Rockstar review..

The fact that the film opens in Prague and our rockstar is influenced by Jim Morrison, who read and revered Kafka, who lived in Prague, is a coincidence or Imtiaz Ali's anecdote is really a puzzle to me. But i'd like to believe the latter, as you watch this Jaat Boy from Pitampura, Delhi evolve into a rockstar, it is simply a cinematic treat. We might not have had our own Rockstar yet, but we've definitely got a Rockstar movie and who knows the rockstar might just follow..
The film has a soul but is caged in the narrative which flaws at many places. Rockstar is guided by its music and lyrics the way it should happen for any musical. Indian film industry which is mainly guided by the parellel music industry, it is heartening to see that the true notion of a musical is captured by letting it actually carry forward the story. It is actually at Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar Janardan finds himself and his musical side is revealed after serious humiliations and setbacks. In a way Janardan is an outcast of society he is grown up in and is a complete rebel and waste to conservative Jaat family. The transformation of Janardan through a sufi track kun faaya kun faaya...is an amazinly fluid woven poetry, where visuals...music..lyrics and Ranbeer's poise takeover completely.
As I said earlier, the narrative of the film also meanders several times, jumping back and forth across time and space, making it seem incoherent at times. In a way it also reflects Jordan’s mind frame, so unsettled  over constantly loving and losing Heer that even he doesn’t know how he will react next.
Rahman’s music is what makes this film a winner throughout, complemented by Anil Mehta’s superb cinematography. The way his camera records Delhi, Kashmir, Prague and Verona, each place inexplicably connected to the other, enhances the music even more.
It is interesting and amusing at the same time to see the whole bunch of young actors pay tribute to Shammi Kapoor..doin a Chand sa roshan chehra on Dal Lake.
And equally heart warming to see both the Kapoors share the screen space. The senior Kapoor fills the screen with charisma in a brief role as a revered Ustaad that takes a liking to Jordan’s inherent talent. In one of the sequences two Kapoors jam with guitar and shehnai, the pensive mood both of them are in and the music once again swirls a magic wand on the screen.

Salad with a soul

There are many reasons why I call Caesar salad one of my all time favourite meals (yes  I, consider Caesar salad a meal in itself) a salad with a soul and a very pure one at that!  Paired with a good wine like Sangiovese it can turn a very casual lunch with friends or family into an exotic one. While choosing a sangiovese grape wine you can go through an array of Italian wines (it is the most widely grown grape variety in Italy) and decide on your favourite. Am still going through the process of deciding my favourite!  Contrary to the populay belief that the salad has been named after Julius Caesar, this popular dish was originally created in 1924 by Italian chef Caesar Cardini at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico and was prepared and served right at the table.

Some well-known restaurants have a live tossing and whipping  for the salad on their salad counters. For those who’ve not experienced “the salad show”, you don’t know what you’ve missed. It is an opportunity for a chef to show off his stuff, mixing and whisking to the delight of the patrons.

Generally, a Caesar salad contains romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper. Now it has multiple variations including different kinds of lettuce, grilled chicken, meat, shellfish, fish, anchovies, bacon, etc.  Out of all the Caesars (pun intended) I’ve had, the best was at the Big Chill cafe´ at khan market. This version goes with iceberg lettuce as opposed to romaine, has a delectable dressing with a hint of fresh lemon juice and coddled eggs, croutons have a slight hint of butter and garlic ( they stole my heart) and chunks of chicken or bacon as per your choice.  What I totally fell for was generous shavings for parmesan on the top.

All you need to know while getting together your salad at home is the dressing, once that is in place you can experiment and be adventurous about the ingredients. Remember a good cook has to think out of the box and many a times give up on tradition.  

So here goes my version of the dressing:

·         One cup of mayo ( I prefer low fat one with eggs)

·         One and half cup of hung curd (again the low fat variety)

·         One cup of olive oil (virgin)

·         Mustard (the original recipe demands dijon, I use anything at hand J )

·         Few cloves of garlic (hear my Indian cooking instincts take over and I go a little over board)

Whip up all this together and you can even store in a bottle.

So get your salad bowls and spoon out and give this soulful salad a try!

My years with Ray's cinema..

Sometimes I wonder if Fydoor Dostoevsky had met Satyajit Ray, what could have happened on the celluloid is simply unimaginable. Simply for the reason that their creations were reverberating with humanism, universality, and of deceptive simplicity with deep underlying complexity.
Today I feel like reminiscing his uncontrollable presence in my formative years of under-grad and post grad. 
Years ago, as a college going student in Pune, I got to associate myself with National Films Archive of India which had periodic screenings of great films from India and abroad. This place definitely left the aficionados craving for more, and film festivals became the rage of those years. The classics from masters enthralled the young and the old alike and many like me got an opportunity to see some of the best films ever made.
It is said that when we have very high expectations, we are likely to feel let down eventually, but Ray enthrals you and leaves an imprint of his frames on your heart. The first of the Appu trilogy had made Ray an overnight celebrity; obviously I was waiting
to see it and reached almost an hour before the show at Film and Televison Insititute of India (where they were screening the film at their Wisdom Tree film festival).
Years later, I feel the same excitement when I think of that small hall in FTII that evening where I met Appu, Durga and his life through the lens of Ray. I had heard many times over of the sheer beauty of those shots where Appu and Durga wade through the grass uphill to see the train running past their village. What is it that makes this one scene so special and memorable is something that I can't grasp yet – probably the first interaction of Appu and Durga with the "modern" world or the sheer curiosity of human mind reflected with beautiful human emotions, my interpretations go on till today.  And it is, perhaps, the beauty of it: that the scene is etched in one's memory forever. But after watching the film, the scene that etches my heart is when it is Appu's first day at school and Durga is eager to awake him. And one skips a heartbeat where Appu looks through the torn patch of his quilt at his sister.
After this tormented journey of self through the film, I decided to watch Shatranj ke Khiladi – Ray's symbolism of two local aristocrats of Lucknow, who remain oblivius their real lives which are in a mess and follow their passions; similar to the rulers of Awadh of eighteenth century who beacome vritually impotent in quarding their kingdoms from the British rule.
 When one talks of Satyajit Ray, one is not talking of a person – Ray was a phenomenon, an institution, and a rare one at that.
One of his contemporaries, the legendary Japanese filmmaker, Akiro Kurosawa, had once said: "Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon"!
I am happy that I managed to see the sun and moon in a different light and shadow through Ray's cinema.
 

Soupy tales

The word restaurant was first used in France in the 16th century, to describe a highly concentrated, inexpensive soup, sold by street vendors. My fond association with soups go back to the winters of early nineties, when me and baba would eat mullgawtany soup ( a famous concoction of lamb and lentils, which traveled from khyberpass to North-India) directly from a bowl. A velvety texture and aroma of nutmeg would soothe both our tummy and senses.
Soup is a comfort in any season: It is refreshing chilled in summer, as well as hot on nippy days. Some especially versatile soups are enjoyable served warm one day and cold the next. Just be sure to serve cold soups thoroughly chilled and hot soups steaming. We’re talking seriously sustaining comfort food here, which stands on its own—though some freshly baked bread would be a welcome accompaniment!
But temperature is just one dimension of this practically universal culinary format that provides cooks all over the globe with innumerable opportunities for creative improvisation. Soups are not only an exceptionally expressive medium but also laudable for their nutritional standing—chock-full of vitamins, minerals, and often protein and fiber, too
Consider all of your leftovers—raw and cooked vegetables and fruits, stocks, juices, sauces, and cooked grains, beans and pasta—as potential soup ingredients. For instance, combine leftover steamed, roasted or stir-fried vegetables, some noodles or rice, and vegetable stock for an especially quick meal. Blend ripe banana, peach, strawberries or melon, yogurt or coconut milk, and fruit juice, and you’ll have a delectable fruit soup.
One of the most common soup flaws, I find, is a “flat” taste due to improper seasoning. Salt is a flavor enhancer and may correct the situation. Taste and add it at several points while the soup simmers and then make a final adjustment at the end of cooking. A small amount of citrus juice, dry wine or vinegar can also bring out and balance a soup’s overall flavor.
Finally, a garnish furnishes a special finishing touch to a soup. Croutons provide a contrast in texture to a smooth puree, and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream does the same for a chunky soup.
Edible flower blossoms and leaves and fruit slices contribute beauty and visual interest as well as a bit of flavor. Minced fresh herbs or a sprinkle of a pungent spice add a piquant accent to each serving. Now, get out a heavy-bottomed pot, fire up your range and give soup a try!

My Inability to get hurt

Monday, January 29, 2007

My inability to get hurt
Like dead flesh
It doesn’t hurt like a fresh rose
When stomped
Dead flesh sees future
Of being hung
After cut for steaks..
It doesn’t complain or
Can it complain after being dead?
Feathers ceded by birds in flight
Are like me.
They don’t get hurt
For they are not butterflies squashed by
Children in play..