Mayank's Blog

Forget sacrificng one's life fighting the enemy at a height of 13000 feet to defend one's country. watching My Name Is Khan  has become the ultimate test of patriotism. This test has been devised by an actor, Shah Rukh Khan and a regional political party, Shiv Sena. While Shiv Sena has been spewing vitriol, SRK has been claiming the moral high ground. SRK, the man who turned hostile witness in the Bharat Shah case, has been claiming that his stardom is transient but his integrity non-negotiable . Going further, he asks people who criticise him to 'SHUT UP' . Why do people still see watching MNIK as a good thing to do baffles me. Can't you see why is this all done? While Maharashtra Home Minister, the infamous Mr. R.R. Patil, and other self-serving politicians waved their ticket to the MNIK show, another show was put up by a bunch of crazy people in the education capital of India, Pune. Bomb blasts ripped through German Bakery yesterday killing at least 9 people. Th...

Ishqiya - the film is as intriguing as its tiltle. Although this movie is directed by debutant Abhishek Chaubey, it has shades of Vishal Bharadwaj all over it. The experience starts even before the first scene flashes, for the Disclaimer (the thing which says "All characters in this movie.... blah... blah...) is in Hinglish, the way people speak it in UP. Ishqiya takes you in the bad, gun-toting, caste-wars ridden world of the cow belt in no time. Our protagonists, Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) take us on a Ibn-E-Batuta type journey. The little details in the movie are so beautifully captured that when the big road-side hoarding reads, "गोरखपुर विकास प्राधिकरण आपका स्वागत करता है", you feel you have really arrived in a world frozen in time with no bijli , paani or sadak . The choice of cuss-words is also unique with Chutiyam Sulphate slated to become the next buzz-word! To those who are wondering what Chutiyam Sulphate means, its deri...

It was my second year of engineering course and I was in the Electronics Communication Lab. The practical examination for the subject was going on and the external examiner was expected to arrive anytime to check our readings. I was sweating out to get correct readings for Amplitude vs. Frequency of a circuit but to no avail. May be the equipment was faulty. Out of ten readings, only two matched. Faced with the prospect of flunking the exam, I fudged the readings to produce a graph which resembled the expected one.  The only problem was that I noted down my first readings with a pen, so I had to cut them out to take down new readings. The examiner got suspicious at this and started querying me. After much arguments to convince him of the authenticity of the readings, which later turned to pleading, I was allowed to pass the exam with only the passing marks. Moral of the story : Always note down scientific readings with a pencil .

Saif Ali Khan is in bed with Padma while Kareena, standing at the bedroom door, happily looks on. Spotting Kareena, Saif doesn't flinch. If you think that I am talking dirty then you are thinking correct. I am talking about the award which has recently gathered a lot of mud - the Padma Shree - the fourth highest honour to be given to an Indian citizen after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan.

"Give me a proper landmark!", the driver of the Pune-Hyderabad Neeta Volvo shouted at me. I was at a loss of words. Trust me, you should always recap in these cases. Yesterday I had to go to Hyderabad on kind of an official trip. I boarded the Volvo from the familiar Aundh Parihar Chowk, and was quite nestled in my blanket when the conductor shouted, " Illy-Pilly ". It was 6.30 am. I looked out of the bus and could see huge cut-outs of movie-stars, sporting just as huge moustaches, outside theatres. I couldn't help but smile. I had reached Hyderabad.

The Times of India's " Aman ki Aasha " campaign in partnership with the Jang (meaning "war", ironical isn't it!) Group wasn't gathering any steam despite their best efforts to sell it. They were being criticised for being short-sighted and creating sensationalism and rightly so. After the recent IPL auction, the entire Indian media was ashamed and their anger burst out when they saw their favorite Pakistanis being humiliated by some filthy rich Indians, buying out players at an auction. The Times of India could feel the pain of the hurt Pakistanis who had to suffer the excruciating loss of millions of dollars. I could even see tears rolling down the cheeks of a news anchor as she grilled Mr. Lalit Modi as to why the Pakistanis were not given millions of dollars. Lalit Modi gave some lame reason that its not just Pakistanis who were not sold, many others also met the same fate. But the anchor would have none of this bullshit and promptly took him offl...

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay would be turning in his grave thinking why Bollywood could not make a movie on Byomkesh Bakshi , inarguably the most famous detective in the country. But Hollywood does not disappoint and makes a grand movie which turns Shelock Holmes from a detective to a hero who kicks, punches, jokes and of course solves mysteries. Sherlock Holmes is based on the London of 1891. As with movies set in past having mysteries and secrets ingrained in the story, this movie too carries a dark hue. The skies are black, so are the streets. The only thing which shines throughout the movie is the sheer brilliance of acting of Robert Downey Jr., playing Sherlock Holmes. He is very well supported by Jude Law (playing Dr. Watson) with much "bromance" between them leading to speculations whether Sherlock Holmes is gay !