Character Animation Tests

Animation Test -Bio Mechanics

 Animation Test- Acting (Single Take)

Animation Test -Bio Mechanics (Walk)

Animation Test- Bio Mechanics (Female Walk)

Animation Test- Bio Mechanics (Run,Jump,Roll)

Animation Test- Action Sequence.

Silicon India Animation Summit

http://www.siliconindia.com/events-venue/animation-conference-Bangalore-AnimationConference2011.html

Earlier this year, i got a chance to speak in Silicon India's Animation Conference, my topic was Contemporary  Animation Technique and Indian culture, with 30 minutes cutoff, i tried my best to cover everything i can.

the above link has the presentation, unfortunately the Videos won't load.

Animation ShortFilms

After 2 and a half year hiatus in research and development wing of my organization, finally i got back to teaching , This had been the most exciting 6 months of my life- a couple of students film that got made under my supervision have shown a lot of potential. Thought i will share them here.



Abegetiar Beloi - A good ol fashioned, makes you feel good animation short that knows its audience well, its a Assame Musical.

Monetalis- A deep thought provoking look at the evolution of money.

The Film Abegetiar Beloi was lauched through Animation Xpress, who have been kind enough to cover the film and its potential (following is the article)
http://www.animationxpress.com/index.php/latest-news/students-of-inurture-education-solutions-create-assame-musical-abegetiar-beloi

Well , the number and frequency of my post have definitely gone down , but i am trying to cover that by uploading more substantial and better quality stuff than just a bunch of drawings or odd film reviews.

This is something i had been working on for past one week, this is the output after one and a half rim of papers and 15 Stadler 6B pencil later.

Hope you guys enjoy this.. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5bld_8nCys

Reinventing my self :)

Off late i have been toying with the idea of creating animation film without using Computer (i mean of course you would need them when it comes to taking a compressed render and uploading the file). Animation off late is becoming extremely technical- numbers, axis, constrains, Graphs and what not, what ever happened to storytelling, i mean animation has been around a long before computers were even invented, so why have computers become so indispensable now..!!??

I have already done a quite a bit of Cutout animation earlier, Clay is a medium which has always challenged my curiosity.. and when i got a opportunity this week, well what can i say..you dont let go of such opportunities so easily do you..??

Bad Bad Bad Weekend and here is why - Martyrs and AntiChrist Reviews Double bill

If you are a horror film aficionado, you must know by now that those films which are appreciated equivocally, hardly have any lasting impact on your senses, and I am not just talking PG13 , I also (if I may dare) include the R rated one’s – Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th , Halloween etc .All the above films were R rated films and pushed the envelope of onscreen violence and then they got remade and they pushed the same envelope a little more, don’t get me wrong, I am an absolute fan boy when it comes to above 3 and add Nightmare at the Elm Street into the grind and we are looking at a Horror Nerds wet dream (pardon my euphuism). But this brings me to the most pertinent question-
are these films worth a watch ??
Hell Yes..!!
Are they Scary enough..??
Like Hell they are..!!
Will you remember this film after 7 years..??
Hmmmm.. Can’t Say.. Maybe not .

And that’s exactly the reason why I actually prefer watching film who are not equivocally appreciated.. There is a risk in it.. 8 out of 10 times I am looking at crap.. but that risk is well its worth for the rest of the 2 out of 10 times. And Last week had been a psychedelic coincidence that I got to catch those ‘2 out of 10 times movies worth waiting for’ back to back . Now since I had been on and off in action for sometime, I figured it will be a good idea to give you a Review Double Bill.

19th Sep 2009, Saturday
2100 hrs
4 shots of Tequila
2 Bottles of Beer to go with the film.

Popped the DVD in the player, switched the lights off and started the film



Matrys

There is something about the French horror especially for the people who are too used to the basic formula in the genre, you don’t know what to expect, lesser known actors/actress makes it even difficult to pledge you sympathy for any character and root for him/her. .Look at À l'intérieur , where the whole film plays out with just two main characters, you will still find the end too unpredictable (and Grim!!), This guys really know there craft and they pull no stops or cut any corners in creating it.
Martyrs starts around 1970 ,where Anna breaks out from captivity in a warehouse and is discovered wondering around the country road in near catatonic stage She is interrogated by the police, who , when they follow up on the information and travel to the scene, find no evidence or sign of life. The Girl has been deeply scarred both physically and mentally. The film then jumps to 15 years later, where Anna, now growing up in an orphanage has formed a bond with another girl Lucie, Anna, has been left deeply disturbed by the incidence that took place 15 years ago seemed to have pieced her life together until one day she spots the perpetrators who are responsible for her state and she brings down wrath on them (I mean literally) ..
Now let me pause, giving away anything beyond this will be crime, I know that the above description looks very ordinary and by the number , and you are right, its ordinary, except the fact that its very atmospheric and shot incredibly well and have enough blood and gore to satisfy the biggest gore hounds.
Anna was tortured when she was young , she grows up, tracks down the people behind her kidnapping and torture and blows the shit out of them.. Bad guys are dead, lead girl is alive (bloody- but alive none the less) so mission accomplished, Right..!! WRONG..!! This is where the fun ends.. The third act elevates the film from just another torture porn (that’s what they are calling films like Hostel these days) and takes it somewhere else where probably no other film has gone before. Twists in the third act are the flavor of the season and this film is no different, but the twist here is organic, it takes the film where it meant to go, and doesn’t leaves you wondering if the film is a puzzle where there were clues laid out all through out the length of the film that challenged your intelligence ala Sixth Sense.
What this film does is, it makes you partner in one of the most heinous and diabolical crime the same way Irreversible or Man Bites Dog did.. Suddenly you will find your self trapped there, with the character, looking at her ,face the worst level of human degeneration, and you realize that the film hasn’t remained a film anymore and your Voyeuristic tendency has taken over, you want to look away, but you also want to see how far can this degradation go.. and by the time its over, you are left thinking – “ I should have looked away when I had the chance..!!”
Its wrong to classify this film as torture porn , although I can see that the first two acts have similarities to the sub genre, but if I can think of any other film that comes close to Martys in terms on Visceral impact and psychological bleakness –it has to be Irreversible.
I was watching this film with my sister in law , let me explain here, she likes blood and gore, she likes film like hostel and she loved À l'intérieur, and she watched this film out of her free will, and both of us were , as I said earlier, having a good time till 3/4th of the film, we were enjoying the Jump moments, the in your face violence, both of us thought we are people who have become sedate to onscreen violence.. Hey, now how can you top Ichi the killer..!! and that’s the beauty of this film ..it doesn’t tops any film, Violence is there as a narrative tool and its not glorified and then in the third act- most of it is off-screen.. and still manages to shake you to the core.. Once the film got over, we sat there in silence , a very awkward silence , not able to figure out weather to condemn or appreciate the film, we were numb, and felt guilty, as a matter of fact, it has never happened that we saw a horror film and not discussed it over dinner (Yes.. we are very twisted people, we discuss decapitation and dismemberment over dinner..!!) with our respective spouses, we still have not discussed Martys.. but then if the film can have so much of influence on somebody, then it must be something to recon.. Pascal Laugier have managed to make a film which will be hated by most of the audience and it will still be debated over, the biggest trick that the film pulls is for most of it run time it leads you to believe that you are watch a regular horror film, and then right there –at the ‘I know how this one is going to end..!!’ moment , its pulls the rug underneath you feet , revealing the dark underbelly of human filth, and you are trapped.. with no where to go, you feel cheated and you hate yourself and the director for taking you to the places this film takes you.
Surprisingly, even after all that’s been said and done, the film actually ends on a bitter sweet note and has a very uplifting ending. Unfortunately I am still not in a state where I can call it a good film or a bad film, I can’t , this movie will still take some time to sink in.. So I am just sharing my first thoughts on it , I knew I was up for a lousy Sunday and things cant get any worse.. well to hell with Martyrs.. I still had a bottle of beer and another film left and this one looks like a softcore.. William Defoe is there in it, he can do stuff like this, didn’t he do Madonna in Body of Evidence.. so lets check it out.

Who would have known that a bottle of beer and a film later I would be devastated beyond all comprehensions?

19th Sep 2009, Saturday
2300 hrs
4 shots of Tequila
2 Bottles of Beer later.



Antichrist

A Couple of years ago me and my cousin were having our weekend boys night , as one of Beyonce song popped up on Mtv, My cousin who masquerades as a heavy metal follower, in his drunken stupor , admitted , that he loves watching Beyonce, not because of her music, but because she is beautiful and has a really nice ..ummm.. how do i say this.. Back Side..!! and then he started going on and on about the object of his affection ..then he paused, he looked at me with broad gleaming eyes and spoke as if he was making an epiphany , “ No matter how beautiful her arse is, it still makes shit like everyone else..!!” then he paused and added- as Beyonce Booties filled up the screen of my Television, “Can you believe something so beautiful can do something so disgusting” very philosophical indeed.
I get his point now.
People who know Lars Von Trier will also know that he almost single handedly kicked of Dogma95 movement in film making. The acclaimed Danish film maker who have done films like Breaking the Waves, Dogville and Dancer in the Dark- now if you are informed about his body of work there are two important things you will be aware of, he is a minimalist and his films usually contains explicit sexual contents.. and that’s What AntiChrist DVD Cover art leads you to believe, and also delivers, but then what you don’t know is that this film, also is a solid character study, border lining avant grade, Another thing which I felt was that people will be vocal about this film, they will either like it a lot or they will detest it and call it misogynistic, but the reaction to this will be very strong.
First things first- this is not a horror film, not even close, it is , like I said earlier, a character driven drama with a some moments of solid suspense. The film have got only 2 actors and whenever there are incidental characters in a scene, they don’t have any faces.
The film is structured in chapters (very similar to Dogville) with a total of four Chapters, and prologue and epilogue.
The film starts with a couple (Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe) are making love as there toddler falls to death from the fourth floor, The couple trys to deal with the loss but wife is having a very difficult time in getting over the death of there child and she is becoming manic depressive, he is a therapist so he decides to take charge and finds that his psycho therapy sessions with his wife are also acting as his catharsis as he is able to distract himself from his sons death and focus on his wife.
As a part of the therapy, both of them travel to Eden , the cabin they have in the woods, in order to spend time there while she recovers from her grief, but things only get worse.
Now that you know , there are only two characters in the film, what you can be sure of is that there will be no Billy Zane accidentally driving down/sailing down to there cabin and throwing a spanner in the proceeding, if you are expecting a CG Ghost hidden in the basement of the cabin , you cant be more wrong- this just isn’t that type of a film, heck there is not a single jump scare, instead this film relay more on the atmosphere and the mood, the fear of impending doom, the whole anticipation and the built up, this one here is a slow burner,it takes its own time in establishing the characters and there individual emotional and physical journey . The suspense exists on a different level- it happens through what you know about our characters, and as the movie proceeds and you know more about them the more suspense ensues, the wife loves her husband, is manic depressive, she is scared of nature, she has been doing a thesis in genocide- the husband is equally grief struck, he is concerned about his wife, he discontinues her therapy with other doctor and takes charge of the situation, the more he gets involved in her therapy the more he drifts away from her, the line blurs between his relation and his profession. Added to this, the forest and the nature around them itself keeps becoming menacing and foreboding, you know something bad is going to happen, you don’t know when- and when it does, it goes all the way.
Rarely you will see a film where the nature plays a character (and I am not talking Ronald Emmirich movies featuring Natural disaster ) there are no flash flood, torrential rain or Volcanic eruptions. The nature here means what’s around us and what’s inside us.
Nature is the real villain in this film and cinematography is the real Hero.
When you are making a film with just two actors, you need to be very careful with whom you cast (look what happened to Vinyan) and Lars Von hits the nail on the head, the casting of Charlotte Gainsbourg , brings a lot of vulnerability to the character when its needed, and she is equally compelling when she looses it towards the end. William Defoe, underplays and completes the spectrum that the director wanted to paint.

This is not a sort of film I will advice you to go and watch immediately, This is not a film for everybody, although I am against spoiler warnings but in this particular case , I will strongly advice you to do some reading about it before you actually go and see it. The only reason this film is worth seeing is to understand that films like this can also be made, and how (and I mean it in a good way).

Both the films discussed above are difficult films , so I strongly advice you to watch it on your own discretion, otherwise you will spend one day just recovering from the hangover that they will give you, symptoms of which are as follows :
Loss of appetite
Headache
Inability to laugh at Jokes
Inability to Crack Jokes
Being scared stiff, every time your wife appears infront of you.

Enjoy.

Guess who is Back..!!

Hah... Back Finally, I am sorry for my long absence, But its better late than never..Isn't it.??, so although this image may not look much, and this is obviously not the first illustration i have done with this theme(1930, Mob, Gangster, Mafia) but this is the first one in which i have caricatured my colleagues to pose as one. Do care to comment.
Cheers

Oh just in case you are wondering why its called "insane CT" , C&T is the department i am working for, its expanded to Content and Training.. :)

WTF 3..!!

Recently we decided to have our lunch in a food court of a famous shopping mall, located at a stone throw distance away from our office, after we were handed over the lunch we realized the irony in context of what they preach and what they practice..here you can see one of my colleague holding his lunch in a plastic platter and right behind him, you can see a small sign that says "Save Earth, reduce the use of Plastic"..i mean W the F..!!

What Goes Around, Comes Around.

Of all the things that scares the living daylight out of me (including heights) the biggest nightmare comes from what is called Nosocomephobia (fear of Hospitals), I hate visits to local clinics and hospitals, the smell of phenol and spirit makes me nauseated , maybe thats why I keep postponing my trips to the hospital even when I am in a really bad shape, I instead try to opt for self treatment – how bad things could be, I mean, if you have fever ,you can counter it with a Crocin or a Paracetamol tab let, bad stomach, you can face it off with Eno, Pudinhara , Diagene, Lopamide or Dipendol, you have barf attack and you have Stemetil for that, for Pain you have Brufane and for common cold there is another set of medication that you can buy without prescription from you local medical shop..So if I look at my medical history, Its only once in past 8 years that I had to make a trip to hospital or even to a local clinic - which I see as quite an achievement.

4 years ago, on my way back to my home from my office, in Hyderabad, I met with an accident, no bones broken, only a couple of bad bruises and a swollen leg..i treated it my self, it took me a month to walk and took another month to loose the limp, but I was allright- Yes Sir..!! I was..!! No doctors, no medication this time again..self help and my determination got me back on my feet , for four years , I used to boast to people about how good I am at survival..not knowing that one day the tables will turn on me and this phobia that I have, is going to do a full circle and bite me on my arse..

I had this reoccurring pain in my lower back and leg for quite a while, I kept passing it off as a usual strain, something that is a reciprocal action of my sitting posture, and once in a while when that pain became excruciating, I will take a pain killer and forget about it, until last week, when the Pain became so much that I was not able to concentrate, sit, stand for few seconds without shifting weight from one leg to another, the pain was so high and so concurrent that it made me cringe and left me with fever, so I figured, another trip to the hospital is in order..the first doctor I saw, regarding this was a physician, who saw the swelling on my ankle, threw his hands up in the air, frowned and told me that I should go to a Orthopedist instead..well I had no choice but to follow his advice and therefore there I was , the next day, holding my breath, gripping my chair with fear ..sitting in front of the Orthopedist , he started his examination, and then it went on forever..he will twist my leg in the most awkward way and ask me if it hurts and I will think to my self that why the hell not, I mean he should try doing it to himself and he would know wether it hurts and how bad it hurts, but then being a gentleman that I am, I braved all his nifty little tricks he did using my leg, with a straight face..and then he tells me he will need my blood sample, now this gave me the heebee jeebees ..as I have always assumed , that when you venture into a orthopedic ward ,you are asked for a x-ray , blood test some how doesn't fits the picture..
As the fate will have it, I am being diagnosed with a thing called Sciatica -The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that travels from the low back through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg.
The vast majority of people who experience sciatica get better with time (usually a few weeks or months) and find pain relief with non-surgical sciatica treatment. For others, however, sciatica can be severe and debilitating.
It turns out, I belong to the second category of individuals..serves me right, now that I look back in time, I have overlooked the earlier symptoms, paid no heed to the warnings, and in order to avoid a few trips to hospital , I have put my self in a situation where I will need to make a lot many such trips, I will be on high dose of Dexrabeprazole Sodium and Indomethacine for a very long time now, and this list of medication is only going to grow.. I have no idea , how long is it going to take me to completely recover from this situation, the prescribed painkiller are not effective, the pain never goes away,so much so that now I get a feeling that when , one day I will get back to normal, I am going to miss it (the pain)..as it has become so much of a part of me now.

Also looking at the brighter side, I think in next couple of months I will be able to over come the biggest of my fears , as I have quite a few trips to Hospital lined up..Well, there I have learned the lesson the hard way, and the reason I shared this in the blog is , to impart some wisdom to the readers who think they are invincible :) and are above the prescribed medication..trust me we are not, we are humans weekend by our mortality and vulnerability, so the next time you experience anything out of ordinary, that lasts longer than you expected it to- make sure you make a quick trip to the local clinic instead of burying it for so long that it rises it head like a phoenix.

Mumbai Meri Jaan : Visual methphors one on one

Among the usual barrage of thrash and pulp cinema that is produced in our country, every year after year, once in a while a little gem comes out and goes un-noticed, its like fishing in the deep ocean, most of the time you will catch a lot of sardines, but then if you wait long enough – you might end up hooking a Tuna,
and this is turning out to be a good year as there had been more than a couple of Tuna's- starting with Mithya, Via Darjeeling, Shaurya, Aamir to name the few, but this month, mid monsoon, the years biggest catch came along in form of Mumbai Meri Jaan..i can go on and on about the film, but for the first time in this year, I actually concur with all that has been written by the critique about this film..therefore instead of the review, I thought of something else, once I was done watching this film, I pulled out the little blue notebook that I have, and started the movie all over again..only this time pausing it in the middle every now and then and taking notes on it..and what I saw the second time was even more profound than the first time,This film is laced with brilliant Visual Metaphors ..few very explicit and few very subtle. Following is the list of all that I was able to catch (I am sure there would be a few more which I missed)
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But before you read up any further, let me forewarn you about the spoilers , so if you haven't seen this film and you are planning to see it any time soon..now will be a good time to click on column on images displayed on the right (your right) side of this page which will take you to my Flickr photo stream.
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****SPOILERS*****

1. Once the blast in the local train happens, you can see a body fly in the air and hit a pillar with the number 7/11 on it.

2. When the colleagues of Rupali (Soha Ali Kahan)come to her place after the death of her fiancée, the scene starts with their (all three of them including Rupali) reflection on the television screen in her living room(Rupali works as a news correspondent for a Television channel). Later when Rupali agrees to become a part of the report that the channel is planning to highlight her loss, the TV executives shake her hands and stand up, you can see Rupali's face reflecting on the floor on which both the executives step on as they are walking out of the house.

3. After Kadam(Vijay Murya) is warned by his senior officer, right after he has arrested the couple doing drugs, Kadam walks out of the police station, Tukaram(Paresh Rawal) follows him out- in the next shot, you can see Kadams reflection in the rear view mirror of a vehicle as he walks away, the scene acknowledges the frustration kadam is going through as Kadams reflection looks framed, indicating that his life is restrained, the four side of the rear view mirror doubles up as a two dimensional jail Kadam is living in .

4. Suresh (Key Key Menon) a racist, is shown wearing a T-shirt with NAZI symbol printed on it, the scene goes on to show how ignorant and single dimensional Suresh is as on one side he maintains that there is only one religion that is responsible for all the violence in the world, he himself wears a T-shirt, the symbol on which reminds you of the army, which became infamous because of there atrocities at the time of 2nd World war..and wanted to rule the world.

5. When Nikhil(R.Madhvan) has a dream in which he sees his apartment blowing up because of the gas leak, right after the explosion, as Nikhil is lying injured on the floor, you can see he is not able to use one of his hand, just like his friend who was in the first class compartment when one of the serial bomb exploded in the train, and Nikhil's friend looses his arm.

6. After the Tamil coffee vendor(Irfan Khan) realizes his mistake after witnessing a senior citizen almost loosing his life due to the prank played by him( Hoax phone calls).The coffee vendor is taken over by guilt and he goes home, while the same news is playing on Television, he takes the lamp and directly looks into the light and then breaks down completely, the scene is very straight forward and shows that the coffee vendor saw the light (redemption) in the darkness (helplessness, hatred and guilt) that surrounds him.

7. When Suresh gets picked up by Tukaram in the police van, you can see his face reflecting in the window glass right behind Tukaram, bringing forth the dualism in Suresh's personality, cause just few seconds earlier, the scene establishes Suresh wearing a NAZI T-shirt, also the same scene again uses Forced Perspective to juxtapose Suresh reflection with Tukaram's face ,reckoning two entirely different faces of humanity.


This are the few of metaphors I was able to notice, feel free to add anything that I have missed once you have seen the film.

Indian Noir

Noir Cinema is a quasi genre whose roots can be traced back to German Expressionist Cinema in the late 1930's..before i elaborate on the Noir , lets try and understand what does German Expressionism really stands for-- In the earlier times, the film making used to be a very controlled process, the production mostly taking place within the confines of studio, the final film therefore used to be extremely polished and glossy, Post world war 1 Hollywood film makers decided to take the films outside the studio and shoot them on a higher budget, making them even more extravagant, Germany at the same time, was trying to recover from the Economic slump that was created due to the war and was finding it hard to match up to the high standards set by their Hollywood counterparts, therefore, in order to counter balance the threat from Hollywood Cinema the German film makers created a niche for them selves, the kind of films that were done on low budgets, shot in low key lighting,dark and moody, having abstract sets which gave a very surreal feel to the shebang ; The Cabinet of Dr Calligiri (1920) and "The Last Laugh (1924)" were the earlier example of German Expressionism , These films also became known for there unconventional story and themes which dealt with dark subjects as Death, Insanity, betrayal and Lust (as opposed to the conventional action adventure or romantic films from that era) . Later when the 2nd World War started , lot of the directors and technicians from Germany migrated to Hollywood and started working there, with Hollywood producers and Hollywood Scripts, adding there original elements that they carried over from Germany, to the usually sordid Hollywood, giving birth to a completely new style of films called Noir.
Noir films are usually recognized by few following elements :
They have low key lighting, hard shadows, and the light and smoke play a integral part in the texture of the film, also the composition and shots are dramatically taken, usually low angles, canted frames, and tight closeups.
The narrative of this type of films is rarely linear, and it involves time line jumps , Flashback and dream sequences
The Character in these sort of film dont follow any structured ethics or moral integrity and every character is driven by his/her selfish motives
The presence of a femme-fatal , if not omnipresent is very common in such genre.
The tone of the film is essentially downbeat, dark and gritty

Noir is a genre which has become very popular in the America and Europe and it has been explored a lot of times, while in India, its a genre which still has to gain recognition, therefore in this column i have decided to explore few films that may classify as Indian Noirs (although they were never intended to be a noir but the plot points, themes and values in the story, although unintentional, has resulted them in classified under the category of noir films), so here it goes :


1.CID (1956) Dir :Raj Khosla
This Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman starrer is probably the first taste of Noir film that Indian audience got, dark, brooding and atmospheric, it follows a Police officer investigating a crime and later himself getting implicated for the same, beautifully shot by Anwar and Murthy, this remains one of the best in the genre.



2.KalaPani (1958) Dir :Raj Khosla
Another Dev Anand starer directed by the same person who helmed the earlier film, this film was based on AJ Cronins book called 'Beyond this Place', this film is about a man who is falsely implicated for a crime he never committed and his son's (who is a lawyer) crusade to prove his father innocent, although not as dark and atmospheric as CID this film is still able to stand on its two feet , this films crosses genres between Court room Drama and a crime thriller..and get it right.



3.Kanoon (1960) Dir : B.R.Chopra
While visiting a german film festival , B.R.Chopra was told that Indian films 'consist nothing but songs' so B.R.Chopra took it on himself to make a film without any song and he made Kanoon, a character driven crime drama with no protagonist..its about a hotshot public attorney who witnesses his own father in law ,who is a judge, committing a murder and having another not so innocent man framed for the same crime, things become more complicated when the public attorney have to defend the same guy who got framed for the charge in a case thats being presided by his own father in law (the judge), morals versus ambition, relationships versus deceptions, this film weaves a complex and multi layered tale of 5 character with immaculate precision.



4.Thikana (1987) Dir :Mahesh Bhatt
A hard boiled film with amazing performances all around Smita Patil , Anil Kapoor ,Amrita Singh, Anupam Kher and Suresh Oborai, Mahesh Bhattcreated a film which was so dark and atmospheric that you will want to take a shower after you are done watching it, layer after layer, twist after twist, it follows two different stories, one involving a sting operation gone terribly wrong and another one of a down and out alcoholic lawyer , both these stories merges seamlessly, this film doesn't looses steam, and pulls no stops..an absolute noir in all its glory.



5.Kabzaa (1988) Dir :Mahesh Bhatt
A semi noiristic film starring Sanjay Dutt, Raj Babbar, Paresh Rawal and Amrita Singh, was another shot by Mahesh Bhatt in directing a noir, but due to the failure of his earlier film, he figured that the Indian audience are still not ready for something as downbeat and dark as Thikana, so he made few alteration to his story to suit Indian taste, therefore this movie which could have been one of India's most profound entry in this genre, remains to be a revenge drama for most of its runtime, still you cant disregard the fact that there are lot of noir elements in it..predictably enough this film went on and became a hit , while i find Thikana to be a much better film..this film also proved that Sanjay Dutt performance in Naam wasnt just a fluke and also became a take off film for a very talented and gifted actor called Paresh Rawal.



6.Khoj (1989) Dir :Keshu Ramsey
A copy of a TV film called 'One of my Wife is Missing" , this one is a strange film, cause all through out the film its plays out like a Noir and with one final twist in the end , it turns into mystery film..which ever way, this Rishi Kapoor and Nasiruddin Shah starrer still makes a compelling watch which should not be missed by anybody.




7.Parinda (1989) Dir :Vidhu V chopra
A very strong entry in the genre, It was one of the earliest realistic portrayal of gangsters in Indian cinema, a film which treads the razor sharp edge that separates commercial films from the art house films, the film has gained popularity as a gangster film, which is not true, this is Noir at its best, amazing performances all around, this is a poignant film that explores the underbelly of Indian (read Mumbai) Crime world and manages to add some white the the blackest of the characters in the story, this one is a slow burner, very bleak and downbeat..and thats what makes it such a amazing film.



8.Aar Ya Paar (1997) Dir :Ketan Mehta
This films packs almost all the elements that defines a Noir, simply put- this film is about bad people doing bad things and worse happing to them, morals and innocence fly's out of the window in this story of crossing ,double crossing, multiple crossing, the films borrows heavily from a James Hadley Novel and few other films like 'The Postman Only Rings Twice' and 'Dial M for Murder' this is typical B grade pulp at its best.



9.Kaante (2002) Dir :Sanjay Gupta
Possibly one of the most highly anticipated film of all time, part Reservoir Dog , Part Usual Suspect and since both of the original sources were noirs, this one cant be anything else
stylish, slick and technically well executed film , although its flawed but still its always a fun to watch such ensemble cast have a good time.



9.Footpath (2003) Dir :Vikram Bhatt
Another under rated film, mostly inspires 'State of Grace' with a few other film, this movie i am sure would have looked very good on paper, but with the shoestring budget and inexperienced cast and director this film is never able to rise above the occasion and instead ends up undermining itself, all said and done this is still a Noir which could have been done really well..but it is still worth a watch for someone who is exploring this genre in Indian Films.



11.Jism (2003) Dir:Pooja Bhatt
If film was a wine then it should be Jism cause the aged it is the better it will taste, Pooja Bhatt goes behind the camera for the first time and introduces two new comers to the industry, the raw chemistry between the two protagonists , the sexual tension- is a character in itself in the film, loosely based on Double Indemnity, this film uses a very original location by setting the film in Pondicherry, the heat, humidity and sweat only adds to the film which is already hot.



12.Musafir (2004) Dir: Sanjay Gupta
A copy of U Turn, this one is easiest to be classified as a noir since it blatantly rips off one, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor and Sameera Reddy starrer, does well ripping a orignal content and tearing it to shreds , in a good way..U-Turn was never a great film, so Musafir although if not worse, is equally bad, but its bad in a good way, low on content and high on style..the film, never takes it self too seriously and doesnt trys too hard to be something its not, and therefore instead of a film which is actually a noir it ends up looking like a spoof of a Film Noir.



13.Ek Hasina Thi (2004) Dir :Sriram Raghvan
This is a little gem, although it borrows a few plot points from a film by Chan woo Park's 'Sympathy for Lady Vengeance' , it has enough originality to stand on its own two feet, lovely performances by the two leads (Urmila Matondkar and Saif Ali Khan) and very well supported by the supporting cast, this film puts a completely new spin on the 'Damsel in Distress' formula cause here the damsel rebounds..a must watch for who ever likes there thriller with a dash of noir.



14.Manorama Six Feet Under (2007) Dir : Navdeep Singh
Partly inspired by "Chinatown" still has enough originality, based on dry deserted backdrop of Rajisthan, this film is a Noir and it knows it, intricately woven plot , deals with the themes of deception, infidelity and betrayal and the best part of all is, it adopts Noir elements to very rustic indian sensibilities, you dont have people dressed in overcoat and flat hats smoking cigarettes and blowing puffs of smoke, instead you get very real and Indian character caught reluctantly in situation none of them want to be in, laced with brilliant performances all around by all the cast..this is a noir that is true to the soil.



15.Jhonny Gaddar (2007) Dir : Sriram Raghvan
When 'Ek Hasina thi' released, everybody thought that there is no way Sriram Raghvan would be able to supersede this and then he made Jhonny Gaddar, one of the best entires in the genre, wonderful and tightly woven script, and a remarkable debut by Neil Nitin Mukesh as an anti hero just sets the bar high for all other thrillers, very noir-ish the other most remarkable thing about this film is its ability to pay homage to various material without becoming a spoof..this film has everything it takes to become a cult classic.



16.Woodstock Villa (2008) Dir :Hansal Meheta
A wannabe Noir, its the lamest movie in this whole list, a half hearted direction to a half backed script couldn't result in a work of art, but this film manages to set standards for 'bad films' , the director seems bored, the actress seems bored, most of the supporting cast seems bored..if anyone seems to be making any effort in the film is the protagonist (Sikander Kher) and because of his sincere effort he stands out like a sore thumb in the whole circus..the film tries to redeem it self with one final twist in the end , but by then its already too late.



17.Mithya (2008) Dir :Rajat Kapoor
There is no better way to end the list but by listing the best of the lot, Mithya is a labour of love and it shows, the performances by the cast, the screenplay, the dialogs, the cinematography and the direction but what takes this film a notch higher than all the other films in this list is its unpredictability, it never lets you sit back and think to yourself that you have it all figured out, it has twists, but the twists are introduced to take the story forward..unlike the times where the whole film is based on one twist in the end, which forces you to change you perspective, its good but its cheating , as all through out the film you are seeing the film differently..those kind of twist are like a Duex-ex-machine, where as in Mithya the twist are as much part of the character development as much as the story is..A noir in its full glory.

The Following films are also worthy mention in the list
1. Bees Saal Baab (Raj Khosla)
2. The Train (Ravikant Nagaich)
3. Kudrat(Chetan Anand)
4. No Smoking(Anurag Kashyap)
5. Satya (Ram Gopal Verma)

To Draw or not to Draw that is the question..!!

Please don't take me to be a pervert of some sort but one question has always bothered me while practicing anatomy...errrr...how do i deal with the..um..there is no easy way to say it..so i will just blurt it out..HOW DO DEAL WITH DRAWING GENITALS !!! while drawing a male or female anatomy..I do understand the necessity to draw strategically and politically correct poses, but its too hard to hit bulls eye all the time,so While i safely avoid drawing certain parts of human anatomy..the end result seems to have something missing, and if i draw those parts..it looks too explicit..!! So,i am always in a dilemma and every time my pencil reaches below the waist (of my drawings...obviously).. i gasp, understanding the predicament i am about to get my self into.., the exprianced artist have the ability to make everything look good cause they have a very clear and sound understanding of aesthetics, but for an ameture like me, aesthetics are the last thing on the mind, getting the muscles right is primary and the foremost thing, How on Earth shall i deal with this situation I need some help from all you co- blogger who keep scanning my blog, Kamal, Chandan,Naresh, Safdar,Jesu ..anyone..!!

Bouncing back

Past few months had been real difficult, not that i am dealing with a family crisis or anything, its the feeling of being creatively drained out, inability to take a pencil and draw something, even the doodles are unsatisfactory,looking at a sheet of blank paper gets me tired and exasperated,the whole photography gear starts to look like a bad investment and although there are films to watch,i just watch them like a turnip,i dont enjoy them, i end up watch them to kill time.., the overpowering feeling of absolute voidness, how hard you try to overcome,reverts back as a quicksand you are stuck in and keeps dragging you down.
A few years early, this used to get me in a state of panic.. but i have gotten wiser with time and assessed that this condition is like an influenza or viral infection that surfaces twice every year..now i do not panic , i just let it overcome me..and while i am in a state of recluse, i spend time reading..and gradually it withers away, i have come to realize that the only way to bounce back is to hit the rock bottom..and the harder i try to get out of this patch the more i am delaying my recovery..so here is me bouncing back..










PS : i owe a lot to Mr.Siju Thomas , whom i have never met in person but whose drawings have always been a source of inspiration.

Jaani Dushman :Ek Anokhi Kahani

A film way ahead of its time..
In the year 2002, India got a chance to witness revival of a genre, a genre called Raj Kumar Kohili, If you are aware of the name then you will already know what i am talking about but those of you who aren't, let me take you a couple of decades back in time, and remind you of multistarrer blockbusters like Nagin(1976), Jaani Dushman(1979), Raj Tilak(1984) and Bees Saal Baad(1988)..there was a time when this name was a synonym to hard hitting thought provoking and yet entertaining films, these films have broken new grounds in Indian Cinema and taken it to places where it had never been before..RajKumar Kohli gave us our first (and probably the only) Warewolf movie, he also gave us the haunting of the beautiful undead woman whose hands can stretch for miles if someone visits her 'Haveli' and asks her for a hammer ( the concept that got incorporated as remote control in present day)..above all Rajkumar Kohili marked the arrival of supernatural and monster movies, which had been a forte of Ramsey brothers until those times..Rajkumar Kohili introduced the elements of supernatural and horror to the mainstream indian audience and managed to get the top stars work for him in those films..among few most memorable scene that he directed ,was a song from film Nagin(1976) in which Jeetendra(his half naked self) and Reena Roy are introduced to the audience as a shape shifter (Ikchadhari Nag) couple, singing and dancing before they start to consummate (in india its a ritual to sing and dance before you consummate, thats why we have such grand marriages,where everyone dances) and where Jeetendra exudes more sensuality than the female protagonist(Reena Roy). This film came at a time when we thought being happy and Gay is the same thing.
Also its hard to forget the transformation scenes in Jaani Dushman(1979) where the most hairy person in the cast (Raza Murad) turns into a hairy monster at the sight of his bride dressed in Red..and that was the earliest visual metaphor in films ever to grace the silver screen(a hairy man turns into another hairy man when he sees Red..get it).





And then with such brilliant films, he got lost in time, trying to launch his Sons career, and then relaunch it..and then launch it again, and then change the name of his son and launch him one more time. Proving him self to be one of the most doting father in the industry. The career of his son,however, even after his relentless efforts never took off and a decade passed, and then in 2002 a miracle happened..a miracle called Jaani Dushman :Ek Anokhi Kahani ..and this came as a reboot to the quasi franchise of A-grade supernatural flick..and what a comeback it was, a absolute home run..Jaani Dushman (2002) is and will remain a modern classic, a avant grade cinema. A film that challenges every convention and breaks it, a film thats so scary that there are times when you have to turn away from the screen and mute the sound in order to be able to comprehend the ongoing, a film so scary that through out the films i advice you to keep repeating the words,"Its only a movie" to yourself..by the time the movie ends, you are breathless and you just sit there in awe of what you have just witnessed, staring at the screen with your jaws on the floor and yearning for more. A brilliant Star cast, a most original story, amazing dialogs and groundbreaking special effects..it was a shame that the committee who chooses the film to be send to Academy Awards got it all wrong again and instead of Jaani Dushman the ended up sending the lame Devdas(2002).



Now for the story : from a very distant future, a shape shifting Cyborg (Cybernetic Organism :a Robot in Human tissue) is send back , way back in time : and i am talking about the time when Maharashtra had snow capped mountains in winters and it used to look something like the Grand Canyons in Summers..this robot is not just any ordinary Robot..its a much advanced version of T-1000 (Terminator-2) and T-X(Terminator-3) as T-1000 and T-X had there limitations while morphing, this one can also morph into complex mechaines and gadgets..it also has an upgraded attachment that lets him walk on water, so back in 200 AD this Robot (named Kapil- played with amazing restrain by Arman Kohili )ends up falling in love with Vasundhra(Manisha Koirala) and as they are going through the pre-consummating ritual (i already mentioned in India people wear colorful clothes and do some freestyle dancing which pumps the blood pressure and does them good for the real action to follow). In order to execute the carefully co-ordinated dance steps with extreme precision, there continues and relentless thumping and stomping breaks the ground underneath their feets (thats why avant Garde, cause it means ground breaking cinema and this one literally breaks the ground) and they fall on top of a sage(Amrish Puri : hard to recognize under the amazing prosthetic and makeup work) meditating underneath : the sage angered by their juvenile behavior puts a curse on them, which would lead to Vasundhra's death just as the sun sets..and so it happens. Upset from his beloveds death, Kapil decides to morph into a Banyan Tree, waiting for his beloved Vasundhra to be re-incarnated. Cut to present day in one of the most affluent collages of Mumbai, where a gang of 40 something are doing there 2nd year of graduation in some stream which we are never told.. this gang of 40 (years old) something includes the likes of Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Aditya Pancholi, Aftab Shivdasani, Rambha, Rajat Bedi, Sharad Kapoor, Siddhart, Sonu Nigam and oh yes Mainsha Koirala (Divya:the reincarnated Vasundhra). the Collage only have one person staff, the Principal Joseph(Raj Babbar) who is a one man army as he teaches, specializes in parapsychology, and presides over Boxing matches..this is also the collage where the girls take their showers together (mmmmm ;) )and where a student is allowed to carry a gun to the collage and wave it around infront of his principal with elen.. Divya's Boyfriend Karan Saxena( Sunny Deol in an intense performance) is a pass out from the same collage..before you know Divya makes contact with Kapil and faces a dilemma every Indian girl is scared of ; whether to choose her lover from the present time or whether to choose her lover from previous birth who has been waiting for her for a few centuries . And before she is able to make up her mind she is raped by two of her classmates (Slimy Rajat Bedi and obnoxious Siddhart)..and eventually commits suicide. Now here i will like to pause for a moment and discuss the dialogs laced with sheer brilliance:
Just before the goons attempts to molest Divya for the first time (oh yes they attempt it twice, succeeding only the second time.)

Divya : Tum log kisi ki izzat nahin kartain..!!?? (you people don't respect anybody)
Bad Guy : Aree agar sabki izzat karangey to lootaingey Kiski (if we respect everybody then whose respect are we going to steal).

Believe me my friends this dialogs has a ability to gain the same amount of colloquial usage as Sholay's dialogs, and before you know every rapist in the country will be using the same lines before he attacks his victim.


or the intense exchange of words that Divya has, as she sits , bleeding to death and the rest of the gang arrives.

Diya : Mai tum logon ko Kabhi Maaf Nahin Karoongi
Akshay : Tum hum pe aisa Jhoota ilzaam nahin laga sakti
Sonu : Haan Akhir Hamne Kiya Kya Hai.
Sunil : Blah Blah Blah
Aditya : Blah Blah Blah
Divya :Blah Blah Blah Blah

And the whole gang stands there arguing and explaining themselves and it occurs to no one to call the ambulance therefore Divya dies in the Arms of Kapil who just waltz into the location dressed up like R.N. Tagores Shakuntala, but just before she dies, Divya makes Kapil swear that he will revenge her death from the whole gang (obviously: whatever chances of survival she had were meticulously negated by the gang as they decided to argue and explain their stance in the situation leading to Divya's rape..instead of calling for an Ambulance, therefore becoming partner in crime).

The rest of the film follows Kapil methodically dispatching the members of the gang one by one in few of the most inventive death scene indian audience has ever seen, few deaths includes one of them getting French kissed by an anaconda, another one (Arshad Warsi)getting electrocuted and while a couple of hundred watts of electricity is running through his body, he also makes a benediction and bids a final adieu to all his friend ,(Arshad Warsi ironically played a character called Circuit in another movie), then there is a death by getting bashed with a motorcycle on the head.

the credit to use the cast so immaculately also goes to the director, as all the characters are so well etched, and they never do anything outside the parameters of the characters they play

Akshay Kumar- the atheist who carries gun to the collage, and plans parties to get over the death of the dying crew.
Sunil shetty- angry individual who is so violent that in every dialogs of his, he either talks of breaking bones or killing someone.
Arshad Warsi- the wisecracking guy..who always tells jokes so much so that he doesn't even have a orignal line in the film.
Aftab shivdasani- the poor lover boy who keeps getting beaten to pulp.
Aditya Pancholi : the Rich spoilt brat who carrys 50,000 bucks in his pocket and is always dressed in a coat in sweltering heat of Mumbai..and is very scared of water
Sonu Nigam : actually does nothing until the end where he gives out girlie shrieks proving to all the other producers that he is equally capable of doing female playback singing..as much as he is of doing male playback
Sunny Deol : he plays himself (angry, grunting, bringing down the police station with his red bull power punches)

Besides them there are also cameo appearances by Johnny Lever, Dinesh Hingoo, Atul Agnihotri and Aman Verma..all of whom plays equally important part in taking the story forward.



The special Fx department has done a steller job as well by morphing, exploding and levitating the stuff where ever its needed and even in those places where it wasn't needed..creating visuals that are so amazing that it will difficult to outdo them for any one in a very long time to come.
This brings us to Arman Kohli playing Kapil who got launched probably the 4th time through this film, and as they say 4th time is the charm..he delivers and how, a performance propelled by sheer energy and brilliance..he gets the best and the most complex character(we are talking about a character with the ability to travel in time, morph into organic and inorganic forms, the character who is invincible and is out for revenge) to play in the film and Arman Kohli takes the character of Kapil and runs with it..he gets under the skin of the character so well that i cant think of any other example that even comes close to his performance, when it comes to method acting..the way he uses his eyes and his acting especially when is under going a transformation (he is a shape shifter..remember) is immaculate..there is a part where he transforms into a snake, for a moment there i thought he really is a snake, and that transformation into motorcycle, how can i forget that..Wow..!!

the film works at various levels..its a saga of love and redemption, its a powerful action flick..it also makes you think , what will you do if you if the things in this film have happened to you..how prepared are you to sacrifice for your love - will you become a tree, if someone you loved died, and wait for her/him for several centuries..!! or if you blow someone off with a RPG Launcher and then he comes back to life, what will you do..will you try and blow him again..!!?? or if a shape shifting cyborg from a distant future is after your life ,will you make an appearance publicly and perform a song and dance routine infront of a packed auditorium and keep your words to the sponsors , putting your life at stake for your morals and integrity ..

If there is ever going to be a movie of a millennium..this is it, unfortunately people just didn't get it at the time it was released, , but i can promise you that in times to come this will become a cult film and the screenplay might also get entered in Film Academy's Library.This film is India's answer to Terminators and Matrix and to every body who takes our films as complaisant films. Its a film which is a must for your collection..especially if your the kind of person who is into Drugs and Alcohol.
Do not miss it..........EVER..!!

Lawrence of Arabia : Ripped out my guts and strangeld me with it..and i loved it.

I have been a avid fan boy of horror films and i take pride in claiming that i have almost seen anything coming out of this genre be it slasher, supernatural, French new wave, J-horror, indie,italian giallo or grindhouse ,if you have heard of it, i have seen it- which has made me immune and sedate to on screen scares, jump out of seat moments and psychological tension..never in my wildest dream , i could have imagined i will find the best scare of my life in the most unlikely film, where Argento,Friedkin,Romero, Remi and Cravens has failed in last 10 years David Lean will accomplish that effortlessly..yup!! you heard it..i said David Lean, but more on that later.


Its rare now a days when you can walk into a film and allow the film to draw you in so bloody well that even hours after you walk out of it you keep seeing things in Technicolor, Lawrence of Arabia did just that for me ,for the whole runtime of 3 hrs 50 mins, i was in a state of trance, completely mesmerized..there wasnt a moment in the film when i took my eyes off the screen and the best part was i had this tingling sensation in my spine and goose pimple on more that one occasion. I would be lying if i say that this film caught me off guard (a film which ranks in the top 10 films ever made) so i was aware that i am in for something big and spectacular..but spectacular with so much heart, this is something i did not expect. Each frame (shot on Super 70 Pan Vision) of this film is a work of art. watching it is like watching a poetry in motion, the haunting music score by Maurice Jarre, the immaculate cinematography by Freddie Young and Art Direction by John Stohll is spot on. As for the director, well do i need to say anything, its David Lean for crying out loud, probably with his most ambitious film.
Based on the life of T.E.Lawrence this film adapts from two biographical sources "Revolt in the Desert" and "Seven pillars of Wisdom", the film is an account of how a British soldier(T.E.Lawrence played by the legendary Peter 'O' Toole ) lead Arab insurgents to revolt against Turks, the films cross weaves themas of espionage, friendship,leadership, survival,velor and reluctant heroism..but forget the story, the film is a visual delight..the vast desert landscapes and never ending mirages, the frames painted in hues of blue and reds, i have never ever seen any thing like this before and i dont think i will see it ever again and thats exactly what makes this film so special..it has dated so well , that even if you see it today it will hold on its own among all that thrash thats is produced ever year , masquerading as entertainment.
Those were the times my friend..when you didnt have visual effects and green screen so if there is a shot when an Air Craft flys a few feets from the ground bombing a camp as it goes..its really a Air Craft flying so low..or for instance when there is a hoard of people stepping out of there tents and getting ready to attack the Turkish army for the first time..its no crowd manipulation, and of course how can i forget the best of it..when a Locomotive derails..!!

Coming back to where i started..watch the sequence in which Lawarance, Sharif Ali and a troop of 50 men is crossing the Nefud desert..the journey is an 'edge of the seat with a lump in you throat affair'..it will rate in my "top 10 scary moments of all time" the way they have encompassed the seclusion and how it takes over a mans mind , is just beautiful..!!
Its a sort of film which can not be put together in words, i am finding it extremely hard to continue writing as i am falling short of superlatives and therefore bearing the risk of getting repetitive. But before i end here are few small trivia

• The film don't have a female lead, as a matter of fact it just doesn't has any actress other than those extras.
• Dilip Kumar was the first choice for the role of Sharif Ali which later went to Omar Sharif
• To film Omar Sharif's entrance through a mirage, 'Freddie Young (I)' used a special 482mm lens from Panavision. Panavision still has this lens, and it is known among cinematographers as the "David Lean lens".
• Peter O'Toole's performance as T.E. Lawrence is the #1 ranked performance of all time in Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

So for those of you who hasn't seen this film, buy a 29 inch television or anything bigger (if you don't have it ) and rent the film and watch this spectacle unravel, for those of you who have seen it when it was played on AXN..watch it again and for those of you who got a chance to see it in theater--- Grrrrr!!! I envy you..!!

Statutory Warning : Do not watch this film on any screen which is less than 29 inches.

WTF 2..!!

Yesterday, there was this major hit and run incident very close to our office, A car trying to make a U- turn was hit by another speeding car, the perpetrators didn't even slowed down ,hitting a Bajaj Pulser which was parked on the curb, while they tried to getaway..the other car went into a spin but fortunately enough, was able to pull over just in time without hurting any passer by.. By Indian standards its was a clean getaway for the guy driving the other car, as there wasn't a way that heat could have caught up to him..and by the time the victim got his composure back, they (the perpetrators) have gotten far far away..
But, here is the thing that elevates this particular incident from the other hit and run i have witnessed- the perpetrators somehow managed to leave there rear fender stuck to the victims car, to make things even worse..they managed to leave the rear fender behind with there license plate stuck on it..






Define Irony now..!!

WTF..!!

Now here you have a hot woman with word Silicon imprinted right next to her and an ISI symbol on the top..so i ask ..if there is any thing that remains implicit about it..!!??





Grrrrr...how on earth does that make sense..a plywood company called Silicon a marketing themselves using a well endowed female model..!!

Film Vocabulary

Film vocabulary is a collection of film, directors and Actors name and there meanings in the modern world, do feel free to add to the list. Maybe with your support we can publish the 2nd Volume of this list soon enough.

Picnic at Hanging Rock - Disappearing without a trace.

Heavens Gate - Miserable failure.

Thelma and Luise syndrome- Inability to complete a phrase or a sentence.

Mulholland Driveistic - extremely convulsed and complicated.

Memento-ish - Too difficult to remember or recollect, habit of forgetting things.

Glengherry Glenross - a very well written, non-pornographic literature with reoccurring explicit words mostly starting with the alphabet 'F' .

Bergman-ing- Choosing not to talk, staring at a void without blinking, going around doing your daily chores at half the usual speed.

Bogarting - Habit of lighting up a cigarette before you start a conversation and never smoke it.

Black Dahlia - A beautiful, intricate work of craft with someones shit all over it.

Jodha Akbar- Something that has a start but no end.

Audition-ing - Making a huge life altering mistake, getting married.

Diliveranced - Aftermath of your not being able to meet any given dead line at work

StarWars (Episode1)-ed - Somebody's beautiful ,intricate work of craft with his own shit all over it.

Last Tango in Paris - Having sex backwards.

Caligula- Somebody out with a death wish to die from AIDS

Titanic - A huge architecture (with some one naked on the top)

Bad Taste - Art of sallowing your own barf (also known as :doing a Baruah)

Brokeback Mountain - a condition in which a individual is a homosexual and doesnt knows it while everyone else in the world does.

Crying Game- A game in which you are suppose to shock your opponent out of his wits

Abhisheking - A condition in which a person doesnt talks, always frowns and scoff , tries hard to look like a cardboard cutout thinking all the here mentioned traits makes him look cool

10 films you must watch before you die..!!

I have put together a list of film which i have felt are probably the most original films ever made,who also have a very good entertainment value. Quite a few of my favorite films have not made to this list because either they were based on a book or were inspired by an actual event.
This list is also a compilation of top 10 films of world cinema, and i have put it together based on the little knowledge that i have on the subject matter and the films that i have seen,and how they have effected me .

So this list doesn't generalizes anything and its just the list of my personal favorites which i feel should be seen by people who are interested in watching quality films.


So here it goes......


1.

Chinatown (USA) -

Directed by Roman Polanski , the film redefined Noir, an exceptional film, multi layerd and complex this film is nothing short of brilliant, a killer screenplay by Robert Towne and beautifully acted by Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston.


2.

Children's of Heaven (Iran)

Directed by Majid Majidi, probably the simplest film ever made, People who think Tare Zameen pe and Masoom( Shekhar Kapoor) were sensitive..they must see this, the film totally depends on the interplay of the two protagonist which the child actors have pulled off with elen .


3.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Korea)

Directed by Chan-wook-Park whose more popular film is Old Boy and with Old Boy getting away with so much acknowledgment and focus.this little gem gets over shone by its predecessor ,which is a shame cause its is the strongest of three film in the Vengeance Trilogy ( Sympathy for Mr.Vengeance, Old Boy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance).


4.

Audition (Japan)

Directed by Takashii Mike, this film is a film which took Japan by a storm , starts out like a family drama/comedy later turning into what some calls Japan's answer to "Fatal Attraction", very Hitchcockian and still original in its own right.


5.

Man bites Dog (Belgium)

Directed by Rémy Belvaux & André Bonzel The film which set new trend in the convention of breaking the fourth wall, the mockumentary style of narrative, this dark comedy may sometime get very difficult to watch ,but this still remains to be a film which was way ahead of its time.


6.

Cinema Paradiso (Italy)

Although Guissipie Tornatore made a few other films which were widely accepted, this by far remains to be his best work till date , anyone who is in love with films and the whole craft will have no problem identifying with the central character and although on surface this looks like a coming of age film, its way more than that, probably one of the most satisfying cinematic experience.


7.

Blowup (UK)

Michelangelo Antonioni's first English Film and its a home run, so many films till today have tried to lift up the underlying themes of voyeurism and plot points from this one, but the original still outshines all of them..A timeless Classic thats what this one is.


8.

Seven Samurai's (Japan)

Its nearly impossible ,not to have this film in this list . since this is the film which put the Japanese Cinema on the world map, this film made in 1954 has aged like a wine with time and has actually become better. If you have reservations against watching a 3 hrs long foreign film done in Black and white and if you think its going to bore you out of your wits, you couldn't be more wrong..


9.

City of God (Brazil)

Directed by Fernando Meirelles this is a supernova of a film which explodes on the screen from the very first scene and hooks you,and then it plays backwards unveiling the chain of events that have lead to the opening sequence, the raw and agressive style of direction just compliments the story and keeps you riveted till the end credits start to roll.


10.

Dolace Vita La (Italy)

Federico Fellini probably started the trend of episodic film with interconnected stories with this one and though it was made in 1960 ,it still remains to be the best film with interpolated narratives of various stories,
the film is cold and poignant and leaves you awestruck once you are done watching it.



Following are worthy mentions who came real close to making to this list:

Blade runner (final Cut)
Amelie
Jamon Jamon
Fallen Angels
Rashamon
Dileverance
straw Dogs
2001 A Space Odessy
Funny Games

जिएंदा लाश मुर्दा आदमी ...!!

I have been absolutely and totally out of time for past several days due to increasing load of work, just didn't wanted to have a maiden week..so quickly did one today..just before we call it a day.

Haircut