Nondescript filmmaker

For lack of a better vocabulary I choose to call myself a caretaker. What do I take care of? Nothing. I have a few plants at home: a bougainvillaea, two different types of aloe vera (one rowdy, the other a gentleman), fat leaf, shorty (whose flowers look like red rhodendrons), a few feng shui bamboo, kadipatta, little onion plants and a couple of militaries (who always stay erect even through drought). I have tortured each one of them and brought them back to life. I've given them a lot of love, ignored them, starved them and fed them. No I haven't been up to something. Just being inconsistent, unreliable. Bark... trap.... memories experiences. (Today I am not sure where that article was going or whether it was the end.) 

2014 has probably been Deepika Padukone's best year since she made her debut in Om Shanti Om in 2007 . I watched OSM in a theatre in Shimla when I was on a spiritual flight of fantasy. What struck me about her more than her beauty was her confidence. It was a zany and dramatic movie. And, she was working with Shahrukh Khan, who was at the height of his popularity. She did pretty well on debut. As years passed, she got more and more beautiful but her performances struggled to hit the right notes.  Kareena has been my favourite actresses. She brings a certain sense of effortlessness to many of her performances. Her performances bring me joy and it's like watching art in motion. Stunning actresses rarely performed well consistently. Lara Dutta was really good in a few films but in an effort to be a part of hit films, she lost out on roles that showcased her acting ability. You'll see glimpses of it in Chalo Dilli . Katrina Kaif was another stunning actress who showed re...

Lunchbox is a character-driven story. It is an original story. It's a good story. That's the biggest strength of the film. A story that you haven't seen before can feel like an adventure where you're completely open to different possibilities. A mistake in a lunchbox delivery by the famed Mumbai dabbawallahs leads to conversations between the sender and the receiver through notes, which turn into a relationship. A character-driven story requires strong performances. Without the aid of references, it is extremely challenging for a new writer-director to communicate the finer detailing of an original story to his actors and key collaborators. In the process of writing a story, getting financial backing, arranging the best possible artistes within a limited budget, it is very difficult for a first-time director to stamp his or her authority on performances when dealing with star actors. My biggest problem with the film was Irrfan Khan's portrayal of a B...

2013 was a positive year in terms of finding a way to earn a living from home. After I came across some college notes scribblings on absurdism, I decided to adopt it in spirit. Late May my wife and I went to Saurkundi Pass, near Manali, for a 7-8 day trek. We had hardly exercised, which was also the case for another trek I had done 2-3 years ago. That one was really tough but I had scraped through with a bit of will, dexterity and good company. This trek was supposed to be much easier, so I expected it to be easy even though I hadn't exercised. My wife struggled a lot and that rubbed off on me. But I was surprised with my struggle because this was trek was a breeze as compared to the previous one. We hadn't exercised for this one too. But Rahela and I weren't  fit enough to enjoy the trek, which should have been quite easy. My body seemed to have lost the energy and dexterity that can compensate for lack of exercise. Then, we missed a train to Kochi due to more than 6 hour...