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Friday, August 12, 2005

Mangal Pandey "The Rising" - A Sneak Peek


Intro
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Based on the historical backdrop of 1857, this movie narrates, in the words of director Ketan Mehta, the story of a brave sepoy Mangal Pandey, from the 34th regiment of the Company Army, who started the first revolt against the British government, countering the use of cartridges greased with cow and pig fats and gave rise to the struggle of independence in India.

Spotlight
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The movie takes off at Barrackpore dist, Calcutta, 1853 which was the headquarters of the 34th regiment. The director has blended the essence of Bengal as well as the nostalgia of Victorian times successfully. As each bullet is fired in any part of the movie, the DTS sound system of Venkateshwara Talkies is blaring with glory. While watching the movie, the first things that come to our notice are the awesome gigantic sets and the magnificent yet realistic costumes. The digital technology being used for the Sati scene and crowd multiplication is really of high quality. The Rising shows Aamir Khan in a new, much-hyped getup, which didn’t quite impress me, as he looked more as a tinker. But he really deserves some laurels for his outstanding performance. It really filled some patriotic feelings in my mind and that will surely capture the true spirits of the oncoming 15th august.

Ketan Mehta did a great job in casting the foreigners as they did their job with complete dedication, especially the guy who played Capt. Gordon. I don’t know, on how many assumptions the story is based but it really does complete justice to all the historical characters and dates. Ketan Mehta has also portrayed the social evils that existed then and the British govt. being against those evils; for that he really needs some applause.

Black holes
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The movie being directed so well, fails to clinch the audience to their seats because of a weak storyline. In some parts of the movie I was forced to say “aaaaaa…”. In some parts, as I noticed, the director failed to present the historical flavour as it seemed to me quite modern. I mean there is no necessity to show Mangal Pandey drinking and dancing with the gypsies just for the sake of filling some ‘masala’ in the movie. Surely this movie will act as an educational medium for the students, so some scenes need to be deleted. Ya, I am talking about the scenes having a tint of eroticism in them. Also, Mangal Pandey’s character has overshadowed other characters, even the character of Tantya Tope who was a person of more historical significance, according to me.

The songs in the movie, except ‘Mangal Mangal’ and ‘Tumhari adaon se’, were quite unnecessary. Some songs were not even placed according to the circumstances. The songs speaking truly were quite boring. I guess, for the first time, the maestro A. R. Rahman has failed to reach our expectations. A job poorly done, sir.

Talking about the performances, both the actresses, namely Rani Mukherjee playing the prima ballerina a.k.a ‘tavayaf’ and Amisha Patel playing a widow, did a poor job. Both of them having very short roles and the presence of Aamir Khan, could be the causes of the fiasco. But still, they also join the list of failures with A. R. Rahman, according to me.

Rating
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I give the movie 6 out of 10 stars. Guys, you can watch the movie once in the theatre, but never watch it on CD. Plz post your comments, and do give some rating.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

An Encounter with 'Shaan'




SHAAN - The Singing Sensation
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Shaan, a household name in India; when sings extracts the harmonies from even the dead souls. Gals go nuts seeing him in concert, and guys see him as their idol. Man, such ravishing looks and the voice ohh gosh, whom I regard as the Nightingale of India. Every Friday night, as the gods of violence step down to my abode, with Armageddon on their minds and taking my mom as the divine warrior they together kick the living hell out of me even if I bring the thought of watching T.V. at 10 P.M in my god damn brain. That's when Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is aired on national television. Com'on mom Shaan is not your son, but I am.

But then also I admire Shaan as a great singer. Such versatility and such stability in singing, that couldn't be just god's gift. This is the perseverance of a determined man that has been rewarded.


Miracles do happen in small places

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It is said that 'miracles can happen anywhere'. In this case I completely agree with the statement. Sometimes I stand aghast looking at people who say this place very boring. That’s may be someone’s perception that I cannot change, but GOD DAMN IT, JUST CHANGE YOUR BLOODY MINDSET!!

One Saturday evening, my dad came to me. My local soccer derby had already started. But what’s in his hand? My results, or some kind of proof of my wrongdoings. Am I a perpetrator? Would he break the ice? “Beta”, he said
“This is your pass for the Shaan concert”. Oh those words, as if honey bees humming their religious chants; thousands of pearls bouncing on the white marble floor of the Tajmahal. WAIT A MINUTE! You said whose concert? Am I listening the true words? Oh god I’ll surely faint now. I am holding the pass of Shaan’s concert.

With a gush of adrenaline and wave of excitement I went to join the derby with an aim to kill. It surely rewarded me with 2 goals to end my weeklong barren run.

D Day – The Concert

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“ 2nd May - It's my b'day! ”

Jayant, a friend of mine and I decided to go to the concert together. “Is it going to be crowded?” he asked. My stern face and deadly gaze said it all.
On first sight, it seemed as they have organized a Kumbh Mela. God, am I going to be lost in this crowd?

Inside we were reunited with Bhalla. Oh f***, I’ve never seen such big stage in Bhilai. Suddenly there was a great uproar, which reminded me of the same mania that I saw on T.V when AC Milan became champions of Europe. Is that Superman? Is that Mr. Incredible? Sure, he was!! The chants for Shaan tore the skies apart. Jayant pinch me yaar! But I knew that was true. He was in front of me!!

Starting on with ‘Kal se koi’ he completely grabbed and glued the audience to their seats. He was just like a candle in the wind, singing such melodious tracks for which some guys would just throw hundreds of bucks to buy the CD. The Sunday night breeze gave an extra ecstasy to savour on. Many chartbusters like ‘Tune mujhe pehchana nahi’, ‘Bhool ja’, ‘Tanha dil’, ‘Kuch to hua hai’, ‘Mai aisa kyu hu’, ‘Le chale’, etc followed soon. Man, this moment needed to be captured in heart for rest of my life. But who knew what was coming next…

“Jayant, this is the opportunity of a lifetime, we gotta do something, we gotta meet Shaan”. He was humming his final tune. No barricade, no security was going to stop us. This was paranoid. Somehow we reached near the stage. Oh gosh, about 40-50 people were already on the stage yelling, “Shaan we love you!” while the ‘Tholas’ were busy denying them. The next sight was a complete shocker. The wooden ramp on which junta was standing collapsed as the Berlin Wall. I helped a little girl to attain her balance as she was completely on me.

Surrounded by security personnels he sped away to the Green room. What the f***, I was unable to get even an autograph. What am I supposed to do? I was completely crestfallen.

The Encounter

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“Ankit, lets go home yaar”, discontent and dejection was reflecting from Jayant’s face. But the club manager is his family friend, isn’t he? Suddenly, there was a light in the almost dark situation, as if somebody has drawn a hole in the sky’s black canopy with his Deagle. Suddenly there was P.O.D singing “Youth of the Nation” in my mind! Suddenly heart was beating at the rate of 90 beats per min.

Our sources informed us about his base camp in Bhilai. Next sight was of a white Honda City roaring on the silent roads of Bhilai in the graveyard shift, as a mad bull. “Ankit, 110 % there is Shaan in that car” Jayant yelled. And the next moment we were in our running shoes. Jayant grabbed his Splendor and raced it as if it was ‘Hayaboosa’. The most amazing fact was that, there was no crew following their car. First time we were passing through the lonely road of 32 bunglows and I wasn’t gazing at the B.I.T girl’s hostel. I asked Jayant to overtake them in order to prevent any kind of suspicion. It was a sine qua non for us. A look at my watch: 1.45 A.M. We arrived at Sagar International hotel before them. Oh heavens! The Honda has arrived. Now I need a kick on my a55 to believe my eyes.

Shaan came out of the car and found two statuesques namely Jayant and Anks standing at the entrance. Words were not coming out! “Shaan nice to meet you, we are great fan of yours.” Saying this we gave him a bear hug each. Spellbound we were!! We took our shares of autographs and saw the popper hurriedly disappear to his business suite thru the lobby. Cool isn’t it! But alas, time to leave. Again a look at my watch: 2.15 A.M.

Again we were racing down the Durg lanes and cherishing the moments of glory. But suddenly he screeched the brakes of his bike. “Ankit lets take a snap”, Jayant exclaimed, but we were doomed as there was no camera (we guys are dumb-a55e5). Saying this we raced to B.I.T. The hostel was buzzing with life at such a wee hour also. But man such ill luck nobody had a camera and the guys who had, were asleep. All we were able to get was a Nokia mobile phone with camera. Again we raced back to the hotel. The babe who was the lead singer of the band was chilling in the lobby. She was sooo HHHOTTT!! We got all our guts suddenly from the heavens and approached her. What info we extracted was that they were about to leave. As we were indulged in some friendly chat, we saw Shaan coming out with all his baggage. “Arre, you again!!” Shaan queried. “Ya, sure we want to be the last guys to see you off,” I answered. Then we conducted our high profile photo shoot. There was a message printed on my t-shirt – ‘Thank God for making women…or else who would do the washing, cleaning, etc’. Before going he said, “Always respect women”. Then we shook hands with him and he boarded the bus and disappeared through the dark silhouettes of durg.

Time check: 3.10 A.M. We knew that Armageddon would occur tonight as we reach home but anyways both of us were smiling from the heart. Then we roared the cold-hearted engine of Jayant’s ‘Splendor’ and zoomed to our homes tearing the roads apart.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Linkin Park Biography


Linkin Park is a six-piece California nu metal band in the vein of Korn and Limp Bizkit

Band History

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The band saw its and first beginnings in emcee/vocalist Mike Shinoda's small bedroom studio, where he and Brad Delson recorded the band's first material in 1996. The two had attended high school together, where they met the band's drummer, Rob Bourdon. Shinoda hooked up with DJ Joseph Hahn while studying illustration at Art Center College in Pasadena. Meanwhile, attending UCLA, Delson shared an apartment with bassist Phoenix, who left the band after college and returned a year later. At this point, they named themselves Xero and recorded several demo tracks. They never got signed, and the project floundered. Then Shinoda decided to hire a vocalist, and put out an ad. They got Chester Bennington, a transplanted Arizona native who started making records when he was 16. 'When I was two, I used to run around singing Foreigner songs - there's tapes of me doing that... since I learned how to talk I've been telling everybody I was gonna grow up to be a singer.' laughs Bennington.


The band called itself Hybrid Theory after the addition of Bennington (the idea being that they were a hybrid of rock and rap), however, due to a trademark issue with a band called Hybrid, they were forced to change their name. Some discarded ideas (serious or not) were Clear (the band's favorite), Probing Lagers (which they thought was the lamest), Ten PM Stocker (because they would record every night at 10 pm at a place on Stocker Street) and Platinum Lotus Foundation. Eventually, they settled on Lincoln Park, suggested by Bennington because after band practice he would have to drive past there to get home. However the domain 'lincolnpark.com' cost more than the band could afford, so they changed the spelling to Linkin Park. However, it has also been suggested that the name 'Linkin Park' was suggested so that the band would appear right next to Limp Bizkit at record stores.
Working with an independent label, the band recorded the album Hybrid Theory EP, which featured 'Carousel', 'Technique', 'Step Up', 'And One', 'High Voltage', and ‘Part of Me'.

After being signed to Warner Brothers in 1999 their first album, Hybrid Theory, was released in 2000. It was the top-selling album in the United States and New Zealand in 2001, with the hit singles 'One Step Closer', 'Crawling', 'Papercut', 'In The End' and 'Points of Authority'. The album is notable for its absence of profanity, in contrast to many other nu metal bands' songs.
Linkin Park were part of the Ozzfest in 2001, touring along side Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Crazy Town, Papa Roach, and Disturbed. Linkin Park have also created their own tour - Projekt: Revolution, and on it have toured with Cypress Hill, Adema, DJ Z-Trip, Xzibit, Mudvayne and Blindside.

In 2002, they released a remix album of their Hybrid Theory album, called Reanimation, as well as releasing a remix version of their song, 'Points Of Authority'.

In 2003 their new studio album was released, titled Meteora, which debuted at #1 in the US and UK, and #2 in Australia. It contained the singles, 'Somewhere I Belong', 'Faint', 'Numb', 'From The Inside' and 'Breaking The Habit'. Later in the year, they joined forces with fellow nu-metal band Limp Bizkit and Metallica for the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003. From this tour, Linkin Park released a new CD/DVD set called Live in Texas. This set contains tracks from their three previous records, and was filmed on location at their Summer Sanitarium performances in Dallas and Houston, Texas.

In 2004, Linkin Park created the Meteora World Tour. This tour included Linkin Park, P.O.D., Hoobastank, and Story of the Year.

In 2004, Linkin Park was touring with Snoop Dogg, The Used, Korn, and Less Than Jake on the main stage, and No Warning, Ghostface, Funeral For A Friend, M.O.P., and Downset on the second stage as part of Projekt Revolution 2004. They also had a travelling DJ, Z-Trip with them, along with Irvin the Urban Action Figure.
On November 30, 2004, Linkin Park released Collision Course, a collaboration with rapper Jay-Z featuring rap-style remixes ('mash-ups') of songs from Meteora and Hybrid Theory using lyrics from Jay-Z's repertoire. Collision Course debuted at #1 in the US, but only got to # 17 in the UK. In Holland Collision Course made it to a 7th place. Their first Collision Course hit single 'Numb/Encore' reached #1 at the Free Record Shop Download Charts in Holland.


Members

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§ Chester Bennington (vocals)
§ Mike Shinoda (vocals/sampling/guitar/keyboard)
§ Joe Hahn (turntables, samples)
§ Brad Delson guitar
§ Rob Bourdon drums
§ Dave 'Phoenix' Farrell bass


Discography
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Albums
§ Hybrid Theory EP (1998) US Sales: 1000 (only 1000 printed)


§ 500 copies reprinted for the first 500 people to join LPU

§ Hybrid Theory (2000) #2 US, #4 UK, US Sales: 8,000,000

§ Reanimation (2002) (remix album including Hybrid Theory and older tracks) #2 US, #3 UK, US Sales: 1,000,000

§ LP Underground v2.0 (2002) Unedited songs A.06, Dedicated (Demo 1999) & My December, Pts.Of.Athrty (The Crystal Method Remix)
; With you & High Voltage live (Gift to join in LP Fan club)

§ LP Underground v2.5 (2003) Fixed Hybrid Theory EP & LP Underground v2.0 songs, two Reanimation Songs & a New High Voltage Remix (Gift to join in LP Fan club)

§ Meteora (2003) #1 US, #1 UK, US Sales: 4,000,000 Meteora was released as a combo pack including a 'behind the scenes' DVD disc, as well as just the Meteora album.

§ Live in Texas (2003) #23 US, US Sales: 500,000

§ LP Underground v3.0 (2003) Audio Tracks of DVD Live In Texas (Gift to join in LP Fan club)

§ LP Underground v4.0 (2004) Sold My Soul To Yo Mama Mr. Hahn's Instrumental (with partials of Papercut), Standing In The Middle, Live versions of Breaking the Habit, 1Stp Klosr & a mix of Step Up/Nobody's Listening/It's Goin' Down (Gift to join in LP Fan club)

§ Collision Course - (Mash-up album featuring rapper Jay-Z's mixes of songs from Meteora and Hybrid Theory) (2004)


Hit singles

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§ from 'Hybrid Theory'
§ 2001 'One Step Closer' #24 UK
§ 2001 'Crawling' #16 UK
§ 2001 'Papercut' #14 UK
§ 2001 'In the End' #2 US, #8 UK
§ 2002 'Points Of Authority'
§ from 'Reanimation'
§ 2002 'High Voltage/Points of Authority' #9 UK
§ from 'Meteora'
§ 2003 'Somewhere I Belong' #32 US, #10 UK
§ 2003 'Faint' #15 UK
§ 2004 'Numb' #5 US, #14 UK
§ 2004 'From The Inside'
§ 2004 'Breaking the Habit' #20 US, #39 UK
§ from 'Collision Course'
§ 2004 'Numb/Encore' (with Jay-Z) #11 US, #14 UK


Videos

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§ One Step Closer


§ Crawling (at the Dragon Festival)

§ Crawling (The Brothers Straus)

§ Papercut (International)

§ In The End
§ Points Of Authority Live footage (International)

§ Pts.OF.Athrty (Points Of Authority Remix), CGI

§ Enth E Nd (In The End Remix)

§ P5hng Me A*wy (Pushing Me Away Remix)

§ FRGT/10 (Forgotten Remix), CGI

§ Wth>You (With You Remix), photographic animation

§ Somewhere I Belong - live-action plus CGI. This video for features some surrealistic creatures moving from a painting that may have been inspired by Salvador Dalí's works - possibly The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1946) or The Elephants (1948).

§ Faint - monochrome concert-like footage, directed by Mark Romanek

§ Lying From You (Live in Texas)

§ Numb

§ From The Inside (International)

§ Breaking The Habit, traditional anime

§ Numb/Encore (live)

§ Points of Authority/99 Problems/One Step Closer (live)


Awards and nominations

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§ Won Favorite Artist - Alternative Music; 31st Annual American Music Awards; Sept 16, 2003


§ Won Best Group, Best Hard Rock; 2002 MTV Europe Music Awards. Nominated for Best Website.

§ Won Best Foreign Rock; Swedish Hit Music Awards; November 17th, 2002.

§ Won Best Rock Video; 2002 MTV Video Music Awards (In The End). Nominated for Best Video of the Year (In The End), Best Group Video (In The End).

§ Won Best International Nu-Metal/Alternative Artist; ECHO 2002 awards in Germany.

§ Won Best Hard Rock Performance (Crawling); 2001 Grammys. Nominated for Best Rock Album, Best New Artist.

§ Won Best Foreigner Artist of The Year; Finland's 2001 Emma Awards.

§ Won Best International Newcomer; 2001 Kerrang Awards. Nominated for Best Video, Best Album, Best Band in the World.

§ Nominated for Favorite Artist - Alternative Music; 30th Annual American Music Awards; Sept 1, 2002

§ Won Best Rock Video (Somewhere I Belong); 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.

§ Nominated for Best Rock Video (Breaking The Habit); 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.

§ Won Viewer's Choice Award (Breaking The Habit); 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.

§ Won Song of the Year — Rock Alternative Radio (Numb); 2004 Radio Music Awards

§ Won Artist of the Year — Rock Radio; 2004 Radio Music Awards

Friday, August 05, 2005

Some One Liners

• A priest was praying for guidance: Oh God, grant me this knowledge: what is the meaning of life?For a while, Creation was silent. Then a booming voice, sounding severely pissed-off, shouts from heaven: Read the F*#kin FAQ!

• A man is in the hospital after getting drunk and swallowing 120 coins on a bet. Doctors monitoring his situation say, so far, no change.

• Santa tripped on a broken curb and went to the hospital.After examining him, the doctor said, "I have some good news, and some bad news for you. First of all, you'll never be able to work again."Santa replied, "Okay, now what's the bad news?"

• An application for job came in with an applicant's picture attached. She was a pretty blonde. On the back of the picture was hand written: "Picture on front".

• What's the difference between me and a Viking?" Olli asked."No idea, said Ville.""When the Vikings used to come home after their wars, that's when the real drinking began. But when I come home after a few drinks, that's when the real war begins."

• Never give me work in the morning. Always wait until 4:00 and then bring it to me. The challenge of a deadline is refreshing.

• As an inspirational measure, a boss placed a sign in the restroom directly above the sink. It had a single word on it: THINKThe next day, when he went to the restroom, he looked at his sign, and right next to it, above the soap dispenser, someone had carefully lettered another sign, which read: THOAP!

• At weddings old aunts used 2 tease me saying: You are next, you are next.But they stopped it since I started doing the same to them at funerals!

• Two little old ladies were attending a rather long church service. One leaned over and whispered, "My butt is going to sleep.""I know," replied her companion, "I heard it snore three times."

• Teacher: Four beautiful girls are walking on the road. Change it to exclamatory sentence.Student: WOW !

• People who do lots of work...make lots of mistakes,People who do less work...make less mistakes,People who do no work...make no mistakes,People who make no mistakes...get promoted.

• May you die in bed at the age of 95, shot by a jealous spouse.

• Father talking to his son: Son, you should never lie. One lie begets another lie, then another lie, and before you know it, you're a lawyer.

• Pappu: Mom, when I was on the bus with Dad this morning, he told me to give up my seat to a lady.Jeeto: Well, you have done the right thing.Pappu: But mom, I was sitting on daddy's lap.

• Woman sends knickers to the launderette but they still come back stained. Next time she sends a note: Use more soap on clothes.Laundry man sends back a note: Use more paper on your arse.

• Mom: Where r u off to now?Son: I`m gonna join the army.Mom: But, legally u r only an infant.Son: That`s all right, I`m going to join the infantry.

• Customer: Waiter, what's the meaning of this fly in my tea up?Waiter: I wouldn't know sir, I'm a waiter, not a fortune teller.

• The Smiths were dining out when his wife noticed a familiar face at the bar."Honey," she said as she pointed the guy out, "That guy at the bar has been drinking like that since I left him seven years ago."Her husband said, "That's silly, no one celebrates that much!"

• In a survey, 80 percent of women thought their ass was too fat, 15 percent said their ass was too thin and the other five per cent said they didn't care - they would have married him anyway.

• I've invented a fly spray that doesn't kill flies; it makes them so sexually active, you can swat two at a time.