Sania to wed Shoaib – an introspection

Like any other game between the two neighbouring nations India and Pakistan, even this match is going to be interesting. More so due to some sudden turn of events. Its hot news turning cold that Sania Mirza is getting married to Shoaib Malik. Even Barkha Dutt wasted her time interviewing Sania on a news channel asking her questions that related her marriage to some kind of a political statement. Not that I am a fan of Barkha but she need not do senseless interviews at this stage. We are talking marriage here. And knowing the fact that a smart champion would not get married just to make some kind of a statement, you still go about the whole thing is not done. That is all I have in support of Ms. Mirza. She has proved that she is not all that smart afterall.

So apart from sharing the same initials, do the soon-to-be-married have anything else in common? – They both have had sour relations in the past. While our tennis star broke her engagement with this guy named Sohrab Mirza, the cricketer got married to a chick after meeting her online and the nikah was formalized over the phone. And should I add they did not even see each other once when this nikah shit happened? Read on before you begin laughing.

virtual couple

Now the female has filed a case saying he is getting married to Mirza without divorcing her legally. Do not judge Mr. Malik by his marriage act I just mentioned as he is real smart. The cricketer who has had a decent career on the field is now serving a ban for an year. And players from Pakistan have been banned from appearing in IPL too. Left with nothing else to do throughout the year he decides to get married. What better way to save the year from being wasted than accompanying a tennis-star wife and watching her lose all the grand slams. Did I mention madam Mirza is not all that smart?

The couple has already decided to settle down in Dubai. But then they have to obviously go there. If they settle in Pakistan, Sania Mirza will get to meet Mr. Malik‘s nine other wives whom he married over-the-phone, computer, telepathy, letter-tied-to-a-pigeon’s-leg, etc etc. And if they settle in India then Shiv Sena will start their operations in Andhra Pradesh considering their target’s hometown is Hyderabad. And Dubai welcomes anyone who is rich. Got your answer or should I ask proud father Mr. Mirza to make a press statement. He is ever ready.

This marriage is scheduled to happen on 15th of April. Wait and watch whether this kinship transpires or not. They say marriages are made in heaven. Well, maybe. But what about dudes like these who take the marriages bit of it seriously?

Also read :

A sex deprived godman

Interaction with P. Emerson Williams

The Flaming Skull Podcast

tfsp logo

I would start the post by giving you a little trivia. The word podcast was not Apples Inc.‘s creation, considering everything that has a pod in it reminds me of them. But we did get the term through one of its products, i.e. iPod plus broadcast made it podcast. Whatever it is, podcast was never a masses-term in India. You either have heard the term or you do not care enough to know about it. Now you don’t have to swell your eyeballs, as I am not talking about you. There are exceptions everywhere. Things would have been different if you had an Indian-podcast you could boast about. You know what I am getting at.

2009 saw a revolution in the name of The Flaming Skull Podcast. What started-off as a medium to feature Indian metal bands, more so those you knew about, has now become a benchmark. A judging criteria for a band’s music. If you play metal and if you are good at it, then you ought to be on this very podcast. Tighten up !

The Flaming Skull Podcast (tfsp) is the brain-child of Malcolm Soans who was an ardent follower of metal-podcasts and wanted to see his own so that Indian metal is heard. Transforming this dream into reality was not going to be easy. It required a team that needed to think alike in terms of what has to follow. After all its not always that everything falls into place. The greatest advantage for the members of tfsp has got to be the fact that maximum of them knew the scene inside-out. They knew what exactly is working for the scene and what is not. Who need to be out there and who need not.

Tfsp is a team of 9 members that includes Abbas Rizvi, Aditya Rao, Akhila Shankar, Ashwin Sharma, Arun Iyer, Ayan De, Malcolm Soans, Roydon Bangera, Sean Pereira. Four of them can drink like a fish and still ask for more but we’ll discuss that some other time. The podcast is recorded at 2 studios – MotorG Studios and Studio72.

team tfsp

The latest move by the team is The Flaming Skull Rockcast wherein bands that play bearable rock music are featured. Now the listeners also have an opportunity to be on the voice-cast by simply recording the review of any gig they attended and mailing it to tfspodcast@gmail.com. You can also place your advertisements on the podcast. 8 episodes down and still going strong with new plans everytime, I will take the liberty of saying that the tfsp team is satisfied with the way their efforts have been received. With the only difference being now they are in a demanding position. It is very clear what I mean.

Also from where I see it, the podcast came as a savior to those metalheads who always say they will buy a new album later. Reason – because they know the very next episode will have atleast one track from an upcoming release. No seriously. Now that is really innovative. India has premiers for almost anything that sells, including an ugly duckling choosing a husband on primetime television. But whoever cared about premiering a metal album. Tfsp made every new release even more special. Whether it was Bhayanak Maut releasing their Untitled, Infernal Wrath coming out with Inside Of Me or Devoid showcasing a single from their upcoming debut album.

poster for the most recent 8th episode

Following a chest-swelling response over a period of time made them bother about the scene in a couple of neighbouring nations. Honestly, if not for the podcast I would not have even heard metal from Pakistan. I am saying that considering the fact that I download metal from places where traces of humanity are yet to be determined. Featuring Communal Grave from Pakistan, Funeral In Heaven from Sri Lanka, Chromatic Massacre from Bangladesh was an encouraging move atleast for the featured bands. Wonder what Shiv Sena has to say about this !

Like every other thing around, even this podcast has lot of scope for improvement. After my interactions with a lot of listeners, and I personally also feel that our host Malcolm needs to be a little more spot-on. Sometimes it does give a feeling that its script reading, but then there also has been improvements since the first episode. I’m sure Malcolm will make his listeners stop bothering on this issue pretty soon.

I wish all of you at The Flaming Skull Podcast all the very best. Featuring a band like Casket Garden makes it clear where they are headed. Lets aim for a day when Lamb Of God asks you to feature them. Yeah Roydon ?

Just a pricking thought, branching the podcast into a Rockcast was awesome but I hope there won’t be any temptations to start a pop-cast, considering some faggots are making their presence felt soon.

[For any details regarding the podcast visit their official site here : Flaming Skull official]

also read :

The Flaming Skull Forums – a writeup

album review : DR – The Return To Darkness

Burzum – Spell Of Frustration

movie review : My Name Is Khan (2010)

If you are good at yawning you’ll pull through this crap.

I have no words to describe what I went through in those 2 hours and 40 minutes I spent watching the most anticipated movie of 2010, My Name Is Khan. I have to begin somewhere. Firstly this movie is a mockery on filmmaking and story-telling. I expected this but don’t get me wrong. I went inside the hall with a no-bias frame of mind. With a cast as experienced as this the last thing you would do is not expect.

My Name Is Khan is the story of a certain Rizwan Khan (SRK) who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome (autism). The movie is set against a post-9/11 US backdrop and how the muslims became victims of circumstances. It tells us the story of an ordinary man who is put into a bizzare plot in this completely unrealisitic script directed by Karan Johar. Agreed you said everything in the movie is fictional but dude to what extent. After all you chose to talk about a subject that is anything but fiction.

The only hope in the sinking ship is Kajol (Mandira) who plays Rizwan‘s lover/wife. So graceful. Had she not been there, I would have walked out, and considering I have never done that !

i am a terrorist...

The movie is going nowhere and it has no message. It neither gives you proper insight into autism nor victimized muslims. It ends up as  a love story. Then why the title My Name Is Khan ? The only thing I liked, if I have to, is the way Rizwan-Mandir relationship has been treated.

What the hype was all about is something beyond my understanding. You do not feel for an autistic Schezwan Khan who in a quest to make you understand autism almost snatches away your sanity. Fvck so irritating. I knew this was coming because after watching the dumb promos I obviously did not expect some miracle to happen in the hall. Also be ready for the most ridiculous climax I have seen in a longtime. You will have mixed emotions – you will laugh at what is happening and cry because you cannot believe you are seeing such a brainless thing happen.

Karan Johar has had his chances and he has fooled the audiences enough. Just because you have a legacy in the name of Dharma Productions and a superstar is your acquaintance does not mean you are entitled to torture billions. And after watching this level of cinema I am somewhat convinced that Johar had a tie-up with two studios - Fox Studios for distribution and Shiv Sena Studios for publicity and marketing. Next time try having no K in the title. The dialogue writers Niranjan Iyenger and Shibani Bathija get away easily here as they had to pen down the dialogues for only half the movie – Because Schezwan Khan says everything twice. Whoever said autism meant repetition of words. With such dialogues that have been heard over and over again where was this going ? And come to think of it Times Of India rated this piece of shit five !

buddy just one more script !

Music was average and probably one of the very few reasons working for this movie. Cinematographer Ravi Chandran delivers as always. I don’t have anything else in praise for this movie.

After Devdas, Swades and Chak De, SRK did not want this. The only time I was completely alert was when the trailer of Kites was played during the interval. Guys be ready for this one. And after Khan my wait for Karthik Calling Karthik increases even more as I need some good cinema to get over this shocker.

My Name Is Khan is not a movie, it was a desperate attempt to pass time by a man who failed to convince his producers to make the next season of his Koffee. And SRK cannot rescue everyone all the time just by saying Main Hoon Na.

Rating : 1/5

also read :

movie review 3 Idiots

movie review Milk

My Name Is Karthik

Considering the reason I watch any movie, if at all I do is how well its music manages to capture me. I don’t know how effective this is but its been that way for me since the longest time.

This weekend and the weekend after will see two anticipated movies being released. You are right, I am talking about My Name Is Khan and Karthik Calling Karthik. While the former is the product of a film-maker who refuses to hold the camera until Shah Rukh Khan agrees to share his Koffee, the latter is pure charm. Farhan Akhtar is a sack of talent. And need I say Deepika Padukone is looking hotter than ever ?

Getting back to where I began – the music. Both the aforementioned movies have music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Something makes me feel that whenever the trio are working with Excel Entertaiment (yea the one owned by Akthar and Sidhwani), the music creates a buzz. They give a little extra. Going by their track record, SEL haven’t done anything impressive off-late barring a Wake Up Sid or maybe a Luck By Chance here and there.

Billu, i desperately need a hit ..

Whereas I am somewhat impressed by the score of Karthik, My Name Is Khan does not seem to get my time. One of the reasons being the teasers. SRK is convincingly irritating. This does not mean the music is bad but it is not going to make me take that extra effort to book my tickets for the same. Even SRK stating that Khan is his best work till date is not going to help. But I will still watch it, as my friends are sparing me the trouble of getting the tickets. Don’t get me wrong. SRK is a prodigious artist and even I liked Swades. But I need to know what made Fox studios be a part of this venture.

meow meow

And with Shiv Sena stalling the release of Khan, is it that Sena is sharing the same feeling over SRK’s appearance in the movie ? – Actually no. But hey that does not make the Sainiks look cool – they are what I call retards.They are retarding the very growth of Bombay. I will write another post sometime praising their stupidity.

heee.. i am 186 years old !

They cannot stop me from watching the movie as I am currently in Chennai, and here in Chennai they won’t find a single poster of My Name Is Khan to tear down. Reason – Wherever there is space you will find the poster of  an awfully repulsive Karunanidhi. Now that is real power !

So yeah, February has something more in store for you than just wail-entines day. And if you have time and money to pick just one flick outta the two then you pretty much know by now which one is worth both. Hello, Karthik here.