Day 1...h-e-d

27th March'2007... My beggining!

I finally get a sense of things to come. 2 months on to h-e-d, it's been very normal until this day! I feel the excitment, numbness and high of being on 'my' set. Cannot get bigger, when you have Kajol on the camera, santoshi on the clap, bharadwaj on the left of camera and kashyap on the right and my parents visible from the extreme corner of my right eye. It was overwhelming! The last time I had this feeling was, shit..never! Its my first and I sure this one will stay with me forever.

In between the madness of action and cut it just seemed forever. My strategy of being calm and composed seemed to elude me. Its this strange feeling where your legs dont feel strong and you want your heartbeat to slow down, but it refuses to. Luckily it did not last long and I heard the golden 'cut' and 'taaliyaan'. Wuuup..I was back...Back to being me, could feel my heartrate returning to normalcy.

Cut to Lunch and vanity- getting ready for the shot. Shot the first scene post lunch and it felt absolutely normal. Relieved at the thought that those symptoms were momentary and I could be my cool, composed self. This is the real action. Wrapped up in couple hours. A good day at office...

Of great films and brilliant actors...

'The pursuit of Happyness' and 'Angoor'... Two radically different films, from different world's, of different actor's, yet achieved one common goal. Made me smile!

Lets begin with the Pursuit... This is where Hollywood scores over us. They can make films with huge stars without going over the top and sticking to the basic requirement of the script. The beauty of the film lies in its simple yet heart wrenching tale of a single parent who tries his level best to keep his family afloat while trying his best to get a 'real' job and take care of his five year old son, Christopher.

Very few films which show you the grim side of life, can be inspiring. The pursuit is truly very inspiring. It works at various levels. One, it shows the great american dream as achievable. However grim the situation gets Chris Garderner never once shows selp pity or lack of action. He does everything he can, use's every possible way to market himself to work his way up.

There are great father-son bonding moments. One line which sort of summarises the film, when Chris tells his son, "Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream? You gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they want to tell you you can't do it. You want something, go get it. Period."

And that is excatly what the film leaves you with. A sense of hope, the WILL to fightback against all odds and to survive.

The climax where WS finally triumphs is absolutely hair raising. Have not seen a more emotionally charged scene ever. Its superbly enacted. WS is brilliant. My oscar/iifa/filmfare goes to him, undoubtedly! One of the very few movie scenes which choked me.

Also saw this week, Gulzar's - 'Angoor', starring Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma. Its one of the best comedies made in Indian cinema. Wonder why I never saw it before. Right from the story, to dialogues, to performances, to the subtle humor, to direction and the beautifully crafted lines. It's a great comedy of errors. Now I understand, why SK is considered one of the best actors in Indian cinema. SK and DV have a great great comic timing, which sets the tone of the film. Extremly hilarious! I wont be suprised if it's remade in the coming years!

WorldCup 2007.. My prediction

For the record, its only the second day of the world cup and here go my predictions. Ive been intending to put them down for a while now.

Final four:

Australia
West Indies
Sri Lanka
India

Australia will not win the cup!

As on 14th March'2007.

Of new car and 'our' customs...

First of all...congratulations dude.. got a new car today! It's an aqua blue swift. Looks smashing, could'nt help smiling, when the guy at the petrol pump said, ' saab gadi ka colour mast hai'. Also the fact that I have'nt seen swift in this colour on the road yet, makes me love it all the more! Infact saw a girl on the pillion of a bike checking it out, was confused, is it me or the car...You see, I am just happy!

It was the first time, I took delivery of a car and what really got me in the entire handing over ceremony (quite elaborate) was the 'puja' of the car starting with aarti, breaking of the coconut, swastik on the engine, the works... Made me wonder, it's a car, not a family member coming home. But then again, I remembered the famous govinda song, 'It happens only in India'...Cnt imagine, this happening in any other part of the world. Imagine buying your brand new lexus in the united states with the priest handing over the car after his little prayer and saying, 'and Now you may drive the car'...(from 'now you may kiss the bride').

But then again, I liked the thought behind the ritual. To treat it like an extention to the family. To make sure it drives you safe and sound. and above all, help you prosper and grow! It also instills a sense of respect in your handling of the vehicle at some level. Whatever it is, the idea is sweet and makes the entire buying process more personal.