BLOG INTERVIEW - Ravi Godse

Meet Dr Ravi Godse. An NRI physician who loves making films and writing novels.

Dr Ravi and Mr Hyde, a film about a doctor who turns filmmaker, has been written, produced and directed by Godse. What's more - Godse also plays the lead role. The film, which releases on DVD in the US on July 17, was shot with a small but professional crew in only 5 days.

Godse told Toe Knee Unplugged he now plans to direct a 'Bollywood' film based on his popular novel 2 Guys, 3 Girls and a Mad Professor. The Pittsburgh-based doctor says its been ages since he visited his hometown of Dombivili, India but hopes to do so soon.

A comedy about a doctor who went to film school to make a film about being a doctor. Hmmm! Dr Ravi and Mr Hyde sure sounds autobiographical?

I am a real life doctor and I did go to film school. I had some of the experiences and I do believe that life imitates art but I still won't call it autobiographical. The dusky Colombian nurse and blond Irish boy, who play my wife and son in the movie, will stand testimony to that.

How easy or difficult was it for a physician like you to make a movie?

It was easy to make a movie as a physician. Life being an independent movie maker is hard. You need a thick skin and need to call in a lot of favours, knock on doors of whose existence you were hitherto unaware.

Being a doctor here, all my calls are returned, no matter who I call. The calls stop once they know why I am calling but I get one chance.

Going to film school as a physician was a little tough. I was a straight A student since pre-school and had a hard time dealing with initial C grades.

Any chance of Dr Ravi and Mr Hyde getting a theatrical release

If the movie does well in DVD circuit, there is a chance it can play in theatres somewhere, at least in a limited way.

Though the picture was acquired on video, we have taken painstaking care to maintain fidelity to 24 frames per second and if printed to 35mm film, it will look good.

2 Guys, 3 Girls and a Mad Professor was an interesting read. Any plans to write a novel in the same vein?

I would love to. Currently, I am writing historical travelogues for a webzine. I have long since harboured ambitions to try and get a PhD in History...and might write a book on the Duke of Wellington or South Africa's Telecommunications Minister who is a friend of mine.

And what's next on the movie front?

I wrote my second movie I am a schizophrenic and so am I. It's a courtroom drama. In fact, I just finished shooting it as well.

Does your next film also draw on your experiences as a physician?

Yes. It is a movie where the physician gets sued.

Any plans to make a full-fledged Bollywood film in the future?

No...Let me qualify. I am directing a movie on 2 Guys, 3 Girls and a Mad Professor, in the next few months, hopefully and that can qualify as a Bollywood movie.

Other Exclusive Interviews on this blog
Sona Mohapatra
Mahesh Dattani
Ruchi Narain

The Finnish Fine is fine

All the rash drivers in Delhi should be deported to Finland. This is why.

The Best FM Radio channel Poll

Is still going on. But can't believe newbie channel Meow! 104.8 FM is apparently New Delhi's best loved radio station. Or is it just a bunch of catty Meow! women indulging in proxy voting from cyber cafes.

Update: The poll has been closed. View results

Your favourite Delhi FM radio station is -
	91.1 FM Radio City
	Big 92.7 FM
	93.5 Red FM
	94.3 FM Radio One
	Hit 95 FM
	98.3 FM Radio Mirchi
	102.6 AIR FM
	Fever 104 FM
	104.8 FM Meow!
	106.4 AIR FM
pollcode.com free polls

FROM THE ARCHIVES
Delhi's "all talk" radio station
Getting high on Fever 104
Ten hits in a row, anyone?

This happens when you can't spell banana

Link via Reddit

Mother Teresa pipped at the post

Blessed Mother Teresa's not a saint yet. At least officially. But Blessed Alphonsa, a nun who died in Kerala in 1946, is to be canonized soon. To be modern India's first saint in the Catholic sense.

The only Indian saint so far, Gonsalo Garcia, was crucified way back in 1597. Read more here.

Losers win

Sometimes it pays to lose.

Here's my story on Biggest Loser Jeetega, the Indian version of the international weight loss reality TV show.

It's time to cut the flab.

June 2007 Blog Mela - Nominate Now

Did you just come across a quirky, interesting or something-that-tugs-at-your-heartstrings blog? If yes, feel free to nominate it for this month's Blog Mela being hosted here on June 26

How does a Blog Mela work, you wonder. Well, take a peek at the blog melas in March, April and May

Blog Mela Rules
- Posts must have been written by Indians or have an Indian angle
- Only posts published between 1-22 June, 2007 would be accepted
- If possible, please nominate individual posts, not the whole blog
- Feel free to nominate something you have written. Immodesty appreciated
- You can nominate as many blog posts as you like - provided you really like them
- Only nominations received before midnight on June 22 will be featured
- No, you don't get any moolah for nominating or getting featured in the Blog Mela. That could change once I am a millionaire but for now you'll just have to bear with me
- Yours truly reserves the right to nominate good posts which you ignore

How to Nominate
- Leave a comment on this post OR better still - Mail me at toeknee (at) gmail (dot) com

Nigger in the House

"Are you pushing it out, you nigger?"

Racism hasn't left the Big Brother house after all. First the brouhaha about Shilpa Shetty. And now this.

Chasing Bollywood stars in Amsterdam

Gauri Khan looks askance at me. She is dressed in white and clutches a shopping bag in either hand. As I move towards her on a busy street in Amsterdam, she takes a step back and frowns. I don't take the hint. As I start to mumble something, the wife of Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan hurries past me and disappears into an alley.

No, I wasn't trying to assault her.

The IIFA Awards were being held in Amsterdam in 2005 and I was a cub reporter let loose in the city of canals. Celebrities from the Indian film industry had been spotted in The Netherlands and I had been pacing the sunny sidewalks hoping to catch a glimpse.

I had better luck a few minutes later. Chunky Pandey was rummaging through a stack of colourful T-shirts at a shop around the corner. We exchanged pleasantries but I didn't harass him further, sensing that he wanted to be left alone.

Bollywood stars - hounded by fans at home and abroad. I could understand their predicament. Their need to feel free. The need to walk unmolested through crowds who didn't care who they were. And why stars viewed reporters with suspicion.

I walk past alfresco cafes and Gothic churches, stopping only for a glass of hot chocolate (they call it Chocomel here). As I pause to admire miniature windmills for sale at a roadside stall, cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin walks past with wife Sangeeta Bijlani. I leave them at peace and walk back to the hotel where the stars are cloistered.

There I find Boman Irani at his entertaining best, waving to a clutch of NRI girls waiting outside. Aftab Shivdasani is in the lobby too, looking dapper in a black suit. Ayesha Takia is wearing a brown ensemble, which seems to add inches to her waist. Bad designer or Amsterdam chocolates?

In contrast, Amitabh Bachchan is looking haggard and unshaven. The Big B has received news that his mother is unwell back home. He assures us things will be better on the morrow.

Actors - legends and one-film wonders - troop in for dozens of press conferences held over three days. Salman Khan is late (as usual?) and keeps co-stars and reporters waiting at the No Entry presser. The stars reel off their lines with practised ease, flash their botoxed smiles and leave as swiftly as they came.

At the Marigold presser (the film is yet to be released), starlet Ali Larter lingers a tad longer for one-on-one interviews. She drapes an arm over my shoulder and giggles when she's flummoxed by a question. Good strategy.

The IIFA schedule is chock-a-block. Aishwarya Rai waltzes in to have a tulip named after her. Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan brighten up the centuries-old Pathe Tuschinski theatre at the premiere of Pradeep Sarkar's Parineeta. Hrithik's team beats Shahrukh's bunch hollow when it comes to celebrity cricket.

And at the grand finale, Papa Bachchan, Abhishek and now Bachchan bahu Aishwarya enthral the crowds with 'Kajra Re' redux.

[Why am I being nostalgic about the 2005 awards now? Well, IIFA goes to Yorkshire in a few days and unfortunately, I am not going. A friend is covering the event and I can't help going green with envy. Grrrr!]