Blast from the Past : An ode to Ray and Jatayu

For Chandan & Deepa
if it wasnt for there continuous persistance ,that pushed me into a corner and then i finally gave in and watched an old Bengali film with them cause they really wanted me to, and the weekend that started off as just another weekend banter over a few bottles of beer turned into a life defining (a bit exaggerated) moment for me..eversince that day i have realised and understood how a clever and simple story contributes in making a good film and how thinking outside the box can do what millions of dollars cant..and that is.. make you cherish a film.

So here is to Stayajit Ray ,one of the most profound storyteller of our times and here is to Prodosh Mitter,Lal Mohan Ganguly ,Topshe ,Siddhu kaka and Haripada and Srinath..few people who still keep the child alive in me as i refuse to grow up.

illustration inspired from "Shonar Kella" a novel written by Ray in 1971


in color

Back to School

"Old" School :D

Weekend Drawing Board

Few Rough quickies done over the weekend ..

paintings

another day at work..another sketches painted..

Elated

Here is another one that i did today..

Munnar (painting)

Just realised how difficult it is to paint a complete landscape in Photoshop..i started off well yesterday,but ran out of paitance today..hats off to those concept artists who endure the whole process days in and days out and finally bring out some thing so amazing..as for me, i would rather stick to my watercolors and brush..phewww..!!!

Sunbath

Beach babe.. ;)

Face

This i did today..he is pretty pissed for some reason..!!

Lady Jaundice

Here is the new one..i am starting to caricature the anatomy..!! I call her "Lady Jaundice" because she is yellow in color.

More drawings..(i am having fun with the doodles..)



here are the roughs

New Drawing

New Drawing..a very rough doodle which i have painted .. :D

well..here is the doodle

New Paintings

I have started enjoying coloring my sketches in Photoshop because here i can use any good doodle done by me on the back of my note book or diary, which i wouldnt upload otherwise..so here is what i have done today..!!





Best Viewed on full Screen .

Female anatomy

Like i mentioned earlier..Female anatomy study..will get better!!

Rough sketches

Rough Sketches..

Alien in Color

After much deliberation i have finally managed to digitally paint one of my drawings..
Finally..!!

Fear...!!

I have tried thematic sketching this time and decided to take up "fear" as my theme for these particular sketches.


My co-blogger and friend Kamal suggested me to make the second drawing look a little more dynamic..so i made few changes to it above and i am posting it again.








best viewed on full screen

more Drawings

Well..Here are few more drawings i did today,I have decided that i will keep studying male Anatomy for next few days and then will start with female Anatomy..and while i am at it, i will keep posting the better sketches on my blog , right now i am using combination of approaches..i have followed Andre Loomis for the Anatomy part of the drawing..but for construction (armature) i am following Burne Hogarth (using boxes and putting them in perspective) i have found this hybrid approach to be very convenient especially for somebody who cant comfortably translate his thoughts on paper through drawings, here ..following this combination, with little bit of planning , you can easily draw the most complicated of foreshortenings.







better viewed when full screen.

Back in Action

Have been hibernating for sometime, there had been lot of stuff i needed to read up cause i was feeling extremly uninspired lately, i have got myself into a habit of buying books and keeping them for a later date for reading, i had been doing this since last one year and didn't read a single book, until i realized the same, and therefore i resolved to take some time off, from my everyday schedule and start reading them..had been doing the same for last 6 months, finished reading "Kite Runner", "Roald Dahl Omnibus", "Styajit Rays :Adventure of Feluda", "www.H.R.Giger.com", "Story by Robert Mckee" and a few others. Now since i am done with them..i am back to my drawing board and here are a few quickies to start with, trust me..this will get better with time.

Sharada (1981) :A Comedy that tries too hard to be a Family Drama

I am sure you guys must be thinking that i have lost it completely, especially because this is going to be the first Mainstream hindi film i am reviewing on this blog..that too from 1981, and its not Sholey either. So what really lead me to make my mind up for reviewing this particular film which people from my generation might have never even heard of.. Honestly, I have no idea, it could be lot of things, maybe starting from- me having absolutely no idea of what i am getting into when i started watching it or the fact that the film was so bad that it was good..you just cant imagine how exhilarated and amused i was when the events started to unfold..i was laughing , choking, throwing up ,sallowing my puke and laughing again and i kept doing the same thing over and over again for the next two hours or so (yes ..even while the songs).

Picture this, Inder (jitender) is a hard working and god fearing simpleton who lives with his mother and works for Lalima Lipsticks. His mother is a conservative and over protective person, who has seen some really difficult times owing to the early demise of her husband. Inder, due to his hard work soon starts to climb the corporate ladder and becomes the favorite of his Chairman Mr.Kohili (Madan Puri) who looks at him as a prospective son in law. Jagdish (Jagdeep) is Inder's hyperactive and street smart secretary who believes in getting promoted by hook or by crook. In an important meeting with the companies agents Jadish offers female escorts in order to entertain the clients, All the agents get drunk including Inder (first time for him) and indulge in a night of debauchery leaving Inder estranged with a woman called Sharada(Rameshwari) who is a rookie in the profession (First time for her too).. Inder who is completly drunk and overly emotional by now and Sharda who has already declined a advance made by one of the agents ,strike a conversation leading to some of the most hilarious lines in the history of Indian Cinema :

Inder : Chi..tum aisa kam kyon karti ho ?
Sharda : Kyonki mai aanath hoon ..aur ek anath ladki ke duniya fayada uthati hai
Inder : Kyaaah... tum Anath Ho..!!?? ( Bursts into tears) Mai tumhara dard samajh Sakta hoon..!

and the Conversation leads to Inder getting married to Sharda in the same hotel while the rest of the escorts and the agents plays best men and brides maid respectively.(of which Inder has no memory of the next morning..of course, he was drunk..wasnt he!!)

Shit hits the fan when Mr.Kohili meets Inders mother and tells her his intention of getting his daughter married to her son..for which the mother readily agrees cause after all he is the Chairman who has recently promoted her son, a conversation that leads to the second most hilarious line in the history of Indian Cinema:

Mr Kohili : Mai AApko Inder ke promotion ke liye Mubarak baad dena Chahata tha
Mother : Promotion..!! MAtlab pagar me sau ek rupiyaa to badega na..??
Mr:Kohili : SAu Ek Rupiyaa nahin ..pure Derh Hazaar , Ab Inder ki Pagar poorey teen Hazaar ho gayi hai
Mother : (Gasps in Disbelief) Hai raam..Itney Paise hum Rakhheygey kahan..!!??

whats follows is a completly bizarre set of events which includes fixing grill on the windows, scheme of a murder, attempted poisoning,suicidal mother, a wife who is a absolute pile on,a VAT 69 scotch whiskey that looks like Rum, a dream sequence which goes too far, regular trips between Pune and Mumbai (both of whom seems to be in a different time zone in 1981.),an overly long horse leash (100 yards at least.), a Blackmailer getting Blackmailed and One Final showdown in Haridwaar. Oh yes in the middle of all that ..you also have Raj Babbar in a "blink and you miss" appearance.

Most of time me and Chetan( My Ex Girlfrnd and my Present Roomie) were baffled and perplexed cause we were not able to figure ,if the director (Lekh Tondon) intended to make this a comedy or a family drama..then Chetan pointed out that since the scenes in which i was laughing hardest had a low and extremly sad background score ..it must be family drama..!! Its just that the socio economical and cultural changes in past 26 years have turned it into one of the best comedies of present time.

I was lucky enough to watch it on Television, but its a rare film cause there is nothing written about it over the internet as well..therefore i wasnt able to get the film poster from anywhere. But try not missing this little gem from 1981 if you get a chance today..especially if you enjoyed reading this review and have a similar sense of humor like mine.

In a flurry of recent remakes i guess this film has a lot of potential , only if Mr.David Dhawan is listening..!!

The Missing Link...

Need I say more...

Bucknorism

Buknorism : an extremly fatal condition leading to loss of hearing, vision and responses to stimuli ,that occurs because of being exposed to severe environments of profanity and excessive aggression. Symptoms usually includes perennial precipitation and recurring loss of body fluids





Amit ,my colleague at work made a very interesting observation about the way India played in Sydney, he stated that without prejudice this is the best performance given by India ever in any test match because against all odds they were actually able to play the game till the fifth day..but then playing against Australia is never easy who have just proved they are world champions not just in cricket but every thing else as well ;)


(Nigger is sometimes used amongst working class Australians, when used in a casual sense between friends or work colleagues of both white and mixed race. )

the reason i mention this is in the given context is because i dont want the cartoon to be misconstrued as racial and derogatory in any manner.

press pressure

I had been following a story doing rounds in tabloids regarding two NRI ladies getting molested in Mumbai on the eve of the new year, at Juhu..It has been a sad incident, but what has been more saddening is the voyeuristic attitude of two photographers who where there from the time the whole scuffle started..its unfortunate to see the media exploiting somebodies personal tragedy for there own gain and TRPs.


The photographs would have worked as an evidence against the perpetrators even if they have not been circulated all over the media. Off late you can easily see that free and fair journalism has become a story of the past. The Media is starting to take sides and that day is not far when for the sake of sensationalizing journalism they would become a party to an act that may lead to a news report..





so on a less serious note, here is my take at our Media :

Rejoicing 2008

Rejoicing 2008, originally uploaded by aroop_d.

A very happy and prosperous new year to all the readers..i will try to be more regular with my posts this year unlike the last year where i had been on and off..!!

Have an Amazing year Ahead.. Cheers!!