Vishal's Blog

Returning to where I belong-The Kutch trip'10 A couple of shops selling a variety of Kutchi arts and crafts, blooming with vibrant colours, playing Kutchi and Gujarati folk music warmly welcome you to the Narayan Sarovar village. Whilst travelling from Bhuj to Narayan Sarovar, the tyres of the vehicle in which we were travelling went flat near Kanauj. The chances of getting another vehicle seemed remote and therefore we decided to walk the distance of about 3 kilometres to the village. Barren stretches which mostly grow Cactus surround the curvy roads that lead to Narayan Sarovar. In between those barren lands, are green pastures, a blessing for animals. These arid thorn-forests are also a home to the famous Chinkara deers, the desert foxes and the Great Indian Bustard. One does not normally encounter these animals on roads during the day time. We however, got lucky as we encountered a fox on the road which on seeing us quickly disappeared in a nearby bush. The forest also has plan...

Spiritual Fitness BEST WRITER AWARD - TIMES OF CMB - HSBC Looking back into the history of the entire mankind, we can easily infer that the only civilization which is responsible for creation of ugliness to an extremely unfathomable extent is ours. Riots, Bomb Blasts, Gun firings, rapes, murders etc are common occurrences today. Jealousy, greed and ignominy have become human nature. The multiplication of such events, only means one thing and that is the human nature will not change, so it was, so it is and so it shall be. Seldom has any other civilization created such chaos. The need of the hour is Spiritual Fitness; the word conjures up an idea of some super human accomplishment which is not the case. Being a Karate student actually helps in understanding this concept. What Japanese call “Zen” is “Dhyan” in Sanskrit. Bodhidharma, an Indian who is traditionally credited to transmit Zen to China, discovered that the monks engrossed in deep meditation were not physically stron...

3 Idiots – Film Review Published on http://www.mastradio.com/ 3 Idiots is a must watch film because it carries a message for everyone and touches the problems our education system is facing today. The elegance personified director Rajkumar Hirani like his previous movies like the Munnabhai series and the perfectionist Amir like his movie Taare Zameen Par once again successfully delivers a strong but simple message. The film tells you that education is not about getting good marks and achieving success but it is all about craving for excellence. And it is important to be passionate about whatever you choose to do in life. These are simple, philosophical thoughts everyone is aware of, but they are remarkably depicted in the film. I, too like everyone else came out of the theatre with just one line on my lips “Bhaiya, All is well”. The story begins with Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan) and Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi) looking for their friend Rancho (Amir Khan) who goes missing after ...

Paa-Film review With Paa, Amitabh Bacchan has chartered those unchartered territories where no one else has dared to charter before. He’s stepped into the shoes of a 13 year old, named Auro who has a rare genetic disorder called Progeria which fastens up the ageing process. This means though Auro is 13, but due to ageing, his body is of a person who may be five times his age. And we don’t see Amitabh at all in the film because in Auro’s skin he is simply unrecognizable. Yes, unbelievable but true. His acting today has reached a pinnacle of near insurmountable standards. After about 40 years in the film industry and already a legend like status, Amitabh is such a genius who is not willing to rest on his laurels. With such a top performer, belief and reality always merge. With Paa, Balki too, was looking at risk differently. He has taken a road less travelled but has broad shoulders of Amitabh Bachhan to bank upon and he does not disappoint. The film opens up with the little ...

KURBAAN (Published on www.mastradio.com) Kurbaan which released in theatres on Friday is a thought provoking and a powerful movie which has hit theatres in the year 2009. With this movie, Karan Johar provides the thoughtful and intense Indian cine goers paisa vasool entertainment. In a way, this film is as fresh as a wind that easily blows the old thoughts away and it tells us that Karan Johar has an eye for history. The Indian audiences asked for a change and honestly speaking, this film was a honest and a better one. It looks as if Rensil Desilva, the director of the Kurbaan is more like a scientist to whom every drop of titration matters, as every minute of the film is hard hitting and succeeds in gripping the audiences thoroughly. We don’t have to look very far but only as far as early 2009, with Kurbaan its three hits in a row for Karan Johar as a producer (Dostana, Wake Up Sid and now Kurbaan) and he is set for more with My name is Khan to be released in early 2010. Karan s...

SD Burman - The musical legend (Published on mastradio.com - 04Nov2009) Sachin Dev Burman or SD Burman or SD or just Sachinda was a legendary personality. He was an elegance personified and the finest music directors of all time. “Sachinda was one of the most cultured and sophisticated music directors I have ever encountered” Dev Anand once said. Sachin Tendulkar the great Indian cricket player was named after Sachin dev Burman. Sachinda belonged to an aristocratic pedigree. He was born in a princely family of Tripura. Money never impressed him; nothing seemed bigger than music for the great SD Burman. He was also a brilliant and skilful classical singer, singing enhanced his passion for music; it helped him in creating some unforgettable and soulful music. He started his musical career in films from Kolkata. He has sung for more than 200 songs (filmy and non filmy) in Hindi and Bengali. In his hey days as a music composer, he used to phone call singers like Mukesh and Mohamma...

Film Review – Blue (Rating 1 out of 5) The director of Blue, Anthony D’souza wanted to paint the nation Azure during the Diwali festival. He therefore sought the most expensive star cast in Bollywood – Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta and Zayed Khan in addition to some great underwater shots and an imported dame in Kylie Minogue. The 100 Crore film, an opulent spectacle, is a dampener though. The credit should be given to the marketing team of Shree Ashtavinayak films for creating a hype and hysteria around the film that it succeeded in accumulating 16 Crores in the first week itself. I too was a victim of the hype and saw the film on the Diwali day. Blue was supposed to be a jaw-dropping tryst, the first Bollywood underwater film with a huge array of under the sea stunts. However, these stunts by Pete Zuccarini (Pirates of the Caribbean fame) are not as fascinating as predicted and seem straight out of some Discovery channel show. The plot is desultory and dangling too. Sagar (Sa...