2019 - How I read 22 books?

In 2018, I had taken a goal to read 24 books at an average of two books a month. I was able to finish 21 and I was very happy with that achievement, as it was my highest ever tally in a year. I was also able to write the reviews for all the books I read in 2018 on this very blog. 

In 2019, I again took a goal to read 24 books. While I didn't achieve the goal this year too, I am happy to report that I have bettered my tally over last year. I was able to finish 22 books this year. Sadly though, I have so far posted reviews of only 15 books on this blog. Hope to cover this shortfall in January' 20. Interestingly, I had taken few sub-goals as well - Like reading a book in my mother tongue, Punjabi and read at least two classics. I achieved these reading goals too in 2019 :-)

Following are some of the things that  helped me achieve my reading goals: 

1. I had a dedicated time slot of 20-30 minutes daily for reading. An average book of around 300 pages can thus be finished in 15 days. Two books a month is great. Gift these 20-30 minutes daily to yourself.

2. Buy more books than you can read. Also make it known to people that you like books as gifts. When you are surrounded by books, you feel compelled to pick one up. This can be the best investment you can make for yourself.

3. Mix it up - fiction, non fiction, work related, fun related, subjects that interest you and the ones that don't interest you. Just keep reading whatever keeps your boat rocking. This will help you beat the reading block. 

4. Join a book club or a library. You will meet avid readers who inspire you to read more and give you amazing recommendations.

5. Carry a book with you always. Sometimes, when I go slow on reading and my colleagues keep seeing the same book with me for a long period, I feel awkward. This pushes me to avoid distractions and read on.

I started off with reading the books that I loved. But now I love the books that I read. It is a key transition for me. 

As the year ends, here are my top recommendations from what I read this year. Look forward to your recommendations too. The hyper-links will take you to the reviews I have posted for these books. 

Top Fiction:

1984 by George Orwell

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Top Non Fiction:

Factfulness by Hans Rosling

Homo Deus : A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Top Classics:

Raseedi Ticket (The Revenue Stamp) by Amrita Pritam (I read in Punjabi, but English translation available)

Animal Farm by George Orwell

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The pictures show all the books I read this year. See you in 2020. Happy New Year!!!

Nike, Facebook & Pakistan - Interesting Books reviewed

Shoe Dog ~ A Memoir by the creator of Nike by Phil Knight is really a well written autobiography. There is no co-author or a ghost writer involved, so the emotions you go through as a reader are real and raw. Phil actually took writing classes to write this book. And that effort shows! It is one the best autobiographies / biographies I have read. Shoe Dog is not just Phil's or Nike's story. It is that too. But it goes beyond. Both inside and outside. The book delves deep inside into an entrepreneur's mind. It looks outwards towards the history of the era when Phil was building Nike. So the book doesn't just feel like an autobiography. It reads like a parable, sounds like a lore and can be understood as a metaphor for life. The book is also paced like a thriller.

As an author, Phil displays his sense of humor throughout. Especially hilarious are his accounts of some of his early colleagues and his travels to Japan and China. But there are undercurrents of his personal tragedies. Also Phil chose not to narrate much that happened after 1980. I was surprised by this choice but I understood the reasons behind it. So you won't get the story behind "Just Do It" or several such campaigns post 1980.

Phil fleshes out each character in the story of his life with love and empathy. He owns his mistakes and is painfully aware of his shortcomings. But he loves his journey.  Phil brings his struggles as a sportsperson and as an entrepreneur to the paper without inhibitions. He also talks about his relationships with his father and his sons without holding anything back.

Some of the questions which I wanted the book to answer also get answered with flourish. You get to know the story behind the name "Nike". You get the story behind its logo. You get reasons for Nike's success. But the book goes beyond the obvious. It gives insights into history of the time. It showcases how people come together and stick together despite differences. It talks about irreversible sacrifices. It defines successes and failures in a humane way.

As a marketer, one is always struggling to define the story of one's brand, its spirit and purpose. This memoir does it so well for Nike. There are several books that have inspired me in the past - with a new idea or with a better perspective on things. But this  book inspired me in a different way. It made me feel for Nike. I felt like working for Nike, especially during its early years. The years when I wasn't even born. And that's a great achievement for a book. 

the Facebook effect by David Kirkpatrick is a book which I have read few years late. The book was published in 2010 and it chronicles the early years of Facebook. By now, we all know the basic beats of Facebook story and its early milestones, through the folklore and the movie 'The Social Network'. Also in 9 years since then, Facebook has become a very different animal, with lesser personal connections active on it. It has since then made a journey from being cool to somewhat evil. I would personally love to read a sequel to this book to know what changed and also understand Mark Zuckerberg's opinion on Cambridge Analytica data breach.

Coming back to this book, I was surprised to notice few grammar as well as spelling errors. Otherwise, the book is pretty fast paced. The book provides a balanced view on Facebook's highs and lows. Unlike Videocracy by Kevin Allocca, a book about YouTube, which I reviewed earlier this year, this book looks into issues like antitrust, privacy, data ownership and ethics in a far more incisive way.

Also, I liked the portions, where we got to know about the logic behind every change and feature on Facebook. These portions make the book an interesting read from change management and product development point of view.

But if there is a more recent book on Facebook, which is equally well written, I suggest you can give this one a miss. 

Tinderbox ~ The Past and Future of Pakistan by M.J. Akbar, presents a very interesting slice of world history of Indian sub-continent, especially chronicling the circumstances around formation of Pakistan. It delves deep into epic conflict between Hindu and Muslim cultures and its impact on the entire region. 

It is a tough book to read, because it spans across centuries, and too much is happening. There are way too many characters and sub-plots. In fact each chapter in this book can become a source for a new book. So don't feel too overwhelmed while reading it, if you are able to connect key threads of this narrative.  By the time I finished the book, I forgot many specifics - names, dates etc. But overarching themes and patterns emerged. 

1. If religious identity overpowers regional or national identity, there will always be strife. Pakistan will never be at peace given the circumstances of its birth. Also my limited understanding, that democracy can bring change,  was questioned throughout the book. 

2. Another interesting aspect on which author spends a lot of time is wherein he explains how Pakistan governments have been distorting history that is taught in their schools. He explains, how school children are conditioned right from the childhood to consider India as its enemy. He goes further to explain how plunderers from pre-independent India are treated as heroes because of their religious identity. But as I read chapters on Indian freedom struggle in the book, especially about Gandhi's failures, I realized how our history books were also whitewashed. I learned how Mahatma was more of a politically useful religious moniker than a testimony to Gandhi's greatness. So while Pakistan's history is a hogwash, ours is also pretty much whitewashed in school books. 

3. How Pakistan played world's superpowers using its geo-political advantage is also a recurring theme in the book. 

And the questions which were left in my mind by the time I finished reading this book were - Has Pakistan played all its cards? Are we on a path to nuclear catastrophe?

I needed few lighter books after this. 

Sita & Talent Code - Two Completely Different Books reviewed

Reading Sita - An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana by Devdutt Pattanaik is a unique experience. It can be called a non-fiction book about a mythological fiction, because it is very well researched.  Or it can also be classified as a fictional story that borrows from several tales. 

Most of us who have grown in India and have seen the televised Ramayana are aware of the basic beats of this epic. To a large extent even the message which this epic promotes is well understood and accepted. Good defeats Evil! But before reading this book, I had always seen the story of Ramayana from twin perspectives of religion and ethics. I always believed that the televised version was the most accurate version of this epic. Reading this book or retelling made several impressions on me. It is researched well, covering the stories, spanning across centuries, from different geographies. And while Pattanaik sticks to the core of the story, he brings to the fore certain value. He truly treats it as a mythology, so his story doesn't always go to the places you already are aware of. He brings in several lesser known or alternative aspects from various regional versions of Ramayana. There is no one Ramayana. It is cyclical. 

He treats Ramayana as a metaphor about one's journey from Aham (Id/Ego) to Atma (Soul), the journey from humanity to divinity. It doesn't just remain a parable about Good vs Evil. 

In this retelling, Sita's persona is fleshed out very well. She is not just a passive, waiting wife. Waiting to be rescued! The book talks about the impact she created in Lanka and in the lives of Lankans. The book details the impact she had in the forest later in her life. 

There are so many characters and plot points in this retelling, that at times I got overwhelmed. But there is joy in getting lost at times. There is a small story on the origin of River Ganga. This story doesn't sound real. It is incredulous and fantastical. A child born out of a same sex relationship, who doesn't have bones and nerves. These bones and nerves get added through Siddha (miraculous powers achieved through spiritual and physical enlightenment). The purpose for the child's birth is to bring alive his dead father. There are series of such unbelievable elements in this story leading to the origin of the Ganga. Our minds conditioned by western education and influences will scoff at this story. But when one looks at the lessons, the metaphors and treat this story as a moral tale, may be then one will learn. And this realization defines the book for me. 

The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle is a book that busts the myths around talent and talent hotbeds. The author explains his research findings that correlate talent to our neurological set-up. His research indicates that talent is not a birth right or determined by one's gene pool. This premise is really interesting which he backs by evidence from neuroscience, making it immensely clear that talent is not a genetic gift. It is something that has to be grown and then he explains how to go about it. There are changes which happen inside one's brain when one works towards becoming talented at some skill. Though for the purpose of this review, I will skip the neuroscience bit. 

The case studies and the success stories mentioned in the book are inspirational. The simple idea of  how 'Ignition - Deep Practice' builds talent is explained beautifully. The chapters on how teachers and coaches actually help create talent are exciting and have immense learning for people who are into coaching roles. 

So I should really read & write more and understand the sub-tasks in the process of reading & writing. This will help me become a better writer, a better blogger and a more consummate reader. 

A book in Punjabi and a book on Parenting - Book Reviews

What happens when one meets or talks to one's mother after a long, a really long gap?

The warmth, comfort and the familiarity of the relationship is there, but it isn't easy to explain the neglect on one's part.

At the start of the year, when I was finalizing my reading goals, I had also decided that I will read at least one book in Punjabi (my mother tongue) this year. And it is a sheer coincidence that my mother gifted me two Punjabi books, few months back. While reading the Punjabi book, it felt like my vocabulary has shrunk. I hadn't read in Punjabi since school. So it took some time getting used to reading a book in the language of my childhood dreams. 

Before I share my views on Raseedi Ticket (The Revenue Stamp) by Amrita Pritam, here is an interesting anecdote about the title of the book, which I had read online, much before I got the book in my hands.

"Khushwant Singh (an eminent Indian author) once told Amrita Pritam that the story of her life was so inconsequential and tiny that it could be written at the back of a revenue stamp. Keeping this joke in mind, Amrita Pritam penned her autobiography and titled it 'Raseedi Ticket', or The Revenue Stamp."

Amrita Pritam is an intense writer, whose writing is seeped in the world history, tragedy, unrequited love and deep philosophy. So expecting a conventional autobiography from her is foolish. Yes! She gives the reader some key details of her life and some milestones etched in the years which she truly lived. But it is her work and craft; her muses and inspirations; her dreams and concerns that she talks about in extraordinary detail. She also shares several extracts of her work and reproduce several poems & short stories, in the book which helped me as a reader to understand her state of mind at different stages of her life. Her world-view will tug at your heart. 

A very small anecdote, very early in the book, about religious segregation at her childhood home (separate utensils for people from a particular community) and her love affair with some one from that community when she grew up, sets the tone for this autobiography. Irony is one of the dominant themes in her life it seems. 

Another place in the book, where she narrates her visit to Sahir Ludhianvi's (an Indian poet) home in Mumbai, in the form of a short story about the roads that never meet, I found her depth as an author really amazing. 

She has also included her travel diaries from places across the world. These stories are interesting not because of the countries she visited, but because of her ability to connect with like minded people there through her work. Also interesting in these travel diaries is her deep understanding of the history of those places and how she is able to link that with the present situations. As one reaches the end of the book, she also talks about her Rajya Sabha (upper house in Indian Parliament) stint, but largely about the questions she asked on the floor of the house. It seems that as a person she was highly organized as she had documented almost every aspect of her life.

There is a section where she briefly touches upon her relationship with Imroz (artist & writer; Amrita's partner) and his personality. In this section also, she avoids conventional and mundane details. She compares Imroz to a saint in folklore and talks about his malleability and his unflinching devotion towards her.

There is another section in the book which talks about 'documentation of history'. This section is based on her time and work with Osho. An interesting perspective emerges. Western civilization was better in documenting history because Indians considered 'History' a useless fact. Our documents or Puranas focused on the 'True Meaning'.  The book ends with her last poem - Main Tenu Pher Milangi (I will meet you again). You might have heard it in the film Manmarziyan (The Heart's Wish). The poem captures her pathos and the essence of her free spirit. And I think that is the essence of her life and this book too. 

The Parent's Tao Te Ching ~A New Interpretation ~ Ancient Advice for Modern Parents by William Martin is a book I re-read this year. As I became a first time parent few years back, someone recommended this book to me. It is a fresh interpretation of Tao Te Ching / Tao seen through the prism of parenting. The book is easy to read (with simple, micro-sized chapters, that are written in free verse) but demands reader's time to reflect on each and every line one reads. There are just 140 pages, across 81 chapters that talk about parenting. But I must warn you, it is not an assured guide towards parenting. It is not a self-help book. It doesn't provide you tips or cheat codes. It is not a book which you read once and then it goes on to your bookshelf.

The book is about the way of life, the way of parenting. It talks about the philosophy, which should guide the way we live or the way we approach parenting or do anything else in our lives. It is a book which I will go back to every time I have doubts. Every time one reads it , one is bound to reflect on one's actions and may be discover something new. My words will never be good enough to capture the essence of this book and hence I am reproducing a quote from the book below. May be it will encourage you to read this one.

“Believe this difficult truth. Showing respect in the face of disrespect, love in the face of hate, trust in the face of betrayal, and serenity in the face of turmoil, will teach your children more than all the moral lectures by all the preachers since the dawn of time.”

Crazy People - Part I

Let me be upfront here. I don't know why I have titled the post like this. I don't have any idea whether there would be a Part II or Part III. I am not even sure, what I am going to write about in this post. I just like the phrase, "Crazy People". May be I am crazy to think that I can write multiple posts with the same title. May be I am not only crazy, but also lazy. Too lazy to think of new post titles! 

But let me assure you that when these two words - crazy & people - come together in my mind, the images that take shape in front of my eyes are really amusing. You guys are unlucky, because my words would never be effective enough to explain those images. 

Duck! Run for cover! Phew! 

Let me still try to explain. 

I just imagined a crazy person (Let us call him Mr. C) who sent me a calendar request without checking my calendar. Basics! You muttered under your breath? But Mr. Crazy is too big for his boots to do such mundane tasks. I am sure you have a Mr. C in your life too. Can you imagine his face? And can you imagine those word clouds, filled with the choicest of cuss words, that accompany the face you imagined? 

I hope now you understand what I am getting at!

That reminds me of yet another crazy person, I know. Five of us were at a restaurant last week, with a crazy dinner & drinks package. In Rs. 1100, one could get unlimited beer, unlimited snacks served on the table and buffet dinner to top it. I kept wondering, which crazy person would design such a loss making package for his or her restaurant. But then I saw this crazy person in our group pouring draft beer in a soda bottle, to carry home. Now who does that! Especially when someone serves you unlimited beer! Is the world really coming to an end?

Humans are naive. They don't understand complex things. They want everything to be spoon-fed. They aren't comfortable with choices. They want everything to be in black or white. (Except this crazy girl I know who can tell the difference between "purple" and "mauve" colors. She must be an alien).

Lot of crazy people don't understand the difference between correlation and causal relationship. They don't even understand the concept of multiple variables leading to an outcome. Like all BJP (ruling political party in India) acolytes think Congress (losing political party of India) lost recent elections because Rahul Gandhi (who was the president of Congress till few weeks ago) is a dumb or a crazy person. They don't realize that there are several other variables at play. Maybe Congress party has no strong cadre at grass-root levels. Similarly, all the losers think that BJP won, because almost everybody who voted for BJP has xenophobic tendencies. They might have totally ignored, populist measures taken by BJP for rural and economically less privileged Indians. I am not indicating here that one factor is more important than the other. There might have been several factors at play. But is it crazy on my part to expect nuance in political debates?

A movie critic doesn't want me to watch Salman Khan films because he has done few bad things in real life, though his on-screen characters are generally too nice to be true. The same critic doesn't want me to watch the latest Shahid Kapoor film, because he plays a really bad and toxic guy on screen. And the ADULTS who went to watch the film, might get influenced by this character. This is despite the fact that Kapoor is considered one of the nicest human beings in the film industry. Typical, family man! This critic also found a violent female character in Gully Boy, spunky. Not toxic! Spunky! Clearly consistency is not the trait of crazy people!

A crazy thought just crossed my mind! I have more to say about the craziness in this world. There will be a Part II. 

All Marketers Tell Stories & 1984 - Book Reviews

I generally don't like such self-assured books that are meant to provide you with one silver bullet for all problems in your work domain. So it is no surprise that I didn't like All Marketers Are Liars Tell Stories by Seth Godin too much. This one had come highly recommended, so picked it up for reading despite my apprehensions about this genre of books. Let me assure you that I am actually aligned with the core concept, the author talks about in this book and fully agree with his theory - That a brand story has to be good and authentic and also in line with the world view of the target group. Then only your brand story will spread and create a want for your products. 

At the same time, I felt that this subject didn't require a book, but a blog-post which can be read in 10 minutes would have been enough. I found it highly repetitive. The case studies / brand stories - both successes and failures - that author has used in this book as an evidence to prove / disprove his hypothesis, at times felt force-fitted. Some of these cases have been used by other Management Gurus in their books, to explain their respective frameworks. As they say, hindsight is a perfect science. 

As a practicing marketer though, it made me think about certain issues that plague the industries where products/services have become commodities, and differentiation is the key to success. That helped me crystallize my thoughts on a particular plan I was working on. All was not lost!

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1984 by George Orwell is as sharp and incisive as a political commentary today, as it would have been, when it was first published in 1949. So much has been written about this book, that I am not even sure what new I can say about it. As the book is also about freedom to express one's views, I think I will go ahead and write my views on this book anyway. 

It is a dystopian novel, written in 1948, set in the future year of 1984. It deals with the issues of political overreach and propaganda. It is a political satire on totalitarian governments and the havoc they wreck in an individual's life through their surveillance. The chapters in the novel that talk about the power structures and purpose of power itself, are so well written that they hit the readers hard. 

As a reader, I constantly hoped (like the lead protagonist Smith) for the revolutionaries and brotherhood to exist. I wanted an underground revolution to happen by the end of the book. But by the end, the thought of revolution itself is killed. It was gut wrenching. For me the book turned out to be a manual on "How to kill Human Spirit?". I kept thinking about the book days after I had finished reading it. It is fascinating, how so many things described in the book, find parallel in today's world - politics and more so in the corporate world. Not only present day governments, but how big corporate companies are constantly monitoring us. How politicians, coin words and phrases, which make us think in one direction, rather than let us evaluate! There is an appendix at the end of the novel that explains a language (NewSpeak) used by the government described in this book. It is fascinating to understand, how language or lack of it can be used as a tool of oppression.

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You now know which book to pick among the two reviewed in this post! 

Books of March - Book Reviews

After reading 3 non-fiction books in January and February (reviews here and here), the month of March was all about fiction and people who create fiction. March was a really hectic month at office and I was busy with A-Z daily blogging challenge in April. Finally, I found time today to share my views on the books I read in March. So here we go!

Contagion by Robin Cook had been lying on my book-shelf, unread, for the longest time ever. I fail to understand that why I never read it. When I picked it up in March, earlier this year, and opened it, I was gobsmacked. There was a small note written inside it that read, "CONGRATS! For being the best student of XII". Then it dawned upon me that I have had this back with me since 1999. I had got it as a prize at my last annual function in school. For two decades, this book has traveled with me to different cities. If this book had a voice, it would have narrated a story of its neglect that lasted 20 years. 

Naturally, my expectations from the book sky-rocketed. Also Cook is well known for his medical thrillers. This one is about a medical examiner, who is investigating the origin of several deadly viruses and infections, that have surfaced in quick succession. These infections have led to deaths of many people associated with a particular hospital. His own life comes under threat because of this investigation.

The book is a decent thriller and if you get comfortable with the medical jargon fast, it is quite a page turner. The set-up is great and piques the reader's curiosity. The build up of key characters is excellent and you really want the lead protagonist to succeed. But the antagonists turn out to be too stupid in the end. They are not as menacing as the build up makes you believe. Thus as a reader, I found the book underwhelming. 

Pyjamas are Forgiving by Twinkle Khanna, is her worst book ever. And she has written only 3 books so far. There is nothing new in the basic story line. It is as old as hills. The novel is about a middle-aged woman, meeting her ex-husband, at a spa retreat in Kerala. This simple tale seems to go nowhere after that meeting. As a short story, this might have worked. But as a 200 page novel, it is simply not engaging enough. 

The author checks all the boxes needed to make it sound like a new age and inclusive book. There is a token gay couple at the retreat. Their characters are not fleshed out properly. I didn't understand why their presence was important to the story. The author describes the ashram, where only rich people go, in detail. These descriptions sound superficial as they don't add anything to the mood of the novel. There is an incident of sexual assault thrown in. The characters involved in it are nonchalant about it and are again not important for the core story to move forward. And the author uses lot of big words, when they were not needed. Yes, there is trademark wit and humor that Khanna sees in mundane, but overall it is not a compelling work. 

An Unsuitable Boy by Karan Johar with Poonam Saxena is Johar's autobiography that is written a decade too soon. While reading it, I felt, that as a film director and as a story teller (the aspects I strongly associate with him) his body of work is very limited. Clearly, I was expecting him to talk more about his profession in this book. I expected him to give the readers an insight into his craft and his inspiration. Thus, I liked the chapters on Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (a 1995 film in which Johar was one of the assistant directors, part-time costume designer and an actor) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (a 1998 film which was Johar's directorial debut).  In these chapters, he gives us a sneak peek into his creative mind and writing process. 

The book doesn't feel like an autobiography. It feels more like an extended, but written version, of his TV chat show, Koffee with Karan. This is because the entire book sounds like a free-wheeling interview without a structure of a biopic. In the chapter where he talks about his anxieties and depression or the one in which he talks about soul-less Bollywood of today, I connected with him. I wish he had waited few more years to write this autobiography. And I wish he directs more often.

In April I read two books, one of which was a classic. Reviews will be up soon on the blog. Keep watching this space. 

Reflections #AtoZChallenge 2019

I am a survivor! I completed this year's A to Z Challenge without missing a single day (except Sundays of course). There are 26 posts on my blog in April 2019, that vouch for this achievement. This was my third year in the challenge. Third consecutive year! And I am happy to report that I have now completed the challenge in all 3 years. But the third time, it is always tough. This year was really challenging because I had to get a surgery done at the start of the second week in April. I was unconscious for a large part of the second Monday of the month. And I still managed to write that day's post in a semi-dazed state, from my hospital bed. The post was about religion and Gods in Hindi Films / Bollywood. Post surgery, I was mostly tied to my bed and was in pain for almost a week. But there were those time slots every day, when painkillers were doing a great job, and when I was able to think straight and write.

The reflection post is an A to Z Challenge tradition. It helps the participants to look back at what worked and what didn't. It is also an opportunity to thank those who supported and encouraged during the challenge.

I would like to thank all my family members, friends and fellow bloggers who encouraged me by leaving their comments on my posts and sharing my posts with others. This year my challenge was based on a tight theme, and not on personal experiences or anecdotes, like last two years. This made me research a lot about the topics I was writing on and in the process I did learn some new stuff. I loved this aspect about the challenge this year. I wasn't very happy with my post from the letter V. While it had all the elements of a good post, it lacked a cohesive structure. I wish I could go back in time and make some changes in it.

There were good moments too. My mother read all my posts regularly. And that was exciting. While most friends shared their comments on Facebook, there were few who commented on blog posts as well. The comment I got from Melanie on 'letter F' post was detailed and heartfelt. Also I discovered a new blog, authored by Vidya, which is really interesting. I think I will keep going back to it.

Among my challenge posts my personal favorites are the ones on 'Occupations in Bollywood' and 'Parallel Comedy Tracks in Hindi Films.' I felt really happy after writing them, as not only I learnt something new while doing research for them, but also both posts were structurally very near to what I wanted.

Now its time to complete my reading goals for the year. I have already finished reading 8 books this year. While three of them were already reviewed on this blog, you can expect more book reviews soon on the blog. I am definitely going to do this blogging challenge again, with a fresh theme next year. What do you think I should be writing about in next April A - Z blogging challenge?

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge was Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read all the posts from this challenge here. 

My theme for 2018's #AtoZchallenge was Listicles - Stories, anecdotes and observations from our daily lives in form of easy-to-read lists. You can read all the posts from this challenge here.

My theme for 2017's #AtoZchallenge was Anecdotes & Stories from my Life. You can read all the posts from this challenge here.  

Z : Zeros & Stars in Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

While I was growing up, a Hindi film was considered successful, if it ran for weeks at a stretch in a cinema hall near you. 25 weeks run was called silver jubilee! 50 weeks run a golden one! And a 23 years run (...and still counting) in Maratha Mandir (a cinema hall in Mumbai) is called Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (The Big-Hearted Will Take Away the Bride). 

The mention of DDLJ is also to make one of my readers (PB) happy who missed it in yesterday's post. Also here is my experience of watching DDLJ in Maratha Mandir when it was running for 12 years already. 

Also when I was growing up we didn't use to read reviews (in fact there weren't many in public domain) before watching films. Word of mouth was enough! 

Things changed at the turn of the millennium! Number of screens increased with multiplexes and more films started getting made. This made it extremely difficult for films to have continuous long run at cinema halls, as each new film squeezed the previous one out pretty soon. Satellite television made it lucrative for film-makers to quickly show their films on small screens cutting short the jubilee dreams. Another thing that changed at the same time was easy availability of internet and advent of social media. Critics of all hues mushroomed. And writing movie reviews on internet became an industry. With these changes emerged two new cliches and they both are pretty sad ones!

• The parameter of a movie's success now is the number of Zeros in its box office collections! The movies get categorized into clubs like Rs 100 crores club, Rs. 200 crores club and so on! Sometimes rank bad movies get a huge opening because of their promotions and star cast that before even people realize that its shit, the movie has already made 100 crores. Even viewers now discuss films based on these zeros. The discourse on internet is all about this. Trade Analysts are tweeting these figures daily. Art be damned! It is heartbreaking when an excellent movie like Sonchiriya (the golden bird) is not watched by many because of its poor opening day collections. 

• Movie ratings or Stars which critics give to films are based on their subjective opinions and their inherent biases. But some critics today, carry so much clout that they can make or mar a film even before its release. Their individual opinions get amplified on social media and many get impacted by it. Also most critics in India in their reviews give out spoilers and plots of the films. This also makes the viewer biased and can set expectations which may spoil the movie watching experience. 

Anupama Chopra gave the movie Kalank (Stigma) 3 Stars and she gave Avengers : Endgame only 4 stars. Who will avenge this gross injustice? Is there even a comparison here? The self appointed expert on movies, Raja Sen, declined to review a movie (The Tashkent Files) recently because it didn't align with his political ideology. Such arrogance!

I feel movies should fulfill three purposes: 

Happy Level - Entertainment (like Singham)

Happier Level - Entertainment + Engagement (like 3 Idiots)

Happiest Level - Entertainment + Engagement + Education (like Taare Zameen Par)

If in a movie I get Entertainment I am happy with it! Anything over it delights me! Sheer ecstasy! 

I love movies. I love watching them in cinema halls. I don't care what each movie earns or how many Zeros are there in its revenues. I don't care how many Stars critics give to a movie. What matters is the sheer joy of watching a film in a dark hall. I will not let Zeros and Stars take that experience away from me.

Do you think I have missed out on a cliche in this month long challenge? Like blasting cars in Rohit Shetty films! Then tell me in comments space. I will write a post on it. But for that you have to read all 26 posts in this challenge, if you haven't already done that. 

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter Z: Zebra / Jebra - A post about linguistic jokes. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter Z: Zoom in - The post reflects on memories, photographs and the zoom-in feature. Click here to read.

Y : Yash Chopra's cliches - Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

Earlier in this #AtoZChallenge2019 (Theme - Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches), I did a post on Karan Johar's cliches. Because he heads one of the most powerful production houses in Bollywood and in the films he has directed, he has introduced several tropes / cliches which are worth documenting. But did you know that Johar often calls Yash Raj Films - the film production and  distribution company founded by Yash Chopra - his film school? So, I found it apt to do a post on the cliches introduced in Bollywood by Chopra.

Yash Chopra, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 80, is considered among the best Indian film-makers. He has won 6 national film awards and is also the recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2001). He has also won umpteen fraternity film-awards. Chopra's career as a director can be clearly divided into two parts. Pre-Chandni and Post-Chandni. Chandni (Moonlight) released in 1989 and was a runaway hit. Before Chandni, Chopra used to dabble in multiple genres. He made hard-hitting social dramas (Waqt in 1965), suspense thrillers (Ittefaq in 1969), angst filled action films (Deewar in 1975; Trishul in 1978) and great love stories (Silsila in 1981). And I personally feel those are his better films. But after Chandni, Chopra's film-making became formulaic. It doesn't mean that he made bad films after that. But he stopped doing the new. Romantic love-triangles became his forte. And in how many ways you can tell the same story! Really! This post is about some of the cliches I found silly in his post Chandni films. 

My biggest peeve is representation of the state of Punjab in his films (the ones he either produced or directed). His Punjab is idyllic rural / agrarian state where you only see mustard fields. In his Punjab, everyone is always dressed in bright colors or in folk-dance costumes. And a dhol (a kind of drum), will always be heard in his Punjab with everyone just waiting to break into Bhangra or Giddha - the folk dances of Punjab. The following image is for representation purposes only, but this picture is how Chopra imagined Punjab and beautified it further in his films. 

The reality is far from it. Punjab's cropping pattern oscillates between wheat and rice. These crops consume huge amounts of water and thus water tables are lowering in Punjab every year. This is leading to disastrous circumstances and agrarian stress. How can farmers be happy and dancing in this situation! While Punjab is one of the largest wheat producing states in India, it is nowhere in top for mustard production. 88% of Indian mustard production happens in states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Even the yellow sarson is more prevalent in eastern and north eastern states. In Punjab it is grown as a catch crop only in winter seasons for a short duration. 

Punjab also has several industrial districts which are highly polluted. I wish the air was more cleaner like in Chopra films. As far as art is concerned, if you throw a brick in Punjab, you are more likely to hit a really bad singer than a Bhangra dancer. Nearly 20 new songs are produced in Punjab everyday and nearly 20% of the consumption on music streaming app Gaana is for Punjabi songs. (Refer this article) And not everyone dances to these songs. They are played in bars and cars.

I felt 2018 film Manmarziyaan (Heart's wish) directed by Anurag Kashyap represented a more real Punjab. It is no coincidence that one of the leads in it was a singer who wanted to cut an album. 

Another standard trope which Chopra introduced in his films was shooting of songs in foreign locales. Mostly Switzerland's snow capped mountains! The heroine would be dancing in a chiffon sari not feeling cold, while the hero would be covered from head to toe in pullovers and jackets. Borrowing the line from a comedian which is apt for this situation- "Mard ko dard nahi hota par thand lagti hai!" (Hero doesn't feel pain but he feels cold). Many a time, these songs were dream sequences. After all, how many middle class Indians can afford to go to Europe! By the way there is a Yash Chopra statue in Switzerland. Presumably because his films boosted Swiss tourism. 

Ironically, Karan Johar, made fun of this very trope (dancing on mountains) in one of the scenes in his 2016 film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (Oh heart! It's difficult). Watch the clip below!

After he directed Chandni, Chopra directed 6 more films. Four of them had Shahrukh Khan in the lead. Clearly no trope works better than Shahrukh for Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions. 

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter Y: Yumdude - A post about food memories. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter Y: Yes and No - The success mantra - A post about decisiveness. Click here to read.

X : XL sized egos in Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

Please first watch the video below from the 1991 film Yodha (starring Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt; two big stars from that time), to get the context of today's post.

Are you done?

Okay! On a totally unrelated note, did you listen to the background score in the sequence? Did you find it same as the one used in Sunny Deol's 1990 film Ghayal? I mean how cliched it is, that in 90s even the background scores for certain kind of sequences had a pattern. May be this subject deserves a separate post some other time.

Now what else did you notice in the video? Here are my takeaways on action sequences between any two big stars in Hindi films:

1. Both the stars get equal number of dialogues
2. They get equal number of punches, hits and kicks
3. Each one hits the other and get hits almost the same number of times
4. They fall down almost the same number of times
5. The duel will generally remain unresolved and almost always, a third party will come and intervene to cut the scene short. Like in this case it is police. But it could be a mother or a child or a love interest too.

In real fights, the guy who falls down first after a brutal punch will find it difficult to continue. But then these stars are superheroes in Hindi Films.

This treatment is not limited to only fight sequences, but the whole film will be designed in such a way that both heroes get equal songs, equal number of dialogues throughout the film etc. And there are several instances of this. Watch this clip from the 1993 film Kshatriya, starring Sunny and Sanjay, yet again. This time in a sword fight. What I found funny here is that they both get bruised by swords (bruised... not cut deeply) on the same parts of their respective bodies. And a bruise is responded with a bruise almost immediately as if that was not the intent in the earlier part of the fight. Then the two senior actors and stars in their own right, Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra come riding on their horses in a similar fashion and mouth inane dialogues. Again all shots equally divided between them.

This trend of pandering to XL sized egos of the stars in Hindi films rather than serving the needs of the story and characters is amazingly stupid, but well accepted by their respective fan bases. In the 1995 film Karan Arjun, the big stars Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan get equal billing. In the fight sequence below, the intervention is divine and most convoluted.

As the stories improved and audiences started liking more diverse content after the advent of cable TV, such films with hackneyed stories, which were designed to titillate the audiences on the basis of big stars coming together, fell by the wayside. But big stars had their XL sized egos intact. Most of them choose those roles even today that further their real life images. Example: Salman will never play a good role in an Aamir Khan film if its length is shorter. This situation robs the viewers in a way. If you look at Hollywood movies like The Departed (2006 film), which had a great ensemble cast, with such powerful actors, you can almost be sure that if such a film is made in India, with Aamir Khan in the lead, all other actors would be lesser stars.

Another Bollywood innovation is "Special Appearances / Guest Appearances". You will never see them in Hollywood. If a lesser known actor plays a 30 minute role in a Hindi Film he or she is treated as a regular cast member. But if Salman plays a 30 minute role in a film, it will be billed as a cameo or special appearance. It happened in 1998 film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Most probably Salman was paid handsomely for the role. But this special appearance tag is to cater to his real life image and his rabid fan base. He can't play a bit role in a Shahrukh Khan film. But he can generously make a special appearance. On the other hand, the actor (not a star) Christoph Waltz, won an Oscar for best supporting actor for his special appearance small yet influential role in Inglourious Basterds (2009 film).

As a true movie buff, my only wish is that instead of having XL sized egos and XXL sized brawns, the new generation stars like Ranveer Singh and Ranbir Kapoor, develop XXXL sized smarts and work together in a great film with great roles and make us drool. May be the director S. S. Rajamouli can make it possible. Make our big screen experiences XL sized again!

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter X: Xeroxed - A post about the recycling of engineering notes and projects. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter X: X words and other tough things - A quirky take on how tough are the X things. Click here to read.

W : Whites in Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

No! This post is not about white actors in Bollywood. It is also not about those actors who became stereotyped and always played stock white characters (read Britishers) in Hindi Films, irrespective of their actual nationality.

Like Bob Christo! He was an Australian-Indian actor but as Indians call all white skinned people (Gore), Englishmen (Angrez), he always got to play the Gora Angrez. And mostly cast in negative roles. That's another stereotype. If he is white, he must be like our colonial master, without realizing that Australia itself was a colony. He did more than 200 films in India in multiple languages. I remember him for his roles in films like Mard and Mr. India. Watch the Bajrang Bali scene, the most famous scene of Bob Christo, from Mr. India and relive those moments. (Watch the clip from 5th minute onward.)

Another actor, Tom Alter, was actually born and brought up in India. He was of American descent and not an Angrez. He knew Hindi and Urdu languages very well, but mostly we have seen him playing a British character or other white characters in Hindi films, spouting perfect Hindi in a fake accent, just like Christo. I think it was after the movie Lagaan, that film-makers started casting actual British actors for British roles. Though even today, the same set of white actors appear in roles of Britishers in all period films. I don't know much about him, but I recently saw the same actor (R Bhakti Klein, an American) in Manikarnika and Kesari, playing a Britisher. 

But this post is not about the white actors or white characters in Hindi Films. This post is also not about director duo Abbas-Mustan, who always wear white clothes. It has become their signature, just like their films, full of unending twists. 

This post is also not about white clothes that actors wear in Hindi films on certain occasions. I still remember that on the festival of Holi before we used to play with colors, we were instructed to wear old colored clothes so that we enjoy the festival without worrying about spoiling clothes. This is how common Indians look like while playing Holi.

But trust Hindi Films to white-wash the colors even on Holi. Watch this Holi song from the film Darr. The song really captures the spirit of the festival. But why the hell everyone is in white clothes! Is it a Surf Excel advertisement? Or had they planned a funeral and the dead body woke up and thus they went into Holi-mode?

That reminds me that when you attend a funeral and you are mourning, do you really remember what clothes to wear and what accessories to color coordinate it with? Then how is it possible, that all Bollywood funerals feel like a fashion show where Wendell Rodricks' Whites collection is on display!

But this post is not about the white clothes Bollywood actors wear for Holi or funerals! This post is also not about the cliched female ghost of Hindi films who moves around in the night suspiciously, holding a candle in her hands and singing melodious songs. And guess what she wears! A white sari!

Can you tell me what this post is all about, because my mind has gone white blank?

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter W: Wikipedia - A post about the role I play in my wife's life. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter W: WhatsApp Groups - Types and Management Techniques. Click here to read.