Oye Lucky.......

I watched Oye Lucky......3 days after the terror strikes. In fact I wanted to get away from the horrific images—I wanted to laugh, probably a release!
The theatre had around 50-60 viewers, not more.

Oye Lucky...... worked for me on two fronts.

Because of Abhay Deol. Abhay Deol is a terrific actor in the making. He and Irfan Khan will most probably anchor the middle-of-the-road Hindi cinema for the next few years. Why middle-of-the-road? Because Yash Raj and Karan Johar will never need him and he is too good to be ignored! I heard of Abhay Deol when Socha Na Tha was released. My wife had seen the movie and she kept raving about this guy. I must admit that when I watched the movie, I liked what I saw. Coming to this movie, Abhay Deol plays Lucky, a boy from a lower-middle-class Delhi Sikh family, who joins the world of petty crime to essentially keep up with the Joneses! It is almost like Leo DiCaprio in the Spielberg caper, Catch Me If You Can but Deol allows no comparison because of a splendid performance. My pick is the scene where Deol is cornered and he has to surrender finally—the emotions he displays is outstanding.

Because of Dibakar Banerjee. Dibakar Banerjee is a young film director, who I thought made a brilliant first film, Khosla Ka Ghosla. To follow up with an equally well-made second film, Oye Lucky............must be a commendable effort. There are moments in the film that belong to Dibakar. Especially, the scene when young Lucky (played brilliantly) takes his girlfriend to a restaurant and how the waiter quickly seizes up the situation that the kid has no money and cracks jokes at the kid's expense. Or the whole scene when Lucky executes a heist at the house of the TV anchor, who ironically has made a name for covering such crimes on the television! Even the attention to detail is spot on-a look at Lucky's house is a case in point. My pick is the superb casting of Paresh Rawal, who plays the roles of three father figures at different phases of Lucky's life and who end up hoodwinking him. Like Imtiaz Ali (of Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met), Dibakar captures the Delhi of the lower-middle class very well.

I saw the movie three weeks back. I still have a smile. I am pretty convinced that the hall was empty that evening not because of the film, but people were too scared to step out of their homes!

Well batted, Sir!

I am writing this post on a day when Saurav Ganguly completed a wonderful knock in his farewell Test. Ever since he announced his retirement a fortnight ago, cricket writers and many others have been making a beeline on what he has achieved in his 12 years of international cricket. Let me also join the Bongwagon!

How would I want to remember Dada? It is not the shirt waving incident at Lords. I think he deserves credit for more substantial contributions he made to Indian cricket.

He went to Australia in 1991-92 and went straight into wilderness after the tour. He resurfaced in 1996 as a 23-year-old with a super century at Lords and followed it up with another one in the next one at Trent Bridge. Very few players would have survived a debacle like the one he experienced in 1991-92. That he came back in 1996 and hit a century on debut showed his self-belief.

The Port of Spain test in 2002 was in my view a watershed in Indian cricket. For the first time, a fast bowling trio, Srinath, Nehra, and Zaheer bowled India to a win over West Indies. Huge credit must be due to Saurav because he believed that we could win overseas only if we had three (not two) quick bowlers. With this formula in place and into action, we began to win overseas Test matches pretty regularly. Case in point would be our victories at Port of Spain and Headingly in 2002, Adelaide, Multan, and Rawalpindi in 2004, Johannesburg in 2006, Trent Bridge in 2007, and Perth in 2008.

Few months later, India was playing a Test match at Headingly. Saurav was aware of the halo surrounding the ground - England's own ground where their record was awesome and visitors often struggled to come to terms with the swing and seam conditions that were on offer on this ground. Dravid and Bangar had provided a platform for the Tendulkars and Gangulys to take over. On the second evening, Ganguly was in his eighties and in fading light, the wily English captain, Nasser Hussein took the new ball anticipating that the Indian batsman would appeal for bad light and his new ball bowlers would be fresh the next morning. Instead, Ganguly and Tendulkar went berserk and added some 60-odd runs in no time. I cannot think of any Indian batsman who would have risked a century, particularly at Headingly. The next morning the declaration happened and two days later, India won by an innings.


In the off-season of 2003-04, he made a quiet trip to Australia and spent few days with the Australian legend, Greg Chappell. He was tired of the constant criticism of his inability to play quick bowling and that he wanted to correct this 'feeling.' India was to tour Down Under and this was an ideal opportunity to silence those doubters. The Brisbane Test happened, and Saurav in true dramatic fashion scored a magnificent 144. What a knock!

For the first time, there was a captain who believed in Team India. This could be because he came from a weak zone. I am not insinuating but people in stronger zones have a larger pool of players to look at and therefore develop a myopic vision!

The empty cupboard

Over the last few days, I read articles by two outstanding cricket writers in the land, Mukul Kesavan and Sambit Bal. Though each one had an interesting take on what will happen after the Fab Four's exit, they concurred that the road ahead is tricky, if not painful for the Test team.

My memories go back to the Indian tour of Pakistan in 1989, when a young boy, barely 16, was selected to tour with the Indian team on the back of record-making feats in the Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy, and Ranji Trophy. I remember following the boy's debut on radio. Nineteen years on, the boy has now become a legend and is on the verge of retirement.

Another vivid memory is that of Lord's 1996, when two 23-year-olds launched their international careers in such a stupendous fashion that their feats on that Lord's day is talked as benchmarks for Test debutants. I remember looking at Saurav Ganguly and Rahul and telling myself that these guys look international class - no nervousness, no tension, just pure solidity. Both had come through the ranks, albeit differently. Saurav had gone to Australia as a 19-year-old and left out in the wilderness after just a solitary one-dayer. To come back home and score tons of runs in the domestic cricket and then make a transition into the internal scene is a rare Indian feat. Rahul, on the other hand, had done well at all levels and the Test cap was just another 'hat.' It was only logical that he did well at the internation level.

When India was touring Australia in 1999-2000, VVS Laxman was recalled to the side after a string of tall scores in the domestic season. I remember the first tour match at Gabba when he hit a wonderful hundred. A month later, the cricketing world was talking about his marvellous hundred at the SCG.


That brings to the point, everyone is talking about! Who will replace them? Are they worthy replacements? Let's examine the pretenders!

Rohit Sharma - Everybody talks about his talent. He scores those good-looking thirties in the shorter format. I have yet to hear about a big knock in the longer version. He needs a good season with some big scores if he can be a serious contender.

Yuvraj Singh - Everybody talks about his obvious talent, but look at what he achieved in Australia. I think the selectors are not done with him - they still want to try him out in the longer version. Obviously, the five wise men hope and pray that he occupies one slot.

Suresh Raina - Same as Rohit Sharma

Manoj Tiwari - He showed his inadequacy against genuine pace at the Gabba. He needs to work at his game and score runs in buckets in domestic cricket. Not surprising, that he is off the radar!

Mohd Kaif - I don't know why his name keeps cropping up like his peer Yuvraj, even though he is a very limited player. Like Yuvraj, the wise men hope that he occupies another slot.

S Badrinath - He has the runs in the domestic scene, but fails in crunch matches. Case in point was the recent Irani Cup. It was a God-sent opurtunity to come good. He failed in both the innings. He should consider himself lucky to be part of the Test squad.

The list ends! None of the above are good enough! That's a worry! The cupboard is barren! The bench strength is not as good as our administrators would like us to believe! If the above replacements were good enough, they would have had performances to force their way into the side. That they are unable to do so reveals their obvious class and that's a shame!

Live Scores

Big Loss

Recently I bought few DVDs for my brother who is based in UK. One of them was the irreplaceable Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. I came home and was watching some worthless junkies slugging it out in a house, each trying to out-manoeuvre the other. Worse, I switched to a news channel where I saw a news item where some participants were indulging in fist cuffs.
Somebody told me, this is reality television! I asked someone, is this some WWF? I found out that the participants were part of a Ticket to Bollywood show! Wow, what a come down! No wonder, TV is an idiot box - for idiots, or idiots, and by idiots!

I have a problem with reality television, not just one, but many!

That most of these shows have out-of-work performers who want to revive their flagging careers. Look at Bog Boss2 - a discredited son of a late politician, a discredited moll, an item girl, a politician who wants to revive his career, and few motley models made the starting line-up. And what they do in the house - scheme, scheme, and scheme! Come on, give me a break!

That there is a myth that floats around that these shows unearth new talent. Rubbish, the two real singing talents that have come up in the last decade have been Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal. But they won during the golden days of Saregamapa, which was then hosted by Sonu Nigam and the participants were judged by the likes of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Now you have Himesh Reshamiya, whose knowledge about music is as much as Charles Darwin's knowledge about evolution! But still people watch!

That these shows are democratic in nature! That's the problem! You have participants pleading in their native language for votes. Sometime back, Shweta Kawatra and Manav Gohil bought SIM cards to send responses. You have the actors in that show getting in to a brawl to prove their strength! And you know what democracy throws up - ineptitude! Meritocracy and democracy cannot function in India - at least they have not done so!

That the I&B ministry must act as the Big Brother, and come up with some regulations on what the channels must show. Maybe, everybody will fret and fume at the Big Brother's long hands. But the TV channels only promise self-regulation, and do little!

That it's been a while that I have seen quality sitcoms on television. I remember the days of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Nukkad, Tamas, and even Discovery of India! I was told that there was a committee at the Mandi House which approved these serials. Maybe bureaucratic in nature, at least the viewers watched some class. Even in the nineties, Neena Gupta and Ravi Rai made some nice shows, like Saans and Sailaab. And these were on primetime!

That I read a piece, where Pritish Nandy wrote about how clever cinema produces clever audiences. He is dead right!

The Cook

I watched Bawarchi last night. I have watched it many a times in the past. I watched with amazement how Kaka Rajesh Khanna put up a flawless performance. For the uninitiated, it is a tale of a middle-class joint family, ridden with conflicts and daily struggles, and how a cook played by Khanna brings back the joy into the household. Khanna with his effervescence brings back the old-forgotten family values into the house. It is great stuff to watch Khanna as he resolves each conflict in the household. The line,"Apna kaam toh sabhi kar lete hain, par doosre ke kaam kane se jo anand milta hai, woh toh kuch aur hi hai," remains the signature piece of the movie. Khanna with his ta-ta-daan style is the show stealer!
Kaka was and will always be Indian cinema's only phenomenon. Superstars may come and go. But what Kaka achieved during his glory days during the years 1969-73 will be unparalleled. Today's generation would have seen some potrayals of the once-superstar! Because what you get to see is a sorry sight of a former superstar trying to resort to his gimmicks, not appealing to the newer audience. And that's the problem, and that is the enigma called Rajesh Khanna. That's another post!

Ashok Mankad, RIP

Last fortnight saw the passing away of Ashok Mankad. To understand the relevance of Kaka Mankad is to understand what it meant to be a cricket fan in the eighties.

For the cricket-loving Mumbaikars, growing up in the city in the eighties was something to be experienced. Mumbai dominated the sport, and the passion could be seen in every cricket fan. Every match, a Mumbai cricketer was involved, was followed with such gusto. We not only followed the Ranji Trophy and the Duleep Trophy, but also the scores in the Times Shield, Police Shield, and the Moin-ud-dawla Cup. The batting lineups were ready in every building compound, even before the Mumbai selectors met up to finalize the squads for the next match. It didn't matter whether a Ghulam Parkar was good enough to play for the country or his keeper brother Zulfikar Parkar would ever replace the great Kirmani. What every Mumbai cricket fan felt that the Mumbai team was good enough to play as an India X1. I remember an Irani Cup match in the eighties where Mumbai played Rest of India. The Mumbai eleven had Gavaskar, Ghulam Parkar, Vengsarkar, the two Mankads—Ashok and Rahul, Sandeep Patil, Shastri, Zulfikar Parkar, Sandhu & Ghavri. The Rest of India was a virtual Indian XI led by Vishy and had Chauhan, Surinder Amarnath, Ashok Malhotra, Kapil, Madan, Kirmani, Doshi, and Yadav. Mumbai won that match.

Another event one looked forward to was the Times Shield and the four biggies—Nirlon, Mafatlal, SBI, and Tatas. Nirlon was led by Gavaskar, Mafatlal by Mankad, SBI by Vishy, and Tatas by Vengsarkar. Some of the brightest cricketers of the land played in this extremely keen competition. The contests were so keen that a century in this A league or a five-for was considered good enough!

It is with this background, we will come back to Kaka. Kaka and Vasu Paranjape may mean nothing to people outside Mumbai but to an average cricket fan growing up in the eighties, these names meant a lot. Kaka those days held two records—the maximum runs and the number of centuries. More than that, it was the never-say-die spirit that he embodied. Mumbai 66/5 A.V.Mankad 5 n.o. This would unsettle any batting team but not as long as the natural predecessor to Steve Waugh was still batting. You could bet that this man would steer the team to safety. I remember a season when he guided the fortunes of the Mumbai team with the help of rookies like Pandit, Raju Kulkarni, Hattangadi, and Lalchand Rajput. Besides the on-field accomplishments, his views were most-sought after. In fact I remember few years later, I was listening to commentary on AIR, which had both Mankad and Paranjape in the panel. They would have embarrassed disasters like Arun Lal and Siva with their crisp analysis!

Alas, those days are gone! Kaka is no more! Paranjape is hardly heard! Mumbai cricketers no longer capture the public imagination! The Mumbai cricket following is on the wane! And these look irreversible!

Kaka—my memories of you will be that of the running catch you took at the Oval that famous summer to dismiss Underwood!

P.S. I have deliberately tried to exclude Vinoo Mankad from the post—Vinoo Mankad was Indian cricket's first superstar and deserves another post. This is for his son whom he would have been proud of and waiting to receive him at the doorsteps of Heaven, almost like the Captain acknowledging a batsman who has comeback to the pavilion after a fine innings!

Fab Four & the Captain (Part 1)

Another series loss, on a day an Indian made us proud of his exploits at Beijing, and the arch villains!

Dravid must go! Ganguly must go! Fab Four must go! There are war cries already which will soon reach defeaning cries! Wiser counsels, enough of them say, these guys have been such great servants of Indian cricket. Their career needs atleast a decent burial. Besides, Indian cricket will suffer!

My memories went back to 1978-79. I was a tot! Rememeber the Friendship series against Pakistan, when Zaheer Abbas hit the quartet out of the Indian team. It was unthinkable - Indian cricket without the quartet. But Sunil Gavaskar rebuilt the bowling attack within 6-8 months and the void left by these great bowlers were alleviated to some extent!

Remember 1982-83. Vishwanath, the greatest batsman of the times had come back from Pakistan after a rare disastrous tour. He was dropped from a side which was to embark on the toughest tour of those times, the West Indies. To go to the West Indies, without Vishwanath was as unthinkable those days as going to Australia without VVS Laxman these days! But still the decision was taken inspite of Vishy's show in the previous tour to England where he had four fifties in five innings! What probably sealed the decision for the selectors was the one sight of Vishy being hopelessly bowled by an Imran indipper at Karachi!

Few months later, when the West Indies were here for the grudge tour, Mohinder Amarnath was dropped after just a solitary run from six innings. This was the same Amarnath who had a great 12 months preceding this series. Remember that he scored more than 500 runs in each of the twin series in Pakistan and West Indies - the toughest assignments those days. His knocks in Pakistan and Barbados are stuff that legends are made of. Remember his match-winning roles in the triumphant World Cup campaign. But when the West Indies came here, he struggled to come to terms with the short-rising deliveries aimed at his body and he failed miserably. Still the bunch of jokers made the decision. Jimmy, as was his wont, fought his way back to the Indian team and was incidentally the top-scorer against David Gower's English team.

The point is that there have been enough instances in the past when the selectors had to bite the bullet and they have chosen to do so. It's their time of reckoning!

Look at the records of the Fab Four and the Captain!

Let's start with Sachin Tendulkar! Now, I just have to utter Sach, and I know there are people who will remind me of his twin hundreds in Australia. I have some damming statistics - eight innings after that Adelaide knock, he has scored 108 runs at an average of 13.5. What is even more telling is that the manner in which he padded upto Mendis and was adjudged leg before. The whole world picked it! How could he not? Is it not a sure sign that his game is not there? A drive on the rise may gladden few hearts but not good enough to make a serious contribution.


Anybody who has had a serious decline over the last 12 months, it is Dravid. What a fall from those glory days. A year back, he was India's best one-day batsman and prior to that the torch bearer of Indian batting for five years. Victories at Adelaide, Kingston, Rawalpindi, and Headingly were built around his batting. Now you look at him and you shudder where his next run is going to come from. He looks like the Dravid who went to Australia in 99-00, pretending as the best batsman after Tendulkar and scratched around for runs. I recently read a piece from Roy Dias, which opened my eyes. According to Dias, if a cricketer begins to struggle with his fielding and catching, it's a sign that your game is not there. You can scratch around for a hundred but your (lack of) athleticism will show up. In Dravid's case, some of the catches he has dropped can only be an indicator about his lack of fitness, if not form. Since the match-winning knocks at Kingston two years back, he has scored 1197 runs in 40 innings at an average of 33.25 (almost down 23 from his career average of around 56) and a strike rate of 27 during the same period against a career strike rate of 41. What it tells you is that Dravid doesn't know where his next run is coming from.

When I saw Laxman walk to the crease, I was astounded by what
I saw. A seemingly-portly figure walked into bat. Guys, we are in modern sport! A player's body language sends signals to the opposition - either positive or negative. Laxman's body language clearly suggests that he is a bunny! The flicks to midwickets, and the off-drives are all there but what is not there is athleticism. He was never athletic, but with advancing (sounds old, yes old) age, this looks HUGE! Thank you, sir for all the entertainment. It's time to move on!

The last two actors in the drama shall be dealt with in the next post!

Bowlers are not complaining...........

Yesterday, something unusual happened. I am not referring to an Indian loss - there is nothing unusual about it! Virendra Sehwag padded up to an innocuous delivery from Murali. Mahela Jayawardene asked for a referral and third umpire gave him out. No on-field umpire could have given him out - to a naked eye, the ball was missing leg stump. But the replays showed otherwise! Wow, I like it.

Because the referrals will bring spin bowling back to the fore. Marginal decisions, such as bat-pad decisions, and leg-befores could be increasingly decided by referrals. Referrals will more often than not mean wickets.

Because thanks to the referrals, no batsman will thrust his pad to block innocuous deliveries. Far too long, batsmen have got away. Now, they will only be forced to play with their bats instead of their pads.

Because batsmen will need to have good footwork to play spinners. This will make spinners think of ways to prise out batsmen with flight and pace variations. It will be a good contest.

Because pacers will also come to the party and be aided with close (otherwise drifting-down-the-leg side or touch too high) decisions.

Because batsmen will need all of technique, application, and luck (40-40-20) to survive, it will good to watch. Far too long, batsmen have used heavy bats to make the game lopsided. You needed some balance to spice up the game. Gosh, you may end with very few draws!

Because Test cricket needs that little bit to stay in limelight in these T20 times! Referrals could just one of the tonic. There are some obvious ones, some other time!

I know the batsmen are complaining. Bowlers are not.......that's refreshing!

Mumbai, Mum-bye!!

This is not on cricket or Hindi movies – far more fundamental!

As usual, the other day, I was getting back home after a busy day. The office bus leaves the premises at 6.45 p.m. and usually I reach home by 8.15. (It is actually a 45 minute ride!) That day, I reached home at 10.15 p.m. – a good four hours. The reason for the delay – the entire 3 km stretch of the Jogeshwari link road, facing the Powai lake was blocked and we took 2 hours to cross that stretch! The story didn’t end there – the next day too we reached home past 10 p.m. I was sharing this with a US-based friend. He said, “You’re not serious. It’s Mumbai and not a Jhumritalaiya!” I shrugged helplessly – it didn’t matter as he couldn’t see me.

I came back home and decided, “Mumbai was dying and that was irreversible.”

Why did I feel so strongly?

Because Mumbai has become a filthy city. I dare you to walk 100 meters at a stretch and not find a garbage dump and an open gutter. That this city has millions of them unattended to is a matter of great concern. Outside my office, after a wet day, I saw the workers going into the gutter and removed a big pile of garbage, which had evidently choked the gutter. To this day, the removed garbage still lies unattended to. That the city’s streets were swept thirty years back is an old grandmother’s tale.

Because Mumbai has become a squatter’s city. I dare you walk 50 meters at a stretch and not find a squatter. That 50% percent of the city lie in slums bewilders me! How could things come to a pass? First the immigrants from Bangladesh, and then from the North began to squat on any available land with the help of thekedaars who promised them and got them ration cards in exchange of their support during elections. Somebody told me, “The Government is obliged to provide them housing.” “Yes, but not at any cost.” A look at these areas will tell you how the backwardness of the North Indian states, coupled with lawlessness is rampant in most of these slum colonies. The city fathers and members of the civil society must come together and put 1985 as a cut-off date and free the land from the slum dwellers. I know there will be a clamour to show humanitarian concern. My point is that when I go to another land in search of job, do I squat? Don’t I follow the law of the land? Why are these people lionised? Government, don’t stop anybody from coming here. Whoever comes here must follow the law of the land.

Because the city is overburdened and waiting to explode, on the brink. You ask anybody who has seen it in the last 25 years or so (that includes me), they will tell you that the city can only manage 1985-level population. Perhaps Mumbai of 1985 with infrastructure of 2008 is the fix. What do you to the five-six million who have come since then? Allow them a breather to regularize and then...... Somebody told me that the city will miss its vegetable vendors, auto rickshaws, milk vendors, and presswalas. I say that that is the best thing that can happen to the city. 1 BEST bus can hold as many people as 40 rickshaws – this means fewer vehicles on the road! As such, BEST buses run on CNG – less polluting! Anyways, out-of-work rickshawwallas can be absorbed by BEST, if they fit the bill! The milk and vegetable trade can only get better organized. By the way, the attack on slums is not an attack on any community. That it turns out to be one is thanks to our rabble-rousing politicians.

Because there is no ownership in the city. Look at the state of the roads, you will see why. Roads are a mirror to an administration. I travel everyday from Thane to Andheri, travelling through Jogeshwari Link Road, Saki Vihar Road, and then finally Andheri-Kurla Road. The Powai stretch from IIT to L&T is probably the worst stretch in the world, save the Baramulla road in J&K (that’s to do with nature, stupid) – here it is pure inaction and bad project management. It should have taken 18 months to build the stretch – I saw the first pillar being erected in 2000 and eight years on we are still a year away from completion). It’s a shame that Mumbai deserves such apathy! Go further ahead and enter the Saki Vihar Road – it’s a nice stretch with footpaths. What you see is that vegetable vendors and other squatters have taken over the footpaths and people are walking on the roads. It’s not the only road in the city in such a state. Here governance is the issue.

Because Andheri-Kurla Road offers a unique insight on how the city is run. The road was widened two years back – it should have solved the traffic chaos. What you will see on the nicely constructed footpath are wires and cables of different agencies. I fear what if there is a short circuit somewhere. Stop dreaming, where’s your spirit of Mumbai?

Because the rains on July 26, 2005 and also the train blasts on July 11, 2006 offered a wonderful opportunity for the city guardians to look at the problems and take radical steps. That barring the token step of Mithi river project, there is little action. The talk of Mumbai to Shanghai is plain “empty talk and no action.” A metro here and a link road is just more antibiotic treatment! The citizens need a better quality of life. Otherwise there is going to be a migration of sorts – the educated middle class leaving the city. As such, Mumbai missed the IT boom – a real shame and more such misses are likely to happen. Increasingly, there is a chorus that in a few years time, there will be nothing more to Mumbai other than the film industry and the stock exchange. There is no new industrial activity happening, much like the other great decaying city, Kolkata. In fact, Mumbai today reminds me of the Kolkata of the seventies! Is it coincidence that Kolkata of the seventies faced power cuts and that Mumbai is beginning to experience that!

Because I am reminded of a scene from the Amitabh classic, Deewar. Amitabh’s girlfriend offers condolences on hearing about his father’s death. He says,”Mera baap toh bees saal pehle mar gaya. Aaj toh sirf use chitah di gayee.”

Abbas can direct saala!!

I watched Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na last evening. And it was a nice experience because I had a smile on my face throughout the evening.

Few stray thoughts (in Busybee style)!

- That Imran and Genelia are here to stay. Watching them is like watching a young Aamir and Juhi twenty years back. Probably they will mistakes on the way, but boy, right now let's take a bow at their performances! To me it's Genelia, who despite her accent, lights up the screen with her subtle emotions. I hope she doesn't lose her way like Amrita Rao and Ayesha Takia (both talented actresses)! Look at her in the scene when she drops Imran and his girl friend. When Imran offers to drop his girl friend, she says,"Kitna drop karega? " Jealousy written all over the face, but still the lines are understated!

- That I was wondering where the hell was Abbas Tyrewala all these days. Few years back, when I saw Munnabhai MBBS, Maqbool, and Main Hoon Na, I felt like many others that he was a serious talent in the otherwise neglected field of screenwriting. And that he along with Jaideep Sahni, Prasun Joshi, and Anurag Kashyap, could be trusted with bringing back content to the Hindi movies. Phew! He is back with his writing (I am not discussing his direction!). Some of the scenes are so well written that you feel like getting up from your seat and applauding. Like the whole characterization of Meghna, Imran's girlfriend—boy, what details! Like the caricaturizing of the Rajput culture—the writing is so clever that it doesn't cross over to being a point of ridicule—it could have been so easily that! It's the writing that lifts the otherwise plain vanilla-style story to greater heights!

- That the movie made relive my college days. I could have easily come back saying that I don't relate to Jai and Aditi. But thanks to Abbas' vision, I didn't feel so. It tells you that a story realistically told will always touch a chord somewhere in the audience.

- That Abbas must never give up writing in his drive to make films because Hindi movies needs the writer in him!

This Day, That Year

Year: 1983 Location: India

Jeetendra and Sreedevi launch a franchise model of song-and-dance dramas where men are always in white menswear, and women in Apsara-like costumes. Remember Thathiyya thathiyya O O! Gundallu….Gundallu

Fire rages in the states of Assam and Punjab in proportions never seen and heard before.

Phoolan Devi, the famed (?) dacoit surrenders enroute a life of dignity (remember she became an MP)!

Amidst all this, the Prudential Cup and the triumph happened! What happened that day?

On that day (June 25), the national cricket team lifted the highest prize in the sport, the World Cup—we are celebrating what is arguably the greatest sporting triumph of the nation in 2008.

Date: June 25, 1983 Venue: Lord’s

Pre-tournament no-hopers, India were playing two-time champions West Indies for the greatest prize, the Prudential World Cup. It was the final and the whole nation was watching with excitement. I remember in school, we were even asked to watch the match and come prepared on Monday morning for an essay.

The match began at 1045 London time (1515 IST) with earnest when the Indian openers, Gavaskar and Srikanth walked into the middle to face the fearsome battery of fast bowlers, Roberts, Garner, Holding, and Marshall. In the fifth over, tragedy strikes when Gavaskar edges Roberts to Dujon. The repair job was undertaken by an unlikely duo, the Mad Max clone Srikanth and the then best player of fast bowling, Amarnath. Couple of shots from Srikanth’s blade stands out in memory even today – the square drive on bent knees off Roberts and a pull shot again off Roberts for a huge six. Normal service for West Indies was restored when Holding sent Amarnath’s stumps flying and Marshall trapped Srikanth in front of the stumps for a well-played 38—incidentally the highest score of the match. Yashpal Sharma, the hero of the semi-finals followed them to the pavilion soon after and when lunch was taken at 1300 London time (1730 IST), India was 99/4. When play resumed 40 minutes later, lusty hitting from Sandeep Patil and some lower-order resistance pushed the score to 183 all out.

India 183 all out and West Indies 184/1 (36 overs) – This was a prediction during the innings break. Most of us felt that even though we had come this far, it would only fair that a team of real class such as West Indies won the World Cup. Those were the times, we had won precious little- coming to a final was considered a great achievement!

When the West Indians began their chase, nobody could imagine things that unfolded over the next four hours. Like in the Indian innings, tragedy struck when Greenidge shouldered arms to a seemingly-innocuous in swinger from Balwinder Sandhu. In walked Viv Richards and the situation was tailor-made for a destructive player like him. He began attacking the bowlers and all of us felt that the match would be over in 30 overs. He was in such a dominant form. But probably he played a shot too many. He pulled one off Madan Lal and ended up top-edging it. What happened was probably the defining moment of Indian cricket. The top-edge was sailing harmlessly when the Indian captain ran 25 yards backwards to take the catch. The great man was gone. Soon Lloyd was gone too. I still remember the words of Richie Benaud from the commentary box. “West Indies 66/5 and in complete disarray.” So it was. When tea was taken at 1715 London time (2145 IST), West Indies were 76/5 and a mountain to climb!

When play resumed 15 minutes later, 76/5 became 76/6 when Kirmani picked up a brilliant catch to send back Bacchus. They often say that no match is won till the last ball is bowled and last wicket is taken. Jeff Dujon and Malcolm Marshall began a repair job and each time they scored a run, the heart beats of the Indian players rose and the hopes of the fans receded. Then a miracle happened. Mohinder Amarnath dismissed a well-set Dujon and soon they were all out for 140.

It was midnight in India when the last wicket fell and it was Diwali Redux. Never before have celebrations been as wild and frenzied as that night. A new religion—cricket was born that night. It’s been 25 years since that momentous day and my heart swells with pride when I watch the clippings. There may be other victories in cricket, and probably other sports. But I dare say that this is the greatest sporting victory yet!

Match Scorecard

India v West Indies @ Lord's, London
25 June 1983

Toss: West Indies (field)
Umpires: HD Bird, BJ Meyer
Match Result: India won by 43 runs

India

Sunil Gavaskar c Jeff Dujon b Andy Roberts 2

Kris Srikkanth lbw b Malcolm Marshall 38

Mohinder Amarnath b Michael Holding 26

Yashpal Sharma c sub b Larry Gomes 11

Sandeep Patil c Larry Gomes b Joel Garner 27

Kapil Dev c Michael Holding b Larry Gomes 15

Kirti Azad c Joel Garner b Andy Roberts 0

Roger Binny c Joel Garner b Andy Roberts 2

Madan Lal b Malcolm Marshall 17

Syed Kirmani b Michael Holding 14

Balwinder Sandhu not out 11

FOW 1-2 (Sunny Gavaskar), 2-59 (Kris Srikkanth), 3-90 (Mohinder Amarnath), 4-92 (Yashpal Sharma), 5-110 (Kapil Dev), 6-111 (Kirti Azad), 7-130 (Roger Binny), 8-153 (Sandeep Patil), 9-161 (Madan Lal), 183 (Syed Kirmani).

Extras 5b, 5lb, 9w, 1nb, 0pen) 20

Total (54.4 ovs) 183 all out

Bowling

Andy Roberts 10 3 32 3

Joel Garner 12 4 24 1

Malcolm Marshall 11 1 24 2

Michael Holding 9.4 2 26 2

Larry Gomes 11 1 49 2

Sir Viv Richards 1 0 8 0

West Indies

Gordon Greenidge b Balwinder Sandhu 1

Desmond Haynes c Roger Binny b Madan Lal 13

Sir Viv Richards c Kapil Dev b Madan Lal 33

Clive Lloyd c Kapil Dev b Roger Binny 8

Larry Gomes c Sunny Gavaskar b Madan Lal 5

Faoud Bacchus c Syed Kirmani b Balwinder Sandhu 8

Jeff Dujon b Mohinder Amarnath 25

Malcolm Marshall c Sunny Gavaskar b Mohinder Amarnath 18

Andy Roberts lbw b Kapil Dev 4

Joel Garner not out 5

Michael Holding lbw b Mohinder Amarnath 6

FOW 1-5 (Gordon Greenidge), 2-50 (Desmond Haynes), 3-57 (Sir Viv Richards), 4-66 (Larry Gomes), 5-66 (Clive Lloyd), 6-76 (Faoud Bacchus), 7-119 (Jeff Dujon), 8-124 (Malcolm Marshall), 9-126 (Andy Roberts), 140 (Michael Holding).

Extras 0b, 4lb, 10w, 0nb, 0pen) 14

Total (52 ovs) 140 all out

Bowling

Kapil Dev 11 4 21 1

Balwinder Sandhu 9 1 32 2

Madan Lal 12 2 31 3

Roger Binny 10 1 23 1

Mohinder Amarnath 7 0 12 3

Kirti Azad 3 0 7 0

Modi Entertainment் Network

I read a piece during the weekend where the Champions League was launched with great fanfare. Two teams each from the professional leagues from India, England, Australia, and South Africa. This, Mr.Modi will want us to believe, will be on the lines of the Champions League in football.

Suresh Menon has covered this issue well in his Cricinfo piece. What will Shane Warne do if Hampshire joins Rajasthan Royal? Will he turn up for both? Sounds ridiculous, but it may happen if Mr.Modi wishes! That will happen as long as IPL is professional and the others are not. Because ideally professional clubs will have the exclusivity angle covered, which would mean that both Hampshire and Rajasthan Royal cannot play Warne. The owners of Royals are no fools to allow Warne to play for any other team in the League. And there are more instances like this! Graeme Smith, Mathew Hayden, Muralitharan, and few others! So you will end up with a pretty lop-sided league, where six out of the eight teams will field less than their strongest teams for reasons other than cricketing matters!

Another important angle is the ICL. There are litigations round the corner if Mr.Modi bulldozes his way and disallows the ICL players from playing in the League. I think he can't stop that happening! If Lou Vincent is allowed to play for Lancashire, it is assumed that the club will field them in the League as well, if it qualifies. If he plays in the League, can we assume that BCCI/ICC is legitimizing ICL? The BCCI officials pat themselves on the back for 'professionalizing the sport.’ (What does that mean?) Banning ICL is nothing but plain 'dadagiri.'

But strange things have happened in this sport in the last month. Maybe this adds to the list………

My better half, the Smart Alec that she is, pointed out that she’d read somewhere recently that Modi in his early days ran an outfit called Modi Entertainment Network (MEN). ‘Isn’t this circus also part of MEN?’ she asked. I smiled almost to suggest, ‘You couldn’t more right.’

Clown and the Tiger

This morning, I was reading a piece by Amit Varma, The IPL reveals India's bench strength. This was not the first piece I have been reading on similar lines—some of them by notable cricket writers. I asked myself—Am I missing something? How can the IPL tell you about the bench strength? In that case, have I understood the word 'bench strength' correctly?

These guys must be joking, I felt. How can IPL tell you about the bench strength? When Tevez isn't part of the Manchester United eleven, that is bench strength. When Lionel Messi is a reserve in the Argentinean team, it tells you about the bench strength of the team! How can a Gony and a Dinda tell you about the bench strength of the Indian team for the longer version based on some festival cricket? Probably, the IPL or T20 can give you an indication of their talents, which they need to take forward to do well in the international arena. This still doesn't add up to the bench strength of the Indian team!

How can a four-over spell in a domestic festival match give an indication of a bowler's capability at the higher level? Just because a clown tames a tiger in a circus, you can't make him a forest ranger, can you? Similarly, how can an innings of 40 in an IPL match tell you that an opener can face a Steyn or a Lee on a bouncy wicket? The ideal way is to test these guys in a four-day environment and see if they have picked up anything from the Pontings or McGraths or Warnes. If the players come up trumps and force their way into the Indian team, then you can probably mutter the word 'bench strength' (not say it)!

But I get this uneasy feeling—that our selectors will pick a team based on the IPL performances—too often have they ignored their instincts and gone by public sentiment (anybody?). Probably, bench strength means that players are good enough to sit on the bench and not good enough to play at the highest level—I hope not.

Curtain Down on Vijay Tendulkar!

Vijay Tendulkar no more—An end of an era, said the newspapers last Tuesday.

I first heard of Tendulkar when I watched Sinhasan in school. Today's generation must note that Sinhasan was a classic Marathi movie of the seventies directed by Jabbar Patel. It is probably the finest political drama ever made on cinema. Political dramas can be boring and predictable beyond a point. But not Sinhasan—it was gripping and had a feel of realism around it.

As I grew up, I saw more of Tendulkar's works on cinema—Manthan and Nishant from the Benegal stable, Aakrosh and Ardh Satya from Govind Nihalani, Saamna and Umbartha by Jabbar Patel—each a riveting drama of human conflicts. I have all of them in my DVD collection. Having revisited them again, I dare say that he was India's finest screen writer. In the coming days, I intend to watch Aakrosh and Aakreit and celebrate! I do regret that I have not seen his celebrated plays, barring Kanyadaan, which I thought was decently done by Lilette Dubey's team. I am seriously hunting for those DVDs! Anyone?

There are few things that stand out in memory!

There was liberalism written all over him. This is pretty evident from the way he created situations and characters in his work. I am often disappointed with 'liberals'—most of them are imposters who find it ‘cool’ to be ‘liberal’—that's not the point! What is important is that you need not just listen to Pink Floyd, follow Obama vs. Clinton debates, and profess atheism to be liberal. Tendulkar showed that you could be an iconoclast without having to think in English!

He was a strong personality. Some of the subjects he dealt with in his movies were women empowerment, rural awakening, and political awareness. Remember the last scene in Nishant where the entire village rises in rebellion against their employers, the village landlords, who have nothing but brutality and avarice in their CVs. Remember the female protagonist in Umbartha, who stakes her marriage to an affluent family to work in an asylum. They tell you that his characters were strong people, much like himself!

Can there be another Tendulkar? Rather, is there quality theater happening in India? No. But that discussion is for another day. Not today. Today, we’ll take a bow to someone who rewrote traditional theater in India! Tendulkar, RIP!

Parakh

I saw Parakh last night. Released in 1960, Parakh was directed by the great Bimal Roy. For today's generation, please note that Bimal Roy was one of our greatest movie makers, and he made classics such as Do Bigha Zameen, Devdas, Parineeta (old), Biraj Bahu, Madhumati, Sujata, and Bandini—each movie a trailblazer!

Parakh is a story set in a village where the do-gooder postmaster receives a cheque of 500, 000 INR(pretty huge amount in the fifties!). Instead of keeping it for himself, he calls a meeting of the village elders to decide on the rightful recipient. The meeting ends with a call for an election where people would decide on the rightful recipient. The rest of the movie shows how each of the village elder takes the extra effort to please the villagers—it’s quite funny at times. The movie has enough interesting turns till the end. What keeps you transfixed is the setting—it’s a village in the early fifties of a young independent India, grappling with freedom, development and above all a nascent democracy. The village settings with the various characters actually provide a wonderful backdrop to metaphorize democracy.

The star of the movie is its storyline. I am not talking about Bimalda—the movie showcases his obvious craft! Watch out for an effortless performance by Motilal, and an equally refreshing one from an almost-unrecognizable Sadhana. There are some gems composed by Salil Choudhury. Worth a dekko, it transports you to an era when India was coming to terms with freedom, democracy, and development. I feel the movie is a must-see because we now tend to take these very issues for granted!

Lord Krishna is playing T20

There is a story in the Mahabharata when Arjuna and Duryodhana call on Lord Krishna before the war. The Lord asks them to choose between His services and His army’s might. Arjuna chooses the Lord. Duryodhana feels that Arjuna was a fool not to use the army’s might. He goes for the Lord’s army. We know what happened in the war!

I was reminded of this twice during this week. From what I follow in a very limited manner, Viru’s Delhi Daredevils and Warne’s Rajasthan Royals are doing very well in the IPL and look to be the frontrunners for the title. Most teams packed themselves with batsmen, since the format suits batsmen. However, Viru and his management went for their Lord Krishna, Glenn McGrath. It’s been a treat to see the great man come and bowl, and take wickets. The Rajasthan Royals, again, had no star batsman, but found their Lord Krishna in Shane Warne. The master has been dishing out T20’s version of the Bhagavad Geeta! I saw some tactical gems during their match yesterday.

On 1st June, 2008, we will all know whether the Lord is winning or His army!

Five Pandavas and Lord Krishna

I followed the news of the temporary dismantling of the IHF with glee. Atleast, the Gill-Jyothikumaran duo is no longer in the saddle at IHF.

But few thoughts crossed my mind!

- That this should not be a case of one-upmanship. This is an excellent opportunity for us to look at Indian hockey with a fresh perspective and it is upto the five Pandavas (Sher Khan, Iqbal, Ajitpal, Dhanraj, and Kumar) to rescue the Draupadi—Indian hockey—under the able guidance of Lord-Krishna-incarnate Kalmadi.

- That Kalmadi would do well to take BCCI's help (for whatever it is worth) —Lalit Modi—to take up the mantle ship of IHF. It will need someone like a Dalmiya or a Modi (I am not their fans, but I give credit to where it belongs) to use their magic wands and resuscitate Indian hockey.

- That this is an opportunity hockey lovers across the globe have been waiting for. They (includes yours truly as well) have been waiting for India to do justice to the talent and be a hockey superpower again. The five Pandavas and the Lord will do well not to let go of this opportunity. It's now or never time for Indian hockey!

- That hockey lovers, like myself, must be patient with the new dispensation as it will take a while to stem the rot that has plagued Indian hockey. Probably they may not succeed, but at least they will try their best—knowing the way they played the game!

Bambai Ka Babu

I watched Bambai Ka Babu on DVD last night. For the uninitiated, this is a classic from the sixties starring the evergreen Dev Anand and the beautiful Suchitra Sen. The movie was directed by Raj Khosla and there are some wonderful songs tuned by Dada Burman. Raj Khosla started his career under Guru Dutt and went on to make movies such as CID, Kaala Paani, Woh Kaun Thi, Mera Saaya, Do Raaste, and Mera Gaon Mera Desh—an impressive body of work!

Bambai Ka Babu is a story of a thief who runs away from the city to a remote village up north where he enters a household as their long lost son, Kundan. Matters complicate when on one hand he falls in love with the daughter of the house, Maya and on the other hand has to make arrangements for 'his sister's' impending marriage.

Khosla, the mature director comes to the fore—there are scenes where Kundan, the son displays 'affection' on Maya, the daughter, which she brushes off—so maturely handled. Even when she comes to know that he is not the son and that he loves her, she realizes that she has a job in hand to inform her folks about his real motives—I thought the director could have fallen into the familiar trap of showing her reciprocating his feelings and clear the muddle—that he doesn't, shows his maturity. Even the climactic song, Chal Ri Sajani is so beautifully shot with the two looking at each other—she is in bridal finery and he is in bandage after recovering the family jewellery from his former 'employer'—both wanting to reach out to the other and communicate—in her case, it's huge regard for his job of recovering the family silver but in his case, it's the feeling of love lost!

The last exchange between the two is riveting stuff!
He: When you were part of the household, I was an outsider. And now when you are going away, I am part of the household!
She: You came to commit fraud in the house. Now, you are part of a bigger fraud. In this fraud, everyone is happy—mother, father, you and me!

Coming to the music, Dada Burman is at his versatile best—he has composed some amazing Punjabi folk-based numbers, Dekhne Mein Bhola and Pawan Chale To. Who can forget the amazing Deewana Mastana? The next time I get to the hills, I am sure to feel the song echoing in my ears. I have spoken enough about the climactic song, Chal Ri Sajani.

Why don’t we make such movies anymore?

The Indian 'Say No to Drugs' League!!

I watched ten minutes of the Indian Pensioner's League(IPL)—sorry any league that has Pollock, McGrath, Warne, and Gilchrist can only be a pensioner's game—that is not the point.

The IPL began with huge fanfare on Friday evening—so they say. I cannot see myself watching a T20 game—I am a sucker for the longer version—I enjoy moments like the Ishant Sharma spell to Ponting and the Sidebottom spell to Tendulkar and T20 doesn’t offer me such moments. I kept myself away from it until a close friend messaged me about McCullum's knock. Anyways, I was driving to the airport to see off my brother and his family. That night over and the next morning, I wake up to front-page photographs of Shahrukh Khan and his son cheering for his team. May be I am missing something.

Come Saturday afternoon/evening, I was caught up with something else that I totally missed the matches. I was once again woken up the next morning by newspaper items suggesting that for the second straight day, the matches have been a sellout. Wow, that must be something!

Therefore, I decided to catch up some IPL action on Sunday. Somebody told me that Arun Lal and Sivaramakrishnan were on the panel of commentators—I decided to “mute” the sound—my views on them are clear—they are the modern-day versions of Kader Khan - Shakti Kapoor combination. The wicket was a shocker and the cricket was even more pedestrian. Come on, the world's most talented cricketers were on display, so proclaimed Lalit Modi! The cricket on display reminded me of those Suniel Shetty XI versus Sachin Tendulkar XI —obviously this was better than those 'Say No to Drugs' matches—only just.

Later in the evening, I stepped out with my wife to go to a neighborhood Cafe Coffee Day outlet for a post-dinner chai. People were on the streets—all along I was led to believe by the media and Modi that people would be engrossed in a Mumbai Indians match, something like the India-Pakistan match at Centurion on the Mahashivaratri day of 2003—I was fooled by Modi and his PR machinery! I must point out that there were (many) more TV sets blaring even during the Perth Test match than last evening. When we reached the CCD outlet, the match was being shown LIVE on the TV set—nobody was watching—people were in their own converstaions rather than bother about Harbhajan bowling to Boucher (I hope to have got it correctly, ignorant ass that I am).

My wife, the better half that she is, asked me in an Alec Smart-ish tone, "Why don't they put on MTV? Atleast, people will watch some music videos." I had no ready answer. My mind went back to those days when industrialists donated money to charities in exchange of some governmental favors. Probably, this time around, and in a deregulated economy, the industrialists (Sharukh and Preity included) are loosening their purse strings and investing in their own version of 'Say No to Drugs' matches, probably some tax rebate, somewhere!

I returned home to watch some EPL action to look for similarities between the IPL and the EPL (we were told by Shri Modi that the IPL would be on the lines of the EPL). My wife, the Alec Smart, tells me that EPL is sport and IPL is not. I got my answer.

Is Anyone at Cricket Center Listening?

Another Test series ended. The series was drawn 1-1. Some said it was a fair result, considering that the two teams are well matched. May be. May be not. But, there were few disturbing thoughts.

- That we chose to play a Test series in India after March 15 was shocking. Who at BCCI does the scheduling? Where do you play a Test match? Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Kanpur! Dare M/S Niranjan Shah & Co. to go on a walk (even for 10 minutes) during the day in these cities around this time of the year! How can you expect people to throng the stadiums? How can you expect the players be on the ball all the time in this oppressive heat? If the players are not playing at their best, how do you expect TV viewers to watch these matches? Ideally, as someone had pointed out, Test matches in India must be played between October and February—the weather is good, the spectators will line up both at the stadium as well as close to their TVs. The players will relish the weather and there will be some good cricket played. Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That the Test series was not broadcast live on radio was shocking. Working professionals like me who wanted to follow the game had nothing to turn to. I can't think of cricket fans in some remote corner of this land. The Board talks about taking the game to all parts of the country. Can someone tell me how? Besides, did anyone watch the coverage on Neo Sports? Pathetic, I must say. The feed is terrible and the commentator-duo of Arun Lal and L Sivaramakrishnan is the modern-day avatar of Kader Khan-Shakti Kapoor! The pictures are jarring, to say the least. Who in the Board is responsible for this farce? Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That Dhoni paid Rs.10,000/- to the curator at the Green Park after the match was baffling. When the media broke the story, the Board official clarified that this was a usual practice where the captains tipped the ground staff. Why? Isn't the curator paid by the host association? Surely, he looks after the surface for the whole season- not just one solitary Test match. Maybe, the host association doesn't feel like having a pitch laid out for the whole season. No wonder, the standards at the domestic level are pathetic. Ideally, every association in India must have a qualified curator on its rolls that needn't be tipped after every win. Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That our batsman saw the color green on the Motera wicket and ran as fast they could to the pavilion. The innings folded up for 76, two hours after it started on the first morning. Somebody said we won Test matches at Perth, Kingston, Trent Bridge, and Jo'burg in the last two years - all bowler-friendly (fast-bowling-friendly) conditions. However, you have these conditions in India, the same vaunted line-up flounders. Why? I don't have an answer! Similar to "Why is water liquid?” I read reports about the players being more involved in the IPL build-up than preparation for the series. If that is true, then the Board should be taken to task-because the players were obviously do their bit of promotion at the behest of some senior Board members. Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That there are few players whose Test career is on the line. Wasim Jaffer has played six Test matches with just a solitary fifty. He must be told to go." Yuvraj must be told that he is the Most Valuable Player in the ODI format, but he is a no-no in the longer version. Irfan Pathan bowls like one-day bowler in Test matches—125 kmph, mixes things up, sticks to a line and length- therefore he is largely ineffective. Can our selectors drop these guys from the Test arena? No, they will continue to pick these players based on some past glory. Worse, like the aam aadmi, they can't separate performances between the two formats. That makes me wonder—Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That Test cricket is a boutique product. It must be nurtured and taken care of like the Mughal Gardens. The curators of the Mughal Gardens look at several issues - right flowers, right environment, right audience, etc. Similarly, the curators of Test cricket in India—BCCI—must also think on these lines—right venues, right wickets, right spectators, right season, etc. It is not impossible for this Board? If M/S Pawar and Modi invested 25% of their time and effort on Test cricket (25% of the time and effort which they’re investing in IPL), cricket followers will have such a wonderful product. But then, is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

The Tale

I watched Katha (anyone?) on the VCD last night. I'd watched it when I was a kid. A Sai Paranjape movie is always a heart-warming experience. Her characters are so true-to -life that you relate to them quite easily. You identify with the joys and sorrows, and trials and tribulations of the characters' everyday lives. Katha is no different. For the uninitiated, Katha is a simple story of a do-gooder, played by Shah and how his life changes when his smooth-talking friend, played by Shaikh, enters his life and almost snatches his neighbor, Naval—he has a crush on her. The story is very simple. What sets this movie apart is the background and setting. Viewers of today will find it difficult to visualize a chawl—for them, I must add that chawls are unique to Mumbai. The inter-personal (almost symbiotic) relationships among the residents of the chawl is well-etched out in the movie. Even small details such as a household which has the distinction being the only one with a refrigerator, and folding furniture have been well thought out. There is a scene where buckets are lined at the crack of dawn to fill water—so very true. Coming to the performances, the trio of Shah, Shaikh, and Naval are outstanding in their roles. Everybody will vouch for Shaikh—but it is Shah who steals the show with his body language and understated emotions. Watch the movie if you want to know a day in the life of a typical middle-class Mumbaikar in the sixties and the seventies—the chawls began to disppear in the eighties.

Raghuvaran

Raghuvaran passes away. I heard this news with utter disbelief. My memories went back to a Sunday afternoon some 20 years back when we watched the weepy Anjali. The whole world spoke about the precocious kid and her histrionics before the camera, what was not spoken was the understated potrayal of the patient father by Raghuvaran. That was Raghuvaran—everything was understated considering the man's potential as an actor. I watched Anjali on DVD recently and watched it intimately—this time for Raghuvaran. (I wish I had known that I was preparing myself for an obituary!) I was reading that he did only 80 movies in his lifetime—I calculated around 400 minutes of cinematic magic (he just needed a 5-minute role to weave his magic on the audience).

P.S. As I am writing this, the baritone of Raghuvaran is ringing in my ears. He tells Tabu when she approaches him for a job,"Y2Kellam mudinja pochcha."

Indian hockey, RIP!

I follow Indian hockey—I have done that for years. My friends will hate me for saying this—they deserted the game when Indian fortunes began to go on a perennial southward dip! I somehow stuck to the sport like a all-weather friend.My reason is simple—they bring in flair and when they are winning, they look pretty on the field. Did someone mention West Indian cricket? The Indian hockey team and the West Indian cricket team have had similar paths of glory and then slid into paths of self-destruction. The West Indian cricket team reached their nadir some years back and don't look like coming out. If that is any indication, God help Indian hockey!

Lal-it isn't about cricket

I watched with amazement all the hoopla and hype surrounding the IPL.

Few stray thoughts.

That IPL is a pensioner's paradise. How do you explain the decisions of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne to come out of retirements and opting to play in a grueling schedule? I read a news item where Mathew Elliot (remember him—he last played for Australia a decade ago) and Michael Kaspprowicz have reportedly agreed to play in the IPL. Look at the retirements over the last couple of months—Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Pollock! You do not need to be an Einstein to infer. They said T20 is a young man's game!

That Ganguly, Laxman, Dravid, and Tendulkar are captains of the respective teams. Laxman was discarded from the Indian team in the 50-over format some four years back because he was considered 'slow.' A month back, Ganguly and Dravid were dropped from the Indian 50-over team because their ageing limbs cannot cover the big grounds in Australia. What it tells you is that you may be unfit to play for your country but the same people (who think so) will call you to lead teams in a format where your limbs may even break! It is like withdrawing ageing boxers from the World welterweight championships, but they are found good enough to be part of the Super heavyweight category but at the provincial level!

That no player will talk about too much cricket now. I remember Tendulkar complaining to the media how tightly packed schedules were not helping his tired body. What will he say now? What if he says, "I have just finished a grueling IPL. I don't think I can tour Sri Lanka." What will the selectors say? Will they cry foul? When was the last time a Chief Selector looked at the scheduling and said 'enough is enough?' M/S Vengsarkar & Co., interesting times ahead!

That the IPL management (comprising of Lalit Modi, Lalit Modi, and Lalit Modi) managed to get the likes of Tom Moody, John Buchanan, Greg Chappell, and Martin Crowe to be in charge of the teams. You will wonder if it was the same board that struggled to even find a list of people to call for the Indian coach's job. In fact, the BCCI made such a monkey (not a racist slur—we worship Hanuman!) of itself that it called two candidates, one who had suspect credentials (of coaching South Africa) and the other whose name was added to make it look like a list! Now, the glitterati are coming to India. The Adelaide curator is also coming to create nice cricket wickets. Mr. Modi, couldn't you have done all this to the Duleep Trophy and Ranji Trophy, your premier tournaments. Wonder, what Lalu Rajput would be saying? "Mummy, I want a team too!"

That everybody from Ness Wadia to Shahrukh Khan is talking about Indian domestic cricket. No longer, will first-class cricketers be looked at as "domestic" helps (obviously pun intended!), so say the city club honchos. Therefore, you have a situation where money is splurged into a format that is not even the mainstream format. The players say that playing Tests for their countries is the ultimate thing! If that is the case, am I wrong to infer that the players will not play the IPL with that intensity? Can this imply that the quality of cricket will not be that great? In that case, why should I watch it? Rather, why should anyone watch it?

That everybody is gushing over how Anil Kumble will get to bowl to Sachin Tendulkar and that Brett Lee will finally have a go at Mathew Hayden and Ricky Ponting. They will only get a 4-over spell and that too in a format that has field restriction! Sorry, this does not work for me. Ask Kumble and he will tell you that he would rather bowl to Tendulkar with a slip and couple of others in close-in positions. Can his captain give him that luxury? I am not sure. So, is the Indian public short-changed again? You will probably see a heavyweight bout with one of the contender's arms tied up!

That I recently saw a news item where Channel Nine stopped telecast of a one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka. Increasingly, cricket administrators are finding it difficult to fill stadiums ( or find enough TV viewers) for neutral games. The Champions Trophy matches held in October 2006 in India, not featuring India, were played to empty stands. I asked myself," Will I go and watch Joginder Sharma bowl at Stephen Fleming?" (I hope they are not teamed together.) NOOOOOOOO! OK, where do I go and watch that happen? In an Indian stadium—we don't have a decent stadium! For years, cricket administrators have short-changed paying spectators by providing them with broken wooden chairs and leaky toilets in the cricket stadiums. Somebody screamed, "TV rights hai na." Last morning I asked my dhobi (who provides a daily analysis to the other support staff in my building on the day's cricket news),"IPL aa raha hai. Tum dekhoge?” "Nahin saab, ismein India kahaan hai? India ke match ho toh mazaa hai." I wished I had taped this and sent it to Lalit Modi.

The night ends and all that........

I watched Nishant last night. I had picked up the VCD over the weekend. What a movie! For the uninitiated, Nishant was directed by Shyam Benegal in the mid-70's. The story written by Vijay Tendulkar and set in 40’s is about four brothers who rule a village in Andhra Pradesh with an iron hand and then how a rebellion overthrows them in a super climax!

The movie has few standout points!

What an ensemble of talent! Naseeruddin Shah, Anant Nag, Mohan Agashe, Amrish Puri, Girish Karnad, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, and Kulbushan Kharbanda light up the screen with their electric performances. None of them is wasted in the movie—that is a tribute to the maker. None of them tries to upstage the other in the movie. Even the unsung Sadhu Meher is brilliant in a cameo.

The movie takes you to that era—an era you will find it difficult to relate to if you have led sheltered lives in cities. If a book or a movie can take you to that era and through the story provide a social commentary of the times and the place, the job of the maker is done! This movie is no exception—it takes you to that era and you can relate to those characters, empathise with them and feel for them!

A case in point is a verbal exchange between Karnad, the schoolteacher whose wife has been kidnapped by the lecherous brothers and Kharbanda, the corrupt cop.
Kharbanda: Why do you want to register a complaint?
Karnad: Because she is my wife
Kharbanda: Even if she comes back, will she be your wife? Then why complaint?
(I felt like slapping the cop!)

There is another scene where the hostage, played by Azmi, begins to flex her muscles, much to the dislike of the wife, played by Patil. Shah, who is smitten by her, rushes to his elder brother, played by Puri, for a solution. The elder chieftain, with a deadpan expression, says, “Keep emotions out of a relationship. You already have a wife at home." Riveting stuff!

Two 'Shants' and few stray thoughts..........

I did not see the match yesterday. I do not follow one-day cricket—probably because I want a contest between bat and ball and one-day cricket is hopelessly loaded in favor of batsman. Anyways I switched on the TV set and followed the proceedings for an hour. I had to go for my Art of Living workshop—so I was out of touch! I saw the highlights in the evening and liked what I saw.

Few stray thoughts in Busybee’s style!
That it was the quickest bowling partnership, I had seen in my life. For the first time, I saw two Indian fast bowlers running in quick and bowling with fire! That was a watershed moment! Ram Guha felt that the opening over Kapil bowled to Sadiq Mohammed in 78-79 was a watershed moment. For the first time, an opening bowler forced the batsman on to the back foot so much so that Sadiq Mohammed was forced to give up his white Panama hat and put on a helmet! Non-violent Indian Attack, RIP! Yesterday, we went a notch higher. The two ‘Shants’ had me in delirium—they were bowling beautifully. Yes, quick bowling can be a treat to watch! Hope these people carry on!

That Rohit Sharma looks set to dominate the Indian batting lineup! You can sense a batsman’s class from his stride to the wicket, his stance, his poise, etc. In Rohit’s case, he has all that plus an unflappable temperament along with a hunger to do well against the best. What he must and he will is that he goes back to domestic cricket and converts all those starts into big hundreds—what the Fab Four did to break into the Indian team. He is speaking to the Little Master and I am sure it will rub off on him. It was evident yesterday when he collected his runs calmly, a sign of maturity. Yes, that was another watershed moment. We have found one replacement and we need three more!

That I saw Yuvraj fielding at mid-off, so what? He is our best fielder, so he must field at point. Says who? Then I watched closely! Hayden is batting and he loves to drive straight—he would be wary of Yuvraj at mid-off. He has to do something different—which he does—he goes for an expansive cover-drive and edges to Dhoni. Whoever thought of this field placement? That was so out-of-the-box! I looked at the whole dismissal closely—there was a plan! It told me that Dhoni and his men were becoming tactically shrewd. Maybe, this could be a watershed moment!

That Dhoni has emerged as a keeper of some merit on this tour! He showed that during the Test series and yesterday he reminded people of his glovework when he effected that stumping off Bhajji! What a dismissal? I am not completely sure about Dhoni the Captain! (Pathan as a pinch hitter was a shocker!) But yes, Dhoni, the keeper and Dhoni the reliable lower order batsman is something Indian cricket should be happy about. One thing the Indian cricket fans must accept is that Dhoni is not Viv Richards, when it comes to batting, he is at best Ravi Shastri, ugly, inelegant, at times dour, but effective! Like Shastri, there are only two gears in his batting, neutral and top! Therefore, people, lower your expectations and allow the man to be himself. His calming presence on the field as well as while batting is refreshing—another watershed moment?

What is a watershed moment? I seem to like the word. I quickly went to a dictionary Web site and looked at the meaning.

From Dictionary.com:
wa•ter•shed P Pronunciation Key (wôtr-shd, wtr-)
n.
A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. Also called water parting.
The region draining into a river, river system, or other body of water.
A critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point: "a watershed in modern American history, a time that... forever changed American social attitudes" (Robert Reinhold).

Why am I making all this a big deal? Am I getting over excited? Am I seeing ‘course-changing-critical points’ where there are none. You cannot find four such moments in a 100-over game. May be? May be not? I found four, probably because I was looking for them. Yes, Mr. Ponting, you may disagree with me, Indian cricket is moving forward and the results are heartwarming! Also, Pawar kaka and Lalitbhai, all this is pure serendipity!

Taare Zameen Par

Normally I look forward to an Aamir Khan movie! I have never wondered why! Probably it’s to do with the mystique surrounding the man—you’re not sure what to expect! Maybe, his releases happen once in two years that expectancy is naturally built.

Therefore, when Taare Zameen Par hit the screens, I was one of the earliest ones to book tickets and catch up the movie. This is not a review column—I shall not dwell on the movie per se.

When I came out of the movie hall, I had the following thoughts:

That Aamir Khan is a damn good director. The movie is his vehicle as a director and he has not done a bad job!

That Prasun Joshi will go and become another Gulzar (and Javed Akhthar of better times)! Some of the lines in the songs are so true! I don’t want to pick any favorite.

That Shahrukh Khan should learn a lesson or two from Aamir on how to use his stature to move away from his safety-first brand of cinema.

That movies like Taare Zameen Par (and Chak De India) worked because of great writing! The success of these movies must excite movie makers with great scripts to take the proverbial plunge. It’s not difficult to point out similarities between the two—unconventional heroes and no heroines.

That I will definitely see the movie again!

(P.S. I am writing this piece a month after I saw the movie.)

Model Champions, Eh!

I first saw John McEnroe play in the Match of the Century―Wimbledon 1980. It was that long ago. Those days we had a Dyanora (anybody?) B/W television set―that is not the point. I was hooked on to the game. More than that, John McEnroe became a personal favorite. He could do no wrong―his on-court misdemeanors did not matter to me―his presence on the court was all that mattered. Those days, Doordarshan showed only the Wimbledon final―so one looked forward to the annual McEnroe darshan.

Few years later, our school had invited some visiting American schoolteachers as part of some exchange program. During our tête-à-tête with the teachers, somebody asked, “Do kids in the U.S. look upto McEnroe as some of us here in India?” The teacher said, “McEnroe was a bad example. He was considered as someone who was rude and uncivil.” THUD! I was brought to Ground Zero. Yeh sunne ke pehle mere kaan kyun fat nahin gaye! Probably what the teacher said made sense. Probably what helped was that a month back, he had lost to the big-serving Kevin Curren 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in a Wimbledon Q/F match. I would not know―I only knew that the Big Mac had fallen in my esteem.



The other day, I was watching Federer’s comments after his straight sets loss to Djokovic—his first straight sets defeat in 4 years! A record to be proud of and a thrashing enough to rattle even the best! ''I have created a monster, so I know I need to always win every tournament. It is not easy coming out every week trying to win.'' I switched off the set in utter disbelief. Disbelief because I was wondering! Isn’t Federer human? What’s wrong with him? Can’t he come up with some excuses? No, that’s Federer. He is blessed with equanimity of robotic proportions! For someone blessed with such incredible talent, he is a humble man, not fazed by victories, forget defeats! He probably knows that he has a limited shelf life at the top and makes best use of his incredible talent. Probably that is why I want him to win every time he steps onto the court. The more I see him play, the more my ideals on fair play, grace, humility, and everything nice are reinforced.

But I know that bubble will burst someday………..Somebody will step on to the court and do a Hewitt-like ‘Come-On’ when an opponent hits long or wide. I will probably switch off the television. This time it will be out of DISGUST!!

Where are the Crowd Pullers? (Part 1)

Gilchrist retires from international cricket!

This news item shook me. He probably belonged to the last of the crowd pullers left in the game.

Who is a crowd puller? According to the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, a crowd puller is something or someone that many people are keen to go and see.

I have watched the game for close to three decades. There have been players who have captured my imagination over the years.

The West Indian team of the eighties was for me the greatest crowd pullers. I do not think any other team, including the current Aussie team, who were as feared as these people were. When they batted, they murdered bowling attacks, but without losing their flair. When they bowled, they bowled very fast but there was some grace in their effort!!



I cannot think of anyone who cut and pulled as ferociously as Gordon Greenidge. A short ball and a moment later, the ball was fetched from the point boundary or the square leg boundary. His partner-in-crime was the gum-chewing Desmond Haynes. Today’s generation talk glowingly about the Hayden-Langer partnership. I may sound biased probably but it was wonderful watching the West Indian duo play.

Whenever the first West Indian wicket fell, in walked another gum-chewing batsman. I cannot remember any player who created a fan following as much for his swaggering walk to the crease as much for his destructive batting. I follow tennis and watch Federer play unbelievable, yet attractive tennis (most of the time in utter disbelief)—I dare say Richards was like that. He could play incredible shots! I never saw him play with a helmet—he had such a tight technique! It was magic to see him walk up to the batting crease and score those runs.

Clive Lloyd was a giant, in every sense! He was a tall figure—he could be intimidating whenever he crouched, leave alone hold a bat! The sight of Lloyd in the first slip with Richards and Roger Harper for company was not something the batsman looked forward to—it was exhilarating to see them move effortlessly to pull off those blinders! Watching them pouch catches was a treat to behold!


The West Indians made fast bowling a treat to behold. Who can forget Andy Roberts running in and bowl a sharp bouncer, just about missing the batsman’s head? The next ball would be a fuller length delivery and the batsman is gone, caught on the crease, and ‘caught behind’! If the batsman played out a Roberts over, they had to reckon with Holding! Holding’s motion to the crease was like Rolls Royce (not my term!). Then you had the Big Bird, Joel Garner. He was 6 ft 6 inches tall and he bowled deliveries from almost 9 feet. Imagine him bowl to a batsman like Gavaskar who was 5 feet 5 inches—it can give you goose bumps! Marshall was an unconventional fast bowler—short and ever smiling. I can vividly remember him run from a long run-up, round the wicket and aimed at the batsman’s body. After "the strike," he would walk to the top of his run-up with an endearing smile.

Those were the smiling ‘assassins’! We would throng the TV sets to watch these guys play. They were never short of intensity and played the game ‘hard’ (don’t ask me what that means!). But they did so with some amount of grace ala the great Federer!

Gilly's Legacy

Gaawn! The crowd is going wild at the Adelaide Oval!

I can imagine Bill Lawry uttering this when Adam Gilchrist (Gilly) was dismissed for the last time in his Test career. That dismissal marked the end of an era! An era, which began 12 years back when little Kaluvitarana took strike at the top of the order and struck a magnificent hundred against the Aussies. An idea was born. We often credit the Aussies with innovative tactics, which is not always true. In this case, Arjuna Ranatunga came up with this novel idea. It took a good one year and a World Cup final defeat for the Aussies to discover that they had a player—Gilchrist—who could do a Kalu regularly.

The advent and subsequent success of Gilly introduced a new meaning to the word ‘balance’ to the cricketing lexicon. Earlier, when you mentioned the word ‘balance’, you were talking about a batsman’s poise at the crease. Now the word ‘balance’ means who will play where! In the last decade, coaches and captains have brought in players into the eleven only to bring in ‘balance to the team.’ How can you explain Duncan Fletcher’s vision of creating a Gilly out of Geraint Jones? On the other hand, the Aussie gem of an experiment of creating a Freddie out of Shane Watson? Even more ridiculous was the English insistence on playing Ashley Giles over Monty Panesar—Fletch thought that if the Aussies had Warne, we had Giles at No.8! We shall compete man-to-man, position-to-position! Sound outrageous! Pakistan is still trying to create a Gilly out of Akmal—the whole world can see that he is a shoddy wicket keeper! The list continues… (Please note that I am not mentioning Dhoni. Enough has been said on him.)

All this in the name of bringing in balance to the team. Nobody is talking about skills anymore. What is also forgotten is that someone like Gilly was proficient in both the departments—therefore the term ‘balance’ made sense. Similarly, when Monty was always likely to pick up more wickets than Giles, why Giles?

In most cases, the tactic has not worked, not surprisingly!

To Adapt is to Make Fit!!

Sometime back, I saw Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara. I was seeing it again, having seen it a year back when it hit the movie halls. I remember reading some interesting reviews on the movie. Some reviewers were not comfortable with an adaptation of a Shakespearean classic—it was sacrilege!

According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, to adapt means to make fit (as for a specific or new use or situation) often by modification. Omkara was always an adaptation. Othello could never be Omkara and Desdemona was never Dolly. Besides, the movie was set in UP. Obviously, it was going to be different. To expect the movie to be true to the great play was nothing short of unfounded expectation. As an avid cinemagoer, I believe that a movie is essentially a story telling session. Let us also realize that Shakespeare was as much a storyteller as Vishal Bharadwaj is—only their modes of expression have been different. If Shakespeare set his characters in a particular era and in a particular area, Vishal has set his characters in a different era and in a different milieu. Many of us have read Othello and most of us, who have read Othello, went and saw Omkara. We did not see Othello—we only saw Omkara and that was his story!

I believe that all of us base our opinions on a particular book or a movie (or for that matter any issue in life) on some of our own prejudices. Often, this affects our objectivity. Years ago, I read Mario Puzo’s book on Godfather. Sometime later, I caught up with the televised version of Coppola’s great movie on Doordarshan. I felt that the movie is no patch on the book. It was perhaps a knee jerk reaction because subsequently when I watched the movies (the entire series) on VHS, I began to appreciate the difference between the two mediums of expression.

I happened to see The Departed, a fortnight back. I had seen the original movie Infernal Affairs on DVD. Scorsese’s movie was set in different surroundings in a different country. Obviously, the movie had to be different. If I had gone looking for Yan and Ming in The Departed, I would have disappointed. In no way, The Departed is an insipid movie. Scorsese does manage to tell me a story as enthralling as the one told by M/S Lau and Mak.

Recently, I also happened to watch the movie ‘Sunset Boulevard.’ For the uninitiated, the legendary Billy Wilder directed the movie in 1950. Wilder’s movies stood out for their outstanding screenplays and each of his movies could be adapted to other forms such as theater. This movie is no different and subsequently a decade back, Andrew Lloyd Webber staged a successful musical based on the movie. Knowing Webber and also the medium, the treatment would have been different (so I presume since I cannot afford a trip to the Broadway!). The musical was appreciated as much as the movie. In fact, Billy Wilder is reported to have been quite pleased with Webber’s effort. I am sure if Shakespeare had lived to see Omkara, he too would have been happy!

Before I wind up, I must confess that neither have I been engaged by Vishal Bharadwaj to defend his movie nor am I on the payroll of Martin Scorsese, Lau and Mak, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. I have only tried to add my two-bit on this adaptation debate! Let the adaptations roll on…