Fortune favors the "Dabangg" !!!

Salman 'Robinhood' Khan is back with a big bang.

I finally got to see the much talked about movie last night and boy, what an entertainer! 'Dabangg' had all the ingredients that one would expect in a typical bollywood masala movie, in the right proportion which would have certainly made it a success anyway.

But then Salman Khan, having this dubious distinction of being the most unpredictable actor of the industry to his credit (or should I say debit!) decided to breathe life into the character of a certain Chulbul Panday and single handedly elevated this decent movie to an entirely different level. Whether it was his sun-glass tricks, or his mind blowing one-liners, whether it was the fight sequences or his comic timing, he looked in awesome touch all along. And as we all know, when it comes to playing to the gallery, Salman stands second to none.

He fought, danced, laughed, cried like only he can and we soaked all of it like only we can, whispering under our breath, 'Gimmie more, gimmie me more....'. And he did. He thrashed them more, he danced like crazy to 'munni badnaam huyi', he laughed and cried his heart out. If he had entertained us with some southern India flavor last Eid, it was UP's turn this time around. But 'Dabangg' is as different from 'Wanted' as Lucknow is from Chennai. If names like Vinod Khanna, Mahesh Manjrekar and Saijid-Wajid make you feel nostalgic, blame it on continuity of brand Salman(genre).

That Rahat Fateh Ali spells magic with his 'tere mast mast yeh nain' only adds to the already soaring popularity of this movie. That Sonakshi Sinha looks very much the part as a village girl, adds vibrant colors to the frames. That Sonu Sood and Arbaaz Khan put in their best, helps completing this pot-boiler in all respect.

Make no mistake, 'Dabangg' in no 'Three Idiots'. That it has run neck-in-neck with this all time great movie of Raju Hirani in the trade circuit till now, is purely coincidential. Unlike 'Three Idiots', there is no place for under-play or subtlity here in this loudish movie. But to its credit, it never claimed to be a movie for the class. Salman always was a hero for the masses. He has done it yet again. Hopefully 'Dabangg' will prove to be yet another turning point in his career.

We wish to see more such stuffs from him, and guess what, we are not going to be dissapointed. Arbaaz Khan has already announced 'Dabangg 2' with the same director Avinab Kashyap, who has done a pretty good job with the current version. We just hope that Kashyap takes a little more time to tighten up the script before he hits the floor.

This serial kisser is indeed a serious actor!

Yesterday I happened to watch "Once upon a time in Mumbai(OUATIM)". This flick had been declared a hit a few days back. In fact, all the news channels were flooded with programs showing how strong dialogue centric films of seventies were back. I personally did find this movie a pretty decent one. Performance wise, all the actors were very good. But out of the lot, I really liked how Emraan Hasmi has interpreted his character. Watching him act, I mentally browsed through his career so far and was kind of surprised to find that this (in)famous "Serious Kisser" of bollywood has quietly built on an excellent body of work over the past six-odd years, without any body really taking serious notice!

My early  memories of this new generation leading man was synonomus to that of an acting Himesh Reshammiya for quite sometime. Seriously, I always felt that he was a Himesh look alike. Blame that on the famous aashiq banaya aapne track. 'Murder' did come prior to that, but then I'd kind of missed that movie during those days.

I was discussing about this actor with a few of my friends and almost all of them thought nothing about him. Which essentially meant, " They neither loved him nor hated him, but just ignored him." Its not too difficult to understand. They say, this guy is in movies only because of his family connections (Bhatt camp) and he is more famous due to his bad boy image rather than his acting abilities.

But haven't we seen far worse actors making it huge in bollywood? Suniel Shetty is almost completing twenty years in the industry. Today's hot star Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan were disgusting actors when they started out. But they hung on, slogged it out and improved by leaps and bounds. Emraan after all is a far better actor compared to the initial days of the above mentioned stars. In fact, I secretly believe that he may even be a better actor than quite a few of them on present day!

Take a look at his notable performances. He did a pretty decent job (of acting!!!) in Murder. He was quite good in Aashiq banaya aapne. He was excellent in Awarapan, Tum Mile, Jannat and Kalyug. His chemistry with the great Irrfan Khan in The Killer was simply superb. And in the latest movie OUATIM that I saw yesterday, he was at his best.

Just come to think of it. In such a small time frame of six years, if he has managed to accumulated such great body or work, and still going strong, his future looks nothing but bright. For record, he has already signed a movie Dil toh bachcha hai Ji with non other than Madhur Bhandarkar. He is also to be seen in Raj Kumar Santhoshi's untitled  mega project.

With his forth coming movie Crook getting ready for release, he needs our good wish and here is wishing him all the best for his career. 

Make them bat higher up the order please!!!

The most difficult positions to bat at in limited over cricket are undoubtedly the number five and six positions. Either you get in only with a few overs to spare, or else you get to bat with your team in a most precarious sitiuation with four or five down for a low total. You have to play under pressure all the time and if you are not an all rounder your place in the team is always up for the grabs as you are bound to put your team's interest before your own all the time. Not that players in other positions don't do that but they get a fair amount of time to score their runs. And in modern day cricket quite a few big hitters have played quite regularly in the number five and six  positions. To start with, Shahid Afridi of Pakistan, MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan of India and Keiron Pollard of West Indies come to mind.

Now because of their reputation and ability, their team almost always try to save them for the last five overs or so of the game, so that they can blast their team to a good total. If you examine carefully this is not such an intelligent idea after all. More so, if these palyers happen to be more talented than those who are given chances to bat higher up in the order.

Let us take the case of Pakistan. They have been repeatedly playing Fawad Alam and Azhar Ali ahead of Shahid Afridi just because Afridi scores at a faster pace than these two batsmen. Eventually what happens is the team leaves a bit too much to do for Afridi in a very few balls. That lands him in a position where he has to go for the kill from the very first ball he faces and accounts for his failures most of the time. Good for him that he is an indispensible player in limited over cricket also due to his bowling abilities.

Same is the case for Keron Pollard and Yusuf Pathan. They bat so much down the order that it leaves hardly them with any other option other than wild heaves at whatever delieveries they get to face. Yusuf has already paid the price for it and is out of the Indian side.Now had their teams given them a chance to bat higher up, they would certainly have got more deliveries to get their eyes in. That aspect in cricket is still so much essential. At least Mumbai Indian have realised this after losing a couple of matches, putting in Pollard up the order and reaping rich dividend recently. In this particular Champions League match Pollard scored almost the same amount or runs single-handedly  in the last five overs, what his entire team had managed in the first fifteen overs!

MS Dhoni, of late has stopped promoting himself up the order irrespective of the situation and India has sufferred quite a few losses because of this. Though it can be argued in his favor that in such an inexperienced batting line up, he wants to keep some experience towards the end of the innings, I don't subscribe to this idea by any means. A set Dhoni is harder to dis-lodge and he still could stay there till the end. And whenever he has batted higher up the order he has managed to put India in such strong positions that eventually lead his to victory.

Goes to show that the old world concept of "The best batsman of your side should get the maximum number of overs to play." was not such a bad idea afterall. Which means these players should get to play before batsmen who are less talented than them.

Hope, teams realise this sooner than later for their own good.

A new dawn beckons....Part V

I came across this e-book called, "A book of infinite possibilities" by Melody Bass yesterday.  It's a small book and takes round about half an hour to read. It certainly is a feel good book. You can take a look at it here.

It talks about the art of "Living the question" which is a bit complex to get, but looks like it works. It also talks about letting go, the art of surrender, the art of receiving, gratitude, self awareness exercise and a few other concept.

The style of this book is like going through and experience, there is nothing much you can reproduce as summary. I liked reading it, you can try yourself and see if it works for you.

Thought for the day, "THE ONLY REAL FAILURE IN LIFE IS NOT TO BE TRUE TO THE BEST ONE KNOWS"

A new dawn beckons....Part IV

Last evening I completed another fine book, which was part of  my collections for quite some time. I loved it, to say the least. I should have read it much earlier, it was such a well known book. The title is "Who moved my cheese" by Spencer Johnson. I'll quickly share the important messages that you get from this wonderful little book, you need to interpret it in your own suitable way.

The characters in the book:

1. Sniff: - Who sniffs out changes early
2. Scurry - Who scurries into action
3. Hem - Who denies and resists changes as he fears it will lead to something worse
4. Haw - Who learns to adapt in time when he sees changing can lead to something better

The environment:

1. The Cheese - A metaphor for what one wants in life, e.g. a good job, a loving relationship, money etc
2. The Maze - Where you look for what you want

The lessons:

1. Having cheese makes you happy
2. The more important your cheese is to you the more you want to hold on to it
3. If you don't change,you become extinct
4. What would you do if you were not afraid?
5. Smell the cheese often so you know when its getting old
6. Movement in a new directon helps you find new cheese
7. When you stop being afraid, you feel good
8. Imagining yourself enjoying your new cheese leads you to it
9. The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese
10. Its safer to search in the maze than to remain in a cheese-less station
11. Old belief don't lead you to new cheese
12. When you see that you can find and enjoy new cheese, you change course
13. Noticing small changes early, helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come
14. Move with the change and enjoy it

Enjoy life....Thought for the day: BE READY FOR CHANGE.

A new dawn beckons....Part III

For the past few days I have been getting up early by a couple of hour or so. This is what Robin Sharma suggests in all his books. This is what Mark urges you to do in his book "Time management for creative people". And this is exactly what Shiv Khera asks you to do in his book, "You can win". Incidentally, I have started this book last evening after finishing Robin's "Greatness Guide 2". This was one book I had picked up long back, but never really read it completely. Now that I am back to reading with a vengeance, I thought this could be the right time to complete this book. In fact this could be the perfect time to read all the unread books in my library.

Well, coming back to getting up early, it was supposed to give me that extra two hours, in which I could do some really good stuffs like reading great books, writing superb articles, working on my long pending half-finished novel etc. But my three year old gets up almost as soon as I do, and demands to play cricket with me. Here comes the most amazing part, let me tell you. There used to be a time when I would ask him to leave me alone for sometime so that I could read or write peacefully and then at the end, when I was done, I would get back to play with him, that is, if he was still in that mood.

But I must admit, reading Robin has done wonders to my attitude. Now I consider the time with my kid as the most precious moments of my life to treasure. I realise that, in a jiffy he will have grown up and gone to lead his own life. Nothing on this planet would give me back these moments. Playing with my kid now is part of my creative time. I still manage to squeeze out at least fifty pages to read( I'm a fast reader) in these two hours despite of attending to his calls. I know, I could have done a little over hundred pages without his interference, but now I am eagerly looking forward to these pleasant interaction times.

Considering these 24 hours each day as the greatest possible gift has dramatically changed my way of thinking. I am constantly getting better at using these hours. As they say awareness is the first step to improvement.

Last night I went through an exercise in Shiv Khera's "You can win", which asks you to list down two of your problems in life and also to come up with two benefits you might have derived out of these two problems. A bit tricky, but eventually you get it with a little bit of effort. Once you are through with this, you come across an amazing feeling. It urges you to look for opportunities in every tough situation you face and now you are aware that its quite possible.

Excellent thought to have for the day, "TURN ADVERSITIES INTO OPPORTUNITIES."

Time management for creative people - Mark McGuinness

Came across this e-book purely by chance. Just finished reading it. Quite a few useful tips there! Mark Guinness has nicely summarized a few tools that are immencely helpful in managing time so that one can avoid wasting time on unimportant things and focus on greater commitments, both on official and personal front.The chapters in this e-book, which provide a good insight to time management are as follows:

1. Why you need to be organised to be creative
2. Prioritize work that is "important but not urgent"
3. Ring-fence your most creative time
4. Avoid "Sisyphus effect" of end-less to-do list
5. Get things done by putting them off till tomorrow
6. Get things off your mind
7. Review your commitments

What I like most about his theory is that it helps you manage your time in such a way that you have time to do everything, both your office job and creative work. I have not tried it our myself though.

It seems to be working extremely well for people who do(or try to do in my case) creative work, hence drew my attention.

I'll try to put to use points that are practicable for me and post the feedback here.

A new dawn beckons.....Part II

Well, as promised I will quickly share a couple of points out of what I liked about the work of Robin Sharma. Yet again I'm running a bit late, so just a few lines that moved me so much.

Robin has beautifully defined "Listening" in his books. He emphasizes what listening well means. I always believed I was a decent listener in any conversation, but reading this topic made me realise that the truth is far from it. Robin very truely points out that for most of us listening means waiting till the speaker has finished. Worse, we keep formulating our answers during that period. Amazing, thats quite true, even though partly in my case. I will now consciously work on this.

Second thing that comes to my mind is about leadership. He says leadership is all about taking complete responsibilty of ones work at workplace. Its not about commanding a supervisor position. Everybody, in whatever position he or she is in, can act as a leader by assuming complete responsibilty of his duty.I love this idea, as I feel I try doing the same.

Third thing is about sleep. He says the more we sleep, the more sleepy we feel. Well, I'm not too sure of that, but what I like is that we can take a couple of hours at least from our sleep and use that in more creative work, as advised by Robin. No dispute here. And yes, as he quotes Benjamin Franklin," There will be enough time to sleep when you are dead." (Try this link to help you to be an early riser.)

We will take our session forward tomorrow.

Thought for the day,"BE BREATHTAKINGLY HUMBLE."

Dabangg creates history....revives Salman!

As I write this post, I take a look at the first week-end collections of the much hyped Salman Khan starrer Dabangg. It has, by now created history as the biggest ever opening movie in bollywood, bigger than even 3 Idiots. Take a look at the trade figures, you will get an idea where this action packed movie stands today and where it is heading. 

FILM OPENING WEEKEND  

1. DABANGG approx. 47.75 cr. to 48.5 cr.
2. 3 IDIOTS 41 cr. (incl. Thursday previews)
3. RAAJNEETI 34 cr.
4. MY NAME IS KHAN 33.2 cr.
5. HOUSE FULL 32 cr.
6. GHAJINI 30 cr. (4-day weekend was 40 cr.)

These figures prove at least a couple of points. One, Salman is still a force to reckon with even today. Two, he might just have discovered yet another facet to his image, which could pull him through for a few more years in bollywood. (Incidentally, Sonakshi, his heroine in Dabangg was just two years old when Maine Pyar Kiya was realeased, but then, this is not uncommon in the industry.)

Yes, I'm talking about the image of an action hero. If success of movies like Wanted and Dabangg are anything to go by, their is certainly some credibility in this theory. With Akshay Kumar, the official action hero of bollywood experimenting in the comedy and social drama category, and other part-timers running out of steam, Salman is definitely looking to put his famous muscles to good effect finally. And this is working for him just fine, at least for now.

Well, the final trade figures for Dabangg may not come anywhere near 3 Idiots at the end of its run, but with such entertainment from the controversial Khan on their way, his fans are certainly not complaining.

A new dawn beckons....Part I

Recently, I was reintroduced to Robin Sharma's works by one of my colleagues, Udhay. I say "Reintroduced" because, I had read a few of his books a few years back. To be honest, I had found them good, but nothing spectacular. I am not too sure about the reason though. May be because, I was never a self help guide fan. I would rather prefer teachings by Vivekananda, which charges me up any day, any time.

But this guy, Udhay has always been a huge fan of Robin Sharma. So much so that, while talking to him, more often than not, you get a feeling as if Robin is the only writer alive in this modern world, But his infectious conviction, eventually forced me to pick up a book of this Leadership Guru last week. And a couple of days after that, I was also presented another one at my office, again by Udhay(his initiative). The first one was, "Who will cry when you die" and the second was "The Greatness Guide".

Incidentally, I had also bought a couple of other books, one being "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown and the second one being, "The Rozaball Line" by Aswin Shanghi.

Given my usual habit, I would have finished these two thrillers at one go in a few days time, even before I could even spare a look at a newspaper. But a diffenrent experience was about to happen to me, this time around.

Guess what! I have not looked at the news paper for the past few days all right, but the books I have finished are not these fictions. I will, eventually though, as I love them. But, for a change, I picked up the "Who will..." book of Robin and ended up being hooked. I finished that, I took up "The Greatness...", completed that, then rushed to the nearest book store, bought a third one by the same author. That was called, "The Greatness Guide 2". I'm almost finishing that now.

Just amazing!!! Each time I pick up his books, they just make me smile. Such powerful thoughts and ideas! Contrary to my earlier experience, Robin doesn't preach at all. He just shares experiences! And thats what makes you identify with his language.

I must thank two guys from the bottom of my heart for this....one Udhay and two Robin.

I'm running short on time, hence will emphasize on the why part in the next post.

Good bye till then. Have a great day!!

Thought for the day: "BE A ROCKSTAR AT WORK."