When you are really, really sad - revisited

Chocolate helps but you do not like my idea. Here's another way to dispel sadness ...

Read Calvin and Hobbes.

I just got the Book one of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes from the library and cannot help feeling so light and fresh after reading just the first 81 pages. Many of these I have read so many times, but Calvin and Hobbes have this gift of remaining fresh and whacky for ever.

I know the comic lovers will crucify me, but I think Calvin & Hobbes is better than Peanuts. Bill Watterson is the greatest.

Indian Cine Goers Can Rejoice

In the cinema crazy India these two pieces of news should have made headlines. I mean surely this is more interesting than nuclear deal ;-)

1) We backed up the right horse.
Bollywood movies help sell Polish Newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. Polish love Sha Rukh Khan. See here for the full news.


2) Our clout is growing.
The new Bond Film - Quantum of Solace - will be released in India one week before it is released in the US. See here for the full news.

Note: The photograph used belongs to Christian Wagner. Please go here to see more such photographs.

TZP for the Oscars

Another year. Another good movie sent as India's entry to the Oscar. And with it hopes of a few hundred Indians that this year we will make it at the Oscar.

But what is this craze?
Are we so hungry for recognition by the west? Are Oscars the ultimate in recognition of cinematic quality? Shouldn't cinema be judged by the audience? If it is a box office hit, then the movie is good.

Ok, so it is nice to see where you stand in world competition? But Oscar is no Olympics. And how does one compare two different styles of cinema?

The Oscars have sold themselves rather well, I must say. The glitz and glamour has obviously caught the imagination of the Indians. But does every news channel and newspaper have to carry this news as a breaking news / front page news?

And is there a commercial angle to it? If we win the Oscars will the western market open up for Indian cinema? I wish someone would do an ROI analysis.

Having said that, Tarre Zamin Par is a good movie. I hope it wins ;-) I am a die hard Hindi movie fan, after all.