that this will look very cute, and ask the hairdresser to say 'kawaii desu' (how cute) a few times to get the idea through.
12. Explain (or try to explain) to three year old why its not a great idea to move her head rapidly from side to side.
13. Let cute cat walk through salon.
14. Ask elderly lady whether its ok to pick up said cat.
15. Pick up said cat and hold cat in angle and height so 3 year old looks that way.

16. Move cat around to keep 3 year old looking in the right direction.
17. Turn chair away from mirror.
18. Explain to 3 year old that this style will look cuter than curls.
19. Get hairdresser to reiterate #18
20. Repeat steps 16 till desired results are acquired
21. Do a final trim.
22. Wait for hairdresser to get a pretty ribbon and let 3 year look at herself in mirror.
23. Repeat steps 18 and 19 again.
24. Pay hairdresser.
25. Get out of salon before cute (but very annoyed) cat decides to express displeasure.
26. Start breathing and thank the dude above for getting one through this with minimum trauma.
27. Look at s.o. and hope one doesn't have to repeat this in a hurry.