A Passing Thought..........

'WHAT is RIGHT is more important than WHO is RIGHT'

A BIG "THANK YOU' GUYS

Today I celebrated my birthday and must tell you that I really had a blast. All my friends poured into my flat and we all had a gala time. A chocolate cake was brought and reignitable candles were put. The moment I was blowing them off, they would reignite again and it was a lot of fun.

Then came the best or the worst part - the birthday bombs. My ass is still aching as I write this post.But it soon passed onto everyone who were present, the girls were left out. Phew, girls sometimes have awesome advantages being one.

Through my blog I would like to thank each one of my friends who made my birthday a memorable event. (The listing of names do not follow any particular order)

HARSHIT AGARWAL: My roomie, who was more concerned about my birthday than I myself was. I couldn't have envisioned this bash without you.

PANKHURI JINDAL: My alter ego, with whom I can share practically every bit of information and more importantly she actually listens to everything I say.

RISHABH DUSEJA: Amazing comic timing that can leave even the stone hearted into splits.

SUMIT DWIVEDI: Our favourite punching bag but dude there is no fun without you.

KARAN LOKWANI: The whizkid in our circle and an expert gamer.

RAHUL: He is lovingly called 'BOSS' for a reason.

ARJUN MIMANI: He can make you cry with laughter and he is the perfect chocolate boy.

KAPIL BHATI: Size doesn't matter when it comes to being a prodigy and he is one.

NISHA GUPTA: Relatively a new friend of mine but der aaye durust aaye.

SHEENA MATHUR: Heyyyyyyy Sheena!!!!! Her voice echoes in our flat even in her absence.

GAURAV MALHOTRA: If looks could kill, then he could be the most wanted guy.

UTSAVI SHAH: Bond of finance and for whom laughing is a habit.

MAYANK SURI: Can learn any game at the drop of a hat. Be it CS, TT or whatever.

SHILPA BHATIA: The only girl who kicked me as a part of my birthday bombs!!!!!

ADITYA AGARWAL: The most organized organism on earth.

GUYS THIS BASH COULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT YOU ALL. THANKS A BILLION!!!!!

BAAZIGAR: The Reason Why I Became A Hardcore SRK Fan

I still remember vividly that we had gone to our relatives' place in Al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia. It was drizzling outside and I was insisting that I go outside and play football along with my brother and cousins. But my uncle was reluctant as he thought that we would fall ill if we played in the rain.

'Instead of football, we will all watch a movie', said my uncle.

'Which movie?', I quickly retorted.

'Baazigar, its a new actors' movie', he replied.

Back then I only liked watching action movies of Sunny Deol or Sanjay Dutt. I was contented when my uncle told me that it was also an action movie, which starred 'some new actor'.

He put in the video cassette (there were no CDs at that time) and we all sat watching the movie. Initially I was not lliking the movie nor was I liking the 'new actor'.



For the uninformed, the coin which the 'new actor' tosses in the beginning of the movie is the now extinct Rs. 10 denomination coin. It was in this scene that I came to know that the name of the 'new actor' was actually Shah Rukh Khan.

Slowly I began getting engrossed in the movie. I specially enjoyed the go kart race part in the movie. But the best part was when after the race, SRK removes his helmet and walks over to Madan Chopra. I still remember wetting my hairs with water and trying to shake my head just like SRK did in the movie.



Then followed the now legendary dialogue:
'Kabhi kabhi kuch jeetne ke liye kuch haarna padta hai,
Aur haar kar jeetne waale ko,
BAAZIAGAR kehte hai'

Then comes one of my all time fav songs: Baazigar O Baazigar. I still remember telling my uncle to rewind the song once again after it was played and slowly the horse riding SRK began etching his place in my head. The best part of the songs was when SRK emerges from the water blowing his trumpet.

The movie then progressed very interestingly with a bit of action and comedy thrown in. Then comes the song Ae Mere Humsafar. At that point of time, I hated that song but now it is one of my fav songs and I don't need to tell you why?????

Then comes the 'HIGHLIGHT' of the movie;
'Main tumhe azaad kar raha hoon,
Mujhe maaf kar dena'



This scene hit me like a thunderbolt. I was like Fu#$ing hell!!! How could he throw a woman he loved from the top of a building like a toy. But then he was a man seething in the rage of revenge.

Another scene that stayed with me was the way he changed his eye lenses. Till that time I was totally oblivious to the fact that it could actually be done that way.

The movie then proceeds again with a fast pace and you are totally into the movie as it unfolds. It in now that it is actually shown why SRK is out to ruin the world of Madan Chopra and now you begin to empathize with Vicky Malhotra aka SRK aka King Khan. The movie then leads you to the engagement of SRK and Kajol and the heart wrenching song 'Chupaana bhi nahin aata'.

This song is followed by the out of the world murder of Shilpa Shetty's friend by the ever mesmerizing SRK and the way he chews the photo which could lead to him getting implicated in Shilpa Shetty's murder is a masterpiece.



It is when Madan Chopra decides to make SRK the attorney of his company that the film starts gearing up for a dramatic climax. Kajol decides to pursue the killer of her sister with the help of Inspector Karan and this makes SRK uncomfortable. Beacuse he has begun lovng Kajol and fears that if the truth comes out in the open, he would lose her.

The song 'Yeh kaali kaali aankhen' is the last song of the movie and as they say 'All is well that ends well'. This song wraps up the amazing melodious music score of Baazigar. Specially the typical jeans that SRK wears in this song always stays with me.



But as in a typical masala hindi movie, Kajol and Madan Chopra both come to know the truth about SRK and it is when the the entire hell breaks lose. The climax is SRK's show all the way. The performance he puts in the climax could be easily the best performance ever. The way SRK laughs when he is pierced by the rod by Madan Chopra simply begs an explanation from all your senses.



The ways SRK rushes to his mom after killing Madan Chopra is superb. The way he lies in Rakhee's lap and the performance and the dialogue delivery is simply uncomparable.

'Ab main jee bhar ke sona chahta hoon, Maa'. This dialogue brings a lump in your throat. And the song that plays in the background after SRK dies;

'Mujhko galat naa samajhna,
Main nahin badal awara,
Dil ki deewaron pe maine,
Naam likha hai tumhara.

Tere pyar pe kurbaan,
Mera dil meri jaan,
Tujhe lag jaaye meri ..........'

If you want a proper defination of a POWERHOUSE PERFORMANCE, then it is of SHAH RUKH KHAN in BAAZIGAR.

Book Review: King Of Bollywood

Three days ago I started reading this book on one of the personalities to whom the word 'SUCCESS' can actually be attributed to.

Shah Rukh Khan or King Khan as he is more famously known as is the 'BIGGEST SUPERSTAR' in the exploding $1.5 billion Bollywood industry. The face of a glittering new India, he is an international phenomenon who generates Beatlemania-like hysteria at appearances around the world. Now his legendary success story is brought to life.

This engrossing book reveals how King Khan, a middle class boy from Delhi, broke into insular, nepotistic world of Bombay show business and became a sensation. His larger-than-life tale takes us through colorful and idiosyncratic Bollywood, where fantastic dreams and outrageous obsessions share the spotlight with extortion, murder and corruption.

Written by internationally renowned film critic Anupama Chopra, this definitive volume combines her knowledge of Bollywood with firsthand interviews for a unique insider's look at this billion-dollar movie industry-one that helped to change the face of India.

Some interesting excerpts from the book:
Excerpt 1:
He and his friend were standing near Juhu under a tin shed that was leaking with water as it was raining heavily at that point of time. Shah Rukh was completely drenched. It had only been 10 days since he came to Mumbai and nothing was going his way and he was almost broke.

His friend asked him to come inside the shade but Shah Rukh declined the offer and stood there completely drenched. He looked at the horizon of the Juhu beach and spoke his historical sentence;
'ONE DAY I WILL RULE BOMBAY'

Excerpt 2:
DDLJ became Bollywood's Energizer Bunny-it kept going on and on and on. The film took a life of its own and stayed on the Big Screen and still contunues to run at Maratha Mandir in Mumbai.

DDLJ set up a new heroic prototype. Raj replaced Vijay; Amitabh's Angry Young Man image was buried and gone.

Excerpt 3:
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai broke even DDLJ's record, grossing over $7 million worldwide. It hit the UK's top-ten charts at number nine. In South Africa, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai raked in more money than Titanic.

Excerpt 4:
'You see, Amitabh Bachchan has retired, Dilip Saab is very old and after that I can only see one person and that is me-Shah Rukh Khan', he said. Shah Rukh always knew that one day he would rule the city.

A Jog Down The Memory Lane

As I woke up this morning and looked out of the window of my flat, I saw a father who was teaching his toddler how to ride a cycle. At that very instant, I went into a flashback mode and envisioned myself on that cycle and my father behind me trying to teach me how to ride it. I remember vividly that the first cycle my father had bought me was a red BMX cycle which had pedal brakes.

My father would hold the seat behind me and ask me to pedal. I would pedal freely because I knew that my father was behind me and in the process he would leave the seat and that is how I finally learned cycling.

Today at 21, I still remember almost all my childhood memories as if all those happened yesterday. Back then life was much beautiful or atleast I would like to believe that. SInce I am the eldest of my siblings, I was no doubt the most pampered child and still continue to be one. Never in my life have I ever listened to a NO from my parents and that tradition still holds good. Maybe it is due to this benevolence of my parents that I still do not know the meaning of recession or economic slowdown or maybe my parents never allowed me to understand the meaning of these dreaded words.

Life had quite a different meaning back then. But as I started growing up, I came face to face with the harsh realities of life, something which I was never exposed to in my childhood. For me my childhood was a walk on the path of roses. From centrally air conditioned home to the latest model car to Mercedes Benz buses in which I went to school etc. Life was almost akin to a dream to me.

My parents made sure that I always had the best of everything. I was maybe 5-6 years old when I had my first helicopter ride and I must tell that it was fun. Flying over everybody else and having tthe liberty to look down at people who appeared no bigger than ants was something that would send my adrenalines gushing.

As I was lost in these memories, my roomie came up to me to say something and broke the flow of my thoughts. If a time machine actually exists, then I would really like to go back to the sweet and carefree days of my childhood which was no less than a dream.

Counter Strike is Back !!!!!!!!!!

After a hiatus of around a month, Counter Strike or as we lovingly call it CS is back and is back with a vengeance. The sounds of ecstacy, despair, celebration, triumph are back in our flat. The scenario is such that it is very difficult to even think of a day without having played CS.

OK, will have to wind up this post now as I just about managed to squeeze in time to write this post before I go to play CS. By the way I play CS under the alias of JAI_SRK and I don't think I need to explain the reasons for it.

QUIZ-O-METER - Come Test Your Quotient

'All innovators are fools but not all fools are innovators!!!'

Well the above saying holds true for two of my buddies, Siddharth Jaithalya and Abhishek Nayyar. They along with Anup Kumar are the pioneers of the trail blazing website which goes by the name www.quizometer.com.

You have to visit the website to believe what I have just said. It is the website that tests your General Knowledge in the most amazing and nerve wracking way. So guys and gals if you have got the guts try to figure out the questions posted on that website and you know where exactly you stand.

That website is a result of the hardcore dedication, perseverance, imagination, innovation and many other 'tions' by the 'Foolish' webmasters, Siddharth and Nayyar. But as Ms. Rashmi Bansal says: 'Stay Hungry Stay FOOLISH'.

I have seen this website take shape from its infancy and now it stands tall as one of the most intriguing websites ever made on the ether known as the internet.

The questions are such that they require amazing knowledge and even the so called BIG DADDY of search: GOOGLE stands kneeling down in front of the questions posted on the website. So all you losers out there whose life depends on google search, STOP 'GOOGLING' AND GET A LIFE'

So stop procrastinating and step into the exquisite world of QUIZ-O-METER and show the world that you have got what it takes to crack the QUIZ-O-METER and become the ultimate QUIZZIE!!!!!

My Second Novel

Its been long time ever since I had posted any thing on my blog, as I was a bit busy putting the basic draft of my second novel together. Though I haven't yet decided on the title of the novel, but its premise is a love story.

As always the main protagonist of my novels is Suraj. Its a love story between Suraj, Pooja, Prerna and Saanjh. I had written a 500 word story on this subject when I was in my engineering first year and now I plan to convert it into a full fledged novel.

I plan to begin writing this novel from 1st July which happens to be my birthday, till then I would continue to fine tune it.

The only thing that I can reveal at this point of time is that my novel begins with the marriage of Suraj and Saanjh..........