"Don’t let it get you down" a concerned friend said whose shoulder I have been utilizing a bit too often nowadays. And yes the cause of my grief continues to be Rakhi Sawant. Well not Ms. Sawant per se but the chain of incorrigible associates in between us.

I am expected to interview the-ex-item girl-and-now-Yash Raj-actress in the next 48 hours and guess what? That’s all I have been told. Where? What time? How much time? Confirmation? - Nothing. I have absolutely no #%@&*%# clue.

The story is pretty much the same; phone calls continue to be ignored, no reply to text messages and emails, probably directed to the trash bin. Frankly speaking when this assignment landed up on my lap practically from nowhere, I thought this to be – an easy stroll @ Juhu Beach. And I had strong reasons to believe so;

a) Interviewed Rakhi on a previous occasion

b) Her media friendly attitude

c) Backing of an International Magazine

d) Assurances from in-industry friends, "Rakhi, arey woh toh tere ghar aake interview degi".

Click here to continue reading ‘Still Breaking’

No? Neither did I until yesterday.

There I was sitting at Juhu’s Prithvi Theatre watching a compilation of short documentary films, organized by an NGO called Vikalp (formed in 2003, a group of documentary film makers fighting against censorship) and all I could think of was Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag.

Though the film turned out to be the biggest box-office failure of 2007, to me the film’s depiction of modern day daaku raj (Babban Singh) vs. Ex-Police Chief and his hired goons Heroo & Raj – seem perfectly in sync with the Naxalite situation in the State of Chhattisgarh. No laughing matter this, the reality is as dark and horrifying. However unlike the movie, the Naxalite condition doesn’t have as clear a hero-villain divide as the movie.

In order to free the state’s people from the tortures of the rebellious Naxalities (dakku raj), the government put in action the Special Public Security Act (SPS, 2005), and have also created an army of villagers called the Salwa Judum giving them bows arrows and guns, under the pretext of self-protection against the bad guys. The Chhattisgarh government wants us to look up to them in the same way as the villagers regarded the Ex-Police Chief in the film. Their life-savior, their messiah.

According to the Planning Commission 2008 report, that is not only unconstitutional, but also a form of state sponsored terror. So, no happy ending in sight here, only a spiral result of violence and more of it.

And this is where filmmaker Ajay TG’s story comes in.

Click here to continue reading ‘Do You Know Ajay TG?’

First off Kudos to Kamla for managing to pull this one off. She spoke to Abhishek Bachchan in LA, who was there as part of the Unforgettable Tour after having covered Canada and Trinidad. And as usual, Kamla’s questions were sharp, and to the point and revealed that she had done her homework. For instance, her knowing that AB baby collects watches. Who knew that? (I didn’t – not that I care enough anyways). That, and that a blog is underway.

Pity then that the interviewee was boring as hell!

Click here to continue reading ‘Abhishek Bachchan, Plugged.’