A Very Happy New Year To All ya Wondeful People

Leaving for Pune tomorrow evening for the New Years. Will be at Amay n Madhavi's place. Hoping to have loads of fun. Will trying to make it up for those extra hours spend in office doin work...n not catching up with friends...Here's wishing ya a Very Happy n Rockin New Year filled with Lodsa excitement...muaaaah!!!

Cya on Monday.

Happy Birthday

Exactly a year back on this day Cerebral Proclivity i.e. this blog was born. When I started out as usual I was damn enthusiastic. I had predicted that by the end of the year I would have posted at least 150 posts. Personal, academic, poetry etc. but as usual yeh ho na saka. As usual there were time constraints or sometimes I was plane bored. I am very lazy you see. There have been hundreds of thoughts that had come to my mind, which I had promised myself to blog. But ennui took the better of me. Heck, I don’t even complete the short stories and plays that I undertake most of times. But then that’s me. I get bored too fast. Well it’s not a virtue worth boasting about. Lets come back to the blog…yeah so…this was my first post. Arrival. Around a fortnight before I started my own blog I discovered (as in for myself) what blogging is all about. One day as I was googling for some info and I hit upon a Malaysian girl’s blog. As I went through her posts I was intrigued. I found this ‘blogging’ phenomenon rather interesting. Soon after that I went through a myriad other blogs. I used to frequent livejournal a lot then. Those days the blogs that I regularly visited were – Minnie’s blog, Anupma, Saira, Vulturo. Eventually Minnie made her blog ‘friends only’ and I had never commented on her blog. Although her’s was the only blog of which I had read each and every post, from the past archives of almost 4 odd years. I used to have this black template for a few months. But then I changed to this more vibrant one.

I made a couple of friends too in this blogsville .Tapsi (Who has shut down her blog but we sometimes catch up over sms) Chitra is a good friend now so is Nikita.

Here are a few posts that can safely represent the life n times of my blog over the past year. Some are happening. Some are well written. Some became a battleground, where words were hurled freely as swords. Some registered the maximum response.


One of my better poems.

On Songs from the nineties.

Where the battle ensued.

Just.

I still have readers who read this post over n over again.

Nostalgia

Catharsis

Honest words.

Arguably the most read post of my blog.

Happy birthday dear bloggie it’s been a pleasure to have ya. And what better occasion to extend a warm thanx to all my dear readers (I speak as if there are thousands of them…;-)hey! but how much ever they are…they matter!)

Finest Performances

Then there are those performances that leave an indelible impression on your mind You see a divine connection over there. A typical case where the ‘karta’ that is the doer becomes one with the creation. Last night sitting with Bala and speaking about some performances has induced me to put my list of some of the best performances by an actor that I have ever seen on celluloid. The list is not based on any ascending or descending order of my preference nor does it claim to be a comprehensive one. It stands purely on the basis of occurrence in my mind and nothing else.

1. Pankaj Kapur as Abbaji in Maqbool – what command over characterization.


2. Nasserudin Shah as the blind principal in Sparsh – the finesse of a hard working actor. A must see for any aspiring genuine actor.

3. Marlon Brando as Don Corelone in The Godfather – I


4. Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II


5. Al Pacino as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman


6. Robert de Niro in Taxi Driver


7. Om Puri in Ardh Satya


8. Kamal Hasan in Sadma – very genuine.


9. Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay in Deewar


10. Amjad Khan as Gabbar in Sholay


11. Dilip Prabhawalkar as Chaukat Raja


12. Sulbha Deshpande in Chaukat Raja


13. Smita Patil in Bhumika


14. Amol Palekar in Bhumika


15. Dustin Hoffman in Rainman


16. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie


17. Meryl Streep in Kramer vs Kramer


18. Aamir Khan in Rangeela


19. Shah Rukh Khan in Swades


20. Judith Anderson in Rebecca


21. Naseerudin Shah as Piroj in Pestonji


22. Naseerudin Shah as Rajaram in Katha


23. Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments


24. Shabana Azmi as Pooja in Arth


25. Amitabh Bachchan as Jai in Sholay

(Thanx to rpm for reminding, am adding these two)

26. Sean Penn in I am Sam


27. Adrian Brody in The Pianist


28. Minal's addition - Rekha in Khubsoorat


I am sure I have missed out on many superlative performances. I shall keep on adding to the list as and when they come to my mind. Also you guys too let me know of the performances that I have missed out on.

Yeh Saaye hai

Yeh Saaye Hain
Yeh Duniya Hai
Parchhaiyon Ki,
Bhari Bheed Mein Khaali
Tanhaaiyon Ki

Yahan Koi Saahil Sahaara Nahin Hai
Kahin Doobne Ko Kinaara Nahin Hai
Yahan Koi Saahil Sahaara Nahin Hai
Yahan Saari Raunak Hai Ruswaaiyon Ki
Yeh Saaye Hai ...

Kai Chaand Uthkar Jalaye Bujhaye
Bahut Humne Chaaha Zara Neend Aaye
Kai Chaand Uthkar Jalaye Bujhaye
Yahan Raat Hoti Hai Bedaariyon Ki
Yeh Saaye Hai ...

Yahan Saare Chehre Hain Maange Hue Se
Nigaahon Mein Aansoo Bhi Taange Hue Se
Yahan Saare Chehre Hain Maange Hue Se
Badi Neechi Raahen Hain Unchaaiyon Ki
Yeh Saaye Hai ...

This is from the film Sitaara. Lyrics by the inimitable Gulzar and music by Panchamda and sung by Asha. The pessimism gets more accentuated when you realize that the couple in the movie had sung the following song together. But then such is life.


Thodi si zameen thoda aasmaan
Tinakon kaa bas ik aashiyaan
Thodi si zameen

Maangaa hai jo tum se vo zyaadaa to nahin hai
Dene ko to jaan de de vaadaa to nahin hai
Ko_ii tere vaade pe jiitaa hai kahaan
Tinakon ka bas ik aashiyaan
Thodi si zameen

Mere ghar ke aangan mein chhotaa saa jhuulaa hoga
Sondhii sondhii mittii hogi lipa hua chulhaa hogaa
Thodi thodi aag hogi thoda saa dhuaan
Tinakon kaa bas ik aashiyaan
Thodi si zameen

Raat kat jaayegii to kaise din bitaa_e.nge
Baajare ke kheto.n mein kau_e u.Daa_e.nge
Baajare ke sitton jaise bete hon javaan
Tinakon kaa bas ik aashiyaan
Thodi si zameen

Sach Baliye!

Spend the entire Sunday and I literally mean the entire day watching Nach Baliye(A celebrity dance programme on Starone channel). They were running a whole day marathon of all its past episodes till now. Since it comes at an outrageous time at 9pm every Thursday which is impossible for me to catch apart from a couple of times here n there.

This was one programme that had me hooked right since day one. I remember watching the first episode at Madhavi’s house. The whole concept is just so superb and the outcome so entertaining! After long I was captivated to an extent that I actually felt bad when I missed the episodes in between.

Last Thursday I was neck deep in work, so while my entire office (in the sense whoever was present at that time) was glued in front of the television set at 9 to watch it enthusiastically, I was busy churning out ideas for a pitch.

But Starone made it up for me by screening all the past episodes in a 10am to 12 night unheard before kind of a marathon series.

It was a pleasure to watch some of these guys gyrate to Hindi film numbers.

Here’s my take on the whole series.

The hottest moves by a female: Malini De (MAN…she looked hot!)

Had a crush on: Shilpa Saklani (Extremely eloquent and easy going. I am a sucker for both!)


Had the hots for: Neeru Bajwa
Hated the overall vibes of: Amit Sadh (Felt he was too oversmart)

Complete entertainer: Varun Badola (The ‘khaike Paan…’ was a once in a lifetime performance)

Loved the moves of: Rajeshwari Sachdeva

Most touching moments:

When Saroj Khan gave her inam to Rajeshwari and Varun

When Apoorva and Shilpa left the show.

The moment that I was sure the episode was orchestrated and fake: the way Varun and Rajeshwari got out.

Would always make me smile: Parmeet Sethi

Laughed my heart out: Parmeet aping Farhan and Shilpa gesticulating like Malaika.

Most riveting performances:

Sachin n Supriya doing the Lejhim

Archana and Parmeet: Chotte Chotte Shehron se (Bunty aur Babli)

Varun n Rajeshwari’s tango on banda yeh bindhaast.

Favourite choreographer: Varun n Rajeshwari’s choreographer Rajiv Surti.

Overrated jodi: Sachin n Supriya n Poonam n Manish

My jodi number one(The one who deserves to win) : Varun n Rajeshwari.

Antonioni's - The Passenger

This one’s exclusively for cinephiles. An excellent review of Michelangelo Antonioni’s ‘The Passenger’ by Robert Koehler. Antonioni’s sub text has been amazingly deciphered by him. I almost had a halo after I read the piece and my yearning to make a film multiplied. Achcha anybody from Mumbai(Any other place would also do. Fedex zindabad!!) has the DVD of his Touch of Evil (or for that matter any of his films) can you be a sweetheart and please please please lend it to me…???

Pyaasa Again

Vijay(Guru Dutt) has come to his college alumni meet. Since the person who was supposed to sing as a part of the cultural program doesn't turn up Vijay is asked to come and recite some of his shayaris. An obviously bewildered Vijay gets more crestfallen when he sees Meena(Mala Sinha) his ex sitting in the audience. What follows is Sahir's phenomenally touching and stark verse, Guru Dutt’s stoic but intense look mixed with the sensitive and divine voice of Mohd.Rafi.

Tang aa chuke hai.n qash-ma-qash-e-zindagii se hum
Thukaraa na de.n jaha ko kahii.n bedilii se ham

At that instance one man from the audience gets up and says: Ajii janaab khushee ke mauqe par kyaa bedilii kaa raag chedaa huaa hai koii khushee kaa geet sunaaiye

Vijay continues:
Hum gam-zadaa hai.n laaye.n kahaa.N se Khushii ke geet
De.nge wohii jo paaye.nge is zindagii se ham

Ubhare.nge ek baar abhii dil ke walwale
Maanaa ke dab gaye hai.n game-zindagii se ham

Lo aaj hamane tod diyaa rishtaa-e-ummiid
lo ab kabhii gilaa nakare.nge kisii se hum

Listen to it here.

Ek Chauthai Aasman

I refrain from writing my own poetry on the blog.Infact i have been forced to refrain by Kalyani. And rightfully so, mainly because we are in the process of making a collection of them and publishing it. She gets parnoid at the thought of somebody flicking it. But somehow I couldn't stop myself to post this one maninly for two reasons, one I am in a similar state of mind and two a part of this poem has already been known and published as my poem as a part of the review of my play from which the poem is derived - Ek chauthai aasman.

This poem was an after thought. I thought that it would be nice to include a part of it for the announcement before begining the play.I didn't at the last minute that's a different story but still. Nostalgia. Melancholy and fun someof the emotions I experience while re-reading this poem.

Ek Chauthai Aasman

Beh gaya kuch lamho ke saath,
Reh gayi kuch adhuri yaad,
Jaane kya dhoonde ab karwa?

Bas ek chauthai aasman...

Justajoo kare? Kyon na kare!
Bemaut mare? Kyon na mare!
Kise chahiye mukammil jaha?

Sirf ek chauthai aasman...

Aetbaar aisa khuda par na tha
Teri aankhon main usse dekha karta tha..
Gar manga bhi ho koi armaan

Bas ek chauthai aasman

Jasbad ki tehni par
Aarzoo ka phool,
Bewaqt murjhaya
Jaane kiski bhool,

Patjhad ka hai yeh baghbaan

Ek chauthai aasman.

PS: Dont know for how long this is gonna remain on my blog,probably till madam K decides to check it and gimme a piece of her mind;-)

Update: This is the second poem on the blog. Had posted this one long back.Bas do hi aur nahi;-)