Happy New Year 2015

Happy New Year 2015

A Curious Mind
A Joyous Heart
A Playful Workday
A Peaceful Sleep

All These Are My Wishes For You!

Happy New Year 2015 !

May Every Sunrise Of The New Year Bring Loads Of Sunshine, Happiness, Success And Peace To You And Your Family !

The Year End Musings

The Year End Musings

Technology:

1. Cyber wars are here. Sony stopping its release of the movie “The Interview” was a big one. A behemoth like Sony could blink was disturbing. Though Sony released the movie online and in select theaters, the damage was done. North Korean Internet was down for a day. Lot of action for a movie – that was not worth the cyber war ! Freedom of speech is worth it.

2. The Leaks business continue confirming that digital data is never secure. Amy Pascal and others kept PR agencies busy to manage the fall-out. Though Amy spoke venom for Angelina Jolie, her rights need to be protected. The Jennifer Lawrence episode was another reminder of the dangers of digital data. Security is going to be even bolder and bigger font for everyone – beyond traditional CIOs.

3. Digital data may not seem secure but digital business is zooming ahead. Valuations of Indian e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon as compared to brick and mortar giants of the world clearly prove that the future is digital. India has again leap-frogged and embraced the digital economy – as more Indians from small towns and villages are buying from online and mobile marketplaces. As financial inclusion spreads and more Indians get connected, this will be even bigger.

4. Security theme continued with the Uber drama in India and other parts of the world. The ban on Uber seemed inappropriate as Uber cannot be alone responsible for the tragedy. An organization cannot be banned for an illegal act by an employee. But what did not help was the approach and response from Uber – their processes can be improved. Sometimes issues need to be handled with kid gloves.

5. Data Scientist and Social Media Analyst are the hottest jobs which highlight emerging IT trends.

The World Around Us:

1. Homo Sapiens now suffer from new disorders: FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), eCDA (e-Commerce Delivery Anxiety) and Nomophobia. Homophobia is the fear of being out of cell phone contact. According to a recent study, 53% of mobile phone users in Britain tend to be anxious when they ‘lose their mobile phone, run out of battery or credit, or have no network coverage. eCDA is a term for the anxiety caused by wait for the big online purchases made on Singles Day, Black Fridays, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day and other big shopping days.

2. It took 132 kids to make us realize the monstrous inhuman threat that terrorism has become. Assam, Sydney, Nigeria – terrorism continued to be a global disease. ISIS, Boko Haram – new names but old acts of mass murders. 132 Dreams were buried in 132 Coffins. The whole India joined the grief – common man was shaken, people expressed their pain and sadness in many ways – that was real and it showed a sensitive and a caring nation. It also showed a great hope.

3. ‘Germany 7 – Brazil 1’ surprised us more than crude oil hitting below USD 60 and falling of Russian economy. Not surprised that Scotland rejected Independence – ‘The Better Together’ campaign winning was a victory of wisdom and reason.

4. Malaysian carriers are having a tragic run. Three crashes in a year is disastrous and demoralizing and just bad luck!

5. Lack of compassion, lack of tolerance, lack of care, lack of faith, lack of sensitivity – are we human beings converting into our worst nightmarish robots?

Personal:

1. Moving countries is an ordeal. Moving countries with a kid and an infant is a bigger ordeal!

2. Life exists beyond Facebook. And it is equally beautiful as well !

3. Alcoholics can survive without alcohol. Workaholics cannot survive without work.

4. I have still not figured out what really is more outrageous?
– People wasting their time
– People wasting their talent and gifts
– People celebrating mediocrity

5. Daughters are God’s biggest gift!

Image Credit: Ila

The Best Of Bollywood

The Best Of Bollywood – 2014

2014 was a normal year for Bollywood – The Hindi Indian Film Industry. A mixture of Comedy, Action and Emotions ruled the Box office. But nothing path-breaking was achieved in the year. The Hindi Film Industry continued its march on profit maximization and adoption of management practices.

The overseas market continued to grow. Production qualities continued to enhance. From content perspective, it has been a mixed bag. Though new content and new packaging is rising, the moolah still went to the traditional content – action, comedy – driven by “Tentpole” cinema.

All three Khans and top male actors had their hits. Aamir Khan had PK, Shah Rukh Khan had Happy New Year and Salman had Kick and Jai Ho. Ajay Devgan had his Singham Returns, Akshay had his Holiday while Hrithik had Bang Bang. Arjun Kapoor shined with 2 States and Gunday. Alia Bhatt was clear box office queen with 2 States, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Highway.

(Related: The Best Of Bollywood – 2013)

Top 5 Movies of 2014

1. Queen
Kangana rules! Story inspires! Perfect treatment of a great script. Nice direction. Lisa Haydon, Europe and Rajkumar Rao provide great support. The ‘London Thumakda’ and the movie rocked the box office as well!

2. Haider
Vishal Bharadwaj’s Shakespearean magnum-opus. Breath-taking Kashmir. Shahid’s portrayal of Haider. Tabu in another class act with equal support from Kay Kay and Irfan. Mind-blowing music. Movies are like this ! A rare blend of critical acclaim and commercial success.

3. Highway
Alia Bhatt’s terrific act. Imtiaz Ali’s direction. A R Rahman’s music – Phataka. Randeep’s strong presence. And a brave movie. Perfect!

4. PK
A very courageous movie. Sarcasm on Indian religious beliefs. Rajkumar Hirani – Aamir Khan delivered the goods. Anushka shined. ‘Bhagwan Tu Kahan’ moved us.

5. Ek Villain
A surprise package of the year. Riteish Deshmukh in a completely new avatar. The songs “Teri Galiyaan’, ‘Humdard’, ‘Awaari’ were on everyone’s playlist.

Haider1

Honorable Mentions of 2014:
1. Rang Rasiya
2. Khoobsurat
3. Mary Kom
4. CityLights
5. 2 States
6. Holiday

The Top Box Office Grossers 0f 2014:
1. PK
2. Kick
3. Happy New Year
4. Bang Bang
5. Singham Returns
6. Holiday
7. Jai Ho
8. Ek Villain
9. 2 States
10. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania

What was your favorite movie?
Highway1

PK : Pretty Kool Or Pseudo Klassic?

It is all about expectations ! If we are talking about the pedigree of Rajkumar Hirani and Aamir Khan, there is a certain expectation. And measured against that expectation PK is a big letdown.

Remove the pedigree and this is a good movie – but not extraordinary. This is Rajumar’s most mediocre work – though Rajkumar’s mediocre is above average of Bollywood’s standards. Aamir’s ‘template’ work inspite of his best efforts. Aamir did Dhoom for money – now after PK proving to be his usual fare, it is going to be interesting to see his next movie outing.

PK has been marketed as a satire on God and Gomdan. The movie questions the practices around religion in our lives. Paresh Rawal – Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Oh My God’ touched upon the same topic and was quite successful – hence comparisons are obvious. PK has its heart in the right place. There are excellent moments especially in the first half. A school girl’s message that her God is not so small that he would get upset about her going to school is a great moment. Aamir’s search for God via song is presented wonderfully – musically as well as visually.

PK (Aamir Khan) lands from a different planet and is an alien. His device that will allow him to go back is stolen. He wants to get that device back and return home. While pursuing his search for the device, he comes across God and God’s managers (Godman). He coms across our prejudices, beliefs and hypocrisies. He is not successful in getting the device. He starts questioning lot of things on earth – as he has zero baggage and a new perspective. Jaggu (Anushka) is a TV reporter who befriends PK and helps him. Saurabh Shukla as Godman is the antagonist who wants to build a temple and has hold of PK’s device. He also has been instrumental in spoiling the love life of Jaggu. The movie addresses all these issues layer by layer.

PK_4

Aamir Khan has done a good job – though it looks like his normal template job. He does not surprise like Shahid in Haider or Kangana in Queen. The person who does surprise us is Anushka – the life of the movie. She is better than Aamir Khan in certain portions. She will benefit the most from the movie. Boman Irani, Sanjay Dutt and Sushant Singh Rajput are wasted. Parikshit Sahni is out of place. The music is good but not extraordinary.

Rajkumar Hirani brand of cinema stands for universally relevant social message delivered in an entertaining way. Think Munnabhai talking about medical system or relevance of Gandhi. Or Rancho challenging our notions of educations and beautifully highlighting the concept of excellence! PK becomes too preachy and common fare. PK does not live upto the movies mentioned earlier. But I am sure Rajkumar Hirani will be back. He is our last man standing in Bollywood.

PK – A film that challenges us and our beliefs . A RajKumar Hirani brand of cinema. A movie worth a watch. But not extraordinary.

What do you think – Is it Pretty Kool or Pseudo Klassic?

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