Preview: Hasee Toh Phasee looks refreshing different!

Karan Johar + Anurag Kashyap is an odd jodi, no matter how to slice the bread.

Anurag Kashyap (as producer) has got the spectacular Lunchbox (2013), the messy and gory Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and intensely personal Udaan (2010) in his kitty.

All are charming, subtle, gritty and thoughtful cinema which are the front bench of ‘new Bollywood’.

Karan Johar (as producer), on the other hand has his fantastic, sweeping, weeping, melodramatic, dance and music filled fiestas that are somehow contained within film reels.

His offerings in the recent past read like a laundry list of everything that the word 'Bollywood' conjures up in the average mind - My name is Khan (2010), Agneepath (2012), Student of the Year (2012) and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013).

Not only are these two on board together, but they have placed their combined trust in a completely untested pair - The story writer (Harshavardhan Kulkarni) and director (Vinil Mathew) are also new.

So what do you get in such a combination (Dharma Productions + Phantom Films + debut director)?

You get a strange love story/comedy that looks amazing, sounds amazing, has A-level chocolate actors acting very well and still feels extremely different.

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Headlines I would like to see

As I sat there bored and rifling through the newspapers that are kept in places like this for people like me, it occurred to me that how I imagined some of these stories should be was in fact, far better than how the stories actually read. 

So here are three of my best. Please remember that these are all fictional and any resemblance to real people or events is purely accidental.

Indian PM said something, somewhere

The defacto ex-Prime Minister of India made a statement somewhere today, or so the media has been informed via email.

Despite appearances, some efforts were made to send journalists to the event, the media has assured the Ministry of Broadcasting.

Further details on what was exactly said will be updated once the Ministry of Broadcasting sends across a copy of the PM's speech, his responses to a variety of questions and his general comments on the state of the nation.

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The pointlessness of Modi's wife

Image:  www.narendramodi.in

Indian Express seems to have caught a major scoop this week, with an exclusive interview with the woman who is widely believed to be Narendra Modi's wife.

You can read the whole interview here.

If you want a summation, let me give it you -

We were married when I was 17. A few months into the marriage Modi drifted apart from me. He was more interested in politics than his domestic life. In time we stopped keeping in touch and I moved on to live on my own. I am not poor.  I am a retired school teacher. Modi has never attempted to contact me. 

I am not sure what IE was hoping for when it arranged the interview, but the only good thing I feel that comes from it is that what was already known to be a bland tale has now turned blander.

After all, if there was any scandal, Modi's numerous enemies would have ensured they surfaced by now.

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Cool stuff explained in ten words (or less)

Image: - National Cancer Institute | Dr. Cecil Fox (Photographer) 

Original post - A question  posted in Reddit by user eaz135.  All credit to that person and the awesome users of Reddit.

Does the world seem way too complicated some times? Don't you wish for a simple way to understand things that did not require an advanced degree in something?

Well Reddit has at least tried to come to our collective rescue with an interesting thread based on the premise - What is the most complicated thing that you can explain in 10 words or less?.

As expected the answers were amusing, wise and sometimes downright startling. Here are some of the favorites from the over 3600 (and counting) responses that the question received.

Cancer is what happens when cells forget how to die.

 - HermanTheKid 

 

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In tribute: Param Vir Chakra Major Som Nath Sharma

January 31 is the birthday of Major Som Nath Sharma.

He is India's first 'Param Vir' or 'Eternal Brave' - a title given to those soldiers who are awarded the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India's highest bravery award.

Major Som Nath Sharma was given his award after dying bravely in battle in 1947, in one of the first military affairs of this nation, the 1947-48 war with Pakistan.

This is not a celebration of 'Bharat Mata' and it's 'Veer Jawan', complete with inflated nationalism and chest-thumping jingoism.

Considering how new the nation was when Major Sharma was killed, it is quite possible he thought of himself as just a soldier doing his job, devoid of any sense of country and patriotism.

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