Entertainment – Page 3

Learning hard truth the fun way

When I started music blogging, I got too excited about the concept and started posting songs almost everyday. The prospects of reaching out to a wider world from my house in this southern tip of India and receiving welcoming comments had totally got me excited. Then came collaborations and I sang anything and everything that I felt like singing. But now when I hear the songs again, I see a lot of scope for improvement in each of them (this is not the humility that already successful people show-off, by the way; just pure realization of my mediocrity). I think my latter recordings are way better than the old ones.

So there was this one song cover I did with Anup Nandialath, a wonderful guitarist whom I first met in the online world and then in the real world. This was Hotel California cover (Yes, I hear your “How-dare-you”s 😉 ). Needless to say, apart from the beautiful guitars that Anup played, my voice and style did not do justice to the song at all. When I moved my song cover MP3s to 4shared, I kept it in there. I hadn’t really looked at the song statistics since then but today I was just checking 4shared and I saw 14,981 downloads!

I was like – whaaaaat! This song was downloaded 14,981 times?! But then I realized that the poor souls who downloaded the song did so by falling for the song name and there was no indication that it was a song cover. I made it sure by going through the comments. While there are four “Thank You”s (yeah, LOL!), one guy wrote “thank you for screwing up Eagles“. Then there was another guy who really made me delete the file from there right away. 😀 It goes like this:

WTF is singing this? :p You raped the song bro. I wanted the eagles song, i got a crow singing. Deleted, looking for the real song again, thanks for wasting my time. Do us all a favor and don’t upload the songs you sing yourself, nobody cares. you scared my dog.

I couldn’t help laughing out aloud on this. 😀 No, I did not really mean to scare him or his dog so I deleted the file instantly. Now I am going to check all the other songs and going to delete anything such as this that might have scared people away. 😀 And this also makes me realize one thing. One should know what he can do best and stick on to it (though I believe there is no harm in trying though!). 😉

And interestingly, one comment says “F*** Israel” just about 15 days ago and another person nodding “Yeah!” to that comment just 5 days ago. Do I really sound like an Israeli?!

Blogswaraites have gone mainstream!

Sindhuja Bhaktavatsalam

Divya S Menon

Praveen

Praveen Lakkaraju

Sreenivas Josyula

After TSJ Studio, who have made their entry into Tamil film music recently, few more talented people who have worked with Blogswara earlier have made their debut in the mainstream film music industry. Divya S Menon, though she had lent her voice earlier in the movies, has sung a solo song called “Anuraagam” in the upcoming Malayalam movie “Thattathin Marayathu“. Sindhuja Bhaktavatsalam sang “Vatapi Ganapatim” for the Telugu movie “Hormones” that is set to music by Blogswara artists Praveen Lakkaraju and Sreenivas Josyula. Wishing all the very vest to these artists for a bright musical career!

Blogswara Version 8 – inviting entries!

Blogswara is inviting entries for the 8th online album. Those who are interested may leave a comment in our blog and go through the process page. Even though I was contemplating the relevance of Blogswara among an increased number of platforms available to musicians, I have been convinced that still a lot of people are looking forward to Blogswara to showcase their original work. So the journey started way back in 2006 is still going strong after six years and now on to the eighth album! Welcome aboard.

About watching movies

I’ve got to read an article by Roger Ebert through a Google group of movie buffs. Mr. Ebert’s article was titled “Why I’m so conservative“. Not in politics, he says, but in his thinking about movies. Basically he is saying that he likes watching movies in projection theaters than in digital format. That got me thinking about my experiences of watching movies in cinema halls and why I would prefer a home theater experience instead. (Disclaimer: This is about my experience in watching movies in theaters in India and I mention that particularly because somebody said that the theater experience in USA is different from that of here).

The experience of watching movies on a big screen is different. It leads you to a new world, an amazingly wider world of reality and fantasy. But watching a movie in cinema halls in India is just that – watching, and not enjoying. It depends a lot on the projector, it’s operator, the crowd, the atmosphere that the cinema halls gives you, the screen, sound and so on. If one of them fails, you would never be able to appreciate a movie for what it is.

In some theaters, they project a 70mm movie in 35mm on a 70mm screen. Sometimes it goes out of focus, scenes slightly blurred. When you watch a 3D movie, which is supposed to give you a more real cinema experience, you can see some folds and dirt marks on the screen and so you end up constantly reminded that you are ‘watching’ a movie. Sometimes our good old ‘film editors’ in the projection room do their own cuts and edits. So you abruptly jump between frames or scenes. Audio in some theaters, even the ‘good ones’, turns out to be just ‘noise’ sometimes. The ambiance that the movie halls provide also matters in enjoying a movie or giving your full attention to it. In some theaters, you’d wish they had a better cooling air conditioner and in some others you wish they had a heater. Then there is the crowd. Some would push you to the sides of your chairs and some would play games to win the space for arm rest of the chair.

You think multiplexes are good, but they are a vast abode of bored people. Some of the problems mentioned above apply to multiplexes too (or at least the ones I went to, in Bangalore). And if you are watching a Hollywood movie, you are doomed. People would laugh out aloud even at the silliest joke in an English movie which does not usually happen when they watch regional language movies. You would be left wondering if the joke was something that you did not understand because of the language. I’ve felt it as if the multiplex audience, while watching English movies, wants to convince others that they do understand the language (which is – understanding English language – considered as a sign of education and intellect in India). So you would end up hearing laughter outbursts every now and then with a semi-loud chatter. As an aside, it is largely in two types of places that I have seen people trying to convince others, mostly strangers to them, that they do understand the language and appreciate cinema – in multiplexes and film festivals.

When I watch a movie in my laptop or at home theater, none of these problems affect me. The only thing I really miss is the screen size. There are many advantages to watching a movie at home. I can adjust the light and sound as I like it. That gives me a feeling that I am also being a part of the movie presentation. Ebert says, ‘projected’ is good. I think it is eery. It gives me a feeling that somebody is hiding behind me to control what I see. That doesn’t feel free. When I was a child, I used to look behind to the source of light that came to the screen (I admit that I was just curious back then, than being frightened). When the movie originates on screen, it is like a gift that somebody’s offering you, from right in front of you. It’s a call, that says, ‘come, let’s take this trip together‘. And when I am at home, and have the freedom to control the presentation of a movie, I’m also being a part of the movie. That makes me feel good.

When I watch a movie at home, I don’t have to control or hide my feelings. I don’t have to be socially conscious. I can weep if I want to or laugh out loud when I want to. I don’t have to wipe my tears before people see it. I don’t have to worry about people seeing me weep like a baby. If it is a DVD, I can read the sub-titles at places where I did not understand the spoken language (even if it is English). I don’t see pause and rewind as an advantage though; I think it’s a distraction. When it’s just me and the movie, the line of distance between us is blurred. Sometimes I can touch a character. Or can just stroke them to console.

I’m not saying that all cinema hall experiences are bad. It’s definitely worth experiencing to watch a commercial masala movie in a full house packed with people laughing and clapping and passing on comments. But there cinema doesn’t go beyond the level of being a medium for entertainment.

The Help – White man still saves the world

I watched the movie “The Help” tonight. The movie is pretty innocent in it’s outer line. The story of a good Samaritan, who happens to be a white woman, helps save the black domestic help a platform to speak and thus help the black community gain the confidence back. But on the inset, it pauses some disturbing views.

Skeeter, the journalist, moves to Jackson only to find a job that will help her gain some experience before she could re-apply at the Harper Row publishing in New York. Meanwhile, her sympathy towards the Help plants the idea of a book on black domestic help. Evidently, it is not ‘the cause’ that drives her to edit a book of stories from domestic help, but the hope that she finally may take a shot at her dream job. It is clear from her enthusiasm in attending the calls from New York and asking the publisher to make sure the book gets published. Or from the scenes like, when Minny asks her for an assurance that they wouldn’t get hurt for telling the truth, Skeeter doesn’t utter a word and Minny finds herself an ‘insurance’. When the publisher asks for stories from a dozen people than only two, Skeeter steps back again and makes no effort to take the story forward. And there again, Minny and Aibileen come to help organizing the volunteers to tell the stories.

The best part of it is when the daughter Skeeter confronts her mother about why her childhood nanny was sent away. A sorry mother tells the story of how she ‘had to’ get rid of the poor old lady who had worked for 29 years in the household – raising the kids, cleaning the household and cooking – because the old lady’s daughter came to visit her mother while there were VIPs inside. Skeeter then tells her mother, “you love Rachel, I know you do”, which was classic! The mother sure has ‘loved’ her Help’s daughter enough to insult them in front of a bunch of ladies and shut them out and close the door on their faces, and for what? For Rachel giving her mother a surprise visit. She sure has a lot of love. And she tells the daughter, “courage skips one generation”. And finally, Skeeter seemingly decides to move to New York to escape the men and mess of Mississippi. Very courageous. Hmm.

In essence, The Help is a movie in the white-man-saves-the-world genre. But you’ve got to give it to the wonderful performances of it’s actors if you held on to your seats throughout. Viola Davis is amazing as Aibileen. I wish she wins and Oscar for best actress in a leading role this time. Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson and Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook come to a close second with their supportive roles. It is for these three ladies that you’ve got to clap.

Funny thing is that this fiction is set at the peak of the Civil Rights movement in America. Even then they couldn’t do without a sympathetic white woman saving a whole community of black women. And by doing what? Dictating the stories that would help her secure a dream job and for being a mere speculator throughout all the events that took place.

And to you my fellow reader – if you were pitying the whites and angry about the practice of racism, look into your own yard. Replace the color there with caste here. Then you will get a picture of how messed up a civilization that you were born in.

And here is a funny poster of the movie which says it all.

Just sharing

I’m just posting the interesting videos or other tit-bits that I gather from my social media accounts into this space. Once a week. You could share the interesting ones you get too.

FaceCake’s Kinect Dressing Room
(Shared by Ashik in Google +)

This one is truly awesome! At the Microsoft booth in CES 2012, they demonstrate how you can try out different clothes and accessories without even wearing them. All you gotta do is just stand in front of a Kinect camera and try out new clothes. You can even move along to see if the dress fits you right in all angles, as if you just wore them. Truly amazing stuff!

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A Violinist in the Metro
(Shared by Thulasi in an email)

Washington Post ran an experiment in a metro station at Washington DC. What they were trying to find out was whether we perceive and appreciate beauty in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour. They had a best musician playing one of the best pieces of music ever written on a very expensive violin. And the result? Read on… 🙂

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I Think You’re Fat
(Shared by Ashik in Google chat)

When I read the title of this article, I asked Ashik if it’s yet another fitness piece. It’s not just the title, but the names of magazines like Esquire, Cosmopolitan etc. puts me away because I never could relate to or enjoy the content printed in those magazines (not that I have checked out a lot of them). Ashik did not explain what the article was about than asking me to read it, and since it is him who recommends, I saved the link to to read later. And it was one funny, thoughtful piece though it spans over 5 long pages. To give you a brief idea of what it is, this one is about Radical Honesty. As it says in the beginning, “This story is about something called Radical Honesty. It may change your life. (But honestly, we don’t really care.)” Read more at the Esquire page.