Whistle!

Background

So... the scanslation for Whislte! (one of my favorite sports manga) was completed today... Just thought I should make a post about it... Since I did say there would be a good deal of anime/manga related content on this blog here...

Whistle! Is a football (*Sticks out tongue at the goras*) manga written by Daisuke Higuchi and was serialized in the late 90's and ended in 2003.

It developed great fan following since it was being serialized right around the time that the football world cup was held in Japan and South Korea. Additionally it was helped along by the Japanese team reaching the knockout stage and the Korean team actually reaching the semi finals. But despite all those contributing factors, the manga is pretty damned good all by itself.

Synopsis

Whistle! Follows the story of the young Sho Kazamatsuri, a short boy with a passion for soccer who was never allowed to play in middle school due to his short stature. He transfers schools when he enters High school in order to get a chance to play at a different team. However at his new school (Sakura Josui), people mistakenly assume that he was part of the starting lineup for his old school (Muasahinomori) which happened to be one of the best teams in the region. They quickly discover that Sho lacked both talent and practice and begin to scorn him. However, with his unrelenting passion, Sho quickly catches up to the rest of the team in terms of skill and in the end becomes an integral part of the team. The manga then follows his journey towards the top as he makes new friends, battles tough opponents on the pitch, and grows in skill with every encounter.

My Thoughts

I am a sucker for these underdog coming out on top kind of manga... dont ask why... I guess it is because I have known what it feels like to be in that situation... people who know me well will also testify that I nearly always choose to support the one person doomed to end up having his/her heart broken when it comes to anything involving love triangles or polygons...

But not only that... the manga has superb art... characters all look very distinct and the story is always exciting... there are a few training chapters which are usually the cause of boredom in many manga, but are well handled in this one with good inter-spacing of both humor and drama.

I am not sure what to say about the ending though... it was neat and nifty... and it followed the typical pattern of how sports manga usually end and it left me wanting more... but then... I also hate it when mangakas push their luck too much... as is happening with Hajime No Ippo now... so... in the end... I would say job well done...

If youre a fan of soccer and want to start reading manga... I recommend this one for a start... one reason is that it is a complete series... so you wont have to worry about waiting for new releases from scanslators... and 2nd is that its a superb series without too much in the way of manga unrealism/defiance of the laws of physics which you often see in sports anime/manga. In addition it keeps a good focus on the sports aspect even though it does take a few detours for dramatic effect.

BTW this manga does have an equally popular anime associated with it if anyones into that sorta thing....

Score

8.5/10 if youre a football fan I would say...

7.5/10 if you just like manga with no special attachment to football (*Sticks tongue out at the goras once more... LoL*) ...

55 Fiction #006: The Showdown

#006: Showdown

*Two men are in the center of a crowd… the atmosphere is grim*

Just you and me now bro’…

Walk away and you won’t get hurt…

Right back at you punk…

It’s your funeral….

Bring it!

Eat THIS!

*Joe’s hand descended in a swift arc*

*Frank gasped… then collapsed… moaning…*

Goddamit!… A… bloody… Royal Flush...

P.S. For those who dont play cards... (Not that I am much of a poker player myself)... A Royal Flush is THE best hand you can have in a game of Poker.

The Journey towards Happiness

I was thinking about these questions today... and these are question's I think about often... What is happiness? Am I really happy?

I have a strangely morose face... people often tell me I should look happier.... smile more etc...

I sometimes wonder... am I really unhappy? Do I look that dejected in life?

Lately I had been feeling depressed... I will admit... job scene bleak... my choice of major now seeming like a mistake made due to my whims... perhaps just a choice made to protect my pride? I was hearing about people getting jobs and moving on while I was still in School and struggling with my thesis... I was unhappy... yes... or to be precise... I FELT unhappy...

There are many things which I would like to be different about my life... I would like to have a job, I would like to have a car, I would like to have more opportunities to spend time with my friends and family, I would like my family to be happy... because these are some things which I feel are integral to my happiness which either I currently don't have enough of... or just dont have... I often find myself feeling envious of people who have such things...

But still... am I really unhappy? I would like to think not... no worries about health so far... the wealth aspect has taken a little beating though... LoL... I dont have many friends... but the ones I do have are the kind I can rely on in a pinch... I am doing what I love... studying about aircraft... something I have dreamed about ever since I can remember... so... I have every reason to be happy... why did I still feel doubt?

Then I realized something... I was rating my happiness on the scale of other people... I was letting other people tell me whether I was happy or not... this is not to say that I still dont want those things... or that they would not contribute to my happiness... just that I should be using a different yardstick to measure them... that is.... my own...

I realized that people were looking at me and evaluating my happiness by using their own measure or concept of what happiness means... this is a fundamentally flawed approach... because... while happiness as an emotion is the same for everyone, the actions that make a person happy... are different for everyone... not only that... but different people express happiness differently...

So I can confidently say I am happy... even though I might not always look like it...

Let me propose something here.... something I have come to believe strongly... even though it is a recent revelation...

I propose that every single course of action we take in our life... even something as mundane as brushing our teeth in the morning... are all geared towards attaining some goal... and the achievement of this goal is something which (in some shape or form) will somehow contribute to our happiness...

The thing which I have realized while struggling with these questions is that often times... the things that give me the most happiness are not even the goals I am working towards... its the journey... the collection of all the little actions that I have taken in order to attain a goal... which give me most happiness... or satisfaction...

The thing is... as we grow older... our thinking starts to change... our mindsets are constantly being programmed with all the cares and worries of the world and all the pressures of being an adult. We start to believe that if we fail to achieve the goal... the entire time spent on trying to achieve that goal was meaningless... a waste of time... something to feel bad about... a cause for unhappiness...

A crude example: Kids playing a soccer game... they all want to win of course... but at the end of the game... you will find that mostly all of them have a smile on their faces... win or lose... they mostly all had a blast.... just playing the game was so much fun... it didnt matter that they won or lost... they all walked away knowing they did their bloody best...

Now lets look at adolescents/adults... lets say they are on a bus going on a trip... all are expecting to enjoy the trip a lot of course... but the bus breaks down on the way... and they had to walk like XYZ km on foot... all of them will crib about it right? Oh our trip is ruined... we will be too tired to do anything once we get there etc etc... they will be so focused on cribbing about how tired the walk to the hotel or wherever is going to make them... that they take no enjoyment in the journey... they will forget the fun moments they had shared when the bus was still rolling along... they often consider all of that to be a waste...

The point of that mess above was this... I have realized that the process of getting to a goal often provided me with more enjoyment than the achievement of the goal... and many times overrides the disappointment of failure... because somewhere along the way... I stopped caring about what would happen once I got to my goal... and just concentrated on doing my best to getting there...

I think I have my answer now... I will always be happy... it is actually impossible for me... or any other person to be unhappy.... unless we decide to fall into the trap of a negative outcome focused mindset... because happiness is something which we naturally tend towards...

People will say that I am being idealistic here... that the real world does not work that way... that I cant simply stop worrying about outcomes and stop setting targets... to them I say.... I am not against the concept of making plans and setting targets for things you want... what I am saying is that we should try to make up a goal... and then devote all our power and energy towards attaining it... we should consider the journey to be something of value in and of itself... and not just think of the goal as the only thing of value... if we do that... if we are able to avoid falling into the trap of caring too much about the outcome and not enough about the journey... I think we will all do just fine... we will all be happy...

"A traveler who values the journey will always have a more fruitful trip than one who values only the destination."

How to Train Your Dragon

Studio: Dreamworks.

Voice Talent: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Gerard Butler, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson, and David Tennant

Plot Synopsis:

In the village of Berk... where Vikings have lived for 7 generations... fighting dragons is an everyday occurrence... Hordes of dragons often swoop down on the village to carry of the livestock, people and any other food they can find whereas the Vikings band together to try and fight them off. The leader of this village is the mighty Stoick the Vast. A massive red haired warrior who dispatched dragons with ease.

Hiccup, Stoick's son, is not strong like the other Vikings, instead he has a keen mind and comes up with inventions which are geared towards the capturing and killing of dragons. Sick of the constant teasing and the overall bullying of the other kids and adults, Hiccup decides to venture outside during a dragon raid to try and catch or kill a dragon. Hiccup sets his sights on the rare and dangerous Night Fury: a breed of dragon that has never even been seen. using the catapult that he invented, Hiccup manages to shoot one down but is unable to convince the other Vikings that he has.

He decides to try and find the dragons body to prove that he had indeed brought one down and discovers that the dragon had indeed been downed... but was still alive... Hiccup prepared to strike the final blow but in the end was unable to bring himself to kill the defenceless creature. He cut the ropes which tied the dragon up and released him. The dragon attacked Hiccup and knocked him to one side before taking off haphazardly and flying away...

Hiccup realizes that he is unable to become a dragon slayer like he wanted to and returns home dejected only to find that his father had enrolled him in dragon slayer training. Unable to protest Hiccup attends the training sessions only to be mocked by his classmates and also his love interest Astrid.

He tries to learn more about dragons by reading a viking manual only to find that all dragons were merely classified according to how dangerous they were and that all vikings were supposed to kill all dragons on sight. Te one exception to this rule was the Night Fury breed of dragon which no one had ever seen and lived to tell the tale... the manual advised that in the event of an encounter with a Night Fury... one should just hide and hope it does not find them. Intrigued by the fact that the Night Fury that he had brought down had not killed him, Hiccup returned to the forest only to find the Night Fury trapped in a canyon, unable to fly out since his tail had been damaged.

Hiccup tried to approach the dragon slowly and they soon built up a bond with Hiccup bringing food for the dragon (whom he names "Toothless") and Toothless allowa Hiccup to touch and stroke him. Hiccup builds a replacement tail section for Toothless with his mechanical knowhow and mounts it on him. However the tail is not perfect and Toothless is unable to fly freely. After several iterations, hiccup succeeds in making a design wherein he is able to ride Toothless and fly high in the sky and perform aerobatics and suchlike. In the meantime he has also been acing his dragon slaying lessons since his experiences with Toothless have taught him about the weaknesses of dragons.

However Astrid suspects that Hiccup is hiding something. How could a wimp like Hiccup become so good at handling dragons in such a short time? She follows him and discovers his secret... what will happen next? A grand adventure thats what! Watch the movie to learn more!!

My Thoughts:

Voice Talent: Nordic accents seemed a trifle forced... but I guess I can let that slide...

Animation: Top notch... there is a reason Dreamworks is one of the best studios in the business and it lives up to its name yet again...

Story: Based off a book which I havent read, but I loved it. An adventure of epic proportions and the coming of age story of a young boy I think this movie will be even more of a treat in 3D. Visuals were all stunning and even the end of the movie credit rolls had good art going into them. All I can say is that it blows every post Wall E animated movie clean out the water... a must watch by any standards.

Overall Score: 95% Cant find much of anything to take points off for, but I dont ever give out perfect scores either.

Green Zone

Writer: Brian Helgeland

Director: Paul Greengrass

Cast: Matt Damon, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Brendan Gleeson

Plot Synopsis:

Matt Damon plays the role of Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller serving in Iraq as part of a WMD search team. He is frustrated by the faulty intelligence that he is being fed by his superiors which always leads him to sites with no visible evidence of ever having been used to produce or store WMD's. He becomes convinced that the intelligence which they are being given (supposedly by a high level Iraqi general codenamed "Magellan") is fake. At a debriefing, Miller (Damon) brings up the point that the majority of the intel given to him is inaccurate and anonymous, stating that on his last three attempts to find WMDs, his team had come up with nothing. High-ranking officials quickly debunk Miller's theory about the intelligence being false.

During one such wild goose chase he is approached by a handicapped Iraqi man who calls himself Freedie. He informs Miller about a secret meeting of high level Iraqi generals taking place nearby. Sick of his fools errands... Miller decides to go off mission and try to capture the generals.

The meeting happens to be that of General Al Rawi... a top Iraqi general and his aides who have been in hiding in Baghdad. Many of his aides propose fighting other Iraqi forces and American forces, however Al-Rawi suggests that they remain where they are and wait until the Americans arrive and perhaps make the Iraqi army an offer to join their forces.

Miller raids the meeting... but nearly all of the high ranking generals (Including Al-Rawi) escape... Miller recovers a booklet from one of the captured men (Syeed Hamza) and is interrogating him about the booklets significance when a special forces team arrived and summarily takes custody of his prisoners and demands that Miller hand over all materials recovered from the prisoners. Despite Millers protestations the Special forces officers persist in trying to search him. A scuffle ensues where Miller manages to hide the book in Freddies pocket.

The Special Forces team had been dispatched by Clark Poundstone, a high ranking US official who was supposedly the one in charge of Magellan.

Miller reports the happenings of the day to Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson) a CIA officer he had met after the briefing where he had been reprimanded for questioning the intelligence that was being given to him. Miller gives him the booklet, and Martin confirmed that the booklet contained the location of the safe houses of Al Rawi and his aides.

Martin was of the opinion that Al Rawi would be useful in reestablishing order in post-war Iraq... he felt that the erstwhile Iraqi Army had to play an integral part in any post war system of government... Miller was mortified by Martins idea of dealing with someone like Al Rawi who had been responsible for thousands of deaths under Saddams reign. Martin told Miller that he should not be naive and that hard choices had to be made unless he wanted the situation to deteriorate further and for more people to die. He suggested that they contact Al Rawi and make a deal with him to find out the locations of WMD caches and promise him a role in the future Govt. of Iraq.

Poundstone however tries to stymie their plans and forcibly takes possession of the booklet from Martin. He viciously hunts Al Rawi and all his aides with orders to kill and not capture. Why is he willing to kill someone who could be such a valuable source of intelligence... perhaps better than "Magellan"? Watch the movie and find out!

My Thoughts:

Acting: Well... there is so much action in the movie... that there is no real acting going on...

but there were intense scenes and Damon and Gleeson did a fine job IMO. Kinnear was okay... he made his character look like a douchebag like he was supposed to... The actors who played Al Rawi and Freddie did the best work IMO... that meeting scene was superb...

Story: Dont know how well it will be received by the American public... I liked it. Truth be told I was always skeptical of the WMD claims. Powell talking about WMDS being made in the back of trucks which would be on the move in the desert seemed to be far fetched to me. The story also didnt meander at any time. It was tight and kept you riveted to your seat the whole way through. Shame that I was able to predict the ending though my friends all cursed me for a full hour after the movie.

Overall Score: 75% Points off due to the fact that I wanted to see more of what happened in the end... but they sorta just fade out and allow us to assume what may have happened... then theres other minor stuff... plus the fact that Hurt Locker really kinda makes every other Iraq War movie look mediocre by comparison... if you read worse reviews elsewhere... its probably because some people really get offended by the conspiracy theories that this movie puts forward...

55 Fiction #005: Revenge is Sweet

#005: Revenge is Sweet

Stop it you…. You… pig!

*He picks up the knife…*

Don’t you dare…

*Smiles evilly* You can’t stop me….

Don’t you have a heart?

This is your fault… and you know it…

*He makes his first incision*

AARGH! STOP!

*He licks the knife*

Mmmmm… Delicious…

DAMN YOU! Eating cake when I am on a diet…

P.S. When I think about all the times I have subjected my female cousins to this treatment... I know that I am going to end up in hell... I just hope I never put myself in the position of having this happen to me... but it was generally their fault really... they would go out and have ice cream and suchlike when I would be in bed with a cold or something... and then they would call to tell me about it...

55 Fiction #004: The Jumper

#004: The Jumper…

Don’t do it man…

Get lost copper…

I’m warning you… step back…

Or what? You’ll shoot me?

God damn you!

Just relax copper… this will be over soon…

Jumping off will be the end…

I know… I wanna go out in a blaze of glory....

*Breathes deeply*

Here I go!

No!!! DON’T!

*Jumps*

Freaking BASE-Jumpers…

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P.S. For the uninitiated.... a BASE-Jumper is someone who jumps of Buildings, Antennas, Span (Bridges) and Earth (Cliffs) wearing a parachute.... just for the thrill of it... its a dangerous sport... and its generally illegal to jump from any of these sorts of places without prior permission... which is usually very hard to get...

Soap Operas... the 'K' factor and the Decay of Indian Television...

I dunno how the term Soap Operas even came about... but thats not even the point.... Lately... I have given up watching regular TV... like... everywhere... I dont even watch TV in the US... but again... thats not what I am really here to talk about....

I am here to talk about the decaying standards of the shows that the Indian Entertainment industry is dishing out these days... there are a few good ones apparently.... or so I am told... but those are few and far between... there used to be a time when we could turn on the television and ALWAYS count on good clean entertainment...

I am talking of the DD, Zee TV era... and some later channels... When shows like Nukkad, Buniyaad, Malgudi Days, Mohandas B.A.L.L.B., Flop Show, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Hum Paanch, Mungerilal ke Haseen Sapne, Fauji etc. used to rule the roost... I would give an arm and leg to have all of those shows on my HDD right now... which is perhaps more than what I would give even or Adachis Miyuki or Hiatari No Ryokou.... the point was... all these shows were great... there was real comedy... there was no backstabbing of family members by family members going on... there was focus on actual happenings in the country... there was a firm grounding in reality and the characters were a good representation of the target demographic... even if they were sometimes over the top or idealized...

I am talking about the days when mothers and daughters in law weren't always hatching plots to have each other killed... when sisters in law actually thought of each other as sisters and not adversaries (at least on TV!)... when the kids showed respect for their elders... when the humor was generally clean... when the drama did not require multiple zooming ins from different angles accompanied by random booming sounds to increase the impact of a scene... when the true 'drama' shows were about real people in real circumstances... nowadays... the characters are all operating at a total disconnect from the 'real' world... in the world of todays TV shows... everyone must be clad in ostentatious clothes and wear a full complement of make up and accessories in EVERY scene... no matter where that scene takes place... there are businessmen who somehow have free time to do so much other crap instead of actually handling their business... office workers who do anything but work... students who do anything but study... doctors who do anything but treat patients... etc...

It does not even matter what a TV show starts out as in India anymore... it will almost invariably devolve into one of those Saas-bahu shows (as I call them)... I hear there are some new shows airing on some channels which have shown some promise... a friend recommended the shows 'Powder' and 'Marriage.com' or sumsuch show to me... said they were pretty good... but she did say that if these were to somehow devolve into a similar formula... even SHE would lose faith in the Indian entertainment industry and its ability to provide good entertainment...

Then there are the 'n' number of 'reality' shows.... I am someone who is of the firm belief that there can be (and should be) no such thing as a reality show... it just does not work that way... unless youre doing some kind of wildlife documentary.... but I doubt that even counts... I dunno... I guess the overly faked 'emotion'.... the 'intense buildups'.... and the 'suspense' really dont appeal to me... people tell me not to knock it till I have tried it... but after subjecting myself to a couple episodes worth of Indian Idol and its 'American parent'... and a couple other 'reality' shows... I have decided that I would sooner take up residence in a Russian Gulag.... (Ok... that was a bit of an exaggeration... but you get my point... )

I guess I have been imposing my own views here a little... what I consider good entertainment is not necessarily what everyone wants... but I just hope that no one out there is merely settling for this drivel simply because they have never seen anything better....

Trust me... Dekh Bhai Dekh still blows practically every other comedy serial I have ever seen... foreign or Indian... clean out the water... and it does so without using ANY innuendo... and not much (if any) slapstick...

55 Fiction #003: The Best Friend

#003: The Best Friend

She’s dead…

I know…

Did you…?

Yes…

Why?

She was cheating on me…

Who was he? Any clues?

She wouldn’t tell me …

Just for that?

Fuck you…

You didn’t have to kill her… I could have talked to her…

Really?

You knew how close we were…

*Gunshot* Bastard… I already knew it was you…

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P.S. This one was a tight squeeze.... I wanted to give the impression of the two dude's being best friends... Not sure if I managed to do that... Also a little profane I guess... but I think the situation merits that...

55 Fiction #015: The Retard

#015: The Retard

This is my husband… he used to be a psychiatrist…

But now he’s… retarded?

Yes… quite severely so…

It is safe?

He can’t understand anything...

You are one messed up lady…

*They make love… and leave*

The ‘Retard’ (*Smiling*): ‘You'd be surprised how interesting people become when they think you're really stupid’

P.S. A bit disturbing methinks… I basically came up with the last line first and wanted to make a story around it… Perhaps I got a little too creative… LoL…

I could see this one being more than a 55 fiction as well but I am pretty sure I would butcher it… and be forced to add a lot of unnecessary sleaze… but the gist is that the dude is pretending to be a retard… (Don’t ask why!... Maybe he is getting material for some aweome thesis or sumsuch…) and how he observes that the behavior of his erstwhile ‘peers’ is much different from the past (when they didn’t think him to be retarded)…

When you think about it… everyone acts different around different people… our true selves are often only revealed to those who (we think) are in no position to have any effect on our lives… i.e. the ones whom we perceive to be weak (Perhaps retarded?), or ones who are 'beneath us,' or simply those who are too far removed from our actual lives… so… that there is my social message for the day I guess…

Bollywood...

This here is a post I had made in a forum where we were talking about Bollywood... To get a timeline... Love Aaj Kal had just been released... Like... about a couple weeks before this post was made... Tops... So heres my take on the great Hindi film industry.....

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I see movies like Love Aaj Kal and think... nice packaging and editing and filming and whatnot... but missing a story, and mediocre acting at best... then I see stuff like Chandni Chowk to China and I think... crappy everything... then I see a movie like Straight and I am like... Awesome... Its hard to pin down what I really think about Bollywood... but having lived in the US for as long as I have... I realize that Hollywood is not that much different... there are crappy movies being made here too... just not as many and they never get screened overseas... so you get a skewed perspective... try watching the umpteen number of Saw movies and you'll get what I mean...

Overall I would recommend this for Bollywood.... when making a movie....

1. Get a decent script... preferably one which is not ripped off from Hollywood... Cmon... theres a billion people in our country... cant one of them have a good original idea? I hear the ripoff of Juno is coming to Indian screens soon... or is it already there?----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Try to cut back on the songs... sure they can be entertaining... but randomly sticking in item numbers/romantic songs really does not sit well with me... this is not to say that you should go the Hollywood way and get rid of them entirely... but just insert them in appropriate places... a song playing when the actors are in a disco makes sense... not when they're in college or a hospital or other such places...-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Limit the actors wardrobes (and save a fortune!!) Stop changing their outfits at the drop of a hat!! And give them decent outfits... I mean the getup that Big B had on in that movie.... Jhoom Barabar Jhoom... yeesh!!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Limit the locales as well... going from Mumbai to Zurich to Kuala Lumpur and back within 3 minutes is expensive and pointless...---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Cut back on the overacting... Actors who I once used to like are seriously pissing me off these days... Some will crucify me for this... but there used to be a time when I liked Govinda... (I actually kinda-sorta liked his performance in Salaam E Ishq... but thats about it... in the last decade he has not been a single film that I remotely liked)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. I realize that sex sells... but come on... have some pride... dont you want to be able to say that your film did well because it had a plot and good acting and not because of that item number by XYZ-hot-actress.... or the fact that she had next to nothing on for the entire movie?----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Let our heros be human... a guy gets shot... at least make it so that he looks like he is hurt... and let him run out of ammo once in a while... and dont go around showing stuff like (excerpt from Fanaa: Tabu blows up an enemy chopper with an automatic pistol while wearing a saree I think...)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Try to give the actors a realistic looking 'home environment' in the movie... eg An entry level worker in some company should not be able to afford an awesome apartment overlooking the city and drive a Lexus, wear a Rolex, Armani, Gucci etc... unless they explain it somehow... rich dad or what not...

Another thing which bugs me about Bollywood is the low level of professionalism (supposedly improving). You will often see the shoddy CG in a few films which looks very fake and negates the very point of having CG in the first place. You will see crappy performances where the actor does not get into the role, or care enough about it to refuse some of the more ridiculous whims of the director or whoever (Again... I will refer to the example of Big B's outfit in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom... a man of his experience and influence should have demanded a wardrobe change...)

Then there is the prevalence of nepotism... the star-parivars... which can be easily likened to political dynasties... People get in and get umpteen chances to 'prove themselves' simply cause they're the sons/daughters/relatives of someone in the industry, or someone who is otherwise well connected...
This is not to say that one can get a break anywhere without some kind of connections either; but what generally happens is that a struggling actor (not well connected) will only get one chance to prove himself.... whereas the well connected son/daughter will get umpteen chances...

The film Luck by Chance illustrates many of the flaws I have listed in a generally candid manner... but I still see no 'response' from the industry.... one of the few 'truthful' films made in the last decade which they are treating as an 'escape from reality'....

To the more rabid detractors of Hindi cinema... before you go off and talk about having every one of the actors and directors shot and restarting from scratch... here are some movies I think you should see... a selection of some Hindi movies I have enjoyed and consider worth my time (and money)... yes... I would BUY these movies... I am sure that there are those which have slipped my mind... but I think these should suffice... also I dont think any of them goes too far back beyond the mid nineties... except perhaps Satya... which means that there is still hope....

1. Satya: Words fail me... gripping stuff...
2. Company: Vivek Oberoi really shined in this one... as did Devgan... tight execution and no real flaws...
3. Apharan: Devgan again does a fine job here...
4. Sehar: Warsi unexpectedly slides well into this serious role... very refreshing... but Sushant Singh was the surprise packet...
5. Omkara: Back to the Devgan-Oberoi pairing... and a similar(ish) ending too... but really well done...
6. Shool: I had expected even greater things from Manoj Bajpai (Satya) after this movie... but he has not really delivered...
7. 1971: Manoj Bajpai brings back my hopes that he will deliver another jewel... this one was another stellar performance...
8. Rang De Basanti: Aamir Khan... I think an appropriate nickname for him could be 'The Tom Hanks of Bollywood' his films generally do not disappoint me... even if I dont always consider them to be masterpieces or 5 star material... I don't recall too many movies with him in them where I have walked away feeling murderous intent for the directors and everyone else associated with the movie... Excellent script and execution...
9. Dil Chahata Hai: Aamir Khan.... and a combo of some other promising talent... Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan... lighthearted and superbly executed...
10. Straight: Vinay Pathak once again proves why he is ready to take over the mantle of 'King of Comedy' with this one...
11. Khosla Ka Ghosla: A low budget wonder... this film exceeds expectations in every category... brilliant stuff...
12. Bheja Fry: You could call this a one man show.... Pathak hits a homer again...
13. Jhonny Gaddar: Great film...
14. Mithya: Interesting concept... well executed overall... no real flaws... Ranbir Shorey and Pathak really work well together (again!)
15. Namastey London: An unexpected winner... what makes this one great is that the cast is extremely well suited to their roles... someone either put a great deal of thought into it... or just got plain lucky... but casting Katrina as an NRI and Akshay Kapoor as the goofy !!!! Punjabi dude was an excellent idea...
16. Bhool Bhuliya: I realise that this one is a ripoff... but it was well executed... and everyone played their parts perfectly...
17. Dev D: Makes you wonder why more Hindi 'romance' films cant be like this...
18. No Smoking: Interesting concept... some over the top moments.... but very well done...
19. Luck By Chance: One of those 'truthful' films that actually tries to tell the truth without idealizing anyone... there are no 'heros' or 'villains'... just people... and their circumstances...
20. Lakshya: I liked this one cause Hrithik did a fine job of portraying his character and his growth from boy to man... and the director at least let him get shot a few times... and put his arm in a cast at the end...
21. Jab We Met: Another film which makes you wonder why more rom-com's cant be like this... a rare gem in a heap of rubble...
22. Jodhaa Akbar: Superlative music, great costumes, a decent script... and great acting...
23. Guru: Powerful.... Abhishek finally proves that he has Bachan blood in his veins by carrying this film practically entirely with his own acting... Mithun helped... but really... it was Abhishek all the way...
24. Sarkar: The 2nd iteration was not bad... but nowhere near as good as this one... Riveting stuff...
25. Hazaaron Khwaahishei Aisi: Shiney does a great job... as does Kay Kay... great film...
26. Munnabhai MBBS: It was over the top.. and yes there were the hospital song and dance sequences... but you will agree that this movie is supposed to be that way.... also... Sanjay Dutt really shines in this one... as does Warsi.... the same chemistry is also seen in Anthony Kaun Hai... but the execution is nowhere near as good...
27. Hera Pheri: ONLY the 1st iteration is worth your time... over the top towards the end... but the beginnings are firmly rooted in reality... and the combo of Rawal, Kapoor and Shetty really took comedy to the next level with this one...
28. Cheeni Kum: Big B proves that he can still bring it... Tabu is not half bad...

There are many other Hindi films which are good... in the sense that theyre not... terrible... theyre passable... average... decent... worth-a-watch... (whatever you prefer)... and these films also contain some stellar performance and excellent scores and whatnot... but are bogged down by other flaws...

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Now this here is a response from one of my friends.....

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but having lived in the US for as long as I have... I realize that Hollywood is not that much different... there are crappy movies being made here too... just not as many and they never get screened overseas... so you get a skewed perspective...

Very correct. Only a handful of the Hollywood or foreign movies make it to India. And the ones which do make it are commercially or critically successful.

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Get a decent script... preferably one which is not ripped off from Hollywood... Cmon... theres a billion people in our country... cant one of them have a good original idea? I hear the ripoff of Juno is coming to Indian screens soon... or is it already there?

Copy-paste was/is favourite pastime in India as we tend to get "inspired" very often than others. So it would be wrong to blame just to Bollywood, its everywhere...

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Try to cut back on the songs... sure they can be entertaining... but randomly sticking in item numbers/romantic songs really does not sit well with me... this is not to say that you should go the hollywood way and get rid of them entirely... but just insert them in appropriate places... a song playing when the actors are in a disco makes sense... not when they're in college or a hospital or other such places...

Bollywood is very innovate, at least in this case. So what if they're in college or a hospital they can of course "dream" xD

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Limit the actors wardrobes (and save a fortune!!) Stop changing their outfits at the drop of a hat!! And give them decent outfits...

With corporate funding, there is no need to "save". Plus, there are "sponsors" of these wardrobes. Look at it this way, for a few seconds of TV commercial they pay lacs and here you get the entire 2:30 hours+ of time to showcase your collection.

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Limit the locales as well... going from Mumbai to Zurich to Kuala Lumpur and back within 3 minutes is expensive and pointless...

Atleast they are not visiting Nebula... after all one can visit anywhere in their "dreams" right?!? reminds me of Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne hey even that was based on James Thurber's novel lol!

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Cut back on the overacting... Actors who I once used to like are seriously pissing me off these days...

Don't blame them... blame the script and the director (or the actors love for $$$) I simply can't understand how actors like Anupam Kher, Om Puri agree on acting in movies like Buddha Mar Gaya (2007) ...

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I realize that sex sells... but come on... have some pride... dont you want to be able to say that your film did well because it had a plot and good acting and not because of that item number by XYZ-hot-actress.... or the fact that she had next to nothing on for the entire movie?

Who defines that the film did well?? The boxoffice?? As long as the movie is able to rake in moolahs who cares??

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Try to give the actors a realistic looking 'home environment' in the movie... eg An entry level worker in some company should not be able to afford an awesome apartment overlooking the city and drive a Lexus, wear a Rolex, Armani, Gucci etc... unless they explain it somehow... rich dad or what not...

Doh!! But that's how the 'home envoirnment' are "supposed" to look!!

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Another thing which bugs me about Bollywood is the low level of professionalism (supposedly improving). You will often see the shoddy CG in a few films which looks very fake and negates the very point of having CG in the first place.

CGI/Animation was never a strong point in Indian movies. Plus, CGI/animation costs $$$, and the producers would rather spend that on a foreign locale that on animation (which very few people appreciate)

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Then there is the prevalence of nepotism... the star-parivars... which can be easily likened to political dynasties... People get in and get umpteen chances to 'prove themselves' simply cause they're the sons/daughters/relatives of someone in the industry, or someone who is otherwise well connected...

Again its not unique to Bollywood, is everywhere in India ...

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After reading that... I decided to take things up a notch... LoL... Heres my final shot...

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Gah... I figure I could be a bit more elaborate....

I know that copy past exists everywhere.... but Bollywood takes it to its utmost limit.... on a personal level.... I find it sickening.... Its mass media.... something you are going to show to hundreds of millions of people... and many people use it to pass judgment on Indian culture as a whole.... people should have the decency or pride to showcase original work... It leads to people ridiculing the entire Indian entertainment industry (refer to one of Omkars comments... whether in this thread or another I forget... where he quotes some jackass 'Professor' from some university)

Dreaming is good... but seriously... I dont ever remember my dreams having high bit rate audio and certainly not synced with another person.... thats ESP shit there...

When I say wardrobes.... I am talking about the 10-15 times that actors change their outfits in the middle of a song sequence.... often wearing clothes that no sane person would wear in public... Wonder how much 'showcase time' they get when the audience misses an outfit change every time they reach for their popcorn?

Again.... dreams are good... but its just plain unnecessary.... and often there is a complete disconnect from the 'scenery' and the 'vocals'.....

One more thing about these 'dreams'.... why in Gods name does it never seem like a dream anyway? At least make some effort to tell the audience that this was just the characters imagination at work... usually it seems like the hero takes the heroines hand... they hop on a flight to some place halfway around the world.... arrive there in the next few minutes completely refreshed and not jet-lagged... wearing new clothes.... no need for Visas.... none of that random checking (which is common for men from India / Subcontinent area).... and when they 'wake up' life is fine and dandy and no one gives a hoot that they had been 'sleeping' at work, while in the hospital... while in class.... whatever.... heck.... come to think of it.... that must mean that almost no Bollywood couple in the past couple decades has been awake during a single one of their 'dates'....

As for the actors and their love for $$$ and whatnot.... like you said... it completely escapes me why veteran actors... people who have done some excellent work in the past would be willing to act in some really disgusting movies and take on roles which I find demeaning.... both to them as actors and me as a viewer... refer Bachchan sahibs role in the movie Jhoom Barabar Jhoom... which I have actually not seen... but have heard only terrible things about.... his prodigal son didn't do much better either...

Sex Symbols selling movie tickets? Sure... they dont care as long as they get their money... but I care... I care about the declining standards of what people define as entertainment these days.... horrible really.... show enough skin and you have a blockbuster.... does not matter what the story is.... assuming there is one...

Reality is tough... but thats what it is... an impressionable youngster might actually believe what he sees and think that working as a BPO employee is enough to be able to afford those kinds of luxuries....

CGI is my nitpicking... I wont fault them too much for that.... but seriously.... why are they so willing do a half assed job? No matter how much it is.... I refuse to believe that decent CGI is more expensive than hauling an entire film crew and their entire entourage and all of their 'supplies' over to another country.... getting accommodation and renting the locations and whatnot...

Nepotism is everywhere.... but seriously.... Bollywood again takes this concept to a new level....


Oh yeah.... and this is the part where I laugh the hardest in almost every Hindi movie which has the 'warning'....

".... any resemblance to real people or events is completely unintentional...."

What real people?? What real events?? Are you freaking kidding me?

The few movies where these warnings are actually applicable are often the good ones.... or the better ones at least...

55 Fiction #002: The Mujahid

#002: The Mujahid

Almost there… hah… the mission… hah… will be over soon…

He watched the crowd passing by… men… women… children… completely oblivious…

A fragment of the briefing flashed through his mind… “…death to the infidel…”

With trembling hands… he pressed the button… the world went white…

Mission accomplished.

Booyah!! Cleared the Mujahid RPG in 1 day!!

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P.S. A Mujahid RPG would be in pretty bad taste... and so.... yeah... not my best creative effort.... but its... how should I say it.... just me starting to grease the wheels.... warm myself up.... The others are better... I promise... LoL...