So maybe now I'm spoiling for a fight. Back in college we used to have days where you just wanted to bash someone up, so pick up a fight and do the needful - of course, get bruised too, but feel totally contented and fulfilled after that:-D Working the feeling out at the gym has'nt helped since I feel more high-energy these days than I've felt in a long time. Maybe its the great weather and maybe its also the feeling that everything right now is on schedule so am on auto-pilot and no damage-control needed (touch wood) so some extra energy remaining from there!!
Have been travelling on work off and on. Have decided that I officially hate Chennai and Pune is not too bad. Bangalore has always sucked after I got out of the phase of drooling continuously over nubile young things on MG Road (yeah yeah..I have'nt stopped drooling, but the problem is quite manageable now).
Diwali was not too great - missed family, slept a lot, went to a friend's house for some Pooja, ate at a Gujarati place 'Soam', drove by Marine drive watching the firecrackers - they look lovely but I dont think I can stand all that noise. Delhi totally beats Bombay in celebrating Diwali in all its pompous style - the crackers start about 3 days back, continue till a week after and you and your dogs are left petrified for some time. Bombay, or atleast around where I live, was quite muted. Last Diwali was in Hampi - there was nothing special about Diwali there - noone seemed to be celebrating it.
Saw this play everyone had been raving about - Measure for Measure. I rushed in from a meeting at the nick of time and could'nt understand a thing of what was going on for the first 15-20 minutes till a friend helpfully sent me an sms explaining what was happening. The special effects were just great, the acting was pretty good..the story was just about average..the undercurrents were deep but not enough to leave any impressions.
Also saw the movie 'Antarmahal' in some late night show - loved the movie and the plot. A bit disturbing, but wonderful acting and beautiful picturisation. This is the story about a feudal landlord (Jackie Shroff - great acting, flawless Bengali pronunciation) in Bengal in the early 1900s who wanted two things over all:
1. To have a son
2. To get the title of Raibahadur (equivalent to knighthood) from the English rulers
All his efforts at trying to have a child (leave alone a son) seem to be going nowhere - what with his consulting the evil, leery pundit who suggested he sit by the bedside and read scriptures while the landlord tries to impregnate his hapless young second wife (Soha Ali Khan - SO beautiful and vulnerable looking and perfectly fitting into the role. Special mention - her eyes).
The first wife (Roopa Ganguli - doles out the bengali sexuality by ladles. Was great to see her character on the sidelines with its parallel overtones of jealousy and protectiveness towards the young wife and cynicism and lust towards men in general)held her character pretty well, trying to distract the priest and make a fool of him and then having the tables overturned on her when the priests convince the landlord that she should either have sex with a horse or 5 of their ilk in order for point (2) above to happen (yeah..pretty shocking moments in the film, which opens with the bed creaking and the landlord heaving over his wife and complaining of the sultry weather and then belching into her face complaining of the wafers he had at the temple...yuck! All while still heaving).
In order to accomplish the point (2), the landlord commissions a sculptor to put queen Victoria's face on Goddess Durga's torso for the Durga Pooja celebrations (Abhishek Bacchan - with his brooding looks and loin cloth, quickly becomes the object of lust of both the women in the house...and that of all the women in the cinema hall..heh). His role was'nt so much - of course its the role that creates all the upheavals, but quite understated and only adds to the ambience (I personally think thats the minimalistic niche that Abhishek Bacchan blooms in and leaves em chicks panting for more). The sculptor misses his wife in the village, falls for the younger wife and there's a hell lot brewing in the palace. Antarmahal (inside the palace/psyche??).
Good movie. I'd see it again.
Am SO looking forward to this weekend. Plan to live a peaceful, non-work existance for the next two days. And brace up for the week ahead.
And if I get the chance, bash someone up and then call him 'fuckface':-D
Have'nt shot anything for a long time now so I'll put up some old pics up here. For all the people who were distrubed by the imagery in the last blog post
;-)...hope Milind leaves a better taste in your collective mouths:
