And now people blame SRK for German bakery blast

For the record I have not heard from XXXXXXXXXXXX since.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jimit Shah
Date: Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 1:26 AM
Subject: Re: names
To: XXXXXXXXXXXX


Shahrukh Khan did not select any Pak player in his team because he had to go with the majority (probably due to rest of the franchise owners decisions).

Everyone has a right to speak their mind in a democracy and that is what SRK did. All he said that in his opinion the Pak players should have been selected. And I believe more in freedom of speech and multiplicity of views rather than cut-thorn-by-thorn or flogging-in-public theories.

I personally abhor Aman Ki Asha type of cheesy initiatives and prefer the diplomatic route that Chidambaram has taken but both of those have nothing to do with the bomb blast in Pune.

RAW or other means of intel used by home ministry cannot be underestimated in anyway. However I do believe that the police was doing what they needed to do on that day - Protecting our cities and the citizens from terrorists known as Shiv Sainiks. What would you have said if there were to be violence at theatres and consequently a few deaths. I am sure you would have been the first to pounce upon the police to say that they are incompetent lot who could not do anything to stop something like this from happening and a party of a few thousand hooligans is allowed to hold an entire state to ransom. It would have been shameful to say the least.

And no, I don't even buy the argument that SRK should have apologized to Bal Thackeray or that he should not have said what he said. In a democratic country everyone is entitled to freedom of speech guaranteed by the constitution and there is nothing anti national that SRK said.

It was very very important for the cops to have guarded the theatres on that day. They did a good job of it. And in any case, there is nothing concrete to suggest that there was specific intel with home ministry regarding this attack and they did not act sincerely (as had happened on 26/11).

I am appalled with the thought that people can actually blame SRK for this bomb blast. The thought is more appalling than the movie itself !!

On Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 11:43 PM, XXXXXXXXXXXX wrote:

All this Pakistani players being allowed [keep sports away from politics etc], Aman ki Asha & all the rubbish must be immediately stopped.

Use a thorn to pull a thorn.

Anybody who speaks on behalf of Pak for their personal or monetary gains must be flogged in public.

Don’t underestimate our intelligence. They just need supplement of local police force & discipline & no distraction. Its tough but not impossible…. Look at the amount of checking in Delhi regularly at public places. It is lacking in Pune….

The IM spokesman had openly announced in pak about Pune as candidate…

From: Jimit Shah [mailto:jimit99@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2010 1:04 PM

To: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Re: names

I am no fan of SRK. But to blame him squarely is outrageous. In a country with a billion people the check nakas do not help much. Stopping and inspecting vehicles cannot stop terror attacks.

Agreed that there was *some chance* that the attack would have been foiled. But there is no guarantee. Usually the terror suspects from IM mask themselves very well and are not easily spotted based on looks or conversation. To think that Pune police would have spotted their vehicle AND also opened up their red handbag AND discovered the explosives WITHOUT an explosion is IMO quite difficult.    

But then India is a great democracy and people can always speak their mind very freely just like Thackeray does. So ........

On Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 10:46 PM, XXXXXXXXXXXX wrote:

For sure it would help

YYYYY knows how many times we used to pass cops & checking on NM road near khabad house & osho ashram

I squarely blame SRK for this.

In fact I wish they had bombed the stupid Aman Ki Asha concert. What a phoney concept.

From: Jimit Shah [mailto:jimit99@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2010 12:14 PM
To: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Re: names

You actually believe that the cops would have stopped the terror attack from happening if they were not watching the stupid movie?

On Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 6:39 AM, XXXXXXXXXXXX wrote:

T Sundari (22) resident of Bangalore, working in Amdocs Pune, Binita Gadani (22) resident of Mumbai, working in Amdocs Pune.

http://www.mynews.in/News/List_of_Pune_blast_victims_released_by_Mumbai_Police_N38066.html

From: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2010 7:05 PM
To: 'Jimit Shah'
Subject: RE: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/8-confirmed-dead-33-injured-in-blast-at-Pune-bakery/articleshow/5569873.cms

2 girls from our comapny died in this L

The bomb was under their table.

All because of MNIK & SRK. All the cops were in the movie hall. Not joking. Sitting beside me and in between I got call from my sis & also the cops. They rushed out immediately….

My watching MNIK was an exercise towards social obligation [upon the insistence of neighbor friends] in way it was a blessing sicne usually I follow the N Main Road & almost defi stop over at Krishna Medicals – the shop next to German Bakery for my sinusitis medicine !!!

From: Jimit Shah [mailto:jimit99@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2010 1:51 AM
To: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Re: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/8-confirmed-dead-33-injured-in-blast-at-Pune-bakery/articleshow/5569873.cms

XXXXXXXXXXXX,

I am not sure if I am more shocked at:
a) The bomb blast
b) That you were watching MNIK (Blasphemous) or
c) MNIK itself - I am sure it must be more potent than the bomb itself - How was the movie?

Gather from YYYYYYYY that you've become a Hindu movie buff lately. How do you choose to answer that?

On Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 8:55 AM, XXXXXXXXXXXX wrote:

News channel confirm that its terror L

An IED explosive device

Quite close to Jewish Khabad house. Read it all…

Imagine I was watching MNIK at the very same instant & my sis called me to alert me

From: YYYYYYYYYY
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 10:23 PM
To: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Cc: Jimit Shah
Subject: Re: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/8-confirmed-dead-33-injured-in-blast-at-Pune-bakery/articleshow/5569873.cms

Yikes !!

And to think I used to frequent that place quite often when I was in Pune. :(

Might have been some freak accident maybe and not actually a terror attack.

On Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 10:42 AM, XXXXXXXXXXXX wrote:

First time in Pune L I still don’t suspect or believe it to be a terror strike.

Pune has always thankfully been insulated from it [until now?] …

My Name is Khan and my film is a dud

Let me set the record straight at the outset. 
a) I have liked all Karan Johar films till date including the much maligned KANK.
b) I do not dislike SRK the actor but I am not a fan of his either
c) Judging by the trailers of MNIK, I had a feeling that the film will be a washout and it did not seem appealing to me.


After all the controversy surrounding the release and multiple positive reviews here and here and here and here (I could not find a single review where the film got less than 3 stars) I thought to myself that the movie cannot be a flat out dud. Expectations still not skyrocketing but at least there was this anticipation of watching the film.

Coming to the film itself. The concept of the movie was not bad - the implementation of it was totally flawed and bollywood'ish. Liberal doses of unwanted melodrama, which if I may mention, did not evoke any emotion.

Rizwan Khan (SRK) suffers from an autistic condition called Asperger's Syndrome and moves in with his brother in San Francisco after his mother's death. He is allergic with fast moving objects, loud sounds, strangers, new places and the color yellow. Of course he is allergic only when the director wants to utilize that facet of his character. Rizwan takes the spoken word quite literally and is quite, for lack of a better word, childish in his demeanor. He befriends and then marries a divorced Mandira (Kajol), who also has a teenage son. 9/11 happens and due to communal tensions everyewhere, his son gets involved in a fist fight at school and gets accidentally killed. Believe it or not Mandira blames this on Rizwan (due to which they got the last name Khan) and kicks him out of her life. She tells Khan to return only after he has met with the president of USA and told him that his name is Khan and that he (and his son) are not terrorists. So that the president can tell HIS people that not all muslims are terrorists. Our Mr. Khan then embarks on a journey to meet the president and many melodramatic and bizarre moments later gets to meet Obama duplicate (which IMHO was the most hilarious moment in the entire film) and convey him the message. Done and dusted. This is the story.

Kajol's acting was very good. But her role was cut short. The fall jackets that she wore were nice. Though the opulence surrounding a Karan Johar movie was clearly missing from this movie.


SRK's acting is bound to generate mixed reactions. I personally liked his acting. It appeared to have been liberally borrowed from Tom Hanks' act in Forrest Gump but not even a shadow of Hanks' performance. However thankfully SRK did not over ham.


Good to see Sugandha Garg (who played Shaleen in Jaane Tu ... Ya Jaane Na) back on screen although it was an insignificant role. BTW - I did not know that this girl has married Raghu Ram (MTV Roadies fame)


The camera work at places was fairly decent (Golden sunlight when Rizwan was getting his haircut, downhill on SFO downtown). However it fell apart in more than one place (Most noticably in the Georgia flooding sequence, where the scene was captured in a studio for maintaining production values and also when Rizwan showed Mandira the view of SFO downtown at sunrise).


Music was functional at best. SEL disappoint on that front. The background score can go unnoticed. Noor-E-Khuda was best of the lot and decently picturized.


Funny portions with African American Mama Jenny and Funny Hair Joel in Georgia were too inspired from Hollywood and hardly funny. 


The best portion of the film was when Obama duplicate meets our very own not-a-terrorist Rizwan Khan. It was a moment to be savored. Be ready to whistle in the theatre - Cannot imagine Karan Johar can produce such a moment on celluloid.


All in all, the movie deserves a generous 2 stars out of 5 because I am in a good mood and am writing this review 3 days after watching the film.


*****

Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

I am sure no Indian from my generation would ever forget the "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" song that was first televised on Independence Day of 1988 on Doordarshan immediately after Rajiv Gandhi's address to the nation. The film was produced by Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad, an initiative by the Ministry of Rural Development to promote public awareness. This first-of-its-kind film featured popular Indian achievers from all walks of life from musicians to sports persons to artists to film personalities. The film portrayed a beautiful amalgamation of diverse Indians and successfully captured the imagination of Indians at that time.

That gives me reason enough to feel excited when I heard the news that the song is now being recreated in 2010 as part of Republic Day celebrations. The Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad has since been disbanded and the initiative has been taken up by television channel Zoom TV (which IMHO is quite strange, given that I consider Zoom TV nothing more than a Bollywood gossip channel). Apparently it seems to have gotten the blessings of I&B ministry given that I&B minister Ambika Soni will unveil the song on 25th January.

I have read reports suggesting that the video would feature Indians of the new era.

Sports persons that have made the cut are Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh, Saina Nehwal, Baibhung Bhutia. The film would be rather incomplete if it did not have any cricketer feature in it. At a minimum, I'd like to Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid/Anil Kumble (both from Karnataka), Mahendra Dhoni and perhaps Saurav Ganguly. Representation from Hockey (Dhanraj Pillai is the only one that I can think of) is also a must - after all it is our national game.

On the acting front, Amitabh Bachchan stamps his authority by being the only individual to be featured in both versions of the song. He'd now be joined by his beta Abhishek and bahurani Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Not to be left far behind, best friends Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are in. Soha Ali Khan will snatch away the glory from Bachchan Sr. if she makes it to the video - Not many people know that little Soha featured in the original version alongside father Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Representing the youngistan generation are Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and apparently even Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Anuskha Sharma (Wonder why?!?!)


Artists would be represented by AR Rahman, Zakir Hussain, Shreya Ghoshal, Shiamak Dawar, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Sivamani, Gurdas Mann, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and more.

On a personal front, I would have loved to see achievers from other walks of life, like business, media, social workers, politicians also to have featured in the video. That would have served a holistic purpose of the song. Another idea would have been to give the composition of the new song to AR Rahman considering the magic that he has worked with Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram.

Here's hoping that the new version is one up over the older one albeit these being big shoes to fill in.

Leaving with a few video links courtesy youtube.





And this is the "Buland Bharat Ki Buland Tasveer" Ad. I am including it here since indigenously manufactured at the time of license raj era, Bajaj Scooters really was a case study. BTW, Bajaj last month announced that it would no longer be manufacturing Bajaj Scooters.

2010, India Vacation, Small businesses

Another year goes by. There wasn't much happening in 2009 apart from the move to Seattle and all the add-ons that come with a move. Spent a better part of the year in office given that the workload was heavy. Hoping against hope that 2010 will be a better year at work - It will only get crazier.

Have resolved to be a bit more regular at blogging. Will try for sure. Much like the risk that T20 poses to test cricket, I must concede that the 140 character microblogging at twitter has caused a loss of words and thoughts many a time.

Vacation in India was very good. Remained in Bombay almost throughout the 5 week period except a 3 day trip to Mahabaleshwar. The weather in Mahabaleshwar was pretty awesome (ranging from 10 to 20 celcius throughout). However I have now decided that from next time onwards, there wont be any more outings. Spending the same amount of money and energy, there are many ways to enjoy within Bombay itself.

Another noticeable aspect that I observed this time (although it isn't anything new) is the way in which small homegrown businesses run and flourish. Having seen the markets in the US where customer-is-the-king mantra rules the roost, it is shocking to see the apathy with which many businesses treat their customers. It appears as if "I dont care for you because I have too many other customers waiting in the queue waiting to buy from me at my terms"

Although it may be an oversimplification or exaggeration of market state, it does get really tempting to start and run a business in such an environment; all the more so because starting up a small business in the United States is no easy deal and the odds of succes IMHO are pretty low given the risk involved. I am not discounting the fact that starting up a business in India is also with risk and as the owner of the business, you are expected to, at times, run the show 100% i.e. do all that it takes to keep the show running. And when I say, all-that-it-takes, it means an all encompassing role - Do the most basic grassroot or mundane task with complete devotion, fervor and sometimes even ending up doing it more frequently that you'd like.

But what you can make-do without is a complete lack of innovativeness. Given the size of the market in India, you need not have a totally unique idea that no one else has implemented. You can start a business with exactly the same idea. As long as you get your implementation right odds are that you will end up having a good business; and if you are that lucky son-of-a-gun then you get volumes at a price point higher than your competitors.

Enough said for now. Will try to post more often this year. Lets see.

Mirabelle and Ray

Nice one:

"Some nights alone he thinks of her.
And some nights alone she thinks of him.
Some nights these thoughts occur at the same moment.
And Mirabelle and Ray are connected without ever knowing it..."

I get such kind of thoughts all the time :-)

Movie Updates

Feels like it has been a while since I posted a movie update. Watched a number of movies in the last few weeks/months. Here is a summary:

• Slumdog Millionaire - Nice. Nothing extraordinary. Rahman won so many accolades for this film. To me this was very ordinary work by the maestro. But, what to say, he won it because "It was written"
• Luck By Chance - Not Bad. Expected more based on reviews. Didn't get boring even for a second. So I'd pass it by.
• Dev D - Pathetic. Not sure why people are raving about it.
• Oye Lucky, Luck Oye - Disaster. Could not figure out whats going on in the movie.
• Billu Barber - Agree with the box office collections. This one is a dud.
• 13B - This is a decent flick. Wasn't expecting much from it but it is not bad after all. Can watch it at home on a DVD at night when no one is around and see the results.
• Halo - This 1996 children's movie is a neat watch. Arbit and arty. Little girl Benaf (Shasha) was sweet.
• Raaz 2 - Ordinary. Don't even remember how it was. That speaks.
• The Other End of the Line - Bring on the mush. Aah! I loved it. The best of the entire lot of movies. Mush. Dark chocolate. Watch it when in that kind of a mood. Saran girl is impressive. If someone ever knows if it is her voice in the film (in the American accent) or if it is dubbed, please drop me a line. That would be very important for Saran.
  
• Outsourced - Funny in parts. Some of the scenes are downright hilarious. Though such scenes are few and far between. On the whole it is just about passable.
• The Laws of Attraction - More mush. Decent lovey dovey movie. Easily watchable.
• Dil Kabaddi - Exceed expectations. It is better than the title.
  

Come to think of it 11 movies in 2-3 months ain't that bad after all.

The great Indian election tamasha

What is going to be the story of general elections 2009?

They say that it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. The dilemma that faces Congress is that Sonia isn't fat enough. The fat ladies that are going to sing (and make the bad boys sway to their tunes) are from the so called "Third Front" - Behenji Mayawati, Jayalalitha et al.

NDA looks stale, sounding like a broken record and playing the Jai Shri Ram card ever so often. Whats even worse is that the party seems to be dilly-dallying on the true stand and come out with a set of issues it wants to contest the elections on.
Even before we get some preliminary inkling as to which way the "Janaadesh" may be going, BJP seems to be in damage control - Attacking the prime minister, attacking Sonia, backing Varun Gandhi but not backing his statements, Jaitley fighting Rajnath, blaming Congress for the IPL fiasco (Moving IPL to SA IMHO was a smart move - In special times when tackling terror is a global nightmare, Chidambaram had every right to be as cautious as he did)

The UPA is in utter disarray - It has almost vanished. Perhaps they lack a deal clincher like Pramod Mahajan or Arun Jaitley adept at tough bargaining, winning regional allies and ending up with a seat share agreement that makes all parties happy. Going by the current scheme of things, the Congress would consider itself lucky if it were to win more than 15 seats in UP + Bihar combined. With the cowbelt gone from under its belt, it would take a miracle for UPA to reach anywhere close to even 250 seats.

More threatening is the situation with the so called allies of NDA and UPA. Power hungry netas from NDA/UPA regional allies would be willing to make a quick buck and get ministerial berths by supporting a Third Front government lead by someone like Maya or Jaya or Sharad. Our comrades from left would be more than willing to lead a helping hand in order to prevent "anti national" forces of BJP or Congress from ruling the country and plunging it into any further darkness. Parties like Shiv Sena, MNS may very well be won over by Pawar playing the "Marathi Manoos" card. Of course defections could be manufactured within BJP and Congress as well. But in the current day scenario, the third front jokers are running ahead in the race.

What emerges out of this great Indian election tamasha may not be known well until a week after the counting ends on 16th May. And inspite of this post, I am a firm believer that there is nothing that can be predicted in Indian General Elections.

In an emotional electorate like India, an assasination or a terrorist strike or a single master stroke from one player may turn the tide for or against it. Its getting interesting. Just that I don't want to see a situation where Pawar is the PM and he is being fed grapes by Maya and Jaya. A nightmare that would be!