Alien Foot Prints

The Greatest Hindi Film Directors Ever

2010-04-23T08:49:00.003+05:30

The criteria for selection-

Most works should be in "Hindi".
Should have directed at least 3 films.
The cinematic value and the originality of the body of work.
The consistency of the works.

How did their films took Hindi cinema to a new level?

This is the list one of my friends came up with and when he asked me to name the greatest Hindi film directors ever according to the above criteria I too came up with all these names. Only name I missed was that of 'Bimal Roy' as I have not seen his most films but he without any doubt will be always there in any such list once u look at his body of work.

OUR LIST IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Ashutosh Gowariker
Bimal Roy
Govind Nihalani
Gulzar
Guru Dutt
Hrishekesh Mukherjee
Ramesh Shippy
Shekhar Kapur
Shyam Benegal
Vijay Anand
Vishal Bharadwaj
Yash Chopra

-Mani Ratnam doesn't feature in this list only because still his best work originally in Tamil.
-Ram Gopal Verma doesn't makes to this list either because of his inconsistency. Though he is very hard to ignore.
-

PS- This is not some official survey or neither this list is based on some scientific method. People can feel free to agree or disagree. More you disagree, more fun it will be.

ETERNAL SUNSET OF THE SPOTLESS MINDS- A CONVERSATION WITH A NEWS[?] ANCHOR

2010-03-13T21:38:00.007+05:30

[based on the tweets by Siddharth Sharma and Sumit Purohit]
SIDDHARTH SHARMA - EDITOR-ANCHOR WITH STAR NEWS.
SUMIT PUROHIT - DOESN'T MATTER. CAN BE ANYONE WITH AN AVERAGE BRAIN.
SUMIT PUROHIT
do u actually believe in every story shown on ur news channel urself?can we hav an honest answer? may be just an answer will do
SUMIT PUROHIT
@fakingnews Accrding to tweets of @siddharth76,an editor-Anchor wth #StarNews,thr was no buzz abt the #IPL,he felt no excitement abt it...all these tweets were befr News Broadcasters' Association (NBA) vs IPL dispute was resolve...nw dispute resolved & his tweets look like a live scorecard...he tweeted about every over bowled it seems...hw fake r these ppl...
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
@fakingnews @sumitpurohit Tweeted about all India matches too in the hockey world cup, pretty fake I guess.
SUMIT PUROHIT
thx for doing a favour on hockey.anyways u missed the point :) like u ppl hv missd wht journalism is all abt...ws tlking abt the u-turn u ppl tak on ur words
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
What I tweet is out of love for d game, any game. This is still an IPL without any fizz for me, so was IPL2. So no U-turn bro
SUMIT PUROHIT
love of game? wait til v loose a series...y even a series,let us loose a match...u'l be on tht TV abusing Sachins & Sehwags
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Never said love for an individual.
SUMIT PUROHIT
individuals mak a gam.ur views abt the gam chng aftr ech match.it shws ur understdig of the gam.lovig wthot undrstdig is stupid
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
U r entitled to ur opinion mate, just as I am to mine.
SUMIT PUROHIT
exactly,finally u agree u give ur opinions...not only on tweeter but on ur channels too bcoz to give facts effort is required
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
everyone will agree that the game is bigger than any individual, just stated a universal fact.
SUMIT PUROHIT
so u mean that fact gives u right to abuse the individuals just bcoz they fail to perform in a match?
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Question.
SUMIT PUROHIT
if u call that language u use on ur channels as 'question'...i feel sorry for everyone watching these channels.
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Do let me know if that happens, will definitely look into it. Would like to know what doesn't go well with d audience
SUMIT PUROHIT
so u actually dn't knw whts wrong with the news channels? nw I am sure,I m from som different planet watching something else :)
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Can't speak for others mate.
SUMIT PUROHIT
smart...so u believe in every news[?] story shown on ur news[?] channel...and u feel it's perfectly fine? be honest for once...
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Y so judgemental :) . . . .Was honest all the while
SUMIT PUROHIT
u didn't still answer my question...by the way being judgmental should be nothing new to u ;)
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Hmm its a tough one. decisions in a news channels are never individual calls .There r discussions n disagreements B4 decisions
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
And @ times ur belief in an idea may not be as strong but there is a majority that thinks otherwise n vice versa.
SUMIT PUROHIT
dnt give a political correct answer.Be brave like a journalist shd be...do u believe in all the stories shown on ur channel?
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Who says this one didn't take a lot of bravery . ..
SUMIT PUROHIT
that's the problem with the news reporters they keep stretching question-answer...when ans cld be in just yes and no
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
We never get simple choices. If we get we question the intentions. That's ingrained
SUMIT PUROHIT
intention = TRPs?
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
How so? Did I say/imply that?
SUMIT PUROHIT
only simpl choice u'v is TRPs.evry ques...evry intention is vry small before it...u r nothing more thn an entertainment channel
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
hmm perceptive without perspective....Again u r entitled to that too.
SUMIT PUROHIT
"perceptive withot perspective",tht cld be tagline 4 any of the news channels.unless u agre u ppl'v done mistaks u wont improv
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
what is ur profession/vocation sumit.
SUMIT PUROHIT
my profession is not important...my aim- at least close down one news channel in my life time ;)
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
And I accept d compliment, I am usually bang on with my tag lines. hit a bulls eye here
SUMIT PUROHIT
nt surprisd wth ur skills wth taglines.i gues tht shd com naturlly 2 a news guys ths days coz news is all abt taglines ths days
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Amen to that ...... My best wishes partner.
SUMIT PUROHIT
thx 4 the wishes.Im sure I'm not getig any hlp 4rm u 4 this aim.so chancs of out partnrshp is sam as chance of 2012 Apocalypse
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Ha Ha.... ciao then.
SUMIT PUROHIT
ciao?get use to me.i'l be around ;)..."ha ha" tht's how most of us laugh watching news channels..at least something good abt it
...TO BE CONTINUED ...HOPEFULLY.

Once Upon A Time Hilter Loved India TV

2009-09-02T19:18:00.002+05:30

Hitler is annoyed with the News Channels

2009-09-02T19:15:00.003+05:30

Kali Raat

2009-04-22T05:26:00.002+05:30

Kali raat na sunegi

Meri baat na sunegi

Roshni ko jo kha gayi

Andhere mein dobi raat

Taaron ko kuchal kar

Chand ko nigal kar

Ankhon mein nashe ki tarah

Sanson mein zeher ki tarah

Chha rahi hai, kha rahi hai

Kaise ye raat…

Intezar hai jish ka

Savera woh nahi aayega

Raat ki hai ye mehfil

Shannata ye bas ab gayega

Suraj kahin chheep jayega

Ujjala bhi kho jayega

Chha rahi hai, ga rahi hai

Gati hoi ye raat

Machalta hoa jo tha

Cheekh har pal raha tha

Shaher woh so gaya hai

Shor woh tham gaya hai

Nirjeev ho gaya hai sab

nishachar jag gayen hain ab

chha rahi hai, jag rahi hai

nirdayi ye raat

Like Being In Love…

2008-12-13T02:46:00.003+05:30

"It does not matter that only a few in each generation will grasp and achieve the full reality of man's proper stature-and that the rest will betray it. It is those few that move the world and give life its meaning-and it is those few that I have always sought to address. The rest are no concern of mine: it is not me or The Fountainhead that they will betray: It is their own souls." -Ayn Rand

The people, who I think understand me well, have asked me many times to read Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead". They think I will connect well to Howard Roark, the protagonist of this novel. I guess I suffer from some kind of dyslexia and therefore I have to try very hard to read a book. May be this is the reason I never tried reading this novel.

Finally, today I started reading it and as I went through the introduction part I had a feeling which was extraordinary but wonderful. I don't know if there is a way to put this feeling in words. It's like being in love…pure, selfless love. And I have always believed that any human feeling related to love has some selfish motive behind it at some level….so this is special. As I read it I literally had this very wide smile on my face…I felt that there is an energy flowing in me, I felt very confident...it was like I always knew Ayn Rand. There are many difficult questions I face and though I know the answers, they always look abstract. In few pages she gave form to those answers. Reading her is like a self-realization...I am happy even if I sound very selfish or self-indulgent writing all this…as that connects me more to what Ayn Rand believes in.

On this blog only couple of days back I wrote something titled "Parallel Universes". One of my friends found it scary and weird. I couldn't explain it to her then. But I can now, for that I will use a quote from a play written by Ayn Rand -

"I want to see, real living, and in the hours of my own days, that glory I create as an illusion. I want it real. I want to know that there is someone, somewhere, who wants it, too. Or else what is the use of seeing it, and working, and burning oneself for an impossible vision? A spirit, too, needs fuel. It can run dry"

I know now, why I feel enlightened and like being in love because I truly believe now that "someone, somewhere, who wants it, too" always existed and will continue to exist…

PS- I have not started reading the Novel yet…but I will.

Iss Baar Yeh Kaisi Thand Hai?

2008-12-09T03:31:00.005+05:30

Iss baar Yeh kaisi thand hai
Sikud ke baithi hai zindagi
Kushiyan kone mein hain dubki
Khwaab kohare mein kho gaye
Aatank se yeh baraf lal kyu hai

Iss baar Yeh kaisi thand hai
Ous bann kar aasun hain bhikre
Dhuan hai kitna inn sason mein
Har koi aandar maano jal raha
Garam kapdonn main darr chupya hai
Par Bas afwaono ki hawa garam hai

Iss baar Yeh kaisi thand hai
Ab Angeti mein hausley sulgao
Garama garam ek cup sach pilao
Talo garam josh mein Zindagi ko
Woh Tazagi lao jo gayi hai kho
suraj ki kirano ko Khench lao

Iss baar yeh aakari jung hai
Zindagi ko iss baar ladna hai
Khushiyon ko phir machalna hai
Khwaab khilenge har taraf se
Khelenge hum phir baraf se

Parallel Universes…

2008-12-09T00:31:00.007+05:30

"These are some of the wildest characters in comics and yet, they seem the most real to me."

-Tim Burton [Talking about the Batman characters]

As a kid when I talked about the Aliens 'they' thought I was the biggest gossiper around. But Aliens existed for me, at least in my world. I could talk to the friendly ones and was scared of the ones who looked creepy and dangerous. Though Superheroes living there always made me feel safer and I believed I will join their league when I grow up. I guess I have not grown up yet. This parallel universe was the most mysterious place and one just needed little bit of imagination to walk into it. I have always enjoyed believing that we are inside a video game but because of the malfunction in the chip got out of the control. No surprise then that we keeping colliding into each other without reasons.

Unknown and unexplained is what makes this life so interesting. Think, how boring mathematics will be if infinity never existed and physics if there was a limit to maximum and minimum.

When things went wrong in this world I went to the parallel one. And because there were so many like me there, they always helped me come out of those not so good times. I guess there is a very thin line between being schizophrenic and something I experience. Something which is hard to explain but as I said that's the fun of it…the fun of never really growing up, the fun of creating mysterious worlds and finding meanings in the every mystery around…the fun of being called a storyteller now…they mistake same gossips for stories now…

I might vanish from here one day…but I will continue to exist somewhere…between those strange games and creatures you thought were just myth…

Am I A Traitor?

2008-12-05T06:18:00.002+05:30

"…I'd like to reach a point where I no longer bullshit myself. I think that's the natural human condition - to lie to yourself. Because the truth is painful."
-Dustin Hoffman

I have been witnessing all these candle peace rallies...which have become such a fashion after every terrorist attack and are projected by electronic media as if it's going to change everything. And if people like me refuse to be part of it we are made to feel like "traitors". My only logic for not joining such a rally was that in a tense situation such rallies put extra pressure on the police forces to provide additional security when their men are trying to concentrate on investigation. But anyways thousands of people still gathered on evening of 3^rd December near the Gate Way on India to show "their anger" and "unity" (I don't exactly know though who were they showing this off to and why?)…but how serious they were was seen in the way everyone was laughing, joking, walking casually and clicking snaps of the places where people had died few days back. And not very far from this place, at CST, a five kg bomb was recovered same day…what if it had gone up? These same people would have again blamed the police. Finally, Mumbai police had to put a ban on such rallies for next two weeks for security reasons. Then, I wonder who are these people who had gathered there as I could still see trains crowded with same old faces of the Aam Aadmis. Autowalas and taxiwalas were complaining about traffic jams due to these rallies and common man in hurry to reach home after a hard day at work also looked unhappy with all this. If one looks at these rallies carefully he/she will find that large part of this crowd us of people belonging to elite class (according to an autowala "people who have no serious work to do"), NGOs, celebrities and youth (may be same youth who gets caught in parties taking drugs, who drinks and drives and runs his car over people, who beats up policemen…and whose general knowledge about this nation is below average and who has seen Rang De Basanti for than couple of times but has missed the real message). And looking at the planks they are holding clearly suggest no one has any idea what exactly they expect from these rallies…if one of it read "We want Peace" other said "Go for War"…I am very sure whoever was holding that "Go for War" plank has no one in his/her family who is in arm forces. Anyways believing they have done something revolutionary they all went back home. What were left behind were all those banners and planks dirtying the roads and lot of melted wax. No news camera covers what is left behind…because hard truth doesn't sell. They want us to believe we have won because we have killed ten terrorists so what if we lost 200 innocent lives plus now we have shown our anger and unity. They want us to believe that smsing that "we want change" and lighting up a candle will change this country. They want us to blame politician, police and every agency possible because selling such anger is easy. What they will never tell us that we are part of the system, we are the system and we all have failed completely, that first we have to be an aware, responsible and honest citizen and then ask questions to others. I don't even know how long this anger in people will last. And as soon as some peace returns everyone will go back to their normal lives and these news channels will return to same old criminal and superstitious shows. Actually on star news second most important news after the Mumbai attack was that MS Dhoni didn't go for his graduation exam. I don't even find it funny now.

We want change but are we ready for change? It's a war like situation, we need harder rules and laws but I wonder we will follow them when we find it hard to follow simple rules and laws. We don't co-operate police in anyways, we don't have respect for policemen and we want them to stand for us. We think all the politicians are corrupt but we don't want to be part of the politics. Forget about being part of it, we don't even follow what's happening in politics. I have always believed that this country doesn't need revolution to change but it's time for self realization for every individual and to ask how responsible I am myself.

PS-I am 25 years old and I am not very proud of the fact that we are the youngest country in world as I see that my generation has clearly lost the way. The Generation before us brought this country so far, I don't know where we are taking it. As somebody told me "We are losing "EAST" and we don't have "WEST". I believe India has a "magic" about it which no other nation has but if we loose it I don't know what identity I will have as an Indian after few years. I am angry, frustrated but I still want to rise up and walk and try to change whatever I can by being little more responsible and little more aware and wish everyone does the same…am I asking too much…am I a traitor?

Mera Watan Jab Hai Jal Raha

2008-12-01T19:41:00.002+05:30

Mera watan jab hai jal raha…
Mombattiyan Woh jalate hain…

Iss bheed mein chalne wale hee…
Shaam ko mahkhane chalkate hain…

raftar ne inki kitno ko kuchla hai
yeh nashe main rehne wale bhi
aaj ek mombatti jalayenge
aur saam ko phir kisi ko kuchal jayenge
suraj se nahi, yeh sach se darte hain
ankhon par kala chasma lagaye rakte hain
sms aur e-mail kar kar ke
kranti lana woh chahate hain
Mera watan jab hai jal raha
mombattiyan woh jalate hain

cheepe kone mein camere ki aad mein
dyaan se dekho narbhakshi hain baithe
main phele-main phele, main sab se tez
laashoon par mic liye jhapat rahe aadamkhor
yeh toh bejaan jismoon ke bhi lete hain views
dard bhi bechte hain bana ke breaking news
khandar bane sheher ki tasveerein
exclusive woh batlate hain
Mera watan jab hai jal raha
moombatiyan woh jalate hain

sheher mera yeh jab jalta hai
har koi tabhi kyu jagta hai
ab jagne wale shanth sheher mein sote the
scandels aur gappein hooton par liye hote the
yeh aatank hai koi cricket ka khel nahi
kayi sau jaane gayi hain, yeh koi score nahi
bhoot preth ki baatein karte the jo
aaj nayak apne ko kehelwate hain
Mera watan jab hai jal raha
moombatiyan woh jalate hain

kal koi safed kapde pehenega
jis kone mein sheher mera hara tha
kal bheed liye koi wahan puchega
jo ho chukka uss par baaten-sawaal karenge
Caravan tod phir sab wapas chal denge
sadak par pigla moom paeron ke neeche kho jayega
mahkhane phir se lag jayenge
par main janta hoon
jab mera watan phir woh jaleyege
yeh log aur moombatiyan le aayenge

Love Story 2050...future gone wrong

2008-08-03T01:05:00.000+05:30

If I had a time machine I would have gone back in the past and made sure that I never saw this film...anyways fact is I have wasted 3 hours of my life...
Love Story 2050 is neither a decent love story nor a good sci-fi film...what it is only Harry Baweja can tell...it's a film where characters come from nowhere...with no reason and then vanish somewhere...scenes in the film are like the missing pieces of different puzzles which Harry Baweja tries hard to fix together trying to create a perfect launch vehicle for his son Harman...but his futuristic vehicle crashes even before it could start.
Special effects are so cheap and patchy that these guys can take crashes course in SFX from Ramanand Sagar's team...same goes with the art direction...it makes my building and its lift look more futuristic than anything in the film...and then there is also this irritating teddy bear robot which Priyanka keeps kicking in the film and u will like to do the same after watching it

It's hard to talk about Harman's performance in this film...he looks confident, he can dance well, has a good personality, decent actor...but sadly like all of us he also doesn't know why he is doing what he is doing in film

In the end this film makes future look so bad that u will wish there is no future

The Dark Knight-Review

2008-08-03T01:00:00.000+05:30

Christopher Nolan is back with his second installment of the Batman series and this time it's bigger, better and darker. "The Dark Knight" is not ur usual superhero film, it's a superhero film at completely different level.

What makes "The Dark Knight" a very special super hero film is that it doesn't depends on preconceived set pieces or the hero's super human capabilities. Nolan treats his Batman as someone who is made of flesh and blood and can be hurt physically as well as emotionally. This realistic treatment of a superhero film makes "The Dark Knight" an exciting experience. At the same time Nolan keeps the other fun elements of a superhero film intact, so u have interesting Gadgets and Gizmos, fast cars and bikes, superb stunts. As some critics have pointed out Nolan might not be best with action sequences but he does enough to keep u interested. Instead of showing u the larger than life action sequence one after the other, Nolan decides to tell u a great story which is dark and grim. But it's also a story of the hope, sacrifice and better world...a future without heroes and villains. A story u can connect to the present world at different levels.

But between all this the man who steals the show is Heath Ledger as the Joker. He plays this psychotic villain with a dark sense of humour with such ease that u just might not notice how much hard work has gone behind creating this character. With his performance he makes u love and hate the Joker at the same time. You will also realize that in Heath Ledger cinema as lost one of the most talented young actor.

"The Dark Knight" is an ideal cinema experience. And Christopher Nolan has proven once again why he is such respected young director in the Hollywood. In the end I will say "Mr. Nolan I can't wait to see whatever u decide to make next."

What does taking Indian cinema on next level means?

2007-04-16T09:20:00.002+05:30

Smiles

2006-08-14T03:58:00.000+05:30

Dheere dheere dheeme dheeme pal yeh chala jayega,
Tum jo japkoge palakein aaj yeh kal ho jayega…

Hawa ke joh jonke aate jate
mujhe choh jate hain
suno hoale se woh bhi
yeh kah jaate hain
Rukh hawa ke bhi
Dehk badal jate hain
Mausham fiza ka hai aaj toh kya
Ek din yeh bhi bahar le aayega

Dheere dheere dheeme dheeme pal yeh chala jayega,
Tum jo japkoge palakein aaj yeh kal ho jayega

And therefore I believe there are always more reasons to smile than to be sad...

Films

2006-08-14T03:32:00.000+05:30

I am trying to make a career in filmmaking. But I don’t know whether I should call it a career actually because more than a means of a livelihood it is a way of achieving joy and satisfaction for me. It is a way of self-realization. But, the latter part happens only if the process is honest. If it is something one doesn’t believe in, it leaves one with a lot of guilt... .

Dreams

2006-08-14T03:18:00.000+05:30

Chala  hoon manzil ki aur
Ankhon mein sapne liye
Ho saktha hai mazil par
Dhool bi na mile

Par yeh toh sapne hain mere
Jo har bar mujhe
nayi mazil ki aur le chale

Life

2006-08-14T03:16:00.000+05:30

Like everyone I dream…Dream to achieve something and everything in life…dream to satisfy all my desires. And I know to turn those dreams into reality I must work hard and come against all odds…but there are moments…strange moments when I feel void all around me with just one question flashing in that emptiness…why am I doing all this…that moment is scary…it send chills across my spine…it shakes me up and puts question mark before my existence…who am I…Why am I here…question safter questions forming web in that void leaving no space for answers…

Then I come up with a hope…hope that I will find those answers…when…I don’t know…but someday…May be this hope of finding these answers have kept human race struggling to survive…and all human development are results of this hope that someday we would understand who we are and what is real purpose of human life…someday…let’s hope…