Monday, December 26, 2011

The original Don 2 and Hawa Hawa

Now that Don 2 is released, this reminds me of the original Don 2.
Yes, just like there was an original Don starring Amitabh that SRK's Don was based on, there is also an original Don 2, but SRK's Don 2 is mostly not based on that.
People who were of the time when Doordarshan was the only channel around and Wednesday's Chitrahaar was religiously watched and not missed, might remember. There was even a song that became famous from this Don 2. And that song is...believe it or not...

Hawa Hawa.

Yes, the same dhin-chak number which is a strong favorite of mine even now! It used to get the pride of place during the assembly and classroom discussions after the week's Chitrahaar was aired.

Well, the story supposedly goes like this. It seems they wanted to release Hasan Jahangir's hit songs, including the iconic Hawa Hawa, and so made a direct-to-video cheesy movie titled Don 2 starring Jeet Upendra. He's the guy who's in the video of the song dancing around the Bandra seaface. I remember him from the serial 'Ajnabee' starring Danny Denzongpa that used to air on DD.

Also, see if you can spot SRK's Mannat during the song before it was bought and renovated by SRK. It is a 3:33 in the video.


Hawa Hawa itself has multiple copies. Bappi Lahiri lifted the tune for Govinda's Java Java.
And well, Hawa Hawa was not Hasan Jahangir's original as well. He lifted it from an old Iranian song titled Havar Havar. Listen to that below.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Rajanikanth typed "Let it snow" in Google and...

By now, all of you must have tried out typing "Let it snow" in Google search and seeing the effects.
Some told Rajanikanth also to try it. He wanted to check it and typed that and....


(Photo original link: https://plus.google.com/106517092226488584705/posts/RqSaTEfFkQW)

P.S: Also check out "Do a barrel roll" on Google Search. Cool Easter eggs.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Bangalore-Mangalore drive

NH48 connecting Bangalore to Mangalore has not been in a better condition in a long, long time than it is now. We traveled on this route on 8th April and it was an easy trip.
The condition of the main culprit, the Shiradi Ghat between Sakleshpura and Uppinangady has been repaired recently. All the potholes have been patched up, the curves are concretized and generally the drive is a smooth one. So until the rains come puring in, if you have travel plans towards Mangalore, surely take the Shiradi Ghat route. Also
Also with the Goraguntepalya-Nelamangala flyover operational which lets you cover the stretch within 20-30 minutes, has led me to avoid the Magadi route which is slightly dangerous (due to the private bus traffic as well as the curvy TG Halli stretch where I've had one nasty experience already) and bad (you got to search for the road among the potholes in the 5Km stretch within Magadi town).
The Nelamangala-Kunigal highway is also smooth and the earlier jarring speed breakers/humps have been removed.
So except for the Kunigal-Yediyur stretch which passes through Kunigal town, the rest of the route is nice and smooth. Once they complete the laning work on this stretch, it should be even better.
Additionally we got an elephant herd sighting near the Kemp Hole. There were 4 of them, 2 baby and 2 bigger ones, standing on the side of the road, we let them be and passed by.

Because of the good road condition we made quick time and were able to reach the destination for the yakshagana and puja that night.

16:15 -> Leave Bangalore
20:30 -> Reach Sakleshpura and stop for picking up an uncle
21:55 -> Reach Puttur via Uppinangady
22:20 -> Reach Vitla and stop to meet a couple of relatives
23:15 -> Reach destination Bayar, Kasargod

Here is a map of the route:

View Larger Map

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

K-Tea!

K-Tea - This might just be the most different tea I've ever tasted. And tasted very good as well, right up with the best.
The place this is available at is a small nondescript hotel, Sri Lakshmi Nivasa on the Bangalore Mangalore highway at Kalladka, about 35km before entering Mangalore.
The specialty of this K-tea (Kalladka tea) is its double color. Usually, you might have seen your tea with a white creamy layer on top of the browny tea layer. But in K-Tea, this is reverse. The brown tea layer is at the top while the milk is at the bottom. Looks totally cool!

Anyone who is passing by, should definitely have this,a long with the dosa and goli-baje. Anyone who's not passing by should have it in their itinerary to check this out :-)

Monday, April 19, 2010

IPHell

The IPL has redefined cricket. And anything cricket related.
Isme ab cricket hai, Bollywood hai, politics hai aur underworld bhi. We just wait for some religious type to be a part team owner and then we would have all required elements that the public savors.

Finally, the commentary team comes into its own during this IPL.
Until now, commentary was always an invisible parameter during a match. Kind of like a background score in a movie. You would not notice it unless it was really awesome or really banal.
The rest were all in between who managed rare insights (by rare I mean once in a while :)) to the game.
And then IPL came along. Along came its DLF maximums, and Citi moments of successes and Karbonn kamaal catches. Commentators must have their commissions linked to how much they use the brand names, the way they have been doing it all this while now. And each of them is unique in their style.
Let's start with Mpulelo Mbangwa (imagine if the other commentators had to introduce him with his actual name. No wonder he turned into the more easier Pommie Mbangwa). He actually speaks well, has good insights. But it all goes for a toss (literally!) when a player hits a six. It seems the ball actually travelled all the way to the commentary box, irrespective of the direction it was hit, and thudded into Pommie's umm...errr...box. He lets out a "Aaaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhhh.....", which sounds eerily similar to the Hindi rapist villain's exclamations when the heroine knees him one in the box. Just listen for it next time around.

Then there is L Sivaramakrishnan. His commentary is as sing-song as the effort required to say his name. Complete with the thaala and the introductory pallavi. "¶¶It's got the elevation¶¶... ¶¶and gone the distance¶¶¶". And some of the words he uses "Whatacatch. He's got lovely hands".
And Ravi Shastri with his tracer bullets. "Once he hits them, they stay hit". What about the rest? Once they hit them, it turns into water and flows away? Or dissolves into the atmosphere?

His commentary is usually made of screaming the player's name or the expression, like the Bollywood heroes do when searching for the villain in their lair. Just compare "YUVRAJ!! SIX!!" to "BALWANT RAI!!!BAAHAR NIKAL!"

Now coming to the other IPL highlights. I was wondering why there was no MRF blimps during the Kings XI matches. Then I realised MRF had stuck their logos on Ramesh Powar and Yuvraj Singh!
Talking of Yuvraj, he's really put on so much weight that the IPL committee is planning to make a rule that umpires point to Yuvraj when signalling a wide. And he could sponsor the wide. So next we can hear the commentators admonishing a Yuvraj Singh wide bowled by bowlers.
On the same lines, Lalit Modi is coming up with a new idea to make even more money by planning to approach the cricketers themselves to sponsor some of the happenings. After the Yuvraj Singh wide,
John Buchanan wide - Wide which goes high over the batsman's head, much like Buchanan's theories,
Kumar Sangakkara appeal - Appeal by the bowler/keeper when the batsman is no where out,
Kevin Pietersen tantrum - Glares/shouts by the batsman at his mate who's just got him run out,
Inzamam ul Haq runout - Batsman setting of for a easy single and somehow running himself out,
Badrinath shower - A heavy downpour disrupting the game, much like Badri's sweating,
Venkatesh Prasad slower ball - Bowler delivers a slower ball slower than his actual run up,
Glenn McGrath corridor ball - One in the corridor of uncertainty,
Robin Uthappa Six - Six that should actually be a 12 because of the distance it traverses,
Kamran Akmal drop - Simple catch (a.k.a dolly) fluffed by the keeper/fielder.
Shoaib Malik catch - To complement the Karbonn kamaal catch where one fielder drops the catch but another fielder manages to hold on to the rebound.
Harbhajan Singh celebration - Wicket taking bowler shouting like Tarzan and running all round the ground like a headless chicken.
Andrew Symonds no ball - Well, because he has no baal (as in hair)...hehehehe.

Speaking of bald players, insiders tell me that Modi has already plans to tattoo up some more logos on the bald pates of Symonds, Sehwag, etc. There could even be a new rule in place by IPL4 for all players to turn up with shaven heads so that sponsor logos can be displayed on the heads.
Next is what? Imagine :)

Negotiations are on with the players to check how much money are they willing to pay to have their names chanted by commentators whenever these events happen.

Also, Rupa Vests and Briefs has tied up with IPL to sponsor the toilet break for the players. So now, whenever a fielder or bowler or even the umpire goes to take a leak, they would be going for the Rupa Vest and Briefs Toilet Break - Yeh Andar ki baat hai!