मेरा शहर

1. मकान मेरे शहर के कभी 'घर' बन ही नहीं पाते,

खरीदते ही लोग Property Appreciation Calculate करने लगते हैं.

2. मकानों की दीवारें भी यहाँ हैं कुछ कच्ची सी,

बगल के कमरे में धड़कते दिल  की  धडकनें भी साफ़  सुनाई दे जाती हैं…

अलबत्ता दिल की दीवारें काफी मज़बूत बनवा ली हैं सबने…

3. आज फिर लीकेज है दीवारों पर, छत पर फिर कोई अकेला रो रहा है...

Paglaa

Last days in Pune

Abke Santa Christmas Mein : My Chhoti Si Wishlist for Christmas

Dear Santa,

I have been a good boy this year or at least I think so...Time for a payback...

Here's my Chhoti Si Wishlist for this Christmas:

• A Disney Sketchbook (Hardcover)

• .Walt Disney Animation Studios -- The Archive Series: Story

• Walt Disney Animation Studios -- The Archive Series:Animation

• New MacBook Pro 17"
  

• Aur ek chhota sa Ghar! (Even if it has a couple of bedrooms lesser than KRK's Villa, I'll adjust).
  

Arre Haan, Oscars to main bhool hi gaya...koi naa next year Oscars bhi le lenge...

Updates!

I haven't been too active on Blog front for past few weeks. Neither active as a blogger nor as a reader. Reason, well there are plenty - I have been shuffling between Pune & Bom..err...Mumbai for more than a month now. I quit from my job to work on my documentary - Chitrakatha (which now has a dedicated Domain Name and hopefully will be having a dedicated website too along with the already running blog).

Chitrakatha again had to be put on hold for my house hunt in Mumbai. Hopefully I'll be finalizing a house soon and will be moving back to Mumbai.

Another big reason was my Reliance Data Card which has been generating some insane bills despite my limited usage, I fight with them, they disconnect it and I am forced to stay away from my blog.

As the day's approaching when we'll be bidding goodbye to Pune, I want to spend sometime in the city living the Puneri Life. I am definitely going to miss this house, rented hi sahi but this one was the bestest of them all.

I also took a deliberate break from reading comics and graphic novels for sometime and have started reading other books. Just finished reading two books by Argentinean author Guillermo Martinez: The Oxford Murders and The Book of Murder. The stories didn't appeal me that much, but his story telling skills were really commendable. Though I found the stories were not so gripping I would like to read more of his work, just to enjoy the narration, Martinez certainly is a master in that.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is another fun read, meant for teenagers but IMHO will be appreciated by the grown ups more.

Last but not the least, if you haven't joined the Chitrakatha Group on Facebook. Join the group and bring in all your friends, fans & followers. We will be having our 1st online contest on the Group soon!

   

Thoda Sa Relax Ho Jayein!

How to start writing when you have too many things to say, but don’t know how and where to start from? It happens when you come back home after a long journey, a journey where every single moment was so extra ordinary that you want to pour your heart out as soon as you reach home but when you reach, you are so overwhelmed and also, tired and saturated with all the thoughts that you can’t express things. Slowly its all forgotten or remains there somewhere in subconscious and comes out in fractions. It can also happen when you come back to your blog after a longtime and see you haven’t ‘actually’ blogged for sometime. Random updates don't count as Blogging, right? Now everything that you wanted to say is so jumbled up in your mind, that you can’t think of a thing in particular and start writing about it.

So I am planning to let my mind wander and write as it’s coming to me right now.

Congratulations Manna Da : I wanted to write when Manna Dey was honored with Dada Sahab Falke award last month. Manna Da is one of my most favorite singers and his songs have an aura of honesty because of his voice. His soothing voice has an assurance that the he understands you and your deep emotions. I always feel a deep connection to his voice and songs. I consider myself lucky, that my first professional Radio Assignment was a Manna Dey Special, a 3 hour long Manna Dey Interview for Musical-E-Aazam in December 2005. I not only got to meet the maestro after the show, but also discuss some of his non-filmy albums like Bachchan’s Madhushala composed by Ravi and rendered in his own voice. I also managed to get my Madhushala CD autographed.

I am sad to see how media which neglected the 90 year old genius until now, was hunting for his contact after the award was announced (I was still in touch with him and gave the contact to many a friends from media, who didn’t even know anything about him except Tu Pyar Ka Sagar Hai and Pyar Hua Iqraar Hua).

KANK: I just quit from my Job and cleaning my cupboard. There are bundle of papers, notes and research for the stories I was working on. Feels funny to see the chunk of work I did here in the past 18 odd months (my longest tenure with one job ever). I find it funny when people get emotional while cleaning up their desks in their last days in office. I often find it strange when people decorate their work desks like they’re going to be stuck with the same desk throughout their lives. Those nauseating big warm hugs to colleagues, Bye Bye, Tears, Last emotional mail sent to all and all that jazz… Kinda Vidaayi Scene! It was your office! Grow up! for crying out loud! Pardon me if I am getting too harsh! LOL!

What bring tears to me is the F***ing paper work: A Bigtime Headache, which I’ll be going through before the legendary full and final settlement with the company!

Finished reading The Oxford Murders by by the Argentine author Guillermo Martínez. The story is interesting although the climax was pretty predictable. For the first time I felt, Mathematics can also be intriguing. Damn mathematics teachers!

I am also, watching Heroes Season 3: Villains. I was disappointed with the Second Season, which in retrospect looks like a precursor to the third season. Jeph Loeb one of my most favorite Comics Writer who is also, one of the Co-Executive Producer of the show was recently fired by NBC because of some 'creative differences' & 'budget issues'. I am wondering if Tim Kring (the Producer) will be able to manage season 4 (Volume 5: REDEMPTION) of such a massive multi character show without him.

Comics I read!

It was a hectic week, which started with a lot of stress but everything eventually settled down or is settling down. My trustworthy laptop is at HP Service Center, hopefully I'll be getting it back by next week.

With laptop away and TV in possession of reality shows. I had no other option but to read. The Books I read last week:

Astroboy 3 : Osamu Tezuka (Dark Horse) Osamu Tezuka is called The Father of Manga. Despite being a huge fan of his work and his visual story telling, I avoided reading Astroboy for years, thinking of it as a kiddie stuff. While reading Pluto Series I was astonished to see Urasawa referring to the original Astroboy story - The Greatest Robot On Earth (1964-65) as one of the must read titles. After reading Pluto, I had to read this volume which has the original story and before I could finish the book I was an Astroboy Fan! Highly Recommended!

Pluto : Astro Boy 3 Comparison courtesy : Warren Peace

Scalped: Indian Country & Scalped: Casino Boogie : Jason Aaron (Writer) R.M.Guera (Illustrator) (Vertigo Comics)

Aaron's wonderful story telling also shows the amount of research went into the series and Guera's moody drawing style adds a new dimension to the story and once you start reading it, it kind of grows on you slowly (though there is an ongoing debate on how this series portrays (Red)Indians. The twists in the story, the flashbacks, the characterization everything is so cool that I am hooked to this title.

To The Heart of The Storm : Will Eisner (W.W.Norton & Co.)

Read any Eisner Graphic Novel and you'll understand why he is called The Leonardo of the comic-book form. To The Heart of The Storm is a story told in a series of flashbacks; another installment in Eisner's series of semi-autobiographical graphic novels told by the maestro in his inimitable style. IMHO this is Eisner's is simply one of his best work.

Last Day in Vietnam : Will Eisner (Dark Horse)

Frank Miller once said, "Eisner's the best. He can still kick all our butts." and he really mean it! Last Day in Vietnam contains 6 short stories based on Eisner's experience as a soldier (during the 2nd World War) and as a correspondent for P.S. Magazine (during the Vietnam War).

Mouse Guard Fall 1152 : David Peterson (Villard Books)

David Peterson's Mouse Guard is an Eisner award winning mini series. Brilliantly written and superbly drawn Mouse Guard is a story about an underground mouse civilization, their culture and some dark secrets. Second installment in the series Winter 1152 is in NYT Bestsellers list for more than 5 weeks.

Back Ache, Books & Bakbak

Suffering from Back Ache for almost a week now.

Tied up with a lot of things. Spending my time reading, writing and contemplating. I really don't have much to say or tell...
Detached from everything and away from the discussions, plannings and 'we can do this' conversations...I want be in this zone for some more time...

Doing what I am supposed to do and working on what I really want to do...

Inner Peace...Inner Peace, as master Shifu chants in Kung Fu Panda.

Meanwhile, I just finished reading Crying Freeman Vol.1 By Kazuo Koike (Writer: Lone Wolf & Cub) with beautiful art by Ryoichi Ikegami. The story reads like a fast paced crime thriller film. Really impressive but I doubt if I'll be following this title like I am digging Pluto Series (already on Vol.5 of 7). But I would definitely be watching the 1995 film adaptation Crying Freeman directed by Christophe Gans.

Also read over the last week:
Fables 1 (Vertigo) - I really liked the set up but the climax of the whodunnit story in Vol.1 was pretty predictable. Anyway, its a good series which I am gonna follow for at least next 2-3 TPBs before coming to a conclusion. You can download the 1st preview from Vertigo Site.

Hellboy Vol.7 - Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others : Which collects Hellboy short stories from many other collections from the Dark Horse Stable and one unpublished story by P.Craig Russel & Mignola.

Divine Right : The Adventures of Max Faraday Vol.1 (Wildstorm/DC) : Written & Drawn by Jim Lee, this book blown me away long back when I read it for the first time in Gotham Comics Library. Was it the story or the art...I don't know.

Ordered it from Flipkart to re-read it and find out. This time, I really find it a run of the mill Image Comics Plot where all the characters keep on coming up with one wisecrack after the other...all of them have very shallow personalities. The progression of the story suffers a lot because of the long (sometimes meaningless) dialogues. Jim Lee's writing can't catch up with his art where he is exploding the pages with super energetic spreads. And yep! like all the other Image Comics from that era, there are long legged beauties with Guns.


DISCLAIMER: These are my personal views and thoughts on the books as a reader, please don't take them seriously and read the books before making any opinion on them.

Dhen Te Naan The Original & A Zee TV Promo

Dhen Te Naan has become a nationwide rage just like Emosanal Atyachar. But did you know Dhen Te Naan was the name of a story directed by Vishal Bharadwaj for TV Serial GUBBARE which used to air on Zee TV some 10 years ago. Here is the song, and yep that's Sharman Joshi dancing to the beats of original Dhen Te Naan, and accompanying him in floral red shirt is Teddy Maurya, national award winning Art Director who also art directed the latest hit Love Aaj Kal & many other movies. This song shows if the product is good it will find a market sooner or a decade later.
Lyrics by Apne Gulzar Sahab, music Vishal Bharadwaj Ka, ye lijiye original Dhen Te Naan:


On a different note, long-long ago, I did the visual scripting for some Promos on Zee TV. Stumbled upon this one for their Women Only Stand Up Comedy Show - Ladies Special : Hasya Ka Divya Tonic, (a show which was in making since the stone age, but saw the light of the day this June).
It was the second promo where they wanted to introduce all the contestants and I suggested to spoof Sansani & introduce the contestants, have a look:


Though my personal Fav. is the first promo. A silly, funny, spoofy limerick script I wrote introducing the show. The script was liked by everybody in the channel and was shot and broadcasted before this one, I am yet to see that one, if I find it, will share it with you guys.

Reading the Pluto Series and some more classic Manga Titles like Tezuka's Astro Boy, Crying Freeman...I think Japanese story tellers are far more evolved and smarter than their western counterparts.

PLUTO 001 : Urasawa X Tezuka

Disclaimer : Well for most of you, this post might sound like the usual useless rantings of a fanboy, but I can't help sharing the magical experience of reading this wonderful book : PLUTO 001 : Urasawa X Tezuka
I came to know about PLUTO when Skottie Young (one of my fav. artists whom I follow on twitter) was tripping over it for over a month. With so many trashy manga titles around in the market, I generally keep a safe distance from most of them until its by my favorite artists, publishers or referred by somebody I can trust. Last it was (almost 2 years back), when Vikram introduced me to Lone Wolf & Cub series, which is really awesome. Before that it was Osamu Tezuka's Buddha series and some more titles by the maestro.

Anyway, after Skottie's non-stop praises and numerous reccomendations for the series, I really wanted to read it. Wiki said its Naoki Urasawa's take on one of the very old Astroboy stories by Tezuka - Astroboy and The Greatest Robot on Earth. A contemporary take on my most favorite manga artist's story! this one reason was more than enough for me to search for PLUTO. When I wasn't able to find the book at any bookstore, I ordered it from Flipkart (last entry).

I wanted to save the book for Sunday, but once I started flipping thru the pages, I couldn't help but finish it in one reading.

A wonderful book, which thankfully is presented in its original form (unlike other mirrored mangas published in America), so reading from right to left was a unique experience. Wonderfully planned narrative structure which takes a classic story and twists it with a contemporary story telling style. Brilliant use of imagery, compelling characters and careful selection of words while translating it from Japanese have made the book a worth read for anybody and everybody.

Urasawa is a master storyteller with very evolved sense of visualization which makes the book look as good as any aesthetically shot good movie. His command over emotions and dialogues is just outstanding and this humane story says it all. I can't wait to read more of his stuff especially - 20th Century Boys (which Skottie is tripping over these days) & his Monster series, along with other volumes of PLUTO.

Junot Diaz, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (Brief Wondorous Life of Oscar Wao) aptly said, "Urasawa is a national treasure in Japan, and if you aren't afraid of picture books, you'll see why."

Now I am looking forward to read the original story by Tezuka and rest of the PLUTO Volumes, as and when my pocket allows.

Went to Landmark this afternoon, just to check if they have the Astroboy Story, which sadly was unavailable with them, but I ended up buying The Art of Up:

Yours Truly,
The Fanboy
(High on Books, Low on Bank Balance)

Books, again :)

Bought some more books. Can't help it. I am addicted.

Sometime back I was searching for the book - Directing the Story, when I stumbled upon Flipkart.com.

After having some real bad experiences and some unimaginable adventures in online shopping, I am always a little skeptical about these kind of 'Bookstore at your doorstep' websites. Besides there are a couple of Book importers in Mumbai where you can order these books (that's what I did for this one).But the collection of Books (esp. Comics & Graphic Novels) on Flipkart was irresistible (which these book importers don't import comics for some reason known only to them. Finally when I couldn't resist the 'urge', I decided to give Flipkart a shot, by ordering just two books.

I am really impressed with their service. Flipkart is as good as amazon. (Wish they pay me for saying this).

It has all the features (which actually work) like tracking your order and getting prompt replies to your queries (which is very rare in the case of Indian Websites) and above all your order arrives in a neatly packed courier within the promised time (mine arrived much much earlier than the expected delivery date).

I was so excited with their prompt service (and the two comic books I recieved), that I logged in again to place an order for other comics I have been drooling over for a long time. Sadly most of them are out of stock now :(

RIP - Gulshan Bawra

Gulshan Bawra passed away today (7th August 2009).

A poet/ lyricist, who gave us memorable songs like - Mere Desh Ki Dharti (Upkar), Yari Hai Imaan Mera (Zanjeer) for which he also got the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist.

He mostly worked with Kalyan ji -Anand ji, and penned less than 250 songs in a career span of 42 years.

I still remember his interview with Ameen Sayani on Radio, where he told how Distributor Shantibhai Patel gave him the title 'Bawra'. Gulshan ji, who was in his 20s wrote some real meaningful songs for his 1959 Film Satta Baazar (Music:Kalyan ji - Anand ji) like - Tumhein Yaad Hoga Kabhi Hum Mile The (Hemant Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar), when Shantibhai came to know that these deep meaningful songs were written by this crazy looking young guy, who sports long hair and flowery shirts, he named him 'Bawra'.

Long back I was playing 'Chandi Ki Deewar Na Todi...' on my two in one. When I asked Papa ji about the lyricist of the song, without a second thought he said "Gulshan Bawra...self pity se bhare kisi song ko aise interesting way mein aur kaun likh Sakega.."

Multi-talented Gulshan ji sang couple of lines for Pyaar Humein Kis Mod Pe Le Aaya (Satte Pe Satta, 1982). He also did small roles in many films, out of which the Harmoinum Playing street singer's character from Zanjeer (1973) deserves a special mention, as full song was featured on him, he also wrote the lyrics for the song, Music : Kalyan ji- Anand ji. Have a look at Duble-Patle Gulshan ji with that heavy weight Harmonium :



RIP Gulshan Ji...

Nitin Sawhney & A Throw of Dice (Prapancha Pash) (1929)

Came across this wonderful post/review of 1929 Himanshu Rai and German director Franz Osten's Silent movie - A throw of Dice (Prapancha Pash) on Memsaab's Blog (which I think is the best blog dedicated to Indian Cinema). Check out Memsaab's blog for an awesome review of the film and some real cool screen grabs to see the grand scale of the movie. Can't wait to get a DVD of the movie.

She mentioned Nitin Sawhney's wonderful background score in her review, which caught my attention. Being a big fan of Nitin Sawhney's music I was wondering whether there was one more Nitin Sawhney during the silent era of Indian Cinema.

To know more, when I checked the official website* of the film. I was pleasantly shocked to know it's actually the same Nitin Sawhney. Nitin composed a new symphony to accompany this classic silent movie from 1929 in 2006. check out the video of song Koyal composed by him for the movie.



Not so long back, I was astonished to see (the video recording of) John Williams performing with his live orchestra for the 25th Anniversary screening of E.T. Its wonderful to see Nitin attempting the same with Prapanch Pash. He is doing a couple of Live Orchestral Screenings where his orchestra will play live background music along with the screening of the film.

PS. (*I would've never thought there can be a website for a movie from a long forgotten era, thanks Memsaab for putting it up on her blog.)

Pehli Tarikh (1954) & Dairy Milk Ad

Recently saw Varun Badola mimicing Kishore Kumar in a Dairy Milk Ad. Thanks to the retro look created by the art directors, "Pehli Tarikh Hai" song has again become a rage like it used to be in the late 50s till early 70s. The original song was the most Farmayish-ed song on the 1st of every month on all the request shows on Radio Stations all over. It was kind of an unsaid programming policy (if we may call it) Radio Ceylon used to follow by playing the Pehli Tarikh Song on the 1st of every month.

The original song is my favorite because this is one of the songs which Papa ji used to sing for us, when we were kids. He always talk about this song and fondly remembers the good old radio days. So when this ad started airing on TV, it was kind of nostalgic for him and for all of us in different ways. I haven't seen the actual song ever in my life but as far as I remember the song is from the movie Pehli Tarikh (1954), Lyrics by Qamar Jalalabadi and music by Sudhir Phadke Sahab.

Qamar Jalalabadi not only wrote some real funny songs for Kishore Kumar (Remember Guni Jano Bhakt Jano from Aansoo Aur Muskan, 1970) but also wrote dialogues for many classic films. Phadke sahab was one of the pioneering music directors from Marathi Cinema. Phadke composed music for only two Hindi Films - Pehli Tarikh (1954) & Bhabhi Ki Chudiyaan (1961), which has one of my most favorite Lata Mangeshkar song-Jyoti Kalash Chhalke (which I think is one of her best songs too).

Anyway before I start my own Radio Show here, here is the Original Pehli Tarikh Song for you


Cadbury's Dairy Milk Version:


I really love the kid's Jhatkas and Ticket Blackiyas' expressions in this video.
___________
Chalte-Chalte- Pics from my Lucknow trip, where they invited me to speak* on Story Telling, Content Creation & Pre-Production in Animation.

(*Statutory Warning : Inviting/Asking Alok Sharma to Speak can be extremely dangerous...)

Jim Lee draws for Google

My most favorite artist JIM LEE draws for Google.com home page (which we can't see in India as it keeps on redirecting us to google.co.in) for San Diego ComiCon, a historical moment for all the comic book lovers like us.

Yayawari, Comic Books & lots more...

There was so much to say and so little time that I had to write and delete several posts before I realized its more than a month since I updated my blog.

Anyway, without wasting words and time anymore, I think I should say what I wanted to say. I wanted to talk a lot about the journeys we made in last one month (a little more than a month, to be precise) and the fun we had. But as its already over and most of the journey stories will sound stale, I think I should save those stories for some other time.

Har safar Ek Nayi Shuruaat

Without Neeshank none of these stories would've been as interesting and fun filled as they are. Neeshank was the 'driving force' behind all the fun we had in Delhi and otherwise too...

SP and his tactics to safeguard the luggage was another funny addition during our South India visit.
I can't thank Amrit & Amol enough for making our Delhi visit one of the most memorable experience. With all the Hawabaaziyaan we did there (check out the size of Mango Shake), we almost forgot that Delhi isn't our hometown and we are actually out of home.

Bangalore Trip was more like a deja vu. Having spent a considerable time in Bangalore (back then it was called Bangalore), it was nothing new for SP or Me. Besides we were roommates for such a longtime that throughout on our way from Station to Mayunk n Abha's, we felt like we are going back from some friends place to Mrs.Pinto's at Brigade Road. Bengaluroo trip became zimbly subaarb, all thanks to Mayunk & Abha ki Mehmaannawazi. I so wanted to steal Mayunk's treasure of old comic books but before I could do that, Mayunk booked our return tickets and we had to leave Bangalore..oops...Namma Bengaluroo. But on our way we raided Blossoms and bought some superb comic books from there.

Neeshank & Me

Our trip from Bangalore to Chennai was really eventful. In true Indiana Jones fashion, we fought rogues (in this case the rowdy travel agents), deciphered codes to unearth a mysterious platform (no. 14 B) made by some mysterious civilization at Kempegowda Bus Terminus, just to get a Bus (which plays some trashy 1980s Kannada Movie on its way which none of the passengers wanna see, on its way) to Chennai.

On our way to Kempegowda Bus Terminus

SP & Neeshank, Chennai ki Or...

Poochho Na Kaise Maine Rain Bitayee

Chennai was pure awesomeness. Spent the night on the floors of a friend's office, which was a true 'Kasam Se Mazaa Aa Gaya' Experience. The next morning after having a delightful brunch at Sarvana Bhawan, T Nagar, we met some real cool people and after buying dozens of DVDs from Burma Bazaar, we returned back to Pune the same day. Our journey back home could've been a disaster, if we wouldn't have met this awesome TC, who 'helped' us out and we got an 'upgradation' to 2 Tier AC wunnly for wunn naayiitt!

Other trips and meets were awesome too, but I think Sabka mention kiye bina kaam chal sakta hai...so what I will mention here is THE GIFTS!
Somebody (I would love to mention the person's name, once I am allowed to do that) gifted me 200+ Indrajal Comics.
All the publishers I met gifted me massive bunches of comic books. My greed made me buy another bunch of comic books from all of them and every time I returned home from any trip, I had another carton full of comic books with me.
Bunty sent me his collection of Comic Books (easily 500+). I was going through the comic books last night and was getting all nostalgic about the years when I used to run a Lending Library with Bunty, where we used to share even an athanni and our fights on these comic books, almost every book has a personal memory attached to it. I can't thank him enough for this.

I am yet to start reading the comic books and books I have acquired in last one month.

To Err is...??

I also wanted to write something on some silly mistakes I noticed, while I was travelling -

Number 1 is the trailer of Kambakht Ishq: where they play the Mantra - "Mangalam Bhagwan Vishnu, Mangalam Garudadhwaja, Mangalam Pundrikakshah Mangalaya Tanoh Hari" along with the text on the screen... I was shocked to see 'Mangalam Pundrikakshah' wrongly written 'Mangalam Kundrikakshah' going on air unnoticed by so many people. This one mistake changes the meaning of the Mantra and nobody was actually bothered about bringing this to the Director's/Producer's/Media's notice. STRANGE!!!

Second is a DVD released by Shemaroo: How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way, which is based on the very popular book by the same name by Stan Lee & John Buscema. It was a pleasant surprise to stumble upon this DVD at a Planet M outlet in Mumbai. But I was shocked to see DC's Superman on the cover of the DVD which will teach you How To Draw Comics 'The Marvel' Way. I would love to see Stan 'The Man' Lee's reaction on this cover. I think, we need a serious 'Comic book Education' in India. Nevertheless, despite the blasphemous cover, the DVD is an awesome product and a must have for every comic book lover/creator/'self proclaimed' creator. Check out the videos on youtube here.

Quick Updates

Longer blog post will take sometime. Here are quick updates:

My blog turned one year old this 5th. Wanted to write something on that, but couldn't.

I am in Delhi. The journey was remarkable & really funny.

Meeting some of my most fav. comic book creators.

Enjoying Delhi ki Mehmaan-nawaazi, which is simply mindblowing.

Two stories : Challan Karaogey ya Dosti Nibhaogey! & 'O Koi Load Nahin Hai Yaar' deserve a dedicated post which I will be posting soon.

Milte hain break ke baad!

A Dream realized after 2 decades :


Met Cartoonist Pran finally...something which my Dad promised me in June 1989 was finally fulfilled in June 2009. (A Long story...may be some other day)

Past Ke भूत

Sometimes I wonder if the word भूत which stands for Past in Hindi is because the Past acts like a Ghost most of the times. Ghosts of the Past can be haunting, tempting or both. It's nearly impossible to escape them as we all love to see things in retrospect and get nostalgic about the past- the भूत !

Most of the blogs I visit everyday are full of posts which are nothing but a nostalgic record of the past. What makes past so hauntingly tempting??

Something happened today...and I am unable to decide, if The Past was more beautiful than The Present? Can't do much about it....but still can't help contemplating over it...

Listening to Star Wars Background Score by the Master - John Williams! Awesome...Music is something which can never become past...it just get better and better as the time passes!

Speaking of which, here is a Rare Kishore Kumar song from his unavailable film Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein



Meanwhile Neha has just posted a beautiful post on her blog, check it out!

One Kharaab DVD Player, Boom & Piano

Last night my DVD Player refused to play any DVD for more than a couple of minutes after which it stopped automatically. I have to get a new DVD Player but before that I called up the ONIDA Service Center and gave them a piece of my mind.

ONIDA's after sales service sucks big time! Their engineers are not qualified, but are an expert in giving temporary solutions and permanent excuses.

My Resolution : I AM NEVER GONNA BUY OR USE ANYTHING FROM ONIDA EVER IN MY LIFE! & I'll Suggest you to stay away from this Brand!

As the DVD player played up games again. I decided to read something and while reading this wonderful essay by Alan Moore called Alan Moore's Writing For Comics, I downloaded Kaizaad Gustad's BOOM, which I wanted to see for a longtime. BOOM is a classic example of good plot going into a brainless direction. It's like Kanti Shah (Director/Producer of Gunda) trying to make a Guy Ritchie-sque diamond heist and all of a sudden feels he can add all the elements from Gunda to make the plot more interesting.

One good thing happened while watching BOOM was Jackie Shroff humming Jaa Re Ud Jaa Re Panchhi, one of my most favorite Bhoola Bisra Geet from Maya. Last I heard this song was some 5-6 years back on Vividh Bharti. I was searching for the song in my Hard Disk when I came across the instrumental version of the song, rendered wonderfully on Piano by Brian Silas. Since morning I am listening to some real rare old songs played by the maestro. Its truly a wonderful experience to listen to these old classics played on Piano.

Meanwhile, came across this really funny site, you shouldn't miss - The Editing Room : Abridged Scripts for Movies. Do check out...its hilarious!

Sunday!

Sunday just got over. I am really sleepy but wanted to write and post this before hitting the sack.

(Edit: I was just gonna post this when power failed and my laptop went off : these days my laptop runs on raw power, battery has died sometime back).

Last night I decided to be at home on Sunday and spend the day aimlessly to compensate for all the Sundays I have missed in last couple of weeks...or shall I say months. 2 Movies, one good reading session (I am reading and a book signing event later, I can say Yep! It was a day well spent...

I was lazying around, watching BBC's Documentary Divine Michelangelo between my afternoon naps when a very close friend called up to remind me I have to get a copy of Paths of Glory (the latest Jeffery Archer novel) signed for her at the book signing Jeffery was doing this evening at the Landmark.

I didn't know much about Jeffery Archer or his work (Mujhe Duniyawalon Maaf Karna). Anyway I did my research and was astonished to learn, his books do more business in India than any other nation in the world! No wonder the man was here to promote his latest book and do book signings (I'll wait for the day when Indians will read Neil Gaiman & Alan Moore the way Archer guy is being read here).

I planned to check out what this Ho-Hulla is all about, took Neha for company and went to Landmark. Landmark, Pune was so crowded that it reminded me of Andheri station at peak hours (Ahhhh I miss Mumbai!).

The Crowd

As I suspected earlier; the place was full of silly college girls and some Mahila type ki Yuvtiyaan &/or Mahilaayein trying hard to be Yuvtiyaan... Let me remind you this bunch of ladies is the most powerful lot we have in our nation, they can turn any Jeffery Archer into A Best Selling Author & any SRK into A Super-Duper Star...
(DISCLAIMER : I am not questioning JA/SRK's talent, they both are very talented and both deserve to be where they are, I am just praising the Naari Shakti & its shakti in mera gaaon mera desh).

Jeffery was yet to come, so I grabbed a copy of Brian Azzarello's Joker and started flipping thru the pages wondering if they will have a book signing by Brian Azzarello ever in India.

Jeffery arrived and as he started talking I was amazed. This man who sounded like a big snob in all his interviews is actually an interesting snob. I was really impressed when he said "I am not a writer, I am a story teller..." and made his point clear with a funny example to a bunch of college girls (I can't call them silly everytime) with blank expression on their faces.

I really wanted to read his work now! Kane & Abel looked really interesting, may be because the name sounded like the names of biblical brothers Cain & Abel. Picked a copy, the desciption given at the back cover was really interesting.

Book Signing

Book Signing started. I had to get a copy of Paths of Glory autographed, I planned to get my book signed too.

Jeffery signing My copy of Kane & Abel

I flipped thru the pages of Kane & Abel and I find the book pretty interesting! Will be reading it soon...

It's raining tonight...Weather will be good tomorrow...

I was going to write more ki Achanak:

"Doctor...Mujhe Chaaro Or Blue-Blue Nazar Aa Raha Hai...!!!"

"Koi Naa Puttar, So Jaa...It's Monday..."
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Prakash Mehra the man behind Zanjeer and many other Amitabh Hits passed away. RIP Prakash Ji, you truly were Muqaddar Ka Sikandar!


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Coming Up : Toony Version of another character from Watchmen :)

Rorschach test on Photoshop

After a long-longtime, I tried my hands at sketching and coloring this afternoon.

I wanted to draw cute versions of The Watchmen. I haven't drawn or sketched for ages, so had to struggle a lot and before I could come up with something and I still was/am miles away from the result I was looking for.

Somehow managed to draw this toony version of Rorschach, my most favorite Character from Watchmen. Coloring has always been a challenge for me. I mostly do flat coloring on my cartoons. But this time I am determined to learn Photoshop properly and color my cartoons in a better way. So here are few colored versions of Rorschach. Have tried a little molding/shading in the following two versions & I think the outcome is yucky! Need to study more and practice harder...




Waiting for your feedback!

Contemplations Aur Do June Ki Roti

After working round the clock for more than a month (without a single day break), life has started settling down.

May of the new year is almost half over and before we know it will be June.

June means- I'll be completing my one year with BIG Animation, one year in Pune, one year of many new things. Anyway, I'll be taking a month long (unpaid) sabbatical from work this June.

Have lots of unfinished stuff to work on and hazaar other things to do in June. I have been postponing almost anything and everything to June. Things are getting added almost everyday to the to do list, which means June is going to be a little tighter month for me.

Have loads to read & write. Unable to decide from where to start. I hope by god's grace I'll be able to sit back and plan things properly before June. Contemplations...Contemplations...

Meanwhile:
Finished reading first two chapters (Dormant Beast & December 32) of Enki Bilal's Beast Trilogy.
Bilal is a master of sci-fi fantasy graphic stories, all his stories have a very strong emotional central thread which makes them stand apart from other sci-fis.
This trilogy was later converted into Beast Tetralogy with the release of fourth installment in 2007. The two chapters I got to read were collected in Bilal Library imprint of DC. I am desperately looking for next two stories as the story was getting interesting when the book ended with a cliffhanger climax!
I was looking for more of Bilal and finally downloaded Bilal's movie Immortel (Ad Vitam) based on his 1980 Graphic Novel The Carnival of Immortals. (Disclaimer : I don't download a movie till it's available, but Immortel is almost impossible to get anywhere). I have heard a lot of good and some not so good things about the film. I am yet to see the film so I'll keep my mouth shut till I see it.

Other books I am reading are:
Ashwin Sanghi's The Rozabal Line. If you are a sucker for conspiracy theories, ancient cultures & civilizations with a lot of factual information hidden in fiction, this is the book for you. I am loving the research which went behind the book more than the story of the book.

Gotham By Gaslight : Batman - 3 Part Miniseries by Mike Mignola.

Just saw Disney's Jungle Book (which is apparently the last movie supervised and produced by Uncle Walt). I liked it in bits & pieces. Disney's Animation is always of superb quality, but I wasn't very happy with the way Disney took liberty with Kipling's classic story.

After too much of naatakbaazi, which includes rubbing toothpaste on the scratched DVD, I got to see The Lion King on my Laptop & I immensly loved the movie, some of the sequences are simply mindblowing! This movie (and all the naatak, that went into getting and seeing it) deserves another post!

Things To Do :

• Start finishing the work piling on my desk.
• A back to back run of STAR WARS original trilogy on my khatara DVD player this weekend. IMHO the original trilogy rocks, I am simply blown with the narrative structure of it. It's like a text book for anybody who wants to write stories...
• Read all twelve 100 Bullets TPBs in one go. Then there are other books too DKR, HUSH, SCALPED, Fables.
• & then there are other DVDs too...

Ahhh so much to do...so little time...

PS. Planning to get enrolled for Symbiosis' Diploma in Creative Writing in English course. Let's see...

Came across this wonderful blog on Golden Age Comic Books with a lot of Frazetta Art!