Morality and Politics?!?!?! What a farce!

2010 – The Year of the Tiger, has been publicized by both the media and politicians alike as the year of scams.

A few days ago BJP President Nitin Gadkari was interviewed by Rahul Kanwal on Headlines Today. The issue being discussed was the 2G scam and why has the Opposition decided to become a bunch of cry babies and not allow parliament to conduct business.

Gadkari was prompt to blame the government for the ruckus that the Opposition had caused. However, Rahul Kanwal was equally quick in reminding Gadkari that even the BJP does not have a clean image either. When the Adarsh Land Scam broke out, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra offered his resignation immediately, but when another land scam broke out involving the Chief Minister of the BJP ruled state of Karnataka, this CM was allowed to continue in his post.

Gadkari responded saying “the decision of the Karnataka Chief Minister may be immoral, but not illegal!”

Ridiculous!

This implies that the CM’s office has no moral responsibility. And that we, the people of India, blindly bring them to power.

Hence I decided to rewrite the Preamble of our Constitution.

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN CORRUPT SECULAR AUTOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political using nepotism;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship as long as it favours my favourite political party;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity for the people of my community (preferably my family members);

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the political partY;

The Tipping Point of Corruption

My association with the Mint dates back to my SYBA days. It is an interesting newspaper for those interested in finance, economics, and all the allied and peripheral subjects. Pertinent words, pleasant layout and well shot images are very appealing. But, if you think I am selling this newspaper to you, let me tell you that I AM SELLING THIS NEWSPAPER TO YOU.

Last night I sat on my bed reading this article written by Anil Padmanabhan. It is indeed an interesting read on The Tipping Point of Corruption.

Hope you guys enjoy iT.

Finally...

I finally have a public profile…

This is where you can locate me

http://www.google.com/profiles/saahir.pashana

Worth A Read

Veteran Journalist Aroon Tikekar wrote an article Timidity has no room in academics in the Mumbai Mirror.

This can be read in continuation to my previous post (the post below).

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=2&contentid=201010032010100304471132991de375

I agree with every word written in this article. Especially the last paragraph.

Really thought provokinG.

O Judgment! Thou Art Fled To Brutish Beasts, And Men Have Lost Their Reason.

Friends, Maharashtrians, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Shivaji, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Shivaji. The noble Thackeray
Hath told you Shivaji was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Shivaji answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Thackeray and the rest--
For Thackeray is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men--
Come I to speak in Shivaji's funeral.
He was our friend, faithful and just to us:
But Thackeray says he was ambitious;
And Thackeray is an honourable man.

He (Shivaji) hath brought many values home to Maharashtra

Whose virtues did the general culture fill:

Did this in Shivaji seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried, Shivaji hath wept:

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:

Yet Thackeray says he was ambitious;

And Thackeray is an honourable man.

You all did see a long time ago

They (thrice) presented him a godly throne,

Which he did (thrice) refuse: was this ambition?

Yet Thackeray says he was ambitious;

And, sure, he is an honourable man.

I speak not to disprove what Thackeray spoke,

But here I am to speak what I do know.

You all did love him once, not without cause:

What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?

http://origin-indiatoday.intoday.in/site/video_page.jsp?vid=112899&secid=42&page=2&display=null

O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Shivaji,
And I must pause till it come back to mE

Worth A Watch

I watched this show last night (22nd July, 2010) and managed to get the video today. It is damn interesting…

The Language Wars

I will not comment much on this show. I would leave this as an open discussion forum for the readers.

Fracture

"You look closely enough; you'll find that everything has a weak spot where it can break, sooner or later.”

The story is of a wealthy aeronautical engineer Theodore "Ted" Crawford (Anthony Hopkins). The movie starts with Ted discovering that his wife Jennifer is having an affair with Robert Nunally (Billy Burke) who is a police detective. That very night, Ted shoots Jennifer seriously wounding her. The servants and others suspect that someone has broken into the house and has taken the couple hostage. They call the police. Nunally arrive at the scene alien to the fact that this is Jennifer’s home. Suspecting a hostage situation, he attempts to negotiate with the “hostage-taker” who tells Nunaly this is his house and confesses that that he has shot his wife.

The case falls on the shoulders of William Beachum (Ryan Gosling) – a well known lawyer and deputy district attorney. Assuming that this is a simple case, he takes this case up and goes to trial. Meanwhile, he also plans a shift from criminal law to corporate law. Hence winning this case is crucial for him.

Ted decides to defend himself in this case. Going against the advice of the judge and even the prosecution lawyer, Ted decides to be his own attorney. The case which earlier seemed be an open-and-shut case, now becomes a challenge for Beachum as Ted retracts from his statement at the beginning of the trial. Beachum confronts Ted in jail. Ted tells Beachum that “everything has a weak spot” and that he knows where Beachum’s weakness lies – he loves to win.

While in court, Ted reveals that Nunally was having an affair with Jennifer. The prosecution discovers that Jennifer (who is now in coma) was not shot from Ted’s gun. In fact, Ted’s gun had never fired a bullet.

The prosecution is now left with the responsibility of proving that Theodore Crawford had actually shot his wife even though they know it.

Every character, every shot, every word stated in the movie was true to the story.

The story breaks the conventional ways of portraying the positive and negative characters in the movie. There are a lot of traits we would normally attribute to a negative character; traits such as wife stealing, indecisiveness, falsifying evidence, etc. But these are traits that have been found associated with the lead characters. On the other hand, the Ted appears to be a very calm, composed, sure, tactful, organised and a disciplined person.

The camera and the music complement each other. The lights used to portray the character are meticulously planned. They have added immense depth to the qualities of the character and the substance of the ongoing scene.

Director Gregory Hoblit has done a commendable job. This movie deserves a 4.5/5. AmazinG.

I Am Insulted... Am I?

We, the people of India, are known for our sense of humour… our ever-racist jokes on castes and communities… we don’t even care to spare anyone. But, what about when it comes to us as a country? We laugh best at ourselves. And when a non-Indian does so? How do we react?

Please go through the appended article before thinking any further. It was published in the TIME magazine by Joel Stein

My Own Private India

I am very much in favor of immigration everywhere in the U.S. except Edison, N.J. The mostly white suburban town I left when I graduated from high school in 1989 — the town that was called Menlo Park when Thomas Alva Edison set up shop there and was later renamed in his honor — has become home to one of the biggest Indian communities in the U.S., as familiar to people in India as how to instruct stupid Americans to reboot their Internet routers.

My town is totally unfamiliar to me. The Pizza Hut where my busboy friends stole pies for our drunken parties is now an Indian sweets shop with a completely inappropriate roof. The A&P I shoplifted from is now an Indian grocery. The multiplex where we snuck into R-rated movies now shows only Bollywood films and serves samosas. The Italian restaurant that my friends stole cash from as waiters is now Moghul, one of the most famous Indian restaurants in the country. There is an entire generation of white children in Edison who have nowhere to learn crime.

I never knew how a bunch of people half a world away chose a random town in New Jersey to populate. Were they from some Indian state that got made fun of by all the other Indian states and didn't want to give up that feeling? Are the malls in India that bad? Did we accidentally keep numbering our parkway exits all the way to Mumbai?

I called James W. Hughes, policy-school dean at Rutgers University, who explained that Lyndon Johnson's 1965 immigration law raised immigration caps for non-European countries. LBJ apparently had some weird relationship with Asians in which he liked both inviting them over and going over to Asia to kill them.

After the law passed, when I was a kid, a few engineers and doctors from Gujarat moved to Edison because of its proximity to AT&T, good schools and reasonably priced, if slightly deteriorating, post–WW II housing. For a while, we assumed all Indians were geniuses. Then, in the 1980s, the doctors and engineers brought over their merchant cousins, and we were no longer so sure about the genius thing. In the 1990s, the not-as-brilliant merchants brought their even-less-bright cousins, and we started to understand why India is so damn poor.

Eventually, there were enough Indians in Edison to change the culture. At which point my townsfolk started calling the new Edisonians "dot heads." One kid I knew in high school drove down an Indian-dense street yelling for its residents to "go home to India." In retrospect, I question just how good our schools were if "dot heads" was the best racist insult we could come up with for a group of people whose gods have multiple arms and an elephant nose.

Unlike some of my friends in the 1980s, I liked a lot of things about the way my town changed: far better restaurants, friends dorky enough to play Dungeons & Dragons with me, restaurant owners who didn't card us because all white people look old. But sometime after I left, the town became a maze of charmless Indian strip malls and housing developments. Whenever I go back, I feel what people in Arizona talk about: a sense of loss and anomie and disbelief that anyone can eat food that spicy.

To figure out why it bothered me so much, I talked to a friend of mine from high school, Jun Choi, who just finished a term as mayor of Edison. Choi said that part of what I don't like about the new Edison is the reduction of wealth, which probably would have been worse without the arrival of so many Indians, many of whom, fittingly for a town called Edison, are inventors and engineers. And no place is immune to change. In the 11 years I lived in Manhattan's Chelsea district, that area transformed from a place with gangs and hookers to a place with gays and transvestite hookers to a place with artists and no hookers to a place with rich families and, I'm guessing, mistresses who live a lot like hookers. As Choi pointed out, I was a participant in at least one of those changes. We left it at that.

Unlike previous waves of immigrants, who couldn't fly home or Skype with relatives, Edison's first Indian generation didn't quickly assimilate (and give their kids Western names). But if you look at the current Facebook photos of students at my old high school, J.P. Stevens, which would be very creepy of you, you'll see that, while the population seems at least half Indian, a lot of them look like the Italian Guidos I grew up with in the 1980s: gold chains, gelled hair, unbuttoned shirts. In fact, they are called Guindians. Their assimilation is so wonderfully American that if the Statue of Liberty could shed a tear, she would. Because of the amount of cologne they wear.

This article caused uproar amongst Indians. The Indian media seemed to be after Stein’s life. But some other Indians found it funny and laughed at this saying that the writer has aptly used his creative license and felt that the media was blowing this out of proportion.

TIME magazine responded: We sincerely regret that any of our readers were upset by Joel Stein’s recent humor column “My Own Private India.” It was in no way intended to cause offense.

Joel Stein added: I truly feel stomach-sick that I hurt so many people. I was trying to explain how, as someone who believes that immigration has enriched American life and my hometown in particular, I was shocked that I could feel a tiny bit uncomfortable with my changing town when I went to visit it. If we could understand that reaction, we’d be better equipped to debate people on the other side of the immigration issue.

But as for me, I find myself sitting on the fence when I question myself about this article. Even I laughed. Even I was troubled when he referred to us Indians as “dot-heads”. But I’ve still not made up my mind and I leave this to you to decide and express your thoughtS.

HURRAY! We Are Killing Your Pawn! And Did It In Just 18 Months!

Before you go ahead reading this post, let me make it clear that I am against capital punishment.

It’s been a few days since Qasab got the death sentence. And Bombay was loud and clear with its joyfulness. The central and state governments are still patting each other’s backs with one hand, and their own with the other hand.

But is this too little done too late?

Well, many may say that justice did reach and many celebrated this verdict. I remember the newspapers flashing pictures of a tea vendor at VT station who celebrated by distributing free tea. Some people rejoiced that finally the person who killed their friends and relatives was brought to justice.

But can this really be called justice?

Take some time to think.

Qasab was a 19 year old boy from a poor and possibly from a religious family.

Even though he knew the consequences, he acted… but was this by his own free will?

Moreover, by killing him, we are fulfilling his motive, the real reason that he came here for – killing people and dying! And then become a young martyr.

I wonder what will be done about the kingpins… the master minds. Their procurement is wedged amidst our efforts to maintain an international image of being diplomatic and polite.

Qasab is a mere pawn. It doesn’t make sense in rejoicing over the death sentence awarded to him. It is inappropriate to portray him as a sole villain in our movies. It is inapt to feel that we are winning a battle by merely killing the pawN.

The Quiet American

The Quiet American is a movie that can boast of its simplicity. It is based upon a novel of the same name by Graham Greene. 

Set against the backdrop of the French-Indochina War, the movie starts with the assassination of a young American, Alden Pyle (Brenden Fraser) who was in Vietnam on a medical mission. The narrator, Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine) is a British journalist in his fifties and is posted in Saigon and has a young and attractive mistress, Phoung (Do Thi Hai Yen) who knows that Fowler can never marry her and take her as his wife.

Fowler becomes close friends with Pyle and introduces him to Phoung. Pyle soon begins to like Phoung. All this happens as Fowler is called back to London by his editors. But he buys out time to cover an important development that takes place in northern Vietnam as there has been a massacre there. They don’t know who is to blame. The French deny their involvement in this, but Fowler and Pyle (who has also reached there) feel that the communists can’t do this as this is against their interest. Meanwhile, a new force is emerging under the leadership of a Vietnamese Colonel called Thé who has broken off from the French allegiance and is fighting against the communists and also resisting the French. He has made himself a General in this new army.

General Thé is financed by a businessman and “patriot” Mr. Muoi. Fowler smells a rat as can’t understand how a businessman who owns a bicycle factory can afford to finance the requirements of such a large faction.

As Fowler is away, Pyle tries to steal away Phoung. But she snubs his proposal. Even through all of this, Pyle and Fowler keep their friendship steady.

The movie revolves around the love triangle between these three characters as Pyle confesses his love for Phoung. But in its depth, the movie is actually about the political mayhem in the nation due to the pro and anti-communist sentiments among the people, the involvement of the French forces and the interference of the United States of America.

The movie takes a twist towards the end as the greed of the American government is exposed.

Even though the movie was made in 2002, the director, Phillip Noyce, has taken efforts to give the film the look of the fifties. One might actually feel that one is watching a movie of that era, even though the sound quality is very modern. Care has been taken to keep the feel of Saigon in the movie by using a lot of natural lighting and natural sounds.

Michael Caine’s brilliant dialogue delivery, clear accent and splendid acting surely deserved the Oscar nomination that he got for this movie.

According to me, this movie does deserve a 4.5/5. AmazinG!

Crimson Tide

This is one movie I always recommend!

This movie was made in 1995 by Tony Scott, who has also created milestones like Déjà Vu and Enemy of the State. The film is all about the tension onboard a US nuclear submarine (USS Alabama) as the two senior most officers of the submarine - Commanding Officer Captain Frank Ramsey (played by Gene Hackman) and his Executive Officer Lt Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington), find themselves at loggerheads with each other.

The film makes reference to a phase of instability in Russia as Radchenko – a rebel and an ultranationalist – has managed to gain control over a nuclear missile base. The USS Alabama is commissioned to patrol the seas near the troubled area. Being the Commanding Officer, Captain Ramsey has the authority to launch the nuclear missiles in a pre-emptive strike if Radchenko were to fuel these nuclear weapons.

Since the beginning of the movie, Capt Ramsey is portrayed as a strict, pompous, impulsive and instinctive officer who “doesn’t trust the air he can’t see.” He is one of the few senior officers left in the Navy with some combat experience. Lt Cmdr Hunter, on the other hand, is calm, analytical and cautious. The closest he has been to combat was a policy seminar. The clash in personalities becomes evident since their first meeting.

The submarine is awaiting orders to launch the attack from the President of the US while on patrol. Suddenly, as they were receiving the orders, they come under attack from an Akula that is friendly to Radchenko. They survive this attack, but the communication systems are severely damaged. As a result, only a part of the communiqué is received. This creates confusion on board the USS Alabama. The Captain (out of his impulsiveness) wants to treat this as an order to launch the attack. Whereas, the XO wants to wait till the systems are repaired and till the communication is restored; and thus do his best to prevent a Nuclear Holocaust. But the Captain feels that this is a waste of crucial time lest Radchencko were to fuel his missiles.

This clash between the senior most officers on board the submarine results into a mutiny on board the submarine. It almost takes the face of an armed rebellion amidst the frequent changes in the circumstances.

The story is well written. Dialogues have a lot of depth. There is no dialogue that seems out of place. The movie takes a slight racist turn, but one can justify it. One can notice the care taken to even modulate the voices of the actors. I guess that the motive behind using a submarine and not a ship was to depict the immense pressure that the two officers were under; just like the immense water pressure on the submarine’s hull.

Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington are impressive in the skins of their respective characters. The tone of the colours used just adds to the tense situation under the surface of the sea; without taking away from the portrayal of these strong characters and the professionalism that is expected from these men in uniform. One can literally smell the damp and stuffy air in the submarine. The background music is par-excellence and can give anyone goosebumps.

Tony Scott just failed at one place - he failed to show the discomfort and the heat experienced by submariners once inside. Although he has managed to show the tension that arises when situations are far from being hunky-dory.

I would 4.5/5 for this movie. Just SuperB.

Crystal

It is difficult to locate Crystal on the Marine Drive promenade. It lies opposite Girgaon Chowpatty a block away from the Marine Drive Police Station and a few shops away from Sukh Sagar. Its old, small and rough façade can be missed easily. But ask the people who frequently roam the area and they will precisely guide you to this restaurant.

The best time to visit this place is after sunset. The ambience is old and hardly romantic. The restaurant has an untidy interior which unusually adds to its beauty. A few yellow bulbs are the only ones to provide light after sunset. The paints from the walls have started falling off. Agreed, that the lighting and the ambience is dull, but there is something in the restaurant itself that will compel you to visit it another time; and that is the old and historic feel attached to it.

An old uncle (who seems to have known father time since the latter's childhood) sits on the counter always wears his smile along with his spotless white kurta. The waiter who served us was courteous and there wasn't anything fake in that warm smile of his. The aroma of Indian dishes just fills the air. The dull lights and the rugged walls keep the ambience subtle. The quiet feel is worth every minute spent there... One wouldn't even notice the busy Marine Drive road once he is in! The mezzanine is a wood structure that blends beautifully with the tone of the small joint. The wooden furniture, the old Hindi music and steel plates give a home-like feel.

The food is definitely good. The prices are also low. Having the kheer or fruit cream just makes you ask for another one. It obiviously cannot compete some other high-end restraints in the vicinity, but it is a relief for those who stay in the area and want to have some inexpensive but delicious food. It is an apt place for those who would want to treat themselves or others for some small joys or occasions.

This place is worth a visit. It in itself is so welcoming that no one would feel that this place lacks class. In fact it doesn’t lack class. Try it out once and you’ll know why I say sO.

Woodside Inn

The 13^th of March, 2010 was the second time I went to Woodside Inn at Wodehouse Road, opposite Regal Cinema in Bombay. It is an amazing place. The pasta out there is really good. The ambience is excellent. The waiters are courteous and the food is simply outstanding. The food is prepared keeping the Indian taste buds in mind. Even the continental food over there contains Mediterranean herbs and spices that please the Indian senses; and is moderately priced. The drinks are slightly overpriced, but it won’t matter to someone who would want to savour the experience over there.

The interior décor in the lower level of the restaurant is cutely done. It is a small place that is complete with a bar and sitting space enough to accommodate 20 guests. The bar is carefully designed to accommodate a huge variety of drinks, glasses and the barmen in a petite space. Air fresheners don’t bother the nose to spoil the aroma of the food. The sitting space is also designed in a very careful manner. Stools, tables and seats are placed cutely between pillars alongside the windows.

The mezzanine is a complete family space. It too reflects the brilliant décor that has been done in the lower level. But the mezzanine is majorly designed using light colours whereas the lower level is designed using dark shades to give it a natural woody effect.

The lighting during the day time is majorly provided by the sunlight trespassing through the window glass. The music played just complements the ambience. I must add that the management does have a great sense of art when it comes to music, colour, décor, photographs, etc… Talking of photographs, the walls are filled with many photographs of Bombay taken by different photographers.

I would recommend this place to anyone who wouldn’t mind spending an extra dime to enjoy his fooD. 

Segments in 3D

Like the picture in the previous post, this one too was taken from the same 3.2 megapixel Nokia phone-camera.

The depth of this picture is vividly visible as the GEOMETRIC SEGMENTS, in their various forms, flirt with concept of 3D. The train's window shutter and the racks above, along with the shadows created by the light, have an absolutely outstanding effect of depth on this photograph.

The pixilation might take away some of the charm, but I really like the depth in the picturE.

:)

This was clicked with a 3.2 MP phone-camera.

What I really like in this picture is the expression on her face. It is so natural! All I did was let her walk in front of me and then I called her name. The result was an innate trick and a natural reaction. Although the picture quality is technically not that great, I really like the effect on the picture. The obscure background further adds to the picture in a way. The slight softness in her features is also really very cutE.

"Corporate Sales Responsibility"

I guess it is high time we did something to Save our Tigers. Aircel came out with its research and gave us a number – 1411. Got a cute cub, some celebrities and started an initiative. But, what about the impact of this advertisement?

We can see a lot of money has been pumped into the making of these advertisements. There is an effort put in the technical aspects of the making of the ad. The camera work was good enough. The background score was more than average and it beautifully blended into the Aircel theme.

But the question remains. Did it have an impact? I feel it did, but only to a small extent. We are all talking about it. The dwindling numbers of the tiger population is now somewhat clearer than what it was before Aircel took up this “initiative”.

But on the flip side. One can clearly notice that Aircel is trying to gain publicity. Be it the deliberate resemblance of the tiger stripes to the Aircel logo, or the subtle and smooth blend of the background music into the Aircel theme. With the low client numbers of Aircel and the fact that bringing Dhoni into their commercial ads didn’t boost their sales, one does smell a rat.

Another thing that the makers of this ad must realise is that mere “talking, blogging and sharing” may not help a lot in saving the tigers from extinction. The tightening must be done at the government and at the grass root level as well. Considering that these ads have been made in English, it won’t have a lasting impact as the real threat to tigers is in jungles bordering villages where English has little or no place in communication at all.

Although I do agree that the real market for “tiger-products” is urban areas, we need to thank Aircel for taking the initiative of reminding us of our dying friend. But has this reminder been sent out of genuine concern? I really doubt so. Just a piece of advice to Aircel in the words of B Ramalinga Raju. This "initiative" of gaining publicity is “like riding a (virtual) tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.”

!dea's idea to save paper and use SMS and MMS was an instant hit. The ad was brilliant. The wit – amazing! The message – clear! The hidden agenda – obvious! I wonder how does the Aditya Birla Group function without using paper. Do they mail everything that they want to communicate? Or is their dependence on SMSs very high? Are contracts and other documents signed electronically? And cheques? Are they even used? I wonder if Kumar Mangalam Birla cycles to office everyday.

Let us not forget that the conglomerate has some business interests in the mining, cement and chemical sectors. All of which do have some negative fallouts on the environment. Does it want the general public to negate the damage it has caused on the environment through its business activities?

Although the sales of the cellular service provider grew approximately 32% (CAGR) over the last three years, Idea Cellular can still be considered a dwarf as compared to the others in this sector.

!dea has always been known for its splendid ads that fabulously blend logic and wit. “What an Idea Sirjee!” has found its place in daily communication. “Walk n Talk, Talk n Walk” became an anthem. AB’s Baby grew up and became !dea Sirjee!

The TV ads try to get us use the electronic mode of communication in order to save trees. The radio ads for saving trees and paper seem to be deliberate attempts to not only increase the sales, but also the revenue generated from sending SMSs and MMSs.

The latest ad in particular reminds me of a joke: Man is one such creature who cuts trees, makes paper and then writes on them SAVE PAPER!

Let me assume that not a single piece of paper was used in the ad. But what about the immense amount of fumes that the vanity vans and generator vans emitted into the atmosphere? These vans use up the diesel even when they are stationary. Were the techniques and equipments really eco-friendly?

To these companies: using social causes for boosting revenue is not a good idea, SirjeE!

Ishqiya

Another wonderful one from the Bharadwaj camp. God! Doesn’t Vishal Bharadwaj get tired of making awesome films?

Ishqiya is a comedy weaved beautifully in the web of crime, love and I must admit – lust. It is a story of two thugs: Iftekhaar a.k.a. Khalujaan and his nephew Babban who run away from their boss, Mushtaq Bhai. After all known people turn them down, they seek refuge with their friend Verma, but instead, find his widow Krishna (Vidya Balan).

The three devise a dangerous plan so that they can repay their debts to Mushtaq. The story takes many a twist as a different facet of Krishna is seen even as Khalujaan realises that he is falling in love with her. However, Babban is still reluctant to admit even to himself that he too has started liking her.

Each and every twist has been portrayed brilliantly. I must say that the lighting and the colours used can leave a lasting impact. One does notice the detailing in the make-up along with the voice tone, language, dialect and costumes. The entire set was made beautifully. I’m  pretty sure the genius in Nitin Desai felt satisfied after watching this set in the film. One can actually smell the village air while watching the movie. Vishalji proved that he is a great dialogue writer; once again after Kaminey. The dialogues and punch lines had just the perfect timing. Lines were delivered brilliantly. Subtle sleaze and comedy have also been marvelously blended. The chemistry that exist between a nephew and his uncle in a small town has also been well depicted.

However, I feel that the use of abusive language was not required in many places. Many swear words were needlessly repeated. Also, people may find the ending a bit vague as it does leave some stones unturned as to what happens to the love trio (Who the hell gets Krishna?). Maybe Vishalji wanted to leave it to the audience to figure that out.

The music was brilliant. Mr. Bharadwaj has laid equal emphasis on the background score as much as the songs. Even the music in the songs are very catchy. Gulzar’s lyrics maintain the essence of the BRAND GULZAR. The music and lyrics complemented each other quite well. Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji was a “very-well written song” considering the age of the character (Khalujaan) on whom the song was picturised. The tang of Ibn-e-Batuta will stick to one’s tongue for a very long time.

The actors were well selected. Each and every actor, no matter how much footage he/she got, performed brilliantly. Salman Shahid was exceptionally good as a stern but stupid and gullible Mushtaq.

Overall, the movie is brilliant and does justice to the stature of Vishal Bharadwaj. I would give a 4/5 for this movie. Truly Paisa VasooL!