DesiDabba - Boss, Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaye

We Indians take our religion, region, state, caste, sub-caste, sub-sub-caste very seriously. We like to think that our religion/region/caste is superior to others. Why blame the Indians? The world is divided into such groups based on region/country/state/language/religion and any damn thing we can find to differentiate us from others.

The new ad from Idea telecom featuring Abhishek Bachchan is a good solution to this discrimination. Whoever thought of the concept has thought quite deep about the groupism we deal in. The ad feature Abhishek Bachchan as the sarpanch of a village. To avoid the infighting between the people of the village based on caste, the sarpanch (head man) orders not to call anybody by their name. They will be known by their mobile numbers.

Watch it to get an idea about idea. The ad is simple in concept and effectively focuses on the “IDEA” brand too.

Continue reading ‘Kya IDEA Hai?’

Movies, as Akira Kurosawa observed with such penetrating simplicity in his book Something Like An Autobiography, are not just a visual medium – they’re an audio-visual one. To ignore one is to harm the other.

Continue reading ‘Om Shanti Om’s Old Time-y Music’

A few years ago, Feroz Abbas Khan created a stir in theater circles with his critically acclaimed play, Gandhi Virudh Gandhi. Focused on the largely unknown, tense relationship between the Mahatma and his eldest son, Harilal Gandhi, the play will now make its cinematic debut on August 3, 2007 as Gandhi, My Father.

Produced by Anil Kapoor, the film stars Akshaye Khanna as Harilal Gandhi, the black sheep of the Gandhi family who drank himself to an early grave, Shefali Shah as Kasturba Gandhi and Darshan Jariwala as the Mahatma. And if you put any value in pre-release hype then this is going to be one heck of a movie.

Continue reading ‘Gandhi My Father‘

Okay, I agree I am little late on this topic but hey, blogging wasn’t exactly my first priority in my holiday list. Anyway getting back to the Amul Macho Ad and the controversy around it, for those who haven’t seen or heard of the commercial, this is what it’s all about –

A newly married woman entering a ‘dhobi ghat’, the camera lingering all over her with the glimpse of other women eyeing her inquisitively. Regardless of their stares, the woman opens up her bundle of clothes and no guesses here the very first garment she pulls out is the Amul Macho underwear belonging to her husband.

She then starts brushing it, and through her (crazy lip twitching) expressions, it is clear that she visualizes that her man is still wearing it. The women surrounding her also are drawn in by her fantasy, so much so that when she raises a bat-like object the women cringe at the thought of her ‘man’ being thrashed like that. The ad ends with the newlywed stretching the underwear in her hands, while the voiceover concludes, ‘Amul Macho. Crafted for Fantasies’.

Continue reading ‘The Chaddi Commercial: What’s So Toing About It?’

While all the media hype focuses on Sivaji, the Thalaivar has made sure that he will not go off the loop completely once the buzz over Sivaji dies down. This is surprising, given there is usually a big lull and uncertainty about the next Rajni movie until it, in fact, gets announced. People speculate if he is actually going to act in another movie and such. This time when we went to watch Sivaji, the Sultan trailer greeted us prior to the opening credits. Something that is sure to ensure a good buzz, once the excitement over Shankar’s latest offering dies down.

It was both surprising as well as refreshing to see an actor feature in an animated movie. Well, we know Shahrukh Khan, did some voice overs in the Hindi dubbing of The Incredibles, but this one is an entirely novel concept - where the animated character is modeled on the actor. One that gives yet another endorsement of his demi-God status.

Continue reading ‘Sultan: Super Star Turns Super Hero’