Director Kunal Kohli has written a piece in his own words on the horrendous Mumbai attacks

Filmmaker Karan Johar has finally updated his blog… and he has used this new entry to delve into his inner-heart and talk about the recent Mumbai attacks:
I was in New York when the news broke. For someone who’s been born and raised in this city, this is one of the most shattering things to hear. Glued to my television in a hotel room, I absorbed everything I saw and heard. Everyone had a sound byte. Everyone had to come out and express his or her opinion. The NSG should be applauded. The media should be praised. Certain politicians should be bashed. I agree with most of what’s already been said. Politicians — soulless and emotionless — were addressing the country while reading off of teleprompters. Can you not feel anything? Poorly conducted ‘press conferences’ announcing the death and casualty toll for foreigners with the speaker unable to successfully read a list from a sheet of paper, confusing Austria for Australia and making us look like illiterate idiots to a global audience.

This is about You and Me

Anil Kapoor is one Yuvvraaj, albeit a little slow… Salman is the second Yuvvraaj, likes to be tickled on his chest by Indian looking girls born in England… and Zayed Khan is the third Yuvvraaj, one wanders how he got this part. Katrina Kaif is the girl, with the emphasis being on the GIRL… We have a lawyer who knows nothing about the law (Mithun Chakraborty)… We have a forever twitching Uncle in a wheelchair and an Auntie that seems to be auditioning for Whose Got The World’s Biggest Chest… make that Whose Got The Universe’s Biggest Chest… Not forgetting the Dad (Javed Shaikh) who looks younger than his eldest son… Bring in some rubbish music of A R Rahman and let Subhash Ghai loose with his HD camera and you have a final product… Yuvvraaj…

Well here it is at last, the most awaited soundtrack of 2009. Salim and Suleiman composed Rab Ne Bana Do Jodi. Shah Rukh Khan stars with a new leading lady and his good old friend Aditya Chopra directs. I decided to write a review of the soundtrack as I listened to the songs for the first time. And this is what I came up with…

Given the backdrop of the worldwide financial crisis, via the song “Haule Haule” from RNBDJ, the ultimate craftsman, Adi has captured the mantra of our times. “Haule Haule” the once so called “socially awkward” Chinese and Indians have today become a dominant force in the world. A journey of a million miles was accomplished “Haule Haule” one step at a time. The song celebrates a turning point, it is a departure from the past into a new stable future. It is bye bye to the fast lane and hello to the slow and the steady, i.e. “Haule Haule”. The house that once made us appreciate Switzerland and Silk Shiffon Saris is now showing us our desi country side and the clothes and lives of ordinary citizens. “Haule Haule” shows us how extraordinary we really are. Just like CDI apart from being a good sports movie was no less than a Bandini or a Sujatha ( a women empowerment movie) of the modern era, it appears that, Adi Chopra, via RNBDJ and “Haule Haule” is giving us not just good entertainment, but is also empowering the ordinary folks that make up India.

Crying on the road, Man, what films are we being given?

In a very bad and not totally darkened theatre (because of the light leaking through some vents and gaps in the closed doors) called Ramapriya in Vijayawada town in Andhra Pradesh, for the first time I consciously began to understand the phenomenon of Amitabh Bachchan.

Big means Bollywood, but small’s certainly not television. The industry is growing rapidly and it’s not just restricted to India alone. NRIs are equally glued to their TV sets when you have the bahus shedding tears or judges on reality shows getting into tiffs! Who better than telly czarina Ekta Kapoor to give us a real picture of how far Indian television has come in its global journey and where it stands in comparison with the best in the world.

I’m really sorry for not blogging quite as regularly as I’d like to. Many reasons attribute to that. I’ve been swamped with work, with deadlines to meet and have simultaneously been combating the viral (and I will kill the next person who says “it’s in the air.”)