DesiReflections

Not far away from present capital of Madhya Pradesh, there lies an old Tekri on Hoshangabad Road. These are the reins of kingdom ruled by Raja Bhoj in the 10th cen AD, who had very ambitious plans for his kingdom. Ambitious would be an understatement, for when we go visiting the now present Bhoj it gives us a glimpse of this great vision. Locked into itself within a natural fort of hills with a little river flowing by is the land of Bhoj. Residing within the lap of a lush green untouched landscape among rocky cliffs and watered by a clear river flowing by, is this ancient little town that once boasted of great wealth. Its a slow life into paradise, where low boats ferry you down the river to the great dam built centuries ago. Big bolders of rock capture the water as it flows through bringing refreshing water to the land of Bhoj. The air is heavy with silence peace and tranquility, an atmosphere so absent in our current lives. And right in the midst of this sea of green, in everlastin...

I recently had an occasion to visit Bhimbetka 45 km from Bhopal on Hoshangabad Road in Madhya Pradesh. It is a magnificent repository of rock paintings within a number of natural rock shelters. It symbolizes a blending of antiquity, art and environment. This contiguous area conserves all the phases of the earliest settlement of man, of which, some are visible on the surface in the form of paintings from Mesolithic to the Mediaeval era and some are hidden under the undisturbed layers from the Paleolithic to the historical periods, as evidenced by archaeological surveys. Bhimbetka, a rare ‘living site’ in its natural environment is unique not only because of its prosperity in art and antiquity, but also because it has not remained concealed in the darkness of time. The area is surrounded by dwellings of tribes, mainly Gond adivasis. These caves and the paintings were first came to limlight when 30 years back a gentleman named Vishnu accidentally discovered the site. The place is also as...

Producer/Presenter : PLA Entertainment/Warner Brothers Director : Shona Urvashi Cast : Kirron Kher, Farooq Sheikh, Masumeh, Ankur Khanna, Tanushree Dutta SAAS BAHU AUR SENSEX is an original screenplay, in the urban comedy / drama genre. It's about the new growing Indian life; set against the back drop of a positive view of the stock market. SBS stars an eclectic mix of young newcomers like Ankur Khanna, Tanushree Dutta & Masumeh Makhija, it has flavour of seasoned actors like Kirron Kher, Farooq Shaikh and Lillette Dubey amongst others. The film upgrades daily dose of soap opera and stock market from the idiot box to the big screen. And with its balanced blend you achieve the two without an indecisive state-of-mind, like when swapping channels on the small screen. The simple feel-good film opens with a family of two shifting to a new housing society in Mumbai. The mother Binita Sen (Kirron Kher) is a divorcee and the daughter Nitya (Tanushree Dutta) seems to be lost in the ne...

डर और आंतक का चेहरा सामने हो तो उससे निबटना आसान होता है लेकिन जब उसका वजूद भी न हो और विध्वंस भी तय हो तो कहा नहीं जा सकता कि कोई बचेगा या सब कुछ तबाह हो जाएगा । पर इस डर और आंतक के पीछे यदि शांति के लिए किसी मकसद की तलाश में कोई ऐसा आदमी लगा हो जिसका कानून और आंतक दोनों से कोई लेना देना नहीं हो तो ? निर्देशक नीरज पांडे की केवल चार घंटो को आधार मानकर बनायी गयी फिल्म ऐ वेडनस डे मुबंई शहर के एक ऐसे ही डर और भयग्रस्त दिन के कुछ घंटो की कहानी के बीच समाज के नए चेहरों को दिखाने वाली एक अदभुत फिल्म भी बन जाती है । फिल्म में हांलाकि कहानी का आधार मुंबई है पर यह किसी भी शहर की कहानी हो सकती है जहां एक दिन पुलिस कमिश्नर प्रकाश राठौड का एक अंजाने आदमी (नसीर) का फोन आता है और वह चार आंतकियो को छोडने की शर्त पर शहर में अपने लगाए बमों को बताने का सौदा करता है । पुलिस कमिश्नर इसे एक बोगस कॉल मानकर छोड देता लेकिन जब उसके पुलिस कार्यालय के सामने एक बम का खुलासा होता है तो वह सकते में आ जाता है । समस्या यह है कि फोन करने वाला तो नयी तकनीक से लैस है पर उनके पास उसे स्कैन करने के लिए कोई रास्ता नहीं । ...

FILM REVIEW : THE LAST LEAR एक उम्र के बाद आदमी रिटायर हो जाता है पर यदि वह चाहे तो एक बार नहीं बार बार खुद को कई बार साबित कर सकता है। जो लोग रचनात्मकता से जुड़े हैं उनके लिए तो उम्र कोई मायने ही नहीं रखती। सो निर्देशक ऋतुपर्णो घोष की नई फिल्म द लास्ट लीयर आदमी की इसी नई शुरूआत को कहने की कोशिश करती है। फिल्म में अमिताभ बच्चन की मुख्य भूमिका में हैं। यह पहली बार है जब अमिताभ बच्चन ने किसी अंग्रेजी फिल्म में काम किया है और उनके साथ प्रीटि ज़िंटा, दिव्या दत्ता और शेफाली शाह भी हैं। यह अलग बात है कि पिछले साल मार्च में बड़े जोर शोर से बनाई गई इस फिल्म को उसी साल ठीक एक महीने बाद प्रदर्शित किया जाना था, लेकिन जब फिल्म पूरी हो गई तो इसे प्रदर्शित करने के लिए कोई वितरक तैयार नहीं हुआ। अंततः इसे टोरोंटो जैसे फिल्म समारोहों में भेजा गया और अब जाकर इसे प्रदर्शित किया गया है। अब यह भी इस फिल्म के साथ ही होना था कि इस साल जब इसे प्रदर्शित किया जाने लगा तो जया बच्चन अपने हिन्दी मराठी के विवाद में फँस गई और मुंबई में एक बार फिर इसके प्रदर्शन को लेकर पशोपेश बना रहा। दरअसल ऋतुपर्णो की यह फिल्म ...

STRANGE BUT THINGS STARTED CHANGING IN INDIA! LET ME FIRST TELL YOU THAT RIGHT FROM BEGINNING I HAD BEEN AN OPTIMISTIC PERSON, BUT I USED TO WORRY ABOUT SOCIETY, NATION AND HAD A FEEL THAT DUE TO PETTY REGIONAL POLITICAL GAINS POLITICIANS IN DIFFERENT STATES PARTICULARLY IN TAMILNADU, RAISED WALLS AND NOT ALLOWED THE COMMON MAN TO MINGLE WITH NATIONAL MAIN STREAM. IT APPEARS TO ME THAT GRADUALLY THINGS ARE CHANGING, LARGELY BECAUSE INVASION OF NUMBER OF TV CHANNELS. REMEMBER, THESE POLITICIANS DID NOT ALLOW DOORDARSHAN HINDI NEWS IN TAMILNADU, BUT NOW PEOPLE ARE FREE TO WATCH ANY NUMBER OF HINDI ENTERTAINMENT AND NEWS CHANNELS THERE. NOW COMMON PEOPLE WATCH SUCH CHANNELS, THEY ALSO WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO LEARN HINDI SO THAT THEY MAY ALSO BE ABLE TO GRAB JOB OUTSIDE TAMILNADU. I WAS IN TAMILNADU RECENTLY, AND WAS AMAZED TO FIND OUT THAT THE YOUNG PEOPLE BORN AND BROUGHT UP IN HINDI MAINLAND HAVE STARTED COMING THERE FOR JOBS AS WELL AS TO ENCASH BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES. I WAS TAKING M...

Movie : Rock On! The movie traverses the simple 'spirit of winning' path that was followed by films of the sports genre like Chak De India, Goal or for that matter the director of this film, Abhishek Kapoor's previous attempt Aryan. The plot outline is obvious for this variety. There's a committed individual or a team who can't make it big for the first time. Life gives a second chance and this time is the phase to prove credentials. What matters in such endeavours is the conviction in direction to connect with the audience. Rock On scores on that level. Four friends share a common passion for music and form a rock band called Magik. Aditya (Farhan Akhtar) is the lead vocalist, Joe (Arjun Rampal) is the guitarist, KD (Purab Kohli) is the drummer and Rob (Luke Kenny) handles the keyboard. They get a chance to cut out an album but things don't work out and the group splits to go their separate ways. Exactly after ten years, Aditya's wife Sakshi (Prachi Desai)...