An year ago, on April 22, I am geared up to see my first match live in a stadium, between Deccan Chargers and Delhi Dare Devils. Unfortunately we lost in that match, as we did in 12 of 14 matches, finishing last on the table. But that doesn't stop us. Win or Lose, we Hyderabadis are with you Chargers. They is only one way to go, that is up the table for you Chargers.
This time round, the IPL stepped into unknown territory, venturing out to South Africa to conduct matches. With it comes a whole new problems, controversies and weird theories, but on the brighter side it can promote Cricket, to wider audience and also help Indian local players by providing enough (14 matches is considerable amount of cricket) exposure on abroad pitches.
Bad part is I cannot see complete matches live (even on TV) this time. Why? Recession :-(. Too busy attending trainings and office meetings. Hope I get to see some nail biting finishes of the 8:00 PM matches at least.
Slumdog has done it again! Importantly A.R.Rehman and Resul Pookutty has done it.The film, set in the slums of Mumbai (Bombay), won eight awards in total, including gongs for best adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound mixing, film editing, best original score, best song, best Derector, and Best film. Here are the acceptance speeches by Oscar winning Indians.
Resul Pookutty along with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp: (Sound Mixing)
This is unbelievable. We can't believe this. Ladies and gentlemen... sorry... I share the stage with two magicians, you know, who created the very ordinary sounds of Bombay, the cacophony of Bombay, into a soul-stirring, artful resonance called Slumdog Millionaire.
I come from a country and a civilization that given the universal word. That word is preceded by silence, followed by more silence. That word is "Om." So I dedicate this award to my country. Thank you, Academy, this is not just a sound award, this is history being handed over to me. My sincere and deepest gratitude to my teachers, Danny Boyle, Christian Colson, Paul Ritchie, Pravesh... and everybody who has contributed to this film, Glenn Freemantle and all the sound mixers. I dedicate this to you guys. Thank you, Academy. Thank you very much.
A.R. Rahman: (Best Music Score)
A.R. Rahman:(Best Song, written by Gulzar)
I just want to thank again the whole crew of Slumdog Millionaire, especially Danny Boyle for giving such a great opportunity. And the whole, all the people from Mumbai. The essence of the film which is about optimism and the power of hope in the lives, and all my life I had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I'm here. God bless.
Courtesy: www.oscar.com
Resul Pookutty along with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp: (Sound Mixing)
This is unbelievable. We can't believe this. Ladies and gentlemen... sorry... I share the stage with two magicians, you know, who created the very ordinary sounds of Bombay, the cacophony of Bombay, into a soul-stirring, artful resonance called Slumdog Millionaire.
I come from a country and a civilization that given the universal word. That word is preceded by silence, followed by more silence. That word is "Om." So I dedicate this award to my country. Thank you, Academy, this is not just a sound award, this is history being handed over to me. My sincere and deepest gratitude to my teachers, Danny Boyle, Christian Colson, Paul Ritchie, Pravesh... and everybody who has contributed to this film, Glenn Freemantle and all the sound mixers. I dedicate this to you guys. Thank you, Academy. Thank you very much.
Before coming, I was excited and terrified. The last time I felt like that was during my marriage. There's a dialogue from a Hindi film called "Mere paas ma hai," which means "I have nothing but I have a mother," so mother's here, her blessings are there with me. I am grateful for her to have come all the way. And I want to thank the Academy for being so kind, all the jury members. I want to thank Sam Schwartz, I/D PR, all the crew of Slumdog, Mr. Gulzar, Raqueeb Alam, Blaaze, my musicians in Chennai and Mumbai. And I want to tell something in Tamil, which says, which I normally say after every award which is... "God is great." Thank you.
A.R. Rahman:(Best Song, written by Gulzar)
I just want to thank again the whole crew of Slumdog Millionaire, especially Danny Boyle for giving such a great opportunity. And the whole, all the people from Mumbai. The essence of the film which is about optimism and the power of hope in the lives, and all my life I had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I'm here. God bless.
Courtesy: www.oscar.com
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Warning! Its not a movie to go with the parents for its bold narration and sexuallly explicit content/dialouges.
This is a kind of movie people rate either too high or too low (0-1 or 4-5 on scale of 5) depending on the reviewer. I will give it 4 on 5. Why? For the way the director handled a story which is well know to everyone in India. Also for the way he used real life incidents like DPS MMS scandal, BMW hit and run case to elevate the story. Like the new age cricket, its the new age Bollywood cinema. This is a kind of movie which can act as ice- Breaker, for more bold movies to come.
The story is almost same as the traditional Devdas. Dev has a childhood lover Paro. Dev leaves for London for his studies, but keeps in touch with her.Later, He returns back to India. Meets Paro. Misunderstands Paro. He tries to keep her away and cheats her. Later he realizes his mistake but his ego doesn't let him confess. She got pissed of and she marries someone else.In frustration he ruins his life slowly with Vodka and Coke.
Enter Lenni, the rich school girl. She features in an MMS scandal, and got rejected even by her own family. With no other option left for her, she fell into prostitution trap and changes her name to Chanda. The drunken Dev meets her, and starts liking her, meanwhile also get drug addicted. He finds himself in a position where he is not sure whom he loves.Rest of story is about who he chooses.
The movie doesn't have a saperate comedy track, but makes up with witty and bold dialogues. The songs in movie mostly come in background and blends well with the story.
The director Anurag Kashyap deserves credit for the way he showed the suffering of Dev (Abhay Deol) in a whole new way(Immersing his head in a bucket of water and breathing out blood. Yes! Sounds horrible but looks great on the silver screen).
While the film has bold narration, to its credit, somewhere the it missed connection with the characters, the only downside.
This is a kind of movie people rate either too high or too low (0-1 or 4-5 on scale of 5) depending on the reviewer. I will give it 4 on 5. Why? For the way the director handled a story which is well know to everyone in India. Also for the way he used real life incidents like DPS MMS scandal, BMW hit and run case to elevate the story. Like the new age cricket, its the new age Bollywood cinema. This is a kind of movie which can act as ice- Breaker, for more bold movies to come.
The story is almost same as the traditional Devdas. Dev has a childhood lover Paro. Dev leaves for London for his studies, but keeps in touch with her.Later, He returns back to India. Meets Paro. Misunderstands Paro. He tries to keep her away and cheats her. Later he realizes his mistake but his ego doesn't let him confess. She got pissed of and she marries someone else.In frustration he ruins his life slowly with Vodka and Coke.
Enter Lenni, the rich school girl. She features in an MMS scandal, and got rejected even by her own family. With no other option left for her, she fell into prostitution trap and changes her name to Chanda. The drunken Dev meets her, and starts liking her, meanwhile also get drug addicted. He finds himself in a position where he is not sure whom he loves.Rest of story is about who he chooses.
The movie doesn't have a saperate comedy track, but makes up with witty and bold dialogues. The songs in movie mostly come in background and blends well with the story.
The director Anurag Kashyap deserves credit for the way he showed the suffering of Dev (Abhay Deol) in a whole new way(Immersing his head in a bucket of water and breathing out blood. Yes! Sounds horrible but looks great on the silver screen).
While the film has bold narration, to its credit, somewhere the it missed connection with the characters, the only downside.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
While aimlessly browsing i came across this very interesting article.
While people say something on youy face, they mean something else in their mind. Here are some of them.
You are cool : You know to mind your own business. You better continue to mind your business.
You are a good learner : You have lot to learn, my boy! What have you been doing all these years?!
You have good business knowledge : Learn atleast one technology, for God's sake, you good for nothing!
You are big hearted : What else can I tell about you? I better not comment about your brains!
You are easy going : Grow up, my boy! Take some responsilities !
You are hardworking (When it comes from your manager) : I expect you at office next weekend. We have agreed for weekend support.
You have a good sense of humour : I am fed up. I will not laugh on any of your stinking Jokes.
You are a quiet guy : Idiot!
You are caring : Mind your own business. I don't need your suggestions!
You have a very different perspective : I could never understand you. Are you a weirdo or something?
You are creative : Stop day dreaming and do whatever your lead says.
You understand people : Why do you allow people shit on you?!
While people say something on youy face, they mean something else in their mind. Here are some of them.
You are cool : You know to mind your own business. You better continue to mind your business.
You are a good learner : You have lot to learn, my boy! What have you been doing all these years?!
You have good business knowledge : Learn atleast one technology, for God's sake, you good for nothing!
You are big hearted : What else can I tell about you? I better not comment about your brains!
You are easy going : Grow up, my boy! Take some responsilities !
You are hardworking (When it comes from your manager) : I expect you at office next weekend. We have agreed for weekend support.
You have a good sense of humour : I am fed up. I will not laugh on any of your stinking Jokes.
You are a quiet guy : Idiot!
You are caring : Mind your own business. I don't need your suggestions!
You have a very different perspective : I could never understand you. Are you a weirdo or something?
You are creative : Stop day dreaming and do whatever your lead says.
You understand people : Why do you allow people shit on you?!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Windows 7, the next Microsoft OS, is aimed at the normal users of computer. It promises to have much faster boot time (although it took same time right as my XP, Maybe since its in beta phase). My first impression is much better than i had with VISTA.
The Interface. The Aero interface is now much improved than in Vista, and, interestingly it runs on even older Intel GMA chips (which were precluded in Vista)
Windows Explorer now includes a desktop sideshow that changes the desktop background in a designated amount of time. The OS also features new apps like sticky notes, XPS viewer, Snipping tool.
Calculator features two new modes Programmer and Statistics. Paint interface revamed, and many more visual upgrades for several common things.
A variety of new keyboard shortcuts have been introduced.
- Win+P shows an "external display options" selector that gives the user the choice of showing the desktop on only the computer's screen, only the external display, on both at the same time (mirroring), or on both displays with independent desktops (extending).
- Win+Space operates as a keyboard shortcut for Aero Peek.
- Win+Up and Win+Down are new shortcuts for Maximize and Restore/Minimize.
- Win+Left and Win+Right snap the current window to the left or right half of the current display.
- Win+Shift+Left and Win+Shift+Right move the current window to the left or right display.
- Win+T provides keyboard focus to the taskbar, then cycles the keyboard focus through taskbar items. Win+1 through Win+5 provide immediate shortcuts to the first five taskbar items.
- Win+G displays all the Gadgets above other windows.
- Win+ + and Win+ - zoom the desktop in and out.
The Windows Taskbar has seen its most significant revision since its introduction in Windows 95. The taskbar is 10 pixels taller than in Windows Vista to accommodate a new larger default icon
size, though a smaller taskbar size is available. Running applications are denoted by a border frame around the icon, while applications can be pinned to the taskbar, so that shortcuts to them appear when they are not running. Within this border, a color effect (dependent on the predominant RGB value of the icon) that follows the mouse also indicates the opened status of the application. The taskbar is also transparent.
In order to take advantages of the capabilities and unique performance characteristics of solid-state drives, Windows 7 will turn off Windows Disk Defragmentor and will make use of a new SSD TRIM command to more aggressively erase deleted data so that it won't need to be done later when new data is written to the same block. Windows 7 will also format a partition on an SSD differently from a mechanical hard disk drive.
Windows 7 incorporates support for Microsoft Virtual PC's Virtual Hard Disk file format. VHD files can be mounted as drives, created, and booted from.
There are many other features originating in Windows 7, including advancements in touch, speech, and handwriting recognition, support for additional file formats, improved performance on multi-core processors, and kernel improvements.
With performance and features improving so much, you cant expect it to run on low end machines. Here the minimum requirements.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Can't we see movie like a movie?
I don’t think so, when people object movies like 'Slumdog Millionaire' and criticize for degrading India. I believe its one of the great movies I had ever seen for its inspiring storyline, sensible and touching narration.
Before criticizing we should retrospect once. Haven't we heard of orphanage rackets earlier? Haven't we heard of fans doing extreme things do gain the attention of their idols? Haven't we seen people cheating tourists in various locations.
Agreed the Americans are glorified, in the dhobighat scene in Agra. (...well, here is a bit of real America, son...). What do you expect in a foreign movie, where India is still believed to be land of snake charmers? At the end of the day it’s just a movie. Watch a movie, if you like it, fine , or else leave it and watch another movie, which you might like. Why criticize? (Like they say in the movie, maybe its written)
I believe, Danny Boyle, has done a great job in elevating where India is lacking. Instead of criticizing, why can’t we focus on improving the slums?
While growing up I am told that I should be proud of my country. Sometimes I wonder "Should I?"
Friday, January 30, 2009
TRIVIA
Mercedes-Benz asked that its logos be removed in scenes taking place in the slums. The company, according to Danny Boyle, did not want to be associated with the poverty-stricken area, fearing that that might taint its image.
The cricket match being shown on television in Javed's house is the 1st one day international of the Future Cup between India and South Africa played at Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast on June 26 2007. As shown in the movie, Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian batsman, was run out on 99. India went on to score 242 and South Africa won the match by 4 wickets with 3 balls remaining.
Director Danny Boyle placed the money to be paid to the 3 lead child actors in a trust that is to be released to them upon their completion of grade school at 16 years of age. The production company has set up for an auto-rikshaw driver to take the kids to school everyday until they are 16 years old.
In the scene where the adult Salim's phone rings soon after the adult Jamal finds him, the ringtone is part of the theme music from A.R. Rahman's work on the Indian movie Swades: We, the People (2004). Rahman is the music composer for Slumdog Millionaire.
The current exchange rate for 20,000,000 Rupees (the grand prize on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire") is USD$411,600.
GOOFS
Factual errors: After revealing the answer to the question of which cricketer has scored to most first class centuries, the host reveals that Jack Hobbs scored 197 centuries. In fact, he famously fell one short of the 200 milestone by scoring 199 centuries.
Factual errors: In the movie, the correct answer to the question of who wrote the song "Darshan Do Ghanshyam Naath" is shown as 16th century poet "Kavi Surdas". However in reality, this song is written by Gopal Singh Nepali for the movie Narsi Bhagat (1957). This song is also credited as traditional and originally written by 15th century poet Narsinh Mehta, whose life that film is based on. (Many, including the film, mistakenly attribute it to the 16th-century poet Surdas due to the fact that Surdas was blind and the song is a prayer asking God to "appear" before him, for his "eyes thirst for Your sight".)
Factual errors: The cricket match shown between India and South Africa was played in the Belfast, whereas the commentator says that its being played in the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Factual errors: SPOILER: In the beginning of the film it says it takes place in 2006. But when Jamal wins the show, the check says 2005.
Factual errors: When Jamal explains the answer for "truth alone triumphs" question, Jamal asks the inspector for the price of Pani Puri, but the video shown is that of Dahi Puri.
Courtesy: IMDB
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Another Weekend is nearing its end. Wasted this one completely. One good thing is i had started blogging finally. One of the reasons it took me so long to start blogging is "What to write?". Still i am confused about what to write :).
At least its better to write something than to wait.
India performed well as a team today and won against Sri Lanka. Highlight of the match is the century by Sanath Jayasuriya (oldest man to make a century in ODIs, beating Geoffrey Boycott's record).He also crossed 13000 run mark in ODIs in the same innings, next only to Sachin Tendulkar with 16427.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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