The Begining Kick started Chitrakathaa with Mr.Aabid Surti. Meeting with Aabid Surti ji (creator of Bahadur, Indrajaal Comics and many other syndicated comic strips and highly popular Dhabbu ji series from Dharmyug) was an experience. Though I had an opportunity to meet him in my student days but this time it was more personal, he invited us to his residence in Meera Road and we had a long chat on Stories, Comics, Superheroes, his way of setting up a story (or Setting the chessboard as he calls it), creating a new comic book universe, creating new characters, his novels, collaboration with legendary comic book artists like Govind Brahmanya and Pratap Mulick, his fixation with the stories of Daakus of Chambal, his bollywood days, his association and experience with Raj Kapoor and Raj Khosla, his comics that were almost turned into films, his love for art and painting, his stories which were far matured and ahead of their time and current bollywood films.Saw his Short Films and a film made on him.
Can't explain the experience, the fun and the excitement. But this was THE WAY to kick start Chitrakathaa!
Have started a blog which will be updated on regular intervals, sometimes with the updates on Chitrakathaa: The Project and sometimes with some write ups on Indian Comics.
Hey I am extremely sorry for not being active (as Vidooshak and many of you complained) on my blog space for a while. Magar kya karein ye Naukari cheez hi aisi hai ki achhe achhe nikammo se kaam karwa leti hai, phir hum kis khet ki Mooli hain. It's good to see Mumbai and life finally back to normal (or so they say), its better to see the anger in common public, it was best to see Politicians giving some stupid bayaans and getting caught on camera. Though we all know how they really are but its great to see the real faces of these vultures which are otherwise hidden behind those ever smiling masks. As far as our foreign policy and diplomacy is concerned, I think its high time now. We have to act fast and fight terror by evoking terror in the minds of those who think they can easily plan and terrorize us. This reminds me of the poem- शक्तिऔरक्षमा (Abilities and Mercy) one of my most favorite Poet रामधारी सिंह दिनकर' -(this poem is an excerpt from his Mahakavya - कुरुक्षेत्र). श्रीकृष्ण who went as a Shaanti Doot is insulted in Kuru Sabha, he is back and trying to make Yudhisthir understand that his Humbleness could be percieved as a cowardice by his opponents if he doesn't display his real abilities and bravery on time, I think this poem suits the condition India is in today, we need to understand-
"Tolerance, forgiveness and clemency
Are respcted by the world
Only when the glow of strength
From behind it is unfurled."
(Providing English Translation which I found online for the Hindi Text)
क्षमा, दया, तप, त्याग, मनोबल सबकालियासहारा परनरव्याघसुयोधनतुमसे कहोकहाँकबहारा? Mercy, resolve, tact, tolerance
You've tried everything and some
But o my king of men
When did Suyodhan succumb?
क्षमाशीलहोॠपु-सक्षम तुमहुयेविनीतजितनाही दुष्टकौरवोंनेतुमको कायरसमझाउतनाही The more forgiving you were
In your humane compassion
The more these rouge Kauravas
Pegged you as cowardly ashen
अत्याचारसहनकरनेका कुफलयहीहोताहै पौरुषकाआतंकमनुज कोमलहोकरखोताहै This is the consequence
Of tolerating atrocities
The awe of machismo is lost
When one's gentle n kindly
क्षमाशोभतीउसभुजंगको जिसकेपासगरलहै उसकाक्याजोदंतहीन विषरहितविनीतसरलहै Forgiveness is becoming of
The serpent that's got venom
None cares for the toothless,
Poisonless, kind, gentle one
सचपूछोतोशरमेंही बसतीहैदीप्तिविनयकी संधिवचनसम्पूज्यउसीका जिसमेशक्तिविजयकी Truth be told, it's in the quiver
That lies the gleam of modesty
Only his peace-talk is reputable
Who is capable of victory
Tolerance, forgiveness and clemency
Are respcted by the world
Only when the glow of strength
From behind it is unfurled
____________________________ Sometimes war is neccessary to bring in peace....Such wars are called Dharmyuddha in our historical myths, and it's time for another Dharmyuddha. Are we ready to fight or we have become so timid that we'll keep hiding in the same shell and witness many more such events is the question that's still giving me sleepless nights. I am still finding myself unable to accept what happened in those 60 Hours. Saw some Pakistani Media Videos and I am unable to keep my cool after listening to the explosive language they used against India while we were struggling to fight those coward terrorists trained in Pak. They are laughing at us and our toothless tigers are playing blame games sitting in Delhi. We are lighting candles while they are training thousands others to repeat the 26/11 incident. Till when are we going to boost candle sales and blame the politicians?? It's the time to display our courage!!!
PS. I am sorry for sounding so prejudiced, biased or paranoid but I strongly feel we all should feel the same. Thanks to everybody who commented on my last post. My brother is safe and so are all of us till those bastards are back. Are we waiting???Are we ready???
I was watching a film on my DVD when I got a call from my brother who is in Mumbai. "..I am perfectly alright, Please don't worry..don't panic...I am leaving for Colaba.." He said in the same hurry that he always is in when he is going to cover a news. (He works with a NEWS Channel) I was shocked...asked him why is he telling me this. "Check the News Channels...I am really in a hurry....will talk later"
I was shocked to see the News Alerts everywhere - BOMB BLASTS & FIRING IN MUMBAI!!!
How can this be possible. I mean..I was there last evening, just came back...everything was alright..in fact I stayed in South Mumbai at my best buddy's place.. we spoke about the beauty this part of the city has... its hardly 24 hours...and here we are..looking at one of the most ugliest visuals...
It's shamefully disgusting. I don't think I wanna give/gift this world to the coming generation. Full of hatred and madness. Brother is there covering the news like many others who are there so that people like us can sit back safe at home, see the current news...write blogs...discuss things...blame people...and then again switch the TV on for more breaking news...I am proud of you BHAI!!!and I am really proud of the youngsters who came out of the comfort of their houses and helped the injured to get hospitalized...I am proud of our Police Force who are fighting these cowards...
I wasn't able to sleep...or think...normally in such conditions I try to find solace in the poem -
WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action-- Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
-- Rabindranath Tagore
...but last night even that proved to be a futile attempt....I was sleepless...How can we sleep????How???
Am I overreacting???
People are still there... there can be no negotiations with those Crazy Bastards as they don't even have any demands or agenda... to have a demand or agenda needs a sane mind... their poisoned minds and insane motives prove they don't have sound minds...How will we negotiate with these people who themselves don't know what exactly are they fighting for???
It's so shitty that it's scary...
Saluting the Martyrs of Mumbai- Brave Policemen, Officers, Civilians...
Saluting the Spirit of Mumbai... Show the cowards, what we are made of....
Hi this is Ashok Sharma...(and all this while we believed my name is Alok Sharma).
Thanks to a National Newspaper now all the misunderstandings and confusions are sorted out & here I am announcing my real name - ASHOK SHARMA!!
Surprised????
Even I was surprised when I read this 'interview' (check maadi its worth reading). First I was shocked, then surprised but later on realized that this Newspaper has years of research and experience, it can't be wrong..and I used to think I am Alok Sharma. Anyway Kalidaas once said:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet."
Shakuntala (143-420), Kaalidaas.
As this is not the Kalidaas era and Roses don't have to apply for passports; which I have to apply for very soon, I am left with lots of things to do, I have to get all my documents (like PAN Card, school/college records and certificates) reissued/corrected with my real name...I am just wondering if I am Ashok Sharma and Alok Sharma never existed, who is going to pay all the EMIs that Alok used to pay??? not me...right???
Actually I’d been thinking of writing this post for a while but before I go ahead…
DISCLAIMER: This post belongs to my Bollywood Blog, but I wanted to share this one with all of you, so I decided to publish it here.
Prologue: Year was 1998 when I got my 1st Radio and started listening to Vividh Bharti. This was my first interaction with Hindi Film Music (more or less). I was so addicted to Vividh Bharti that I used to switch my radio on with their Morning Broadcast and turn it off only after they went off air around 11:05 pm everyday. No matter if I am solving an accountancy sum, drawing cartoons for local news papers or reading a comic book, Vividh Bharti was always there with me. While listening to these melodies I discovered many beautiful songs which were not only composed on same tunes but were very similar in the way they sounded yet they always sounded different and unique. This was way before I got introduced to FM Radio and much later worked with couple of FM Radio Channels myself.
Here I am going to talk about 5 different songs based on the same tune which was composed by Maestro S.D.Burman first time in the movie Naujawan in 1951. Have a look:
One of the musical gems created by SDB & Sahir - One of the best Musical Teams in 50s Bollywood, sadly they parted ways after Pyaasa (1957) and never worked together.
There were 3 lyricists for the film : Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shailendra and Raja Mehdi Ali (who penned this song is unknown to me)
Roshan Sahab loved Thandi Hawayein song so much that he went to SDB and asked him if he can use the same tune with minor changes here and there in one of the films he was composing songs for, Sachin Da was so impressed with Roshan Sahab’s honesty and his love for music that he couldn’t say no to him (an anecdote I heard long back on Vividh Bharti) and Roshan Sahab created Tera Dil Kahaan Hai. The song wasn’t as successful as Thandi Hawayein.
Year was 1981 and Pancham Da tried his hands on the same tune for the first time in Naram Garam, which was directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. It was actually a sequel to Golmaal (1979), the film’s opening credits have a Golmaal Song too but the film failed to recreate the Golmaal magic on Box Office. Amol Palekar& Utpal Dutt play Ram Prasad and Bhawani Shankar respectively ALA Golmaal, Ram’s love interest Kusum was played by Miss India (1979) Swaroop Sampat who later on became Mrs. Paresh Rawal. Naram Garam was her second film I have always found her lips-syncs quite funny. Just like the film the song went almost unnoticed. But it has a striking resemblance to the Title track of Saagar.
PS. If you haven't seen Naram Garam...It's a must watch. Original DVDs available on T Series at Rs.45 only.
Pancham Da recreated magic this time with the same tune (but for the first time as a Duet) in Saagar with some wonderful lyrics by Javed Sahab and soulful singing by Kishore Da & Lata ji. Kishore went on to win Best Playback Singer - Male for the song.
_________________________________________________________________
Hope this time I am not gonna get the Hate Messages I got after posting Pixar Posts. Keep Listening, keep humming, keep commenting...
Waise toh every Diwali is special but this one was special in other way. I was back from the hospital and on prescribed bed rest the whole day. Pune had an eternally long power cut that day (that means no DVDs...No movies). I was in no mood to read so the Khurafaati Khopdi that I am, planned to make some prank calls and surprise people whom I haven’t spoken to in ages.. Tried to sell credit cards, house loans, club memberships to most of the unsuspecting shikaars, posed as a psycho fan called all Kalakaar type old friends (to my delight none of them had my new no. and I was pretty successful in pester them all).
It was fun catching up with all the cartoonist friends with whom I started my cartooning career long back.…Diwali actually turned into a True Happy Diwali…Power cuts during bed rest aren’t that bad…are they??
Posting some of my old cartoons…and a pic (hope you can differentiate between the pic and cartoons)
-Alok
The Examination Special Cartoon for a Magazine while preparing for Exams myself (year 2000)
Deewar Ka Don : Freelance Assignment from an Ad Agency (Nov.2005)
Struggling with pencils @ Gotham Comics (Dec.2005)
PS. Listening to Requiem For A Dream soundtrack, brilliant music…awesome tracks by Clint Mansell.. I was listening to a track called- Winter: The Beginning Of The End, and was shocked to discover that the track Confidence (which used to be one of my most favorite instrumental tracks) from Johnny Gaddar was copied...err.. I mean…plagiarized... I mean ‘inspired by’- Winter: The Beginning Of The End…
Seems like I made a mistake by posting two ‘Pearls Of Wisdom by Pixar’ posts back to back on my blog. The visitors and comments count dropped like the sensex. My last post (an interview with Brad Bird) which was posted almost 2 weeks back saw the lowest no. of comments ever on my blog.
Anyway here I am, back after almost 1 month. Meanwhile there were times when I had lots to share and wanted to publish a new post here but sometimes work and deadlines and sometimes my infamous laziness kept me away from my blog. Mind is as agitated as it can/should be and with so many things going on at the same time and I don’t see it getting unruffled soon.
Quick updates:
I celebrated my B’day on 11th October working till 11:30 on a Saturday.
Did my 1st paid Acting Gig for a Commercial on 12th October (it was a Glorified Extra Role for the Commercial of a Paani Tanki, but who cares as long as I get paid for it).
Had real fun working on some projects.
Saw couple of films. (disappointed by the story & Javed Jafferi’s over the top VOs in Roadside Romeo)
Made 2 quick trips to Mumbai.(Gonna write a Detailed post)
Contemplated & still Contemplating on many decisions (personal as well as professional).
Hospitalised on Chhoti Diwali ie. 27th but was discharged the same day by God’s grace celebrated Diwali at home with Family.
Got a huge no. of hate msgs and mails on posting Pixar stuff back to back.
Posting some of my illustrations here. Hope U gonna like them..Gonna visit all ur blogs soon…A Character done @ Disney
Meeting with Aabid Surti ji (creator of Bahadur, Indrajaal Comics and many other syndicated comic strips and highly popular Dhabbu ji series from Dharmyug) was an experience. Though I had an opportunity to meet him in my student days but this time it was more personal, he invited us to his residence in Meera Road and we had a long chat on Stories, Comics, Superheroes, his way of setting up a story (or Setting the chessboard as he calls it), creating a new comic book universe, creating new characters, his novels, collaboration with legendary comic book artists like Govind Brahmanya and Pratap Mulick, his fixation with the stories of Daakus of Chambal, his bollywood days, his association and experience with Raj Kapoor and Raj Khosla, his comics that were almost turned into films, his love for art and painting, his stories which were far matured and ahead of their time and current bollywood films.
Saw his Short Films and a film made on him.
