Piccolo Posts

Mahabali at our Hotel Kerala celebrated its state festival Onam last week. It is celebrated over period of ten days. I was always indifferent abut this festival until I landed here during the festive season. It is believed that King Mahabali or Maveli as the malayalees say, visits them during Onam every year. Mahabali is an asura king who is good; the only bad thing in him marks Vishnu's fifth avatar - Vamana. The people under the good king's rule were happy and prosperous. The king soon developed an ego that he had everything he wished in the world.  The king had kept a yadnya where he promised that he would grant anyone with anything he asked for. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu in his Vamana avatar asked King Mahabali for three pieces of land equal to his feet. As soon as the king granted his wish, Vamana grew into the skies, kept one foot on the entire heaven; the other on the entire earth. When Vamana asked, where should he keep his foot for the third piece of land...

Two weeks after staying at a hotel with complimentary wifi and breakfast at M.G.Road in Kochi, I learned that every motorized vehicle here is a prospective killer. In these super small lanes, the vehicles go super fast. I have a new phobia now of crossing roads beacuse you never know which vehicle decides to surprise you. Even the government buses; they do not run, they fly. When I first saw a KSRTC bus, I noticed that there are only open windows; no glasses. Later when I boarded the bus to go to Allepey, I got to know that there are shutters inside the windows. There are no glass windows probably because of the heavy rains; the shutter type windows are easy to move up and down and need less maintenance. The big M.G.Road earlier known as the Seventy Feet road is reduced to half its size due to the Metro;  "work in progress". But the size of the roads do not matter here — everyone likes to go zooooom. KSRTC Buses:   Source Unlike Mumbai where people always run —afte...

They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. They say it right – I agree with them and Mr. Sajan Fernandes too will agree with them. But Mr. Fernandes has nobody who will want to reach his heart through his stomach. He eats alone; travels alone; works alone and stays alone. He unintentionally glances out at his saamne wali khidki every night after eating home delivered food while he smokes a cigarette from his balcony. That family dines together every night with children running here and there; loud discussions and noise all over. There is a small girl who notices Mr. Fernandes and closes windows. Mr. Fernandes’ house is exactly opposite of them – yes literally too. Meri Ammi hamesha kaha karti thi ke kabhi kabhi galat train bhi sahi jaga pohocha deti hai, says Sheikh who has been newly recruited to replace Mr. Fernandes who Is about to retire in a month. When Mr. Fernandes gets a delicious  dabba one fine day, he goes and praises the hotel guy who...

A movie goer’s perception of Ram Gopal Varma is no more like it was a few years back. A decade ago he made Sarkar. I wanted the Govinda Govinda theme to start playing as soon as I said ‘Sarkar’ in the previous sentence. This tune holds up the omnipotence of Sarkar throughout the movie. Theme songs have always worked in favour of the characters. The theme which plays whenever Maaya bhai and his gang emerges out a winner in Shootout At Lokhandwala or the theme tune in Guru which worked wonders to emphasize Gurubhai's control on the situation in those scenes where the tune was used. RGV is known for crime based movies like Siva, Satya, Shool and Company. He credits Sarkar as a tribute to the classic film - The Godfather. If Mumbai ka king kaun?.. Bhiku Mhatre is the man who lives life to the fullest for himself, Sarkar is people’s man just like Sultan Mirza but not the one who says Dua me yaad rakhna ; Sarkar says, Me kisiko sochne se nahi..karne se rokta hu - such is the ...

Source: The Wall Street Journal You know you are eating a wonderful wada pav when after eating one, you instinctively say, “ Oo, ajun ek dya! ” This superhit movie called Vada Pav stars two legends in the lead role; the potato and the besan. These two have been a part of many other superhits like the Bread Pakoda and the Batata Bhaji. While the potato is a part of many other scrumptious delicacies like Aloo Chat, Aloo Tikki, Aloo Gobi, Masala Dosa, it is most known for the exquisite desi superhit called Aloo Paratha and the international superhit French Fries. The Besan on the other hand is part of the majority snack items like the Jhunka Bhakar, Pitla, Gol Bhaji, Palak Bhaji, Besan Laddu amongst others. Though the potato and the besan are the leads, the supporting start cast can definitely not be ignored. The lip-smacking taste that lightens up every taste bud in your mouth, comes from the amalgamation of the variety of Indian spices and the chutney that is ser...

Bhaskar or rather   Bhaashkor   is a constipated old man who feels that there definitely could be something medically wrong with him due to his old age. He makes Piku check his blood pressure whenever he gets angry – Even when he is asked to do normal blood tests; he checks reports for other body functions too, just to be sure.   He brazenly talks about constipation every time, which annoys Piku and often spoils her public image. Piku is not a vaargin; she is sexually and financially independent -as Bhaskar describes her in front of an almost stranger in a party. He reasons Piku not to get married because women who get married and serve husbands are of low IQ. Rana Chaudhary is the owner of a travel agency who provides permanent cab services to the firm where Piku works. He has his own life problems – his mother, his sister and Piku. Piku often gets late due to Bhaskar’s tantrums and hurries the drivers to speed up, eventually ending up with an accident...

An anti-hero and his side kick, a rich and powerful antagonist, a glamorous heroine and a rags to riches story. This is not about the angry young man of the 70s; it is about the new angry young man - Ranbir Kapoor – I am Johnny Balraj, nice to meet you..   The remarkable and vivacious sets recreate Bombay from the 60s and the 70s and make you go for a ride down the lanes of Bombay in style. The amber colour tint to the film brings back the Eastmancolor era.  The classic vintage cars, smoking pipes, double decker buses with monkey brand advertisements, almost empty streets and Amit Trivedi’s jazzy music score only add to the detailing required for a period film. Anurag  Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet is more than just a typical rags to riches story. The story details on how Bombay was reclaimed from the ocean. The seven islands in Bombay were bought together by the then influential people of Bombay.  Jimmy Mistry and Kaizad Khambatta are media kingpins who ar...