Blog Full - Ashok Karania

14 Jul 2013

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag – Worth A Watch !

Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is a dramatic Bollywood experience with moments of magic. It is an inspirational tale of the Flying Sikh Milkha Singh. Farhan Akhar has given a towering performance in a career best role.

Everyone knows that the movie is the story of a popular athlete and hence there are set expectations. The challenge is to present a large than life aura of the star yet remain authentic. Rakesh Mehra’s partially succeeds in achieving the difficult balance but he could have done better for sure. The film’s length of 3 hours plus clearly expresses his struggle.

The film is the journey of Mlikha Singh as he conquers the world. His unhealed wounds of partition, his growing up years, his incomplete love story, his rise as an athlete, his brief flirtation and his pursuit of world record is beautifully captured. Milkha’s early years represent the idyllic life in beautiful village in the pre-partition days. The move to India is painful but he adapts to the environment and grows into a lawless mischief. His relationship with sister is touching. The entry of love in his life inspires him to become responsible and amend his life. The salvation is in an army job where the glass of milk incentivizes him for a running career. His talent leads him to the glories inspite of the petty jealousies, setbacks and brief deviations. Milkha runs with fresh wounds after an attack by competitor and breaks the national record. He breaks the 400 m world record with his sheer persistence and passion. The movie ends with a typical India and Pakistan competition.

There are two heroes of the movie: Prasoon Joshi and Farhan Akhtar. Prasoon’s lyrics are pure magic. The songs really touch your heart. He seems to be a worthy successor to Gulzar style of poetry. He has even written the story, screenplay and dialogues for the movie. Farhan Akhtar plays the character with pure conviction and his hard work clearly shows. He has not only build his muscles but only reconstructed himself with the movie. He is going to busy in the awards season. Divya Dutta is brilliant as always and Rebecca Breeds is charming. Sonam has nothing to do in the movie. Pawan Malhotra, Prakash Raj, Yograj Singh, K K Raina are all brilliant in supporting the main cast.

Inspite of its flaws, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is a good movie. The movie is a lesson in pursuit of excellence. If the movie even inspires a few Indians to take sports seriously and live life with determination and will power, it will have ensured its place in the history.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag – A Good Watch !

9 Jul 2013

Innovation At Zero Budget – Inspiring Story !

A little more than a year ago, on a trip to Nairobi, Kenya, TED Curator Chris Anderson and his colleagues met a 12-year-old Masai boy named Richard Turere, who told them a fascinating story. His family raises livestock on the edge of a vast national park, and one of the biggest challenges is protecting the animals from lions—especially at night. Richard had noticed that placing lamps in a field didn’t deter lion attacks, but when he walked the field with a torch, the lions stayed away. From a young age, he’d been interested in electronics, teaching himself by, for example, taking apart his parents’ radio. He used that experience to devise a system of lights that would turn on and off in sequence—using solar panels, a car battery, and a motorcycle indicator box—and thereby create a sense of movement that he hoped would scare off the lions. He installed the lights, and the lions stopped attacking. Soon villages elsewhere in Kenya began installing Richard’s “lion lights.”
Richard’s story was compelling and he was invited for a TED Talk, which was a great success.

Lessons:
1. Innovation can happen anywhere – even in African Jungles
2. Innovation does not require a team of NASA Scientists or PhDs
3. Innovation does not require big budgets and R&D Centre.
4. Innovation need not be complex.
5. Dreams come true !

Watch This !

8 Jul 2013

Nasscom Webinar: Enterprise Mobility – How Secure & How To Make It Secure?

“Apps” is increasingly becoming buzzword in the Mobile Internet space and while the adoption of mobility is increasing, perils like security go hand in hand unless Mobility practitioners don’t plan aptly.

NASSCOM brings to you the 2nd webinar encompassing all facets of “Security in an Enterprise World” on the 9th of July 2013 ,where the focus of the webinar will be to understand security threats while designing and developing mobile application.

The Session Would Cover:

1. Challenges of Mobile Device Security in Enterprise Mobility Environment

2. Security Threat Points (Attack Points) – The Device, The Network, The Data Center

3. Mobile Application Threats (Local Storage, Content, Transport Layer, Limitations of Platform Environment Restrictions etc.)

4. Security properties every developer should know (Tips and Tricks for Developers and Architects)

5. Q/A

Details:

Date: 9th July, 2013

Time: 16:00 – 17:00 IST

Who Should Attend?
• C-suite – CMOs, CIOs, and even CEOs with transformation objectives
• Marketing Executives looking for innovation in Customer channels
• Technology Managers evaluating mobility channels
• Mobility enthusiasts

Registration: Click Here

Speaker Profile:

Keith Katz
VP – Management Products
Kony

With over 10 years in the mobile messaging space, Keith has held Technical leadership and Engineering roles with Research In Motion, Sprint-Nextel, Zenprise, and Kony.

Since joining Kony in 2013, Keith’s primary focus is to provide vision and leadership of the creation and future of the Management Products division of Kony. This includes the areas of Mobile Application Management, Device Management, and Content Management. In addition, Keith is a frequent contributor and thought leader to the overall wireless and mobile industry to both customers and partners.

Keith currently resides in Orlando, FL, having relocated from the Washington D.C. area in 2004.

Kinjan Shah
Senior Solutions Architect
Infrostretch Solutions
Kinjan Shah is a Sr. Solution Architect at InfoStretch Solutions. He has developed over the years a strong expertise and experience around mobile applications and enterprise solutions; with proven track record of forming and leading teams in complex, cutting-edge technology projects. Have served in various roles over these years but always with a focus on technology.

6 Jul 2013

Raanjhanaa : Epic Love Saga Wins !

Love is in the Bollywood air ! After Aashiqui 2 and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Raanjhanaa brings a different love story with a twist.

Aanand Rai’s Tanu Weds Manu was an impressive outing. I was looking forward to Raanjhanaa and A R Rahman’s music. I was very curious to see Dhanush – can he pull off a full fledged Bollywood movie based in Benares? I was pleasantly surprised. Raanjhanaa is one of the best movies of 2013 inspite its melodramatic second half.

Raanjhanaa is an epic love story where a passionate lover meets innocent beauty. The boy is an ardent devotee of his love while the girl is at her casual best. The first half keeps us hooked with engaging plot, great acting, nice music and beautifully captured Benares (different from traditional images we see on TV). Dialogues are earthy, witty and impeccably placed. Consider this one : Pyaar na hua, UPSC ka imtihan ho gaya. Dus saal se paas hi nahi ho raha.

The movie gets diluted in the second half due to the political plot and confused direction. If Raanjhaana had continued its first half tone, it could have been better. I know Rai had a great challenge for second half, but the current chosen second half’s melodrama diluted the impact.

A R Rahman is wonderful – each song is a beauty. Whether it is Tum Tak or Title Song or Tu Mun Shudi – Rahman take forward the Rockstar form and balances it with Benares times. Abhay Deol is his usual self and is rooted in his character. Swara Bhaskar is a strong and a real emerging talent. She had excelled in Rai’s earlier outing Tanu Weds Manu as well. Sonam Kapoor is at her best in the movie. She really transforms her throughout out the movie and this can be considered her strongest performance to the date. But the real winner is Dhanush. Dhanush wins you over with his passion and persistence. You really root for him. You want him. Every slap of Sonam brings you closer to Dhanush.

Dhanush rules the screen. He owns the movie. Though he received 1/3rd of Abhay Deol’s compensation, he hits the ultimate jackpot. He proved that Kolaveri Di is not his only claim to fame. He has the talent. Can he break the South Jinx? Can he surprise us again ? We are waiting !

The new Bollywood is a great place. Again and again it is proving that what really matters is talent and hard work. When they shine, looks really take a back seat. Irfan. Nawazuddin. Dhanush. It is exciting phase for Bollywood.

Raanjhanaa – Recommended !