To My Daughter On Her 2nd Birthday

Sleepless nights. Worry lines.
Grey hair. Tensed thoughts.

Kisses of unbound love. Twinkling laughter that sparkles with heaven's blessings.

Happy Birthday, my Dearest Daughter. Happy Birthday, my Angel. I wish I could tell You what an Honour, what a Divine Blessing it is to be Your Father. May Your Mother and I be blessed enough to have You as our Daughter in every life.

Love You. God bless You. Love You always.

Stop Killing Cult Classics. Please!!!

I want to write a totally objective, free-of-cuss-words review of Zanjeer 2013.

I can't.

Prakash Raj behaves like a buffoon (and remember, he is a National Award winner). Sanjay Dutt staggers around in drunken stupor. Mahie Gill emotes through her cleavage and Priyanka Chopra through her belly button. The only respectable element: Ram Charan Teja. Yet his sincerity is misplaced in this tragic, moronic mess.

If Amitabh Bachchan does not take out a court order preventing any further remakes of his films, I will. And I will also feed to hungry sharks the next filmmaker who dares to remake an AB classic.

But then, the Hindi Film Industry would die of starvation. Because in over a hundred years, it has not found another actor whose movies they can remake and thereby feed their families. Not Raj Kapoor. Not Dilip Kumar. Not Rajesh Khanna. Not Shah Rukh Khan. Not Sanjeev Kumar.

Amitabh Bachchan. That's where it begins, that's where it ends.





* Title: courtesy of Ankana Dey Choudhury.

No Country For Women, OR, A Nation Full Of Unbridled Misogynistic Libido

"Why? Why are we so shocked, so outraged over violence against women on the streets? Are we forgetting that this is India? Where a girl-foetus is not safe in her mother's womb; where a three-year-old baby is fair sexual game for her own father; where a godman as well as the Principal of a school can with impunity molest girls who have reposed their belief and trust in them; where educated husbands abuse their wives daily and equally educated friends justify that abuse? When wombs, schools, temples and even homes are not safe, why the shock about unsafe streets?"
— Sukanya Das [a much-loved and much-loving friend]

The malaise is not 'lack of awareness' or 'lack of education'. The malaise is INACTION.

Think, people, think. And then, for heaven's sake, ACT.

Or else, ere long, we will turn ourselves into A Nation Without Women.

And that will be the greatest injustice that a country can inflict upon itself.

Sorry, SRK. From The Heart.

Dear SRK,

I owe you an apology, a rather big one, and I tender it on that very public platform where I had abused you—though in my defense, you were delivering crap after crap after super-hyped crap for the last eight-and-a-half years post-2004. I kept hoping that the tide would turn, but you kept failing me.

But this time, all is forgiven. The one time, the ONLY time I pass a judgement on a movie before watching it, you whack my senses out of the park.

I am a proud believer once again. That was vintage SRK. Bachchan-esque. Truly Bachchan-esque. Thank you for the entertainment.

And Deepika Padukone: you ROCK!!! And how!!!

70 Must-See Hindi Films Of All Time [That Should Have Been Included In My Previous Film-Related Post, But Were Left Out Due To Space Constraints]

The response to my previous cinema-related post, as well as a gnawing sense of dissatisfaction within my own gut, led me to come up with another list of must-see Hindi films of all time. In my previous post, I could accommodate only 160 entries [an odd figure, I admit, but that’s how it is], whereas any longish list of “must-see Hindi films” must surely accommodate many more deserving candidates.

So, here is another list, this time of 70 films—again, all randomly-placed but certainly not randomly-picked—that any connoisseur of Hindi Cinema must go through, along with the previous list I had compiled, to fully savour its richness, across genres, across types, across directors.

1.      SHAAN [1980]	2.      SATTE PE SATTA [1982]
3.      SARKAR [2005]	4.      SAUDAGAR [1973]
5.      DEV [2004]	6.      PAA [2009]
7.      Gangaajal [2003]	8.      Lage Raho Munnabhai [2006]
9.      Bazaar [1982]	10.  Manthan [1976]
11.  Nishant [1975]	12.  Bhumika [1977]
13.  Garm Hava [1973]	14.  Mrigayaa [1976]
15.  Umrao Jaan [1981]	16.  Munnabhai MBBS [2003]
17.  Yaadein [1964]	18.  Disco Dancer [1982]
19.  Sardari Begum [1996]	20.  Sarfarosh [1999]
21.  Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai [1980]	22.  Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro [1989]
23.  Waaris [1988]	24.  Aaina [1993]
25.  Khubsoorat [1980]	26.  Hip Hip Hurray [1984]
27.  Khoon Bhari Maang [1988]	28.  Thodasa Roomani Ho Jayen [1990]
29.  Daddy [1989]	30.  Janam [1985]
31.  Zakhm [1998]	32.  The Legend Of Bhagat Singh [2002]
33.  Tamanna [1997]	34.  Mammo [1994]
35.  Ek Doctor Ki Maut [1990]	36.  Kismet [1943]
37.  Mashaal [1984]	38.  Aah [1953]
39.  Party [1984]	40.  Akele Hum Akele Tum [1995]
41.  Virasat [1997]	42.  Ankush [1986]
43.  Hera Pheri [2000]	44.  Parinati [1989]
45.  Ek Duuje Ke Liye [1981]	46.  Gumrah [1963]
47.  Ek Din Achanak [1989]	48.  Dushman [1998]
49.  Sangharsh [1999]	50.  Dosti [1964]
51.  Ijaazat [1987]	52.  Hu Tu Tu [1999]
53.  Barsaat [1949]	54.  Andaz [1949]
55.  Jagte Raho [1956]	56.  Boot Polish [1954]
57.  Aag [1948]	58.  Jagriti [1954]
59.  Damul [1985]	60.  Apaharan [2005]
61.  Kabuliwala [1961]	62.  Dharmputra [1961]
63.  Dhool Ka Phool [1959]	64.  Dharm [2007]
65.  Dhund [1973]	66.  Ghar [1978]
67.  Sadhna [1958]	68.  Mera Saaya [1966]
69.  Phir Milenge [2004]	70.  My Brother…Nikhil [2005]