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August 13, 2014

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Four Bollywood movies that should definitely have a sequel

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While there are a lot of films which could have a sequel, these are the 4 films which I would definitely like to watch sequels of:

1. Sarkar Raj: The prequel “Sarkar” was not well received by the critics, as it was termed as just an ‘unjust copy’ of the Hollywood favorite “The Godfather”. However Ram Gopal Verma made an effort to reincarnate his thoughts in Sarkar Raj. He changes the whole plot of the Hollywood movie and adds his touch to it.

The movie ends with one of the protagonists, Shankar ( Abhishek Bachchan) dying while Anita ( Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) takes over the family business. However, what is more interesting is that Subhash Nagre (Amitabh Bachchan), in the last dialogue of the film, calls out for ‘Chikoo’ , Vishnu Nagre’s son leaving a sense of curiosity in the mind of the person watching the movie. This makes the movie – watcher craving for more. The movie could portray the growing up of Chikoo and how he ultimately handles the family business like Vincent Mancini in The Godfather 3.

sarkar_raj_os_b

 

2. Taare Zameen Par

Taare Zameen Par was well received by critics and was one of those ‘socially acceptable’ movies which spearheaded Indian Cinema into the world. The film takes us through the life of a dyslexic student who finds it hard to keep up with the normal school curriculum.

However, the protagonist ends up overcoming his inabilities and shuns the doubts everybody has of him. The movie ends with the protagonist, Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) leaving the remedial school that he joined after his abysmal performance in his previous school. This leaves a splendid scope for showing us how he tackles his upcoming obstacles in life and how he can achieve his fears in those situations. It would also be a wonderful sight if Ishaan becomes a teacher similar to Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) and help others in the same way.

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3. Awarapan – The plot of this story revolves around a flesh trading ring, where Emraan Hashmi plays the protagonist, who is one of the capo régimes in such a business. Driven by unjust practices and religious flash backs, he ultimately kills his own boss and few of his associates and saves his boss’s sex slave and frees her.

The last scene portrays how the survivor, addressing the media in her country and narrating the whole story. Flesh Trade; being a very sensitive topic, such movies can be introduced after being inspired by the Hollywood movie, ‘Taken’ which revolves around the same topic yet portrays how an Intelligence agency official’s daughter is dragged into the human trafficking ring and how he ultimately rescues her daughter. The sequel to Awarapan could deal with such a topic.

Awarapan1P

4. Rock On!! – A movie which takes the viewer through the life of a band formed by five talented musicians and friends and the various hardships it faces. The band ‘Magic’ is well received for its musicality, however, record label disputes terminates it. A few years later, the members get rid of their personal differences and ultimately win a big competition. The movie also features a splendid collection of songs which were well received in the music market as well.

The epilogue of the movie relays that the keyboardist ‘Rob’ dies of cancer and that the guitarist and the drummer start a record label themselves and that the band meets every weekend. This provides a scope for a sequel. This movie can provide insight about the music industry a bit more. Probably taking us through the life of a record label company and how the back end market of the music industry works. The sequel is highly expected this year.

rock-on-full-movie-watch-Online-BLu-ray

 

These four movies have proved their worth and they leave a scope for sequels which are highly capable of success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DUB Speak

Happy Men’s Independence Day: 67 years of ‘incomplete’ freedom

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Be it the patriotic songs, the unfurling of Tiranga, the kite flying, the powerful ministerial speeches or simply observing a day off from the routine job, all these years, the Independence Day has had more or less similar implications for all of us. However, a question that my mind often wrestle with is that, with due passage of time hasn’t the essence of independence been lost? Do we really celebrate our freedom or is it mere the rubber stamp of breaking free from the colonial shackles?

The ‘independent’ India that we live in today doesn’t allow women the freedom to dress without being noticed, to go places without being teased or to work without suppression. They are paid less compared to their male counterparts, irrespective of the work done. The women aren’t safe here, not in their homes, not in public transports or work places, the girls aren’t safe at schools. They are kidnapped, molested, raped, murdered and their bodies are dumped on roadsides or suspended with ropes on trees.

Not only this, the men have the audacity to justify their deeds saying, “she was out too late”, “she was hanging around with guys” or probably “she was wearing a short dress”, hence she was asking for it. Which human being would want to be treated like that, or would ‘ask’ to be raped? Do the children at age of 6 and women at age of 60 who are raped, ask for it too?

Of what use is a country’s independence, if the women have to think ten times before going out with friends ‘too late’ in the night? Who defines the limit of ‘too late’ in an ‘independent’ country like ours?

Is all of this merely a consequence of uncontrollable desires and whimsical fantasies of men causing sexual frustration or is there another angle to it? Isn’t the ‘independent’ India still stereotyping woman to be weak individuals? Why is it that a boy who cries watching a movie is told to “be a man”, a girl wearing boy’s clothes and no makeup is called a ‘tomboy’ or a girl who loves playing basketball is forced into learning painting? What is it with the forced appearance and behavior according to the sex you were assigned at birth? Is that what we call ‘independence’?

It is going to be almost seven decades since the independence and orthodox mentalities, stereotypes and stringent gender policing have all led to women objectification. The fault isn’t only of the men who exploit women, but also of the society that raises children in a way that females are presumed to be a subject to a man’s desires and mercy.

Our movies advocate that, when Rahul falls in love with Anjali in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai only when she ‘dresses up like a girl’ and our TV shows propagate so, as they show women to be engrossed enough in cooking, raising babies or sorting domestic quarrels with mothers in law/sisters in law. Till there isn’t a freedom to think beyond the stereotypes, how could there be independence?

Not that all is wrong, India has seen women scale great heights in all fields, but the question definitely remains – Is this what ‘independence’ really means? For if yes, then it is, only a ‘happy men’s Independence Day’ here.

Featured Image Credits: www.blogbigtime.com

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Behind The Scenes: Placements

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A common complaint of every DU student is that the placement cell does not work hard enough to get multiple companies on campus.  In my two years in placement cell, first as a member and then as a sub coordinator, I have not spent a day (college time or vacation) without checking my mailbox ten times a day to catch up with the list of companies contacting us at a point of time.

The year starts busily enough with prepping new members to help us enable a smooth process. For the best part of the year, your alarm clock is the early morning call of a company official wanting to discuss the placement process. From the formulation of report, inviting companies to campus, frantically find some free date to assign for a company process, orienting the student body on the college policy, organising workshops, preparing venues, garnering enough attendance to ensure the company doesn’t get offended, arranging the company’s requirements to the T- we do it all. Keep everyone happy – the company, college authorities and the student body – and become a machine following every instruction with no acknowledgement.

It’s fair enough to say that we signed up for the job role so we shouldn’t complain. However the surprising element in the work comes when you observe students treating the process crassly. A random chat with a company reveals that maximum students across the university don’t bother to read the job profile before appearing for the interview. Students routinely skip pre-placement talks and even drop out of subsequent rounds without prior information – the most unacknowledged part of our work is convincing a company to come back and visit our campus after students disappoint them.

Aside the frustrating moments, working for the placement cell opens your eyes to the extreme unpredictability of landing up with a job, warms you up to the company and definitely makes you a little less afraid as you walk up to the interview rooms. In this extremely competitive environment, placement cell folks have helped calm nerves of those in the waiting rooms, and also weathered themselves through the highs and lows of everyone’s experience to become better informed and more confident candidates!

Nitya Nangalia

(The author has been associated with the Placement Cell of Lady Sri Ram College (LSR) for two years. The views & opinion set out in this article is solely of the author)

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Interviews

Interview with YouTubers: Sahil Bedi and Pranjal Narang

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YouTube-ing has become the latest trend in the Internet world. What makes it so appealing?
A few months back Sahil Bedi uploaded a video of a ‘social experiment’ to assess the number of people who would help a rape victim in need. Out of 20 people only 3 of them reacted. This video was later played on mainstream media channels and received critical acclaim from countries like Japan, USA, Brazil, UK, Mexico, Canada and Australia too. However his videos are not restricted to ‘serious content’. He and his friend, Pranjal Narang often go on expeditions to earn ‘kisses’ and ‘hugs’ from women and men respectively. We had the opportunity to talk to them. Here, is what they had to say:

 

Was starting a YouTube channel preplanned? Were you expecting your first video to be so successful?

Sahil: Well, I actually had a lot of followers on ask.fm and we did sort of expect a lot of views the first night but the magnitude of the views gave us confidence to make it a full time project. We were actually accepted by three major universities in UK but I left them for a career in YouTubing.

Pranjal: Haha, we had been planning to start our YouTube channel even before our board exams started. Just as our exams ended, we took to executing our plans. I still remember we were placing bets on how many views we would get. I placed my bet on 1500 views but then it turned out to be around 2000 views on the first night.

 

What advice would you want to give to people who don’t have the necessary equipment to start a ‘good’ channel?

Sahil: There can be no ‘good’ videos without proper equipment. That is a ‘must’. As far as content is concerned you just need to have fun with what you are doing.

Pranjal: In our first video, we were using a crappy portable microphone. We had to try and make sure that what we were saying was audible. We had to add subtitles to our video too. After that we realized we had to get a good microphone.

The video about the social experiment went viral and received massive critical acclaim. Why do you think people were attracted to it?

Sahil: Given the recent rise in the frequency of rapes in India, I think people connected to it instantly. I uploaded the video days after the Badaun Rape case came into limelight. That might have been one of the contributing factors.

Are you planning to do such social experiments in the future?

Sahil: To be very frank I don’t think I will be doing any such videos in the near future. The reason being, that I don’t want people to perceive me as a person who is a ‘teacher’. I don’t want people to call me the ‘social professor’ or something like that.

Then what are your plans in terms of content for the future?

Sahil: Instead of projecting myself as a ‘social professor’, I’d like to be the guy whom people would see as an ‘entertainer’. I want to be viewed as a funny guy, like I am in real life. I think I will start focussing more on pranks and skits from now on.

It’s time for a critical question. Did you guys upload the videos like ‘almost picking up girls using cheesy pickup lines’ and the ‘kissing prank’ just to get views and subscriptions?

Sahil: No, to be very frank. We had actually made up our minds about what we were going to do. We went ahead with our plans and thankfully it was appreciated by the people. As said before, I had a lot of followers on ask.fm and was expecting a lot of views due to that.

 

What was your purpose then behind such videos?

Pranjal: See, I believe India is starting to be more open and adopting certain aspects of westernisation. We wanted to see how Indian women would react to it. We were pretty impressed by the fact that we received a positive reaction and that women, who were hesitant in the beginning ended up breaking the social barriers which our society has placed on them. It’s good to see that Indians are moving on the right track.

I like the fact that you used a current affairs topic and used it creatively for your video. I am citing to the video ‘India on Sex Education’ where you quote the Health minister who believes ‘Aids can be curbed with sanskaar rather than condoms’.

Sahil: Yes, It was actually something that swept me off my feet. It was something that I had not expected and I thought it would be fun to ask people about what they thought about it. The reactions however were extremely funny.

Have you ever been mobbed by fans?

Sahil: Haha, yes this week we were at a mall and were asked to give autographs and pose in pictures with a lot of fans. It’s funny how random people just end up recognizing us.

Pranjal: I still have a photo of the first autograph I gave. I have a lot of photos with fans. It’s a surreal experience. We really love meeting people.

Post Script: While the interview was on, there was a lady who recognized them and appreciated them for their work.

 

I realised that you have been collaborated with a production house namely, “Runaway Productions’. How did the deal come up?

Sahil: Yes we were actually contacted by them when we had a considerable amount of subscribers. I am actually going to meet them in Bangalore this week. They are planning to sign me for 3 years and want to make me their ‘public figure’ or ‘channel ambassador’.

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When you look at musicians like Kurt Cobain, who gave up his life just because his record company asked him to be more commercial, do you find yourself in a similar position? As in getting signed by a production company, does that make you feel as if you might not have your way sometimes?

Sahil: That’s an interesting question. I know that Production companies can get on your nerves sometimes, but I’m sure my production company is going to be supportive of my ideas. Primarily, that is what they are going to sign me for.

Have you tried to contact any YouTuber or has anyone contacted you after your recent success?

Sahil: Yes I had been contacted by ‘Sofloantonio’ and was asked how I managed to get so many views on my kissing prank video.

 

Are you a twitter friendly YouTuber? Do you communicate with your fans on Twitter?

Sahil: I have not managed to get the hang of twitter yet. I am available on Facebook but the majority of my fans communicate with me on ask.fm.

 

Sahil, you are in Sri Vekateswara College. Did people recognize you? And Pranjal you are going to Canada for your studies. So what are your plans?

Sahil: Yes, there were a few people who did recognize me in my college. They did take photographs with me. It felt cool attending the first day of college. I really am interested in joining many societies. I heard they are fun.
Pranjal: Yes, I am going to Canada for my higher education. I am planning to start my own channel there.

 

Finally, how big do you want to be? Do you see a time when people will start wearing your T – Shirts?

Sahil: Yes I really want to become a successful YouTuber. I want to be an entertainer and be respected for the right reasons. I think I am on the right track and would love to see people wearing my T – shirts.

 

You can find Sahil Bedi on Facebook here.

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Top Picks

Seven most irritating things only left handed people would know!

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For most of us out here, our right hand is of prime importance and left hand is a supporting one. However, not many but a significant number of people around are the ones who use their left hand for activities like eating, writing etc. The world has had numerous famous left handed people like Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Amitabh Bachchan and Kapil Sharma to name a few, however not many know that using your left hand is not the opposite of using your right hand. It has to its credit, many more complications.

So on International Left hander’s Day today, we hereby present, seven irritating and unique things only left handed people could relate to:

1. It hurts but I never show, this pain you’ll never know.

It could be writing on the spiral registers or the three steel  ring binder, either you compromise with the writing speed or your handwriting, because if not, it is going to hurt, for the spiral/steel rings press into your hand, and that is as annoying as uncomfortable.

spiral

2. It is all designed for them ‘right handed’ people!

Be it the chairs placed at numerous tuition centers with special platform to write on, or the scissors, they are all designed for the right handed people. We left handed people are so not cared for in this regard.

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Even your favorite coffee mug needs to be held in the right hand so that its prettier side faces out.  The numeric keys are on the right hand side of the key board. Sad life people, sad life.

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3. Answer-sheets get smudged, hand gets inked.

No matter what degree of care you intend to exercise, this my friend is unavoidable.

inked it

4. The religious side to it.

Be it performance of any religious activities, left hand is totally banned to be used and right hand refuses to act despite of repeated reminders to the brain. Consequently, all you can do is feel embarrassed and make a fool out of yourself.

wooh

 

5. People stare.

Left handed people usually develop a different style of writing that suits them best and makes them write in flow, but people find it absurd and never forget to stare and make comments at times.

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6. Elbows collide.

Be it the classroom desk or the dinner table, left handed people can never sit peacefully with right handed people sitting left of them, for the elbows keep colliding with each other.

Hardworkers

7. The Question Hour.

Like so much of discomfort wasn’t enough, the prying eyes of people always follow you. Not to forget the most irritating questions that follow like –

  • “OMG! You are left handed?”

  “No No, I am just bored.”

  • “So you do everything with your left hand?”

“No no, of course not, what makes you think so?”

they will be

  • How can you write with your left hand?

       Just like you do, with your right hand bro, just like that.

 

With all these funny little things, we celebrate the uniqueness of all left handed folks out there.

Here’s wishing all our left handed readers a happy International Left Handers Day 2014!

 

 

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Campus Central

KMC's Robo Physicists society wins accolades at NASA

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Enabling Long Duration Missions Through Holistic Habitat Design‘, got selected for a further presentation at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA. In the other competition held at Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, USA, the team secured the 13th position out of the 31 teams from 190 countries which also included 5 different teams from India. For the RASC-AL competition, after the team’s paper’s selection, they were given an opportunity to make a presentation on the topic in an event at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre. The rover created by the team for Mass Society’s University Rover Challenge successfully cleared all the tasks which included servicing of equipment and wireless operation. [caption id="attachment_25000" align="aligncenter" width="430"]rover KMC Mars Rover-03 in the Astronaut Assistance Task at University Rover Challenge, at Mars Desert Research Station.[/caption] “The rover we made was highly appreciated. It was capable of operating on the rocky surface of Mars and could also assist astronauts.” said Chetan Kumar, a third year Physics honors student of KMC who is also part of the Robo Physicists team. Dr. Mohanty, from the Physics department of Kirori Mal College, first came up with the idea of associating students from Delhi University to such international ventures five years ago and has also been active in numerous international conferences. Since then, the Robo Physicists society has taken part in numerous events including Lunabotics and the Rover Challenge. However, this year’s victory has been remarkable for the society becoming the only Indian team to establish such feat internationally. The society’s trip to NASA was sponsored by the University of Delhi. Both the projects were judged by people from the steering committee who were NASA engineers and the jury of RASC-AL, consisted of people from  Boeing NASA. The Mass Societies’ Rover Challenge’s panel of judges included the alumnus of NASA. “We got to work with and know people and professors from different universities.” said Chetan Kumar, “There were people from technical backgrounds. At RASC-AL, we faced competition from people doing Masters and Ph.D. Without the knowledge of engineering and astrophysics, we had to go back to the basics to understand it.” According to Aishwarya Girdhar, another member of the team, “The best part of the experience that we got being part of this competition was the exposure and the feeling of pride in representing India among so many countries from all over the world. You don’t have to be in top engineering colleges to have the knowledge and KMC’s Robo Physicists Society shows that.” Image Credits:   The official Facebook page of KMC Robo Physicists.]]>

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Flicks

SRK all set to launch ‘Happy New Year’s trailer via WhatsApp

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When it comes to marketing King Khan leaves no stone unturned. Being a techie art heart, Shahrukh Khan is known to use innovative & interactive platforms for promoting his flicks – may it be Ra.One’s custom YouTube channel, Don 2’s popular video game or Chennai Express’ viral online campaign – SRK has always been a pioneer in using new avenues for publicizing his movies. His latest acting-production venture ‘Happy New Year’ too, is setting new trends in the world of marketing. Its much-awaited theatrical trailer, would be released on WhatsApp on August 14. For the first time a movie would be using this popular instant messaging app to launch a trailer! A major reason for WhatsApp’s neglect by other promoters, has been its inability to send a broadcast message to more than 250 users at once. But in Khan’s case, WhatsApp has removed this restriction, giving Red Chilies Entertainment a vast reach. The trailer launch has already gained attention and has been trending on Twitter for quite some time now. HNY2 To get the trailer on your phone just drop a WhatsApp message or leave a missed call on +91 9819020202.  That’s it! You will receive a personalized clip on your phone as soon as it’s out! Alternatively, you may give a missed call on 18002004646 (Don’t know why two numbers, but ‘I assume’ this one is for non-WhatsApp users!).  The trailer would be screened in theatres from August 15th, 2014. The movie is scheduled for its release on October 24th, 2014. Apart from WhatsApp, HNY has been running successful online campaigns across other social media platforms as well.  However, WhatsApp is specifically important, as this development may ignite a new trend – from theaters to televisions, from TVs to computers and now directly onto our phones! We have a come a long way Bollywood! HNY4   So go ahead and enroll Indiawaalon! Hope the trailer lives up to the hysteria!

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DUB Speak

Final salute to a legend: Robin Williams

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How do you began the eulogy of one of the finest actor and comedian that the Hollywood has ever had? Do you keep on repeating how legendary they were? Do you keep mentioning  the laughs they spread? Or perhaps, do you began by cracking up some dark humor such as how Dead poets society just got literal?

Not really.

For starters, I will just advise you to look at his face for a while. Just sit there and try to chase around the contours and wrinkles on his face. And when you do this for a while, you will feel an eerie feeling overcoming you. But do it on your own risk, you might as well feel like you are being transported to a Disney movie while this Captain hook decides to come alive.

rob1

I bet no magic on your mere nose is god-gifted. You are either Robin Williams or you are not.

But then, you hear it. The snapping of your heart. And although, you might have just stopped thinking about this man since your last movie starring his charming face, the realization of his death is somehow associated with numbness of nausea attached to it.

I remember my ends of this story though. My first meeting with Sir Robin Williams. (Though I wished he could meet me to.)

Jumanji was gripping.

robin

You are always serious about your movie when you are a twelve year old. And for me Jumanji was something like an actual adventure itself. But I was a little angry at that time. The Jumanji had two Alan Parrish(es), the teenage guy who is sucked by the game to be sent into a jungle and later who shows up as a grown-up man in his thirties, brought back by the new kids playing the game. I remember  whining about how I liked the crystal-eyed teenaged Alan Parrish better and not this weird looking guy.

But as Robin William, the heavily bearded beastly man who takes a grand entry in the movie as he successfully manages to shoo off a lion; when decides to shaves off his beard, I literally began to believe in the existence of ‘gleaming eyes’ (like a special effect.) sparkling with nostalgia in the mirror. His gentle face as if calling for the lost time. And that charming smile. Do you even need to began on that?

I swear to god, I fell in love with this man. And trust me, you have to be real talented to change the opinion of a stubborn child.

But as it happened today, I was stubborn again. When a friend told me that the late Oscar winning actor was found dead in his North Carolina apartment, I chose to believe that the Robin Williams he was talking about is not the same guy that popped up in my head as he continued to smile like a never tiring GIF.

Rest in peace sir, we hope the god is smiling.

-Priyanka Kapoor

[email protected]

 

 

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