AZZU BHAI .. WE LOVE YOU

                    
                                          AZZHU BHAI.. WE LOVE YOU ..

My personal conviction is that, movies ought not to be watched basing on the reviews. One can follow and read  reviews, but why discard or watch  movies depending  only on the reviews. Everyone wants to see few movies for different reasons . They have to be watched for those reasons only. For instance, fans watch for their hero's and technicians watch for the values and common men watch for the sheer entertainment and escapism from the real world to unwind. So why go with reviews and decide to watch or not see?

I was keen to watch the movie AZHAR with my mom and brothers as we all had great liking for him because he was my brother Ratan's  class mate and Ratan would talk about the simplicity of Azharuddin  and how only his talent would   speak as he was a shy guy .  Azharuddin represents the guy of the times in Hyderabad where the brotherhood of communities was still high and greatly respected . Hence all of us in India then and Hyderabad particularly had this notion that he cannot make mistakes of any kind including on cricketing grounds.  We had this image of a cleanest guy who can and should  play good cricket only . This I think was very unfair, as if he cannot change .

Now look at the times when azharuddin made the debut in 1984.. The overall value systems was so very different. Those were the days when, if  some controversy erupted,  the first reaction was that of  disbelief and people would get shocked .. This value would make people be more  involved into it to falsify and try and  hence  understand with prejudice  and get into the depth of the truth . In the current situation, Even before the news breaks out vaguely, people jump into conclusion and make it viral .. There is no time to breath for the person affected . All this is thanks to FB, twitter, whatsapp .  Azharuddin was the victim of the shock and disbelief of those times when society was too moralistic  .  Essentially those 2 values made people get hurt very easily  and write him off .  Today even rapists walk scot free and its so frustratingly sad. Then why pick on Azhar ? Did that serve any purpose ? 10 years later , scandal again broke out and this the big guns were spared for the reasons best known

 How can a traditional muslim guy , who is god fearing and who took country by storm just by sheer excellence make such a blunder? how can he take country for a ransom ?  These were the most unreasonable questions that would throw as an argument .  Honestly I was one of them, getting hurt about a guy whom we loved and idolized . We let off everyone else in other fields who did worse to the country . We picked on azhar as he was by nature innocent and he cannot be flamboyant . The most ridiculous argument was , how can this guy wear expensive watches and lead rich life style.  This intolerance made people judge him and judge him wrong . He was not given a chance to talk, to prove and he is a victim of times . The result is , that he was denied opportunity to play for the country after that and that's very sad .

Now coming to the movie, most people felt the reality should have been shown ..  What is the reality ? did they expect Azhar to be shown as a tyrant or Desh Drohi ? and make him take all the blame for the most corrupt cricket body ?  How does one approach this movie ?  I think, the basic approach though not very spicy for the breaking news fed audiences , is actually very good.. Movie opens with a cricketer accused and banned .  The case is in the court ..  From there its told beautifully without engaging in the masala tale or going fictional about his personal life before cricket as there isn't any at any story about him worth,  all expect his passion for cricket . The movie is journey from accused to acquittal . The lonely war that he waged to earn back the consolatory reputation .

Azharuddin is shown not only as a passionate cricketer but as a compassionate human .  They show how his love and relationship develops helplessly  with the film actress , as he empathizes with  her pain . what I loved most about the movie is the respect with which both his women in life were depicted. This I am sure azhar would have had exactly for his women in real life too .  I felt Imran Hashmi was not that apt but the only other option would have been Nawaz Siddiqui .  Casting of other cricketers were bad and nargis is disappointing as sangeeta .

I liked the balance in the movie , in the way cricketers were handled though there must always have been a temptation to actually show so called truth about most of them .  Manoj Prabhakar ( looked like )  was shown in the negative shades and so is Ravi shastry  ( possibly ) in different mode . It was very special to watch  the movie with my mom and sister .  We had tears in the eyes at the end as azhar did confess in the movie about one mistake ( though he had a justification which was only cinematic )  and subsequently refused bookies for the love of country and  led india to victory . He could have been mum and his loyalty to the game and country made him reject bookies and few  heart burnt exposed him.  Azharuddin did make a mistake but did not commit blunder. Who knows who else did what and he was targeted .. Don't we know the current situations and recent past incidents ?

I always wonder if Harsha Bhogle has seen this movie and if he has seen why didn't do the review ?  diplomacy thy name of success and hence his biography on azhar is also vanilla kinds ?  let it be .. Dear Azhar ,like me and  my family ,there are millions who love you and we see you were a human too .. Great attempt to make a difficult movie . Watch and then get eligibility to discard or criticize movie and azhar .  until then please ..........

Lata and Shreya enough for 15 decades at least

Comparisons anywhere is best avoided as everything, everybody is always unique and hence everyone and everything has some distinctiveness. This is indisputable and I respect that. But we are all greedy even in the non material areas, like appreciating or enjoying an art form. There is also a subtle power game and ego associated with this appreciation.  For instance, we say my favourite song or my kind of song which itself brings attachment and so pain.  To this extent the joy is not pure. As part of this scheme is the funda called comparisons..

Preferences bring comparisons, and we may not accept the fact that, virtually most people compare everything with everything else. This place traffic is better than that place. The people are more warm here than there. Indians are more this and south Indians are more that.  These are done to increase the pleasure of the self, ascertain the self belief/ preference or put down the other to assert the power of appreciating one while putting down the other..

Grusha , sindhu and Pritam in the family always keep asking me/ provoking me as to which movie, which song, which hero , which heroine is better or whose cooking, whose batting whose bowling , whose beauty is better.  Sometimes I get irritated as I do not want to answer or I do not want to dilute the raw, intense pleasure of what I like. I like to say, on a matured day , that nothing is comparable or can be compared as things change with time, mood and place also.

 Coming to the point , There is no doubt about the reverence I have for Shreya ghosal .  She is born only to sing, to connect millions of people to the wonder of nature through her singing. I had and have similar feelings and liking for Lata mangeshkar .  It’s a different story that, I listen more to Shreya than Lata Ji of late, as how can I not listen to Baaji Rao Mastani at least twice a day. Shreya would hate me if I ever compare or even vaguely say that she is on par with Lata Ji or few times beat Lata Ji also . Just listen to Shreya singing Lata’s songs and in the heart of hearts you will agree with me. Shreya is the only singer who can render Lata’s songs the best .  But never had the audacity to compare but always felt only these 2 are extremely special children of god or god themselves.

In the last decade and more, no one has inspired any music directors as much as shreya , as she is the delight of any music director and also delight  of lyricists as told to me by Ananth Sriram. Even the ordinary sounding songs draws attention when she sings and it seems like a great work .she made mark in all her songs and she has cut across genre blocks and restrictions.. There was always a temptation to call her the best ever. But I always held that conclusion back as there are hundreds of Lata songs which inspired me and took me so high that it’s incredible. Same experiences happened with Shreya songs. I can listen to Tuj mein Rab , Mastani song, Sun raha hai, bahusha,  Silsila yeh chahat ka, once everyday like a prayer .

Today I heard Gulshan Bawra Songs and was enjoying immensely. 2 songs of lata ji  just bowled me over completely again . For me to be able to be arrested in the moment is the highest ecstasy and experience.  The songs were Vada karle saajana from haath ki safai and Bane kyon bigade from Zanjeer .. May be exaggeration but it can only be Lata who could have sung that way those times.  I concluded that yes, indeed its LATA Ji first and Shreya next .  That’s it.  Puritans, rebels, critics may not like what is said and may hate me.  But my experience is mine and it took a long while to conclude this way. But salute to both the ladies who gave bliss for 15 decades between them. 

 I have nothing to say to people who say OMG how can he even compare ?

I do love and admire Kavitha Krishna Murthy, Sadhana Sargam, Alka yagnik, madhusree, swarnalatha, chitra, Mahalaxmi iyer, Vanijayram, Susheela, janaki and many more but those 2 are world apart….  

Thank god and thank 2 great souls who make my living meaningful as I thank god for giving me the art of listening to music and finding meaning and ecstasy of life

Lauren.....not just the dancing sensation. watch her in Cinemaa awards

I have seen and raved  on dances performed by Vyjayanthi Mala, Sridevi , Madhuri Dixit , Kareena , Prabhudeva , and many others dancing on the small and big screen.  No one can be and should be compared. Each of them have their own style, grace and hence they are distinct, & popular.  They have entertained for years  and took us to the trance and highest pleasure many a times .  Each of them have raised the bar of Indian standards in dancing and cinema.

But but but ... Lauren of ABCD 2 fame is something which I can't describe .. She seems not from this world.   May be like they say some paree or someone with  the mixed talent of 3 celestial dancers Ramba Urvasi and Menaka .  She is a solid combination of gods special gift plus huge amount of hard work , dedication, worship, what not ..  It's almost like she breathes dance and eats dance and knows nothing else.  She combines acrobatics , gymnasium, classical dance and all forms of dance into a natural blend to give her touch and style which is soul touching.

The grace, style , movements , speed, expressions, aesthetics , postures, pauses, slow movements and what not.   We were all spell bound and we're just arrested with her performance.  She had that ability to smile and give the best lip sync and make the expressions most authentic.  Lauren is music directors delight and lyricist wonder also .

DON'T BE THE VICTIM OF EXPECTATIONS.. JUST ENJOY......WRITE UP FROM AN ORDINARY INDIAN MOVIE BUFF

Tomorrow is the big day for the Indian cinema and biggest day ever for the Telugu cinema .. Come what may, hats off to the entire team of BAHUBALI , starting from Rajamouli to Gutsy, cool producers to MMk Sir to everyone associated with this penance called Bahubali. 


All bigger landmarks, Milestones happen only because of divine design and divine intervention. The people who are most deserving will be chosen by the almighty to make big events happen in life. Rajamouli thought big, aspired greatest, and literally breathed every aspect of this movie. So this marvel has to come to him.  Prasad and Shobu stepping in to make this passion take a shape again will have many real stories on how it all happened.  May be they will share all that in days to come which will be learning to all of us on movies and life per se.


More than anything the entire team will rejoice the entire process of making this movie so wonderful. To start with the movie has already got 6 out of 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 .  Whether it crosses, 7, 8, 9 or absolute ten is to be seen. For me the thought, the efforts, the completion and seeing what one set to make is most crucial and  the crew has achieved despite humongous struggle is  most creditable.


Forget about the hype and expectations, people have already accepted this as the greatest movie ever before the release. In my 4 decades of movie watching experience, this is the 3rd closest which has happened like this. the first one was SHOLAY in 1976, and all theaters had police platoons placed across country and there was no mass media except radio and no social media network to get this hype . The second one was SHAHENSHAH in 1987 which also witnessed people planning to buy tickets for more than a month.  But BAHUBALI has surpassed both of these by miles and miles and the festivity is more than most cricket matches and elections.

Every theatre in the 2 states has witnessed serpentine queues and many organizations have blocked more than 100 tickets to watch together. Every street corner and almost every other call people have been talking only about the movie and its release.  Never before i had this experience . Millions of calls and messages talking on this movie last 10 days , resulted in business for cell phones operators as never before it seems , like new year hungama.

The makers have done their job and fulfilled their basic dream. Success and volume of success has many parameters and yardstick.  Money recovery may be over and collections will surpass all time high and probably will occupy a place which cannot be beaten for a decade for sure. But ultimate happiness, perhaps, is when people acknowledge universally the best ever. 

But what can we say about peoples expectations?  are they expecting a miracle ? something that they have never seen before ? How can the expectations of such nature be there ? i feel its unfair . these days thanks to technology , people in rural areas also have access to most greatest Hollywood flicks and in local languages . So is it fair to compare this work to those ? 

Movies are not made based on the expectations and hype. They are the dream of a film maker. How big and successful it becomes, have hazaar factors and reasons.  So just watch like any other movie , not with expectations but with excitement . Do not be in a hurry to tweet minute to minute and upload on Facebook or whats app. Enjoying the movie experience is an ideal endeavor. 

Bahubali release to me looks close to India Pakistan world cup cricket finals ..   The expectations are unfair, too far and unwarranted .  With that comes rumors.   keep aside all the rumors, expectations and have a festival of viewing the greatest cinematic experience of life time . Rajamouli never failed in the narration and he will not fail also. technology, subject, making will be additional treats to the movie.

Finally its almost close to life death for many working in the film, and not at all for the audience who in the worst case might get disappointed basing on their expectations..  Just chill and don't talk loose about the movie before watching ,  is the request from an average, ordinary , Indian movie buff... Like i said movie has already scored 6 out of 10... how big , will be known in less than 24 hours.  All comparison to I, shankar, 9th movie is too silly and ridiculous and meaningless to say the least.

Have a blast all of you.. thanks Rajamouli, prasad, Shobu and team for this great work..  all the best .

Hot star, humility and Bhajagovindam .. all in a day

Jab Main Chota ladka tha, when i was in 4th class...we went to Gandipet for family excursion which gave me the pleasure more than what i may get if i go to Switzerland kinds today. One of the vivid memories of that picnic was having a transistor with me and i was too kicked to listen to ball to ball commentary of England India  cricket series where Lever ripped India with his Vaseline tampered ball . If cricket is religion today, Test Cricket was oxygen for many like me those days . Time traveled, so much happened , tragedies, success , technological innovations, change in life style, relationships ,  meanings, definitions changed. Again it took cricket for me to appreciate and go gaga about technology.  

Life moved from Transis STAR( transistor) to hot STAR.  World cup cricket and IPL matches was best covered by this app and the mobile experience of watching cricket was just fantastic and mind blowing. Reliving of the nice raw experience of my childhood with the updated technology made me feel joyous.  


 The highest quality in spirituality is humility. There is a new interpretation of mine on humility.. People crave for recognition , acknowledgement , prove hard to get attention and boast of what they have done,  they will be ostentatious etc as there is an absence of inner fulfillment.  Since there is a lacunae inside, one tends to look outside the self for gratification , thus reflecting the immodesty.  This ideally should sound off that, one needs to strive hard to satisfy the inner self . Once this is accomplished , then we don't need to look outside. Any recognition then if it comes, will be taken in a detached manner and away from the focus on the self. The success is attributed to selfless attitude. This brings natural humility . if there is insufficiency on the need fulfillment one cannot be humble. In other words , humility precedes excellence . 

Hence the real successful and the accomplished tend to be humble and modest. and not the one who define success and achievement is narrow terms ..


Another thing , that stuck me today is that i stumbled upon BHAJA GOVINDHAM in search on GAANA app.  I was cooking and so heard this from distance. I knew this was not  M.S. Late Subba Lakshmi voice . I thought of getting to her work to listen but overcame the resistance and continued to listen .  It was damn good. I felt like me most majority are also stuck to the familiar and so get biased. No doubt M.S Subba lakshmi is the best . I discovered what i heard was Chitra's .. So much for bias and preferences . ha ha 


These are the few thoughts i was involved in today and dare to write here after grusha liked these thoughts..  

sai prasad: Random thoughts on a boring day

sai prasad: Random thoughts on a boring day: A dull afternoon with not much enthusiasm in life . one of those times where everything is both ok and not ok. Age catches up and social st...

Random thoughts on a boring day

A dull afternoon with not much enthusiasm in life . one of those times where everything is both ok and not ok. Age catches up and social status also is a stumbling block  to unleash and be adventerous. No complaints, no problems and no worries. But a very boring, nonproductive mood. This is dangerous and can become a habit , leading to inner chaos.  

What are the words that comes to the mind now and lets see how much vocabulary can be connected to this state of mind and how much sense any of this makes. 

Humility, detachment, vacuum, indolence, helplessness, waiting , proving , questioning, wanting , preview, movie , music , Svs, grusha , monu, tinku, sindhu, preetam, story, infidelity, women, love, unconditional, insecurity , victimized, patterns , Sujatha potay, Paunch , walking ....

The world comes to my mind and all in randomness .  No point and no productivity .. a dull boring day ..  Have no choice but to beat it ..  Get enthu anyways and rock   .. This is to me and not a gyan