Thought I will just type in "Mad Hoshi" and see whether that qualifies as a blog too.
Me going Mad about Madhoshi. Should I pronounce it Madosi, Madroshi, Madrasi Madhooshee. Man these accents are mad, really. More about my "Mad Hoshi" soon. Want to use this blog to talk about the experience of the recording sessions on the Salsa and Bachata song in Kottayam, Kerala.
As a sample, I just feel like writing some stuff(Not part of my film, but my attempt at being a lyricist!)
"Mein pehna tha Lungi,
Tab aayi ek Nangi ladki,
Usne bola "May I dance with you Sandy",
Meine bola, baby me no Salsa with Nangi Pangi ladkis..."
to be continued since my friend has come in and I am off from this cyber cafe!!!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The one-scene question
Act 1 Scene 1. Day/Street
Chatura: Who has the camera these days?
Ashu: Why d'you want to know?
Chatura: Just like that. I might want to shoot something...
Ashu: What?
Chatura: I don't know yet. I'm just asking who has the camera.
Ashu: Don't start getting possessive about it.
Chatura: Eh? I'm 1/6th part-owner...
Ashu: So what?!
Chatura: Well, Anu and you live in Andheri east. The camera goes from you to Vikroli and comes back. It goes to Goregaon and then comes back... So I'm just asking...
Ashu: It's NOT good to ask. Anyone would get the idea that you're being possessive about it!
So that was the end of it. Just for my general knowledge - no offense, nothing personal, not being grabby or anything, but who has the camera please?!
Chatura: Who has the camera these days?
Ashu: Why d'you want to know?
Chatura: Just like that. I might want to shoot something...
Ashu: What?
Chatura: I don't know yet. I'm just asking who has the camera.
Ashu: Don't start getting possessive about it.
Chatura: Eh? I'm 1/6th part-owner...
Ashu: So what?!
Chatura: Well, Anu and you live in Andheri east. The camera goes from you to Vikroli and comes back. It goes to Goregaon and then comes back... So I'm just asking...
Ashu: It's NOT good to ask. Anyone would get the idea that you're being possessive about it!
So that was the end of it. Just for my general knowledge - no offense, nothing personal, not being grabby or anything, but who has the camera please?!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
RAIN
by Don Paterson
I love all films that start with rain:
rain, braiding a windowpane
or darkening a hung-out dress
or streaming down her upturned face;
one long thundering downpour
right through the empty script and score
before the act, before the blame,
before the lens pulls through the frame
to where the woman sits alone
beside a silent telephone
or the dress lies ruined on the grass
or the girl walks off the overpass,
and all things flow out from that source
along their fatal watercourse.
However bad or overlong
such a film can do no wrong,
so when his native twang shows through
or when the boom dips into view
or when her speech starts to betray
its adaptation from the play,
I think to when we opened cold
on a rain-dark gutter, running gold
with the neon of a drugstore sign,
and I’d read into its blazing line:
forget the ink, the milk, the blood—
all was washed clean with the flood
we rose up from the falling waters
the fallen rain’s own sons and daughters
and none of this, none of this matters.
by Don Paterson
I love all films that start with rain:
rain, braiding a windowpane
or darkening a hung-out dress
or streaming down her upturned face;
one long thundering downpour
right through the empty script and score
before the act, before the blame,
before the lens pulls through the frame
to where the woman sits alone
beside a silent telephone
or the dress lies ruined on the grass
or the girl walks off the overpass,
and all things flow out from that source
along their fatal watercourse.
However bad or overlong
such a film can do no wrong,
so when his native twang shows through
or when the boom dips into view
or when her speech starts to betray
its adaptation from the play,
I think to when we opened cold
on a rain-dark gutter, running gold
with the neon of a drugstore sign,
and I’d read into its blazing line:
forget the ink, the milk, the blood—
all was washed clean with the flood
we rose up from the falling waters
the fallen rain’s own sons and daughters
and none of this, none of this matters.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Living in Shadow
I was getting introduced to a colleague at work.
Q. So what do you do?
Strangely after two years of being here, I’ve never been asked this question by another person from the film industry. I searched for words.
A. I’m an AD.
Q. Which films?
A. Aamir, DevD....
Before I could complete my prized list, Rakesh Ji, who was also on the table and already knew me, broke in “Ye Anurag ji ki behen hain.” There you go. With this critical information about my genes, this person magically knew whatever there was to know about me. He started dancing with joy, shook my hands and even hugged me like I was his long lost friend that he had always been looking for. I was amused enough to spend another 15 mins with him, where he got to know me better by asking questions about my brother’s intoxication and toilet habits.
Yes, I have that effect on a lot of people. Infact some people get charmed even before they’ve said their first hello to me.
Along with the adulation come huge expectations. “Oh you have the same blood in you. You’ve got to be a natural writer!” The truth is that I’ve never written anything. Not even a diary. And now I’m even more scared to write.
This is not always the case though. People also hate me in the first meeting. One such angry young man once told me “What do you know about difficulty? Your dear bhaiya pays for the petrol in your car and your sushi dinner bills. Tomorrow he’ll produce your film as a birthday gift. Whereas deserving and talented people like us have been struggling for years to land our first film .” Struggling for years? He’s 23 years old!
It’s not all bad though. Love or hate is not the only reaction I derive. There are people, who behave normal with me. All friends do. I have friends of two types.
A. Friends who are with me due to their interest in both me and my brother.
B. Friends who are with me due to their interest in me only.
A type friends are usually okay, but at times when they try to use me to get endorsement from my brother; I don’t let them, often at the cost of losing the friend. B type are sweethearts and the ones whom I actually want to introduce to my brother and family. Problem is they don’t want it. So much so that if I was getting married to a B type, and he found out that my brother was a guest at the wedding, he would probably run away from the mandap. That’s the kind of influence my brother’s celebrity status, has on my friendships too.
My phone activity is proportional to the ups and downs in my brother’s life. When his film is a hit, my phone gets flooded with calls from his supposed friends, asking for his new new number. Although I have become adept at tackling such calls with ridiculous but successful excuses (like I don’t have the new no., or the no. is the same but he broke his phone or I’m out of country), it’s not a comfortable feeling to know that I can lie well. At other times there are always calls from struggling actors looking to be casted in his next film, or from people looking for gossip. I mostly avoid such calls but my sms bills go up. So do my grocery bills when relatives visit from out of town to get a picture with his hero friends, or to see his film shoot, and I accommodate & entertain them for days at my humble abode.
It’s been over two years for me in the film industry. Somehow people around me always manage to find out about my relation, no matter how much I try to hide it. And so somehow I always manage to get attention. I’ve experienced a variety of feelings over this undue respect or dismissal I get being a celebrity’s sister. I’ve been irritated, disgusted, amused, happy and detached. However, now I’ve accepted it as a part of life and don’t get bothered by it anymore. So now when someone becomes very cautious of criticizing my brother’s film in front of me, its fine. On the contrary, now I don’t mind humbly accepting some fringe benefits that come my way, like a special chai on the set, or a film preview invite.
Q. So what do you do?
Strangely after two years of being here, I’ve never been asked this question by another person from the film industry. I searched for words.
A. I’m an AD.
Q. Which films?
A. Aamir, DevD....
Before I could complete my prized list, Rakesh Ji, who was also on the table and already knew me, broke in “Ye Anurag ji ki behen hain.” There you go. With this critical information about my genes, this person magically knew whatever there was to know about me. He started dancing with joy, shook my hands and even hugged me like I was his long lost friend that he had always been looking for. I was amused enough to spend another 15 mins with him, where he got to know me better by asking questions about my brother’s intoxication and toilet habits.
Yes, I have that effect on a lot of people. Infact some people get charmed even before they’ve said their first hello to me.
Along with the adulation come huge expectations. “Oh you have the same blood in you. You’ve got to be a natural writer!” The truth is that I’ve never written anything. Not even a diary. And now I’m even more scared to write.
This is not always the case though. People also hate me in the first meeting. One such angry young man once told me “What do you know about difficulty? Your dear bhaiya pays for the petrol in your car and your sushi dinner bills. Tomorrow he’ll produce your film as a birthday gift. Whereas deserving and talented people like us have been struggling for years to land our first film .” Struggling for years? He’s 23 years old!
It’s not all bad though. Love or hate is not the only reaction I derive. There are people, who behave normal with me. All friends do. I have friends of two types.
A. Friends who are with me due to their interest in both me and my brother.
B. Friends who are with me due to their interest in me only.
A type friends are usually okay, but at times when they try to use me to get endorsement from my brother; I don’t let them, often at the cost of losing the friend. B type are sweethearts and the ones whom I actually want to introduce to my brother and family. Problem is they don’t want it. So much so that if I was getting married to a B type, and he found out that my brother was a guest at the wedding, he would probably run away from the mandap. That’s the kind of influence my brother’s celebrity status, has on my friendships too.
My phone activity is proportional to the ups and downs in my brother’s life. When his film is a hit, my phone gets flooded with calls from his supposed friends, asking for his new new number. Although I have become adept at tackling such calls with ridiculous but successful excuses (like I don’t have the new no., or the no. is the same but he broke his phone or I’m out of country), it’s not a comfortable feeling to know that I can lie well. At other times there are always calls from struggling actors looking to be casted in his next film, or from people looking for gossip. I mostly avoid such calls but my sms bills go up. So do my grocery bills when relatives visit from out of town to get a picture with his hero friends, or to see his film shoot, and I accommodate & entertain them for days at my humble abode.
It’s been over two years for me in the film industry. Somehow people around me always manage to find out about my relation, no matter how much I try to hide it. And so somehow I always manage to get attention. I’ve experienced a variety of feelings over this undue respect or dismissal I get being a celebrity’s sister. I’ve been irritated, disgusted, amused, happy and detached. However, now I’ve accepted it as a part of life and don’t get bothered by it anymore. So now when someone becomes very cautious of criticizing my brother’s film in front of me, its fine. On the contrary, now I don’t mind humbly accepting some fringe benefits that come my way, like a special chai on the set, or a film preview invite.
Now that my second brother is soon to make his debut as a big film director, I will soon become a double celebrity sister. I hope to slip smoothly into this new upcoming role.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
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