Parikshit Sahni

Happened to spot Parikshit Sahni in one of the old movies and observed how good looking he has been! This picture shows him with his father Balraj Sahni . And what to say of their acting skills!!!

Do Big Budget Films Make Economic Sense?

These days a lot of big budget super hero films are being made. But do such movies make better sense economically? 

The most profitable film of year 2013 was Aashiqui 2 with production cost: Rs 9 Crores; Earnings: Rs 110 Crores; Return on Investment: 1122%! 

Second most profitable was YE Jawani HAI Diwaani (cost 45 Crores; Earning: 190 Crores; ROI: 322%). 

Big budget Dhoom:3 The Movie did pretty less (Cost: Rs 150 crores; earning: Rs 500 Crores; ROI: 233%). Krrish 3 with prod cost of Rs 115 Cr, earned only 160% returns. But relatively small budget films like Ram-Leela (cost 35 Cr); ABCD - Any Body Can Dance (cost 12 Cr); Grand Masti (cost 31 Cr); all earned more than 200% return on investment. Even production time of big budget films would be much higher. 

To me big budget films look like keeping too many eggs in the same basket. Even from social point of view, most big budget action films are pure entertainment, almost in the league of video games, while small budget films with strong story lines have both soul and a good social message most of the time...

When all the wars are over...

“and when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.” - Ruskin Bond

You can be the Moon

"You can be the moon and still be jealous of the stars." - Gary Allan

Bolt and Zest from Tata Motors

If you are planning to buy a car; you have two new options: Bolt (small car) and Zest (compact sedan) from Tata Motors. Excited to see a few more "Made in India" Brands! Way to go!

Check out: Bolt: http://tatamotorsbolt.com

and

Zest: http://tatamotorszest.com

Ego impacting our behaviour

How ego works and how our behavior changes because of our ego-association with things can be seen in what happened a few months back. 

I was at our hometown after a long time. Normally father does all the shopping for the house. I am not used to buy things for the house in presence of father as it looks awkward. This time my nephew and niece were at home. Father used to buy for them ‘Kurkure’ snacks which they are very-very fond of and demand all the time. Once I went to market and bought them one pack of ‘Kurkure’ each. They were enjoying it when another kid from the neighborhood came and demanded some snacks for herself too (all kids are mad fans of Kurkure). My niece offered her the same, but the kid grabbed almost all that was in the packet and quickly started eating. Realizing the ‘loot’, my niece cried. Father became angry saying I should either have also bought one more pack for the neighborhood kid too since I knew about her presence, or else I should not have allowed my niece to eat it in the open in front of other kids. I noticed that I protested against this position and made my point bluntly that rather my niece should learn how to protect herself and same situation could have appeared even if I brought one pack for the neighborhood kid and yet she tried to rob my niece. While I had a valid point, but the manner in which I asserted myself in front of my father even surprised me. Why did I raise my voice and asserted myself on such a trivial issue? 

In a moment it became clear to me that my behavior was so because I felt “I” had right of opinion since “I” had bought the packets of snacks for the kids. This ego generating from “I” surprised me. I was ashamed of my behavior but by that time harm was already done. Though I don’t think father felt bad about it or remembered it afterwards but I knew I was wrong and I had a guilt feeling...

Floating

“When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown.” - Alan Wilson Watts

Perspective

“A fishnet is made up of a lot more holes than strings, but you can't therefore argue that the net doesn't exist. Just ask the fish.” -Jeffrey Kluger

Random Thoughts

Another busy week is about to end now. It has been tiring and uninteresting in some ways. I have not been able to write much these days and along with time the frequency is reducing. Writing is not only my past time or hobby but it is one activity which I feel truly my own – I am alive in it; I feel the thrills of the written word and the idea of creating any piece of writing excites me. Alas, life leaves less opportunities to write. There are times when I feel like writing but I watch TV instead. Working in front of a computer all through the day; fingers are tired; eyes are tired; and I don’t feel like taking the courage to write. Then I remember the golden old days when I wrote as a way of life…
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It has also occurred to me in the recent time that along with the passing years I am growing old. Though this is not a surprise or a discovery, the reflections around this fact is not enlightening in all senses. Every time I think about it, the idea of growing older with time, and I think about the worth of our life. A few days ago the movie “Guide” was appearing on TV. The actor Dev Anand says (in Hindi) something like this, “If there is no God then there is no point in living, since it does not matter at all if a blind person ends his journey in a blind world for nothing; but if there is God then…” He made a good point. If there is no God then this whole world is purposeless and our life is worthless. But if there is God, then what have we done about it? Working in office helping clients do their business more efficiently; spending 13 hours a day for a credit to my bank account at the end of the month – what is its purpose apart from salary which makes me afford to live where I live? But living for what? For what end? It seems most of the things we do in life are not in line with the purpose it is intended to… The commercial world encourages a commercial life… A commercial life makes us make commercial goals and take commercial paths to achieve those… But in the end what will matter will have nothing to do with all that we did for all the years…
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Along with writing I have been equally passionate about reading. But one thing that I have observed is that whenever I set an ambitious target to read a lot – the enthusiasm comes down. Hardest part is to start. In such circumstances, setting smaller goals appears good. Perhaps that is why they make volumes of books instead of making big bulky compilations which not many could finish so easily…
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Anyways, back to the grind…

Tell the truth boldly

"Tell the truth boldly, whether it hurts or not. Never pander to weakness. If truth is too much for intelligent people and sweeps them away, let them go; the sooner the better." - Swami Vivekananda

Lootera Songs

This is a song I have loved much. I love period films set in the past and I had loved this movie too much. Here [Link] is my review from the time it was released in theaters. I am a fan of both Ranveer and Sonakshi and it helps too. Even the video of the song is too good. The rural and simplistic charms of the life we have left behind are depicted too well: 

(You can click on "Skip Ad" on bottom right corner to avoid random ads from youtube)

Shikayaten (http://youtu.be/eN5dP3BZALQ): 

Other very nice songs from the same movie:

Zinda Hun Yaar: (http://youtu.be/cgHLvt0rxmM)

Manmarziyan (http://youtu.be/RFNmDyBKqk8):

Ankahee (http://youtu.be/DR0S-ocAmvo)

Sawaar loon (http://youtu.be/hIpiSI4pWwM):

Bourbon Biscuits!

Whenever I lay my hands on these biscuits, I feel life is beautiful; God is great; there is goodness still left in this world; and a lot other sweet feelings :)

Send multiple ITR-V forms in one envelop to CPC Bangalore

Hi all,

Do you know that sending multiple ITR-V forms in one envelop to CPC Bangalore is allowed by the Income Tax department? Many of us file IT returns of our family members and hence if we send all forms together to CPC Bangalore (by Speed Post), it will save us money and at the same time it will be environment friendly since it avoids paper and transportation.

So please send multiple ITR-V forms to CPC Bangalore in a single envelop as per your convenience.

Regards,

Rahul