Mysorean

This is how the queues were. Let me also post this photograph here. Courtesy: The Hindu, 11th June 2007 Chennai edition.

My wife got up at 7.30AM to try for tickets at Sathyam. Only one ticket was available for Friday – first day first show and two tickets for Saturday first show. That’s all. By 2 PM yesterday, the earliest show that you could book a solitary ticket for was for Thursday morning show.

All other theatres first three days were completely booked by 11 AM. If rumours are to be believed they have all been booked by fans associations and corporates.

And mind you, it is being released in 18 theatres across the city.

I got myself three tickets for Monday night show at Mayajaal! Yipeeee! Yay! Yo hooo!!!!

What better gift can the online world give me than a first page presence on a website like http://www.aol.in

Please click on the picture above to read the full article on the real Superstar.

Thank you all! :)

Bollywood blogs, AOL India

Yes, I will now be blogging at http://www.aol.in for their Bollywood blog which is here.

Everything else apart from Bollywood will carry on at Mysorean.com as usual.

Just thought of sharing this piece of news with you. Thanks for being there and giving me your feedback.

The sidebar here will get updated with every post I write at AOL to ensure you don’t miss them. Well, not that you will miss much if you miss reading them, but still… Thanks once again! :)

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My favourite movie for the last year ‘Rang De Basanti’ is out of the race for the Oscars in the “Best Foreign Feature Film” category.

‘Water’ is in the shortlist of the 9 films that will be considered for the nominations. It is still in the race for the final award. I don’t know why it is called a ‘surprise’ when they decided to shortlist ‘Water’ in this category. It was Canada’s official entry and if it wins the award I am sure everyone will pounce to take pride that it’s a movie made by an Indian with all Indian actors and all that. Right! But we just didn’t have the courage to release it in India.

I am waiting for January 23rd, when the nominations for the best song will be announced. A R Rahman has three songs in the race. Keeping my fingers crossed!

By the way, here is the review of ‘Guru’ by Richard Corliss for TIME magazine.

Fifty-six songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures are being considered in the Original Song category for the 79th Academy Awards®, it has been announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed here in alphabetical order.

On Tuesday, January 16, the Academy will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in both Beverly Hills and New York City. Following the screenings, members will vote to determine which three, four or five songs become nominees in the category.

Want to know why I am writing this here?
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We sent Paheli to the oscars last year ahead of a few classics like Black, Swades, Hazaaron khwahishen aisi and I showed my dissappointment here.

Keeping with the trend I thought they had pick Krrish, since the other two (Lage Raho Munnabhai and Rang De Basanti) were very good for the panel to decide.

Wisdom prevails. Rang De Basanti is picked. I wouldn’t have a problem with Lage Raho either but then RDB is also a good pick. Let’s hope it wins us an Oscar.

I am not getting into the argument as to why we should crave for recognition from the western world and all that. All I am saying is that, since we have sent an entry to the oscars, I am hoping it will win. Period.

Me and my in-laws have booked to go to satyam theatre for First day first show of “Sillunu oru kadhal“. If I am to go by what The Hindu says here, then I am doomed! It seems to be a gender-changed remake of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

Surprisingly, The Hindu contradicts itself.
1. The movie review has this to say about the music:
“Except the title song there is nothing great about the work of A.R.Rahman…”

2. Whereas in one of the write-ups on the music as soon as the album was released it said this:
“A.R. Rahman has made a fantastic comeback with the music of this movie…”

Anyways, let me decide for myself about the movie. I shall surely let you know tomorrow as to what I felt about it.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee died on 27th August 2006. A void in the film industry that cannot be filled has been created. If I call him one of the all-time best directors, I will not be wrong. Though the movies he made during ‘my’ time were largely innane and thoroughly out-of-sync with sensibilities of today, his earlier movies are some of the best that Indian cinema has ever seen.

Hrishi da, as he was popularly known, started his career as an assistant to the great Bimal Roy in “Do Bigha Zameen” in 1953. His first movie as director was “Musafir” in 1957 which was a multi-starrer of sorts for its time including Dilip Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Nirupa Roy and Nasir Hussain. Hrishi da was also a Story writer and an editor at various points in his career.

Hrishi da’s friendship with Raj Kapoor is stuff that legends are made up of now. Interestingly enough, Hrishi da himself turned into a legend by claiming that “Anand” – arguably, the best Hindi movie – was a depiction of the friendship between Raj Kapoor and him. To strengthen the myth further, ‘babumoshai’ was the name with which Raj kapoor used to call him. In my opinion, “Anand” is the best hindi movie I have ever seen. (The title of a famous song from this movie has been used as the title of this tribute)

Those who were in their schooldays and college days during the 1960′s and 1970′s remember Hrishi da with great reverence. In those days, Rajesh Khanna was the star. To make him wear short and bland-coloured kurtas and play a terminally ill young man is against every conceivable popular formula. But Hrishi da was known to be a director who went by the strength of his story and screenplay.

“Anari”, “Anupama”, “Satyakam”, & “Abhimaan” were few of his early classics that established his worth as a director of rare value. These movies (Abhiman for sure!) have attained cult status after their repeated telecasts on television.

Hrishi da went on to establish that he was the only director who could make and handle movies of any genre. He is considered to be the king of “clean comedies” and that is because of the movies like: “Bawarchi” (this movie was the inspiration behind the David Dhawan-Govinda “Hero No. 1″), “Chupke chupke” (unfortunately, this movie cannot be remade by anyone!), “Golmaal” (they have only used the name in the recent days, the class is incomparable) and “Khubsoorat” (Rekha’s inimitable performance) to name a few.

Hrishi da would handle the most complex relationships with ease and elan. He didn’t require elaborate setting and millions of dollars to make a movie look good and a hit. He relied on basics to make a movie succeed. Basics like good story and better screenplay with the best direction! Music always conveyed the emotions of the character in his movies.

Hrishi da was undoubtedly the master of the medium. He has worked with every star of every age over the past 50 plus years. From Dilip Kumar to Rajesh Khanna to Amitabh Bachchan to Dharmendra to Anil Kapoor. Everyone will vouch for his mastery over the medium. Hrishi da will be missed sorely by movie fans across the globe. Whoever has watched even a single movie of his will feel a tinge of sadness atleast on knowing of his passing away.

Hrishi da will continue to live in our hearts forever through the classics that he has left behind for us. Thanks Hrishi da.

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