Random Musings

The lilting voice of Jagjit Singh, singing this beautiful song, “Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti, Woh Baarish Ka Pani” had the power to generate goosebumps for one and all, who have left childhood behind, in life.

For today’s children, who will become adults tomorrow, will this song have a relevance?

Disasters come and go. Sometimes soon, sometimes a little later, life resumes to normalcy. Whether it was Indira Gandhi’s assasination, the Babri Masjid demolition, the Mumbai bombings, 9/11, the Bhuj earthquake, Tsunami or whatever.. beyond a point in time, life returns to normalcy. Sure, for some people who are directly impacted, life would never be the same ever again. But for most others, it would be one tough event, which came and went.

But for all the normalcy that we claim to resume to, there are scars that are left, and which last for a long, long time, if not forever. The scars burn and pain a lot in the near term, but they continue to irritate us, for much longer.

In the present situation, what Mumbaikars have seen is:
1. Water levels can rise up to dramatic heights, unseen before, and the rise can happen very quickly, in a matter of minutes, so to say,

2. Water levels can rise in locations earlier known to be “safe”,

3. Water has a force which can be felt not just in the Andaman Islands during a Tsunami strike, but also at the walls and trees of Mumbai, when rain Gods lash,

4. Children may not be safe in school buses, adults in cars, and everyone in local trains

5. The date of 26th of a month can be more dreadful than Friday the 13th

When all and other situations of this kind happen simultaneously, as they did on the dreaded 26/7, a HUGE fear psychosis sets in, and that can be the scar that is left in our heads, post-26/7. So in the future:

a. When a child’s bus is delayed on an average day, and its drizzling outside, the worst fears will come to the mind,

b. When there is some water logging, sitting in the car, we will want to keep our auto car locks “unlocked”,

c. Slight heavy rains (as on Monday, 1st Aug), and everyone will think whether its worthwhile to step out of home at all; schools and colleges may be trigger happy to declare holidays, especially those which have seen the worst of the brunt of 26/7,

d. Ground floor flats will be available at a discount, basements will go on distress sales, and even 1st floor levels will be hard to sell for builders; the premium for floor rise will increase to compensate,

e. When the calendar comes in, in the month of December, people will use a red marker pen, to mark out the 26th of each month, along with any Friday the 13th, that they can see in there; dates to stay at home, if possible, dates to be extra-careful about,

and

f. Parents will admonish a child wanting to go and play with her paper boats, in the rain water. “Stay at home, and watch some TV, or play on your computer games” is what they will tell the child.

Which is why I ask at the beginning, whether the children of today will ever look back and feel nostalgic when they hear Jagjit Singh’s “Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti, Woh Baarish Ka Pani”…

Many disasters happen in India – bombings, floods, riots, and what not.
But they don’t happen in Mumbai.

Sometimes some events happen in Mumbai also – like the bombings in Ghatkopar, or at the Gateway of India.
But these were isolated, one off location events in the city.

It could easily have been thus, even with the rains. There could have been equally devastating floods in Konkan and Raigad, there could have even been some problems in the city too, like floods in Kalyan or Dombivili or something.
But if they had skipped the rest of the city, then….

1. The city would have continued like nothing happened. And they would have talked about the ‘spirit of Mumbai’ and how the citizens continued, inspite of the floods in Kalyan and Dombivili..

2. As commuters trudged into the city in the morning locals, they would have talked about some colleagues who suffered in Mumbai, and chuckled in sympathy. And then gone ahead and changed the topic to Narayan Rane joining Congress, or how there is no Mumbai boy has made it to the Indian cricket team..

3. The floods in Raigad would have featured on page 1 of the morning daily, with a photograph and some smart headline (“Citizens’ vacations to Goa suffer as Konkan Railway goes down once again”); but the page one space would have been shared with other stories like the injury to Ayesha Takia on her film set, or the latest MMS featuring Rakhi Sawant…

4. The sensex would have penetrated the 8000 level by now; under the present circumstances, with Mumbai underwater, the sensex has kept going up, but if Mumbai had been spared, it would have raced faster..

5. Many of us would have planned an evening together, to watch the inconsequential, one-sided cricket game between two depleted sides, on Sunday, just to watch India win after a long time, against West Indies. And we would have arranged cocktail snacks to go with our drinks, as we enjoyed the game. But in the break between innings, we would have also discussed the floods in Kalyan, and how our material cannot be received from there, and how we have two staff members who are unable to attend for last 3 days… along with our analysis of Harbhajan’s looping delivery, and whether Laxman is really injured..

6. There would have been a rush to the multiplexes to see the actual product behind the beautiful sepia promos of “Yahaan”, as it released on Friday..

7. Some os us would have planned a drive to Bushy Dam in Lonavala, followed by a brunch at Fariyas, as ‘finally there are some rains in Mumbai’….

But for once, the rains did not just skirt Mumbai. They came in big and strong.

Have seen three movies recently. Waqt, Bunty aur Babli and Parineeta.

Waqt was a decent attempt. Some semblance of a story which carried through the movie. As expected, a good performance by Amitabh, and a smart one by Akshay Kumar. They seem to have good chemistry, they have had some good performances together. The story was not substantial. There were too many holes. But in present famine times (in terms of getting good movies), the effort was okay.

I had much more hope from Bunty aur Babli. The promos generated good interest. Seemed like it would be a smart one, with Abhishek and Rani pitted against AB Sr. Well, as it turned out, it was a damp squib. Well, at least it disappointed, against the expectations that were generated. There were some high points – a few energetic and well picturised songs (Kajarare kajarare, dhadhak dhadhak to name a couple), sincere performances by the three stars. But where it badly hurt was in the main execution. It is supposed to be a film of con game and chase. These two are the main pillars of the story. And neither were shown with any degree of conviction. The con game was shown of a very amateurish standard. No serious planning or execution shown. And the chase was almost non-existent. The chase part was restricted to Amitabh mouthing some high sounding dialogues. But no real thinking-outthinking kind of chases, of the kind that we have seen in movies like “Catch Me If You Can”, for example. So all in all, it was a big let down.

The best of the three movies, was the last one that I saw, Parineeta. Clearly the most effort put into the movie, amongst the three referred here. A lot of work has gone in to make it look authentic of the times – 1960s Calcutta. The “Oh Calcutta” factor, with Moulin Rouge, Flurrys, the period train to Darjeeling with the Raj hangover still to be seen, were very well picturised. Saif Ali comes up with a creditable performance. A serious role, playing the lead for once, he does a good job. The new girl, Vidya Balan, is also good. Although Vinod Chopra has only produced the film, and not directed it, there appears to be his stamp on the film. At least as far as making the new girl look good. I remember Manisha Koirala’s transformation from a gawky awkward girlish look in Saudagar, to a phenomenally beautiful and matured look, in 1942- A Love Story. Likewise, cannot forget Priety Zinta, singing Bhumro Bhumro, in Mission Kashmir. That look had the director’s touch written all over it. Vidya Balan has been made to come out equally impressive here. If it is Pradeep Sarkar who has created that character, then hat’s off to him to. Sanjay Dutt does not have much of a role and his small bit is done without much ado. The best part is the story. Being adapted from a famous work of literature, there is certainly a depth to it. So that part is taken care of. However that still needs a screenplay to convert the novel to a feature film, especially to adapt an original 1930s story, to one of the 1960s. That is done very creditably.

Not quite a classic, and certainly not as ostentatious as Devdas (same author, similar theme, similar sets, period, etc.), it is still decent value for money, and 2.5 hours well spent! But surely, there is a famine at this time – good movies are hard to come by, very few and far between.. !

I have had Thalis at a few joints, and all of them stuff you, by their super fast service and never letting any bowl in your thali stay half empty. Before you can utter “no”, they fill it up and move on. But with all that, I have gone to a few thali places and come out standing.

And today, I could not.

It was the Rajdhani thali joint, at Nirmal Lifestyle, Mulund.
(For those who have not been to Nirmal Lifestyle, I’d suggest that you must go by, and just have a look. Like a typical American mall setting, lots and lots of branded stores, restaurants, ice cream shops, huge open spaces, large supermarket- Shoprite; awesome!)

I went there today, after catching the owner, Mr. Barot, on radio yesterday. Not that he said much, but that was enough of an inspiration to make it to Rajdhani today.

There was a long queue when we reached there around 1 pm. I feared the worst – like an hour’s wait or something. But we made it to our seats in half an hour. Thanks mainly to the speed at which they get patrons to eat, and get out!

There were like 9 vatis in the thali, so I could imagine that a lot of things would be coming in. Three vegetables, kadhi, daal (yes, both!), shrikhand, sheera (both of which I did not have, being ‘off-desserts’ for now), devgadhi aam-ras, mango-panah, chhaas, rice, khichdi (yes, again both), papad, roti, phulkas, puris, rotla, dhoklas and patties. Most of the items were good, very authentic Gujarati stuff.

They set the pace with very fast serving. I know it, and tried very hard to slow things down. Also I did not have shrikhand, sheera, puris, patties. So I thought I would be fine. I thought I was keeping things under control.

Yet, by the time we were getting done, I had food upto my throat, all the way down my food pipe. There was no space to put a sip of water in!!

I was not able to get up from the chairs. After they stared at us long enough, and came and asked us 5 times whether we wanted anything (after the bill was paid up), I had to get up. Walked down and had to sit somewhere for a good 15 full minutes, before we could make our way to the car. And I had to ask my wife to drive, as I was still feeling so damn full!

Whew! That was _some_ meal.

Catch it, if you have not done it before. Don’t go on a working day, hoping to get back to work. Make sure you have time to laze out after the meal – you would need the rest!

– Sanjay

I am writing after a long time. Some thing or the other came up for a while, and I could not write. And then the inertia factor struck. I just kept putting off writing one day after another, and let too long a time to go by. So this is a big thing.. just getting back to the writing habit. And here I am!

Life has been busy and interesting these last few weeks.

Summer was up on us. Very very hot. Still is. And in Mumbai, its just so sultry and humid. By the time one is out of the shower, one is wet all over again, but with perspiration. And thus goes the whole day.

We did not travel this summer. Expect for a short break to Panchagani. We went and stayed at a ‘sanitorium’. It was quite nice, in fact. A decent 3-bedroom apartment, with a fully equipped kitchen, television, and a great location, with good breeze, all day long. Was a nice break from Mumbai and work. While we chilled out mostly, playing cards and carrom and watching TV, we also went around a bit, to Mahabaleshwar and Panchagani places. The usual Table Land, Mahabaleshwar Lake, Mapro Gardens, etc. were on the list. But in addition, we went to an interesting theme park in Panchagani, called “Sherbaug”. Made well, it is full of natural habitat, trees, flowers, waterfalls, etc. Quite an interesting place, and nice to discover something new in a place where one has been a few dozen times. In addition, tried out a few food places in Mahabaleshwar and Panchagani. Amongst them, Hotel Nataraj for snacks on the way from Mumbai, Hotel Shakunt for a Maharashtrian prepared Gujarati thali at Wai, and the usual suspects, Hotel Rajesh (so-so) and Hotel Dreamland (Mahabaleshwar) for good Gujju meals.

Other interesting things done recently, include a visit to small town like location in Mumbai, called Khotachiwadi. Unbelievable to find this in Mumbai, if one just saw the photographs of the place, one would think, it’s a small town in Maharashtra or something like that. And yet its actually in the heart of Mumbai, in Girgaum, a great mix of cultures, small houses, balconies where you can jump from one to the next house, and then there was their food festival. A mix of variety of foods, including Bengali, Chinese, Catholic, Maharashtrian, etc. I just had the Soul Kadi, as we could not stay for dinner there. The Soul Kadi was great!

We saw a funny Gujarati drama last week, “Bas Kar Bakula”. I had a lot of fun. Was almost falling out of my seat there. So much fun it was. Not that everyone was enjoying as much – I was enjoying a little more than others, I suspect!

Then there have been a few movies seen in recent times – Waqt, Bunty aur Babli, Parineeta. More about these later, in other postings.

So long – glad to break the jink, and restart on the writing. Hope to be regular once again.

McDonals delivers in Mumbai – something they have not done anywhere else in the world. Wonder if processes that have not undergone repeated tests and trials at their end and are introduced in a country like India thus, can become a damaging cause to their brand?? I had a bad experience with a delivery order that I tried to place couple of days back.

Here is what happened.
I was at my Sun Mills Compound office, at around 8:15 pm, and which is bang across the road from Phoenix Mills, where McDonalds has an outlet. I got a call from my daughters and they were in a mood to have burgers for dinner and wanted me to get these from McDonalds, on my way back home.

Since I see the McD scooties whenever I go into Phoenix Mills, I remembered that they deliver, so instead of going to the outlet, I thought of ordering them, and keep working till the order comes in. I had to get the Lower Parel outlet numbers from Just Dial, as I have never needed to call McD in the past. I called the Lower Parel numbers, and got a reply in stuttering English (problem 1 for McD’s image..!) that I needed to dial another number for ordering. Fair enough.. got the other number. After several attempts, managed to get across to that number. It was about 8:25 pm by this time. I told them that I wanted to order. They asked me for my name and telephone number (fair enough, I thought; Domino’s recognises a subsequent call, from telephone number, so no harm in giving these details first). Only after I had given these details, instead of taking my order, he said that someone will call me back. I told him that it had taken a while to get across to you, and again if it takes time for the person to call me back, when will I place an order?? He promised that someone will call in just 2 minutes. Satisfied at that reply, I put the phone down and continued to work. And in my work, it just slipped my mind that the call never came in. I remembered it only at around 8:55 pm (a good 25 minutes later), at which time, I called that number back and asked the person that how come no one had called. Perhaps he did not have a reply, and he mumbled that the slip on which my number was written, must have got lost. I was aghast that first, such a thing could happen at McD, and second, that he would have the cheek to say something as silly as this. Are we talking of a billion dollar valued brand here, or what??

I asked to speak to a senior, and was put in touch with Mr. Augustine Alfonso, the shift supervisor. He heard me out, and was mildly apologetic, but started giving me an explanation. That there were so many terminals, and all of them were busy. I queried that Domino’s delivers in thirty minutes and you have not even taken an order in this time!!

I suggested that I will complain to the senior management and to McDonalds, USA, but that did nothing to him. NOT ONCE did they suggest that sorry for the time that has gone by, but let me take your order right away, and get you the orde soon. NO – THEY DID NOT SUGGEST THIS AT ALL! Ultimately, I gave up and did not order and had to give the sad news to my disappointed daughters!

I have written to Mr. Amit Jatia, and posted the complaint at McDonalds’ corporate site. Have not heard anything from either of them so far..

– Sanjay

If a person went into coma few years back and returned back to life now, he would think that Martians have invaded our earth!

OR a huge case of deafness has struck the people on our planet!

Yes, I am referring to the funny ear pieces and dangling wires hanging out of people’s ears nowadays.

Remember those times when such ear pieces and wires were associated with earing pieces, or devices that helped deaf persons to listen better? And now we have just so many people walking around with these pieces and wires, and talking on their mobile phones!

And then there are some with those funny looking Bluetooth wireless devices. Those that stick on the ear and appear like one of those fancy large sized ear jewellery that are in vogue nowadays. Hey how about if that Blue tooth device was shaped and designed a little better, with some nice stones or beads on it, and perhaps of golden or silver colour, and hey, it would disguise well as a piece of jewellery. Anyway, men often wear their ear jewellery on one ear only, so it will not appear to be out of place if its only on one ear!

Some funny and interesting anecdotes as a consequence of this present day ear wires connecting the cell phone:

– In year 2000, these ear pieces and wires were not quite common yet. In fact, I had not seen one or heard about one till the time I took a flight in the US, on one of the domestic airlines there. Interestingly, this airline had a few seats where passengers face each other – like 2 passengers in a row, and 2 others in a row across them, and facing each other. I got into one such seat, and the plane was yet to take off. And just then the person who had come and sat across of me, started talking. There was no one else around, and so I thought he is making some conversation with me. But there had been no introductions, no greetings, we had scarcely come and sat at our seats, so this conversation took me by surprise. And I looked at him and tried to make sense of what he had said. And I saw him continue talking. At that time, I noticed this wire hanging out of his ear, and thankfully, it hit me soon enough that he was talking on a small microphone. Later he took out his cell phone from the pocket, to switch it off, before the take off. That completed the set of explanations to me.

I was laughing inside of me, imagining how it would have been, had I tried to respond back to his initial ‘conversation’! Reminded me of the extremely funny “One black coffee, please…” advertisement of a mobile phone, long back. I don’t even remember what brand was being advertised, but the ad itself has stuck on in the head. Beautiful one, it was.

– The other interesting consequence of this wired ear pieces, has been to my singing. You ask, ‘What? Singing? How is that connected??’
Well, its like this. When I am driving and either on account of the radio or tape that is playing in the car, or just because I think of a song, I feel like singing along. But earlier, if I was driving alone, and having people look inside cars, especially at traffic lights, I hesitated to sing. What if people thought I was mad, moving my lips as if I am talking to myself? So I controlled myself. Now, thanks to the wire that hangs from my ears, as I drive, I am relaxed. If I sing out loudly in the car, and if anyone happens to be looking at me, they will only think that I am making conversation on my hands-free instrument. They will not think of me as crazy, and I can go ahead and keep singing!!

– And I have a question now. At parties and meetings where lot of people have these wires hanging out from their ears, I find many people keep receiving calls all the time. And my phone hardly rings. Is that bad? Do I have to feel that I am not wanted? Or do I feel better that work has been well organised and it can happen even in my absence? I need answers. I am feeling so insecure.. 😉

– The other day I got this salesman show me an MP3 player in a watch. And just as I was wondering whether it will have some wireless ear piece to go with it, he showed me this wire and earphones. The wire needed to go into the watch the ear phone to the ear. And just imagining how it would look, freaked me out. Its like when they take a convict from one place to another in a train or an airplane, they handcuff the person. And then when the policeman accompanying the guy needs to go to the rest room, he puts a chain on the handcuffs, and chains it with a lock, to something, so that the convict does not run away. This wire running from the wrist watch to the ear, and going swish-swash, back and forth, as you walk around, would seem something like that, wouldn’t it?

The new world and its new ways…!

Remember the popular song, ‘Choli ke peeche kya hai’?
That song may have had posed some questions to some people at the time when the song became a hit, but another question that has plagued people for years, has been, ‘Burkhe ke peeche kya hai?’

In this day and age, one often wonders about the relevance of the Burkha. Muslim women have scaled many heights and being beneath the burkha does scant justice to them. However, this post is not about the merits or demerits of the burkha culture.

What I am talking about is the mystery that is, the burkha clad woman!

Sometimes the face is visible and there is lesser mystery. But many times, its only the eyes that are visible, and occasionally, even the eyes are kind of hidden with a cover of sorts. That is when imagination comes into play.

In that, if you get a chance to see well manicured toes and soft feet sneaking out from below the burkha, that can conjure up a notion of what else is above it. And if by chance, you have the previlege of listening to a beautiful voice from under the burkha, there is no way that you can stop your mind from creating a vision around it all!

So what is it that fascinates men about such burkha clad women?

Is it that whatever is a mystery attracts extreme curiosity?

Is it a question of the forbidden fruit being the most chased after?

If the burkha was not there, there may be disappointment about what lies beneath, in most cases! But as long as the burkha is present, you only have your own imagination to conjure up a vision of what lies beneath. And perhaps in that imagination is the fascination of discovering the mythical diva or the apsara, if you please!

Many a scene in early Indian films, have been inspired by the burkha and its mysteries. I even remember a famous song featuring Rajendra Kumar on stage, at a college function, singing,

“Yaad hai mukhko un aakhon ki paheli woh nazar,
Jab tera husn mere ishq se takaraya tha…”

He has accidentally bumped into the burkha clad woman, only seen her eyes, and has pretty much fallen in love with her, and penned a classic poetry!!

Likewise, there is the classic dialogue from Pakeezah, where Raj Kumar writes,
“Yeh pair bahut haseen hai.Inhe zameen pe mat utariyega.. “

In praise of just the feet of Meena Kumari, that he saw, in the train…

Yeah, the enigma of the burkha clad woman!

—–
P.S. Just to make it clear, this posting has not been inspired by any burkha clad woman that I have recently come in contact with! 🙂

These days I take a new road from work to home, and it passes through an area where traffic slows down, and where also, there are a lot of burkha clad women on the streets. And observing them every day, I was inspired to write this piece..

(Necessary disclaimer had to be given… !)

BLACK, the film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is a masterpiece. It is made with a tremendous heart, with a lot of courage, sincerity, dedication, detailing and of course, huge passion.

Black has all the makings of an Oscar winner, not just in the foreign film category, but in the mainstream category as well.

And yet, I am afraid that Black may not be a blockbuster on the Indian box office!

Don’t get me wrong – it will do decent business, but it may not make as much money as say, Dhoom did! So you get the idea.. at the box office, we are unlikely to see Black become another Sholay or Gadar or Hum Aapke Hain Kaun…!

I would be too pleased if I am proven wrong in my above mentioned assumption. If indeed, Black becomes a big hit, it will mean that the Indian mass audience has matured tremendously, and is appreciating good cinema. Black will certainly succeed in the multiplexes, and in metros. That is a taken. Whether it can impact the interiors to that extent, I am not sure. And why do I doubt it?

The subject and the story line is very intense. It demands your total concentration through the movie. There are no light moments when you can relax, or when some people can go out for a smoke, for example. The colours are not bright – well, they are black! There is no song and dance, and not much comedy either. Forget fights or villains, or item songs! There is substance, and more substance. There are amazing performances, not just by Amitabh and Rani Mukherjee, but also by the child actress. There is a lot of English dialogue and no sub-titles. All these reasons make me wonder about its commercial potential, in India. Sure, the NRIs will love it. They will be proud of the cinema, they may even take their foreign friends to show them what India can do, in cinema!

Well, so much for my doubts about the commercial success for Black.

As regards performances and films, I am sorry for all other film makers and artists whose films are going to be released in the rest of the 11 months of 2005. At least as far as Indian awards are concerned, the following category awards are as good as gone, and I say this, when there are 11 months to go in the year, and when I do not even have an idea of what kind of films are going to come in the rest of the year:

Best Director – Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Best Actor Male – Amitabh Bacchan

Best Actor Female – Rani Mukherjee

either Best Debutante or Best Child Actor – Ayesha

Best Cinematography – Ravi Chandran (I believe)

Perhaps, best Editing may also go to Bela Bhansali (SLB’s sister), although a great movie in the year, may yet pip her for the award!

Even without knowing what kind of cinema is yet to come in 2005, and with all due respect for Aamir Khan and his ‘The Rising’, I cannot believe that Indian Cinema can produce in the space of 11 months, a film better than Black. If it did, then 2005 will be the golden year of Indian cinema!

So the rest of the film makers and artists may as well accept that they are competing for second position in the films that they are releasing in the rest of 2005!

SOme of the highlights of the movie:

– The story completely draws you in, and from the early part of the movie, you are totally engrossed and absorbed into the story and the characters

– The editing is very good. When you are done and out of the cinema, you look back and realise that there is scarcely a scene that was unnecessary or overdone. That clearly indicates very crisp and confident editing

– The photography is also wonderful. A lot of it is in shades of black. So the cinematographer has not had the luxury of using colour to make the picture look good. It is the different shades and hues of black that he has used and made the picture so compulsively endearing. It leaves you breathless. The scene when Rani’s mother comes to see Amitabh to ask him to leave the next day, is when Amitabh’s face is captured totally as a reflection on the glass door. A superb idea. The closeups of the artists and especially of Amitabh earlier in the movie, and later as he grows really old, are also great. The creases and the wrinkles on his face are very well shown.

– The perforamce of the child star is something unbelievable. She has acted so well, in a very difficult role. I would rank this performance as better than Mcaulay Caulkin’s in the original Home Alone. That boy went on to make his millions on the strength of that one performace. Here the young girl has acted better, but besides applause and some awards, will she get any other commercial benefits? I doubt it!

– There are several extremely good scenes and screenplay and which will surely bring some tears to your eyes. The scene on the dining table when Rani’s sister it to be engaged, and the ‘speech’ of Rani read out by AB at that time, is one such scene. The time when AB pushes the girl into the water fountain, and at which time, she learns to recognise words is also a very engaging scene. When Rani graduates and talks to the rest of the students, at the convocation ceremony, that is one more fabulous scene. Then there are many others too..

– Of course, AB and Rani are superb. They have worked extremely hard on this film, as is clearly visible.

Of course, it is a director’s film. SLB made Khamoshi earlier and which was about the deaf and the dumb. He seems to have a clear soft corner in his heart, for this section of story types. But now SLB is different. He does not ‘hesitate’ like he did in those early days. He has gone full strength ahead with this theme.

Cheers.. to Black.. !

After all the great reviews in the papers and the recommendations from few friends, finally went and saw the film, Page 3. And I was pretty disappointed by it, to say the least.

I mean, what IS there in the film? Some of the descriptions that I can give to the movie:

Life and times of the Rich and the Famous – well, the dirty behind-the-scenes part!

A soap opera with bits of thin story lines – on TV, that is THE formula – as they have to drag the thing on for weeks and months; in a 2-3 hour movie, you do need a complete story, which this film does NOT have.

The most complimentary a description that I can provide for the film is that it is a good documentary about the Page 3 culture. Without bothering about any serious story line, it tells you what happens and how it happens in the hi-society as represented by Page 3 culture! Time was when documentaries were on socially sensitive and more important subjects. Well, in current times and in present day, we get a documentary on Page 3. Fair enough! But that is what the status of this movie should be – not a feature film that it portrays itself to me.

The director had done a wonderful job with ‘Chandni Bar’, where also he had done an expose on one of the malaises of society, namely the exploitation of girls in dance bars, but where he had managed to do it with a great story line woven within. Sadly, in the present case of Page 3, he has not felt it necessary to worry about the story!

Waiting to go and see BLACK now… !