February 2009 - Posts - First Cut

February 2009 - Posts

An open letter to Balika Vadhu viewers

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
Wrote this in Lounge today: Dear TV addicts (mum included), I know you've been out of sorts ever since all those saas-bahu serials went off air. Honestly? The K phenomenon was something I never really understood. But Ekta Kapoor had your pulse. She recognized the power of a zari -draped tale and she gave you what you wanted. When her best-sellers...

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New India, old violence

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
Yesterday I woke up to a page (click on page3) full of violence in Hindustan Times . A 27 year-old man smashed the head of a one and a half year old boy because the child touched his new parked Bajaj Discover motorcycle; a 19-year-old boy was stabbed to death by four friends because they had an argument; and a 22-year-old man was stabbed 18 times when...

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India (and ma) at the Oscars

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
After Sean Penn beat Micky Rourke to win the best actor award (Penn is a god who is bound to see lots of future Oscar glory, but Rourke's once-in-a-lifetime performance in The Wrestler is truly brilliant), my stomach knotted up. Would Benjamin Button be the surprise best film? Thankfully, Slumdog came out tops, winning 8 Oscars including Best Picture...

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Delhi-6 Review: Hindus, Muslims and the Monkey Man

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
After 2006's Rang de Basanti , Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was feted as the chronicler of Indian dreams and disappointments. A title like that is a big cross to bear, especially when it's time to make your next film. With Delhi-6 , Mehra tries to make another what's-wrong/right-with-India movie and--god I feel so bad saying this--completely...

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The return of horrotainment?

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
Earlier this month, Percept Picture Company launched PPC Horrotainment, a division that will focus exclusively on making small- and medium-budget horror films. "The new banner will also acquire and distribute films based on supernatural, folktales, witchcraft, fables, myths, ghost stories and other popular horror sub-genres," the company said...

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Billu B: I don't blame the barbers

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
I think I stopped loving director Priyadarshan when he developed a sense of humour and upstaged David Dhawan to become Bollywood's king of pedestrian comedy. Probably around the same time he became one of the husband's favourite Hindi movie directors--I can't even count the number of times we have watched television reruns of Hera Pheri...

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How about some recession dining?

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
The husband loves five-star restaurants. Me, I'm happy with the rice of the day at the neighbourhood Udipi restaurant (or penne with a bottle of Hoegaarden at Flavours in Delhi's Defence Colony). Maybe it's because I'm a vegetarian who doesn't enjoy experimenting with her food, but I just don't see the point of paying Rs550 plus...

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Obama and the Shri Ram Sena

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
It doesn't surprise me that the Shri Ram Sena, the group who recently molested some pub-going women in Mangalore, believes that news channel NDTV "is funded by Gospels of Charity in Spain and supports Communism" and that Mehbooba Mufti and her father are "political agent of ISI working in Kashmir". But Kalik Ji Maharaj, the international...

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Pink underwear for the Sri Ram Sena

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
I hate Facebook activism. My friends are members of all kinds of online groups and campaigns such as "Conscientious Citizens for Causes", "Let's collect 50,000 signatures to support the Palestinians in Gaza", "Stop Greyhound Slaughter" and "Corruption...Let's Fight Now". My eyes glaze over when I get these...

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What pub culture boss?

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
Earlier this week, we decided to do an after work drink in Delhi's Connaught Place. Nobody could come up with an exciting enough place to go drinking. Someone suggested United Coffee House. (But coffee houses are best left for coffee drinking, I believe) TGIF? (Chain, yuppy, boring, located too close to place of former employment) Volga (I like...

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Pub culture, Barkha, Slumdog: You shut up, you stupid

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
Is it just me or have you noticed that the quality of public debate has plummeted in recent years? We are rabidly intolerant of a view that doesn't agree with ours. Even worse, we don't know why. God forbid you say you actually enjoyed Slumdog and the packs will descend. The blogosphere is full of comments such as "This is a movie for servile...

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Should journalists accept the Padma Shri? (updated)

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
Of course not. Thank you P. Sainath, for declining the award.You are my hero. As Hindustan Times points out, Sainath has previously said that “journalism should not be judged by government and journalists should not accept awards from governments they are covering or writing about,” comparing it to “The external auditor of a company taking an award...

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