Sunday, November 11, 2007

Bathroom Imaginations & Screenplay: Saatchya Aat Gharat

To the writer of this movie, Mr. Sanjay Surkar, I just have this to say, "Get well soon!".

My heartfelt best wishes for you to get back into a better mental state, so that Marathi Cinema is spared another horrible state than what was achieved by the late. Laxmikant Berde & the not-so late Mr. Ashok Saraf.

Another suggestion, please do not ponder so much, about culture and humanity...you are incapable to both, and most of all, judging modern humanity.

I saw this movie, and was appalled by the senseless writing and screenplay, all under the guise of "intellectual" cinema. Here is why:

1. The whole movie tries to represent an entire generation, when it actually portrays some management kids (incapable of simple logical thoughts) in a dire situation - the guise of which is so foolish, it makes you see through the callousness of the writer to disregard depth in his story.
2. The movie tries to draw parallels' between mythology and real-life, and the lead is shown lecturing a man over her deep thinking, which, based on the screenplay, is nothing more than comparision to mytical circumstances. Why? Well, again the writer is too bored to use a wifi-laptop while he's relieving his compost, and research humanity, and sociology. Two key elements that are so sorely missed in this movie.
3. The superficial handling of a key topic shows immaturity. Acceptance of an assault victim isnt quite new Mr. Writer, not only that, Indian culture has a seriously long history of infidelity, which I personally believe is far more shocking than being assaulted. But hell, assault is a kick-ass word and sure to tickle the small marathi cine-goers, especially the grey heads that are clinging on to the hope that glory days are around the corner.
4. Undue importance to godly matters, while bearing no relevance to the actual story line, keeps
rearing its' head every once in a while throughout the movie, and gives it a pro-believer stance (its' not quite difficult to guess which community was involved in making the movie), I think the best way to debunk the gods in India would be to kill all demons aka "Bhul Bhulaiyaa" which would certainly open eyes of Indians to the "real" facts of human life and death.
5. Now, lastly to my serious contention that marathi cinema is dying not because of bad characterisation or storylines, but rather because the marathi film-industry is so far away from the modern concepts of human stories and stays so far away from key elements that make classics like Forrest Gump, RDB, Shwaas or all the ones that get oscars and nominations, that no one hopes much more than z-grade from them.

Another interesting fact which I feel is a bit of a sideline to the story, is the fact that its' set in Pune, a city full of students and IT / ITES companies. Full stop. No trade, no finance, nothing. Essentially the story of culturally old parents and young millionaire children. The movie is fantastic, within the boundaries of such a Galapagos, but applying it to anything beyond that is like imagining Dinosaurs as primary dairy suppliers.

However all's not lost, there is always a gem that comes out once in a while, and lets hope someone out there actually decides to take some efforts, do real work and then write movies.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Hyundai i10

http://www.hyundaii10.co.in/

Diwali - World's Most Dangerous & Destructive Festival

Today was the first day after a night-full of crackers and fireworks explosions. I have always heard of the effect on the environment, but today I witnessed it first hand. Today was an ordinary day with absolutely NO CLOUDS, but it was made extra-ordinary by the fireworks of yesterday. As captured in the photo on my previous blog, the night sky showed a thick coat of smog, and the effect of it lasted the whole day today. The sun was shining, but the day was hardly bright, I'd rate it in-between a gloomy day and an overcast one.

It was surprising and at the same time disgusting to witness such an occurence in my own lifetime. When we ultimately face the consequences of such acts, we'd be left without any options.

I thought I'd seen and lived all my horrors, but instead in the evening, we thought of enjoying the sights and sounds of Diwali, so started off for a drive with a stopover to visit my granny. We parked our Car next to a pani-puri vendor, and before we could get out, there were crazy loud thuds on the opposite side of the road. Few minors had collected all their firecraker "malas" and placed a chain of notorious "sutli bombs" on top of it. Some burning blast fragments were being spread to a area of more than 8-10 meter diameter. One such burning fragments hit the driver side door pane, close to the rubber lining, and my heart sank. I wasted no time, and took my car to a area that appeared desolate (relative term).

But to my sheer anguish, there were a set of people from Anagram Finance, who were in a very "happy" mood at their shop (belonging to one Haresh Parekh, an investment advisor) and were hell bent on setting all their brokerage on fire. My car endured a volley of high-decibel blasts, from less than three meters away for more than 30-35 minutes.

Later on, we took a drive on the link road towards Don Bosco high-school, which I must say is one the best areas of Borivali. The lights' and overall decor was breath-taking. However, to spoil the look, there was a lot of sound being generated by none other than the infamous "sutli bomb", and the hissing rockets. I saw so many of the rockets hit sides of one building or another. It was quite disturbing to see such shameful exhibition of fire-power in a densely populated city like Mumbai.

Lastly, if it's worth, I strongly urge the Indian Government, and the powers that be, to issue a BLANKET BAN on fire-crackers in Mumbai!

Please act now, and save off some quality of life before its' too late.

Goodwill Hunting - Deepika Padukone

India on the global scene is harshly misrepresented as a country of IT professionals, Call-center "Executives" and generally low cost professionals. So it comes as a surprise when India & Indians are presented with an aggressive and overtly glamourous defiance.

What am I talking about?

Om Shanti Om has released today to packed audience. Amongst the several theatrics on TV today, was a news-channel showcasing the publicity visits by the cast of OSO to theatres in London.

And out came Deepika wearing a red Indian traditional dress, that brought the scintillating beauty and charm hidden beneath her calm exterior to fore.

Maybe I'm exaggerating, however it was quite pleasing to see Indian actors being celebrated the same manner overseas as they so boringly are back home. There was much more in store, a bit of googling around for OSO reviews, and the surprise was even much more pleasant. A canadian film critic not only rates OSO 3/5, but goes on to say that "OSO is far better than any Hollywood movie released right now, and one thing you realize is, this movie puts a smile on your face", and concludes with "Must watch".

Great work SRK & Deepika et. al.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Sub-prime jitters in India?

While surfing today, I came across this:
http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?fileR=20071106075455130&dir=2007/11/06&secID=livenews

Does it indicate the begining of the end of Real-Estate woes in India? ICICI is a shark, and for a blood-thirsty shark to give away its' meal like this sounds alarming. I personally feel ICICI may have lot more percent of NPAs, and I would definately like to track ICICI's 50% loan portfolio involving housing sector financing.

Its' not surprise that Arcil has a CEO from ICICI, who was involved with recovering "stressed loans" to the tune of thousands of crores.

With the loan recovery mechanics of ICICI making prime-time news, its' probably the begining of something big from ICICI.

Diwali 2007

Wish you a very Happy Diwali!

Let's atleast hope the colors and light festival can be enjoyed in the same light a century from now. The fog and the pollution may not permit our next generations to live and enjoy Diwali. Act now, time is passing us all by, and there's only one right thing to do...

Say no to Firecrackers!

Monday, November 05, 2007

Concorde - A380

21-January-1976, two historical events happened on this day, a. The Concorde took its' maiden flight over the Atlantic bringing the new world within 2 hours of the old world. The second can be easily guessed.

I have always had an emotional attachment to the Concorde, the sheer beauty and technical wizardry it exhibited is still unmatched. However the very values that the Concorde represented have been eclipsed, that Man no longer values speed and grace is the sad but true state of Modern Aviation.

Today the world has seen the rise of a Goliath, a beast, with ugly looks, but nevertheless, state-of-the-art technology under its' belly. The A380 shines through all the needs of travellers all over the world, especially long-distance travellers.

But, after 9/11, does it make sense to build planes that can carry 800 pax, and triple the amount of fuel carried by the B757s & B767s used to create havoc?

Well, if anything, one might argue, that the world should never bow down to the evil ambitions of handful men. Agreed, but doesnt risk-assessment mean anything anymore?

The A380 will rule the skies, no doubt, and I certainly do hope, that Modern Aviation, does not falter, not the very least to terrorism, but I also feel, while we celebrate the birth of the A380, we are quietly letting the very thing that symbolizes magnificence become nothing more than a memory.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

BPO Employee Murdered

Why doesnt Indian Government, follow Saudi Principles of Justice, where each criminal not only pays for his/her crimes, but does so in a manner that sets an example for society.

My sincere condolences to Late Miss. Chaudhari, and I pray that she gets justice quickly.

Emergency in Pakistan

Dont quite know what to expect now, or if it matters to us Indians, but to know that folks across the borders are being deprived of constitutional rights is not very nice.

I just hope for the sake of World-peace, that Mia Musharraf has good intentions at heart, and would create a path-breaking mechanism of fixing the twisted social fabric of Pakistan.

Some insights into real-estate pricing

I have discovered some insights into how Real-Estate companies price their properties. Although the macro factors are quite standard and well-documented, I recently witnessed an unprecedented example of how this bubble takes shape.

I'd visited the R.N.A. (A.A) builders stall at the MCHI property expo, and one of their "complexes" in Mira Road - E - RNA Courtyard - was quoting Rs. 2741 psf, the date & time for this quote was 28-Oct-2007 20:00 Hrs.

This week, I decided to give a few followup calls' to all the builders just to get a sense of where the market was headed. And lo-behold, RNA Courtyard was hiked to Rs. 3441 psf, an appreciation of Rs. 800 (or 29.18 % ) within a matter of 5 days, whereas ALL other projects were quoting the exact same price as at the Expo. This startling appreciation of project quote points at two facts:
1. There was a huge demand for that property at the Expo.
2. Most likely there are a few products remaining to be sold.

However, there is one more aspect of Real-Estate pricing which has come to fore, which is "Benchmark Pricing" & "Incremental Valuations". The concepts are fairly rudimentary and quite obvious but, to know that such methods are still being followed in what some experts call a "mature" industry is quite disturbing. Its' akin to you being priced in increments when you buy anything, so imagine someone charging Rs. 10, 12, 14, 17, 20 for 5 Pepsi Bottles that you buy. Its' a classical definition of a "Sellers Market", the market valuations are almost being twisted on its' head based on purchasing power of consumers. There is one downside though, with speculators so rampant in such market, there is a huge amount of value that's being lost because ultimately gains made by an individual have opportunity costs, and by spending out of your nose to buy a flat will ensure, other commodities face a decline.

I can clearly see the begining of the end, although my confidence in this prediction is shaky, because I've grossly under-estimated the holding capacity of Indian speculators before.