Devashish's Blog

Reason # 3429 why I love marketing: American girl doll made in china for US$115. Hmm.

2010-01-16T23:25:00.001-06:00

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The art of performance capture in Avatar

2009-12-31T12:12:00.000-06:00

As impressive is the technology illustrated in the video below, what I find more fascinating is the imagination of the people involved!

Reason # 4389: Why I love marketing :)

2009-12-30T16:39:00.001-06:00

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Lego store - going the route of apple?

2009-12-30T15:28:00.001-06:00

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Bud brings you miller?

2009-12-26T17:48:00.001-06:00

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Who's heard of "business traveler" magazine? :) endorsing sony as best noise cancellation headphones.

2009-12-23T08:35:00.001-06:00

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me and da twins!

2009-09-06T16:19:00.000-05:00

IMG_3056.JPG

Papa and all his children!

2009-09-06T16:06:00.002-05:00

Papa and "all his children". :)

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Kavish and Nishesh: The Journey Home

2009-01-07T13:11:00.010-06:00

A photo essay documenting the journey from the NICU to home for Kavish and Nishesh, our twin boys born Nov 7, 2008 at 28.5 weeks.

Set to the backdrop of one of Renu's favorite hindi songs from the movie "Jab We Met (When We Met)" titled "Tum Se Hi (Only With You)".

RIP: Dr. Suman Raje

2008-12-26T12:48:00.003-06:00

Early the morning of Dec 26th, my Choti Buaji (my father's sister) passed away. Dr. Suman Raje was a doctorate in Hindi Literature, a professor, a poet, and the author of many books. But to her family she was a loving mom and wife, to my father and mother she was more than anything else a close friend, and to me she will always be the storyteller.

When I was a young boy we used to travel from Ahmedabad (where we lived) to Kanpur (where Buaji lived) every summer holidays. It was a 2 1/2 day train trip on the Sabarmati Express. I remember the train always arrived at Kanpur in the middle of the night - around 4am or so. Of all the fun things we would do during the summer holidays - my favorite memory was the night when we would go to sleep.

We used to sleep on the roof since these were the days of heat w/ no AC, just a cooler. But before the kids would go to sleep we all had to circle around Choti Buaji for the bedtime story. And every night w/o fail she would churn one up. She was never reading from a book. Every one of her stories came right out of her head. The most imaginative creative fantastical stories a 7 year old had ever heard. In Hindi - often using words I couldn't understand then (or now for that matter). But she managed to create very vivid, very real images in our young minds.

"Bahut saal pehle, ek Raaja tha ...."

Miss you, Buaji.

Day 20. Done.

2008-11-18T10:40:00.001-06:00

We are expecting twins in early january. However 20 days ago, our dr put my wife on bedrest at the hospital. She's doing fine and so are the babies. But it seems we may be in the hospital now until the babies come.

----------------------

The above is an unfinished post I started to write on wednesday Oct 5th, 2008. Two days later; on Day 22 - at 6:24pm and 6:25pm our twin boys were born.

Since then I am desperately trying to find an hour or so to pull together a small little birth announcement package. But between the trips to the NICU and balancing work and home - it's been a little difficult. But I know I will get to it soon. When the time is right. Now, it's time to head back to the NICU.

evil laugh continues ...

2008-10-14T21:15:00.001-05:00

ha ha ha!

cool.

2008-10-14T20:50:00.001-05:00

it works.
awesome.
:)

now, smartass thoughts are only one click away from you. ha ha! ha!

ha ha! ha! :) :)

Testing post from google dashboard widget for the mac.

2008-10-14T20:49:00.001-05:00

Finally framed some beautiful paintings

2008-10-09T22:33:00.008-05:00

In 2005, on a family vacation to India, my wife and I bought 3 great paintings from Hauz Kauz Village in New Delhi. Can you believe that it is 3 years later, and we finally got them framed! And they look amazing. Check them out:

I bought these from the original artists in India - sadly though I lost the info on who they were. Gotta dig them up. They had some great stories ... and it's the stories that make the paintings. In any case, I am happy to have finally framed them and put them up in our house. They seem so much happier to be out of the boxes they have been hiding in for the last 3 years. Welcome!

My Favorite Movies of 2008 so Far ...

2008-09-08T21:26:00.004-05:00

The Fall installment of oscar contenders is yet to come - most of them getting their North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this week; but I am in the mood to pull together a list of my favorite films of this year so far.

Here we go.

1) The Dark Knight

2) Tell No One

3) The Visitor

4) Iron Man

5) Wanted

6) Lust, Caution (maybe last year but I saw it this year)

On the Hindi/Indian side:

1) Jodhaa Akbar

2) Rock On

3) Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

4) Singh is Kinng (u better believe it!)

Yet to see: Mumbai Meri Jaan or Santosh Sivan's Tahaan both of which I am anxious to watch. I am sure I am missing a few movies but this is what was top of mind. If I missed something obvious I will come back and correct.

Have no fear. Go pick up any of these. And if you don't like them you can leave me a flaming comment! ;)

Joe Biden and his "Indian" comment

2008-08-24T16:12:00.009-05:00

So by now most of you have probably heard and/or seen the following comment by Obama's VP candidate, Sen Biden:

In case you missed it his comment was the following:

"I've had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."

My first reaction when I heard this was that he better hope the doctor in that ER (if he's ever there) is not an Indian! ;)

But apparently this one has a happier ending per this article from The Times of India:

Obama-Biden ticket has a "slight Indian accent".

Quoting from the Times of India article:

"I was making the point that up until now in my state, we've had a strong Indian community made up of leading scientists and researchers and engineers," Biden explained later. "We're having middle-class people move to Delaware, take over Dunkin' Donuts, take over businesses, just like other immigrant groups have, and I was saying that ... they're growing, it's moving."

"I could have said that 40 years ago about walking into a delicatessen and hearing an Italian accent in my state," he added.

Most Indian-Americans in Delaware, where indeed there has been a boom in small business growth by the community, did not take Biden's remark amiss. Many of them, expecially those involved in businesses related to motels, liquor stores, and gas stations, are Biden supporters and contributors who have held fund-raisers for him and reeled him into events like the local Navratri garba hosted by the Gujarati community.

"He's a great guy, very experienced. We love him," Pravin Patel, president of the Delaware Asian-American Business Association, said on Saturday after news broke of Biden's selection.

Hmmmmm. So I think the following:

1) How come Senator George Allen who two years ago made the following "macaca" comment did not fare as well?

When he also had Indians rushing to his defense as the following quote shows from a Washington Post article:

Allen's defenders rushed to his side, saying the comments, though careless, do not reflect what is inside the senator's heart. Sudhakar Shenoy, an Indian business executive from Fairfax who has known Allen for years, said he "has been an incredible friend to Indians" and is not a racist. "I'd stake everything I have that George is not that kind of a guy," Shenoy said.

Could it be that he's a Republican and therefore we let some stereotypes, beliefs and such come into play and sway some of us into a certain direction?

2) Isn't it funny that in Sen Biden's explanation the same statement but w/ the "italian accent" would not have generated the same kind of "oh this is inappropriate" buzz? We assume that a comment made about Indians in that way is inappropriate but when made about Italians - it's ok. Does that mean that we are too sensitive as Indian-Americans or as the media? Or perhaps the Italians went through a similar experience 40 years ago ... I hypothesize the latter.

3) We all have internalized many-a-beliefs about all kinds of people, places, professions and so on - our brain does that to help us categorize and process information efficiently. In the new book Sway, the Brafman brothers write: "All of us have certain lenses, or constructs, that we use to sift through the endless flow of information we encounter. For example, when we meet new people we may judge them on whether they dress well or poorly, whether their shoes are polished or not, whether they seem to be liberal or conservative, whether they are religious or secular, hip or nerdy. These constructs are useful insofar as they help us to quickly assess a situation and form a temporary hypothesis about how to react. Forming initial opinions is one of the ways in which we try to make sense of the world given limited time or information. But we have to be careful not to rely too much on such pre-emptive judgments, as they can short-circuit a more nuanced evaluation. They can narrow our perceptions and make us more apt to get swayed by a hasty diagnosis."

Perhaps, neither Sen Biden nor Sen Allen meant anything bad. Perhaps they both displayed a hint of something they feel deep down inside. How we perceive what they said is really driven more by who you are, rather than who they are. Isn't that interesting?

4) To end on a lighter note, or not if you get offended, here's the Indian 7-11 guy from the Mind of Mencia :)

"Now, get the purk out of my blog!" ;)

How can I import my movie/book reviews from facebook to my blog?

2008-08-21T22:43:00.003-05:00

Any help is appreciated.

thanks.

18 Aug, 1988

2008-08-19T20:47:00.008-05:00

On 18 August, 1988 I came to the US. I flew from Hong Kong to San Francisco on a United Airlines flight. It was a long flight and I think I cried most of the way here. I was excited to go to college, but leaving home turned out to be a bigger fear than I had imagined. This was the first time I was leaving home. And I wasn't going closeby. I would be 6000 miles away. That can be a little disconcerting for an 18 year old. Well, it was for me. So there.

It also didn't help that immediately before I left I was really really sick. So sick that I was in the hospital in HK just 2 days before I had to leave. I had a viral infection while we were vacationing in India in July of 1988. And sometime after we passed through Jhansi and ended up in Lucknow, I got real sick. Until then, I was having a great trip as always, but even more so since I was headed off to college after returning to Hong Kong. I remember staying up many a nights and talking w/ my close friends and my cousin(s) who I grew up with. We talked a lot about going to college - which is really code for "girls". Yup, that's pretty much what we spoke about. :)

In Lucknow though, I fell sick. Real sick. Dr didn't know what it was - so I was on a bunch of medicine. I remember going out sightseeing one day since we were leaving Lucknow soon - and I hadn't been out of the house at all. We went to see the Bada Imambara and Bhool Bhulaiya. Amazing stuff.

Can you believe that was the last time I went to Lucknow? It was also the last time I was in India with my family and friends until I returned in 1994 for my wedding. Wow. I never even for once thought that it'd be another 6 years before I would return and that too for my wedding. Incredible, what turns life holds for you.

So sick I stayed, from Lucknow to Bombay. 2 days in Bombay. A business class flight on Swiss Air back to Hong Kong. Still running a high fever and by this time I had lost a lot of weight. A whole lot. In Hong Kong, I was admitted into a hospital about a week before I was supposed to leave and move to Austin.

In this hospital, the Dr gave me no medicine. He just made sure I drank a whole lot of water. Since this was a viral infection, apparently that's all I needed. 2-3 days later, I was good to go. Still a lot thinner, but ready to go. A heck of an alternative to "weight watchers" - don't recommend it to anyone!

August 18th, 1988. I land in San Francisco. I am really hungry since I pretty much didn't eat much on the plane. My dad's with me and I still remember we both got a chili dog. It was huge! And we loved it. If only my mom were to know that the first meal in my new home country was topped w/ a hearty topping of beef! ;) Oh well, I think she gave up on keeping me a vegetarian long ago. And especially in HK - where my dad, my sister and I (everyone but my mom who is still a pure vegetarian) pretty much ate everything. And I mean everything. That's a whole other post, right there.

From SF, my dad and I got on an AA flight to Dallas. I still remember flying into Dallas, as we flew right by downtown. I was sitting by the window looking outside, filled with curiosity. I remember staring at the Reunion Tower with the bright lights lighting up the globe. I remember

seeing the tall building w/ the green lights. Little did I know that almost 20 years to the day later, I will be sitting in a house in that very city next to my wife (whom I met in this city) and my daughter (who was born here) writing about that moment on my blog.

Another short hop on AA and we are in Austin. It's now probably around 10pm. I come out of the plane into the terminal and carefully inspect what looks like a very very small airport. Shit! I thought - this looks tiny. When the main airport you know of is Hong Kong's (at that time) Kai Tak - the Austin airport to me looks very empty and small-townish. My immediate reaction was, if the airport is this small what could we say about the city? And I'm committed to spend at least the next 3-4 years of my life here. Crap.

But then, as I walked towards the exit I saw this big banner:

"Welcome to Austin. Live music capital of the world."

Hmmm. I thought, it can't be all that bad, eh?

And of course, it wasn't. It's Austin. The best college experience ever, in one of my favorite cities in the world.

20 years ago, I left my parents, my sister and my home in Hong Kong and I came to the United States.

20 years later I am from Texas, ya'all!

Olympics NBC Style

2008-08-10T21:43:00.004-05:00

As much as some of the Olympic stories are a little cheesy specially the way NBC "dramatizes" things, I can't help but get drawn into them. I think it helps me get a back story on the individual athletes and they become more than just an athlete. They become human beings w/ a history who are trying to achieve things that many of us can only dream of.

I could be critical of the over-dramatization, but then I grew up on a steady diet of Bollywood flicks, so who am I to judge? :)

Keep them coming. I love the olympics. I just love them. The back-stories - well, ok. Keep them coming. There are lots of closet-admirers ... ;)

Singh is King, babby and so says Snoop D-O-Double-G-DOGG

2008-08-09T09:26:00.002-05:00

Saw this movie last night. Mindless, silly and made me laugh out loud quite a few times! :)

So you think you can dance Bollywood ishtyle?

2008-07-20T22:50:00.002-05:00

Just came across this from the So You Think You Can Dance show on Fox. Apparently two of the contestants got to learn and perform a bollywood song: Dhoom Tana from Om Shanti Om. Here's the clip from the show:

And here's the song in the film Om Shanti Om:

You gotta love it! :)

White Bollywood Backup Dancers

2008-07-19T16:24:00.003-05:00

So Bollywood movies have always had a dance number - where you get a whole bunch of backup dancers to the main leads. This is similar to dance numbers in musicals or on music videos. What's funny is that in the old days most of these backup dancers used to be Indian. But now in almost every Bollywood film more and more of these backup dancers (esp female) are white.

This is an interesting development. Since it didn't just happen in one movie and stop. It started somewhere and continues to this day in almost every movie.

So why is that?

Here are some of my hypotheses:

1) Since more and more Bollywood movies are set abroad - it may seem more "natural" that when the hero and the heroine spontaneously bust into a dance song - that they pull passers-by into their in-the-moment routine. And since they are in Canada, Australia, England, Switzerland, New Zealand or South Africa - the dancers tend to be representative of the country where the characters are.

So the thinking must be that an Indian hero dancing w/ an Indian heroine with a bunch of white people dancing behind them is more realistic than an Indian hero dancing w/ an Indian heroine with a bunch of Indian dancers behind them in a foreign location. Just some sarcasm ;)

2) More likely I think this is economics at work. Flying cast and crew to foreign locations is still a very expensive proposition for Bollywood films. Esp as many of the costs are incurred in a foreign currency. Now as the production manager is determining whom to take - he/she probably has some budgetary limitations to be met. So this is a good place to cut - even though to hire foreign dancers may be more expensive than hiring indian dancers - when you add the airfare and hotel and other logistics costs - the foreign dancers are a more efficient option. And they seem more "realistic" per #1.

3) My third hypothesis is somewhat cultural in nature. A culture that was dominated by a white race for almost 200 years finds reason to show off a position of strength. Sometimes this may come across by Indian men who may have a white girlfriend or a wife. Esp in Bollywood films that may be targeting a broad and diverse Indian population - there is some sense of strength in a man who has white chicks dancing behind him and to his tune. (Interestingly enough though, often the guy who is shown w/ a white girlfriend is the bad one - the one w/ moral weaknesses and a strong and ugly love for money. But being with the white woman is different from just having them dancing behind you, right?)

Those are the thoughts that come to mind. Can you think of any other reasons?

Dallas Historical Society Award for my father-in-law: Raj Seekri

2008-07-13T21:53:00.006-05:00

The Dallas Historical Society has announced the recipients of the 2008 awards for Excellence in Community Service. Amongst the winners is my dear father-in-law: Raj Seekri. Here's a blurb from today's Dallas Morning News:

For Education-Teacher:

Raj Seekri. As a former teacher of mathematics at Eastfield College and as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, he now serves as a full-time professor of mathematics at Richland College, where he is held in highest regard by administrators, colleagues and students. As one of his many admiring students has written, "His ability to translate the difficult subject of mathematics is surpassed only by his deep and devoted love for his students."

Congratulations to Daddy. A well-deserved honor.

Here's to many more teachers who inspire us to strive for more and more.

Sales Guy vs Web Dude Video

2008-06-28T15:18:00.001-05:00

Some R-rated language but a funny video nevertheless. :)

I am taking a day off tomorrow

2008-06-26T23:22:00.002-05:00

And therefore I am awake right now. Because I know that I am off tomorrow. Why - you ask? Well, for no real reason, whatsoever! :) I am hoping to go catch the new batman flick - which I think will be really good. Christian Bale is one of my favs and I think it's directed by Nolan who is quite quite good. In fact Batman Begins was one of my fav comic book movies.

Wow - quite rusty at blog posting. Been so long - it feels strange. Almost like I am talking to myself. Which I most likely am. And that shouldn't bother me - considering how much I do that all the time anyways. So why be bothered now? Doing something that I do all the time anyways?

Who would know?

Not me.

Not anyone in my house. Considering they are all asleep.

Not anyone who's reading. 'Coz I already said - "NOT ME"!

Need water to neutralize the beer.

Need sleep (i think) to neutralize the awakeness.

Need sleep. I know.

Goodnight.

Happy New Year!!

2007-12-31T17:56:00.000-06:00

A very happy new year to you all!! :)

oh boy

2007-12-06T22:43:00.000-06:00

I recently watched "no country for old men" by the coen brothers. It is by far one of the best movies I have seen in a long long time and as usual it has grown on me over time. Now I sit here all jazzed up about wanting to be writing and getting behind the camera again.

It's been a long time and I kinda miss it.

Well one script is ready to go and has been that way for quite a while. Maybe I will open it up here and see what you guys think ...

oscars

2007-03-04T12:08:00.000-06:00

I thought the oscars were pretty predictable this year - and although I liked The Departed - I still would have voted for Babel over Departed. It sems that the "academy" decided it was time to scorsese to finally win. It almost seems like an award for his career rather than this particular film.

Not that I am not a Scorsese fan. I am.

But departed over babel. No.

Ellen was actually pretty funny - although not knowing where Penelope Cruz is from was a little embarassing. She did appologize. And the announcer when refering to Infernal Affairs said that film was from Japan - in a year that supposedly was so international - these were two high profile mistakes on a show that a lot of people were watching.

And what's with Gore - man. I thought there was a little "too much" of him on the show. ANd if food is energy. He might want to think of energy conservation of another kind as well.

Jenifer Hudson over Rinko Kikuchi. No way.

Helen Miren winning was predictable. Although I thought Judi Dench in Notes was more standout. Def darker. Juicier.

Wil Farrel and gang were hilarious. :)

what up?

2007-01-18T08:25:00.000-06:00

long time. new year. been awfully bz. no kidding. been up today since 3am. had to come to work early. now it's 8:30am. feeling a little sleepy. no kidding.

ha ha.

back soon w/ my own picks for top hindi and english films of 2006. too tired to think right now.

my favorite film though has to be Babel. And for all those who call it "pretentious" - perhaps it is you who is acting all "high and mighty".

and my fav hindi movie last year had to be "Gangster". superb acting and a fantastic story and great music.

2Q Update

2006-05-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

Ha - here's my quarterly update. Finally caught up on all 2005 movies that I had missed ... including Syrianna (which I saw in Delhi two weeks ago), and Good Night and Good Luck. Two very smart movies about very contemporary topics even though one references the Mcarthy era in b/w. Two others to watch: Match Point - a Woodly Allen movie for all haters of Woody Allen movies - since it's nothing like his regular films; and Thank You For Smoking - although the funniest parts are in the trailer - why do they do that?!

3 trips to Asia already this year: China, Japan and India. Hopefully it'll slow down some - want to start writing again. And get somebody else to shoot the other script that's sitting around. Got someone in mind - need to find him! My baby's cryin' - gotta go! ;)

New author I have discovered: Douglas Kennedy. Hard to find his books in the States though. Start with "The Big Picture" - good, gripping, well-written fiction. Read Shantaram yet? Get to it - the movie will be out in 2007!

untitled

2006-03-05T16:27:00.000-06:00

We had to move DSAFF to August. Logistics issues. Oh well. Gives us a little more time to prepare and execute. Been so so busy travelling - seems like I am spending more time on planes and in other countries than here - which often is not so bad - however being away from family can have a toll.

Oscars on tonight. First time in a while where I haven't really even seen a bunch of the nominated films. I saw Brokeback ... and I think that's about it. Oh I did see Munich as well. I liked them both. I wish I had seen Brokeback before all the hype - I think I would have liked it even better. I really think Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams both did an outstanding job in a beautiful little simple film. Nice to see Ang Lee returning to form after the disastorous Hulk.

Will it win the oscars though? Don't know. Here's my thoughts on who will win (not necessarily should, but will):

Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
George Clooney - Syriana
Rachel Weisz - Constant Gardner
Ang Lee - brokback
mmm and I think either Brokeback or Crash will probably take Best Picture.

I haven't seen Walk the Line yet - but I am a big Phoenix fan. So it's hard for me between Phoenix and Ledger - so? Also I thought Matt Dillon did a nice job in Crash even though I wish they didn't have to give him a "good" side in that script - it'd be nice to see that character just be an asshole - coz that's what he is - an asshole. Anyways - if Clooney's gonna win he will probably win for Screenplay so that may open up the supporting category for Matt or Paul.

Too many movies to watch. Not enough time. Have to make do with Law and Order. Thank god for Dick Wolfe. Otherwise I may have had to watch things like CSI ... aarrgghh!!

What's up with DSAFF?

2005-09-29T16:00:00.000-05:00

Hmmm ... I've been so buried with work stuff that the DSAFF part of my life has been almost nonexistant. But I'd like to start changing that a little bit at a time ... As I mentioned before we have moved the 4th Dallas South Asian Film Festival to Feb 2006. Our tentative dates are Feb 10-12, 2006. My goal is to update the DSAFF site this weekend with a brand new Call for Entries and other relevant content. If I don't get to it soon - it will be only become harder as fall goes on - with a bunch of work-related travel coming my way.

As far as my script - Version 1.5 is complete and sitting on my hard drive since last year. Need to do something with it - I think the first thing is to send it out to a few close peers to get feedback. What I still don't know is whether I want to pursue this as my own production or sell it to another production house - maybe only be involved as a writer or director? The latter is appealing because it will allow me to focus on the creative side of the experience - w/o having to drive the production side which is so very much like my daily work life anyways. But who to go to? Any ideas?

How do I spell my name?

2005-09-08T13:44:00.000-05:00

Bipasha's blog

2005-08-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

Boy - bollywood is really exploring the blogs as a marketing tool for new hindi films. You can check out Bipasha's blog for her upcoming film Apharan. I think reading about an actor's viewpoint as a part of a film production process would be more interesting rather than reading about things after the fact ... the best though would be an individual's blog that is project independent. That is the only way to make a connection with a human being rather than with a project - which is at best transient in nature.

Mangal Pandey Disappoints

2005-08-24T11:16:00.000-05:00

Although I appreciate the exploration of a very interesting historical subject, on the whole I was disappointed by Mangal Pandey as a film. Although the acting by both Aamir Khan and Toby Stephens is commendable, the entire film just does not come together effectively. It seems disjointed. Loosely structured. It fails to create empathy for the lead character. It gets lost in building several sub-plots which tend to distract and further remove the audience from the main story in the film. And although the songs are actually pretty good when listening to them on a CD, they become another source of distraction in the film - with several instances where the film cuts from a pretty intense scene directly into a totally unrelated song - wasting the emotional energy that might have been built up by the prior scene.

The canvas of the film did not seem as grand as they could have ... should have been. The trip to Afghanistan seems like a waste - for a meager 5 ordinary minutes in the final cut. It seems that in the interest of casting a somewhat known "white" actor the director lets the story of Gordon Williams dominate the screen - instead of focusing on the main protagonist: Mangal Pandey. My hypothesis is that the script would have been a lot tighter had the movie jumped straight into the main plot - and stayed with it.

I know there is a continuing debate about the historical inaccuracies portrayed in the film. Just google "mangal pandey + historical inaccuracies" and you'll find plenty to read about this subject. My take on this: sure as a filmmaker you can adjust your frame of reference - but ... BUT ... if you start to stray from the essence of history than you are doing your audience a disservice. But let's get real - moviemaking is a business - and producers are constantly going to look for ways to brand a film "as a true story" and yet fill it with "all that sells" ... be it sex, violence or in the case of Mangal Pandey - a girl-on-girl dance that was fun to watch - but did it really belong in the film?

On a technical note, although I was not impressed by the cinematography and sets on the film, I was impressed with the sound design. This is an area where Hindi films have made a lot of progress in the past 5 years - and I was happy to see it take another step forward with MP. So should you go watch it? Sure, why not? At least that way you will have a right to have your own opinion! :)

Mangal Mangal

2005-08-16T20:54:00.000-05:00

I have yet to see Aamir Khan's new film: "Mangal Pandey: The Rising" - but it's been getting pretty good reviews - which I have tried to avoid reading. And I read some reports that box office real good on opening day but spattered out a little - which is usually a good sign - from my perspective. Of late the mass and I do not seem to be so aligned.

In any case I ran across a blog that Aamir is running (as a promotion) for the film. Go check it out - we'll see how long he keeps it up. I know they're planning a US release under the name "The Rising" ... hope it's a successful venture. Looking forward to watching the movie (hopefully) this weekend.

Wong Kar Wai on 2046

2005-08-10T21:54:00.000-05:00

One of my all time favorite directors new-to-America film "2046" will be released theatrically in August. I have watched this movie on DVD - not one of his best films in my opinion. But even an average WKW film is better than the most.

Here's an article about a screening of 2046 in New York.

The Casual Friday

2005-08-03T14:49:00.000-05:00

The Casual Friday: I find this guy pretty funny. Perhaps it is the obsession with farts and alcohol. :)

One of my favs:

7. Took off the door sign from the Work Out room, and put it on my neighbors door.

Mastercard Ad Parody

2005-08-03T14:41:00.000-05:00

A friend just sent me this link to a pretty funny parody of the Mastercard commercials - it's a little old - but nevertheless here you go:

http://www.yjd40.dial.pipex.com/mastercard.html

Clip has volume - so be sure to adjust prior to opening.

Weird-ass Day.

2005-08-01T22:44:00.000-05:00

Take my word for it. Good night.

Murderball

2005-07-25T15:23:00.000-05:00

Get on your wheelchair and race to the nearest theater to go and watch (IMO) one of the best movies of this summer: Murderball. My advice to you - don't read about the film - just go watch it. It made me laugh and cry all within the span of 86 minutes. A great example of how life generates some of the best fucking stories!

PS: Lance wins the 7th consecutive Tour! Zupan in Murderball! Austin, TX - you are represented! :)

Reading List - You've got to read these books!

2005-07-14T15:48:00.000-05:00

Shantaram by Gregorgy David Roberts:

One of the best books I have ever read. Beautifully written and based on the author's own life. Made me cry several times. Soon to be made into a major motion picture - bought by Johnny Depp's production company. About an Australian kid who is a heroin addict, commits a bunch of armed robberies, goes to prison. Escapes from prison, somehow gets on a plane to India and lands in Bombay in about 1979. Spends the next 10 years living in the slums, running a free health clinic, working with the mafia, working in Bollywood, fighting with the Mujaheedins against Russia in Afghanistan ... and much more. Its almost 1000 pages long - and I am looking forward to reading it again.

The first page of the book opens beautifully as such:

"It too me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choice we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realised, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn't sound like much, I know. But in that flinch and bite of the chain, when it's all you've got, that freedom is a universe of possibility. And the choice you make, between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.

In my case, it's a long story, and a crowded one. I was a revolutionary who lost his ideals in heroin, a philosopher who lost his integrity in crime, and a poet who lost his soul in a maximum-security prison. When I escaped from prison, over the front wall, between two gun-towers, I became my country's most wanted man. Luck ran with me and flew with me across to India, where I joined the Bombay mafia. I worked as a gunrunner, a smuggler and a counterfeiter. I was chained on three continents, beaten, stabbed and starved. I went to war. I ran into enemy guns. And I survived, while other men around me died. They were better men than I am, most of them: better men whose lives were crunched up in mistakes, and thrown away by the wrong second of someone else's hate, or love, or indifference. And I buried them, too many of those men, and grieved their stories and their lives into my own.

But my story doesn't begin with them, or with the mafia: it goes back to that first day in Bombay. Fate put me in the game there. Luck dealt me the cards that led me to Karla Saaranen. And I started to play it out, that hand, from the first moment I looked into her green eyes. So it begins, this story, like everything else -- with a woman, and a city, and a little bit of luck."

I love that line ... so it begins, this story, like everything else -- with a woman, and a city, and a little bit of luck! Love it! And there are so many other lines in this book - over time maybe I'll talk about a few more ... better still - go read the book!

Freakanomics by Stephen Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner:

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? Do parents really matter when it comes to how kids will turn out?

Levitt looks at data. Distinguishes correlation from causation. And validates some very eye-opening hypotheses. I really liked this book a lot and have been talking about it ever since I read it. Quoting it. Over and over. Ask the people I hang out with!

I have a few more but no time to write about them. Later. Hopefully it will be sooner than 6 months from now. (And isn't that how most bloggers end every single post!) :)

Date with Emily

2005-07-14T15:38:00.000-05:00

Been a long time ... busy busy year so far at work. Travelling a bit too - sounds like I'm making excuses. Guess I am. Funny, you read many blogs and most posts start the way this one did ... you know "been so long", "so many things have happened", etc etc etc.

So you get the jist, right?

Move on.

Headed to Mexico tomorrow with the guys. "Guys Trip". 'nuff said. :) However, it seems Hurricane Emily is also headed to Cancun - ETA 2AM Monday. Our flight back to Dallas 6pm Monday. Phew! What do you say when lady luck rides with you?

Moving the festival from Fall to Spring for various reasons.

Too many big movies during the thanksgiving/christmas time to compete with.
Too many film festivals in the same timeframe as well.
Spring is comparitively low key and Hollywood usually saves its duds for Jan/Feb release.

So tentative dates for 4th Annual DSAFF are 10-12 Feb, 2006. Working on getting these confirmed within the next week or so. Missing Sindhu - our hardest working volunteer! Hey Sin - hope med school is treatin u good! :)

Outta here.

3rd DSAFF is here! Nov 5th through the 8th!

2004-10-20T19:59:00.000-05:00

People - the 3rd Dallas South Asian Film Festival is here!! It runs from Nov 5th through Nov 8th primarily at the Everest Theaters in Irving with a special closing night film - Ray's Jalsa Ghar - at the Dallas Museum of Art. We've got a really exciting line up with some really unique and very special films. Over the next few entries I will highlight my favorite and ones that you shouldn't miss. But first let me give you an opportunity to check out our program at http://dsaff.org.

3rd Annual DSAFF will be held Nov 5-8th 2004

2004-10-04T13:16:00.000-05:00

We had to move up this year's festival since there are a bunch of big Hindi movies coming out starting with Veer Zarra on Nov 12th and more through the end of the year. We have a great line up of films and I will highlight each one that we will be showcasing over the next few days. We are currently working on finalizing our program - more on that by the end of this week.

BTW - run to the theater to watch the following two films: "What the Bleep do you Know?" and "The Motorcycle Diaries" ... Awesome ... awesome! Two of the best films of this year so far ...
Less than a month to go for the 3rd DSAFF ...

Shekhar Kapur in Big D

2004-08-18T19:55:00.000-05:00

For all those who keep complaining ... "there's no culture in Dallas" ... "Dallas is so boring, yaar" ... "Dallas has such an uninspiring arts scene" ... and other such useless rants ... I have some news for you.

1) Come to the Angelika Film Center in Plano (Yes I said Plano) and meet Shekhar Kapur on Aug 26th. Yes I said Shekhar Kapur - the director of such films as Masoom, Mr. India, Bandit Queen (huge winner on the Festival Circuit) and of course the Oscar nominated Elizabeth. He will be in town for JUST ONE NIGHT - so come on by and meet him - interact with him - watch his last film (The Four Feathers) WITH him and ask him any question you'd like ...

2) In september we are working with the ASHA folks to screen two very special films ... Bariwali and Kandukondain Kandukondain.

3) And the 3rd Annual Dallas South Asian Film Festival shows up from Nov 19-21 - and we've got some really good content this year. Some very timely films which you can not miss - including Amol Palekar's latest directorial venture which is called "Anahaat".

So stop ranting about the bogus arts scene in Dallas and show up to these events. Ranting and complaining don't do jack.

See ya next thursday night ...

Worked all day

2004-06-13T19:32:00.000-05:00

Worked all day today - on some key upcoming presentations for work. Not really the ideal way to spend a Sunday. But the typical workday is usually so disruptive you almost have to come home in order to find undistrubed quality work time. And you can be so much more productive! There must be a way to make yourself more efficient at work - but w/o resorting to not answering calls and completely shutting down email, it's not likely you're gonna be productive.

On friday night I went to watch the premiere of "Deadroom" - the new film by four directors Yen Tan, James Johnston, David Lowery and Nick Prendergast. You may remember Yen and James worked with me on Wedded Bliss - so I was nervous and excited for them. They pulled in a solid crowd and the film was great! What an achievement in such a short time. Definitely worth a watch - keep your eye out for this one. I am looking forward to watching it again. Congrats guys! You should be proud of yourselves! My fav part tho was James' intro to the film - his whacky sense of humor always gets me.

James (addressing the audience): "Is anyone in here a doctor?"Everybody in the audience is shaking their head ... "No".James: "Well then, there's no reason for anyone to have their cellphone on."

Loved that brother! Okay got to go - wifey is waiting on me to do the dishes. Honestly! :)

Aye!

2004-06-04T19:22:00.000-05:00

Our screening at the Angelika is all set for June 21st. Word's out. We'll see you all there. Come early and hang out at the bar at the Mi Cocina or the new Cru Wine Bar at the wonderful Shops at Legacy and walk over to the spankin' new Angelika a little before 8pm to get your soda and popcorn and settle in for a free screening of the hilarious East is East.

Watched Shrek II and The Day After Tomorrow. Didn't like Shrek II - too much like the first one. The novelty is gone. Left my brain at the door for Day after Tomorrow - and I still got a headache - this time trying to ignore the obvious logic overlooks in the film. And it makes me sad that there are people out there who are leveraging the "science" in this film to make an environmental statement. Ppppllllllleeeeeaaaaazzzzzeeeeeee! You're better off driving a hybrid car and making a much stronger statement.

Also watched my man - Mani Rathnam's Yuva. Liked it. Although I felt like he was playing with the screenplay structure kinda like in Amorres Perres and 21 Grams - and even something similar to what he did w/ Alai Puthey. I didn't get into the Ajay Devagan story at all ... maybe it would have been better to stick to the Abhishek and Vivek threads. For some strange reason I was really drawn into the Kareena Vivek conversation ... I liked Kareena's no-makeup look. It was refreshing. Good to see her doing different things rather than the same old. And is this FINALLY the Abhishek breathrough movie! It is ... but if the box office doesn't pick up - not many people will remember him in it. And he continues to look for the one.

Current script has moved by one page - have been really busy with work and will continue to be busy through at least the middle of June. So don't expect to make any big strides over the next few weeks. But after that - I'm gonna speed through to finish the first draft. This one is real good. I am pretty excited about it. More on it some other day.

Oh ... tomorrow is my birthday. Happy Birthday dude! Gotta work some in the day but the night calls my name. And I will answer. :)

DSAFF is back!

2004-05-25T20:57:00.000-05:00

Just opened up the Call for Entries for the 3rd Annual Dallas South Asian Film Festival which will be help in November 2004. We have already started talking to a few reputable filmmakers - and we are excited about some of the films we will be bringing this year!

We are also working up a free screening in June at the brand new Angelika theater in Plano! WOW! We are working to finalize the film right now - hopefully confirmed by tomorrow - so we can start publicizing.

Script is stuck on page 60. As I may have mentioned the one I am currently working is called "Nandini's Dilemna". I almost had a co-writer but lost him to another project but the quest continues. Target is to complete script this summer so that we can focus on putting the team together in Fall 2004 and lead us into the production in 2005.

Other scripts are in development stage. All I need is time ... and the world is mine!

All I need is time.

I wish there were ...

more seconds in a minute.

more minutes in an hour.

more hours in a day.

more days in a month.

more months in a year.

more years in a decade.

more decades in a century.

more centuries in a millenium.

All I need is time ...

... and the world is mine.

It's just a matter of ... ... time.

Keep an eye on the DSAFF site for info about free screening and upcoming fest. If you wanna help and are in the DFW area - give me a call or email me - we can use you.

Blah ...

2004-03-12T13:41:00.000-06:00

Feeling a little blaaahhh today. Time to just lay back and chill. Think. Take it all in. Breathe it out. I feel like writing a poem - so here goes!

I WAIT ...

by devashish saxena

I wait ...

to see your eyes

to smell your hair

to touch your face

to kiss your forehead

I wait ...

patiently

with hope

with fear

anxiously

I wait ...

to hug you

to hold you in my arms

to watch you sleep

to buy you everything

I wait ...

lovingly

with my fingers crossed

with prayers

anxiously

Another day, another dollar.

2004-03-04T17:39:00.000-06:00

So the Academy rewarded LOTR for three years of filmmaking. Sounds about right. Those guys definitely deserve it. Good to see Sean Penn finally win! Good for him! No surprises here - pretty much what was advertised. We saw PASSION over the weekend as well - it is quite an engaging movie. Regardless of how you feel about what is being shown - you have to give Mel Gibson and his team a lot of credit for followig through on what they really believe in! As a filmmaker I would have wanted to see some things done a little differently - would you want to go to a war movie - where all you saw was the war - almost in real time? Hmmm...

Hey Ya!

2004-02-28T10:02:00.000-06:00

Well well it's almost the end of the 1st quarter. Random thoughts:

Oscars are on tomorrow night. Good to see Sean Penn and esp Naomi Watts nominated. Good to see that Nicole Kidman was not. You already know who gets my vote - but in case there was any doubt you can check out the nominees by clicking here)
Best Film - Mystic River
Best Director - Fernandon Meirelles (City of God)
Best Actor - the man Seann Penn (Mystic River)
Best Supporting Actor - Benecio Del Torro (21 Grams)
Best Actress - the awesome Naomi Watts (21 Grams)
Best Supporting Actress - Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog)
Best Original Screenplay - Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things)
Best Adapted Screenplay - Brian Helgeland (Mystic River)
Best Foreign Language Film - Haven't seen any of these so I can't judge.
Best Art Direction - LOTR-TROTK
Best Cinematography - Seabiscuit
Best Costume Design - The Last Samurai
Best Documentary - The Fog of War
Best Editing - def City of God
Best Makeup - LOTR-TROTK
Best Score - LOTR-TROTK
Best Song - Triplets of Bellville
Best Sound - Seabiscuit
Best Sound Editing - LOTR-TROTK
Best Visual Effects - LOTR-TROTK
Remember the above are just my votes. NOT my prediction of who will win. That'd be a completely different list.
Also I want to revise my Top 10 Movies for 2003 as follows:
21 Grams
Dirty Pretty Things
Mystic River
City of God
House of Sand and Fog
In America
Lost in Translation
Kill Bill Vol 1
Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King
Monster
I had to lose Cold Mountain - the further I got from it the less I liked it - which was a little weird.
As far as Indian movies go forming a Top 10 Movies of 2003 is much more difficult for two reasons. In my opinion this was not a good year for Hindi movies, but I also have not seen some of the better smaller films. If I had to pick some of the good and the bad of this year it'd go something like this:
The Good:
Koi Mil Gaya
Mr and Mrs Iyer
Teen Deewarein
Samay
Probably Good (but I have yet to see):
Pinjar
Khakee
Munnabhai MBBS
The Bad:
Kal Ho Na Ho
Bhoot
LOC Kargil
Qayamat
The Hero
Do I need to keep going?
Oh I have started writing again. Currently I am working on three different scripts - more on these later. If you are inclined to want to help on our next production - you know what to do. Drop us an email dude/dudetee!
That's it for now folks. Get back to work - is this what you're getting paid for?!

End of the Year

2003-12-31T09:16:00.000-06:00

In the year 2003 two of my movies were released on DVD - Happy Birthday and Wedded Bliss?. That's plain badass! I am proud of both of these films and you really should get your hands on them and watch it. Send me your feedback if you got any.

My top ten films for 2003:

21 Grams
Dirty Pretty Things
Mystic River
House of Sand and Fog
In America
Lost in Translation
Kill Bill Vol 1
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Monster (I am saving a slot for it even though I have yet to see it!)
Cold Mountain

Best Actor = Sean Penn (for 21 Grams and Mystic River). Honorable Mentions = Sir Ben Kingsley (for House of Sand and Fog), Bill Murray (for Lost in Translation) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (for Dirty Pretty Things)

Best Actress = Naomi Watts (for 21 Grams) Honorable Mentions = Audrey Tautou (for Dirty Pretty Things), Jennifer Connelly (for House of Sand and Fog) and Samantha Morton (for In America)

Best Director = Tossup between Alejandro G. Inarritu and Stephen Friars.

And of course my best picture would go to 21 Grams. Quite frankly the best picture of 2003. Honorable mention = Wedded Bliss? - got to love your own work, son!