Video Killed the Radio Star

In case you dont know... the title of the post is also the title of a very popular song by a band called... (oddly enough) "The Buggles"...

But thats not what this post is going to be talking about... heck I didnt know that "The Buggles" even existed until I googled the song... which I have heard a number of times in a number of places... argh! I digress again...

I wanted to talk about the death of Indipop and the role of Bollywood... but theres other more qualified people to do that... and frankly... I am not in the mood to start a rant which will probably include several death threats and wild accusations of "ALLEGED" plagiarism... Then there will be my usual lamentation about remixes and how the music videos that they make these days take the concept of 'Sex Sells' a little too seriously... I mean... have some god damned pride in your own music for f***s sake... (Please excuse the profanity)...

But... to celebrate the short lived golden era of Indipop (read: The 90's)... heres a few numbers you might enjoy....

K.K. - Aap Ki Dua

Bombay Vikings - Kya Soorat Hai

Agosh - Paisa

Silk Route - Dooba Dooba

Lucky Ali - Oh Sanam

Euphoria - Mantra

Despite my defeatist outlook in this matter... artists like Kailash Kher and Atif are giving me hope... even their music videos dont have too many (or any) half naked woman cavorting in a vulgar manner...

The Death Of Trust

Is it just me? Or does anyone else see that people are no longer as trusting as they used to be?

I know I am someone who does not trust people easily. Perhaps that makes me hard to trust as well, but thats something I will have to sort out myself...

The thing is, society has hammered a default setting of mis/dis trust into us. We worry about what that stranger who smiled at us in the street might have been thinking. We always try to find a motive behind the actions of pretty much everyone we come into contact with.

But rather than the examples of mistrust between people, I want to talk about why the mistrust is born; about how and why that default setting of mis/dis trust gets hard wired into us, and about how current trends in society will only perpetuate this trend.

That hard wired mistrust can come from various sources:

Childhood traumas? Betrayal by a relative friend or business associate? Unfaithful or gold-digging husband/wife/lover? Things of that nature...

These examples are outside our control and can hit us hard. People often are unable to ever fully recover from these sorts of things, and thats only natural.

But the common thread of those betrayals is that even con-men and gold-diggers are working for personal gain AND the personal gain (to them) is a direct result of the betrayal that they are perpetrating. This fact at some level makes their actions understandable or logical or justifiable (or some weird amalgam of those three words).

But get this! Here is a new and scary assault on the concept of trust between the common man.

They call it stealth marketing...

According to Wikipedia: Undercover marketing (also known as buzz marketing, stealth marketing, or by its detractors roach baiting) is a subset of guerrilla marketing where consumers do not realize they are being marketed to. For example, a marketing company might pay an actor or socially adept person to use a certain product visibly and convincingly in locations where target consumers congregate. While there, the actor will also talk up their product to people they befriend in that location, even handing out samples if it is economically feasible. The actor will often be able to sell consumers on their product without those consumers even realizing that they are being marketed to.

So... Yeah... The most recent example of Stealth marketing that was uncovered in the USA involved the Blackberry cellphone. The mobile makers hired an undercover marketing agency which hired pretty young women to hang out in bars and such like to flirt with men. These women would then invite these men to enter their phone numbers in their cellphones (which would all be the Blackberry Perl). The objective was to get the 'marks' to hold the cellphone and try to use it. They would promise to call back, make small talk and then leave. Never to be heard from again.

This is one example of the betrayal of trust, and while it is for personal gain, the gain does not come from the act of betrayal. The gain comes from somewhere else. The act of betrayal is being turned into a job... a real... legal... job... Perhaps 'betrayal' might be too strong a word, but you get my meaning. It is an example of a breach of trust.

I think that it is a worrying precedent. Ethics of this kind of marketing aside, it presents us with a troubling moral dilemma. What kind of world will we leave our children when people can hold jobs where they are paid to lie to others? Where the act of lying becomes akin to someone assembling a machine on an assembly line, a programmer writing a line of code?

I wonder... What are those men who gave their phone numbers to those women be feeling right now? How will they feel the next time a woman flirts with them? What will any guy who has read that story feel when they flirt with a girl and she whips out a Blackberry Perl?

Will they feel pleased? Or will they feel that twinge of suspicion, mistrust... fear or disgust even?

I for one would perhaps feel less distrustful if that girl had been flirting with me just for her amusement who may think of me as a nerd.

But the thought of being 'worked over' by a professional who is not even getting something directly form the act of betrayal, for whom it is merely a job; that appalls me, disgusts me, worries me. I know that I will feel that twinge of suspicion... of mistrust... whenever I see a pretty girl holding a Blackberry Perl. (Hey that rhymes!)

The End of the World

Many people have predicted the end of the world in as many different ways.

Some thought that the world would end in the year 2000, others have predicted the year 2012 and some thought it would happen when they activated the Large Hadron Collider... the means of the world ending range from the wrath of nature, the effects of the irreversible degradation of the environment (e.g. Global Warming), collisions with large celestial bodies, and from being sucked into a man made black hole...

But... by some miracle... we as a species seem to have escaped at least some of those predicted ends... although the others do appear to be ticking time bombs...

You want to know what I think will cause the end of the world?

I think our end is not going to be because of anything external... at the rate we are going... we will likely wipe our race off the face of this earth with our own hands...

In case you have not understood... I am talking about the specter of war...

Do you know that there are more than a dozen active war-zones in the world today? (This is not even including many of the conflicts in Africa)... Here are some I know from off the top of my head... and the affected regions...

1] Arab-Israeli Conflict: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories and Syria

2] Somali Civil War: Somalia

3] Afghan War: Afghanistan, Pakistan

4] War in Darfur: Sudan

5] Iraq War: Iraq

6] Mexican Drug War: Mexico

7] Colombian Armed Conflict: Colombia

8] Communist and Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines: Philippines

9] Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir: India

10] Naxalite-Maoist Insurgency: India

11] Balochistan Conflict: Pakistan

12] Conflict in the Niger Delta: Nigeria

13] Fourth Civil War in Chad: Chad

Some of these conflicts involve nuclear armed foes. When you add the specter of terrorism to this volatile mix... the threat of terrorists obtaining even one of the massive stockpile of nuclear weapons being hoarded by the world powers... the grim picture emerges...

A single nuclear weapon in the wrong hands.... a single error of judgement by a commander of the armed forces of the nuclear armed countries could mean the difference between life and death for practically all of mankind... This is not mere Cold War hysteria... This is a cold hard fact...

They say that the Arms Race had ended... when they should be saying it has only just begun... Whether for self defense or for aggressive purposes... the ranks of nuclear armed countries have only grown over the last half century.... not shrunk.... the potency of these weapons has not been reduced... but increased... Currently... it is said that Iran and N. Korea may be on the verge of obtaining these weapons... (well... apparently N. Korea already has them...)...

Given the expansionist tendencies of most of the nuclear armed powers (India included)... things only look more grim... the race for obtaining nuclear weapons has also spawned an even more frenetic race to build better conventional weapons systems... It is estimated that as a whole... mankind had upwards of 1400 BILLION dollars on 'defense' related expenditures in the year 2008... that figure has only risen... and it likely does not fully account for the untold billions spent on research and development... but most importantly... that number does not account for the man hours spent by the worlds most brilliant minds searching for new ways for men to kill each other... rather than saving each other... or trying to solve issues of world hunger, global warming and the like...

The New START initiatives by the American and Russian governments give me hope... but only a glimmer... the fact is that even after the reductions... they will both retain enough nuclear weapons to destroy the entire world many times over... not to mention all of the production facilities and materials to make many thousands more....

Closing Note

I have no real message to send here... this is just my view on the question of how the world could someday end...

Unless some steps are taken by the people in the position to do so... I think that we wont be around long enough to have to worry about Global Warming and environmental degradation...

Given my small audience... I don't think this will have much more effect than alleviating that urge I get to yell this out loud in public when people start to talk about how some hypothetical scenario will cause the end of the world...

This is not to say that Global Warming is less of a threat to the survival of the world as we know it... its just not as immediate... nor will it be as quick to kill...

Do not Judge a Book by its Cover.

What do you think of when someone says the word "Cactus"?

I bet the image in your mind is that of the saguaro cactus or perhaps some smaller 'cuter' version. Most of you probably believe that all cacti only produce spines. Spines that can cause VERY painful injuries if you dont respect them (I speak from experience).

But I wonder how many of you know that cacti also have some of the most beautiful blooms seen in plant life anywhere... in other (simpler) words... they produce some of the most beautiful flowers you will ever see...

Google will help you out with some results here... but I also wanted to share some pictures I have taken myself...

Just thought I would try to share this with more people... what happened was that during the course of a conversation a friend was confused when I told him I wanted to go see cactus blooms... he didn't know that cacti could produce flowers... especially such awesome ones...

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."

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...

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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Quote:

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.

Quote:

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...

Quote:

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

Quote:

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...

Mass Media: A Boon or a Curse?

Mass media is (according to wikipedia): A section of the media specifically designed to reach a large audience. The term was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines. However, some forms of mass media such as books and manuscripts had already been in use for centuries.
Mass media includes Internet media (like blogs, message boards, podcasts, and video sharing) because individuals now have a means to exposure that is comparable in scale to that previously restricted to a select group of mass media producers. The communications audience has been viewed by some commentators as forming a mass society with special characteristics, notably atomization or lack of social connections, which render it especially susceptible to the influence of modern mass-media techniques such as advertising and propaganda.

So my little blog is also a little piece of the mass media pie. But my question is this... is it a boon? Or is it a curse?

In my opinion it has the potential to be both... and indeed... it is living up to its potential... but not only its potential for being a boon... but also a curse...

The positives of mass media are many... and are of great significance... but its the negatives which I want to discuss here... because it is those negatives which have been gaining momentum over the past few decades...

I am talking of the evils like media bias, glorification of immoral and illegal behavior, sensationalizing ordinary events, invasion of privacy, perpetuation of certain superstitions etc etc.

People have told me... if you dont like it... dont watch/read/listen to it... i.e. pretend to be a Deaf-Mute (Credit GITS and the late Salinger). I have tried... Really... I have tried to ignore some of the worrying trends I have seen in the youth of the world today... all a result of the pervasive nature of some of these aspects of the mass...

UNDERAGE DRINKING/SMOKING

I see larger and larger numbers of underage teenagers drinking and smoking everyday... a combination of a multitude of factors... easy availability of tobacco and alcohol notwithstanding, there is also the peer pressure they must deal with... the "everyone who is 'cool' must do it syndrome" as I sometimes term it...

But who are the ones who made smoking and drinking 'cool'? Who defined that? Mass Media... in the form of movies, TV shows, sometimes books... (sorry bout this Salinger... but you did it too...)...

I am not asking everyone to stub out their cigarettes and pour their drinks down the drain... I am asking them to think about why they chose to pick them up in the first place...

CASUAL SEX

It is now considered uncool not to have had a multitude of sexual partners before marriage... again... a trend which was popularized by mass media... particularly western media... which the Indian media has been trying to emulate... (truly a sad state of affairs that...)... This is something I am not as much worried about... so long as it occurs between consenting partners... who really are 'into' each other... but often times I see couples which are formed simply because: "well... all my friends have a girlfriend/boyfriend... I didn't want to be left behind"...

There is a growing trend of competition for the number of 'conquests' that have been made (this holds true for both for men and women)... which is something I cannot bring myself to accept...

Again.... a trend popularized by the mass media... and again... I am not asking all of you lovers out there to run away and elope and get married or practice celibacy before marriage (assuming you ever get that far)... I am asking you to think about why you are doing what you are doing... and think about whether you really want to do it for yourself... or just to be considered 'cool'... and to consider how any insincerity on your part could cause significant emotional damage to your partner...

INSTANT GRATIFICATION

Like they say... all things in moderation... unfortunately the spread of mass media has caused the spread of the "instant-gratification-culture." Everyone wants everything to move fast and to get instant results/pleasure... Not a bad thing to want... but it should set off alarm bells when we see ourselves completely forgoing... even deriding all other longer paths to the same goals...

Relationships used to be built up over time... nowadays its more like a collection of one night stands... Any sport where there is no heavy hitting real time action is considered totally boring... Test Cricket... Baseball... etc etc... The trend of moving towards having everything done in shorter and shorter times is not new, and is certainly not a bad thing... it is part of human nature... It is a good thing to increase efficiency... but sometimes the price we pay for that efficiency is terrible... and we often times dont even realize it...

CRIME/VIOLENCE

People nowadays are exposed to so much violence via the mass media... its phenomenal... I wish I had verifiable stats.... but I think it would not be an exaggeration to say that more people see more violent scenes in one form or another everyday these days... than they did before the advent of mass media... and this is having a startling effect on our youth... even children...

I heard of a terrible case (Thankfully not in India) where a young boy was killed by a couple of 10 year old's in a pretty gruesome manner... I believe it was in the UK...

But even in India... I have heard of several disturbing cases involving teenagers and young adults... rape, kidnappings of friends, beatings, murders even... This is not normal... and it IS a problem we need to face up to... I am glad that we don't have as many guns floating around in India (in the hands of private citizens) as there are in the USA... In the USA... school shootings occur every few months...

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The fact is mass media is so pervasive and so powerful that everything they project has a significant impact on us all psychologically without us realizing it.

Mass media (intentionally or not) implants images in impressionable young minds... when they are not mature enough to make educated decisions about their lives... when they are in their rebellious phase and do not want to listen to their parents even... Now there is the potential to implant both good and bad things... and it is my hope that we are able to get mass media to focus more on the good rather than the bad... It is not a question of age restrictions on media... because its a well known fact that the more you try to keep adolescents from getting/doing something... the more likely it is that they will go to extreme lengths to get/do it...