Facts n Fiction

It was not long ago when I was sitting (yes! ;-]) with two friends of mine, and one of their friend (we will call him Mr. A, A for angry young man…hahahaha). The introductory session went on good and we all kicked off the session with lot of fun and laughter – until this time nobody had bothered to ask the new acquaintances about each other’s whereabouts or what they did or where they came from; it was as if they were meeting just after yesterday. As we continued getting into high spirits, a fellow member initiated a discussion about what I did, what is my name (once again!), where am I studying (this happens most of the time, I just smile at this), what would I like to do in future (am sure when he comes to know about my age, he will ask me what should he do in his future…hahahaha), and so on. He also asked me where I came from. I proudly replied “MUMBAI”, and I always do it that way. He probably was little hurt with my regionalist ego and shrugged his shoulders. Yes, I am a Mumbaikar...

“Righteous Kill” released last week, I haven’t watched it yet. However, what has excited me is that two legendary actors in the history of movies share the screen. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, after their ephemeral charisma in “Heat” (1995), are together in 2008’s "Righteous Kill" sharing equal space on screen. You need not be just a movie buff to understand what I am trying to say or why am I showing such a moronic enthusiasm. You have to be a movie maniac; movies should flow through your bloodstream, especially those of the epic era, which have laid a strong foundation to the story telling of modern times. You may just look at these Hollywood heavyweights as actors, but go and ask the ardent movie-goers of the 70s (and early 80s), and they all will recite a similar rhyme – both, Al Pacino as well as Robert De Niro are indeed the titans. Teens may not understand what the shouting is all about. It has been quite long, almost 13 years after “Godfather II” (1974), that thes...

Today, it was that time of the year when millions of Mumbaikars flock on the streets to be a part of the immersion procession of their beloved elephant God – Ganesha . People enjoy the dhol-tasha-lezhim rhythms, the carefree dancing, the colours of gulal , and are lost in the spiritual extravaganza seeking blessings from their Lord. The elderly watch the processions with their folded hands, and the little ones smile-giggle-clap looking at the huge idols. The mood overall all is ecstatic and emotional with the devotees bellowing requests for their Lord to come back soon next year. I have been watching such scenes year after year, and I still enjoy it, especially the dhol music. I was traveling today from Pune to Mumbai, on the last day of Ganesh festival. I was worried most of the time that I might get stuck up somewhere in traffic and things would get frustrating. However, fortunately the journey was safe, quick, and pleasing. Though there were a few traffic jam bottlenecks, I managed...

The other day, my mom was muttering something about Jaya Bacchan; she appeared little furious too. “Why did she have to say so? What was the need? Then blame Raj for saying something in return” , she was talking all this in Marathi to herself while doing some kitchen work. I asked her what happened, what is wrong? And she went on again why unnecessarily Jaya Bacchan had to comment. It seems Jaya Bacchan had said something about the Marathi speaking people – the Maharastrians. She (my mom) then reached out for the television remote control and started gliding over various news channels. While I am adept at surfing the net, my mom is equally skilled browsing the TV channels… :-). She somewhere managed to locate that incident on a news channel, it was easy actually, the news kept flashing continuously in loops – that is what news channels do these days, any news is a breaking news, and it will hog you until you have completely forgotten about your existence. Aishwarya Rai falls from a bic...