Hello Delhi - Am back from Goa

Back from a hectic fortnight in Goa. No, I didn't spend time on the beach. Was cooped up watching flicks at Panaji's INOX multiplex. And with good reason.

The 38th International Film Festival of India was on - with 176 films from 46 countries screened by the time the 11-day event wrapped up.

And with most of Bollywood giving it a miss, watching films was a pleasant affair. Why? Well, the absence of tinseltown celebrities meant I could focus my attention on watching films. See official blog.

And here's some of the stuff I wrote -

"Elizabeth" director inspired by cockroaches tale

Jesus Christ gets an evil twin in fantasy film

Goa's bell boys inspire U.S. director's Hindi film

Bollywood shorts on AIDS to get YouTube release

Goa stirs colonial memories in Portuguese filmmaker

Taiwan film triumphs at global Indian film festival

The Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival

Filmmaker Navdeep Singh's thriller "Manorama Six Feet Under" won the Best Film honour at the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival in New York last week.

"This award certainly means a lot and both Ketan (producer) and me feel like on top of the world. There is a deep sense of satisfaction to know that your piece of art is recognized by prestigious International Festivals," Singh said in a press release.





The film festival was attended by over 8,000 people with over 50 films screened in Manhattan and Jersey City over five days. Here's the list of winners -

Chandrika Tandon Best Film Award
Manorama Six Feet Under

Indira Mahindra Best Director Award
Rituparno Ghosh for Dosar

Nationwide Actor Award
Danny Denzongpa for Frozen

Dina Kothari Best Actress Award
Konkona Sen Sharma for Dosar

Best Documentary Award
India Untouched directed by Stalin K

Best Short Award
Shanu Taxi directed by Vasant Nath

Verizon People's Choice Award
Love Story by Amit Gupta

Special Jury Award
Frozen directed by Shivajee Chandrabhushan

(For more details on films screened as part of MIAAC, click here)

If Rembrandt painted Homer Simpson

Link via Reddit

November 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 the November Blog Mela being hosted here on December 6



Blog Mela Rules
- Posts must have been written by Indians or have an Indian angle
- Only posts published between 1-30 November, 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 December 4 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

Check out previous Blog Melas
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007

Chessboard serial killer complains of injustice

He may have killed 48 people in his quest to complete the 64 squares of a chess board but Alexander Pichushkin thinks he's being punished a bit too much.

For the Russian serial killer, spending the rest of his life in jail seems too dear a price to pay for his crime.

His lawyer said Pichushkin felt the sentence is too harsh and should be cut to 25 years.

What do you think?

Pichushkin should be punished with
	Death sentence
	Life sentence
	25 years in jail
	10 years in jail
	A year in jail
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October 2007 Blog Mela

Mitali Saran comes to grips with a stolen water meter

Jabberwock proposes an alternate list of celebrity responses to brighten up Sunday mornings

Falstaff finds that everybody flirts with the new girl.

The Great Bong realises his PhD is a Potato Highly Defective.

Aditi Sen muses on the sexually incorrect.

Gaurav Sabnis thinks Bobby Jindal is hell-bent on throwing away as much of his Indianness as he probably can.

Suyog Deshpande reveals why he loves meetings

Sidin Sunny Vadukut is at pains to let the world know that he's not Amit Varma

Presstalk nearly falls asleep during a one-on-one interview.

Son of Bosey says Al-Quaeda is to acquire distribution rights for Vista Home Basic.

That's all for now. The Blog Mela returns later this month. Keep watching this space for nomination guidelines. But before leaving, do please vote for the best post in the October 2007 Blog Mela.

Check out previous Blog Melas
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007

The best of October 2007 Blog Mela
	Mitali Saran
	Jabberwock
	Falstaff
	Great Bong
	Aditi Sen
	Gaurav Sabnis
	Suyog Deshpande
	Sidin Sunny Vadukut
	Presstalk
	Son of Bosey
	None of the posts were that good
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October 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 the October Blog Mela being hosted here on October 31



Blog Mela Rules
- Posts must have been written by Indians or have an Indian angle
- Only posts published between 1-31 October, 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 October 31 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

Check out previous Blog Melas
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007

Why Mom and Dad walked out of Plaza cinema 22 years ago

Back in 1985, Mom and Dad had just shifted to New Delhi. The capital's hectic pace of life didn't suit them at first and they looked for ways to maintain an umbilical link with their native state of Kerala.

A casual glance at a newspaper column one morning brought the welcome news that a new Malayalam film was playing at the Plaza cinema in Connaught Place. As you can imagine, my parents were overjoyed and promptly drove down to the hall.

Mom was a bit disconcerted to find the cinema theatre nearly empty. But that was nothing compared to her surprise at seeing a Sikh gentleman occupying one of the seats nearby.

"Must be a film critic," mumbled Mom. "Why else would he be interested in a Malayalam film?"

"There would be subtitles...He can understand it that way," said Dad.

The mystery was solved when the film started and a woman started disrobing on screen. And my parents realised that they, the Sikh gentleman and a few other men were watching what can only be described as a softcore porn flick.

"He didn't need subtitles," said Mom - a few minutes after my parents had slunk out of the hall and into the parking lot.

"And that's certainly not a family film," she added.

The film's name - which roughly translated to 'Family is Heaven' - had not given my parents any clues about its content. But they did learn one thing. That morning shows in Delhi theatres were not for the family.

P.S. Two decades later, things have changed. The refurbished PVR Plaza is no longer a haven for voyeurs and morning shows are usually reserved for family films. But Mom still makes it a point to check the Adult 'A' listing before venturing into theatres.

September 2007 Blog Mela

Dear Reader,

The middle of October is no time to showcase the best of Indian blogs for September. I'm not making any excuses for the fortnight's delay - just hoping that the sumptuous fare on display will help assuage frayed tempers. Enjoy.

AB slaps a man who slaps her back.

Deepa bumps into a Dhoni fan in a New York elevator.

And Falstaff rants against NYT's coverage of India's Twenty20 triumph.

The Great Bong blogs on an important issue - namely whether certain formations of rock on the sea floor were made by an army of dhoti-clad monkeys or not.

You should ask Rajaram about it. After all, he's the one caught in the middle.

Jabberwock comes away impressed by Johnny Gaddaar.

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi tries to get karma points by following up on an SMS.

Bikkupedia visits Ponmudi - where's that? It's a hill station in Kerala.

Sakshi wonders why divorce is no longer a dirty word in India.

That's all for now. The Blog Mela returns later this month. Keep watching this space for nomination guidelines. But before leaving, do please vote for the best post in the September 2007 Blog Mela.

Check out previous Blog Melas
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007

The best of September 2007 Blog Mela
	AB
	Deepa
	Falstaff
	Great Bong
	S Rajaram
	Jabberwock
	Suchitra Krishnamoorthi
	Bikkupedia
	Sakshi
	None of the posts were that good
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