Notes from another Friday

Due to the fact that we had “Management Games” all of last weekend, we’ve been effectively operating for two weeks in a row. That means that this weekend is especially precious for anyone who needs a break. i.e me!

Samhar 2008
But there’s no break for the 100 people from here have descended upon the IIM Bangalore campus. They’re there for the third edition of “Samhar”, the annual IIM-Calcutta vs. IIM Bangalore Sports meet. This is a one-on-one competition with the two colleges competing in various sports for an overall trophy. A few of the games would be the usual suspects like Football, Basketball and Cricket – with others like Tennis, Chess, Volleyball making up the numbers. There are a bunch of separate events for the women’s teams too. People here are of course hoping that we get the trophy, that we lost last time. Apparently it was a pretty bad thrashing – something people here hope to correct. I for one, don’t care that much. I’ve asked all my friends who are there to have fun – and if possible visit Purple Haze and get me some first hand reports.

Maiden Visit to Park Street
Today, after the last class – there was a impromptu plan to go raid the KFC at Park Street. Park Street is the standard place for anyone looking for a good time to go to – and I had not been there in my first 6/7 weeks here. So with bags and books in tow we decided to head straight for the place. Autos here are shared and run point-to-point and are easily one of the quickest and cheapest methods of getting around, provided they ply on the required route. We took two autos to get from Joka to Tollygunge metro station, and from there we got to Park Street metro station in the comfortable 10 min. train ride.

KFC and Forum
12 pieces of Fried Chicken, 4 Zinger Burgers, 4 fries and 8 large glasses of Pepsi later we found ourselves gut-burstingly full and facing a sudden torrent which made the street look pretty in a way that only fresh rain can. We somehow got to Forum, the main mall in these parts and whiled away an hour(arguing over Manchester United T Shirt designs, congratulating a Chelsea-fan-friend for winning the “runners-up” treble last year and suchlike). The wait was for a 7:10 movie that we had tickets for in the INOX in the mall.

Why you should watch Singh is Kinng
The movie was of course, the newly released Singh is Kinng – and my aim was to keep up my record of watching big budget Anees Bazmee films after repeated rewatchings of No Entry(that दास्तान-ए-दर्द is for some other day) and being tricked into watching Welcome. So with no expectations of any sort of coherence, sense or for that matter sanity – I stepped into the hall. The unfortunate part was that the tickets were 250 bucks a head, and that would seem a bit excessive for a film we were there merely to make snide remarks about. As it transpired, we did in fact have a lot of fun.

The movie has everything from outrageous non-sequiturs, the same song-disco-rap setting four times over, a K3G / सूरज हुआ मद्धम ripoff and of course a Katrina Kaif who finally completes the fun by being allowed to use her own voice (and hence accent) and repeatedly keeps saying “मेरे जैसी लड़की”. There is usually one awesome joke in Anees Bazmeeimovies – and the one is about how a particular guy is so old that “birthday पे cake से ज्यादा candle पे खर्चा होता है”. The evening was complete after a longish cab ride back home, involving a hilarious incident with the cab driver – something for another day.

La Ning and the Flying Runner
I’ve watched every opening ceremony since Atlanta, and the memories of 2000 and Cathy Freeman and the waterfall flame will always remain as one of the iconic moments in Olympic history. Hence there was particular curiosity as to what happened this year. I missed the live telecast of course, due to the aforementioned trip – but have just returned from catching a glimpse at the 30 minute highlights programme on DD.

I would rate the actual lightning of the Olympic flame pretty highly. That event is undoubtedly the highlight of any opening ceremony, something most people would take away and cherish – and the success of that event would define the success of the games to a certain extent. It has to satisfy a few criteria

1. It has have drama. The cauldron is often hidden, and its actual form and its position are the first “aha” moment of the event.

2. The next is the lighting. How does the athlete get the flame to actually light up. This is usually done via the fuse, or by directly touching the torch with the flame. ’92 Barcelona of course had the archer, which many people will remember.

3. The build-up has to be not only melodramatic but also artistic. This is the longest part, the “waiting with baited breath” part – where music, aesthetics and grace and poise play a defining role.

4. And there are of course points for something “extra” or special that you can add. Can you design the cauldron to represent something? Can you do something even after the cauldron is lit?

Sydney did well on all four counts, with the fourth one being “Now that the flame is lit all around Cathy, how does she get out of there?”. Beijing did well on three, although I feel they could’ve done more with the actual design of the flame. Also the spectacle relied heavily on the projection behind La Ning, something a lot of people will evaluate to digital trickery rather that good old-style art. But that is what you expect when you put a famous film director in charge.

Tomorrow is a big day for India. I predict two medals overall, both coming from shooting. And as we know shooting always happens in the first two/three days. My prediction is for one medal in Clay Pigeon Trap (probably Manavjit Singh Sandhu) and one in the 10m Air Rifle for Gagan Narang or Abhinav Bindra.

Now that I’ve stuck my neck out, all that remains is to wait and watch! All the very best to the sherwani-clad men in Beijing, the tracksuits-sari-dress-as-you-please women in Beijing and the all-in-one-uniform men and women of IIM Calcutta in Bangalore!

EDIT #1
I had to put this in after reading Rediff’s review of Singh is Kinng. Sample this for rotf hilarious.

“But to see it [the song Bas Ek Kinng] on a big screen with the music blasting (as it always happens with Bollywood films), is a treat.The quick edits, flash of lights reflecting in a set of the mirrors in a night club, the slow motion shots, […] all add to a quality video – Bollywood at its technical best.”

And this is PFC’s scathing review of guess who?

August 9th, 2008 / 0 Comments / Tags: olympic, samhar, iimc, iimb, forum, singh is kinng, movie, travel / Trackback