Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Ashes for England
Aussies look out of sorts without McGrath. And take away Warne, this Australian cricket team looks vulnerable in the bowling department. The batting line-up is world-class, but what can a batting line-up do, without good support from bowlers particularly good fast-bowlers and good spin-bowlers. Pakistan with its top-class fast-bowlers and spin-bowlers have achieved more than anyother team inspite of its history bad batsmen! India with its famed middle-order has under-achieved than any other team thanks to its lack of expertise in fast-bowling department!
I would still consider the series between India and Australia in 2001 in India in which India won 2-1 is a bigger achievement when compared to this Ashes series, since India won inspite of a fiery McGrath and Gillespie! Hopefully England win this Ashes and oust this head-over-heels Aussie team!
I would still consider the series between India and Australia in 2001 in India in which India won 2-1 is a bigger achievement when compared to this Ashes series, since India won inspite of a fiery McGrath and Gillespie! Hopefully England win this Ashes and oust this head-over-heels Aussie team!
Courage under Fire
Good movie!
The movie brought back memories of a classic Sivaji movie 'antha naal' i.e the narration of the same incident by many folks. This movie had a decent conspiracy theory and that lifted this movie. Meg Ryan looked out of place in this role as a soldier, but the character hardly had any weightage in this movie, except for Denzel Washington.
The movie brought back memories of a classic Sivaji movie 'antha naal' i.e the narration of the same incident by many folks. This movie had a decent conspiracy theory and that lifted this movie. Meg Ryan looked out of place in this role as a soldier, but the character hardly had any weightage in this movie, except for Denzel Washington.
The Siege
Ordinary movie!
Denzel Washington seems to be a staunch Democrat. Another movie movie titled 'The Manchurian Candidate', also had some strong Democratic party school of thought encapsulated in it!
The movie was outstanding in a number of sequences including the paint bomb-blasts warning, the actual bomb-blasts, the termination of cell 1 by FBI, the bomb-blast of FBI building and the tempo of the movie was in fifth-gear, but soon one had to see the excesses of Bruce Willis and that's when the film lost the plot with what could have been an interesting battle between FBI and the invisible Jihad-cells, it became a rheoteric between democrats and republicans.
Denzel Washington seems to be a staunch Democrat. Another movie movie titled 'The Manchurian Candidate', also had some strong Democratic party school of thought encapsulated in it!
The movie was outstanding in a number of sequences including the paint bomb-blasts warning, the actual bomb-blasts, the termination of cell 1 by FBI, the bomb-blast of FBI building and the tempo of the movie was in fifth-gear, but soon one had to see the excesses of Bruce Willis and that's when the film lost the plot with what could have been an interesting battle between FBI and the invisible Jihad-cells, it became a rheoteric between democrats and republicans.
High Crimes
Ordinary movie!
The movie could have been inspired from a few other army-court battle movies including Few Good Men. The movie was extremely disappointing except for Ashley Judd.
The movie could have been inspired from a few other army-court battle movies including Few Good Men. The movie was extremely disappointing except for Ashley Judd.
Mangal Pandey - The Rising:
Ordinary movie!
A disappointing spectacle from Aamir Khan and Ketan Mehta.
1. Aamir Khan was lost in emotions for a major part of the movie. Poor guy, Kamal Hassan didnt get this much funds for his 'Maruthunayagam'. Kamal is versatile and he would have caught us all spellbound with such a nice-historical movie! Aamir and his attempt towards method-acting for Mangal Pandey is lost because there is hardly any plot or drama to talk about in this movie to build emotion!
2. The introduction of characters like Amisha Patel, Rani Mukherjee was unwarranted and that certainly spoilt the chance of Mangal Pandey getting more screen-time.
3. Guess, 'Mirch Masala' and 'Dil Chahta Hain' will continue to be the best movies of Ketan Mehta and Aamir Khan.
4. Songs, Sophia Haque, Rani and Amisha have successfully derailed the tempo of the film and made a bad-masala out of Mangal Pandey.
5. Tajikistan is said to have played host for a few sequences in this movie i.e barrenlands sequences, lakes sequences and afghan-war sequence.
6. Om Puri uttering what is happening in screen(in Hindi) when the characters speak English is also an absolute spoiler to the viewers.
7. The hype was a bit extra-ordinary and I think that also has built up huge expectations among most of the viewers.
A disappointing spectacle from Aamir Khan and Ketan Mehta.
1. Aamir Khan was lost in emotions for a major part of the movie. Poor guy, Kamal Hassan didnt get this much funds for his 'Maruthunayagam'. Kamal is versatile and he would have caught us all spellbound with such a nice-historical movie! Aamir and his attempt towards method-acting for Mangal Pandey is lost because there is hardly any plot or drama to talk about in this movie to build emotion!
2. The introduction of characters like Amisha Patel, Rani Mukherjee was unwarranted and that certainly spoilt the chance of Mangal Pandey getting more screen-time.
3. Guess, 'Mirch Masala' and 'Dil Chahta Hain' will continue to be the best movies of Ketan Mehta and Aamir Khan.
4. Songs, Sophia Haque, Rani and Amisha have successfully derailed the tempo of the film and made a bad-masala out of Mangal Pandey.
5. Tajikistan is said to have played host for a few sequences in this movie i.e barrenlands sequences, lakes sequences and afghan-war sequence.
6. Om Puri uttering what is happening in screen(in Hindi) when the characters speak English is also an absolute spoiler to the viewers.
7. The hype was a bit extra-ordinary and I think that also has built up huge expectations among most of the viewers.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - VIII - The myth called Dracula
The surname Dracula means 'from the clan of Drac(in native tongue it means Dragon). 'Vlad II Tepes Dracula' is supposed to be the person after whom the Dracula character was created. Tepes means Impale. Vlad II ruled Transylvania in 15th century. His palace is in the midst of a highway which links the western corner of Romania to the eastern part of Romania. This highway was frequently used by traders(mostly Germans and Ottomans(read Turks)). Just behind this palace one can see a thick pine-forest, awesome sight this i.e the palace is facing the plains/landscapes/grasslands on one side and the forest on the other! Vlad II was born in a medievel-town called Singhisora. Singhisora hasnt changed much in the last 500 years and the small streets, bricklanes, churches all give a distinct old-Europe!
The German-population in Transylvania has always had skirmishes with the native-Romanians and Turks during those times. The Germans felt victimised by Vlad II's reign and they started the mass-campaign agains Vlad II and accused him of being a tyrant. And this grapevine was picked by Bram Stoker when he wrote a play on Dracula. Soon, Hollywood picked up this thread and made a huge number of movies surrounding the legend of Dracula!
The Romanian communist government nationalised this castle from the then-rulers. There was a conscious campaign by the Romanian nationalists to ignore the Dracula-story and thus one will be amazed to see the little or no information about the famous-Dracula in this palace. One will get to see the name and photos of 'Queen Maria', who is said to have conserved most of the artifacts in this palace! The palace is the biggest claim to fame of Romania to the western nations. Scores of travellers visit this place. I am sure all the people who have read the Dracula stories and seen those Dracula movies will be disappointed by the little or no documention on Vlad II in this palace.
Contrastingly, the bazaar outside this palace has done a superb job in selling 'Dracula' tourism unlike the government. One gets to see key-chains, clothes, bracelets, tea cups, pencils, idols etc., with Dracula's face on it!
The beautiful landscapes in this part of Romania is a treat to watch, covered by mostly grasslands and small hills!
It's only summer-months does, one get to see this part of country brimming with activity!
The German-population in Transylvania has always had skirmishes with the native-Romanians and Turks during those times. The Germans felt victimised by Vlad II's reign and they started the mass-campaign agains Vlad II and accused him of being a tyrant. And this grapevine was picked by Bram Stoker when he wrote a play on Dracula. Soon, Hollywood picked up this thread and made a huge number of movies surrounding the legend of Dracula!
The Romanian communist government nationalised this castle from the then-rulers. There was a conscious campaign by the Romanian nationalists to ignore the Dracula-story and thus one will be amazed to see the little or no information about the famous-Dracula in this palace. One will get to see the name and photos of 'Queen Maria', who is said to have conserved most of the artifacts in this palace! The palace is the biggest claim to fame of Romania to the western nations. Scores of travellers visit this place. I am sure all the people who have read the Dracula stories and seen those Dracula movies will be disappointed by the little or no documention on Vlad II in this palace.
Contrastingly, the bazaar outside this palace has done a superb job in selling 'Dracula' tourism unlike the government. One gets to see key-chains, clothes, bracelets, tea cups, pencils, idols etc., with Dracula's face on it!
The beautiful landscapes in this part of Romania is a treat to watch, covered by mostly grasslands and small hills!
It's only summer-months does, one get to see this part of country brimming with activity!
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - VII - Raj Kapoor
Old Hindi films and film-music are extremely popular in Romania. Raj Kapoor is the unofficial Indian ambassador to Romania. Shame, me not seen that many Raj Kapoor movies. It is quite common to listen to cabbies humming songs like 'Awara hoon... ' or 'Mera jhoota hai japani... '. Guess, the prime reason why Raj Kapoor is a darling to this nation is due to the kind of roles he donned during his prime-days. Raj Kapoor's movies talked about socialism and during those days this country was also ruled by communists/socialists, so Raj Kapoor also became the unofficial ambassador of Communists/Socialists. So, government started showing Raj Kapoor movies in national television. Since the people hardly had any interaction with foreign culture(except for the Soviets) and Hollywood was kind of out of bounds for this poor-country, Raj Kapoor's movies became an instant hint.
But none of the natives are aware of the new-wave Bollywood cinema and Hollywood's charm has hijacked the current generation of Romanians. Not sure, the current wave of Bollywood cinema has any ideals to offer to this country, certainly not in the calibre of Raj Kapoor.
Nehru is also highly revered in this country, because of his ability to stand-up against both the Soviets and USA.
But none of the natives are aware of the new-wave Bollywood cinema and Hollywood's charm has hijacked the current generation of Romanians. Not sure, the current wave of Bollywood cinema has any ideals to offer to this country, certainly not in the calibre of Raj Kapoor.
Nehru is also highly revered in this country, because of his ability to stand-up against both the Soviets and USA.
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - VI - How Caucescu's regime ended?
Caucescu was in Iran during the winter of December 1989 when things got stormy in Romania. Protests and agitations became a mainstay. Caucescu hurried back home and was terribly surprised to see the people's unrest. Strangely, Caucescu was of the opinion that his people are all happy during his rule ! Guess, Caucescu was not in touch with reality.
Earlier when Caucescu was in his zenith, he was an outstanding ruler from the Eastern block of countries thanks to his independent foreign policy intiatives and his courage to stand-up against the Soviet war-machine. Caucescu was inspired by North Korean communist experiment and Chinese communist experiment.
Some policies during his rule include:
i. Every youth must enroll in Army, as long as the individual is not pursuing any higher education(read drop-outs from school)! I believe this policy is still pursued in Romania
ii. Every person should get married before the age of 25, if not tax will be levied on that person(i.e family-tax).
iii. Slums were eradicated in and around most cities and huge apartment blocks were built.(direct influence of North Korean communist philosphy)
iv. Every married couple get a Dacia, an apartment and a job! Note: Dacia cars are omnipresent in Romania - guess it is very cheap! (similar to our Maruti)
Earlier when Caucescu was in his zenith, he was an outstanding ruler from the Eastern block of countries thanks to his independent foreign policy intiatives and his courage to stand-up against the Soviet war-machine. Caucescu was inspired by North Korean communist experiment and Chinese communist experiment.
Some policies during his rule include:
i. Every youth must enroll in Army, as long as the individual is not pursuing any higher education(read drop-outs from school)! I believe this policy is still pursued in Romania
ii. Every person should get married before the age of 25, if not tax will be levied on that person(i.e family-tax).
iii. Slums were eradicated in and around most cities and huge apartment blocks were built.(direct influence of North Korean communist philosphy)
iv. Every married couple get a Dacia, an apartment and a job! Note: Dacia cars are omnipresent in Romania - guess it is very cheap! (similar to our Maruti)
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - V - Indian restaurants in Bucharest
There are three Indian restaurants in Romania:
i. Haveli - Is run by a Pakistani and this hotel is close to Gara-de-Nord(or North Station). The ambience is appreciable out here. They play hindi music all through the day and there is also a dancing programme during the weekend-evenings. The best part in the dancing programme is that one will get to see a Romanian dancer dexterously dancing to Indian film-songs with the same enthusiasm as Shah Rukh or Hrithik.
ii. Taj - Cozy/costly restaurant, just opposite to hotel Marriot is another place to have good Indian food. One could get to see lots of celebrities' photos and their signature in the walls of this hotel alongwith the Indian chef. Dont recollect many of the personalities I saw, but remember seeing the photo of Wesley Snipes(hollywood actor).
iii. Karishma - Another good Indian restaurant. Maybe the best among the lot!
All the above restaurants only provide North Indian food and its a shame why the chefs dont cook South Indian food. All the above restaurants are frequented by the locals, wonder how they handle the hot-and-spicy food!
i. Haveli - Is run by a Pakistani and this hotel is close to Gara-de-Nord(or North Station). The ambience is appreciable out here. They play hindi music all through the day and there is also a dancing programme during the weekend-evenings. The best part in the dancing programme is that one will get to see a Romanian dancer dexterously dancing to Indian film-songs with the same enthusiasm as Shah Rukh or Hrithik.
ii. Taj - Cozy/costly restaurant, just opposite to hotel Marriot is another place to have good Indian food. One could get to see lots of celebrities' photos and their signature in the walls of this hotel alongwith the Indian chef. Dont recollect many of the personalities I saw, but remember seeing the photo of Wesley Snipes(hollywood actor).
iii. Karishma - Another good Indian restaurant. Maybe the best among the lot!
All the above restaurants only provide North Indian food and its a shame why the chefs dont cook South Indian food. All the above restaurants are frequented by the locals, wonder how they handle the hot-and-spicy food!
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - IV - Caucescu Palace
Caucescu palace is an amazing landmark in the city of Bucharest. This building's construction was started in the year 1984 and the building was 90% complete in the year 1989. Then, came the revolution which overthrew Caucescu and then the stoppage of the palace-construction. What will upset the visitor of this palace, is the way the palace-guide treats Caucescu's era with absolute contempt! According to the palace-guide, Caucescu plundered Romania's wealth and this palace was a huge waste of money. Caucescu's palace's official name is 'People's palace' though according to the guide this palace was built only for Caucescu and not for the Romanian people. Caucescu is supposed to have spent millions and millions of dollars in building this amazing landmark when thousands of people were on the verge of absolute poverty. The topic of 'Caucescu' will enthuse most readers to goto wikipedia and learn more about this communist dictator. After reading wiki's article, one could come to the conclusion that maybe he wasnt all that bad as he is potrayed!
Strange philosophy of Caucescu:
i. More the human population, more powerful the country will become.
Sounds silly but strangely, Jawaharlal Nehru also had similar notions on human population. Once when J R D Tata(in 1951 roundabouts) met Nehru, Tata explained to Nehru about the need to create an awareness among the Indian people about the advantages of small family, which will improve the quality of life. But, Nehru replied 'human resources are the most valuable resource for any country and there is no question of advising people to have small families'. Note: Later after 40 years JRD Tata got 'World population award' just before his death.
One key point to note is that in Romania thanks to the dictatorship-rule, strange laws like if a man/woman is unmarried and his/her age is above 25, then he/she has to pay more tax.
In Romania, once a man/woman are married then they are provided a 'Dacia' car(something as ubiquitous as Maruti cars in India) by the government alongwith a flat in the city.
When Caucescu started the palace construction, the absolte secrecy surrounding the palace-construction upset most Romanian people and allowed people to speculate and spread rumours about Caucescu's luxurious lifestyle. So, thanks to the palace-construction, suddenly Caucescu could no longer gain the same affection from his people and soon he was overthrown from power. One could sense a strange parallel between Jayalalitha and Caucescu, Jayalalitha was overthrown from power in 1996 thanks to the luxurious marriage function of her foster-son. Jayalalitha was not called by an army court for execution thanks to India's matured democracy!
Strange philosophy of Caucescu:
i. More the human population, more powerful the country will become.
Sounds silly but strangely, Jawaharlal Nehru also had similar notions on human population. Once when J R D Tata(in 1951 roundabouts) met Nehru, Tata explained to Nehru about the need to create an awareness among the Indian people about the advantages of small family, which will improve the quality of life. But, Nehru replied 'human resources are the most valuable resource for any country and there is no question of advising people to have small families'. Note: Later after 40 years JRD Tata got 'World population award' just before his death.
One key point to note is that in Romania thanks to the dictatorship-rule, strange laws like if a man/woman is unmarried and his/her age is above 25, then he/she has to pay more tax.
In Romania, once a man/woman are married then they are provided a 'Dacia' car(something as ubiquitous as Maruti cars in India) by the government alongwith a flat in the city.
When Caucescu started the palace construction, the absolte secrecy surrounding the palace-construction upset most Romanian people and allowed people to speculate and spread rumours about Caucescu's luxurious lifestyle. So, thanks to the palace-construction, suddenly Caucescu could no longer gain the same affection from his people and soon he was overthrown from power. One could sense a strange parallel between Jayalalitha and Caucescu, Jayalalitha was overthrown from power in 1996 thanks to the luxurious marriage function of her foster-son. Jayalalitha was not called by an army court for execution thanks to India's matured democracy!
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - III - Mutu
Romania is a fierce football-crazy country and till now they have most probably produced one football superstar 'Hagi'. But lately with the emergence of Adrian Mutu, Romanians are seeing the rise of another superstar. Adrian Mutu is currently playing for Juventus and he is the darling of this football-crazy nation. Mutu's name is mentioned frequently in the country's late-night national news(for both his on-field and off-field activities).
Some Romanian club teams also are on the rise beating top-teams from the leagues of England, Scotland, Germany etc. in UEFA cup qulaifying matches.
Some Romanian club teams also are on the rise beating top-teams from the leagues of England, Scotland, Germany etc. in UEFA cup qulaifying matches.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - II - DA
'Da' is the most often spoken word in Romanian language(which also obviously, happens to be the national language of Romania). Anyone who picks up the phone invariably says 'Da' rather than 'Hello'. 'Da''s equivalent in English is 'Okay' or Yes' or 'Agreed' or 'Done' etc., I am told that similar to 'Da' in Romanian it is 'Ja' in Dutch. Romanians also have adopted quite a few French-origin words like 'salut'(a greeting equivalent to 'best wishes' or 'my regards' or simply put 'my salutes'), 'merci'(means 'apologies'). Romania also has a few Hindi/Sanskrit-origin words like 'chai' (equivalent to 'tea') and 'zaher'(means sugar in Romanian, while in Hindi 'zeher' means 'poison').
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Arbitrary info on Romania - I
Romanian language is supposed to be primarily based on the Romantic languages i.e French/Italian/Spanish/Portugese etc., but what distinguishes Romanian language is the strong influence of Turkish language. Turkish rulers i.e Ottomon empire have had a major impact on this country and it shows clearly in the Romanian language and also in the architecture of the Romanian Orthodox churches which one can find everywhere in the country. The Romanian orthodox churches have 'dome-shaped'(influence of Muslim Ottomon empire) tower unlike the usual cone shaped tower that one sees in most churches all over the world. These Romanian churches were once close to extinction thanks to the communist dictator Caucescu who ruled this country for a fairly long span of time from the 1960's to late 1980's. Caucescu had ordered to demolish most of the churches in the country and also barred his people from worshipping God in his country.(this reminds me of an interesting sequence in the movie 'Forrest Gump' in which Gump appears on a national television alongwith John Lennon)
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