When Robots Take Control - Story By Satyajit Ray

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2mqIgdae5I&feature=youtu.be

Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se

Sambhy, Sudha Malhotra, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Amrita Pritam

• http://chandusheth.blogspot.com/2014/01/sahir-ludhianvi-amrita-pritam-sudha.html?m=1
• https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2015/dec/9/259/how-sahir-ludhianvi-and-sudha-malhotra-created-magic
  

Nachiketa Ghosh - Top 10 Songs - Bengali

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BI235zB1ZA&feature=youtu.be

Picks from the Top 10

1: Nishi Raat Baanka Chaand Akaashe

4: Neer Chhoto Kshati Nei

5: Aaj Du Jone Mondo Hole

7: Ek Baisaakhe Dekha Holo Du Jone

Kaun Hai Jo Sapnon Mein Aaya - Elvis And Rafi

https://youtu.be/46aqboQfKak

Dance Steps

Aruna Irani's in Caravan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3jEuMMUMhY&app=desktop

Very nice, and high energy. Like Sadhana.

From Bobby, Mein Shaayar Tho Nahin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmeMg-gm1Us&feature=youtu.be

Bedabrata Pain

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedabrata_Pain
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Happy-that-Chittagong-is-no-longer-a-forgotten-name-Dr-Bedabrata-Pain/articleshow/19091629.cms
• https://www.arabnews.com/news/466438

Rajakumari And Rajamma

TR Rajakumari And MV Rajamma both were born around at the same time and died also around the same time. And they both look similar. Very good looking.

Transporter Relived In Mexico

Real life version of the or original Transporter story: 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/after-deadly-smuggling-case-officials-charge-truck-driver-and-decry-crime-against-humanity/2017/07/24/3ea8ad50-7094-11e7-9eac-d56bd5568db8_story.html?utm_term=.7c585a62d174: 

Our Parties

Today I read in the newspapers that Mr Raja, ex-telecom minister of India, was arrested by the CBI. And that the congress and Mr Karunanidhi have been silent on the issue while Ms Jayalalitha and other opposition parties are claiming that this should have happened earlier.

While I do hear that Karunanidhi and his cronies do not touch any project unless there is a quarter billion (US) dollar cut for themselves, was the other lady any better when she was in power?

Why are we stuck like this? We have a state (Tamil Nadu) where there are mainly two political parties and each party seems substantially worse than the other. (And this is about the same across the country).

Why cant we have clean men who would shudder at the thought of stealing money, accepting bribes, being unfair, speaking nonsense?

What causes us people to vote for these parties? Don't we have the moral courage to say "we don't want people who are unclean?"

Why do we need them in the first place? Like Dagny told her brother Jim, can't we tell these people "we don't need you"?

Are there not such people in India? Isn't there an "Arjun" of Mudhalvan fame (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudhalvan)?

Will an "Arjun" ever stumble into our politics? Would he have the wherewithal to fight the goons that exist? Will India go through an "Egypt" phase of catharsis?

There is too much money floating around which can buy anything and quell any "disturbance". There is too much acceptance of shoddiness in our psyche. There is too little pride in ourselves.

Where do we go from here?

I wonder what would happen if we were to ask a private company like the Tata's or Larsen and Toubro to run India on a BOT (build, operate and transfer) mode?

 Published on

2/3/11, 10:14 AM

India Standard Time

NCW And Raped Woman And Salman - Euphemisms And EuDontSayMisms

http://www.financialexpress.com/article/lifestyle/showbiz/live-salman-khans-raped-woman-remark-sparks-outrage-on-social-media/291554/:  How insensitive of Salman to say that he felt like a raped woman while shooting for a movie. 

What he went through while shooting was just a physical pain which in no way equals the emotional pain and humiliation that a raped woman goes through. What he did was of his own volition. While in the case of a rape it is not consensual. 

How could Salman even think of using such an analogy? His remark is indeed unfortunate. How could a self respecting man say such a thing about a self respecting woman, as some of the people in the article have commented.

That brings me to a related question.

What are the rules while using analogies? Which analogies are kosher and which are in poor taste?

Anything to do with minorities or women or children are not acceptable. It doesn't matter if it explains things better. Ends are not justified if the means are wrong. Especially when the Means is insensitive to certain people. Here are some examples:

• "Kitna buzdil hai wo! Chooriyan pehenni chahiye us ko" - no no, not allowed
• "This man is very childlike. He has the IQ of a 7 year old" - no no again
• "The woman is an amazon" Hmm may be ok but still perhaps better avoided.
• "I am aching in every part of my body. I have been hit and punched and squeezed.. I feel like I have been living the past hour in a washing machine." This is fine, though it seems very much like what Salman said, the reference is to a washing machine and not to a woman.
• "tu ek baap ka aulaad hai tho.." -  dangerous territory. Though there is no direct reference to women here one can still sense an insult that is being conveyed. Though I am not sure whether two men can ever contribute half a Y chromosome each in the making of a baby.
• "You are bleeding all over. Didn't you wash yourself? Don't you ever look at your face after you shave?" - this is ok even when a woman says this to a man who is not a close relative. But no, a man cannot say something similar to a woman who has a noticeable stain.. Repeat cannot.

 Published on

6/21/16, 1:08 PM

India Standard Time

Crazy Guys Like Me

What is it about the blind colonel (Al Pacino) in The Scent of a woman, Jack Nicholson in As good as it gets, Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump? Their characters are so close to me.

I was watching Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times. He is a guy who not only has a funny walk but is a simpleton also - generally unfit for most things. Once he is incarcerated and the jailor tells him that he is being freed. Charlie is aghast and asks the jailor if he couldn't stay longer there, he liked it so much. Charlie had such a wistful expression on his face.. 

Later when working with a plank he hammers it and sends a docked ship, held in place by the plank, back into water - with other workers watching in shock.

Why do I like Charlie and Amol (the one in Choti Si Baat, Golmaal, Naram Garam etc) so much? Doppelgänger?

On to a  different subject... "Agar aulaad aise hote hain tho humein nahi chahiye aulaad" - Paresh Rawal in the movie Baghbaan. There is a small tree (should I call it a tall plant) outside my house. When I water the plants in my small garden I water the small tree outside also.. I call that tree Alok - the character in Baghbaan. Amitabh writes something in Baghbaan that gets an award.. Or so the theme goes. Very similar to the theme in Anand  in which as Bhaskar Banerjee he gets an award. Behind the award, behind his speech is the entire film (Anand).

Amitabh has acted with all the Khans. And I have seen him with SRK in Veer Zara with with Salman in Baghbaan. And he provided a voice over in Aamir's Lagaan (and Saif's Parineeta). Surprising,  I have seen all these movies and enjoyed each one of them.

Published on

1/13/17, 1:14 PM

India Standard Time

I Discovered Henry Daniel

I was listening to a song from a movie I love "Malarendra Mugam Indru" sung by LR Easwari in Kaathalikka Neramillai. It had a male yodeling and I wondered who the male yodeler was. A little bit of googling later I found the name, Henry Daniel.

Now I was surprised. What was a Henry Daniel doing in that song? It's not a run of the mill name in Tamil movies of that era. So a little more googling on the name led me to some more information.

This post seemed to indicate that this man Henry Daniel was a piano player who worked with MS Viswanathan and his piano can be seen (heard) in these songs: "Paartha Gnabagam Illayo", "Enna Enna Varthaigalo", "Manithan enbavan theivamagalam", "Kann Pona Pokkile". 

I am impressed. I love each of these songs.

I found another Christian Sebastian D'Souza who seems to have contributed to the great melody of Shankar Jaikishan.  Look at the list of songs in Sebastian's wiki link.

And a few days later (Oct 6th 2016) one more christian PL Raj who choreographed some really nice dances songs as per the wiki link.

Published on

2/13/12, 7:13 PM

India Standard Time

Navratri Bingley

There is a movie called Navratri in Tamil which was made in the 1960s. It was remade in Hindi as Naya Din Nayi Raat with Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri in 1974.

The heroine's marriage gets fixed and she is love with a college mate. She runs away from home and meets various other people in the course of 9 days (of prathamai to navami of Navratri) all 9 are other roles incidentally performed by the same hero. Those roles could have been performed by any other actor. Finally, the heroine  returns home and finds that the groom found by her parents for her was none other than her lover.

There is a friend of mine who loved someone at the age of 13 who was a Bingley. She dreaded a Bingley. She ran away from him and subsequently found 8 other men who also were Bingleys. Finally she met a man of her choice and at last she was happy... until she found that the last was a Bingley too. 

Let this be a guiding rule for all those romantic girls who run away from something awful in the hope of finding the ultimate. Often the ultimate turns out to be no different from the initial. Imagine running desperately across time / space to reach the point you started from.

Published on

10/16/12, 11:25 AM

India Standard Time

Elegance In Movies

Sometimes I wonder what elegance is.

I thought Sadhana is in the song Aap Yun Hi Hum Se Agar Milte Rahe in the movie Ek Musaafir Ek Hasina (1962, MD: OP Nayyar).

And quite a few others. May be I will list them as I remember.

Published on

6/23/16, 4:45 PM

India Standard Time

Movies Based In Goa

The following movies come to mind. I have watched each of them umpteen times.

1. Singham
2. Drishyam
3. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na
4. Ek Duje Ke Liye
5. Saagar
6. Bobby
7. Dhamaal: Copy of It's a Mad Mad Mad World

Additional reading:

http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/bollywoods-10-great-movies-set-in-goa/20140910.htm

Published on

3/18/17, 10:50 AM

India Standard Time

Some Nice Pictures Of Actresses and Videos

Some pictures of actresses that I like (none of these pictures/videos was taken by me):

Audrey Hepburn: http://www.blogjava.net/images/blogjava_net/jcat/Audrey%20Hepburn.jpg

Ingrid Bergman: http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Bergman,%20Ingrid/Annex/Annex%20-%20Bergman,%20Ingrid_04.jpg

Poonam Dhillon: http://www.10ka20.com/img/poonam-dhillon-1.jpg

Waheeda Rehman: http://www.surfindia.com/celebrities/bollywood/images/waheeda-rehman.jpg

Nutan: http://www.bhavakuta.com/images/bollywood-actress-images/Nutan.jpghttp://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTinvedBmcBoVCooUQiHAesM3CWKuTy1dD4iNOe_alG8Gor2BU&t=1&usg=__BXVqW24iVO5U_ZJc51P6t0W3JJ0=

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRZcGyekdGn1HYu-7_d8oMZK69_t-EKggEfOYPqcfbWX_gll3Y&t=1&usg=__Vu3dlfIcQHeq_eJCxXAGE2og_88=

Nanda: http://www.timescontent.com/tss/photos/preview/21824/Nanda.jpg

Juhi Chawla http://www.india-forums.com/images/celebrity/l_241.jpg
Devyani: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQ-lKgSWQ6Oi79iZcIrb2QyVcicaj9P64R2REUwCU7th4m1n-jRJoVQTglOLqUsL3be3zrOm8ZNW5fjr-Q_ZVF8qTsqMewBMJCggKacILK74Xy1mrt903pUrZXDIZRhbsLXHQsIBkDT4/s400/original_Devyani_4921145899f8d.jpg

Soundarya: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTspaXDLC5YpO0H7wttaLjZKMZ1PJER6Ks3Z71Jk0WMnZx_YOA&t=1&usg=__tWqxSu9_wFsPS9mDZ0UL2fk58hc=
Farida Jalal http://www.thelatestnews.in/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/farida-jalal.jpg
Rakhee (not Sawant) http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqp6T_GF7YM1rD82eXMVWL3udt0nUykJXQPKU4MuCfP6BeC6g&t=1&usg=__-iNcZEklHWw22kV07qSIu0VGudY=

Hema Malini: http://l.yimg.com/t/movies/movietalkies/20070813/10/hemamalini-4b-1_1186980678.jpg
Jayasudha http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQn5EoT-Vt3i-639HExSD7blSDZWKYuM5-X8RzGbKTS-QXii9k&t=1&usg=__P14fXFhUZywfa_OV_cthNQVRRoA=
Nadhiya (Zarina Moidu) http://www.extramirchi.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/nadhiya_photo.jpg and Asin http://www.letsknow.info/wp-content/images/2009/07/asin-thottumkal.jpg

(And of course there are Sadhana and TR Rajakumari whose pictures are already there in the blog at the top.)

Most of them have a very sweet and gentle face which is so nice to keep looking at. Femmo will understand what I mean. Hema Malini and Waheeda don't fall under this category but they are striking in their own way.  Hema has sharp features. I really need to reflect on Waheeda. 

Old pictures of Aishwarya Rai: http://www.cosmopolitan.in/celebrity/a9527/the-10-beautiful-and-rare-pictures-of-aishwarya-rai-from-her-modelling-days/

Some interesting videos:
Driving in India: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjrEQaG5jPM

India Rising (a nice documentary on India): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ1O9NlnugE
An interesting dance (Nice CT): http://www.indyarocks.com/videos/Best-Dance-521639 

A blog on actors: http://indianactressclub.blogspot.in/

This is an artwork containing a nice picture of many Indian actresses. A friend sent me this.

Published on

9/9/10, 1:21 PM

India Standard Time

Bondesses

Here is the list of James Bond women. 

Halle Berry looks like Chitrashi Rawat (Komal Chautala) of Chak De! India. Sophie seems to be a Romanian from her last name. But looking at her wiki, she doesn't seem to have had a parent or a spouse with that last name.

Famke Janssen resembles Sandra Bullock. And here is a slideshow.

Many Women In Naveen Nischol's Life

https://www.telegraphindia.com/1060507/asp/look/story_6188369.asp - excellent gossip material

South Indian Movies Too Crass And Loud

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/baahubali-2-the-ghazi-attack-enthiran-raees-kaabil-jolly-llb-2/1/885084.html

Sujoy Ghosh's Thriller Ahalya

A friend sent me the link to this short Bengali movie Ahalya. Quite interesting. While I usually avoid short stories and have never seen short movies, Ahalya was interesting. Just 14 minutes. Though I am not able to come up with a logical  explanation for what happens. Just woodoo comes to mind.