Saturday, May 12, 2007

First Impressions: Movie : Life In a Metro

Movies like PAGE3, JOGGERS PARK, BLACK FRIDAY have set the ball rolling for the new Age Bollywood Multiplex centric cinema and Anurag Basu's the Life in a METRO continues the trend by exploring the fast paced rat race which the City dwellers in India are leading. Helped by some brillant performances by actors like KK menon, Irfan Khan, Konkana Sen Sharma, Basu crafts the life in a metro weaving together the compromises today's metrosexual individuals make in order to make it big in Life.

Irfan Khan(Monty) as a 35 year old still searching for the love of his life (using the internet Marriage site Shaadi.com) stands out and you love to hate his character of a no nonsense guy who does not mind talking of Figures( both salary and Women's) in the Same light ( and sentence). Sharman Joshi(Rahul), as call centre worker typifies the India's IT generation with a Rs 15000/- per month salary dreaming of a 15 Crore business and is ready to go any lengths to achieve his dreams. Then you have Rahul's boss Ranjit ( KK Menon in yet another subdued performance), who is having affair with Neha( Kangana RAunaut) . Neha in turn is the roommate of Ranjit's Sister in Law (aka Saali) and also the secretly courted by Rahul.Ranjit's Sister in Law is a played by Konkana Sen Sharma , a 30 year old who is still searching for the ideal match in life ( Tall, dark, handsome, good sense of Humour, sensitive guy)

Sounds complicated enough already ? Well there is more ,with Ranjit's wife(Shilpa Shetty) having a small affair with Shiny Ahuja(Akash), a struggling Theatre Artist. Also Dharamendra as Amol unites with his College Life Love played by NAfisa Ali and acts as a catalyst for other characters in the movie to redefine their respective Life's priorities. How these characters try to bring in a Sembalance to the RAT race in life forms the crux of the plot .

BottomLine: An intense but entertaining movie which can be watched on a weekend.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Getting Duped and Infosys

Now don't be surprised !! I am indeed talking of arguably most ethical company in India Inc - Bangalore HeadQuartered Infosys Technologies Ltd- And you read the word Dupe also rightly. So how come I am using the word "dupe" and swanky clean imaged Infosys in the same sentence or phrase. Well, blame it on the marketing team of the Infosys, which has created a cult brand among Indians so much so that to the Common lay man "Software"/IT" is synonmous with Infosys.

And so whenever layman( read the non IT related guys like the Autowallahs, Thieves,robbers ) wants to have anything to do with Software, what does he do ? He uses the Infosys brand name. Not convinced ?? Read on...... Yesterday one of Colleague's apartment in HSR Layout ( a decently posh locality with lots of IT guys especially from Infosys/Wipro) had two strange visitors. Two guys wearing Tie and formal trousers( aka Infy employee uniform on Monday/tuesday) knocked on his door. They had a Piece of paper with them. The paper apparently was a Xerox copy of an Infosys Id card. They asked my Colleague if anybody of the name as in the Id card stays at his place/apartment complex.

Now my colleague busy with other chores simply says no the two people and inadvertently forgets to close the door leaving it half open. Half an hour later, my friend is frantically searching for his Mobile phone and watch. Any guesses on where his mobile/watch went ??? Turns out the two white Shirt/Black Tie guys visited 8 houses in the entire Apartment complex but got lucky with my colleague.

If this story does not convince you about Infosys, here is another one, this one in Chennai's Adyar( Another IT locality much like HSR, Koramangala in Bangalore) . A man stops an Infosys employee who has just alighted from the Infy bus and is headed home. The man tells the infosys guy that he is an Infosys Employee ( mind you plain rock solid English) and that he has just been transferred from Bangalore to Chennai . But apparently someone has stolen his baggage ( Of course the Infosys ID is in the Baggage he claims) and that he has lost his wallet/money/everything. The man demands money from Infy person and says he will return it once he joins Chennai Office the next day. He even gives his mobile number and Extn of his reporting manager( fake of course ) in Chennai Office Any guesses if the gullible Infy guy got his money back ?

So seems like the thugs can't leave even anyone including the icon of India's economic progress alone and want to use it's name to cheat the poor gullible people.
Afterall, all is not fair in the big bad world !!