There are some things in life that I believe in strongly. One of them is that dreams coming true is only a myth. I was living in reality but a loser like me couldn't even believe in something in peace. My belief was shattered recently when I met God. Not literally, but figuratively I mean. I had read about life showering pleasant surprises on people but the possible thought of me, a dud engineering student, barely a film-maker, meeting my idol was bleak. But Roadies, as we know it, always does what no other show can do, and when I went to attend the Chandigarh Auditions of Roadies 9, Raghu, Rajiv and Rannvijay brought with them a surprise, and a big one too. Travelling with the Roadies 9 Audition team was Nagesh Kukunoor, promoting his Rannvijay starrer film Mod, and the sight of a frail looking, long-hair-greying-at-the-temples kind of a man wouldn't actually make your brain-gears churning that this could be a hot-shot film director, but when has Nagesh Kukunoor not surprised you, eh?
So I got a chance to not only meet Nagesh, but also interview him. Wooohoo!! Still can't believe it! And what struck me was not only the simplicity of this man but also the gentle way in which he talked to me. His eyes lit up when I said that just like him, I am also an engineering student who aspires t be a film-maker some day and I consider him as my idol. Who would believe it, but under his autograph, on the back of my Power Electronics class register that I was carrying to take notes of the Roadies event, he also gave me his email id and asked me to mail him the links to all the films that I made. What a day that was!
Here are some excerpts from the little interview that we had:
Q. You launched Shreyas Talpade in Iqbal, he was seen before in a scene in Aankhen and now you're giving Rannvijay his first solo film with Mod, who is already super famous; what do you expect from Rannvijay as an actor?
Nagesh: I had never watched the show Roadies before or knew if had done any films before. I had no idea about Rannvijay being a star or his fan following when I cast him. A friend referred his name to me, I asked him if he would come and audition for the part and he got selected.
Q. Shreyas in Iqbal, John in Aashayein, Akshay Kumar in 8x10 Tasveer, when you were moving to bigger actors or 'stars' with every film, why suddenly Rannvijay, relatively a new-comer if I may say so, why was that?
NK: Look, there are some films which require big actors or stars as you put it and some which require fresh faces or newer actors. This was a film which required a new actor and here we are.
Q. Now that Mod is ready for release, what do you expect from the film?
NK: I wanna show the world that a guy like Rannvijay, who has this biker-boy, adventurer image can actually do a serious romantic role. Not trying to create another image, but breaking stereotypes in a way.
Q. You're an engineer yourself, who got into making films, what is your advice to aspiring film-makers like us?
NK: Just pick up a camera, go out there and let your creativity loose. Believe.
Stay tuned. Stay Raw.
Adios!
Showing posts with label People. Show all posts
Showing posts with label People. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Caged
While walking down a street behind the Patiala bus-stand, a few months back, I witnessed something disturbing. Something you hear everyday, talk about in essays, read in news-papers, but never do we do anything about it. I came across a pet-store. A cage, housing love birds. Ironical. Isn’t it? Caging love?! Is that even remotely possible!
On inquiring about those birds, I came to know that these are some of the most special birds of Australia, specially imported for people to raise as pets. A single cage housed, or imprisoned if might say, 25 pairs of the most beautiful love-birds of Australia. Green, white, pink and yellow; a mix of all the shades of the rainbow, locked inside a single cage, given grain to eat, but no freedom to express what they are ambassadors of.... LOVE!
The shop owner told me that each pair of these birds costs Rs. 350. He tried to convince me a lot to buy one of those, was even ready to give be a free cage for the birds and was so sure that during an average life span of these birds, which is 10 years, they’ll reproduce and I’m sure to get all my money back within 2 years’ time by selling its off-springs. Another cage, kept just behind this one housed rabbits. Three little black and white rabbits were eating carrots in the cage and when i took out my phone to click some photographs of the docile creatures, another of their salesman came forward and started convincing me to buy a pair of rabbits. Lucky as I was that day, there was a ‘special offer’ on the rabbits and a pair of bunnies which usually costed 600-700 bucks, I was being offered to take them for just 400 Rupees.
Chicken were even cheaper at Rs 150 a pair. Again the same promises of selling its eggs again the money back scheme and again, it pained me, because they were the littlest of the lot. If all this was not enough, then to add to my turmoil another person from the same shop came running in with a blue and white pigeon in his hand. He went straight in and put the bird in another big cage that had as many as 20 pigeons of many different colors and species. I could not muster the courage to ask him any further questions, but this whole incident left me with a very important question that still remains unanswered. If at all we pet animals and birds, then why don’t we show them love..!!
It maybe true that after adopting a pet, an ‘owner’ takes good care of it. Some people even treat their pets as a family member, as their own child as they may say, but the question looms, why cage them. Why do the pet shops show no mercy? Why is it that these birds and animals are not kept in an environment, a habitat where they are meant to be? Why cages? If fish are domesticated in aquariums, why not a kinder way for other critters? Why are rabbits being caged and sold and not raised in a garden where they can be themselves? Why are the love-birds caged and not set free in a nursery? We always have better options to adopt pets.... But our only problem... We look for easier options... Not better... Lets take out some time guys... Sit and think... Maybe one of us can answer the questions I wasn’t able to.
Here are some pics I clicked!
[gallery link="file" orderby="rand"]
On inquiring about those birds, I came to know that these are some of the most special birds of Australia, specially imported for people to raise as pets. A single cage housed, or imprisoned if might say, 25 pairs of the most beautiful love-birds of Australia. Green, white, pink and yellow; a mix of all the shades of the rainbow, locked inside a single cage, given grain to eat, but no freedom to express what they are ambassadors of.... LOVE!
The shop owner told me that each pair of these birds costs Rs. 350. He tried to convince me a lot to buy one of those, was even ready to give be a free cage for the birds and was so sure that during an average life span of these birds, which is 10 years, they’ll reproduce and I’m sure to get all my money back within 2 years’ time by selling its off-springs. Another cage, kept just behind this one housed rabbits. Three little black and white rabbits were eating carrots in the cage and when i took out my phone to click some photographs of the docile creatures, another of their salesman came forward and started convincing me to buy a pair of rabbits. Lucky as I was that day, there was a ‘special offer’ on the rabbits and a pair of bunnies which usually costed 600-700 bucks, I was being offered to take them for just 400 Rupees.
Chicken were even cheaper at Rs 150 a pair. Again the same promises of selling its eggs again the money back scheme and again, it pained me, because they were the littlest of the lot. If all this was not enough, then to add to my turmoil another person from the same shop came running in with a blue and white pigeon in his hand. He went straight in and put the bird in another big cage that had as many as 20 pigeons of many different colors and species. I could not muster the courage to ask him any further questions, but this whole incident left me with a very important question that still remains unanswered. If at all we pet animals and birds, then why don’t we show them love..!!
It maybe true that after adopting a pet, an ‘owner’ takes good care of it. Some people even treat their pets as a family member, as their own child as they may say, but the question looms, why cage them. Why do the pet shops show no mercy? Why is it that these birds and animals are not kept in an environment, a habitat where they are meant to be? Why cages? If fish are domesticated in aquariums, why not a kinder way for other critters? Why are rabbits being caged and sold and not raised in a garden where they can be themselves? Why are the love-birds caged and not set free in a nursery? We always have better options to adopt pets.... But our only problem... We look for easier options... Not better... Lets take out some time guys... Sit and think... Maybe one of us can answer the questions I wasn’t able to.
Here are some pics I clicked!
[gallery link="file" orderby="rand"]
Sunday, 26 June 2011
The Break Up
Hello again!! Guys, I know almost all of you might have seen or gone through a break-up (I'm sorry for those in the second category) but I must say some break-ups are rather interesting, of course if you're neither of the involved party; or for guys if the girl is cute. Well, your humble friend, here, got lucky and what I witnessed, or must I say eye-witnessed was the world's most dramatic, ear-drum rupturing, glass-shattering, go-fuck-yourself-you-lying-asshole break-up. Phew..!! I guess that's enough to give you guys a hint of where I'm getting at.
So here's the story.
Chapter 1: The Couple
First things first, how I got to know the couple. The couple used to come to same gym as I, and we used to meet everyday. Not that I was a friend of either of them, and the only conversation we used to have was the occasional nod or a passing smile that made my day, of course I'm talking about the girl in question. Now, this guy, I don't remember his name, well to be honest I never even cared to know what it might be. And the girl. Ahem! Well she's cute, quite so. A few extra pounds, very delicate, probably extremely pampered by both this guy and perhaps her parents too. (Sorry, couldn't help judging, it just shows on her face.) Pallavi....that's her name, yeah. Okay! Pallavi is a typical south Delhi-bred-DPS(VK)-spoiled-OMG-its-so-hot-here kinda girl. Though I'd seen the guy in the gym before too, but he'd been coming with Palavi since the past three weeks or so. The guy, though well endowed with frightening biceps, was totally, in word, Pallavi's bitch. He used to follow her tail, wait till the tread-mill next to hers was vacated, get her water bottle, even wipe her face with a towel. The guy, man I still can't remember his name, was like a Duracell operated rabbit, who was instructed perhaps only to act at Pallavi's accord. The couple never seemed to shy away from their PDA and were hottest topic of the gym grape-wine. From trainers to the people working out in the gym, the couple was greeted with a friendly smile followed by a mocking smirk. The guy used to even drop her off to her place, which was merely two blocks away from the gym, and how I know that, well I'll get to that later.
Chapter 2: The Big Bang
Now what started the fight between the couple isn't very clear to me, but I'm sure it was enough to end this sugar-coated, gold-plated relationship. Now when I reached the open area of the gym, used generally for weights, floor exercises and a twisting exercise with a bamboo staff held at the back of your neck (apparently that's my instructor's personal favourite), the 'discussion' was already on. Pallavi was doing the same exercise as I just described and the guy was sitting on a bench with lots of dumb-bells around him. (Pun intended) Now as always, I was finding it difficult do any of the instructed exercises and I was merely waiting for my hour to end, when suddenly the Lord of Excitement showed His grace and I heard the golden words, "Can you shut up for like 10 minutes Abhay! I'm seriously not interested....." Yes! That's his name. Abhay. I sometimes amaze myself at how attentive I am when girls speak. Anyway, back to the story. Pallavi's voice brought me back to life from the semi-limbo state that I was in. Gushes of energy ran towards my limbs and for the first time after having been a regular at the gym for about a month, sweat broke on my forehead. Energized, as I was now, I got a whole new reason to stick around. I too picked up a bamboo stick and started doing the same weird exercise as Pallavi, wondering if even I would get a chance to fling the stick into someone's head someday. My ears, though, were magnetically fixed on the conversation going on merely five feet to my right. Abhay, donning the most innocent face that he could have made, was trying, in vain, to explain why he'd said that he was unwell and he couldn't go to the movies with her, when someone (Sorry, I'm bad at remembering names) spotted him at a very posh mall with a beer in his hand, sitting with Sakshi. Well I know Sakshi because she used to come to the same gym too. But that was 'before' Pallavi joined, mind you. Abhay's explanation, not that it mattered (to me and also perhaps to Pallavi looking at how angry she was), was that he was 'really' not well, but he had to go out because Sakshi was leaving for Sates the same night, for an year. I wonder why she wasn't busy packing then! Pallavi, who is exceptionally fair usually, was now looking pink, matching the colour of her shoes and contrasting her dark purple socks. Pallavi's answer made me fear a confrontation with a woman more than ever because her answer was actually a question that why, if he was ill, did he have to come to the gym then. Wasn't lunch and drinks with Sakshi enough to exert him more than required for someone 'under the weather?'
Abhay, as always, followed Pallavi's cue and turned a slightly darker shade of pink, though the reason was probably similar to mine and add to that the obligation of having to give an answer. Word's failed him and what I thought was sweat on his cheeks suddenly looked like saline from a different source. All he could manage was a mumble, too low for me to hear, but enough for me to know that it was a stupid answer as Pallavi reply was, "I feel like hitting you with this stick itself." Unlike Abhay, she was loud, loud enough ring a few bells in my ears and make me realise that I was doing nothing more than holding the stick and staring at them rather than trying to conceal my interest in my exercise. Just then an Uncle walked into our area and asked Abhay if he was using the dumbbells. He could have answered the question had Pallavi not stormed out of the gym and Abhay, now as you must have guessed, followed her, leaving his towel behind. Looking at the situation, I thought a towel was probably the one thing Abhay needed the most that day, other than probably some colour for his face, which had turned pale by now. And thus, was I deprived of more action.
Chapter 3: The Dark Knight
That's not the end, definitely no. Not without the 'other guy' making an entry into the story. So I was rejoined by them in the abs section, where Pallavi was actually working out while all Abhay was doing standing and staring.... then one frosty-nose look from Pallavi brought Abhay back to life, and he landed up on a ab-training machine. Maybe he thought increasing the weights might impress or atleast soften Pallavi a little, but I'm sure she couldn't have been more ignorant. And then, as the two were about to leave the ab-section, Abhay, God only knows why, decided to pick up Pallavi's phone. With the glint of an arrow and the speed of an eagle, Pallavi, in one swift movement grabbed the phone and the blood from his face, giving it again the pale palor that it was getting used to by now. Another exchange of whispers and stern looks couldn't be heard by me as I prepared to leave the gym. Surprisingly enough, the story was far from over, and I was destined to get luckier, as while I was waiting for someone to pick me up, when Pallavi showed up from behind asked me for a lift. She had apparently seen me around and knew that her place would be on the way back. I was happily awed, and fate spoke for me just as my dad's car, (chauffeur driven, yeay for that day), pulled up. Chivalrous as I am, I opened the door for her, more to flaunt to an awestruck Abhay watching from a little distance, than as a courtesy. Finally, for the first time in my life, I was the other guy!! That really made my day, and the 3 minute distance to her place wasn't enough for much talking, but Abhay and Pallavi have not been gymming together since. That my friends was probably the end of it. I think I've said enough already, don't think of me as a sadist laughing at other people's misery, but boredom can make the most unusual of things interesting.
Adios!
Yours Truly.
So here's the story.
Chapter 1: The Couple
First things first, how I got to know the couple. The couple used to come to same gym as I, and we used to meet everyday. Not that I was a friend of either of them, and the only conversation we used to have was the occasional nod or a passing smile that made my day, of course I'm talking about the girl in question. Now, this guy, I don't remember his name, well to be honest I never even cared to know what it might be. And the girl. Ahem! Well she's cute, quite so. A few extra pounds, very delicate, probably extremely pampered by both this guy and perhaps her parents too. (Sorry, couldn't help judging, it just shows on her face.) Pallavi....that's her name, yeah. Okay! Pallavi is a typical south Delhi-bred-DPS(VK)-spoiled-OMG-its-so-hot-here kinda girl. Though I'd seen the guy in the gym before too, but he'd been coming with Palavi since the past three weeks or so. The guy, though well endowed with frightening biceps, was totally, in word, Pallavi's bitch. He used to follow her tail, wait till the tread-mill next to hers was vacated, get her water bottle, even wipe her face with a towel. The guy, man I still can't remember his name, was like a Duracell operated rabbit, who was instructed perhaps only to act at Pallavi's accord. The couple never seemed to shy away from their PDA and were hottest topic of the gym grape-wine. From trainers to the people working out in the gym, the couple was greeted with a friendly smile followed by a mocking smirk. The guy used to even drop her off to her place, which was merely two blocks away from the gym, and how I know that, well I'll get to that later.
Chapter 2: The Big Bang
Now what started the fight between the couple isn't very clear to me, but I'm sure it was enough to end this sugar-coated, gold-plated relationship. Now when I reached the open area of the gym, used generally for weights, floor exercises and a twisting exercise with a bamboo staff held at the back of your neck (apparently that's my instructor's personal favourite), the 'discussion' was already on. Pallavi was doing the same exercise as I just described and the guy was sitting on a bench with lots of dumb-bells around him. (Pun intended) Now as always, I was finding it difficult do any of the instructed exercises and I was merely waiting for my hour to end, when suddenly the Lord of Excitement showed His grace and I heard the golden words, "Can you shut up for like 10 minutes Abhay! I'm seriously not interested....." Yes! That's his name. Abhay. I sometimes amaze myself at how attentive I am when girls speak. Anyway, back to the story. Pallavi's voice brought me back to life from the semi-limbo state that I was in. Gushes of energy ran towards my limbs and for the first time after having been a regular at the gym for about a month, sweat broke on my forehead. Energized, as I was now, I got a whole new reason to stick around. I too picked up a bamboo stick and started doing the same weird exercise as Pallavi, wondering if even I would get a chance to fling the stick into someone's head someday. My ears, though, were magnetically fixed on the conversation going on merely five feet to my right. Abhay, donning the most innocent face that he could have made, was trying, in vain, to explain why he'd said that he was unwell and he couldn't go to the movies with her, when someone (Sorry, I'm bad at remembering names) spotted him at a very posh mall with a beer in his hand, sitting with Sakshi. Well I know Sakshi because she used to come to the same gym too. But that was 'before' Pallavi joined, mind you. Abhay's explanation, not that it mattered (to me and also perhaps to Pallavi looking at how angry she was), was that he was 'really' not well, but he had to go out because Sakshi was leaving for Sates the same night, for an year. I wonder why she wasn't busy packing then! Pallavi, who is exceptionally fair usually, was now looking pink, matching the colour of her shoes and contrasting her dark purple socks. Pallavi's answer made me fear a confrontation with a woman more than ever because her answer was actually a question that why, if he was ill, did he have to come to the gym then. Wasn't lunch and drinks with Sakshi enough to exert him more than required for someone 'under the weather?'
Abhay, as always, followed Pallavi's cue and turned a slightly darker shade of pink, though the reason was probably similar to mine and add to that the obligation of having to give an answer. Word's failed him and what I thought was sweat on his cheeks suddenly looked like saline from a different source. All he could manage was a mumble, too low for me to hear, but enough for me to know that it was a stupid answer as Pallavi reply was, "I feel like hitting you with this stick itself." Unlike Abhay, she was loud, loud enough ring a few bells in my ears and make me realise that I was doing nothing more than holding the stick and staring at them rather than trying to conceal my interest in my exercise. Just then an Uncle walked into our area and asked Abhay if he was using the dumbbells. He could have answered the question had Pallavi not stormed out of the gym and Abhay, now as you must have guessed, followed her, leaving his towel behind. Looking at the situation, I thought a towel was probably the one thing Abhay needed the most that day, other than probably some colour for his face, which had turned pale by now. And thus, was I deprived of more action.
Chapter 3: The Dark Knight
That's not the end, definitely no. Not without the 'other guy' making an entry into the story. So I was rejoined by them in the abs section, where Pallavi was actually working out while all Abhay was doing standing and staring.... then one frosty-nose look from Pallavi brought Abhay back to life, and he landed up on a ab-training machine. Maybe he thought increasing the weights might impress or atleast soften Pallavi a little, but I'm sure she couldn't have been more ignorant. And then, as the two were about to leave the ab-section, Abhay, God only knows why, decided to pick up Pallavi's phone. With the glint of an arrow and the speed of an eagle, Pallavi, in one swift movement grabbed the phone and the blood from his face, giving it again the pale palor that it was getting used to by now. Another exchange of whispers and stern looks couldn't be heard by me as I prepared to leave the gym. Surprisingly enough, the story was far from over, and I was destined to get luckier, as while I was waiting for someone to pick me up, when Pallavi showed up from behind asked me for a lift. She had apparently seen me around and knew that her place would be on the way back. I was happily awed, and fate spoke for me just as my dad's car, (chauffeur driven, yeay for that day), pulled up. Chivalrous as I am, I opened the door for her, more to flaunt to an awestruck Abhay watching from a little distance, than as a courtesy. Finally, for the first time in my life, I was the other guy!! That really made my day, and the 3 minute distance to her place wasn't enough for much talking, but Abhay and Pallavi have not been gymming together since. That my friends was probably the end of it. I think I've said enough already, don't think of me as a sadist laughing at other people's misery, but boredom can make the most unusual of things interesting.
Adios!
Yours Truly.
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
You Are What I Want You To Be
I wasn’t with you when you were born. I wasn’t responsible for your childhood. I met you as you started enjoying the world around you. You are, what I want you to be. I command you, now, and you are bound to obey. I am with you when you need me. But I’m also there when you wish I wasn't. I am right to you even when I might be wrong to the world. I make your choices. I moderate your words. I give you a reason. And I make sure you believe in them.
I am the wall that keeps your emotions from deciding your actions. I am a friend of your instincts. I alone can stop you from acting even after you’ve made up your mind. I alone can make you steal when you could have just borrowed. I steer you, to where I want to go. I am your Master. I pull the strings of your life. I am your Ego.
Remember the time when that pretty girl asked you for a pen? It was I who forced you to be rude. If you feel any remorse now, I will make it fade away. I think faster than the wind. I am as swift as the tempest. I am the wall you didn't want to have. I am the tide that doesn't wait for the right time. Yes, I'm impatient. And so are you. Thus, are you.
They say I'm your defense, planning, control, tolerance, your judgment. But I only play with them. I'm not the one to blamed for any of them. I am your Rage. And I come to life on the slightest provocation. I am the savior, and so am I the destroyer. I am what I am. And I made you what you are. You can live without me. Life might be a lot simpler. But you can never leave me; because its my choice, and you don't have the right to decide. I don't give that to you.
I am you. And you are what I want you to be!
I am the wall that keeps your emotions from deciding your actions. I am a friend of your instincts. I alone can stop you from acting even after you’ve made up your mind. I alone can make you steal when you could have just borrowed. I steer you, to where I want to go. I am your Master. I pull the strings of your life. I am your Ego.
Remember the time when that pretty girl asked you for a pen? It was I who forced you to be rude. If you feel any remorse now, I will make it fade away. I think faster than the wind. I am as swift as the tempest. I am the wall you didn't want to have. I am the tide that doesn't wait for the right time. Yes, I'm impatient. And so are you. Thus, are you.
They say I'm your defense, planning, control, tolerance, your judgment. But I only play with them. I'm not the one to blamed for any of them. I am your Rage. And I come to life on the slightest provocation. I am the savior, and so am I the destroyer. I am what I am. And I made you what you are. You can live without me. Life might be a lot simpler. But you can never leave me; because its my choice, and you don't have the right to decide. I don't give that to you.
I am you. And you are what I want you to be!
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