maximum hypedog millionaire

i'd been waiting long n eagerly to go watch. avoided the dvd's n downloads...first day second show and thirty minutes into it the disappointment started creeping in. it was the cliches that did it for me - taj mahal, dharavi, dhobi ghat, vt...i mean, of course, it was well shot n edited, etc but left me as cold as the half empty cinema hall. anthony dodd mantle is one of my gods n one of my highpoints last year was meeting him when lighting up the millionaire shoot for them...but i guess when you shoot 2 film n 5 hd cameras rolling all at once, you will have an excessively edited film, right. slick yes but so shallow. the kids who played the middle part were the best...n the music - rahman has done much better stuff in the past...
smells of the beauty pageants thing - need to find new markets, shower them with faux attention. lapped up soo well...first, firang technicians infiltrated the industry, now they're gonna be making our films too! it's gonna take me sometime adjusting to this globalisation where i cannot go shoot in their country but they can come here...even in times when projects/films are being shelved due to "recession" while we sit home write blogs, drink or attend yet another meeting!
of course, it's gonna win a handful of oscars...or course, it's gonna be a blockbuster grosser...right film at the right time, nothing extraordinary. go see but we're not gonna blow an evening talking about it...banned any conversation about it last evening at the party :)

bom-goa-bom-goa-bom

man!...in less than a month i have been more often to goa than i have been to churchgate!!...my brother anil's been kicking my arse to step up my flaccid pace on the learning centre project on the plot at verna. in his inimitable way, we did more than i'd ever imagine...met up with a local architect and a contractor...sought advice, got an idea of costs involved, the permissions required, etc. so hopefully by the next trip, will be able to put in the file n let it take its time.

but such a sense of desperation n hopelessness one gets from talking with the locals...almost like they've given up the fight. makes me wonder why am i even moving there. but now starts the most exciting phase...the dream taking shape. two horizontally displaced hemispheres at differing levels - one the private space n the lower, the public. where the money will come from i have no idea, nor how do i make it financially viable...but i know it will happen...

my dreamgirl

she tiptoed into my life n pirouetted me away...been smiling ever since...

may it happen for you... this new year :)

Sometimes

Sometimes, things don’t go after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don’t fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people will sometimes step back from war;
elect an honest man; decide they care
enough, that they can’t leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen: may it happen for you.

~ Sheenagh Pugh