total timepass...

Some days back, a Delhi Court passed a judgement saying as per Muslim law, a Muslim girl could be married at 15 if she had attained puberty (as against 18 which is the law for 'other' girls in India).  As expected, there was a lot of hue and cry about this judgement and articles being written about whether this is right or not? I was also expectedly shocked by this judgement. It does not make sense at all. When there is a law in India for the legal age for any girl to get married, how can there be another age for a certain Indian girl? Is she different, is she special or not-so-special? It seemed completely outrageous. My first thought was of the court being incorrect in its judgement. But then as I researched this a little more, I realized that the courts are not to be blamed, they are simply following the law. And the law is the one which is currently faulty. And then I remembered all the articles I had read earlier about the demand for a Uniform Civil Code in India. It

Recently I saw this BBC 4-episode miniseries based on a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell called North & South and totally loved it. For one, have become a big fan of BBC shows and secondly I love all these old Jane-Austen-type of English novels. So combine the two, and am halfway a fan of the series too! Anyways, North & South is the story of the move of Margaret Hale from southern England to the northern town of Milton. This itself is the basis of the novel, depicting the contrast between the idyllic and rich towns of the south to the working class and cold culture in the north. Milton has many cotton mills and the residents of this town include the (rich but still working class) mill owners and the poor mill workers which is very different from the life and people Margaret was used to in the south, the more classy and rich southerners. The novel showcases many issues throughout the story: the different living conditions in the working class towns, the workers and their problem

Shanghai, quite an unusual name for a Hindi movie, isn't it? And the movie lived up to its name. It's unusual, its different and its good. Shanghai takes us through a couple of days of events in a city called Bharatnagar, where the politicians-builders nexus is exploiting the poor and taking away their lands. There comes an activist, Dr. Ahmedi who gets murdered and then his friend, Kalki tries to find the real culprits. Its a very down-to-earth kind of movie, feels so real and close to you. Any Indian can relate to the corruption shown in the movie, the goondagardi depicted and the helplessness felt by all against the system. Shanghai keeps you so involved with all thats happening and brings out all the emotions possible for the state our society is in nowadays. Abhay Deol as the IAS officer Krishnan caught between the benefits of remaining quiet and whats right, plays his role well. Kalki is ok. Emran Hashmi rocked his role, playing the tapori videographer with a pau

We saw Avengers sometime back after it had already been declared a hit. And we had high expectations from the movie. But it turned out to be a movie made for kids! We really failed to understand how it became a hit. To be fair, its not a bad movie. It is decently well-made, with a well flowing story, lot of super-hero characters, animation etc. Its fun for sure. But its definitely not something great or deserving to be a hit. At least that's what I felt! As for the movie, its made well. Guess if you have followed the individual super-heroes, you get a lot more of the contextual jokes. I did not understand most of them, but don't think that took away anything from the movie. Loved the interaction between the superheroes. Iron-man was my favorite, his jokes, wit and humor was entertaining. Hulk's acting was good. Captain America felt boring. Thor was interesting. The whole premise was forgettable, an attack with support from outerspace. As I said an ok movie, but not

In terms of quantity, Indian TV has grown exponentially in the last 10 years. From 2 channels, DD and DD-Metro in the early 90s to the 100s of channels we have now, there is no disagreement that we have become a more developed nation in terms of media and entertainment access. But have you also (like me) at times felt that inspite of the unlimited channels, many a times you just keep flipping channels but find nothing worthwhile to watch? When we had just two channels, there were always a couple of shows each week that you followed and looked forward to. Is there anything like that on TV anymore? I would have assumed that there should be, but alas we have traded quality for quantity in terms of tv shows. To be fair, there is enough of good quality sports to watch, multiple hindi and english movies running all the time. But what about the fictional TV programming, is there anything on Indian TV that you follow nowadays? I for one haven't found anything worthwhile on TV to watch,

This post is posted in the category of 'News'. Well, it should be, it has become a matter of such national importance, that it hogs enough limelight in the news regularly anyways. "Why is Aishwarya so fat still ?!!" The first time I saw such a headline, I was almost outraged. How and why would anyone even think about somebody else's weight? But I chose to forget about it, assuming it was just one person's random views.  But soon enough I figured out I was wrong, but so wrong?? I had just not expected that. Aishwarya's weight has become a national obsession. And I just cannot understand it! To be honest, I am not an Aishwarya fan. I think she is beautiful but she is quite a terrible actress and given the big movies she gets, its quite a waste to see what she does to those movies. That being said, I still cannot understand why the media writes about her weight. For one, its none of their business. Its her life, she might chose to be fat or slim, its

Its a nice movie. Well done John Abraham! And of course the scriptwriter and the actors and the director. A really well done job! Taking a social (and taboo) issue, not really talked about otherwise and presenting it so well, definitely deserves some applause. The first half of the movie is funny. And with a good measure of Delhi and Delhiwallahs thrown in, with all their eccentricities, what  else do you need to have a good laugh? A very modern Punjabi grandmother with witty one-liners and modernistic comments thrown in here and there. A hassled Punjabi mom with her usual melodrama. The casual banter between the fish-people and the butter chicken people. A real light comedy to see. And the whole sequence of the Punjabi and Bengali wedding was just hilarious. Really laugh-out-loud funny! Dr. Chadda trying to woo the Punjabi boy, Vicky. What is there not to like in the movie? The issue of sperm donation has also been so sensitively and lightly handled, was really nice to see. The