Bhansali's B(L)ACK!

My first movie in a theatre in four months. And Sanjay Leela Bhansali's B(L)ACK was worth the time. The movie starred Amitabh - the biggest hero of Indian cinema and Rani Mukherjee, whose acting i doubted until Black. And the best of the lot - young Ms. Ayesha whose acting prowess i daresay humbled even that of fellow actor Amitabh.

Bhansali has weaved his magic once more on the celluloid screen. As for the characters, i would have to talk of one young child, describing whom involves the usage of every possible superlative known to me. Rani was very good too, trying to express the whole gamut of emotions known to man in a role who cannot talk, hear or see. The film was dedicated to Hellen Keller,a poet who had similar disabilities. "Can you tell me what is blue?" - one of Keller's verses. Unforgettable indeed. Good old Amitabh "Sahay" Bachchan. No one else could have done justice to this role except for him. The way he treats the child Michelle is tough. And too tough for the screen mom Shernaz who completes the awesome four.

On the darker side, Bhansali has not lost his love for costly sets. This movie would have had the same appeal to me had it been taken in the slums of Mumbai.The lush styled sets made it appear like a European movie rather than an Indian one . Perhaps Bhansali shows a wealthy Anglo-Indian family so as to make the sets costlier and the movie more dramatic. Audiences might have been able to associate with the movie better had the location been different. And Bhansali has at places has tried to tug at peoples emotions. Not that he did not succeed. I could hear a few tiny sobs in the theatre after the movie. But the movie could have done without these at places.

Its a story that shows how tough life is to each and every one of us. And that some choose to defy all odds and do what they want to do inspite of our disabilities. It shows one's passion for life, learning and achievement. And that there are other benevolent people who choose to help such physically challenged ones. As the movie says, those people are not mere teachers or paid servants. They are "magicians" who in my view are superior to the creator himself. The very idea that such a disabled person returns the beautiful present back to her "magician" was indeed touching.

Bhansali's BLACK - a must watch!

(I LOVE SENNA) Ayrton Senna Da Silva

I put this article in a small in www.orkut.com in a Formula One community. Thought i could as well paste it here in my blog. Senna forever....

Back in 1993, the Williams Renault combine was ruling the roost with Prost and Hill at the helm. Thanks to the traction control, active suspensions and Renault's superior engines the team took P1 and P2. P3 in the grid went to Schumacher's benetton which was said to be the next best to the williams-renault's. P4 was Senna, in what i consider to be the worst ever McLaren ever built. P5 was a rookie named Karl,W.The green lights out, Prost and Hill zipped away, retaining their positions at turn 1. Karl in a junk Sauber made a blistering start and grabbed position 3. Michael tried to close Senna from the outside, but Senna pulled back on the inside and went on to P3 ahead of Schumi.A pair of a left-hander, then a right-hander followed. The track was extremely wet, forcing all drivers to take the left-hander moving in the inside, so that they didn’t risk overshooting the turn, while maintaining a correct "racing line" for the right-hander.However, this was not the case for Senna. The Brazilian moved in the outside, taking a line completely different from all the other drivers and, seemingly, completely wrong. However, Senna taking the outside overtook Wendlinger easily, while placing his car in time in the correct position for the right-hander that was coming. It seems that the outside line had much more grip than the inside line; how Senna was the only driver to realise it remains a mystery. Hill and Prost were ahead, in the extremely fast Williams. But the heavy rain was all Senna needed. Driving courageously, he was coming out of the corners much faster than Hill and Prost. Driving "as if the track surface was dry", he passed Hill aggressively, then Prost after an S-bend, Ayrton moving so much faster and smoother through the S, as if the Frenchman was driving an F3. So before lap 1 the Brazilian had grabbed 1st place, in what remains the best opening race lap I have seen. But the show wasn’t over, not for seventy more laps.

Senna started building a gap on the following Williams, dominating in the wet conditions. The Brazilian was in a race of his own, gaining about 1 second per lap on second Prost. However, the odds changed dramatically when the sun started appearing over the wet track. The track started drying out, and by lap 20 Senna ‘s advantage had been reduced to 5 seconds. Then the rain started again, and all drivers started pitting for wet tyres, Prost being the first to make to do so. Senna decided to gamble, driving in slicks for a few more laps before pitting, a tactic that payed out well, as the advantage over Prost increased to 15 seconds. Lap 30, the track started drying again and Prost, being in the superior Williams, started his attack on Senna. The two drivers pitted for slicks, and a problem with Senna’s pit stop handed the lead to Prost. Lap 35, the weather was changing continuously that afternoon, and the rain started once more. Prost pitted for wets, Senna stayed on slicks and managed to record fastest lap in the partly wet track. Senna was pushing hard with slicks, extending continuously his lead over Prost and passing one backmarker after the other, leaving only himself, Prost, Hill and Barichello on the lead lap. Meanwhile, the advantage over Prost continued to extend, so the Frenchman decided to pit for slicks. It proved to be a disastrous pit stop, the car stalled and re-entered the track one lap behind Senna. The show continued, Hill and Barrichello were lapped also and Senna was the only driver on the lead lap. At some time he pit stopped, waved to the pit crew and left. The race ended after 71 laps, Hill being the only driver finishing barely in the lead lap, more than 80 seconds behind Senna.

Stirling Moss once said that Senna was "the greatest 'racer' of all time". And that race at Donnington (plus his 66 pole positions) is probably the best proof of the above statement...Perhaps the finest victory of his career, this was the European GP at Donnington Park, where Senna won after picking up five places in the rain on the first lap, cementing his place in history as the rainmeister.

Perceptions...

This is an adaptaion. Read on...

A rich man went into a forest for hunting. Tired from his physical exercise, he sought a pool to quench his thirst. He found one and drank from it. Just as he was about to return he noticed something strange. A dog was actually walking on water. He was amazed and ordered his men to catch it. Bringing it home, he couldnt keep quiet and decided to flaunt it.

So one day he called on all his neighbors to his lake and took them on a boat to the centre of the lake. There he whistled towards hgis house. The "water-dog" came running out of the house and trotted on the water towards the boat. The neighbors were amazed and flocked around the dog and started praising the owner for his unique pet. The rich man gloated with pride. But in all this, he noticed that one man was silent and unperturbed and appeared to have not noticed the dog at all. The rich man's ego was hurt and he decided to confront the silent man.

So while returning from the trip, he went to the man and asked him,

"Did you notice something unusual today?".

"Yes, i did. Your dog does not know to swim!" the man replied.