Magik | PassionforCinema

A self-confessed dreamer & wordsmith, waiting in the wings to paint my stories on celluloid. Based in Bangalore, working as an associate creative head in an ad agency, my primary passion is writing...

Magik's Blog

33
Iqbal ya Golmaal? Physically Challenged in Hindi Cinema
The best it can get It was just another day at work, but as I have a diploma in kicking my own behind, I end the day by attending a show put together by an acquaintance and his group, where the talents of the physically challenged children were to be showcased. The organizers were a bunch of 20-odd people who I realized were on the mission to redeem their sorry lives by...
by Magik at November 13th, 2009 at 07:11 am
20
Monu & Tony on PFC: Satyakalpadroom
Dear Reader, this is not Magik’s review. This post is jointly written by Monu & Tony. Till date we had submitted hundreds of well-worded and heart-felt posts for PFC, all of which had been ruthlessly rejected. We had to resort to this trick, especially after we got to read the recent post on “One time Superstars“. Now if that post can go up on PFC,...
by Magik at October 31st, 2009 at 09:10 am
22
Sorry Ma, I saw WUS…
Guru Devo Bhava October 2nd was a holiday. Being a dry day, I asked my ma, what to do, where to go? She told me what any South Indian mother would. “Just a few more moths in Bangalore, why don’t you go to Mantralaya?” I said OK. Nothing could be worse than a ‘dry day’. Man, was I wrong? There was a flood. The whole shrine was under water....
by Magik at October 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 am
29
Aladin: A wish came true!
Love is in the air... [Disclaimer: A personal kinda filmi & slightly longer post] Just back from Vada-pao-dabeli-rashtra, happy as if I found my Genie, sleep-deprived yet dreamy-eyed, lethargic yet waiting to conquer new horizons & blah blah blah. Well, things are going great & the stage is set. For me to enter films? For me to quit advertising? For me to...
by Magik at September 29th, 2009 at 09:09 am
111
PFC waalon! Get Serious / Get Lost!
Mil baant ke khaao CineMaa Kasam, I will never be able to forget ‘yesterday’ for the rest of my life. Thanks to PFC, some of us authors got to meet Anurag Kashyap. It took me a while to let that feeling sink in, but it did, after a while, after some beer-therapy. So this post is not about how much fun we had or how much you missed being there. NO. So this meet...
by Magik at August 17th, 2009 at 03:08 am
26
Kaminey, ek ticket dena…
before. lol after.lol before.lol after.lol ….Thus started my tryst with this movie, at the ticket window, only to be to be told “kaminey, ek ticket”. We grinned. The ticket guy & me. Now before anything else, I would like to dedicate this post to 2 of my good ol’ friends back in school. Abhishek A (stammerer) & Teena M (lisper). The names...
by Magik at August 14th, 2009 at 09:08 am
75
Abhimanyu – Reeling the Real
Harish Iyer, who was the trigger point, for Abhimanyu, sends in his post on the movie Abhimanyu and invites investors to invest in the film. There came a child with night in his eyes and dew in his voice… The sly twinkle was hard to miss. As I looked at him, he appeared unnerved. So unnerved, that I wondered why. When my eyes met his, he face shrunk in shame. It was...
by Magik at July 28th, 2009 at 04:07 pm
58
Sankat City: Rats are us.
I LOVE BOMBAY. Now to forward things, it was an exhilerating, overwhelming & ecstatic DAY (considering that the city never sleeps). It was about 5.00am and yours truly, was at the Mumbai airport, well a li’l outside it. There is the small joint where they sell snacks, cancer & other such addictions. All exhausted, I was there puffing away, where I notice...
by Magik at July 9th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
47
Jhankar Beats on the Birthday of ‘Boss’
First things first. Today is Pancham Da’s 70th Birth Anniversary. Despite my limited knowledge of his spellbinding music, I still am a fan in my own humble way. So to not cause hurt to millions of real hardcore fans of His, I refrain from writing about the musical genius – RDB aka Pancham Da aka Boss. I thought I would rather write about something that actually...
by Magik at June 27th, 2009 at 06:06 am
46
Sh#*t happens…
Once upon a time… With the blessings of Lord CineIndra, I was informed by my boss that I would be directing a corporate film shoot for a major bike brand. I was happy like hell. It was a moment of great joy & pride that I would be doing The Film for The Brand. I ran around like a ‘maniac with his pants on fire’ all ecstatic about this great gig....
by Magik at May 22nd, 2009 at 08:05 am
37
Thunderstorm 99 – Before Mundu there was Mindi
Happy days are here again. Back are the days of watching films at the CineMandir. The days of cheap thrills while watching the bewildered faces at the Box Office by asking ‘1 ticket each of 3 consecutive shows for the same film’. Aah bliss! ‘Mast naha-dhoke scent maarke’ reached Inox. Bought the tickets, bewildered the ticket guy & looked...
by Magik at May 17th, 2009 at 08:05 am
13
Blackbird: Filmi mind @ a play
I begin this post with a solemn prayer to Lord CinemaIndra that may the producer-exhibitor stand-off get over soon or we cinephiles might soon have to regress and begin to write about stardust awards, saas-bahu soaps or random PFC meets that never happened. So, getting back about what this post was about – BLACKBIRD, a play that I saw today. I had absolutely no...
by Magik at May 4th, 2009 at 04:05 am
31
In-film advertising. Haan ya Na?
It’s a B-E-A-U-tiful Saturday evening & alas I am working. Clients are exploiting recession the most & twisting it in all ways possible to squeeze their ad agencies dry. Well, as long as my ‘meter is down’ all is well. Still not prepared to deal with ‘unemployment’ & its aftermaths. Heard & read really tragic stories of...
by Magik at April 11th, 2009 at 04:04 am
31
I had salad for dinner!
No I didn’t. May be i would, if I was too bloody drunk or if the salad had alcohol in it. So this post is about Jab We Met. No, not the movie, when I met Oz Bhai. May be this post should have been on my personal blog, but as I don’t have any & also as it has some relevance here in PFC, I take this liberty of sharing what happened here in Bangalore, Jab...
by Magik at March 25th, 2009 at 01:03 am
23
Musings on a film-maker’s journey
Not that I am even quarter a film-maker, what triggered this post are some of my personal experiences & an interview I saw of Naseeruddin Shah on TV, which was a Chinese cracker to say the least. What man! what balls!!! Oops, before I take off on Naseer saab’s legend (it deserves a long exclusive post) let me stick to what I wanted to share. In the interview...
by Magik at March 12th, 2009 at 05:03 am
21
Phir Director: 2nd time lucky oye!
Mere guru ne kaha tha mera waqt badalne wala hai (my time will change, thus said my teacher). If you don’t know what I am talking about, click here. After my day-long stint as a director, I thought I had gotten my share of blessings from Lord CinemaIndra. But it wasn’t so. Of all the reasons in the world, I was retained as the director for the sake of CONTINUITY....
by Magik at March 2nd, 2009 at 06:03 am
40
My day-long stint as a Director
Thank God he fell ill… the guy who is actually directing the corporate film, that I had scripted. I am usually not this mean, but I really thank God he fell ill. Jai ho Lord CinemaIndra!!! For all filmi aspirants, being in advertising is the next best thing. Though my primary job is to take care of the writing bit, my filmi instincts are always on over-drive &...
by Magik at February 26th, 2009 at 07:02 am
35
Dev.D: Ib ke howega aggey yaar…
Disclaimer: This is an optimist filmi’s work of fiction. No offence meant to anybody, living, dead or tripping! In the recent past 2 movies that moved me beyond my imagination were Luck By Chance & Dev.D. While I considered LBC to be a crash course to the insides of the Indian Film Industry, Dev.D became a crash course into taming / trying to tame my own demons....
by Magik at February 12th, 2009 at 02:02 am
12
Dhai Ghante ka Pulp Fixion
This (very) LONG post is about 2 movies & 1 happy filmi meeting that happened. All coincidentally last 2:30 mins (approx). My bro’s & my favourite movie… 1:40 ki last lokal. Lost count of the number of times we have seen this film together & enjoyed it each time. Pulp Fixion (PF) is what I have seen many times, without (till recently) knowing...
by Magik at January 27th, 2009 at 04:01 am
16
Love Story 1942 – bak to da future???
Past, present & future… some random musings of a filmi. It was long back, while I was in high skool, in a small town, very shy, silent & introvert. Not any more, but what the heck. Tax Free, for us, then was a huge incentive for watching films in a cinema hall. 1942 A Love Story was exempted from taxes & that allowed us (my & my kuzins) the liberty...
by Magik at January 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 am
33
Not just – Luck By Chance
While the rest of the world and its kuzin have been busy going gaga about the emosanal atyachar inflikted by masakkali matakkali, one film that has held me dumbstruck is the debut venture of Zoya Akhtar – Luck By Chance (LBC). A venture that looks so real, so honest & so heart wrenching. A stark kontrast to OSO… what Farah Khan did with her spoof, this...
by Magik at January 20th, 2009 at 12:01 am
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Dev.D marketing – by chance or choice
How cute....Movie marketing has been a highly talked about subject here at PFC and has evoked a wide range of sentiments. This post is about that, vis-a-vis Dev.D, a movie that many of us are looking forward to, for various personal reasons. My primary reason is to see what happens to Dev.D after he glugs almost a bottle of vodka & turns up at Paro’s baraat....
by Magik at January 12th, 2009 at 05:01 am
22
Ye dosti…
Ye dosti hum nahi chhodenge… the happy-senti song from Sholay, that is ingrained deep in the psyche of Indian cine-lovers, also has great significance as far as film-makers, their kast & krew are koncerned. This post is about filmi dosti / kollaborations & how they have added or sometimes taken away from Indian cinema. A post also provoked by my own potent...
by Magik at January 6th, 2009 at 08:01 am
20
Aisa bhi hota hai (Part I)
Disklaimer: Long post. Read at your own peril. Wink. Roughly an year after I became a PFC regular, I got an email. The mail was from the author of a post that I had commented upon. I was hyper thrilled and all that. For sake of security (mine) I won’t divulge who it was, but that’s not the point anyways. After exchanging a few emails, the ice broke and the...
by Magik at December 31st, 2008 at 12:12 am
18
Kkkhushi Mogambo ki
Dear Filmi, the headline doesn’t mean nothing. Don’t waste your precious time pondering over its profoundity. It’s not. It’s pure drivel. It sounds kool & all that, but what does it mean? Mundu (ZILCH). So without taking up more space in your RAM / ROM / DOS, I come straight to the point. Who let the dawgs out? Well how the heck would you know....
by Magik at December 27th, 2008 at 01:12 am
50
Kompromise kaun nahi karta?
It was late last night, I was with a filmi, gettin drunk & talking films (as usual… yawn). The waiter was taking the last order. Fellow filmi barked “1 KF Strong, 1 KF Diet”. Waiter says “KF Diet illa saaaar” (no KF Diet). I chide him to ask for a KF Premium and let it go. I followed this with the “kompromise kaun nahi karta?”...
by Magik at December 23rd, 2008 at 10:12 pm
19
Yes Boss! But is that it?
Yesterday was my lucky day. Bengaluru mein sunday ko movie tickets milna mushkil hi nahi, namumkin hai. But namumkin ko mumkin banane waale ko hi to FILMI kehte hain! Owing to some divine intervention from Lord CinemaIndra, I saw 2 movies at the cineMandir. First I saw Yes Man the Jim Carrey flick and followed it up wid RNBDJ. This post is about what I felt / thought...
by Magik at December 21st, 2008 at 09:12 pm
87
Song-struck I went in…
It has happened to us filmis before. Many a times. Dumbstruck by a song or two we’ve walked into the CineMandir & came back cheated. It happens to me very frequently. More often than not, the culprit is the Sultan of Sell Out Films – Vishesh Films. They have the knack of grabbing their audience by their musik (usually addressed to the large number of members...
by Magik at December 18th, 2008 at 07:12 am
58
Konfessions of an aspiring filmi
Some time back I had written a post about the good times for Indian cinema. Now I think it was a little too early or maybe we could blame the goddamn recession. Having attended the ISC 08 and seen and heard stuff there, I am really not sure if dumping advertising for films is a viable decision any more anytime soon. But who knows… Also in the Dibakar B.’s talk,...
by Magik at December 16th, 2008 at 12:12 am
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The Film Writers’ Model Contract… ifs & buts
The most important thing that was discussed at the Indian Screenwriters Conference 08 was about the moolah. The only one session which was strictly business… no poetry, no clapping, no nothing. Everyone was actively participating… paapi pate & all that! I am not sure if this is the appropriate forum to discuss this subject here, cuz it is so specific to...
by Magik at December 15th, 2008 at 08:12 am