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Welcome to a peek into the world of fashion. We saw glimpses of characters from this world in Page 3. Madhur Bhandarkar now takes us further into this world,  and to communicate to us that he’s researched extensively on this subject,  he’s there in a scene where during a fashion show an onlooker points to him and says ‘ That’s Madhur Bhandarkar, the maker of realistic movies, he’s here to research for a movie’

He’s certainly done his research very well. Fashion is another addition to his series of realistic movies.

Fashion takes us into the  backstage of this very glamorous world. The fashion Industry has grown tremendously in India and we’ve recently witnessed three fashion weeks. We are familiar with the designers who rock these shows, the models who swish down the ramps, the buyers who fill up the front rows, the modeling agencies honchos, the media and the marginal male …

“Ram Ram Bhaisahib”

You’re standing in a crowd and you hear an unfamiliar voice call out. There are times when you have an uncanny feeling that the person is addressing you.

This was one of those times. I looked around and noticed a portly, more than middle aged man dressed a dhoti kurta smiling in my direction.

Ram Ram Sahib, he repeated again.

It took me a few seconds to recall who he was. “Ram Ram Munimji” I finally acknowledged loudly.

” I’m seeing you after years”  he said, the broad smile still spread across his face. “you don’t visit Ravi babu’s shop in loha Mandi nowadays”.

I nodded my head slowly and replied “We talk on the phone occasionally….meet up once a year or so”.

Ravi was a schoolmate of mine who has a steel wholesaling business in Loha Mandi, the Iron and steel market.

” Ah, I remember the evenings you used to spend in Ravi …

HEAVY RAINS LASH MUMBAI - I found myself staring at this byline scrolling across the bottom of most TV news channels on Sunday evening, 27th July.

This news had me distraught for a few minutes.

 I was scheduled to leave for Mumbai early next morning on a three day trip, which included amongst other things submission of scripts for the Sankalan script lab. I had it all neatly planned out. Arrival in Mumbai at 8.30 am, a visit to the Film writers association office at 2 pm, followed by a trip to the Biascope office, return in time to browse the shops at Hill road and then catch up with an old school friend over drinks and dinner.

Would these plan materialise? Would it stop raining? Or were we going to have a near repeat of the floods that happened a few years ago? The latter seemed improbable, I’d read somewhere that the administration had worked on …

A sultry July evening.

Major General Surinder Pal Singh stands outside the Military cemetery in Delhi cantonment.  A car pulls over, the young man driving it opens the front door.  Gen. Singh quickly gets in, relieved to get away from the oppressive heat.

” Hi, Dad. You look awfully exhausted. What made you venture out in such weather?” 

“Mandy, I’ve experienced worse conditions during my Army days. O.K, I know I was younger then. But this was one prayer meeting I couldn’t miss. I hope you remember Sam Bahudar?”

“Ofcourse, I do. Fauji ka beta hoon, yaar. Who hasn’t heard of Sam Bahadur, otherwise known as Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, the General who led the nation to victory in the 1971 war”

Mandy glances at his Father. ” I know he passed away recently”

” Mandy, Old soldiers don’t pass away, they just fade away. He was my boss once upon a time. We served in the same regiment, the …

I had to watch Sex And The City last week. I had been waiting for the movie. By the way, I had never seen the series when it was telecast on HBO, so I wasn’t a die-hard fan of the four young women and their escapades. I had to see it for professional reasons as I wanted to check out the dresses worn by the characters in the movie.

While standing in the ticket queue I glanced up at the show timings. I noticed Aamir had a screening in a few minutes time and tickets were still available. The cinema lover in me wished to watch Aamir, SATC could be viewed another day. The lady selling tickets gave me an enquiring look. Aamir, I answered.

I did get to see SATC a day later. Did find some dresses interesting, though.

This post is not about reviewing Aamir or SATC. I ‘m a movie viewer, not a reviewer. …