They say every dog has its day. I guess the australian cricket team has been that dog for the past decade and a half.  Finally, after a monumental effort from India and South Africa over the past 1 year, the invincible australian cricket team has been reduced to very beatable. I find the whole affair very interesting, in fact I am starting to like it very much. It exposes few extra-ordinary realities about australian cricket:
1) Ricky Ponting is an uninspired captain at best. In fact, if you ask me honestly, he is one …

The belt from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is the most destructive, gullible and complex region in the world. The acts of terrorism and extremism are a daily routine in this part. We live in times where we are one crazy act (in the name of Allah or Ram, Taliban or LeT) away from being blown up. There is a desperate need for a solution or it could all smoke up to hell and beyond. As far as I am concerned, I believe in the theory of solving it ourselves. For a …

Calcutta, now referred to as Kolkata, is a laid back city, loaded with people, rich in culture, and notorious for bandh’s. I spent about a week during the Christmas time last year visiting my sister and her family. They recently relocated from New Delhi to uptown Calcutta, but for me it was more like a visit down the memory lane. I have lived in Calcutta for about 3 years in early 2000’s while pursuing my post graduation and understand the nuances of the city fairly well. The list below is based on …

Bravo is the word that comes to mind for Danny Boyle and his crew to execute this in the dingy realities of Mumbai in stead of an air conditioned atelier. Magnificent is the script by Vikas Swarup and Simon Beaufoy that connects the daily tortures of a slum life onto an ability on a quiz show. Fantastic is the background score by A.R. Rahman that adds depth to the drama, crime and romantic sequences. The movie is at par excellence on most technical counts. I noticed the use of snorricam on Jamal …

Dasvidanya, rusian for goodbye, is a nice and easy movie with few sweet and sad moments with enough intensity to put lump in your throat. Essentially hindi drama low budget movies are never really successful and this one seems to be no exception. People in India go to cinema’s to watch larger than life actors, over the top make up, heavenly locations, catchy songs and tons of emotion. A drama movie like Dasvidanya rely mainly on a good script and actors who are willing to pull every inch of their acting muscle …