Twilight Fairy » media

Mad about “Castle”?

Twilight Fairy — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:16:28 +0000

I like watching “Castle” on Star World, a “Dramedy” (Drama + Comedy) based in a crime setting that is shown everyday from 10pm-11pm, Mon to Thurs in India. Of course the series is running behind in terms of what is shown in the US (where the 2nd season has finished already).

Only 2 episodes are left for 2nd season to finish in India, but fret not if you like this series, a 3rd season is in the offing. Not every episode of the series is path breaking and definitely could do better, however irrespective of that, I like culling out a lot from any stuff that I watch on TV. So I often watch it for the visuals, for what Richard Castle’s home decor is like, what fancy activities he indulges in, at home with Alexis, what photographs he puts on his walls, what fashion his mother and daughter follow, what meals they are eating or what accessories Kate Beckett wears when she does dress up for partying and hence I find the series overall engaging.

In the series, the characters regularly use twitter, especially Richard Castle. In one episode, they even show Richard Castle & Kate Beckett finding out their victim’s whereabouts by doing a twitter search! However this post isn’t really about the series and is instead more about the people in the cast. Since nowadays twitter is the rage and it seems anyone & everyone has some presence here, needless to say the Castle team also does. I did some research and this is what I could find about the twitter presence of the “Castle” cast.

Stana Katic as Kate Beckett - @stana_katic

Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle - @nathanfillion

There’s also another (official) account for the character Richard Castle which tweets as an author of crime bestsellers only – @WriteRCastle

Jon Huertas as Detective Javier Esposito– @Jon_Huertas

Tamala Jones as Dr. Lanie Parish – @tamalajones

Molly C Quinn as Alexis Castle – couldn’t find her on twitter as the real her, but there’s an account @alexiscastle (seems to be offical as well) that tweets in character as Richard Castle’s daughter. This id interacts regularly with @WriteRCastle as her dad.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Cpt. Roy Montgomery – couldn’t find him on twitter.

Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers – couldn’t find her on twitter.

Seamus Dever as Kevin Ryan – couldn’t find him on twitter.

Alyssa Milano as Kyra Blaine in Season 2, episode 12, “A Rose for Everafter” – @Alyssa_Milano

There’s an account on twitter called @CastleTweets which seems to be an official twitter id for the team’s comments including the actors, producers etc.

Michael Trucco is Kate Beckett’s new love interest in “Castle” and it seems it is an experiment to see who suits the chemistry better. Needless to say Richard Castle wins hands down here for his boyish charm.

All “Castle” fans, till we get to “Castle” Season 3, you can survive on the information above

Share and Enjoy:

Social media & Blog camp

Twilight Fairy — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:39:28 +0000

It’s been quite some time since we were planning the “Social media & Blog camp” to be held at Indiatimes, Gurgaon on 7th June’08. It started as an idea from scratch and finally we have managed to get a sponsored venue for this exciting event. Indiatimes, our gracious sponsor is also providing us free wi-fi, lunch, tea/coffee and snacks. There is so much to learn on Social media & blogging in the social marketing context. Are you going to be there? You can register as a speaker or just as an attendee.

This is a one-day semi-camp style “unconference”* which brings together stakeholders and audiences of social media and blogging. The wave of social media in India (which includes Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ryze, Orkut, YouTube, Flickr and many more) has led to a huge interest in the personal and business implications of this here-to-stay form of interaction. Blogging has already been a huge platform of expression for professionals and citizens from all walks of life.

The idea is to provide an ongoing and large platform of interaction for everyone, from entrepreneurs to enthusiasts, from technology to marketing experts, and from media to PR, to enrich themselves with a whole world of learning and business opportunities.

Where :

Date : 7th June’08 (Saturday), 9:30am – 5:30pm

Venue : Indiatimes office,
Times Internet Ltd.
I World , Opp. DLF Golf Course,
DLF City Phase V,
Gurgaon, Haryana – 122005
The venue is wifi enabled and has an auditorium, projectors and a board room for parallel tracks if the need arises. Lunch/tea/coffee/snacks would be provided by our prime sponsor – Indiatimes.

Parking : this will be provided inside Indiatimes office; Map: 3b5998;">http://xrl.in/5lk

Share and Enjoy:

Camera, action!

Twilight Fairy — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:53:42 +0000

Of late there have been some movies which have actually started “moving” ppl into action too. Though the term “movies” was coined to denote movement of characters on the screen like “talkies” denoted talking, it’s good to see that the movement and the impact can be felt outside the cinema hall too. Here I am not talking about a certain Vijay or a certain Gabbar or even a trademark wolfwhistle – “oye oye, oye o-o-wa” – things which are permanently etched into people’s memories due to the movies. I am talking about deeper impacts. When Black was released some ppl went ahead to say that watching it once would change you for life, one would walk out a better person. Well, that’s too tall a claim and may be true only for people who are so far removed from the normal world that they have no idea how a world of darkness and silence, looks or sounds like. It may hold good for people who have had a sheltered life with lady luck smiling down on them right from the day they were born. Anyhow, the kind of action I was talking about is more mass oriented and more prominent in two releases of this year – Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munna Bhai.

Both movies talk about freedom fighters and how the central characters in the script are really affected by them. Enough to implement their more than half a decade old principles in today’s world, for it seems today’s generation has forgotten the basis on which independent India managed to free herself. The same principles should ideally be sought in today’s world too. But most people think they are too outdated for today’s circumstances. Both movies manage to show us that it is not so and that by sticking to a line of thought one can indeed transform India. Both movies saw mass public action. With RDB it has become a trend to hold any protest at India gate by lighting candles. Whether it is a dharna for the RTI or a candle light vigil for Jessica Lal’s case. Maybe in emulating those actions it makes them feel heroic because it was the heroes (in the movies) who chose to tread that path. Ironically though it was real life heroes who went down that path in history, public trend failed to form on the basis of just that. With LRMB, again the main character chose to tread a path which has been assumed to fail before it even started. But towards the end we are shown how that is not the case and that patience and non-violence can actually work wonders with a feel good factor to boot. With LRMB, terms like “Gandhigiri” and “chemical locha” have entered our common vocabulary (google it and you shall believe). People have started sending get well soon cards and flowers to get any issues resolved like trying to get a liquor shop shift from in front of a prayer place.

But where both movies differ is the way to protest. While RDB promotes Sarfroshi, LRMB promotes non-violence. Two very opposite lines of thought. Nevertheless people choose wherever they fit, which is what matters eventually. At least an intention to make a positive difference.

A good moral at the end of the stories apart, one thing is very prominent in both movies. Both of them show the advent of radio broadcasting and the extent to which it penetrates our daily life. The video never killed the radio star. It’s an instant formula to spreading information. It’s a very strong tool if put in the right hands. That makes me wonder, observing as I have been, how many years before they show a movie where the same information dissemination is done via blogging.

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

Pehchaan Kaun

Twilight Fairy — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:55:08 +0000

The other day Sharmila aunty called at our residence number. Arrey wahee, Soha’s mom. Can still not place her? Ok, considering that Saif’s more popular – his mom as well. But it’s good that I did not receive her call. I would have been all over myself trying to talk to her and would not have been putting up a faux front like this. I don’t even remember how she introduced herself. But I am sure, had I or my parents picked up that call, we would have started bombarding her like those overwhelmed fans of Amitabh Bacchan on KBC.

Hello, mein Amitabh Bacchan bol raha hoon Kaun Banega Crorepati se.
FOP (Fan on phone) : Hello sir, jee sir, yes sir. I am a BIG fan of yours sir. I have seen all your movies sir.
You have a great influence in my life sir. Can I recite a poem in your honour sir?
[quick recital of lines from Madhushala followed by polite reminder by Amitabh Bacchan]

It’s good that my sister picked up the call, for it was intended to be for her. There was some documentary that was being shot and they needed a scriptwriter to translate the English script into Hindi. And they zeroed in on my sister of all people? I mean the sorts who insert all kind of random hindi words anywhere in a sentence without knowing what they mean? The sorts who tell a shopkeeper ‘mein aapka vikreta hoon’ thinking that vikreta = customer. Well even I didn’t study Hindi beyond 10th standard (and I so regret it), but certainly my command over that language, my understanding of shuddh hindi and my usage of grammar, tense and even sandhi vicched/samaas etc is ahem..I would like to think, quite remarkable. (Contact Lazy lump or Bhavna or Amit or Mamta for a verification – after all no one else can translate ROTFL into hindi as well as I did).

Oh, I digress all over again. So Sharmila aunty basically wanted my sis to work on this documentary and work she did. Even went out of station with her. When she had called home, my father and I instantly started competing with each other over who could chauffeur my sister to Sharmila aunty’s Vasant Vihar home. Oh! even the polite conversations we would have with her about generally everything or even about her and Parimal (Dharmendra) had started germinating in our minds. Nothing doing. My sister went alone via public transport. No nonsense and no bhaav when it comes to these bollywood types. After she came back, she was thoroughly interviewed by the rest of the family.

How’s her house? How’s the decor? Does she have starry airs? Was Nawaab Pataudi there? Oh, Sharmila aunty was on the exercycle? Oh, Soha was there too? (RDB had not released as yet) Oh, she got scolded by aunty as a regular kyonki maa bhee kabhee beti thee pair? Oh, they were having Daal roti? Oh, so they are normal ppl after all.. phew what a relief.

But I am sure if auctioned, our phone would definitely fetch a big price at least within our relatives. After all Sharmila Tagore doesn’t call everyday.

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

Worldwide

Twilight Fairy — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 21:56:05 +0000

One of the “creativity” gimmicks used by ads is to do with showing how the product is being used worlwide. Transcending all geographical and linguistic barriers, all kind of cultural influence, these ads try to show that their product has universal appeal. Not everyone gets it right though. For example Toyota corolla. In an ad being broadcast here, they show how Corolla is the choice in various cities like Paris, Newyork, Tokyo etc with someone in the respective cities saying something (Welcome) in the local language. They finally show Rahul Khanna emerging out of a Corolla with a backdrop of some palaces. He also concedes to the car being well accepted globally. But don’t the ad makers forget one tiny little detail? Since when did cars in Paris and Newyork come with the drivers seat in the right hand side? Shouldn’t the car also be changed appropriately, if they want to show a still from a particular city, where a substantially native looking person says something in the local language? Or did they think that Toyota = Japan = Right hand drive everywhere!

But some others do get a perfect ten when it comes to the same concept. For example Nivea. The Nivea ad, which shows ppl across the world applying Nivea after shaving, on chapped lips, on skin, on babies – achieves whatever it desires. Somehow that ad fills one, with a warm fuzzy feeling about how the cream is multipurpose and is universally used. A large part of this effect is perhaps from the accompanying song by Asher Lane – New Days, which goes something like “Here comes the sun, it’s for everyone, I feel the sky is all mine’. Wonderful combination.

Another nice ad is the Videocon campaign, which shows the Gaytari Mantra being mouthed by not Indians but all kind of people in other countries. A very smart way of showing that finally everyone is recognising stuff “Indian”. Ultimately no product is complete without an equally smashing ad campaign.

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

Jhalak dikhla ja

Twilight Fairy — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:58:30 +0000

Not the imbecile song by Him who shall be Silky. The new dance show that launched today, in fact just now. The format seems to be straight out of the previous “popular” dance show – Nach Baliye, which sent the whole country watching just one program during those days. So much so that sitting in Finland I got reports that this show was rather popular. When I returned back to India midway in the series and saw the furore with which families, friends, colleagues discussed the goings on of the show beamed into their bedrooms, I realised that Indian television had a “formula” at hand. I digress, but then a tribute had to be paid to the first one (in India that is, since it was also copied from an international format).

Like Nach Baliye (which has a sequel coming up anyway), this show too has the 3 judges format. One dance director, one movie director (why do they have those I dont understand) and one oomphy actress who’s better at dancing than acting. So Saroj Khan has been replaced by Farah Khan minus the histrionics. Farhan Akhtar has been replaced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali (again sandwiched between the two females). Malaika has been replaced with Shilpa Shetty (can we ever forget ‘Chura ke dil mera’). The pair anchoring the show has been lifted straight from Nach Baliye and happens to be one of the popular pairs – Archana puran singh and Parmeet Sethi. Thankfully Parmeet isn’t heading over towards Shilpa at every opportunity to hug her like what he did with Malaika. The only way in which Jhalak Dikhla ja, seems to be different is that it has one celeb dancing with his/her choreographer instead of a celeb couple dancing. The choice of celebs is again, people who are not professional dancers and in some cases are rather surprising like Sanjeev Kapoor the chef!

Surprisingly I didnt see much promotion for the show, or is it because I hardly watch any of the Hindi serial channels?

Anyhow the first episode seemed to be executed just the way Nach Baliye was. Adequate hugging by the judges was there though no distribution of chillad or a guru/shishya bhashan. Since this is the first episode, the extra emotion, teary eyed people or the drama factor seemed to be absent. But I am sure it would follow once the show gains momentum. To start with, Ajay Jadeja strode in along with his choreographer. From hurling balls on the cricket field, he seems to have come down to hurling balls.. err..come down to gyrating his pelvis. Not very impressive. Then came Rati Agnihotri with a gusto, trying to recreate the “tere mere beech mein” effect that too with a costume that looked like she forgot her antlers and the tribal gong. Though I didnt see that 25 yr old effect, the judges were all praise for her effort, keeping in mind her age. Then entered the bad meanie of the KKKKKKkingdom – Aakashdeep Sehgal, sans the long hair, beard, moustache etc. He almost looked gay. He showed a lot of passion, physical strength and chemistry but forgot that he was here to dance. All that he did was twirl or swirl his choreographer around whereas everyone expected him to do something, what with those expressions and that agile body. Ended up being the lowest scorer of the day. Incidentally he was the only male dancer wearing white, all others turned up in black (is there some rule?). Then came one of the finest performances. Sultry Shveta Salve. She had the right movements, the right facial expression, the synchronisation, the enjoyment writ on her face. And needless to say she has a great figure (not that it matters, what with dilnaaz and gang coming up tops). Easily the topmost scorer of the day.

Then surprises of all surprises, we had Sanjeev Kapoor out of the kitchen for once, and onto the stage. He came dressed as a chef complete with the cap and then shed off his layering as if peeling an onion. Out came a black dress (what else) which somehow reminded me of Phantom comics. And out came even the fake moustache, peeled off yet again, like them veggies. Though he still stuck to salsa – if not in the kitchen then on the stage. And surprisingly again, he danced quite well, handled his partner well, had the right facial expressions too! Then it was Pooja Body err..Bedi, in an eminently forgettable dance number. Nevertheless she got complimented by a relieved Farah Khan who had been through the nightmare of directing her in “Jo Jeeta Wahee Sikander” and all the dance that she could manage then was, her lying on a car with the fan on. Mahesh Manjrekar strutted in with his partner. He looked like he could just stand around with a pistol blowing smoke. Surprisingly he danced well in a combination of salsa with tapori dance. He almost gave a Dev anand look while dancing in fact. And just before I thought that dancing on salsa was perhaps a requirement of the day, Jassi came in with her Babaji’s blessings and did a nice jive number. Again, she had the right dance, the right expression, the right everything. Though on a slightly lesser scale than Shveta Salve. And like all other couples, this one too ended the dance with the female falling onto the guy whilst he held her.

Like earlier reality shows, this one too gives the audience the kind of power to decide the winners, which they expect would decide their TRP’s too. Though the quality of the dances is mediocre compared to Nach Baliye. The show caught attention alright, but what with Nach Baliye’s sequel releasing soon, we would have too much dance everywhere. It still remains to be seen if these shows are gonna die out like India Idol 2 or move on to something more spectacular.

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

Rahul and I

Twilight Fairy — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 22:33:44 +0000

Ok, the title here isn’t the Asha Bhonsle album. It could probably be the title of the picture I got shot with Rahul Bose (no, it’s not appearing anywhere here). But before I describe that foolishness here, here’s some bhoomika. On 7th April was Kitaab fest in IHC and the main reason why I wanted to go there was because one of my favourite most authors – William Dalrymple was participating. He’s a wonderful writer and is the sole reason behind my sudden interest in Indian history. Textbooks could never do what he did with a couple of books of his. I had written a review of the “City of Djinns” a year or so back and I wanted to write about “White Mughals” but then let it be. I’m currently reading “The Age of Kali”. The immense desire to meet WD in person and to be able to talk to him, was enough for me to slog in the week so as to be able to take leave on Friday. People got quite flabbergasted when told that I took leave for “this” event and that too when I am not even a writer (well not with critical acclaim at least), journalist, critic, random media person and am instead a software person. Of course the other attraction was Rahul Bose who I think is one sane actor and last but not the least, he blogs too!

The morning of 7th saw me get up quite early so as to make it to IHC at 9am from Gurgaon. I shouldn’t have made that effort because I made it at 10am and was greeted by a hall which was absolutely empty with not even the ghost of a program lurking nearby. Shortly William Dalrymple arrived and started setting up the projector with his slides for the reading of his new book – The last Mughal. I didn’t have any problems in procuring seats in the second row, right in front of the stage because the hall was fairly empty. The program started when Rahul Bose arrived “fashionably late” (in the compere’s own words). The book reading by WD started with a gusto but got converted to a sleep inducing murmur in some time. The chilling AC anyhow made me feel like curling up in a blanket and sleeping. I somehow managed to keep myself awake. William Dalrymple appeared to be the bonhomous and affable guy next door. He tended to stretch on with his reading, quite unaware that he was doing so. This thing of being oblivious to it all, is what lent him a non-starry air. After the session, Rahul Bose asked him some questions related to the apparent change in the amalgamation of the British and the Mughal cultures, over a period of time. He also talked about how history takes shape by word of mouth or how it would be for our coming generation because of the difference in our perceptions and the things which are recorded down in history books. That is something I have always found rather interesting. It has also been highlighted quite well in the Da Vinci code.

One of the advantages of sitting right in front was that I could minutely see every expression of Rahul Bose (some of which I captured on my cam). I suddenly felt all school girlish about a celeb being there right in front. I also felt silly for feeling that, since clearly no one else treated him like a celeb except for the NDTV, CNN IBN and Tehelka guys. For a moment I even did the admittedly shameful thing of giving him the attention I had initially reserved for William Dalrymple. But in spite of all this I knew that I wanted to get a picture clicked with him. So I waited patiently till most of the “bees” had stopped buzzing around him and then I asked him if he would mind getting a pic clicked with me. He acquiesced and pictures happened. He instantly rushed out, before I could even utter a thanks, with some autograph mongers trailing behind him. That made me feel rather foolish for having given “bhaav” to a celeb. As it is, he doesn’t get a chance to get his picture clicked with me everyday.

After the WD & Rahul session there were several interesting discussions with eminent South Asian and British writers as the panelists. By this time I had exchanged my seat for a row which was way back in the hall so as to facilitate easy exit. Around lunch time when the discussion got rather boring, I thought of exiting the hall. Just as I reached the cornermost seat next to the aisle, a thought bubbled up in my head. It said, “What if I were to fall right now. This whole area looks rather precarious.”. And somehow that’s exactly what happened. My thoughts translated into reality with me wondering whether I had had a premonition or something! I had twisted both my ankles quite badly. More than the pain in my ankles, I was quite shaken up by the happening as I had actually been cautious and ended up falling. I had a feeling that for a split second there, I had hogged the limelight from the panelists and perhaps the whole hall was looking at me. I quickly did what I was in the process of doing viz. exited the hall and then collected myself. The pain wasn’t that much in the day but by evening I was beginning to walk like a wooden legged pirate. Thankfully I wasn’t driving as I had company. It took a day for the twisted ankle to get ok by using a painkiller and a muscle spray. As a result I missed the 2nd day at IHC when Goldie Hawn had to talk about her book. Since this “twist in the story” happened, I was also unable to get William Dalrymple’s pic clicked with myself. But I had managed to run into another celeb. Suchitra Krishnamurthy had a painting exhibition ongoing at IHC. And do these celebs make some dough or what! Her paintings were in the range of 2.5 Lakh + 12.5% VAT! If someone is as foolish as to leave buying a good enough car and buys a painting done by Suchitra, then he actually deserves that painting. I didn’t expect her to be there, but there she was, wearing HUGE goggles that looked like Mickey mouse’s ears, asking me whether I wanted the rate list. After taking the list I realised that it was her. I actually used to like her in her Lakme ads, but here she looked like a cartoon.

On the 3rd day of the Kitaab fest, I visited IHC for the sole purpose of meeting WD, talking to him and possibly getting a picture taken. The panel debates were rather interesting and engrossing. Soon enough William Dalrymple got free. He looks pretty much at home in cotton kurtas and all. I went and talked to him in bits and pieces with myriad “bees” buzzing around him from time to time. He even started greeting me with a “hi” everytime I pinged him, ignoring all the news channel dudes! Was I pleased or what! I also learnt that he lives right here in Gurgaon (Kapashera border to be precise). I talked to him some more and our conversation ended when eventually the picture titled “William and I” happened. A very unique and well spent weekend.

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

Coming soon in a theatre near you

Twilight Fairy — Mon, 23 May 2005 07:52:45 +0000

… is a bomb blast. Last night 2 cinema halls in Delhi had bomb blasts during the show of ‘Jo Bole So Nihaal’. One person is reported dead and several injured. I was quite surprised to note that a bomb blast happened in cinema halls in the first place since the security is very strict (almost to the point of being bugging) and all necessary gadgets are available with the security checking personnel. One of the halls is Satyam Cineplex. Surprising again, since once, with just 10 minutes to the show, I had to go back home to keep my handbag, since they were not allowing even that inside. When detailed news reports came in, it became clearer that the bomb was placed in the toilet of the Subway joint right next to the main hall. It’s in fact so easy to take just about anything and leave it in any loo as long as it is outside the hall. That is a lesson to learn for Cinema managers. The other movie hall and the more affected one is Liberty in Karol Bagh. The bomb here was inside the hall.

It is concluded that the blasts had something to do with the show going on in both these movie halls. I have no idea what the movie is about and if it really is offensive. Definitely something can not be *this* offensive that people now start blasting people *watching* it! As if we already dont have enough of militant organisations to tackle, here comes another one with a chemical plastic bomb that goes undetected. We don’t even need outsiders to destroy our peace. All major multiplexes stopped screening any movies yesterday and evacuated people after this incident occured.

It would have sounded good in an ad but in this context it’s just too bad. The movie going experience is never gonna be the same ever.

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

Yeh Dil Maange no more

Twilight Fairy — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 08:03:19 +0000

Long long ago, when I was a kid… (now that I have started with that dramatic bestseller line, I can continue). Long long ago, when I was a kid, I saw an ad on TV for a soft drink. That ad was for Pepsi (Yeh dil maange more – AHA days). It starred some new faces and some not so new. The new faces attained great heights. It won’t be an exaggeration to state that the great heights were achieved *because* of the ad. It starred raging heartthrob Aamir Khan, along with upcoming models Aishwarya Rai and Mahima Chaudhry. While Mahima was shown as a common girl next door (she definitely had potential for looking much more than the plain jane that she did), Aishwarya Rai was shown as this sizzling siren who asked “weak in the knees and heart going flip flop” Aamir for a Pepsi, right when he had risked limb and life for a bottle of the soft drink. That ad catapulted Aishwarya Rai into the top of the charts and even before the Miss India title she had a major fan following who believed that she would win the crown that year. This ad also found a lot of mention as a landmark of sorts in the ad world. All that was then.

Lots of years later, when I was not a kid anymore, I saw another ad on TV. Again, it was for a soft drink but a rival one – Coke. And it was being endorsed by this very couple mentioned in the previous ad – Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai. When I saw that ad for the first time, I saw it from somewhere in the middle. I saw that both Ash and Aamir were looking for each other with a bottle of coke in their hands and when they did meet, they looked at the soft drink bottles and at each other like longlost friends. It all gave me the impression that it’s a sequel of the landmark pepsi ad and somehow after having bumped into each other so many years later, both realised that their tastes still match and that they both prefer a “better” drink now. I found that idea pretty interesting and thought that it was pretty innovative for the agency to have made use of the fact that they were endorsing a rival product earlier (though I was not very sure if they can legally do that). But to my dismay my bubble soon burst and I realised that the ad was an insult on the name of creativity as it just showed that Ash/Aamir were chatting on some website and choose a bottle of coke as their means of recognising each other. Utterly dumb.

But this isn’t all. For some reason, soft drink ads, instead of outdoing each other in terms of creativity are outdoing each other in the “create the worst ad” department. I simply abhor the ad where Amitabh Bachhan plays a rustic boatman. It just doesn’t appeal to my senses. But then all AB ads are getting quite irritating. Just taken the sheen off him. Then there are these new ads that have recently started being aired. One has Shah Rukh Khan drinking what else but Pepsi. But the sickening part is that the ad has some horrible animation which shows the bellybutton of some females as lips (ugh) with the lips singing some stupid song which goes ‘oye hoye bubbly’. The idea is that all objects around the soft drink somehow become ‘animated’ and start hitting on bubbly – the soft drink! These myriad objects include the burger that SRK is about to gobble, SRK’s shirt pocket etc. and the idea is that ‘bubbly’ is depicted like a female with all ‘objects’ in the universe trying to flirt with it! For heaven’s sake, I wouldn’t want to drink a soft drink like that – pesticides or no pesticides! Then Aamir Khan has gone one step ahead and become Manno Bhabhi! This ad of his has a double role with him playing a dumb NRI and also Manno Bhabhi at the same time. Manno Bhabhi sets the NRI’s nakhras right with some silly desi cookery dialogues like ‘tadka lagana’ and ‘chhaunkh lagana’ etc. Though Manno Bhabhi doesn’t look very bad to look at (much better than the concept of ‘bubbly’), it fails to promote a soft drink and promotes Manno Bhabhi instead. Sadly endorsing a product is no longer equivalent to vouching for it. It’s just become equivalent to making a fool of oneself on national TV.

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

Reality bytes

Twilight Fairy — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 12:14:32 +0000

What’s with all TV channels joining the rat race for making the most “realistic” TV show which would fetch them high TRP ratings? They can’t even be original to say the least. I have seen just one episode of ‘Indian Idol’, where the 3 notorious judges – Anu Malik, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam (not looking like the apso that he looks now), dissect the personality of the so called participants. In case someone doesnt know, they are notorious for being rude. Anu Malik is the rudest. He doesnt need to make an effort. Venom spills from that forked tongue of his and he kind of takes pride in being sarcastic. Farah Khan looks as if she’s got it on her mind to be rude. She thinks, pauses, and then lets out something that would make a participant wince. Sonu Nigam is quite spontaneous &jhatpat to give an opinion and mebbe because of that he’s the least vile of the three.

When I watched it, the city where they had conducted this farce was by chance Delhi. I call it a farce because it appeared quite stage managed and certainly not reality the way they claimed. There was an assortment of participants. Some sang well, but were ridiculed by the judges. Some sang so-so but were accepted by judges on basis of their looks or because the participants were sucking upto the judges. Some were really good and were taken (but of course, it was supposed to be a talent hunt all along). Of course, some were *really* really bad and they did need to be questioned whether they were even aware of it. There was some guy who came and did some weird exercise of touching his own feet and various parts of his body in a yoga manner. The judges got really flustered (mebbe because they were jealous of this yoga flexibility) and snapped at the guy to hurry up. The guy tried a little emotional dialogue by saying that he had some problem in his body because of which he needed to do all this before singing and that they should not make fun of his problem. Beats me, how all this had any connection with his throat. Anyway, the judges didnt buy it either and snapped at him to start. The guy sang a new classical rendition of the “Nirma” ad and sang it well (mebbe his exercise worked), but he was told by all three judges in a very rude manner that he was a misfit & his choice of song was outrageous. The guy got pretty angry and started fighting with them on camera. He told the judges that he thought it was pretty rude of them to have behaved the way they did and they could have been more polite certainly. Kewl reality this.

Then, there was a woman who was blind and had especially come to audition. On seeing her, the judges kind of got overwhelmed and suddenly turned respectful (sympathy with the handicapped). The lady sang a nice number with a lot of emotion and expression and needless to say she got through, though there were several like her or better than her who got kicked out. Her “Sonu Bhaiyya” specifically remembered her from Sa-Re-Ga-Ma. Then, came a painter (prolly from Ludhiana). And no, this was not the MF Hussain variety. This was the hanging-in-some-makeshift-jhoola-painting-house variety. Again the judges warmed up (sympathy with poverty). This guy sang an amazing Mohd. Rafi number and for once the judges were all praises. Then, there was some guy, who was just ok, not really great with a Shaan song (and Shaan songs are what he sang later too), but he kept flashing a sweet (according to Farah) smile all the time. He got through (I feel) because of that.

There were a couple of others who sang ok or well, but got kicked out for no apparent reason. Newspapers mentioned some lady, who took the whole venue by storm because her daughter was ungracefully thrown out of the elimination rounds. I didnt witness this “reality”. One interesting statistic from the Delhi episode – the song which was sung by most participants was “Bheege Honth tere, pyasa dil mera“. Gotta get real, these singers.

Suddenly ppl’s idea of reality is to shock the viewer. “Instant recall” perhaps is the theory behind it. There are lots of reports in the papers too about how these so called reality shows are stage managed, Indian Idol and India’s best being among them. I dont even know the names of the various such clones on every other alpha, beta, theta channel.

US has already started showing reality shows where wives exchange their ‘oh-so-boring’ husbands for a week. In other words, swinging is just a game now. Temptation island was another. Soon this stuff would be all over the country, in desi flavour. “Slurp” would say the couch potato generation. Is it a surprise that they cant distinguish between the real and the idiot box variety of life?

Given a chance, I would like to start a reality show of mine. “The Great Indian Cookery Show”, I would christen it as. Compared to these oxymoronic unreal-reality shows, at least *there*, I would know that if the nymphet-like-cook-with-the-pearl-drop-like-tears is crying, it’s for “real”, because she’s peeling an onion.

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

Vande Mataram

Twilight Fairy — Thu, 02 Sep 2004 07:31:58 +0000

Heard it after ages on AIR. Not the AR Rehman pop version but the old world, slow and gentle version that we used to sing in the school assembly. In fact Rehman’s version is not really the Vande mataram that I am talking about. It’s interesting to note how the same lyrics, set in a different backdrop of melody evoke different feelings. The Rehman version is pop patriotism, more josh than the older one, asserts our patriotism with gusto. The old one is sober, and puts me at ease, calms me down. It’s more about cherishing what you have instead of asserting it. May be because I associate it with that security that childhood provides. It also reminds me of waking up to the strains of the sarod in the early hours of morning, coming from the radio, which my mom would be listening to as she went around rushing to get us ready for school.
There’s a third version too, which belongs to some black and white movie. This one also has josh but of a different kind. More to do with anger, revolution and “get out of our country” feelings. This one’s not often heard.

I remember thinking when I was a kid, that the wordings (if not the exact ones then some derivatives) of Vande Mataram provide a good means of traditional, unique sounding names to eager parents waiting to name their babies. Shubhra, Jyotsana, Pulkit, Yamini, Phull Kusumit, Drumudul, Shobhini, Suhasini, Sumadhur bhashini..Shasya Shyamalam..

So many names!

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

You’ve got spam

Twilight Fairy — Fri, 07 May 2004 08:24:53 +0000

If ever there was any four letter word that could be done without, it is SPAM. A total waste of everyone’s time, money, effort and bandwidth. Apart from the usual ones, this piece that I am writing is about something peculiar. I have known spam mails enough to know that no such googlish intelligence exists with them to send spam related to things that we write about in our mails. Forget urging you to do something, this one has crossed all limits and already *done* something!! I have been receiving spam from Shaadi.com since quite some time now, all urging me to use their services. I have been duly deleting those mails. I have an account on hotmail which was the first email account I ever had. Its my spam account. Whenever I have to give my mail id on the net, this is what I give. I still continue checking it coz I opened this account when I was in college and *all* my college friends somehow remember this mail id of mine. My irrepressible efforts to educate them about my new mail id’s have never borne fruit. For some reason everyone from college ‘remembers’ this id and straightaway uses it only.

So as I said, I had been diligently cleaning my account of all Shaadi.com mails, when one fine day I saw a couple of mails from Shaadi.com with various subjects. One of them read ‘your profile is being screened’. A later one read ‘your profile has been approved’. Yet another one – ‘Your profile has been activated’. More mails were all prospective hopefuls trying to get in touch with me!! I was shocked beyond my grey cells about the audacity of the shaadi.com chaps! For one, I dont share my passwords, so it wasnt someone’s prank. How dare they make a profile on my behalf and even *pretend* to approve it!
I wondered how they could have gathered so much data about me to even make a working profile which was getting responses! Even if they had used a bot, it would have to have a lot of intelligence.

I checked up the profile and this is what it said.

I am 23, single, Hindu female living in Maharashtra, India
>>> how did they ever guess that!! I never knew that I had a GPS device embedded and they had a tracking device!

My Basics
Age: 23
>>> am sure this will make age exaggerating really jealous LOL
Marital Status : Never Married
Children : No
Height : 5′ 7″
>>> wow what a height!!

Complexion : Very Fair
Body Type : Slim
Manglik : No

My Education & Career

Education : Bachelors
Occupation : Designer
>>> just how did they know that this was what i wanted to be when i was a kid??

Annual Income : Rs.5,00,001 and above

My Lifestyle

Diet : Non-Veg
Drink : Occasionally
Smoke : No
My Religious & Social Background

Religion : Hindu
Caste : -
Sub-Caste : -
Mother Tongue : Bengali
>>> aami bengali nahi jaanee chhhe (whatever)

Family Values : Liberal

My Location

Current Residence : Maharashtra, India
Residency Status : Permanent Resident
Country Of Birth : India
Sun Sign : Capricorn

My Personality, Hobbies, Long-Term Goals, etc
i love reading, traveling, music, playing games, dancing, cooking, excursion, sleeping, singing. dynamic personality.

>>> basically generic hobbies.

i love to love.i hate to hate.
>>> err.. i cd have been a little more poetic than that!

i like to eat. i like to drink occasionally

>>> in other words, wow! what a profile!

Just what on earth gave them the right to impose themselves so much on anyone! Going by the text in the description, it doesnt look like an automated job. Or maybe they chose a standard text and made several profiles with that. Thank god they didnt morph some picture into anything resembling a female and upload it on my behalf! Am pretty darned sure the matches that came would have been some other spam created profiles, created like mine!

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

The ‘other’ end of the road

Twilight Fairy — Fri, 11 Jul 2003 10:26:17 +0000

One of the many things I wonder about is … what it would be like being on the Delhi – Lahore bus. The Delhi – Lahore bus service resumes today. It would have left Delhi at 6am and would be half way by now as I blog about it. What would be on the minds of the people who go from Delhi to Lahore? Would they have someone across the border to welcome them, someone looking forward with open arms or would they be going just to satiate an inherent curiosity about this ‘other’ land, which was once their forefathers…
What makes us so different from ‘them’ – the Pakistanis? They look the same as us, wear the same clothes, eat the same dishes, speak the same tongue, were ruled by the same rulers.. heck, most of us would be able to trace back some antecedents there. I, for one, am very inquisitive (part of my nature) about what it would be like to live in Pakistan. Both sets of my grandparents hail from West Pakistan and migrated at the time of partition. They actually went through what we now just hear about or watch movies about. We can not really gauge the intensity of the occurances. But my heart really goes out to them, when they recount tales of eras bygone, of land that was their own once, of people that were their own too…
What would it be like to see where my grandparents used to live at one point of time (their youth to be precise), where my dad and a few of his siblings were born, what kind of lives they lead, what that camera looked like with which my maternal grandpa used to pursue photography as a passion, what those palatial houses looked like of which I’ve heard so much. That camera was among the many prized possessions that got left behind somewhere along with many cherished memories, in what we now call Pakistan. I can sense that some part of my grandparents being was among the many things left behind. What would it be like to visit Pakistan and go, be a part of what they left behind… What would it be like at the ‘other’ end of the road…

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

PVR

Twilight Fairy — Sat, 28 Jun 2003 06:20:53 +0000

Here’s some more on PVR gurgaon, with a coupla pics thrown in.

Share and Enjoy:

Rains Lash!

Reincarnation

Twilight Fairy — Fri, 06 Jun 2003 11:34:02 +0000

Was watching the news last night. It had the most outrageous and mind blowing scoop ever!! It talked about some female who supposedly remembers 2 of her previous births. She’s a doctor in this birth and it seems, she could remember all details of her previous births right from childhood. Her “current” parents took her to her 1st house. (GOD this sure is getting complicated) and she recognised everything and everyone. Eventually she even managed to convince all the members of the “old” family that she indeed had been Bindiya, by disclosing details only she would have known.
In her next birth, (2nd one), she happened to have been born in a remote village which is currently in Bangladesh. No one could take her there now for obvious reasons. In this particular birth she had been born to a Bengali Brahmin family. She remembers assamese folklore from that era! In *this* birth she died as a 9 year old girl in a car accident. The only thing done was that police records were verified and it was confirmed that there indeed had been such an incident on so n so date.
Now comes the even more complicated bit, her “current” birth relationships and how ppl handle this supernatural streak. (Gives *me* the jitters!) Her current husband was told of her “sixth sense” before marriage and also informed that she still frequents her “previous” maika and sasural! The husband in true indian tradition was only overjoyed to get such a rare life partner .
So now the doctor has umpteen no of relationships to maintain. Imagine having to handle all the complications and pressures of your previous lives as well as of this life! Our creator must have had a reason for us to not remember our past lives. The human brain is a pretty complex thing. The newsreport showed just a 1 minute comment from a doctor on the scientific aspect of the whole reincarnation thing. The doc acknowledged that only 1/3rd of the brain is used in us mortals (shame!) and the other “subconscious” part probably stores/records events and memories. But what she definitely missed was that the human brain, a physical entity gets destroyed after someones death. How is it ever possible to retain all that info?! Lot of complex things happening behind the scene…
- reincarnated Blogger

Share and Enjoy:

Random posts

Music galore

Twilight Fairy — Tue, 03 Jun 2003 11:34:56 +0000

FM has become pretty much a rage nowadays, what with *so* many new channels being doled out on the average auditory senses of a typical delhite. By “average auditory senses” I mean that the average delhite does not have an appreciable sense of music or the fondness for it either. So to make FM popular lot of gimmicks have been resorted to, by the various competitors. They have included a lot of “gup shup”, a plethora of ads, information about various events happening in delhi, the best shopping deals and of course contests to lure audiences into listening to their channels. Yeah, they also throw in some songs at some regular intervals . The print media viz the newspapers and the hoardings on the streets have not been spared either. On one side of the road would be hoarding boards – all bright red and on the other side, they would all be having a red mirchi drawn on them! The competitors in the newspaper industry are going out of their way promoting their own channel and even launching weird schemes, where one can buy newspapers for the unheard of weird monthly bill of 98.3! Every news daily publishes a photograph of their RJ’s frequently, tangled in a mass of wires and telephones, trying to cope up with the immense traffic that their contests are generating and taking pride in the fact that phone lines and networks are being clogged by this senseless, tremendous rush!
Talking of contests, firstly all channels started out with giving free fuel to vehicles sporting the sticker for the particular channel. Now they have graduated to asking torpid questions which really amount to lured delhi listeners, numbing their fingers in a bid to get through the phone numbers, being flashed out by the RJ’s. Of course, no one can question the basis on which the prizes are given (the “best” slogans are never read out) or for that matter the authenticity of the names of the prize winners. I wouldn’t be surprised if all names turn out to be bogus and the “so much in demand” phone lines are always off the hook to give that illusion of the “most sought after channel” to the listener.
All said and done, I would stick to good old AIR FM. For one, they aren’t demeaning themselves by going all out on getting one up on their competitors, but then a government owned entity might as well not try to do that. And the more important reason, at least they play *music* instead of doling out the same old hindi chartbusters day after day. For once I don’t have to think 91 times or see 93.5 shades of red or control my body temperature from going beyond a stable 98.3 before I decide that am gonna listen to 102.6!!

Share and Enjoy:

Twilight Fairy » media

Mad about “Castle”?

Related posts

Social media & Blog camp

Related posts

Camera, action!

Random posts

Pehchaan Kaun

Random posts

Worldwide

Random posts

Jhalak dikhla ja

Random posts

Rahul and I

Random posts

Coming soon in a theatre near you

Random posts

Yeh Dil Maange no more

Random posts

Reality bytes

Random posts

Vande Mataram

Random posts

You’ve got spam

Random posts

The ‘other’ end of the road

Random posts

PVR

Related posts

Reincarnation

Random posts

Music galore

Random posts