Brunch 08 12 2013 by Hindustan Times

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 8, 2013 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

aking m e r a s lm fi t n depende in t e ans, g f d g u b in n ll a in w , Sm s d up awar g in k ic p , s ge binge e v in r f a r big wa o f s u ey. Join n o m g in n r a e even A still from Miss Lovely, which was the only Indian entry at the Cannes International Film Festival 2012

indulge

VIR SANGHVI

Savour the flavour

SANJOY NARAYAN Wild tales

RAJIV MAKHNI

Drone dreams

SEEMA GOSWAMI

A bout of ‘whataboutitis’

FOREVER URBANE. FOREVER VERDANT. FOREVER EXQUISITE. In the midst of a city famed for cutting edge technology stands the 125-year-old Taj West End. Born of an era that favoured bungalows and one-storey intimacy, it is situated across 20 acres of landscaped gardens. Remade entirely with contemporary appointments, The Taj West End offers superlative service, the distinctive style of The Taj Club, the Jiva Spa and a new fitness facility. Enjoy superb dining at Blue Ginger, which serves exquisite Vietnamese cuisine, Blue Bar, the city’s hottest nightspot and Masala Klub, which features stylishly crafted light Indian fare. Discover the Taj difference at this Bangalore landmark.

Taj forever.

InDI a

nEW YoRK • BoSTon • Sa n FR a nCISCo • LonDon • M a RR a K ECH C a pE ToW n • DuBa I • M a LDI V ES • SRI L a nK a • SY DnEY Visit tajhotels.com. Call 1.800.111.825 toll free or the hotel directly, 91.80.6660.5660. Email westend.bangalore@tajhotels.com. •

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

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people we’d love to see on Koffee with Karan just for kicks and giggles

Karan n Johar has been on the Brunch cover more than any living, breathing soul. The ﬁrst was back in the day when Koffee with Karan an had just begun. His celeb guests then were almost always taken aback by his questions and revealed more than they intended to. Now, they are seasoned, so the gossip is calculated. But we still get gems – remember the Priyanka-Kareena accent ﬁght? And when Deepika said she’d like to see Katrina’s passport? assport? Oh and Rakhi Sa Sawant’s pearl of wisdom, ‘Jo bhagwaan nahin deta woh doctor deta hai’! So yes, es, last Sunday, w we made ourselves some coffee (Star World even sent us those giant red Koffee with Karan an mugs) and we fell in love with him more than ever! (Another cover, Karan?) As for his show, it’s like a private party that we are invited to. So here’s who we’d like to see on the show (and what we’d like Karan to ask them: RAM GOPAL VARMA: Which Hollywood or Bollywood movie are you going to rip off next?

lish or the American accent?

HONEY SINGH: Anything (because something needs to top the Rakhi Sawant episode)

UDAY CHOPRA: Who gave you the advice to get into acting in the ﬁrst place? VIVEK OBEROI: Were you cloned circa early 2000? If not, then what the hell happened to the guy we saw in Company y and Saathiya a?

SONAKSHI SINHA: Which is worse? Losing weight? Or looking like Reena Roy?

SRIDEVI: When was the last time you could laugh properly? PRIYANKA CHOPRA: We hear you wear your heart on your sleeve! Which actors from the industry have you not dated? MADHURI DIXIT: What was easier to pick up? Eng-

Quick Review

REKHA: And what made you choose to do that ghastly Snickers (Snickers!) ad? Do you ﬁnally want to give up on makeup?

by Shreya Sethuraman

by Parul Khanna

The life of a fauji memsaab

THE BOOK: Soldier & Spice: An Army Wife’s Life by Aditi Kumar Mathur THE GIST: A working Delhi girl gets married to an army officer. This is her take on the fauji life ONE-LINE REVIEW: Fun and quite funny, Mathur’s gott most facts right (I know because I am a fauji brat) READ IT IF YOU LIKE: The self-deprecating humour in Bridget Jones’s Diary BUT CAUTION: The writer seems too starry-eyed (that’s ’’s possibly because she isn’’t a fauji brat herself) THE BEST LINE: Apparently officers are not ‘men’. Officers are ‘officers’

Stuf St ufff Yo uf Youu Sa Said id L Las astt Su as Sund nday nd ay

DEEPIKA PADUKONE: From Ranbir to Ranveer. You have stayed true to the ‘R’ in your tattoo. What has the journey been like?

We were not prepared. Not for this unlimited, unprecedented fun that was Karan interviewing Salman Khan! This was one of the best episodes of the show in all its seasons so far! But why did the usually-at-ease KJo seem so conspicuously cagey while attempting to interrogate Salman? Well, at least we now know a 47-year-old very virile virgin. Oh, Salman!

t. Brunch cover fea . SRK and Katrina 50 They both have d brands endorse by them with the of maximum share the endorsement market! – @iamaditya7

'The

best thing about Sunday is holiday + relaxing cup of masala chai + @HTBrunch!' @niyatis25

PICKED UP FROM THE STREETS OF UTTAR PRADESH

Over the years, you may have picked up the odd Punjabi phrase or stuff Marathi aunties say. You even know a few Tamil swear words. Here’s more to expand your vocabulary BAIL HAI SAALA Meaning: He’s a fool Usage: I tried to explain feminism to that old guy at work, but he just wouldn’t get it! Bail hai saala!

Cover imaging: MONICA GUPTA

CHANDUKHANE KI KHABAR Meaning: Drunken banter Usage: Phata Poster Nikhla Hero landed Shahid a role in Hollywood? Kya chandukhane ki khabar suna rahe ho!

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Rachel Lopez, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Mignonne Dsouza, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna, Yashica Dutt, Amrah Ashraf, Saudamini Jain, Shreya Sethuraman

DECEMBER 8, 2013

KANTAAP, LAPPAD Meaning: Slap Usage: Ek kantaap marenge, seedhe ho jaoge

GIRA GIRA KE MAARENGE Meaning: Literally, toss someone on the ﬂoor, beat them, pick up and repeat Usage: We’d rather you didn’t use it at all!

DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor, Design), Monica Gupta, Swati Chakrabarti, Payal Dighe Karkhanis, Rakesh Kumar, Ajay Aggarwal

Drop us a line at: brunchletters@hindustantimes. com or to 18-20 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001

AMA JAO Meaning: Really, what are you saying? Usage: You think Bigg Boss is a ‘reality show’? Ama jao!

let’s not m whhat women ouake it about ght to do, please!]

Nice read in today’s @HTBrunch about Sagar/Swagath founder and his tussle with his majority equity owner. Corporate vs Street Smart. har khar hekha ayshe @vijays – @vij

Psst, send your feedback to brunchletters@hindustantimes.com or tweet to @HTBrunch

On The Brunch Radar by Saudamini Jain ■ Everyone can watch a ﬁlm,

but they cannot read a book: Amitabh Bachchan ■ All those space/Mars/China jokes and planet puns on Twitter when Mangalyaan left the Earth’s orbit ■ Ali Zafar and Total Siyapaa’s trailer ■ Flamingos and other BFFs on TV. (Watch Boston Legal al and you’ll understand this) ■ Everything Christmassy (even the tackiest plastic baubles, as long as they’re shiny)

LAPPU JHANNA Meaning: The laughing stock, lallu panju Usage: Tusshar Kapoor in two words? Lappu Jhanna

BAQAITI Meaning: Senseless talk Usage: You’re interviewing Mallika Sherawat? Try and get some substance out of all her baqaiti!

Seem e a Gosw Sex, x Lies and ami’s article eota t pe lis Lack of Vidand don’ts ted some dos the workplafor women at if her suggce. Hopefully es follo l wed crimtions are women will e against diminish – RL RL Pa Patth ha ak k [But

■ Usha Uthup’s Skyfall in a Sari

■ Palash Krishna Mehrotra and

SHOVE IT

GHUMAKKAD Meaning: Someone who’s always loaﬁng about Usage: Gul Panag is such a ghumakkad. Her tweets are always about about travel

BE-PAR KI UDAANA Meaning: Trying to say something baseless Usage: Yaar be-par ki mat udaao, tumhare paas Ferrari kahaan kahaan hai? kah

LAFANTAR Meaning: Rogue, ogue, rufﬁan – essentially, Anil Kapoor apoor in Ram Lakhan Usage: Woh lafantar humare ghar ka damaad kabhi nahi bann sakta!

Photos: THINKSTOCK

Said The Men In White Coats

The Book Club

LOVE IT

10 Idiot Box

other men “Under A State of Siege” ■ The demise of HT Mini (the comic-book sized tabloid for the Delhi Metro) ■ If you wish people on their birthdays on Facebook only if they wish you on yours ■ Election campaigns on the radio

FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT National — Sanchita Tyagi: sanchita.tyagi@hindustantimes.com North — Siddarth Chopra: siddarth.chopra@hindustantimes.com West — Karishma Makhija: karishma.makhija@hindustantimes.com South — Francisco Lobo: francisco.lobo@hindustantimes.com

FINE PRINT

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“We’re Privileged As Delhiwallas”

Malvika Singh’s new book on Delhi is as much about her life as it is about her city. We bring you a bit of both by Saudamini Jain

ELHI IS full of interesting stories. And Malvika ‘Mala’ Singh, publisher of the monthly in-depth magazine, Seminar, and the grand old lady of the city’s elite club, knows them all. In the 1950s, when she was about 12 years old, her family moved from Bombay to Delhi. Her parents were journalists Raj and Romesh Thapar (they started Seminar in 1959 after the Communist Party began using Crossroads, the tabloid they then edited, as a mouthpiece). Her aunt is historian Romila Thapar. At Modern School, Barakhamba Road, she met – and later married – Tejbir Singh, the grandon of Sir Sobha Singh (the legendary builder of New Delhi who was also called, ‘Aadhi Dilli ka Malik’ ) and the nephew of Khushwant Singh. Anybody who is somebody in the city is a friend of hers – and so her new book, Perpetual City: A Short Biography Of Delhi (part of Aleph’s series of short city biographies) is more about her life in Delhi than the city itself. Reading the book is like having a conversation with her, there’s some gossip about the crème de la crème of Delhi, there is her disdain for babus and their mismanagement, there’s nostalgia and there is the delight at being a Delhiwallah. We met her at the vibrantly furnished Seminar ofﬁce at Janpath to talk about her book and her love for Delhi, the perpetual city. Excerpts from the interview:

Did you deliberately set out to write the book like a memoir?

When David [Davidar] asked me to write a biography of Delhi, I said to him, “I’m not a historian, so the way I would consider doing it would be to weave the city through the changes I saw while growing up.” So, I took a 50-year chunk

Photo: SANJEEV VERMA

[from the late Fifties until now] and wrote it. The historical thing is obviously researched. But the book is not about Delhi as much as it is about my life. There’s no other way I could do it. Who wants to read a book that says you know – [Delhi was established in so-and-so year]? It’s just too boring! And nobody really knows when the ﬁrst city of Delhi really was. If you go back to the Mahabharata, there is Indraprastha... so, the idea was that the reader could imagine what may have happened in the past and what could happen in the future.

You were born in Mumbai and lived there till you were 12. What do you think of the city now? I know that city well. But Bombay was very different in those days – there was a lot of theatre and music and art. It has become a glorified slum now. I find it very difficult and superficial as a city.

I have very old friends there, so once a year maybe one makes a trip. But I don’t connect to the city. Over the years, Delhi has grown into a very exciting city at all levels – culture, literature, journalism, art, fashion. That’s why we decided on the title [of the book] as Perpetual City because that’s what it is – it keeps on adding value! Delhi is a layered city in each of its avatars, it has a soul that is unlike Bombay. Bombay used to be the lively cultural hub. It has just dissipated. It tries. It will have a little lit fest, but it’s not like this city where the galleries are jumping, there’s music – something or the other is happening in the city right through the year! It’s not like there’s a season, ki October mein season shuru hua, February mein khatam ho gaya. Delhi is the only city that encompasses that ethos of a civilisation, which is quite special. Some of this needs to be replicated in all the state capitals.

Five places you can’t do without in Delhi All of Delhi! But Lodhi Garden is one; Chandni Chowk and Jama Masjid; the new energy in Lodhi Road, every day something new is happening there; the Ridge; and in a strange way, Sujan Singh Park. I think it is the most amazing quadrangle of ﬂats that leave you independent and yet in community. It’s the single-most civilised place to live in India.

DECEMBER 8, 2013

THE GRAND OLD LADY

Malvika Singh at the Seminar ofﬁce in Janpath But in your book, there are also tones of a growing dissatisfaction with the city.

Not with the city, but with the people who run the city. And I think the angst is, here you have the space to spread out but there is no creativity or regulation in new buildings. You need some autonomous bodies which work with governments to infuse unusual ideas into bureaucratic mindsets and make the cities vibrant. It is unforgiveable that a historic city like Delhi, which can be equated with Rome and Cairo, can be maltreated by the municipalities in the manner it has been.

So why do you think Delhi has such a bad reputation?

Does it? It’s never happened to me, so I can’t comment. I’ve always enjoyed myself when I travelled because people have sought me out and said, “What’s happening in Dastkar?”, or “What is the PM up to?” or “What’s happening behind the scenes?” There is a great interest. When I go to Bombay, I don’t say, “Arre, what’s happening behind

FINE PRINT the scenes in the Maharashtra government?” In reverse, when I ask what’s happening in city, I hear, “You know, ﬁve days ago we had a qawwali performance.” But for us you want to hear a qawwali you go to Nizamuddin on Thursday or Friday night and you hear a qawwali. We’re privileged as Delhiwallas.

Do you like the way the city has changed? The reason I love Delhi is because it is never static. I loved it when I came in as a child. It was a capital city, it was politics, it was wellknown people (and their doors and gates were open, everyone could meet them. They weren’t like these nutcases who keep their doors closed, six guards toting guns). But I love it for that also, you’ve got the old, you’ve got the new, it’s constantly changing.

But you liked it better then.

I tried to curb it. But there is nostalgia because I tell you, it was happy! Even growing up, you know, I was thrown out of [Delhi] University, I went to drama school [National School of Drama] but never did theatre and ﬁlm except Masoom. I’m a misﬁt, I’m proud of being, what I call, a professional dilettante. I have lived my life dabbling in lots of things, enjoying it thoroughly.

Is it difﬁcult to run a magazine like Seminar now?

The difﬁculty is the rather intellectually mediocre community that has the money to advertise. The advertising support of Seminar are old business houses – the Tatas, the Mahindras, these guys supported intellectual ventures because the corporate world in the Fifties was part of nation building. They understood the need for platforms like Seminar and other news magazines and tabloids. Today, you have to beg for advertising support. I once wrote to Keshub Mahindra for the renewal of ad-contract and he wrote back saying, “Mala, you do not have to write to me. As long as I am alive, Mahindra will support you in your advertising.” The fear is, how long can this last? But this is the only anchor in my life. It is the pivot around which all people I like – in art, music – keep coming back. This ofﬁce is like an adda. This adda culture, you only have in Delhi. You do not have it in Bombay. saudamini.jain@hindustantimes.com Follow @SaudaminiJain on twitter

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Misty water-colored memories

Tales from New Delhi and Shahjahanabad. Excerpts from Malvika Singh’s new biography of Delhi, Perpetual City

moved to Delhi from Bombay in the 1950s, and was immediately struck by the broad avenues and wide open spaces of Delhi, punctuated with weathered monuments, their aging patina reﬂecting the dancing rays of early morning and evening light. It was all larger than life, powerful and fragile at the same moment. I thought then, as I do now, that Delhi was about those who rule us, and we the ruled, who are at their ‘call and mercy’. It was (and is) a city of ‘them’ and ‘us’, while Bombay was, in comparison, equal and cosmopolitan, all-embracing, and did not exude that alienating sense of absolute ‘power’.

y grandfather, who was more angrez than the angrez, would take us to eat at Moti Mahal in Daryaganj, at least once every visit during our school vacations when we were living in Bombay. I suppose it was his way of retaining his links with the real Dilli, its tandoori chicken and bheja fry. We would all pile into the car and drive through Dilli Darwaza that separated the twin cities of new and old, to this iconic restaurant. Kundan Lal, the owner, with his lush twirled moustache, wearing his trademark pathan suit, would greet my grandfather with a hearty ‘Welcome General Sahib’, and create a long table for the family, at a distance from the singing qawwals who

FLASHBACK

Delhi’s greatness can be sourced back to the Old City. Here, Jama Masjid as it was in 1965

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

for years and years sang a song I will never forget—‘tere pairo pe mehndi lagi hai, aane jaane ke kabil nahin hai . . .’ The standard order was tandoori chicken, kali dal and naan as the staples with delicious curried brain, grilled chops and, sometimes, butter chicken that was more Punjabi than a delicacy from the wild and rugged frontier of undivided India. Kulfi with falooda, a tasteless vermicelli, would always be the finale of the meal. Grandfather had served in the North West Frontier Agency and was addicted to its special cuisine. It was a treat for us Bombaywallahs to savour the wonderful barbequed meats of the restaurant. Many decades later, in the early years of the twenty-first century, we were invited to Moti Mahal to taste food cooked by none other than the renowned British chef, Gordon Ramsay. He had constructed an eclectic menu, worked in the traditional kitchens of Moti Mahal with its clay ovens but, alas, what he churned out was no match at all to the consistently excellent fare that made Kundan Lal a star conductor of his time with a great team of sous chefs. The other eating place that sits in a galli adjacent to the Jama Masjid is Karim’s. Here, the early morning, breakfast Nihari, a marrow and meat stew, cooked overnight in fragrant spices, warm and delicious when scooped up with a roti and heartily devoured, remains an unmatched specialty. I have eaten Nihari at dawn, sitting on a wooden

bench in the eatery that has been there forever. The test of its excellence is that Jaisal, a generation after me, takes off every now and again, after a late late party that ends at dawn, to savour this iconic dish before going to sleep a few hours into daybreak. The only way to eat Nihari is at the correct time, for breakfast, and not as a dinner ‘dish’ which has become its new avatar served up at weddings in impersonal ﬁve star hotels that are now trying to ape an Indian past, getting it wrong.

ecades before the DDA and other such authorities rode roughshod over the state of Delhi, there was a happy energy and carefree vitality in this city that was infectious. The first crop of private entrepreneurs were opening shop despite archaic regulatory mechanisms that seemed to want to defeat enterprise. Government servants were always around, asking for their ‘hafta’ that had become the easy way of receiving some loose cash. They were suffocating the city but equally, the ‘flower generation’ of the sixties was not to be held back or contained. The Tea House, at the corner of Regal Building, gave way to The Cellar, Delhi’s first ever discotheque that opened in March 1968. It was the brainchild of my brother-in-law and celebrated the young, the flower children who shared the sound and song of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones with their peers across the world. Our young generation came together regardless of cultural differences, language, caste or colour on the back of the music of the moment and the international dress code of blue jeans. A liberation of the spirit was happening and we were an intrinsic part of that psychedelic change. In contrast, Gaylord, with its Art Deco interiors, was a genteel restaurant in the same building where late morning ‘parties’, over tall, etched glasses of cold coffee and hot cups of cona coffee with chicken patties laced with chopped green chillies in vinegar, took place while checking out ‘good’ girls from ‘good’ families for eligible boys. The old and the new overlapped. Further down, in the same building of which we were landlords, was Regal Cinema. It had a grand lobby with stairs leading up to the ‘boxes’ at the rear end of the hall. The pastel coloured walls along the sides were embellished with plaster of Paris statues painted white. It was quite spectacular in its heyday. Perpetual City: A Short Biography of Delhi by Malvika Singh, Aleph Book Company, 136 pages, 295

REC

Indian in cinem dependent a stood has always ap standi art. But now ng tall it’s .M tribe o f fringe eet the comin g into ﬁlmmakers their o by Par ul Kha wn nna

T HAS been an interesting year for films in India. Membership to the 100-crore club (a term developed by Brunch. We take full credit) increased. While the focus was on the newly emerging 200-crore club, three little films, with minimal budgets, no stars, and no big-ticket directors released in consecutive months. They inched onto the screens and stole the limelight away from many star-studded movies. When director Anand Gandhi came out with Ship of Theseus in July, its thought-provoking narrative bowled the critics over. In August, B.A. Pass, the virgin, not-so-virginal, venture of director Ajay Bahl, was released. Shot with a basic Alexa Arri camera in the bylanes of Paharganj on a budget of 2 crore, the coming-of-age noir film garnered attention not just for its bold theme, and actress Shilpa Shukla’s seductive character, but for the story itself. It recovered its money three times over. Then, in September, came The Lunchbox. The film about two people falling in love through letters and a consistently mis-delivered lunch dabba, made with just 9 crore, grossed 25 crore despite its limited release. These films were everything a 100-crore film wasn’t. Their screenplay was languid, the pace unhurried – Irrfan Khan stares at a slow-moving fan for five minutes in The Lunchbox, his co-star Nimrat Kaur wears no make-up (even her eyebrows were left unthreaded). There were no fancy locations or big promotion budgets. But they managed to engross audiences. India finally woke up to the phenomenon of indie films.

For most film buffs, the word ‘indie’ simply refers to any movie made with an individualistic spirit. “A movie totally driven by the auteur is an indie,” explains filmmaker Sarthak Dasgupta. “This movie is an individualistic voice of the filmmaker and doesn’t

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necessarily cater to mass taste. [It’s] A film that doesn’t comply by what is commercial, but is a distinct voice of the filmmaker, who wants to make it the way he wants to.” The generic definition of an indie film points to a smallbudget project made and distributed by an independent source, without the intrusion of a big studio. But in India, distribution is a big hurdle, and most times, it happens only with the help of established studios. So our indie films are often made with money from independent sources or a producer who chips in. Sarthak Dasgupta’s The Great Indian Butterfly was made with his own savings and help from a friend. The film was picked up by Sanjay Gupta, who pitched in more money to complete it. Ajay Bahl borrowed money from his family for B.A. Pass. Udaan (2010) and Shahid (2013) were both independent ventures picked up for distribution by mainstream companies. An indie film could also be made by collecting money from multiple sources, like Ashim Ahluwalia did for Miss Lovely (it releases in January 2014). “It took me three years,” he recalls. “It eventually became a co-production – some French money, some Japanese money, some Indian money, a little bit of American money too.” Unlike the parallel cinema movement of the ’70s and ’80s, which focused on social injustices and everyday struggles, today’s indie films are not bound by any one theme. You could watch a slow, subtle romance like The Lunchbox, a gripping, nihilistic drama full of smaller stories like SHORTS (2013), or the heartwarming story of two adolescents growing up on the streets in Mumbai Cha Raja (2012). Song and dance routines are optional. But a common joke doing the rounds of the indie circuit goes like this: ‘Make a movie with a five-minute shot of the fan, no make-up, realistic feel, and you have an indie!’

The reasons driving India’s newage indie ﬁlmmakers are varied. Some, like Anand Gandhi, see

Ashim Ahluwalia, Miss Lovely

COVER STORY

star is not a person but a script. “We write a story that will be strong, and can be made on a low budget,” says Dasgupta. Others cut location costs, edit everything on paper and plan better, so the project is more efficient. Some, however, just indulge in mutual back-scratching for long-term gain. Huma Qureshi didn’t charge Shlok Sharma for her role in Sujata. She did her own makeup and got her own clothes. It gave the young actress a chance to break into the big league and showcase her skills to attract commercial projects in the future. Richa Chadda (Gangs of Wasseypur, SHORTS, and the commercial film Fukrey) says, “I would definitely work for Shlok, even if he doesn’t have funds, because he’s a friend.”

Sarthak Dasgupta, The Great Indian Butterﬂy

Anand Gandhi, Ship of Theseus

Ajay Aja y Bahl Bahl ahl,, B.A B. A Pa Pass ss

Hansal Mehta, Shahid

Ritesh Batra, The Lunchbox

“An indie film is a distinct voice of the filmmaker, it doesn’t cater to the mass taste” films as an engaging and “powerful tool to make people think and introspect and have a profound impact”. For others like MBAturned-filmmaker Dasgupta, being able to do the kind of film one wants with or without a star is the driving force. “Stars want to appeal to a larger audience, which leads to dumbing down content,” he explains. For Vasan Bala, whose 2012 thriller Peddlers focused on street kids and the drug trade, indie films allow him to tell the story “that has touched me.” Most indie filmmakers cite world cinema and satellite television as influences and with changing technology, they also have a better means of telling their story than before. A film can now be shot on a digital motion picture camera, as Ajay Bahl did beautifully. Software for editing and music is easily available. “And anything else we want to learn about the aesthetics of filmmaking, it’s all there,” says Bala. Indie filmmakers are people who, by choice, refuse work that doesn’t match their sensibility. They’ll turn down plum assignments and drop the chance to

work with a star if it interferes with their creative output. Like Shlok Sharma, director of the short ﬁlm Sujata in SHORTS (and whose indie ﬁlm Haramkhor will release next year). “When we are approached to do stuff for television, which has a lot of money, we often turn it down, even when we are struggling for money,” he says. “Because we may want to shoot guerrilla style at the Chhatrapati Shivaji station, whereas, they will take us to the studio with a train in it. It doesn’t excite us.”

If indie storytelling and ﬁlmmaking is original, then so are the ways to make and sell it. Big stars will ﬁll theatres but cost money and compromise creativity. Even B-listers are often inaccessible. So what do you do? “You use your craft well,” says Bala. Hansal Mehta, who just had 85 lakh, decided to go without a star and Shahid drew crowds and praise for its content. B.A. Pass invested in good cinematography and was lauded by critics. Ship of Theseus looked like a beautiful painting. Often, in the indie world, the

Small films don’t always mean small successes. “The Lunchbox did business of 25 crore. Ship of Theseus, a far more challenging film to understand, was played at theatres in small towns like Rohtak,” says film critic Anupama Chopra. It points to a small but growing niche among cinema audiences who are exposed to this kind of filmmaking and find it a welcome shift from mainstream fare. “How long can they keep watching formulaic movies?” This change in the way movies are being consumed is forcing filmmakers and production houses to change their thinking. “Karan Johar told me once that Udaan got Vikramaditya Motwane more respect than he [Karan] got with his release that year,” Chopra recounts. “And that he would put his might behind a movie like that. The result: Karan co-distributing The Lunchbox, along with UTV this year.” Kiran Rao urged UTV to pick Ship of Theseus, and lent her name to the film. For big studios and stars, fringe films are also a means to invest in new audiences of the future. Filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee paved the way with early support of indie ventures. Banerjee is currently backing Kanu Behl’s Titli, a film he says “turns all the

00:00:00:11

DECEMBER 8, 2013

COVER STORY

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REC tropes we attach with a movie on its head. Also, the more LSDs (Love Sex Aur Dhokha) there are, the more someone will get encouraged to make another one,” he says. Ajay Devgn and Brillstein Entertainment Partners have partnered to form LA-based Shivalaya Entertainment to focus on independent ﬁlms seeking broader appeal.

While the nature of the stories has changed with indie cinema, other aspects are still fraught with old challenges. Once a movie is made, it just lies waiting for some Prince Charming distributor to pick it up. For films to be distributed and earn money, they still need to have stars. One reason distributors offer for not helping indie films is that they still aren’t drawing enough people to theatres. However, filmmakers complain that often films lose audiences because they aren’t advertised enough. But with promotion costs often running into four times an indie film’s budget, they’re understandably hard to promote too. Mehta says that fringe films and blockbusters can’t have the same marketing strategy. “A weekend cannot make or break an indie film,” he explains. In India, every film is either for the single-screen theatre or for the multiplex. “Indie films need eyeballs. But they get a 10:30am slot and lose out on the working

crowd,” laments Dasgupta. Several European countries (and the USA as well) make films direct to DVD or TV, solving the problem of distributors and cinema audiences India does. Add to it the threat of piracy, and it’s anyone’s guess how much money such a film will make. All of which means studio backing is an indie filmmaker’s only hope. Most indie filmmakers say the problem with the Indian distributor is that he acts as the spokesperson for what the audience wants. The distributor filters films even before the audience gets a chance to see them. Director Ritesh Batra of The Lunchbox says the answer is to have film festivals that are not just cultural events, but connect distributors as well as the audiences to the films. International film festivals play that role.

“They help develop a taste in the audience. There’s no such body here, so the only people deciding what the audience supposedly wants, are distributors,” he says.

All our indie films benefit from doing the festival circuit before they come to India. Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely was the official selection at Cannes. “This crazy film from Mumbai got the international audiences it never would have. And it helped start conversations about what was going on in the Indian indie circuit,” says Ahluwalia. Miss Lovely is releasing in India in January. The Lunchbox was only picked up by Karan Johar and UTV after its spectacular response at Cannes. “Midway through the movie, I saw people leaving the hall. I was disap-

A few talented actors have become the face of indie cinema, since A-listers are not accessible

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Rajkumar Yadav

Richa Chadda

pointed, but I got to know that they were distributors, who, after seeing the audience reaction, had hurried to place their bids,” says Batra. Chopra, a regular at Cannes for years, says that there is a palpable change in our perception on the world stage. “For years, we had an Indian presence just on the red carpet. Devdas premiered, then Aishwarya would go as the brand ambassador, but we had no movies. This year, at Cannes, there were five movies officially selected.” Anand Gandhi says that’s exactly the objective. “We want to reach out to the world audience.” Ship of Theseus has been picked up by Fortissimo films, it is releasing in USA in January. In Hollywood, names such as Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen have been supporting indie projects. That has started to happen here too. The scene is evolving in India, too, says Bala. With an eye on a growing need for filmmakers to be trained like those in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, the National Film Development Corporation of India has launched a lab of its own. A filmmaker like Ajay Bahl and a movie like The Lunchbox came out of there. So did The Good Road, India’s entry to the Oscars. Still, non-mainstream cinema needn’t and shouldn’t be a byword for boring. That would be the death of the genre. No movie or filmmaker, by default, becomes good, just because it is indie. “Any movie whose indulgences bore the audience is committing a cardinal sin,” says Chopra.

00:00:00:12 Huma Qureshi

EXPLORE SOCIAL MEDIA Filmmaker Sarthak Dasgupta had an idea about making a dark ﬁlm about MBA students. His classmates got to know through Facebook and urged him to make the movie. “I said I was broke,” he says. And they all pitched in to crowdfund Cutthroat. Vasan Bala needed money for his debut feature Peddlers. He wrote the script, and told himself he’d make it even if he had to empty his own wallet. A few years on, with no resources in sight, he hounded Anurag Kashyap Films co-owner Guneet Monga. She put up a status on Facebook telling people about the script, and if they

were interested in putting in money. “We decided to take 10 lakh only from each person. There were businessmen, people who have money and want to experience producing a film, since it’s also low-risk. We decided to take limited money so that nobody could curb our creativity. We collected 1 crore.” GET FOREIGN AID Dasgupta says that after he went to the Sundance Screenwriters Lab with the script of The Music Teacher, doors started opening up. His earlier film The Great Indian Butterfly went through seven years of struggle to

DECEMBER 8, 2013

finally see what a theatre looked like. The Sundance Scriptwriters Lab in Los Angeles gives independent filmmakers from across the world a chance to work on their scripts under the guidance of the best minds in the world. “I got a $10,000 prize too. And this experience catapulted me into a space where people started taking me seriously and engaging with me,” adds Dasgupta. After the workshop, he re-wrote his script, and decided to get the film co-funded by a foreign player. “It’s easier to approach Western markets if you have foreign cofunding,” he explains. Now, he has taken the script to Primexchange, Goa (a platform for transnational productions) to see the reaction in the European market, and get a fel-

low financier on board. Ashim Ahluwalia struggled for three years for funding. The only way he managed was when “it eventually became a co-production – some French money, some Japanese, some Indian, a little bit of American money. It was a difficult job putting all that together because the kind of film Miss Lovely is didn’t exist at that time. It only happened because I made a documentary earlier [2005’s John & Jane] which went to a lot of festivals and was sold to HBO Films. It made things easier,” he recalls.

END

parul.khanna@hindustantimes.com Follow @ParulKhannaa on Twitter

WELLNESS

Photos: GETTY IMAGES

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Purani Genes

VERY EVENING, after he returns home from work, Vivek Bhargava, 40, managing director of a digital advertising ﬁrm based in Mumbai, joins his 10-year-old daughter to play mind games on his smartphone to prevent the onset of premature memory loss. Subhashini Chandran, 39, an entrepreneur based in Port Blair, has become ‘mindful’ of what she eats, and runs 10km every morning, apart from practising mudra therapy. Ever since Chandran underwent a simple saliva-based test to predict her health, she has transformed her lifestyle from hyperactive to stable. “I keep in fairly decent shape. But the genomics test from Map My Genome exposed some weak links. I realised I was prone to certain stress-related health vulnerabilities. It even measured my tolerance to a few drugs,” she says. In a country where curiosity about their future has kept astrologers and soothsayers in business, the emerging science of genomic prediction – which decodes a person’s genetic composition to help him or her identify diseases they might suffer from in the future –

The science of genomic prediction – which decodes genetic composition to help a person identify diseases he or she might suffer from – is finding many takers by Aasheesh Sharma is finding many takers. Apart from curiosity, the possibility of scientifically confirming the likelihood to get life-threatening conditions such as breast cancer, diabetes, or coronary diseases, providing them an opportunity to modify lifestyles, is driving the popularity of such tests. In Hollywood, the discovery of the mutated gene, BRCA 1 (BReast CAncer causing gene-1) prompted actor Angelina Jolie to undergo a double mastectomy, bringing down her chances of developing breast cancer from 87 per cent to five per cent. Closer home, getting their genes analysed has helped a few hundred Indians discover condi-

DECEMBER 8, 2013

tions previously unknown to them. Take the case of B Srinivasan. The 60-year-old Chennai pre-school manager realised he had a marginal propensity towards sudden cardiac arrest. “After the initial shock, I dealt with it calmly. Although I did not tell my family, after detailed counselling, I have regulated my food timings to a large extent.”

Genetic predisposition doesn’t necessarily mean the ailment is unavoidable

A SPIT-SECOND DECISION

Once a client gets in touch with a genomics testing company, they courier a testing kit to the customer. The client then spits into a highly-sterile test tube that keeps the saliva stable for more than 30 days. After the DNA is extracted at a laboratory, de-

tailed reports are sent, explaining the likelihood of people acquiring speciﬁc diseases, in comparison to the average Indian. “The structure of the person’s DNA is extracted from the saliva and is analysed. After this, customers are called for counselling sessions in which experts help them understand what the report means, and how they could change their lifestyles to reduce the likelihood of diseases they need to watch out for,” says Anu Acharya, co-founder of Map My Genome, the Hyderabad-based laboratory which generates a ‘GenomePatri’ for clients. “The extracted DNA is used to identify potential hazardous markers in the DNA, which have links to more than 100 health conditions,” adds Acharya. Many disorders, says Acharya, can be traced back to minor genetic differences. “Although the genome for all humans is the same, minor differences do exist. This variation is responsible for the unique phenotype (appearance, colour of skin/eyes, texture of hair etc) and differences in the health of each individual. In most of the cases, this variation is passed on to the next generation.”

WELLNESS

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But a genetic predisposition doesn’t necessarily mean the ailment is unavoidable, says R Narayanan, co-founder of Chennai-based XCode Life Sciences, that began offering gene-based predictions in 2012. “You might be genetically predisposed, but you can lead such a healthy lifestyle that the gene itself is not allowed to misbehave,” he explains. Acharya’s own GenomePatri, for instance, showed a substantially greater lifetime risk of getting Type-2 diabetes than the average Indian. She was predisposed to it by 41 per cent, much higher than the Indian average (20 per cent). So, in the last few months, Acharya has cut out carbs from her diet and is trying to stay stress-free. “Many people become nervous. But if you take the ﬁndings positively, you can change your lifestyle and minimise their impact,” she adds. Mumbai-based entrepreneur Bhargava, for instance, decided to be proactive. His report said he had four times higher the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia than an average Indian. “The counsellor said I could delay and even avert the disease provided I began exercising my brain on a regular basis. But in case I retired early and slid into inactivity, its onset could be quicker,” he recalls. Now, for at least an hour every day, Bhargava and his daughter solve puzzles on Lumosity, a site that hosts workouts designed by neuroscientists to improve core cognitive functions.

guide clients on diet and lifestyle. Genetic counsellor Dr Shilpa Reddy of Map My Genome recalls the case of a 32-year-old software engineer based in Hyderabad (name withheld) who returned to India from the United States and took a saliva test. “High consumption of red meat and alcohol had triggered intestinal inflammation. His reports said he had a high risk of colorectal cancer (40 per cent compared to 13.6 per cent for the average Indian). So we advised him to take control of his diet, go slow on the alcohol and resume exercise,” says Dr Reddy. Similarly, R Bharath Kumar, 40, a Chennai-based apps developer, was advised by counsellors from X-Code to attempt mindful eating after realising he was predisposed towards diabetes. “I had developed a sweet tooth in my 30s and led a deskbound life. So I suspected I could have been a potential diabetic. But a scientific confirmation and diet counselling kicked me out of inactivity and towards better fitness.”

A DNA sample is a common heritage of the people who have donated it

ANALYSE THIS

At times when the tests predict that a person is predisposed to a potentially life-threatening disorder, genomic counsellors, many of them trained doctors, step in to

THE CAVEATS

These are early days for the few companies engaged in predictive genomics in India. Experts say there is a concern because the framework for these tests is based on Caucasian genes. “We are not aware of any large private genomic studies taking place in India with an Indian population,” says Dr Sridhar Shivasubbu, a scientist at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in Delhi’s Council for Scientiﬁc and Industrial Research – India’s largest chain of research labs. “This means that many of these predictions are going to be on the basis of a Caucasian gene pool. The prediction value of an Indian person getting a disease

HOW IT WORKS

SEE THEM COMING A few of the diseases for which a prognosis can be made through genetic testing: ■ Lifestyle ailments such as obesity, stroke and cardiovascular diseases ■ Life-threatening diseases such as diabetes and only certain types of cancer ■ Neural conditions such as bipolar disease, Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis

will be completely different from what is going to be applicable to a person of Caucasian or African descent.” Overall, for a large amount of people in the Caucasian population (mostly in Europe and North America), the DNA makeup is similar. “But in India there is a huge diversity in genetic makeup. The lack of data on the basis of Indian population could skew the ﬁndings,” points out Shivasubbu. Direct to consumer genetic predictions can be tricky terrain, says Dr Vinod Scaria of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, unless it is done on the advice of a doctor. “If a person is predisposed to a life-threatening condition (a sudden cardiac arrest or a certain cancer), the ﬁrst thing to do is to visit a doctor who is trained to handle such situations and kept in direct contact with patients, rather than somebody who is just involved with theoretical or laboratory studies. It is only then that they should make changes in lifestyle,” says Dr Scaria. Also, priced between 10,000 and 25,000, the package of tests aren’t exactly cheap. Number crunchers also question the numerical values used in genomic

Once a cl client gets in Thee DNA iis used to identify single touch wit with a genomics nucleotide polymorphisms, (potential nucleotid testinng company, they hazardous markers), which could haza courier a testing kit to the cou have links to health conditions hav Genomic prediction - that customer. The person then spits cus like diabetes, cancer and lik decodes genetic composition to into a highly-sterile test tube int stroke. Relative risk is str help a person identify diseases that keeps the saliva stable tha calculated as likelihood cal he or she might suffer from for more than 30 days. Priced of developing a disease in the future – works on the between 10,000 and betwee basis of a saliva sample. in the experimental group Here is how the tests 25,000, the package of tests 25,000 compared to the compar are carried out aren’t en’t ch cheap. reference ence group.

DECEMBER 8, 2013

prediction. “All this data comes out in terms of predictions values. And the predictions are only as good or bad as the denominator value. As the number of controlled cases goes up, you end up making better predictions. Clearly in India, that is not the case, yet,” says Dr Shivasubbu. Acharya admits that the Indian gene pool at the moment isn’t large enough for certain diseases. “But the data we use does take global population numbers and validates it against Indian studies,” she adds.

HOW PRIVATE IS YOUR DNA?

As they gain in popularity, genome tests could bring in serious privacy concerns. Who has the ownership of the DNA? What’ll it be utilised for? What sort of research will be done? In the long run, can it be sold out to international research agencies? “A DNA sample is a common heritage of the people who have donated it. No one is allowed to send sample DNA samples outside national boundaries. International privacy norms should be followed here too,” adds Dr Shivasubbu. Map My Genome’s Acharya says they take their privacy seriously. “We ensure strict conﬁdentiality. No data is sold to any third party.” Adds Narayanan of XCode Life Sciences, “The data we have is assigned with a barcode so identity of the individual remains unknown.” In 2008, Time magazine anointed the genome test kit devised by the California-based 23 and Me, the world’s leading company in the direct-to-consumer genomics space, its Invention of the Year. But recently, the company attracted a lot of criticism after a mix-up in samples. The science itself is work in progress, says Narayanan. “By 2025, conventional medicine would make way for customised medicine, that’s when genomics will realise its true potential,” he says. aasheesh.sharma@hindustantimes.com

Then, en, cus customers are called for counselling sessions in which counse After the DNA exper perts help them understand is extracted at a what the report means, and how they wha laboratory, detailed could change their lifestyles to reduce cou reports are sent, the likelihood of diseases they need explaining the likelihood to watch out for. An interesting of people acquiring application of genomic-based app speciﬁc diseases, in predic ediction is pharmacogenomics, which comparison to the tells you whether speciﬁc drugs agree average Indian. with your our genes or not.

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A ROCK & ROLL LIFE

Photos: GETTY IMAGES

Graham Nash’s memoirs made me revisit the music of two of the world’s best folk rock bands Sanjoy Narayan

download central I

THROWBACK TIME Above: Graham Nash’s book Wild Tales: A Rock and Roll Life Top: A young David Crosby (left) and Nash in 1970

MORE ON THE WEB To give feedback, stream or download the music mentioned in this column, go to blogs.hindustantimes. com/download-central. Write to Sanjoy at sanjoy.narayan@ hindustantimes. com

N GRAHAM Nash’s recently published memoir, there is a surprisingly candid anecdote about David Crosby, his bandmate in two of the biggest ever folk rock bands, Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY). Presumably in the early 1970s, when CSN had come into some money, Crosby and Nash, then scruffy, long-haired hippies, walked into a Mercedes dealership in California and to the surprise of the salesmen, promptly bought a car each, paid, and left. But the real story comes later. Soon after buying his new Merc, Crosby sold it to a drug dealer to pay for whatever substance he needed. The story doesn’t end there. When the drug dealer died of an overdose, Crosby sneaked into his house and stole the sales slip, which gave him back the ownership of the car. Incredibly, the story doesn’t end there either. When Nash, now 71, sent in his manuscript, his publishers got a bit nervous about this account of Crosby and feared legal action. Although Crosby’s career has been marked by lifethreatening addiction, imprisonment and various other misdemeanours, this story could be a little too sensitive, they felt. So Nash called up his old friend and said he was putting this in his book. To which Crosby, now 72, reportedly said he regretted putting his bandmates through so much of trouble through the years but added that the Merc story didn’t end there. After ‘stealing’ it back from the dead dealer, Crosby told Nash, he resold it to another drug dealer! Nash’s book, Wild Tales: A Rock and Roll Life, is just out but Crosby,

DECEMBER 8, 2013

who has since cleaned up his life and is singing again (his soft-spoken wide-ranging voice still as good as gold), too had published a candid autobiography, Long Time Gone, several years ago. Nash’s new one has much on his bandmates and his own growth as a musician and photographer: his childhood in a poor Manchester suburb in the UK; his stint with The Hollies, the British band that first pitchforked him to fame; his first break when he performed with his idols, The Everly Brothers; his turbulent relationship with Neil Young; and so on. But there are other nuggets. He recounts the years he was in a relationship with folk music genius, Joni Mitchell (the two nearly married), and of how simple conversations between the couple led to some of his finest songs, such as Our House. I hadn’t heard CSN or CSNY or Nash or Crosby’s solo albums in a long, long while, although I have been listening to much of what Young has been putting out, including 2012’s Psychedelic Pill. After reading parts of Nash’s book and listening to the podcast of an interview with him (highly recommended), I returned to their music – 1970’s Déjà Vu and 1971’s live double album, 4 Way Street, were what I could find in my collection. I heard them after ages and marvelled at the way the band members, especially Crosby, Stills and Nash, harmonised their vocals – each layering the other’s vocals with a remarkable sense of perfection yet so effortlessly. On Déjà Vu, an album with memorable songs – Carry On, Helpless, Woodstock, Country Girl – there is Teach Your Children on which Jerry Garcia cameos on a pedal steel guitar. The 4 Way Street album, which is a compilation of performances by the band in the summer of 1970 at Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, also comes in an expanded form, issued in 1992, where additional solo performances by all four members of the band are added, including Nash’s performance of a single by The Hollies. It was a throwback to the past, this recent dip into the oeuvre of two bands that were part of the few that helped form my taste for music in the 1970s. CSN and CSNY’s music stands out for its vocal harmonies, something few bands are able to pull off, especially when it is a quartet of singers and not merely a duet. Tailpiece: While delving into the past has its charms, bringing back memories, association, nostalgia and so on, I was brought back to the present and, indeed, the future when my daughter suggested that we go and watch a band, which she said, was called Something Relevant who were from Mumbai and were playing their first gig here. I agreed and quickly did a search to find one of their albums on iTunes, We Could Be Dreaming, on which, I discovered to my pleasant surprise, they sounded like a jam band. And a nice one at that, fuzzy guitar riffs, nice vocals, great lyrics and, a bonus – horns. It was only at the gig that we realised that the band had changed. First, it was now called Baycity Lights. And, second, they were now an ‘urban pop’ band playing shorter tracks and blending a bit of rap, a bit of jazz and, well, a bit of everything, into their songs. All good, though. The hornman OLDER, WISER? is still on the band and their Graham Nash (left) originals plus the covers (of Cee and David Crosby Lo Green’s Crazy and Kanye at a concert in New West and Estelle’s American Boy, York in 2005 which they’ve redubbed as American Girl) are pretty good. A little rough at the edges but fine. Baycity Lights could be a band to watch. Download Central appears every fortnight

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MEALS OF NOTE

A round-up of all the places I’ve been to in Delhi and Bombay over the last month

ATHER THAN the standard comparison between Bombay and Delhi restaurants, I thought I would just give you a round-up of all the places I’ve been to in both cities over the last month. As you may have noticed, India’s restaurant scene is hotting up and over the next two months, as Delhi’s Aerocity hotels open, another 20 or so high-end restaurants will be launched. The big opening of the last month in Delhi is of course Yauatcha, London’s Yauatcha if you like, but in the minds of most Indians, Bombay’s Yauatcha. When the ﬁrst Indian Yauatcha opened in Bombay a couple of years ago, it was an instant success. The food was up to the standards of the London original and the room was much nicer than the horrible basement from which the London Yauatcha derived its reputation. (The London restaurant has a tearoom upstairs but when it opened, it served most of its meals from a cramped basement.) Yauatcha is now ready to expand in India. I am told that a recently-opened Bangalore outpost ﬂourishes and the Delhi restaurant has been the most spectacular opening the city has seen last month. Yauatcha is in the Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj and is vast (around 160 covers, I would guess). The menu is derived from the London original but with many original twists. The famous venison puff becomes a chicken puff in India, the pork char siu cheung

Vir Sanghvi

rude food

CROWNING GLORY

The best European restaurant in Delhi is now La Piazza (above) at the Hyatt Regency

fan is made with chicken and it includes dishes I’ve never seen in London, including a Momofuku-like pork belly served with buns. I’ve been twice. I went for the very first meal that was open to the public (a weekday lunch) when the restaurant was largely empty (it opened without any publicity) and the food was amazing, even better than Bombay. I went back for lunch four days later and was startled to find the restaurant 75 per cent full (and they were sold out for dinner that night), all on the basis of word of mouth. I went with Gagan Anand and his partners and Gagan enjoyed the meal. We ordered many, many things and Gagan and his friends said they liked 80 per cent of the dishes. Gagan is a world-famous chef who has eaten dim sum all over the Far East, so his opinion matters. But we also bumped into ITC supremo Nakul Anand eating quietly with wife Timsy and two of her colleagues. Nakul came and sat with us and it turned out that he had arrived on impulse without attracting any attention to himself. Even he thought the restaurant was terrific. It is too early to pass judgement but based on the early evidence, this is the best dim sum in India and Yauatcha is the best non-Sichuan Chinese restaurant in Delhi. (The best Hunan Chinese place is still China Kitchen at the Hyatt.) The other big opening in Delhi is Akira Back at the JW Marriott, the first of the Aerocity hotels to throw open its

DECEMBER 8, 2013

doors. Back is, apparently, a well known Korean-American chef with two places in Las Vegas, and follows the long tradition of ex-Nobu employees (Masaharu Morimoto, Rainer Becker etc.) who have started their own restaurants. While the food is recognisable as derived from Nobu, Back has added his own spin to most of the dishes. I ate there before the restaurant had formally opened and Back sat with me, so I’m not in a position to provide any objective review of the cuisine. But I thought it was fun food, full of spice and texture and packed with flavour. Back is keener on texture than Nobu, so much of the food comes with a satisfying crunch. On a related note, I liked the JW Marriott. It feels like less of an airport hotel (which it is) and more like a luxury property. The executive chef is Girish Krishnan, well known to viewers of Foodistan, where he was one of the stars. The Akira Back restaurant is run by Rajat Kalia, who used to be manager of Megu. The restaurant director is another familiar Delhi F&B figure, Tarun Bhatia, and the executive pastry chef Nitin Upadhyaya is from Zest. So it is a new hotel with very many familiar faces. The places I went to in Bombay were less fancy. Imbiss is a new restaurant in Colaba, in one of the Pasta Lanes. Despite the location, the menu is less pasta and more meat. The manager told me that the owners were in the meat business, which may explain the wide choice of charcuterie on the menu. I started with a fried duck egg on onion rounds, which was rich and flavourful. The bratwurst hot dog was satisfying and the chorizo rice was outstanding, a dish I would happily go back and eat again and again. The problem was with the cooking. When the kitchen deals with bratwurst, chorizo, sausages etc. it does fine. But give it raw meat and the results are less successful. The beef cheek sounded like a good idea. This is an inexpensive cut of meat, which chefs love because it gets more exercise than most other parts of the animal. For maximum flavour, however, it needs to be slow cooked. The cheek was tough and came in a needlessly spicy watery gravy. Obviously, the chef had no clue how to cook it. When it came to the T-Bone steak, it may have been the meat that was to blame. The steak was inedible.

I thought the cuisine at Akira Back was fun food, full of spice and texture and packed with ﬂavour

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HIGH FLYER

Delhi’s JW Marriott (left) feels like less of an airport hotel (which it is) and more like a luxury property

TRUFFLE TIME

A MUST VISIT

At Travertino at Delhi’s Oberoi, Francesco Apreda (above), the Michelin-starred chef from Rome’s Hassler Hotel, did a special menu featuring white trufﬂe

Yauatcha in Delhi’s Ambience Mall has been the most spectacular opening the city has seen last month. Based on early evidence, this is the best dim sum in India But you don’t have to rely on the chef ’s cooking. Stick to the charcuterie, enjoy the relaxed ambience, attentive service and the very reasonable prices and you’ll be fine. Nico, in the Fort area, is a little more ambitious than Imbiss – and it is certainly more expensive. It is ineptly lit, presumably to create a bar-like ambience. But it is strange to find an empty restaurant that is so badly lit at 8.30pm that it is hard to read the menu at some tables. Perhaps I just went too early (the restaurant had begun to attract some guests by 9.30pm) and made the mistake of eating when I should have stuck to the booze. A pulled mutton thingie was okay but the duck confit was so bad that they should either take it off the menu or teach the chef how to make it. Service was slapdash and for much of my dinner, the loudest noise came from a spluttering coffee machine as waiters scurried around it, trying somehow to get it to work. Even when more guests arrived, the coffee machine could still be heard all over the restaurant. And they still couldn’t get any coffee out of it. But then, maybe it seems very different if you go for a cocktail at 11.30pm, having taken the precaution of first having eaten elsewhere. So I’m not dissing the restaurant. It may just work as a bar. Meanwhile, it is good to see the old warhorses still going strong. Having spent part of the last few months in Thailand shooting my last TV show there, I’m not always eager to try Thai food in India. But my son who swears by Thai Pavilion dragged me there for dinner. The food was outstanding – even though Ananda Solomon was off. And F&B service at the President has improved beyond recognition ever since they have shifted Rishi Kumar there from the Lands End. They gave me a preview of the new Konkan Café which seems stunning. But I’ll wait till it opens formally before reviewing it. It is truffle season and Delhi is making the most of it. At Travertino at the Oberoi, Francesco Apreda, the Michelinstarred chef from Rome’s Hassler Hotel, did a special menu featuring white truffle. I went twice, once at lunch when he was clearly cooking himself, and the slow-cooked egg

SHOW ME THE LIGHT

Nico (left), in the Fort area in Bombay, is a little more ambitious than Imbiss – and it is certainly more expensive. It is ineptly lit, presumably to create a bar-like ambience (on which he showered slices of white truffle) was perfect. His cooking has Japanese influences, so it was strange to try a porcini soup with miso flavours but the dish worked brilliantly. I went back for dinner (when the restaurant was fuller) and the food was less good – the egg was overcooked, for instance – but still interesting. But the best European restaurant in Delhi is now La Piazza at the Hyatt Regency, fast becoming Delhi’s foodie hotel. Who would have thought that La Piazza, an old-style pizza and pasta joint that has long masqueraded as a proper Italian restaurant, would ever reach these heights? But it has, largely because of the new chef, Maurizio Raselli. His truffle menu was excellent (Tuscan-style baked eggs with white truffle, a perfect risotto etc.) and even when he doesn’t have luxury ingredients to rely on, Maurizio’s food is always excellent. And then, there’s the oldest warhorse of them all. Gagan and his partners were touring Delhi’s restaurants but refused to go to Bukhara arguing that the food was no longer any good. Eventually they decided they would take the plunge anyway and went off for Sunday lunch. At 3pm they texted to say that they had been completely wrong. The raan and the kebabs, they said, were outstanding. Which, I guess, is how it should be. It is good when new places like Yauatcha open and take the city by storm. But it is also nice to know that some of Delhi’s most famous restaurants still have the ability to reinvent themselves (as La Piazza has done) and to maintain the standards they have been known for over the decades. Two big openings still to come: the new Konkan Café in Bombay and Indigo in Delhi. Watch this space.

WAY OF ALL FLESH

At Bombay’s Imbiss, stick to the charcuterie, and enjoy the relaxed ambience, attentive service and the very reasonable prices

DECEMBER 8, 2013

Photo: SHAKTI YADAV

It is good to see the old warhorses in Delhi (like Bukhara) still going strong

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AT YOUR DRONESTEP!

Amazon will introduce smartphones; it will also deliver goods via drones. Is this for real or is it just a PR gimmick?

WO BIG pieces of news dominated the consumer and technology airspace all of last week. One was the often-repeated and rumoured-for-many-years news that ‘Amazon was about to release its own smartphones’. The other was the more front-page-headline-making ‘Amazon to air deliver your items in less than 30 minutes by flying them to your house in a drone’! Both are game changers if they happen – the first will hit like a sledgehammer into other smartphone manufacturers’ sales; the other is just so outlandish and yet so deliciously exciting as a concept that people are setting up mini landing pads on their roofs to be the first to get a Prime Air delivery. Let’s get a reality check on both.

Reasons why Amazon smartphones will happen

The ﬁrst rumours about Amazon coming up with two or three different smartphone models surfaced right after they came out with their tablets. Thus it’s been quite a while and

Rajiv Makhni

techilicious

AROUND THE CORNER?

A high-end, super-specced Amazon smartphone can be sold at rock-bottom prices MORE ON THE WEB For previous columns by Rajiv Makhni, log on to hindustantimes. com/brunch. Follow Rajiv on Twitter at twitter.com/ RajivMakhni

every year predictions with new dates, new features and new pricing models are revealed, and here we are, almost three years later, with no Amazon smartphones. But make no mistake, they will come and that too very soon. Here are three reasons why no power on Earth can keep Amazon smartphones from making a very dramatic entry. ■ Amazon has tasted amazing success with their Kindle Fire tablets and is the second largest selling tablet in the world after the iPad. Thus, they already have a consumer base as well as high consumer acceptance for their devices. A smartphone is therefore, a no brainer. ■ The idea for Amazon to get into this space was to have devices that are locked into the Amazon media ecospace. Thus books, movies, songs and the entire Amazon shopping network in your pocket is the best way for Amazon to continue to be the world’s largest online retailer. They own you on your tablet, smartphones sell much more than tablets, do the math! ■ Amazon is extremely aggressive in pushing the envelope in terms of features, speciﬁcations, hardware and most importantly price. A high-end, top-specced, super ﬂagship smartphone from Amazon can be sold at rock-bottom prices, (some rumours say that it’ll be given away free. That is utter nonsense and just not Amazon’s business model) thus bringing in great numbers in sales and also becoming a huge catalyst in fuelling even bigger sales of all things from the Amazon marketplace. They know this business well, so why wouldn’t they do it with smartphones, the world’s largest selling consumer device? So get ready and start saving some money (not to buy the phones, as those will be very well-priced – save money for all the shopping you’re going to do off those phones) as at least two Amazon smartphones are just around the corner.

DECEMBER 8, 2013

IN YOUR DREAMS ONLY

Drones picking up packages from an Amazon warehouse, ﬂying across the city and delivering them home is great science ﬁction

Reasons why Amazon Drones won’t happen

Sorry to break that awesome image you were conjuring up in your mind of you placing an order, a drone picking it up from an Amazon warehouse, flying across the city and dropping it at your doorway – all in 30 minutes or less. It’s great science fiction and it will remain just that – fiction! It won’t happen now or even in the next 10 years. Here are three reasons why this is just hot air of epic PR proportions! Let’s be very clear, it’s not technology playing the spoilsport here. The capability to do this isn’t very far away. The drones exist, mapping is getting better every day and in another year or two, anti-collision technology to make sure that the drones don’t bump into each other or tall poles or electricity wiring and/or other cityscape hurdles. ■ The first problem here is purely logistical. Amazon has almost all warehouses built far away from cities (it’s the only way to have huge warehouses). Drones, even with fantastic new technology can’t do more than about 15 to 20 kilometres flying (both ways). Thus that would mean creating smaller Amazon Droneports inside cities, which destroys the entire business model that Amazon has painstakingly built over many years. ■ The second problem is money or more specifically, making sure that these awesome drones make some money for Amazon. This isn’t going to be a venture for charity or a higher purpose, this is a commercial project that must make sense financially. These drones can only deliver small and light products, are expensive to buy, run and maintain, the entire infrastructure around these drones from sorting to pickup to delivery will have to be built from scratch and that will be exorbitantly expensive, and each delivery yet must make a profit. As of now, it won’t! ■ The third big barrier to overcome is of course our old friends – regulations, licensing and liabilities. Drone technology must be licenced by each country and sometimes by each city and zone. As of now it’s a big no all across the world for consumer level drone usage (yes, it’s legal to drone bomb your house with you in it, but it’s not legal to drone deliver your toothpaste to you in your house). Even if the regulations will come into play one day, the liability of injury are a huge issue. The first drone to lop off your pet dog’s head or injure a curious child will send the entire drone delivery business crash landing into billion-dollar liability suits. I don’t see Amazon willing to take such a huge financial risk just to make sure you get your stuff in 30 minutes. There you have it. Two big pieces of news from the same company – all in the space of one week. Running a reality check on both seems to have separated the wheat from the chaff. Smartphones are in; drone deliveries are out! One out of two isn’t that bad! Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3

indulge

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BUT WHAT ABOUT…? I No matter what the subject, social media wants to know why you haven’t outraged on that ‘other’ matter

DON’T KNOW if you’ve noticed but there is a new malaise infecting the netherworld of social media. I like to call it ‘whataboutitis’. Others prefer the term ‘whataboutery’. But whatever you choose to term it, this is an insidious disease that is steadily infecting the universe of our social discourse. For the moment, it is restricted to the virtual world but like all things trite and less than wonderful, it will soon be an IRL (that’s ‘In Real Life’ for all you newbies out there) phenomenon as well. So, what is ‘whataboutitis’? Well, this is basically how it plays out. You express an opinion about a political party/ current event/celebrity/politician. And no matter what the merit of the opinion itself, you are instantly called out because you omitted to express an opinion about that ‘other’ political party/ current event/ celebrity/ politician. That omission, apparently, makes the opinion you did voice com-

Seema Goswami

spectator Photos: GETTY IMAGES

AND WHAT ABOUT HER? When I attacked Sanjay Nirupam for making sexist comments about Smriti Irani, I was hit back with ‘What about Narendra Modi’s comment about Sunanda Pushkar?’ MORE ON THE WEB For more SPECTATOR columns by Seema Goswami, log on to hindustantimes.com/ Brunch. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ seemagoswami. Write to her at seema_ ht@ rediffmail.com

pletely and utterly invalid – pretty much useless, in fact. (Never mind if you did, in fact, have your say about that ‘other’ matter; if people don’t remember it, it doesn’t really count. Not on social media, anyway.) The classic example is that of the 2002 Gujarat riots. You only have to mention them on social media and you will instantly have to do battle with an army of ‘whatabouters’. What about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, then, eh? Weren’t they as much a case of genocide? Did anybody apologise for them? Did anyone go to jail? Isn’t Rajiv Gandhi as guilty as Narendra Modi? Why are you just picking on NaMo, then? Are you ‘paid media’? Or just ‘sickular’? And what about Godhra? Did you shed any tears for the people who were killed on that train? Did their deaths not count? Wasn’t that a pre-planned conspiracy? What about the Nellie massacre? Do you even know how many died in that? Do they not matter because they happened in faraway Assam? What about the Muzaffarnagar riots? Isn’t Akhilesh Yadav guilty for letting them happen? The questions just pile on, as ‘whataboutitis’ ﬂares into a virtual epidemic, with nobody stopping to think just how distasteful and vile it is to play partisan politics over the bodies of dead Indians, no matter what their religion (or political afﬁliation) may have been. But this ‘whataboutitis’ is not restricted to riots, either. It extends to most discussions about feminism, sexism and women empowerment as well. It is impossible to stand up for any one woman without being harangued about how you didn’t stand up for that other woman. (The honest truth is that you did. But public memory is even shorter on social media.)

WHY NOT HIM? Comment on how long Sourav Ganguly took to ﬁnally retire and the ‘What about Sachin?’ question will follow DECEMBER 8, 2013

SRK V/S SALMAN Stand up for Shah Rukh Khan’s right to air his views on being a Muslim in India and the ‘whatabouters’ will bring up Salman Khan and his celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi In my own experience, every single time I have tweeted against an instance of sexism against a woman in public life, the ‘whatabouters’ have struck back with nary a care for the truth. When I attacked Sanjay Nirupam for making sexist comments about Smriti Irani on television, the Congress brigade hit back at me with squeals of ‘whataboutery’. ‘What about Narendra Modi’s sexist comment about Sunanda Pushkar? How come you weren’t outraged about that as well?’ (Well, actually I was, and I tweeted about that too, thanks for asking.) On the other hand, whenever I comment on Modi’s sexist remarks, the right wing brigade gets its knickers in a twist about the fact that I hadn’t defended Smriti Irani against the smarmy comments of Sanjay Nirupam. (Er, I wrote an entire column about it; you can Google search it once you’ve stopped frothing at the mouth.) And what about the fact that I hadn’t defended Sushma Swaraj when she was derided as a ‘nachaniya’ by such Congress leaders as Digvijay Singh. (Only, of course, I did.) Call Tarun Tejpal out on his Alchemy Of A Liar and you are asked why you didn’t condemn Asaram Bapu in the same breath. Express your anguish about the Delhi gang rape victim and you will get ‘what about all the tribal women who get raped’. Comment on how long Sourav Ganguly took to ﬁnally retire and the ‘What about Sachin?’ question will inevitably follow. Stand up for Shah Rukh Khan’s right to air his views about what it means to be Muslim in India and the ‘whatabouters’ will bring up Salman Khan and his celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi (now, isn’t that what ‘true secularism’ is about?). Complain about right-wing trolls who call you names and threaten to rape you and you will be asked ‘What about the Congress trolls who do the same thing?’ (Answer: please name and shame them all; report spam; get their accounts blocked. I have zero tolerance for abusive people on social media, no matter what their political afﬁliation. The reason I outrage about the Sanghis is because they are the ones trolling me. The moment Congress handles do the same, I will call them out as well.) Say you like pizza and people will want to know what’s wrong with chaat. Talk about loving Delhi and people will want to know what’s wrong with Mumbai. Praise Peter and you will be asked ‘But what about Paul’? I have to admit that despite my best efforts to Stay Calm and Carry On, this epidemic of ‘whataboutitis’ is beginning to get me down. I am seriously thinking of putting a disclaimer on my social media feed: Please feel free to assume that I am outraged about everything, unless I declare otherwise. Do you think it would serve as an antidote to ‘whataboutitis’? Well, a girl can dream, but I kind of suspect that this nightmare has only just about started.

WELLNESS

MIND BODY SOUL For any worries related to unplanned pregnancy: Write to us at consumercare@piramal.com or call us at 1800-22-0502 (toll free) or sms ICAN to 56070 Website: www.i-canhelp.in

1. Dear Doctor, Doctor how will I know that emergency contraceptive pill has really worked? I had taken an ECP last week and I do not feel any side-effects as mentioned on the pack. Does it mean that the pill has not worked and I am still at the risk of becoming pregnant? Not all women experience t h e s i d e - e ff e c t s a f t e r consuming emergenc y contraceptive pills. Side ef effects do not indicate the ef efficacy of the pill. If you have taken the ECP within the stipulated time-frame, then the chances of pregnancy are very low. However, we must mention that if you miss your date and do not get periods for over a week, then a pregnancy test should be conducted. 2. Dear Doctor, Doctor from few days I am experiencing pain and redness in my private areas. I also have severe burning sensation during urination. I had intercourse with my partner last month but we used a condom. Is this pregnancy symptom? I am really tense. Please guide me. Pain in private areas coupled with burning sensation during urination is not a symptom of pregnancy but a symptom of vaginal or

urinary tract infection. Please consult a doctor and seek medical attention. Also, check if you are allergic to the latex used in condoms. 3. Dear doctor, doctor how many emergency contraceptive pills can I consume in a month? Is it safe to take multiple pills? Emergency contraceptive pills as the name suggests should be consumed only during emergency cases such as when there is a condom failure or one forgot to use regular contraception. Emergency contraceptive pills should not be used more than once in a cycle as they can cause disturbances in the period cycle. You Y should always use regular contraception like condom or regular pills to avoid pregnancy and only during e m e r g e n c y, u s e a n emergency contraceptive pill. In case you are compelled to take multiple pills in one cycle, then don’t worry, it may not lead to serious side-effects side-ef though it should be avoided.

SHIKHA SHARMA

WINTER WINNERS Diet ttips an Diet and d sk skinca care ca re solu so luti lu tion ti ons on s fo forr th this is c col old ol d seas se ason as on

INTER INT ER IS wh when en you your ur skin skin un under derder goess chan goe chan hanges ges becaus bec ause aus e of of the the har harsh sh weathe wea therr cond cond onditi itions iti ons.. ons How Ho wev ever, acc accord ording ord to ayu ay rve rv da, th this is is also als o the the bes bestt time time to strengthen streng str engthe eng then the n your your immune system, and make your skin look lustrous and youthful.

these people. They should avoid prolonged exposure to heaters and harsh skin creams. KAPHA CONSTITUTION DIET TIPS: People of this dosha People of the kapha constitution should have ﬁve almonds and have smooth and lustrous skin, half a teaspoon of triphala powbut suffer from poor circulader with water every day, incortion. Their skin tends to become porate lots of green vegetables slightly rough in winter. and stay away from fried foods. DIET TIPS: Go easy on SKINCARE ADVICE: salt. Foods that suit People with a pitta this dosha include constitution can soybean, tofu, soya use a mix of aloe paneer and missa vera and almond oil atta. Such grains can as a face mask every be made into vegetanight. Avocado or ble dalia or missi roti olive oils can be used FOR SMOOTH SKIN with vegetables. for body massages; go Pitta dosha people can SKINCARE ADVICE: use a mix of aloe vera and for abhyangam to get almond oil as a face mask luminous skin. Exfoliate with apricot scrub or a moong dal VATA CONSTITUTION powder scrub followed by a banana face mask. People in This skin type is the most vulthis category are prone to water nerable to winter chills and is retention, so it is important to prone to damage from the cold. get ayurvedic treatments like DIET TIPS: Have wheat porridge panchkarma. This enhances or oats and milk with dry fruits. lymph circulation. Thick soups or a glass of hot milk with honey or saffron at PITTA night can be beneﬁcial. CONSTITUTION SKINCARE ADVICE: Use a People with a pitta lot of oil in winter. constitution have Alternatively, use oily and sensitive a coconut cream skin, break out and banana into rashes easpack, along with ily and also tend a mild scrub. to develop moles Also go for a weekly SOY’S THE WORD and freckles. Winter massage. Those with Kapha dosha is the best time for ask@drshikha.com should go easy on salt and opt for tofu and soyabean

Queries answered by Dr Nirmala Rao MBBS, MD, DPM; a well known psychiatrist who heads Mumbai based Aavishkar - a multifaceted team of expert doctors and health professionals. Aavishkar has a comprehensive approach to mental and physical health, with an emphasis scan this QR code to visit website on counselling and psychotherapy. Supported by:

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MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Dr Shikha Sharma and other wellness stories, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch DECEMBER 8, 2013

VARIETY

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The Backyard Superheroes Indian caped crusaders have been setting the comics world ablaze for 25 years. Here’s a ready reckoner

by Veenu Singh

PIDERMAN CREATOR, Stan Lee’s newest creation – Chakra, an Indian superhero – began his journey last week on Cartoon Network. But he’s hardly the first masked hero to go up, up and away in India. Homegrown superheroes have been around for more than 25 years. Raj Comics’ collection of desi superhero comics have garnered a huge fan following not just in India but even in countries like Nepal and Bangladesh. Started in 1986 by publisher Raj Kumar Gupta, Raj Comics first began as Raja Pocket Books and published detective novels for children. Fuelled by the collective passion of Gupta’s three sons, Raj Comics gave a new lease of life to Indian comics, and also created a range of Indian superheroes. “When we were kids, the only Indian comics available were Amar Chitra Katha,” recalls

Manish Gupta, CEO of Raj Comics. “Indrajal comics were almost dead. So there was a big gap. We decided to create our own Indian superheroes (largely based on Indian mythology) by getting some of the best creative writers of that time – Pratap Mullick, Dilip Kadam and Anupam Sinha – to flesh them out.” Today, though mostly published in Hindi, the comics also have special editions in English and are branching out in other Indian languages. “Although our biggest sales happen in the Hindispeaking areas, we do have a growing demand for comics in other languages too,” says Sanjay Gupta, the creator of Nagraj, Raj’s first and most popular superhero. “And, with online stores and tie-ups with mobile operators, we are definitely seeing a big boom in this industry.” A look at some of the best-known Indian superheroes. Photos courtesy: RAJ COMICS

The very first superhero, created by Raj Comics in 1986. The inspiration came from Spiderman. Raj Kumar Gupta, owner of Raja Pocket Books, was the one who suggested that he should be called Nagraj – the king of snakes. Nagraj’s blood cells have the power of snakes. Terrorism. Nagraj is known as the nemesis of all terrorists. A fictional city called Mahanagar. Nagraj doesn’t have a specific costume, but his body is covered with a snakeskin. He wears pink underwear and has a snake for a belt. However, when Nagraj needs to mingle with ordinary people, he covers the snakeskin. Even his hair is set in a way that it forms an ‘S’ shape. Currently, Nagraj is shown working as the manager of a security agency Snake Eyes. His new name is Nagraj Shah. Nagraj has high moral values. He drinks only milk, he thinks it’s cool and healthy to drink milk. He is known to go to bars and ask for milk (something the Phantom also did). Panchnag, a group of five superheroes who help Nagraj. While it’s not exactly a romantic entanglement, Saudangi is a snake woman who actually lives in Nagraj’s body and comes out to help him whenever he needs her.

A man with a past. Doga has a dog-like mask on his face. That’s because he was brought up in inhuman conditions. After he was born, his parents dumped him in a dustbin. A daku, Halkan Singh, picked him up and used the baby to save himself from the police. But after that, he took the baby to his hiding place and the child literally grew up with the dogs and was even treated like one. Doga has a big following, including filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who is reportedly making a film on him. Any evil against humanity. He believes in uprooting problems rather than addressing the symptoms. Mumbai. Fans call him ‘Mumbai Ka Baap’. Doga dresses like a normal human being during the day. He goes by the name of Suraj and works as a gym instructor. He has some sidekicks like Lomri (a fox) who loves him (though Doga is unaware of this) and Inspector Cheetah. Doga also has an army of dogs that work for him. He understands their language and values their loyalty.

DECEMBER 8, 2013

VARIETY

The son of circus acrobats; he is a trained acrobat too. His parents were killed in a fire, which seemed like an accident, but wasn’t. So he became a super commando to avenge their death. He was adopted by the police officer on the case. Any and all kinds of crime. But Dhruva always works within the law. A city called Rajnagar. He doesn’t have any specific look. His costume is very similar to that worn by circus acrobats. He has an array of gadgets to help him in times of trouble. His bracelet has a starline rope, and small blades pop out when needed. He always wears skates and a utility belt that stores flares and smoke bombs. He rides a motorcycle and is an expert at it (did someone say Dhoom3?). Super Commando Dhruva is the only superhero within a family setting and he upholds family values. He has a sister (the daughter of the police inspector who adopted him) and is very close to her. He has his own commando force of Peter, Karim and Renu. Natasha is the daughter of Rajnagar’s biggest criminal and had her own force. But after meeting Super Commando Dhruva, she fell in love with him and is now a part of his squad.

Parmanu has the power of atoms in his special suit, designed by his maternal uncle who is a scientist. His parents and schoolfriend were murdered and he was saved by his uncle who raised him. Now, Parmanu wants to take revenge with the help of this special suit. Criminals. He never takes the law in his hands though. Delhi. During the day, he is inspector Vinay, but in a crisis he dons his special suit with which he can fly as well as transport himself to any place. Parmanu can even reduce his size. He uses the power of atoms to create atomic blasts. Pralayanka (Mamta Pathak) is like a superwoman who likes Parmanu and helps him. Sheena Mathur is the love interest of inspector Vinay. Probot is the robot created by his uncle to help Parmanu.

DECEMBER 8, 2013

Bhokal was born in the fairyland of Parilok but when some people from Earth killed his parents, he came to Earth to seek revenge. But a strange thing happened when he visited our planet. He found out that his real parents were also Earthlings. Any injustice or crime. A fictional city called Vikasnagar, ruled by a king called Vikasmohan. Bhokal dresses like a warrior as he is a warrior in the king’s court. But when he utters the word ‘Bhokal’ he magically dons his superhero persona – green and pink armour and a magical, unbreakable sword and shield. Tureen (she is his wife now), Shootan (he can hypnotise anyone), Atikroor (powerful and heavy set, wielding a gada-like weapon called dantak).

Shakti was a regular married woman who was severely wronged by her husband. He killed their girl child and when she found out, he tried to kill her too. But Kali the devi saved her and gave her the power to save women in distress. Shakti lives as Chanda in Delhi with a friend and works as a nurse in a hospital. Those who commit crimes against women. Delhi. Shakti has a very contemporary look. She wears a tiger skin and has a third eye (usually covered with a headband) that opens in extreme situations. She can generate fire with her hands and has the ability to change any metal into a weapon. She works alone.

veenus@hindustantimes.com

PERSONAL AGENDA

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Film Director/Writer

Sanjay Gupta BIRTHDAY SUN PLACE OF HOMETOWN SCHOOL/COLLEGE Mumbai GHK High School/ SIGN BIRTH

April 14

Aries

Mumbai

Sydenham College, Mumbai

FIRST BREAK HIGH POINT LOW POINT OF CURRENTLY I AM... Casting for Mumbai Saga, Assistant director OF YOUR LIFE YOUR LIFE on Jalwa (1987)

The birth of my son The period before scripting Khote Sikke and my second marriage working on a book of 11 short stories

If you weren’t a director, you would have been… A motorcycle mechanic or a gangster! Your favourite Bollywood crime movie (other than your own). The original Agneepath. The biggest gangster in Bollywood? Me! One thing people don’t know about you. I am an avid art collector with a knack for spotting promising talent. If you could remake a Bollywood movie, which one would it be? Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), with John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi. Award functions. Love them or hate them? They are for the entertainment of the public and are absolutely meaningless to me. If you could endorse a product, which one would you pick? Safety riding gear for bikes. You destress by... Hanging out with my kids. Who’s your 3am friend? My wife. The biggest risk you’ve taken. I took

YOUR MEANEST MACHINE?

My bike, a Yamaha V-Max gifted to me by John Abraham DECEMBER 8, 2013

my movies

THE FIRST MOVIE I WATCHED ON THE BIG SCREEN

The Sound of Music MY FAVOURITE BOLLYWOOD CLASSIC

Guide

MOST PAISA VASOOL FILM

Sholay

TH THE MOST OVERRA RATED FILM

T Talaash

TH THE FILM I WISH I HA HAD DIRECTED

Mani Ratnam’s Nayakan

over Kaante as an independent producer with a liability of 1.36 crore when I had only 10,000 in my bank account. One piece of advice you wish someone had given you 10 years ago. To not be loyal to any one star. One piece of advice you’d like to give an aspiring Bollywood director. Hone your writing skills. An actress most ﬁt to play a cop. It would be fun to see Parineeti Chopra as a bossy, bully cop. The best compliment you’ve received. My wife told me that I am a great husband and father. If you could be reborn as someone else, who would you choose? I would still choose myself. One thing you hate about Bollywood. Its ‘crab mentality’ of pulling down people on the rise. — Interviewed by Apekshita Varshney