The Inferno Within

Under the bowl which we call the sky,
We live, We breathe, We sin, We die,
Of our formidable existence, we believe and we commend,
That life is the beginning, and death is the end.
The iconoclasts, and hermits, suffer the same fate,
A new storm brews, while the last does abate,
The world does revolve, and the sky continues to roll,
Time doesn't halt, but inevitably takes its toll
On our senses, our psyche, the past does haunt,
We neither get what we need, nor receive what we want,
The fire out there may burn out someday,
In eternal abeyance to take our past away,
For its burning and searing and singeing my soul,
Not a moment or a span, but it all as a whole,
Its a phase, they say, it'll subside with time,
But with it, it will take everything that was ever mine
A deluge of emotions, a flood of experiences
Memories vacillating to Satan's conveniences,
You may extinguish an arsonist's sin
But no one can put out the inferno within.
We'll die when the end approaches, they say,
But they lie to you, my friend, for we die everyday.

Its over!

Can I get my life back now please?

Some Camera Phone Images

In short - it rocked! Catch the dope on AVS next weekend!

The Stage is Set

This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

- Rumi, Guest House

In other news, check out the new Bravia ads!

Blown To Slither-eens

Take a PM alum, and put him in med school, and this is what he comes up with. Way to go, shiddy.

Eventful Week

Sorry about being AWOL, people, but I've had my feet on the street all week, conceptualizing, managing and organizing this event.

Attendees include Rushdie, Tharoor and Rajat Gupta. Will post pics soon, but please pardon the under-bloggedness till then.

Happy Diwali!

Run of the Miller

Caught Dennis Miller on the Kings of Comedy tour in Vegas on tellyvision late last night. The man is one of the most graceful comedians out there.

"I'm not really a big fan of hybrid technology - you know, because you have the car running partly on fuel, and partly on electricity - I feel like I'm getting screwed by OPEC and ENRON at the same time".

The Prodigal Son

But you know what, as an afterthought, I stick with my philosophy that the "cool" factor that Abhishek Bachchan would have brought to this movie, would have been RIDICULOUSLY awesome. If he donned the Don look, he wouldn't even have to say stuff like "I am the King". One slick glance, one icy look - would say it all.

That's where the understated elegance of the Bachchan attitude overrules the passionate prowess of King Khan's pride, eh?

Retroactive: Don-ning a new avatar!

*Warning: Subtle Don Spoilers Ahead*

I always thought Bollywood was lousy at creating an avatar that would last. As in creating an image, an idol - like James Bond or Austin Powers. Although Krishh was disastrous, I thought "Dharamatma" was pretty cool, back in the day.

But creating a character with style and finesse (and a slice of ham-acting), and supporting him with slick imagery, brilliant action sequences and a kick-ass background score, is something that Farhan Akhtar pulled off.

Don was the deal!

In so many ways, this movie had the oomph-factor needed to stand out. I thought the plot was very decently defined, unlike a lot of other hole-y flicks in the recent past. Locations blended into the story, and weren't just there for the sake of it. Action sequences (with the help of dem Hollywood technicians) looked rather classy. At the same time, Don kept the soul very safe.

The background score was far more superior than the songs. Main Hoon Don was nicely done, and one of the few sequences where Shah Rukh looked rather stunning. Yeh Mera Dil and Kareena Kapoor were a pair of disasters made for each other. Khaike needed a little more help, but you can't help comparing it to the original. The Ganpati Morya song and Aaj Kii Raat both rocked!

Priyanka was pristinely ultraviolet! This babe is a package - phenomenal figure, sexy allure and good histrionics - and she clearly worked her tush off with regards the action sequences in this movie, and it shows. Nice to see Boman Irani as a serious villain (not the usual comedic one, a la Munnabhai), and he carried it off well.

All in all - Don is pure Bollywood masala at its best, but with the added advantage of having a good plotline, with intricate twists thrown in that may be slightly obvious but are well executed, a sleek and clean look, paralleling many technically-superior Hollywood action flicks. Worth a watch, or two even.

Lights!

Do the Dewey yet?

Ms Dewey has become an instant craze. Whoever thought this up elevates to high ranking in my books, and to near godliness for picking a desi babe for it.

Her andle's Janina Gavankar (Jai Maharashtra) and hard core movie addicts probably remember her for her blink and miss roles in Barbershop and sequel. She also played a hot reporter on an episode of Girlfriends and gets mistaken for an African American all the time, but make no mistake, this chica is all ghaati. And kinda hot too.

Ask her to do stuff. Its fun!

In other news, its been a fairly non-productive day. I wonder why?

Pachaas Paisa

Don't miss the complete video at www.whatsyourlingo.com!

Almost Famous



Visitors to the homepages of Indiatimes and Rediff (and many more sites in the near future) can check out a sample of Penn Masala's new video, "Pachaas Paisa", which was basically a skit I wrote for PM. Check it out (you may have to refresh a few times - don't miss the credits :-))

Get the hint, Kathy!

NEW YORK (AP) -- The woman whose apartment was burned in the high-rise crash of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's plane was the victim of another frightening, bizarre and high-profile Manhattan accident years earlier, when a lamppost knocked over by a parade float seriously injured her.

Kathleen Caronna and her family were unhurt in Wednesday's crash, which killed Lidle and his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger. But the engine of the Cirrus SR20 landed in her bedroom, which went up in flames minutes before she would arrived home, her relatives told the Daily News in Friday's editions."How do you go through two major things like this?" Caronna's sister-in-law, Lisa Brown, told the paper. "It's spooky. It's very spooky."

Caronna was critically injured during the 1997 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade when the mammoth Cat in the Hat balloon went out of control and knocked part of a lamppost onto her head. The then-33-year-old investment analyst lay in a coma for nearly a month.Caronna had been watching the parade with her husband and infant son at 72nd Street and Central Park West.

The plane crash occurred at 72nd and York Avenue, several blocks east.The phone rang busy Friday at the apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side that she shares with her husband, Ignazio Massimo, and their son, now 9.

Spotting QuickSilver

So I spotted this party-hopping lankan at a local Fedex Kinkos. At first I doubted it was him, but then one glance at his work, I realized that he was furiously taking copies of his "R.W Films" bios, and faxing them away to multiple places. If I wasn't in a hurry to get to work, I would've probably got better pictures.

Probably planning his next charade/victim, eh?

Theme in my head

For some reason, all weekend, its been the Intro Song to Bionic 6 - a TV show that enshrouded most of my childhood years. Was anyone else subjected to this show?

In other mayhem this weekend, hit up Bucks County Playhouse - a highly recommended theater production joint - to watch their rendition of La Cage Aux Folles.

Also, saw Dor

- 2 hours flat
- brilliant cinematography - Rajasthan and Himachal
- Shreyas Talpade acted his heart out - great followup to Iqbal - a force to reckon with!
- Deglamorized Gul/Ayesha were adequate - Gul was brilliant.
- Phenomenal music track by Salim-Suleiman. Various renditions of "Kesariya Balam" form the backdrop.
- Simple storyline but a stronger screenplay was more warranted, but all in all - a great movie resplete with realism, and simplicity, which is always a rare charm.

The Retarded

Perhaps a more apt title for the murderous mayhem that ensues towards the end of The Departed, where I feel Martin Scorcese just decided to have martinis all day and let some Tisch-flunk-Tarantino-wannabe take over the wheel. I agree with the starkness and retro-silence that is associated with his movies, but I think there was a tad bit of obscurity of vision towards the end of this flick.

In other news, "Happiness isn't happiness without a violin playing goat" - Anna Scott, Notting Hill

Keep playin'

Right this way, Mr. Silver

Why do I want to know this guy? :)

Blast of a weekend coming up, everyone! Livid up!