Achtung ! : This is not the official review of the movie Omkara .. just some reasons why I think you should watch it.
I'd never thought of Ajay Devgan to be a method actor. I'd liked him in "Company" but I never really admired his acting skills. Ok, for the record, I don't really watch a lot of hindi movies but do catch the popular ones on and off. Coming back to Devgan ... the only picture I had of him before playing "Omi bhaiyya" is the one from Vijaypath. With his legs balanced on two bikes .. trying to look cool in those tacky shades. Never would have imagined that he could play a character like the one in Omkara with such finesse.
Saif Ali Khan playing "Langda Tyaagi" aka Iswar Bhaiyya - what do I say about this guy. What a stark contrast to the lovey-dovey-chocolate-boy-comedy hero that he usually plays ! I don't know whether it was the constant swearing or the way he plots his revenge against Omkara that made me like his character the most !
The language and the music of the film is truly unique for our times. Haven't read Othello but I'm pretty sure it might not be as entertaining as Omkara.
From "Beedi" to "Namak", with Bipasha Basu strutting her stuff (she was just used as a glam doll, I think, or atleast the film demanded that of her) to "Laakad" and "O Saathi Re", Vishal Bharadwaj, the director cum music director of this movie, has done complete justice to the lyrics of Gulzar saab. Just to sample some "laakad jal ke koyla hoy jaaye .. khaak .. jiya jale toh kuch na hoi re .. naa dhua na raakh ... jiya na jalaiyyo re ...hai .. jiya na lagaiyyo re".
The flow of the movie is simply too good with no part being too long or too short. The songs are perfectly placed and the background score is simply superb ! No wonder I play the songs over and over again while travelling or whilst doing my daily chores ! Have watched the movie seven times already and I don't intend to stop ! Haven't watched it yet ?! I highly recommed you do, trust me !
Friday, June 8, 2007
Heading Home ...
I think everyone has had this point in life when you're away from home and just waiting to come back. I remember the day I arrived here in Libya. It was the start of my three months' stay here in the land of the Arabs. Had just finished three fruitful months in Germany and it was time for some action - read - on site support.
Let's see - new country - new continent - not as advanced as India, lets not even compare it to Germany ! Had this feeling - how the heck will I survive this "vanvaas" of three months. Looking back now to the time that has passed - I survived !
The first thing that caught my eye when I reached Tripoli, the capital, was sand. Sand was on the roads, there were times when there were no roads ... just some sand - sorry .. those were roads but made up of sand. That is when I said to myself, like Leonardo DiCaprio did in the movie "Blood Diamond" - "TIA" - This Is Africa !
In the three days that I spent in Tripoli, I acquainted myself with some "hot spots" of the city - the major crowd pullers - Green Square at the city center and a couple of streets famous for joints and shopping. Three days is all I got after which I travelled a thousand kilometers east of Tripoli to the city of Benghazi - which turned out to be my favourite.
Benghazi, the city of people as warm and lovely as the Mediterranean sea that borders it -making the most amazing of beaches. It's amazing how a thousand kilometers and a difference in the pre-occupation of the land can make a big difference in attitudes. I saw more of that this time when I was in Benghazi for a longer duration of time. People are more energetic, enthusiastic and appreciate good work. May be thats the reason why I'm praying to come here whenever I'm assigned this on-site job next.
Tomorrow, I'm bidding goodbye to Benghazi as I make my way to Tripoli for my final two days in Libya. I'm heading home ! It's so interesting that when you know you're going home after five months albeit only for two weeks, that days don't pass by as quick ! Someone's waiting for me ... eyes will light up as I'll get done with the formalities at the airport - have had this feeling last time. Be it 3:45 in the morning or whenever - the kind of rush that gets in to me when I've been away for such a long time and I'm just moments away from seeing her is ... simply not possible to put in to words !
Next stop - Mumbai City !
Let's see - new country - new continent - not as advanced as India, lets not even compare it to Germany ! Had this feeling - how the heck will I survive this "vanvaas" of three months. Looking back now to the time that has passed - I survived !
The first thing that caught my eye when I reached Tripoli, the capital, was sand. Sand was on the roads, there were times when there were no roads ... just some sand - sorry .. those were roads but made up of sand. That is when I said to myself, like Leonardo DiCaprio did in the movie "Blood Diamond" - "TIA" - This Is Africa !
In the three days that I spent in Tripoli, I acquainted myself with some "hot spots" of the city - the major crowd pullers - Green Square at the city center and a couple of streets famous for joints and shopping. Three days is all I got after which I travelled a thousand kilometers east of Tripoli to the city of Benghazi - which turned out to be my favourite.
Benghazi, the city of people as warm and lovely as the Mediterranean sea that borders it -making the most amazing of beaches. It's amazing how a thousand kilometers and a difference in the pre-occupation of the land can make a big difference in attitudes. I saw more of that this time when I was in Benghazi for a longer duration of time. People are more energetic, enthusiastic and appreciate good work. May be thats the reason why I'm praying to come here whenever I'm assigned this on-site job next.
Tomorrow, I'm bidding goodbye to Benghazi as I make my way to Tripoli for my final two days in Libya. I'm heading home ! It's so interesting that when you know you're going home after five months albeit only for two weeks, that days don't pass by as quick ! Someone's waiting for me ... eyes will light up as I'll get done with the formalities at the airport - have had this feeling last time. Be it 3:45 in the morning or whenever - the kind of rush that gets in to me when I've been away for such a long time and I'm just moments away from seeing her is ... simply not possible to put in to words !
Next stop - Mumbai City !
Friday, June 1, 2007
The Beautiful Beach at Benghazi
I think I just saw the most beautiful beach today ! The Mediterranean sea was at it's best when I walked on the sun-kissed beach this evening. Haven't seen a riot of colours like these. The greens and the blues mixed with the whites of the waves ... seemed like heaven. The sun was perfectly poised for a photo-op and I obliged ! The photos from my "plain-jane" 3.0 mega pixel camera turned out to be .. well .. suprisingly great !
Decide for yourself, is this nature at it's best ?
http://picasaweb.google.com/ravibilgi/TheBeachAtBenghazi?authkey=xV4Gk0_TbJ4
Decide for yourself, is this nature at it's best ?
http://picasaweb.google.com/ravibilgi/TheBeachAtBenghazi?authkey=xV4Gk0_TbJ4
Hills & Clouds
I'm sitting here, on a rainy day,
Looking at cloud-hugging hills so far away,
Thinking, if those clouds really know,
That those hills, they'll just come and go ...
But there'll be a hill so special and sweet,
To help the clouds form rain or sleet,
Like a true friend who'll always be there,
Through thick and thin or joys and despair ...
So, I asked the clouds, "When will it be,
When I'll have a friend, someone like thee ?"
The clouds said "You'll have to search no more,
For HE has swept for you a pearl ashore !"
I searched the sands time and again,
Couldn't find that friend for years on end,
But finally when I did see the gem,
Seemed like life had turned over again !
A few moments spent with that special one,
Seemed as though an eon had gone,
"I've found my hill", I told them all ...
"Now", they said, "love as rain should fall ..."
Looking at cloud-hugging hills so far away,
Thinking, if those clouds really know,
That those hills, they'll just come and go ...
But there'll be a hill so special and sweet,
To help the clouds form rain or sleet,
Like a true friend who'll always be there,
Through thick and thin or joys and despair ...
So, I asked the clouds, "When will it be,
When I'll have a friend, someone like thee ?"
The clouds said "You'll have to search no more,
For HE has swept for you a pearl ashore !"
I searched the sands time and again,
Couldn't find that friend for years on end,
But finally when I did see the gem,
Seemed like life had turned over again !
A few moments spent with that special one,
Seemed as though an eon had gone,
"I've found my hill", I told them all ...
"Now", they said, "love as rain should fall ..."
Thursday, May 31, 2007
One world ...
This has been looooong overdue. Have been told by a lot of people that I have the power, that I am the chosen one ! The ability to express through writing is my forte, so I thought it's about time I started utilising my free time in more constructive ways rather than watching the Al Jazeera network all day long ! So ... here goes nothing !
One World ...
What is the one thing that binds us all - people of the world together ? I used to think and believe, if all the human race's beginnings were traced back to a couple of homo sapiens that walked the planet, then we - the inhabitants of this lovely "3rd rock from the sun" should be more alike than different ! I think I'm seeing traces of that every single day.
Be it here in Libya or in Europe, I really get the feeling of a unified race - the human race.
Where do I begin ? The language ? Time and again, I'm amazed to see people from Germany or Libya using words that I use back home in India. From "ananas" meaning pineapple in Marathi and Deutsche to "mushkila" in Urdu and Arabic. "Maujood", "lekin", "hansa" (from the airline, Lufthansa- luft meaning air) to name a few, make my belief stronger in the fact that we were all born from the same womb. Yet, time and again when I watch news channels (and I do that a hell lot more now a days, living alone in the city of Benghazi), I see hatred among people. Be it the Israelis against the entire Arab world, the Tamil Tigers against the Lankans or the Iraqis against the "coalition of the willing" - Bush and his cronies to be more precise. Time and again, day after day ... they don't even make it to the headlines as its so common these days "20 killed" , "40 killed", "a hundred killed". It's a surprise if a day goes by without any violence in the world.
What have we come to ? Makes me want to get up and give one tight slap (like they used to show on MTV) to people who're causing this and say, "hey, look, we're one , we're alike, why fight and shed blood when we can live in peace and harmony ?!". But thats not going to be as easy as it sounds is it ?
Moving over to my second passion in life ... music ... first one being food (doh!), I'm amazed at what the world is listening to. One of the first "english" songs I listened to was "everything I do, I do it for you" - the OST from Robinhood. The first song was "Nothing's gonna change my love for you" - but coming back to the point, in those days, almost everyone my age who listened to "english" music used to listen to Bryan Adams. He was like the first car your family buys - a Maruti - and by default if you didn't listen to him, you were surely missing something in life ! Fast forward fifteen years, here I am, in this land of the Arabs - oops - Reaallllly down south of Europe, in a place called Libya, trying to talk in english ... correction ... broken english .. with a group of people, trying to put across a point as to why a "switch gear truck" is a combination of two isolators and a circuit breaker.... and out of sheer frustration, I start my laptop and play a random song from my i-Tunes player and it sings out, "a lil' love ... just a lil' love .. a lil' love .. can change it all". The guy who usually talks in the following manner ... "you come - me , we go Benghazi city zoo, tomorrow, inshallah !", say, "Bryan Adams, I like !". I'm dumbfounded ... I'm floored by his liking to Bryan Adams' music. "You listen to Bryan Adams too ? I see show in Bombay ... nice nice ... 800 Rupees for show .. ticket !". At this point of time he wears a confused look on his face as to how much money did I really spend on this concert ticket. I reach out for my cell phone and short cut my way to the calculator and say "25 Libyan Dinars". "Very cheap .. India !", he exclaimed. I nodded in silence knowing that his country has all the oil in the world and that is the only reason why we're milking his company and stuffing it in our pockets . That left a grin on my face for roughly fifteen seconds, then it was "snap back to reality" and training the people on the intricacies of Electrical Engineering !
One World ...
What is the one thing that binds us all - people of the world together ? I used to think and believe, if all the human race's beginnings were traced back to a couple of homo sapiens that walked the planet, then we - the inhabitants of this lovely "3rd rock from the sun" should be more alike than different ! I think I'm seeing traces of that every single day.
Be it here in Libya or in Europe, I really get the feeling of a unified race - the human race.
Where do I begin ? The language ? Time and again, I'm amazed to see people from Germany or Libya using words that I use back home in India. From "ananas" meaning pineapple in Marathi and Deutsche to "mushkila" in Urdu and Arabic. "Maujood", "lekin", "hansa" (from the airline, Lufthansa- luft meaning air) to name a few, make my belief stronger in the fact that we were all born from the same womb. Yet, time and again when I watch news channels (and I do that a hell lot more now a days, living alone in the city of Benghazi), I see hatred among people. Be it the Israelis against the entire Arab world, the Tamil Tigers against the Lankans or the Iraqis against the "coalition of the willing" - Bush and his cronies to be more precise. Time and again, day after day ... they don't even make it to the headlines as its so common these days "20 killed" , "40 killed", "a hundred killed". It's a surprise if a day goes by without any violence in the world.
What have we come to ? Makes me want to get up and give one tight slap (like they used to show on MTV) to people who're causing this and say, "hey, look, we're one , we're alike, why fight and shed blood when we can live in peace and harmony ?!". But thats not going to be as easy as it sounds is it ?
Moving over to my second passion in life ... music ... first one being food (doh!), I'm amazed at what the world is listening to. One of the first "english" songs I listened to was "everything I do, I do it for you" - the OST from Robinhood. The first song was "Nothing's gonna change my love for you" - but coming back to the point, in those days, almost everyone my age who listened to "english" music used to listen to Bryan Adams. He was like the first car your family buys - a Maruti - and by default if you didn't listen to him, you were surely missing something in life ! Fast forward fifteen years, here I am, in this land of the Arabs - oops - Reaallllly down south of Europe, in a place called Libya, trying to talk in english ... correction ... broken english .. with a group of people, trying to put across a point as to why a "switch gear truck" is a combination of two isolators and a circuit breaker.... and out of sheer frustration, I start my laptop and play a random song from my i-Tunes player and it sings out, "a lil' love ... just a lil' love .. a lil' love .. can change it all". The guy who usually talks in the following manner ... "you come - me , we go Benghazi city zoo, tomorrow, inshallah !", say, "Bryan Adams, I like !". I'm dumbfounded ... I'm floored by his liking to Bryan Adams' music. "You listen to Bryan Adams too ? I see show in Bombay ... nice nice ... 800 Rupees for show .. ticket !". At this point of time he wears a confused look on his face as to how much money did I really spend on this concert ticket. I reach out for my cell phone and short cut my way to the calculator and say "25 Libyan Dinars". "Very cheap .. India !", he exclaimed. I nodded in silence knowing that his country has all the oil in the world and that is the only reason why we're milking his company and stuffing it in our pockets . That left a grin on my face for roughly fifteen seconds, then it was "snap back to reality" and training the people on the intricacies of Electrical Engineering !
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