What a concert !

10th feb evening will be etched in my memory , because of 3 people . Before I mention the names of these 3 people, I would like to say that this was a musical concert held at Koramangala indoor stadium .3 of us had been there along with hundreds of others . (well,3 seems to be the magical no !! ) Kaushik , Shamee and myself will remember this evening (i am really sure !!) for a really really lonnnng time !! The 3 people were

1. Pandit Birju Maharaj : Even at that age, he gave a performance that was brilliant .Damn the mike system ,coz' of which we couldn't hear him speak, but then his movements were still there in all graciousness !!! They were subtle and beautiful ,not too much power though(Obviously coz' of the age ) and janta had come to see him !!! You could say that from the kind of applause he got for each of his steps and movements .

2. Shaswati Sen : His student , and man ,was she good !!! Her grace and poise was there for all to see. The way she said the "bol" was also outstanding and ofcourse, her dancing was MIND BLOWING !!! it was powerful,yet subtle . Her movements were elegant and am sure Panditji is really really proud of his student. The 11 beat taal((5 beats resembling "Jhup taal" ) of it being which none of us had heard before ) was amazing and she took it up with great challenge and lived up to it with great maturity .

3.Well, when there is such outstanding dancing going on stage , well the entire atmosphere becomes more electric ,if the Percussionist is good . Well, in this case,the percussionist was not good, he was OUTSTANDING - the best of them all - the one and only Ustad Zakir Hussain . His fingers on the tabla are as if they are made for each other . Its sheer magic listening to the man playing the tabla. Zakir saab,with his traditional hair and kurta-pyjama came out to a roaring reception from the audience and his performance was unmatched .

Panditji's son sang and later on even danced . The rags which were either played beautifully on the sitar or sang melliflously by his son ,included rags like Basant , Allhaiya Bilawal and Bhairavi . They were soulful and pleasant and the mood was set for the performers and they did not disappoint .
Some of the most amazing aspects included the 10 min solo by Zakir saab ,which is kinda undescribable (if there is any word like that ) ,coz' I am sure I will run out of superlatives to describe them (by the way ,he got a continuous 2 min applause from the extremely appreciative audience ) , a meera bhajan dance rendition by Shaswati Sen ,every piece of explanation given by Panditji and last but not the least - the GRAND finale - Jugalbandi amongst all 4 - Panditji , his son(he also performed kathak ) ,Shaswati madam and the incomparable Zakir Hussain . It was an icing on the cake and I think it also took away the cherry .
At the end of it all , the audience was left asking for more(even after 3 hours of solid performances ! ).I think that is the kind of response they also look forward to and this is the kind of music that we also look forward to ! All in all a great night for Bangloreans !!!!

Rang de basanti : Good one !

Well , I caught this movie today in Rex ,with neo ,tonni and dodo . I was late by some 10 mins but anyways , that's fine. Well ,was sitting in between neo and dodo and actually had a nice time during the 1st half when neo and me were kinda critically analysing the movie.
Well,this is my take on this movie .Why is this in my blog ? Coz' its part of an unforgettable seive ! or the contents of one of the seives.
'Rang de basanti' : well the title kinda indicates that this might be a patriotic movie. but is it ? Well , NO it ain't ! well, RDB is a really cool story about these 4 young students , a girl who is about to get married to a stud maccha in the airforce and one party worker . An angrezi mem comes to namma bhaarath to make documentary abt freedom fighters .( did i hear u say ,"OH NO NOT AGAIN !" ).well ,just chill.She sees in these janta(dont know how tho !!) ,that these kinda resemble the actual cast of the 1920s and 1930s freedom fighters and offers them role (dont know how much they were offered for the movie,guess it was an internship !! or maybe even a project!!).Janta,put funda and accept off role . These guys joke around on the sets like crazy. some of those jokes are exceptional ! "Sue kar mere manko" was hilarious,so were the things which had aamir speaking almost chaste punjabi. I mean that's an amazing strategy ,to put in lot of punjabi coz' in places where there is lot of cash(UK for eg) ,the indians who watch it are mostly punjabis ! GUD LEVEL STRATEGY !!
Well ,the 1st half is kinda interspersed with the movie within movie ,so at the end of 1st half we were left wondering as to whether the director was confused...what on earth did he want to shoot ?? if it was a pure comedy ,THEN WOW !! awesome !! coz' the entire theatre was in splits . anything else ?? then the intention's not clear !! Neo told me that he was kinda losing the whole thing !! Well,I was also kinda abt to agree to him ,but then thought that it was swalpa early to judge and i waited to see what our internship boys wud do!
MAN !!!! the 2nd half was rocking !! BRILLIANT ,AWESOME STUFF !! Everything kinda fits in (or fitted in) !! I wont describe the 2nd half in detail,coz' the fun wud be lost for those who are going to watch it ! Well ,all I can say is that janta begin to feel extremely proud of our internship boys and ofcourse, the lady in distress.
Well, a rocking movie (dodo was putting hazaar cry sitting next to me in 2nd half ! neo's and my prediction came true !) coz' of its 2nd half i think, tho i came across many people who did not like the 2nd half but luved the 1st !! guess,we do things differently !!
Aamir khan did not hog the entire limelight for sure !! he was awesome but i think it was an abs team effort. The other 4 boys also did brilliantly ,Soha ali khan has matured unbelievably since her last movie and is very camera friendly . I almost forgot , angrezi mem is also level !! I mean she has acted really well and has portrayed her character well to a T !! Music ROCKS !! (RUBARUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU !! AR Rehman in form is different level altogether !) Direction is gud and credit to Mr Mehra for getting the message across....ITS ABOUT THE RIGHT KIND OF FREEDOM !! actually, what is freedom ,is freedom what we think it is ?? well, it kinda asks u such questions and you are supposed to dig in to find the answers !
Well, definitely a film for the YOUTH OF THE COUNTRY !!!! its really cool ,one of the better hindi movies I have watched in recent times !!! (1000 times better than Zinda ! )
Well, I must thank janta for getting me tickets and letting me experience a gud movie !!

My Debut .

hello janta,
This is my debut ! Well, Blogging is something that has become extremely popular nowadays. There are blogger communities ,which also have become pretty reputed . I used to Blog at Yahoo 360 , when today, I got motivated to start it after reading my friend's blog ! Feb 2 : written as 2/2 , a nice date to start off a blog ! Well , let me write something more than some stupid junk ! A bit more informal maybe .
Well , my college is reopening on monday and this sem is gonna be really hectic. So , as of now I am chilling totally !!! Saw "The Sound Of Music" today for the umpteenth time . "The hills are alive " is still going around in an infinite loop in my mind . I must admit that this movie is my favourite of all times as its an absolutely delightful movie filled with lot of masala (chilly masala if i may add !) . Well , actually the whole thing is authentic coz' it was a true story . Mind blowing acting and brilliant music by the incomparable Rodgers and lyrics by Hammerstein sets this movie apart from every other movie I have seen . The character "Maria" is beautifully portrayed by Julie Andrews and the strict yet sensitive captain is portrayed by Christopher Plummer .
The 7 kids are awesome ! Well ,some other memorable moments in the movie include "Adel Weiss" - a truly romantic number , the elegant Austrian Folk Dance , actually every song in the movie , the scene in the garden at night after the Baroness says , "Somewhere out there is a young woman ,who will never be a nun" , the scene immediately after Maria leaves the household , when the kids begin to sing "The hills are alive " and Briggitta shows her disappointment and the Captain notices it . Well , I would actually recommend this to any moviegoer as its an absolutely splendid movie and can be watched any number of times !!! Well ,as I end this, I'll put up another pic of this great movie ,which epitomises Maria . Also,the movie has made some hazaar people go to the city of Salzburg ,the place where this movie was picturised so beautifully . I would want to definitely visit the place !!