August 22, 2014

A pretentious conversation with Kanan Gill

By Priyanka Banerjee August 22, 2014

Kanan Gill, a stand up comedy artist from Bangalore was recently in town for his Pretentious Movie Night show in Gurgaon with Biswa Kalyan Rath. The duo’s YouTube series on Pretentious Movie Reviews have gathered a lot of loyal followers with hilarious videos on movies like Gunda, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon and the most recent one, Prem Aggan. We managed to catch up with Kanan at Mia Bella, Hauz Khas Village for a pretentious conversation on his videos, his college days and the stand up comedy scene in India.

Read on for a glimpse of the full interview!
Priyanka: So, firstly, most people fantasize about getting into YouTube and stand up comedy, but rarely do they do anything about it. What was the first push for you?
Kanan: It’s weird to fantasize about getting into YouTube, because anybody can start a YouTube channel! Uh, for stand up comedy, it’s a much bigger step. For me, I was lucky. Comedians from Bangalore (Sandeep Rao, Praveen Kumar) started a stand up comedy scene, English Language, which is very difficult, but they started with open mic nights in Bangalore where anybody can go and tell jokes. So I stopped by one of those, and I really liked it so I thought I should do this. And I have a bit of a background in being on stage; I’ve been in bands and music groups before and wrote funny songs. So I knew that the “funny part” was there and I liked being on stage, but stand up comedy was the best form of that.

Mehr: And how did you and Biswa start out and get together?

Kanan: Both of used to do stand up in Bangalore and we met at an Open Mic. Both of us had IT jobs and in the evening we used to come and try and tell jokes. We started writing jokes together, just to try and help each other out. Eventually when this YouTube thing started, I asked him if he wanted to be in the video, mainly because I was scared of doing it alone [laughs]. And he did not want to but I convinced him and that’s how it came about.

Priyanka: People usually review new movies, so where did the concept of reviewing old, trashy Hindi movies come from?

Kanan: That was the whole point! I see no point in reviewing current movies; just watch it or don’t watch it. For me, the funniest thing is doing things that are unhelpful. The very first video I made, was called an ‘Indian Accent Tutorial’ that was not helpful at all. So, I decided, hey, let’s make movie reviews that have no value! They are not for current movies and it should be just that you watch the review to watch the review; you’re never going to watch the movie, so that was the idea.

Mehr: You recently went to St. Stephen’s College in Delhi University. Do you have any stories to tell from your crazy college days?
Kanan: No I was very boring in college! I was not extroverted, didn’t take part in events. I was just quietly there. Crazy stories, well there are a bunch of them. I once got a bomb squad called for my friend’s car, that was pretty crazy. You’re not supposed to park your car in the college campus but I was like, ‘Leave it na, nothing’s going to happen!’ The next day we came back to his car and the doors were not there! In his car there were was a cricket kit in the back, and someone thought it was a bomb, so they called the bomb squad and they disassembled his car!
Priyanka: Do you have any ‘words of wisdom’ to share with people who want to get into stand up comedy?
Kanan: Sure man, do it! That’s it; there’s nothing stopping you besides going out and doing it. Here in Delhi, Gurgaon there’s a lot of opportunity. There’s a full Delhi stand up scene, they have Open Mics, get in touch with them. The best thing about the stand up comedy scene in India is that it’s not very big; there’s nothing stopping either of you from organising a show tonight and saying, ‘Hey, stand up is happening, come!’ So why not do it?

Priyanka: What sort of response do you usually get from the Delhi audience? You’ve done a couple of shows here, so what’s it been like?

Kanan: You know, it’s weird; you can summarise the audience of different cities, like Bangalore is little more posh, a slightly difficult audience which is good because it makes you work hard. Bombay’s read to laugh at most things, they just want to have a good time. In Delhi I’ve had very opposite experiences. The first time I came to Gurgaon, I was horrible! But recently it’s been amazing! So what I’ve realised is that the crowd from Noida, from South Delhi and from Gurgaon are all very different and you can’t judge an NCR crowd as one.

Mehr: Were you happy with the kind of reception you got for the first Pretentious Movie Night show?

Kanan: Oh yes, so happy! Mainly because we haven’t slept in so many days, not because we were working (well, partially because we were working) but because we were so stressed!

Priyanka: All the viewers have their favourite Pretentious Movie Review. Which one is your favourite?

Kanan: I think for different reasons, different ones are my favourite. Weirdly, the ones we spend less time on become better. For example, Prem Aggan, when we finished shooting it, it was 5:30 in the morning and we were like, ‘This sucks! No one’s going to like this.’ Later, I did a rough edit, just to see and by the time I was done, I decided ki isko daal dete hai. And the response for that was insane! In contrast, Hum Saath Saath Hai, both of us really liked and we spent so much time on that! We shot for 5 hours to do that video, but people were like, ‘Yeh kya hai?’ and we said were giving advice and all that, but people didn’t want that! We don’t have a formula for what works. Even the Movie Reviews were just supposed to be a thing that was in between the other videos but now it’s the most popular segment!

Priyanka: Can you spill any secrets as to which movies you’ll be reviewing next?

Kanan: [laughs] Absolutely not! Nope, nope.

Take a look at Kanan Gill’s channel on YouTube here.

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DUB Speak

A Simple Guide to Happiness

By Vani Vivek August 22, 2014

The world lost yet another beautiful soul to the demon that is depression. For anyone familiar with Robbin Williams’ work, it was almost unbelievable to hear that the beloved comedian took his own life after battling with depression for long.

Though there’s much more to depression than sadness, staying upbeat is one way to ensure that you or a loved one don’t get consumed into this abyss. Without sounding too much like a self- help article, here’s a (generally) happy person’s guide to happiness!

Make peace with who you are:

There will always be someone with better grades than yours, someone with better hair, or someone with a better social life, but that doesn’t take away from who you are. Appreciating someone ? Depreciating yourself! The first step towards a cheerful disposition is being comfortable with your mind and body. Once you’re grateful for who you are, what you have, the world will definitely seem more inviting.

Exercise and sleep:

With the pace that our lives are at, it is easy to fall into a rut. Break away from melancholy! An active lifestyle is a scientifically proven key to a happier life, as is a well- rested mind. Exercise keeps you motivated, gives you a certain sense of accomplishment and also helps you sleep better.

If you’re one of those people who get grumpy after having to climb a single flight of stairs, you need to include some form of simple physical activity in your life now!

Listen to upbeat music:

At times when you’re feeling low, make a conscious choice of listening to peppy tunes. Your definition of ‘peppy’ may range from Pharrel William’s Happy to AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, build an instant stress- busting playlist and play it on loop. I’ve never seen someone tapping their foot and being morose at the same time!

Realistic goals:

One thing that gets a lot of us down is feeling demotivated, and even useless. This usually happens when we miss out on achieving a target or worse still, when the target we’d set looms ahead, bigger and more intimidating than it had originally seemed. Set short term realistic goals for yourself, achieving these will give you the motivation to take on the next challenge. The lesson here is not to underestimate your skills, but to make sure that you don’t overburden yourself.

Illustration Credits: Mehr Gill

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Shri Ram College of Commerce

SRCC honours college alumnus Arun Jaitley

By Akash Pattanayak August 22, 2014

The SRCC Youth Conference 2014 commenced with the felicitation of Shri Arun Jaitley. The Union Minister of Finance, Defense and Corporate Affairs launched the conference with the release of balloons and expressed his gratitude to be invited. The speaker session took place in the sports complex that was packed beyond capacity with SRCC faculty, alumni and students. The ceremony started with a welcome address by Shri Ajay S. Shriram, Chairman Governing Body SRCC and President Confederation of Indian Industry. He introduced Mr. Jaitley and expressed his gratitude for the constant support to the governing body. This was followed by the felicitation of Mr. Jaitley by The Principal Mr. P.C. Jain and Mr. Shriram.

Mr. Jaitley’s speech started off with a standing ovation by the entire audience. He kept the audience engaged with an insight into the challenges that India faces today. He was of the belief that there has been a rise in the standard of excellence and that the notion of mediocrity is now rejected by India as a nation. While there has been an increase in marks, he highlighted the lack of structural reforms in the education sector. Moving beyond the realm of education he shed light on the unleashing of India’s energies by virtue of the reforms in 1991. His only regret however was the fact that the process didn’t get initiated a decade earlier. Further he analyzed the role of state intervention on various sectors and how there are trade-offs that need to be carefully understood. To explain this he gave the example of the IT sector that prospered because of the absence of strict licensing and acts. Finally he spoke about the universities abroad serving as the nuclei for policy making in their respective nations. He spoke about the existence of an environment conducive to conflicting ideas that eventually leads to ideation.

The event ended with a soulful rendition of the national anthem. The two days of Youth Conference that follow promise to bring a line up of leaders that will both entertain and inspire the participants. So make sure you don’t miss out on any of the action.

“Mediocrity today is akin to crowding at the bottom. But there is always scope for excellence at the bottom and space at the top.”

“The world today offers an entirely different set of opportunities to us all.”

“Areas where the state has withdrawn and allowed people to determine their own destiny, have seen people show great entrepreneurship and vision.”

Image credits- Khushal

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Top Picks

Some stalk, some cling, others overdress: Five types of annoying freshers

By Isheeta Sharma August 22, 2014

We have dedicated a whole lot of time and energy welcoming all the new students to college. However, let’s not forget the seniors who are usually the victims of all the ‘fresher enthusiasm’. Here’s a list of five annoying types of freshers.

The impeccably overdressed

While the seniors will be seen dragging themselves to classes in their pajamas with mismatched slippers and hair in an untidy knot, these fresh faces will walk in so perfectly dressed that they end up being annoying. I mean, how do you even get the time to match your clothes AND your nail paint colour?

The Facebook stalker

Yes, I met you. Yes, we share greetings. Yes, I accepted your friend request but that DOES NOT mean we are the new college BFFs! So you do not need to like my updates that you have absolutely no idea about, or ask me to like your updates that I have no idea about and you definitely don’t need to add me to groups like “You are not part of my heart, you are a heart of my part”.
What does that even mean?

The ‘can you please give me your notes’ type
DU seniors are all about helping the fucchas…well, mostly, and we will help you out wherever we can but can you please stop reminding of the notes I forgot to get for you every time you see me? First, other things are going on in my life. Getting to college is a pain in itself let alone getting a bunch load of notes. Second, getting my notes will not help you pass; chances are you won’t even understand half of it.

The cool cats
These ones are cool. So cool the first question they will ask you would be the location of a nearby theka.
I know times have changed and we have grown old but, honey, this is not how college works. Live the sober fun first.

The lingerer

So this one comes to your group as an acquaintance, greets everyone, has a short conversation and then does not leave! Not that they contribute to the next conversation or anything, they just stand there…just there. Usually the loners who haven’t been able to connect with their fellow freshers; their existence lingers around the seniors.

Not all the freshers need to be in this list. Some of you are actually pretty fun and your seniors love you. If you are on this list, however, then…umm, awkward.

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