BIRDIE NUM NUM – THE PLAY

BIRDIE NUM NUM – THE PLAY

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon when I decided to book my tickets for BIRDIE NUM NUM being staged at AKSHARA Theatre. The play is written and directed by MADHAV MEHTA who happens to be a friend and a stand-up comic, to add to it my guruji MAHEEP SINGH the noted stand-up comic, shayar, playwright and lyricist was moving to the centerstage as an actor to portray the debonair PAPPAN PILO out to seduce/capture the birds (The meaning of Driving from Delhi to Gurgaon has changed for me forever). I was really looking forward to see maheep on stage and so I reached AKSHARA sharp at 7.30.

As it turned out that it was a hurricane called MALLIKA DUA who stole the show with her portrayal of LILLY KHOSLA the chirpy punju secretary of PAPPAN PILO. To all the people out there who have straightaway moved into an MNC set up after their college/MBA degrees would think of lilly as a figment of the imagination of the director, but for people who have interned in Architects/Lawyers/Chartered Accountants offices (I am one of those) before their degrees have come across LILLY KHOSLA’s in their lives.

Kudos to MADHAV and team at EPIC SHIT ENTERTAINMENT for such a well-researched role and to MALLIKA DUA for bringing to life on stage one of the most originally humorous characters in Northern India’s offices.

The cast of KRITI VIJ, SHIVAM PRADHAN, SHANTANU ANAM and RAHUL TIWARI add to the laughter as the other characters interestingly woven in the story. The sound design by RITWIK DE was very impressive and really added to the production.

All in all a great and entertaining play which you should catch if you are in or around Delhi or travelling to the capital.

DEDH ISHQIYA- THE FIRST 4 STAR MOVIE OF 2014

DEDH ISHQIYA- THE FIRST 4 STAR MOVIE OF 2014

Dedh Ishqiya is a game changer to say the least, as it is one of the most original and inspired pieces of writing in the last one year. Abhishek Chaubey who also helmed the original ISHQIYA is a force to reckon with for the coming years as he presents a crisp and tight tale of KHALU (Naseer) and BABBAN (Arshad) falling for BEGUM PARA (Madhuri) and MUNIYA (Huma Babe Qureshi) respectively.

I am a huge fan of Vidya Balan but to be fair to the movie she was not missed at all in the sequel as this was a MADHURI show all the way and one of the game changing facts is that Madhuri is here to change the rules of Bollywood again by choosing a script which was written for her and she dazzels all. IFFFFFFFTEKHAAAAAAR. Yaa Alaah.

Naseeruddin Shah is the second game changer who essays the role of Nawab of Chandpur- Ifteqar Hussain with great aplomb, he serenades with his lyrical poetry and cracks you up with his rustic camaraderie with Arshad ‘s Babban.

Arshad Warsi is a treasure with his comic timing and expressions, regaling the audience with a good hearted laughter. Huma Qureshi as the supporting actress and Vijay Raaz as the antihero are strong character actors who hold the audience spellbound. The casting director Honey Trehan should be acknowledged for his sense of casting, it is casting directors like HONEY TREHAN for Vishal Bhardwaj camp and MUKESH CHHABRA for Anuraag Kashyap camp who are showing us some real talent from across the country.

Finally the real star of the movie are the dialogues and the subtle exchanges between the actors penned by the co –producer of the film VISHAL BHARDWAJ (A LEGEND), I enjoyed some of the dialogues so much that for this effort called DEDH ISHQIYA, Vishal ko 7 KHOON MAAF bhi maaf.

LUNCHBOX – A meal for the soul

LUNCHBOX – A meal for the soul

Irrfan- Film schools will be teaching students in the years to come that just like Mahatma Gandhi walked on Indian soil for independence, there was an actor by the name of Irrfan who walked for the sake of promoting art. Please go see the film for his sheer talent. Irrfan will surprise you with his understated elegance and simplicity.

Ritesh Batra- This kind of craft for a first feature film is hard to imagine, this is called research , development and execution all in one. Let’s all pause and give a standing ovation to the man in our living rooms or wherever this blog reaches you.

Nimrat Kaur-The lady is outstanding, she has been around doing advertisements and you can catch her eating chocolate at a traffic signal in a recent ad(ok, let's not go there), but here she turns around , dons a salwar kameez with her eyebrows not done and all focus on making the hubby happy with the dabba. She should not be labelled as the new Smita Patil, but should be left alone to carve her own niche in the film industry. Her expressions match Irrfan’s stroke by stroke.

Nawazzudin- he is fantastic as the support cast and I think as soon as he steps out of the shoes of a leading man and into the shoes of a support actor, he moves to a different level, like Leander Paes in doubles tennis. Nawazzudin has been given a small but significant role, which he essays to perfection.

What Kahaani did for Kolkata, The Lunchbox does for Mumbai as it captures the daily life of Mumbai in the background of the story. The chemistry between Nimrat and her neighbour , Nimrat and her mother, Irrfan and Nawazzudin is something which needs to be taught in film/acting schools as a subject.

A big thank you to Anuraag Kashyap, Guneet Monga and Arun Rangachari for producing a tale of romance, struggle, little joys and life.

 

90 % of Students in IIM’s are Engineers- Diversity claims go for a toss

90 % of Students in IIM’s are Engineers- Diversity claims go for a toss

Compared to an average of 35-40%  in global institutes like Harvard and Stanford, who emphasise on diversification, in India the scenario is grim despite of the tall diversity claims.

You know these engineers , most of them have never scored less than 90 % in their lives, in fact the only reason why I wanted to score a 90% was to get a complementary triple sundae ice cream from nirulas.

The engineers they top school, IIT and land at the CAT centre, even the CAT paper is afraid of them.  I believe that IIT’s are the most honest institution in the country at least they claim that they are an institute of technology, whereas the IIM claim that they are the an institute of management when most of the admissions (almost 90%) go to the tech grads, ideally they should be renamed as IIMTS –Indian institute of management for technology students.

Then they begin their 2 year management program and start studying economics and accounts in year 1,  when the teachers were telling these chaps to opt for commerce with maths, then it was all about winning a Nobel and now after 6 years of science you are back to economics and accounts.

After two years of rigorous Management education, the interviews happen, most of these bright minds line up for the two GOLDMINE sectors BANKING and CONSULTING, when you are changing your stream from engineering to accounts in 6 years then the solid advice that you can give to a prospective client would be “ Sir, this is a great project for you, we have a 5 year vision for the project, if this does not work out we always have a plan –B ready for you, that’s what we have done ourselves too”.

Those who opt for BANKING are the best as they make use of their tech studies in the day to day banking jobs, the kind of application of chemical engineering that goes in selling credit cards, application of electronics engineering that helps in scanning documents in the operations department and the wonderful application of software engineering that helps them in making PPT for the senior management.

So all the non-engineering graduates who want to go for a B-School degree, your probability of getting into an Ivy league is much more than an IIM or should I say IIMTS.

 

 

HAMLET meets THE VAGINA in DELHI

HAMLET meets THE VAGINA in DELHI

1.       HAMLET-THE CLOWN PRINCE -5^th , 6^th and 7^th SEP at KAMANI AUDITORIUM, DELHI

Atul Kumar, the man behind Company theatre (also an alumnus of St. Xavier's Delhi, he passed out of 12^th standard the year I walked in prep, guess the school couldn’t handle both of us at the same time) who enthralled DELHI with his directorial effort in the smash hit play NOISES OFF is back but this time as an actor, in a play which is directed by RAJAT KAPOOR (the man who was bugged by VINEY PATHAK in BHEJA FRY), the play also stars KALKI KOECHLIN (DEV D, ZINDAGI NAA MILEGI DOBAARA -please don’t make me say she is ANURAAG KASHYAP’s better half), NEIL BHOOPALAM (SHAITAAN and NOISES OFF) and NAMIT DAS (WAKE UP SID and GHANCHAKKAR). The story revolves around a bunch of clowns who are trying to enact, hold your breath, HAMLET. 

2.       THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES- 5^th and 6^th OCT at EPICENTRE, GURGAON

It is a cardinal sin to miss out on this play and I admit I am a serial offender, however I have made amends and logged on to book my show and booked my tickets. Starring SONALI SACHDEV, AVANTIKA AKREKAR, MAHABANOO-MODY-KOTWAL (love her name and her smile), DOLLY THAKORE (Imposing presence and Bindi) and JAYATI BHATIA (a regular on Television). Written by EVE ENSLER, this is a global phenomenon and is a must for all lovers of arts and expression. Let’s talk about the big O, oops I mean lets hear about the big O.

9 Parts of Desire

9 Parts of Desire

I am a big fan of comedy plays but today I moved out of my comfort zone to watch a play about 9 Iraqi women who have gone through a lot in their lives between the two gulf wars. The play was an effort by a group called SANJHA SAPNA which has been working on various social, cultural and educational themes and the effort is to tell these stories in order to bring a positive change.

The story tonight was about 9 Iraqi women and they had chosen 9 different actors to perform these roles.

Mullaya- Played by Shibani Bedi was the first protagonist, with a very strong and booming voice, she enthralled all but I felt her role was a bit small and would love to see a full blown performance in some other play.

Layal- Played by Kriti Vij (Jaw dropping pretty)-This was the only part when I was not able to focus on the story as Kriti was a visual delight on the stage. Hope the casting agents are on the lookout.

Amal- Played by Dimple Kaur- The star of the show, got the maximum applause from the audience and was absolutely smooth like a fine piece of satin. Five stars indeed.

Huda- Played by Kavita Seth – Very confident performance by the lady.

Iraqi Girl- Played by Shirin Sewani- Youth emerged on the stage as balls were thrown around and a front row uncle was splashed with water.

The doctor- Played by Nupur Khosla- Second best voice modulation after Shibani Bedi, the coughing was fantastic.

The American- Played by Aarti Nayar – Very confident, the narrator, the way she shouted the names of her children/relatives was very moving indeed.

Uma Gadha- Played by Sonamm Sharma – She had the accent, had the lines and the acting all in the back of her palm, got very strong applause.

Nanna- Played by Vanya Joshi- You could instantly make out that Vanya Joshi was a professional artist and there was no comparison with the younger members of the team, she just took it to a different level.

A special mention for the director Kanchan Ujjal Singh who gave us such a remarkable story of suffering and as the team pointed out on stage that these stories NEED TO BE TOLD.

This post is for the 66% of the audience of my blog who live in India and a majority out of those 66% who live in Delhi, we need to support these initiatives by taking out our time, money and effort (driving in the rains).

Well done team SAANJHA SAPNAA, take a bow.

MADRAS CAFÉ –SHOOJIT SIRCAR

MADRAS CAFÉ –SHOOJIT SIRCAR

People like SHOOJIT SIRCAR are the reason why I spend my hard earned money (despite the rising inflation, depreciating rupee and sagging economy) on movie tickets every weekend and not wait for a movie to release on DTH TV.

Another reason why I went to see MADRAS CAFÉ was the brilliant effort called VICKY DONOR by the team of M/S SIRCAR, ABRAHAM and CHATURVEDI (Juhi, the dialogue writer for the uninitiated), but  both the movies are different like a ROSGOLLA and DARK CHOCOLATE and madras café is indeed a dark and a very bitter chocolate.

The ensemble cast has always been SHOOJIT SIRCAR’s trump card and he lives up to his reputation by giving roles to SIDDHARTH BASU (brilliant), AVIJIT DUTT (very good), PRAKASH BELAWADI(refreshing), DIBANG (all right) and NARGIS FAKHRI (very impressive). A small role has been given to our living legend PIYUSH PANDEY who looks afraid of the camera while delivering dialogues.

The movie is shot in a very firangi Hollywood style as it captures a global situation of the civil war in Sri Lanka, cinematography is Avant grade and is a joy to the eyes. This could be labelled as JOHN ABRAHAM’s finest work assignment till date. Go watch it or should I say don't miss it.