DesiDabba - Boss, Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaye

So there I was, seated next to India’s entertainment powerhouse, desperately trying to get a grip on reality. And from the other end, my good friend utters the dreaded words in true Macish style; “Sakshi, aap maidam se questions ask kariye aur mai yeh photo leti hoon” (”Sakshi, you ask madam questions, and I’ll take these photos“). Thank God I had a notepad at hand or else we would have looked like some real, professional journalists (not!). Oh! Didn’t I mention, apparently we were introduced to Ms. Sawant as “Online Journalists-cum-Freelance Writers”. (Though I have some serious doubts whether she understood the terms, “online” or “freelance”)

Anyway, since I was pushed to the edge of the cliff with no usable option at hand, I decided to take the plunge.

Kindly note: My landing on Nach Baliye sets was not planned, my meeting Rakhi Sawant was unexpected and this interview was totally unanticipated – but all of this did happen, thanks to a dear friend, who decided to give me the ‘mother of all surprises’.

So ladies and gents, without any further ado - I present to you desi reality shows ki Rani, Rakhi Sawant (Juneja ishtyle).

Continue reading ‘Interview : Entertainment Ki Rani, Rakhi. (Part 2)’

How it happened!

I even would be content with just a photograph of me standing next to Rakhi Sawant. No, really, even just that would mean a lot! Frankly much of my blogging popularity (if I may call it so) I owe to this woman; at blogging camps/meets I am often referred to as the “Un-official online PR agent of Rakhi Sawant” and not to forget the heavy-duty traffic my blog experiences when people Google her name for reasons I cannot mention here (I cater to family crowd na).

And so, meeting the lady in person was a wish – a wish which I knew would come true -but this soon, was something I didn’t imagine.

Continue reading ‘Interview : Entertainment Ki Rani, Rakhi. (Part 1)’

As we were entering the cinema hall, a friend remarked “I don’t like Shah Rukh Khan. The man can’t act even if his life depended on it”. Before I could utter my wise words, another friend gave the most apt reply. She said, “In Shah Rukh Khan’s films no one is expected to act. They are only meant to entertain.” And so, true to my friend’s very words SRK’s latest production, Om Shanti Om makes no exception.

Frankly I was not very impressed with Farah Khan’s debut film, “Main Hoon Na”. And sad to say, her second film as a director falls couple of notches even bellow the first one. Now before I proceed, let me get one thing straight – I really like Farah Khan. Be it as a choreographer, a Bollywood personality and a Hindi Phillum buff. The woman is witty and has a wacky sense of humor which so severely lacks in our Mumbai Film Industry. But don’t know why in spite of all the above qualities she miserably fails as a film maker!

Continue reading ‘Review Om Shanti Om – Bandal To The Very End.’

9X was showing Roja today. I came across it while channel-flicking as usual and for a split-second wondered which patriotic event we were commemorating.

Roja, released in 1992 has come to be clubbed in that genre of semi-patriotic movies that grace our television sets every Independence Day/ Republic Day/ Gandhi Jayanti. The other favorites being Karma, Bombay (?), Bhagat Singh (both movies) and the occasional Mother India.

Grave mistake, I believe. A classic case of being successful for all the wrong reasons. Roja wasn’t a patriotic story at all. Well yes, it had some nationalistic flavour, given the setting and situation. But it was the story of a young girl facing difficult circumstances and how she dealt with them.

Continue reading ‘Re-review Roja: Unseen roses’

Want to become a citizen journalist? Have a story to tell the nation. Then you better make a note of this –

Reuters – Photographs and videos can be shared on Reuters on pics@reuters.com or upload here. From serious issues to anything sizzling, is good enough for them.

BBC News - Pictures and news (worthy) clips can be sent here, yourpics@bbc.co.uk. Web cam users can directly record and send a video message to BBC editors here. Local or International, if it affects you or someone you know, then it’s good enough for them.

CNN.com – Videos, pictures or even audio tips can be mailed to these guys at ireport@cnn.com. And if you are even loosely familiar with the Indian news circuit then you should be aware that anything and everything is of interest to them.

CNN also has an excellent toolkit for newbies to help them quickly learn few video/photo capturing techniques.

CNN IBN – Now this is one, according to me is the most interesting of the lot. Anything considered good by their standards will be featured as a separate program on CNN IBN. However the only glitch here is that it’s applicable to events and issues related to India. One can either upload the media files on the CNN IBN website or send your news reports via SMS and MMS messages (CJ to 2622).

[Via Digital Inspiration]