MELANGE - Hyderabad

Though a music lover I always prefer a movie to a musical concert one major reason being Hyderabad rarely hosts musical concerts or shows but fortunately i bumped into one of those rare events which we hyderabadis witnessed on 25th Jan.

Melange a harmony that transcends all borders and genres with the sole purpose of creating melody and magic strung together in a beautiful rhythm. Its an evening that brought together world-class performers on the same platform to create an ensemble that truly represents the world music and also the extent of Indian music influence on world music.

The legends for the day include World-renowned sitar maestro Ustad Shujaat Khan, former Rolling Stone band member Tim Ries on the saxophone, Kevin Hays, who has numerous compositions to his credit, on the piano, one of the most popular bassist in India, Karl Peters, Karsh Kale the percussionist, who is also a DJ and Yogesh Samsi a student under Ustad Allah Rakha was on Tabla. Together they created magic which remain with me for rest of my life .

We witnessed a true amalgamation of contemporary and Indian classical styles, these maestros set the stage the on fire with their musical notes resonating through the HICC auditorium leaving the audience mesmerized. Adding to the unified symphony was the haunting yet enthralling Persian poetry recited by Katayoun Goudarzi blended with the fusion music.

That evening me and my friend Chetan has witnessed some of the world-class performers creating music that paved way to a new form of world music that has the romance of a saxophone, the richness of the piano, the vibrating rhythms of the drums and tabla, the tune of a bass and the splendor of a sitar.

We were left spellbound to realize that instruments from different genres and used by people who come from a different cultural background can create such a unique harmony, when used together.
I think it was one of those very special moments which will definitely reserve a special place in sweet memories of my life.
Sriharan

Dilsa koi kameena nahi

Song Name: Dil To Bachcha Hai
Film/Album: Ishqiya
Singer(s): Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
Music Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyricist: Gulzar
Picturised on: Naseruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan

I happen to listen to vishal bharadwaj's latest melody "Dil to bacha hai ji " from the movie ISHIQIYA the song is sheer class and beautiful ,the mood of the song takes us to the golden age of hindi cinema and it reminds me of melodies from 60's and 70's ,..One of THE BEST songs ever written in the history of Indian Film Cinema, gulzar sahab is clearly visble in each word of the lyric and and only rahat sahab can do true justice to the song. Iam desparately Waitng for movie release..

All About Home Theatre

I have been extensively searching to find out concepts of home theatre and how to build a custom made home theatre for my new home, then it strikes to me to create my own blog dedicated to all entities associated with HT (Home Theaters), with out wasting any further time let me walk you across the various elements involved in home theatre and their prices.

Specifications:-

Room Size: - (My HT hall is 11’ 6″ x 22’6″)

Budget 2 to 5Lakhs

Entities Involved: - AV Receivers, AV Processors, Amplifiers, Blue Ray Player, Display Panels/Projectors, Floor Standing Speakers, 5.1 Speaker Packages, Acoustic Panels, Styling and Accessories, Media Accessories, Recliners.

AUDIO

The most crucial section of any this the Audio set up and this is very integral of any HT as it takes you closer to the visuals that you see on your display.

1) AV Receivers.

The AV receiver is the heart of a home theater system and provides most, if not all, the inputs and outputs that you connect everything, including your television, into. An AV Receiver provides a way of centralizing your home theater system.

The AV receiver should also be able to decode all the latest formats in terms of audio codecs like Dolby,True HD and DTS HD Master Audio.So wisely Choose a AV receiver as per your room dimensions .I want to get a AVR between Rs 25000 to Rs 50000.

Model Name	Price in Rs
Denon AVR-1509	25,90 0
Cambridge Audio Azur 340R	30,400
Marantz SR5003	52,500
Denon AVR-1909	42,900
Harman/Kardon AVR 255	40,000
Yahama RX-V565	44,600

2) A /V Processors and Power Amplifiers ( Though I wont opt For a A/V processor as it doesn’t fit in my budget ,but worth sharing L)

A/V Processors and Power Amplifiers offer an alternative way to experience the thrilling entertainment you get when you combine a really outstanding picture with enveloping surround sound. Although usually more expensive than A/V Receivers, they offer a higher level of sound quality and certainly deliver a wide variety of flexible combinations. There is a small but select range available and naturally Audio Trends has the best of the best!

Model Name	Price in Rs
Arcam AV888 A/V Preamplifier Processor	499900
TagMclaren AV32R AV Processor Amplifier	300000

3) Floor Standing Speakers and 5.1 Speakers

Floorstanding speakers, often called tower speakers, have been an audiophile mainstay for decades. A floorstanding speaker is so named because it's tall enough to sit on the floor. A floorstanding speaker cabinet is taller than it is wide (or deep), typically standing two feet or more in height. You can find floorstanding speakers in two-way, three-way, and four-way configurations

If you have the room Floor-standing speakers are hard to beat! They provide big, room-filling sound with smooth, deep bass.

Model Name	Price in Rs
Floor Standing Speakers
Mission M34i	13,000
Jamo S 406	26,000
Tannoy Mercury F4 Custom	36,000
Jamo Audio C607	62,800
Speaker Package
Mission MV-DS 5.1	34,900
Definitive Technology Procinema 60.6	35,000
Premiere System 5.1	36,500
Q-Acoustics 1010i 5.1	54,380
Mordaunt-Short Alumni	56,900
Definitive Technology Procinema 100	61,000
Mordaunt-Short genie	65,600
Kef KHT2005SE	75,000
Kef KHT3005SE	95,000

AV receiver and 5.1 speakers Combo

Denon 1610 with Q-Acoustics 1010i 5.1 package, Cost around: 70K
Denon 1910 with the Q-Acoustics 1010i Cost: 82K
Denon 1910 with Wharfedale Diamond 10 Package Cost around 80K

(To be continued....)

It was one day before my birthday meethi called me and as promised she presented me a book i thanked her and left for the day and was busy taking birthday calls so i couldnt get a chance to read atleast the author's name but today before calling it a day lazily looked at the book but when i saw embossed lettering. "An Hour to Live, an Hour to Love" by Richard Carlson and Kristine Carlson it captured my entire attention i quickly turned the book over to read the main reviews listed on the back cover. And then my heart stopped beating for a moment. A stillness descended upon me. I felt the nearness of truth. Of love. My eyes fell upon these words...
"On their 18th wedding anniversary, in 2003, Richard Carlson (author of the bestselling Don't Sweat the Small Stuff) presented his wife, Kristine, with a short manuscript called An Hour to Live. He imagines he has an hour to live and poses questions originally asked by spiritual guide and author Stephen Levine: whom would you call? what would you say? and why are you waiting? Uncannily, the text foreshadowed Carlson's death three years later, at age 45, of a pulmonary embolism. Though he had no chance to make that last phone call, his wife (and the reader) already knows his feelings for her and their children. We also know what was important to him, which boils down to the old chestnut: no one, on their deathbed, ever wishes they'd spent more time at the office. Included in the book is Kristine's tribute to Richard, called An Hour to Love. Both pieces (only 50 pages and padded with Richard's favorite poem and blank pages for the reader's own answer to the key question) are heartfelt—and oddly unengaging.

It took 30 minutes to finish the book and after that my eyes were filled with tears my throat tightened i was in complete shock i remained silent for some time ,i never felt like this before i could feel the pain piercing ,it was suffocating it was so wierd as if i have done some thng wrong or i have not done a thing in my life ,trust me it was hard to explain what i was going through ,the only thing i can remember is Richards favorite poem by norma cornett marek ..

TOMORROW NEVER COMES

If I knew it would be the last time that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly, and pray the Lord your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time that I'd see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and a kiss and call you back for just one more.

If I knew it would be the last time I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would tape each word and action, and play them back throughout my days.

If I knew it would be the last time, I would spare an extra minute or two,
To stop and say "I love you," instead of assuming you know I do.

So just in case tomorrow never comes, and today is all I get, I'd like to say how much I love you, and I hope we never will forget.

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you are waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes, you will sorely regret the day

That you didn't take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss,
And you were too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today, and whisper in their ear,
That you love them very much, and you'll always hold them dear.

Take time to say "I'm sorry," "Please forgive me," "Thank you," or "It's okay,"
And if tomorrow never comes, you'll have no regrets about today.

Poem written by
Norma Cornett Marek.

You know, it may seem natural for many of us to far too often ignore the fundamental tenets of a successful life until it is too late. This powerful little book is such a great reminder of the importance of living every day like it is our last.

if we all take even a moment to think about it we know in our hearts that when we look back on pur own lives we realise we had worried about small things which seem very irrelevant when we have one hour to live..

As we always saw in our day to day busy routines our priorities are different ,we work for things which will be of no use when we leave this place we always crave for materialistic things leaving behind the basic essence of life ..

First thng i could do is to associate my self with richard/audience what would i do in that situation ?
whom will i call ?
what will i say ?
how best i can use my vanishing time ?

though it sounds wierd to actually think and put ur self in this situation ,just think if u have one hour to live , our calls,meeting,goals,ratings,promitions,salary,hike,winning,losing,credit,debit,property,money every thng for which we lived this life struggled every single hour seems un important.....

Life has definetly changed for me after reading this ....
I think my first call would go to my parents and my brother whom i love more than my self ...

Thanks meethi for the lovely book... god bless u

You cant handle the truth!!!!!

You cant handle the truth:-
Off lately i dnt know why but iam following too much of jack's movies(jack nichalson) .. iam completly thrilled with his jack ass performance every movie i have seen ,i had carried a differnt image of this actor until i encountered with one flew over cuckoos nest ,i completly changed the way i look at this guy..undoubtfully hollywood legend and a true master piece in celluloid world,he can be rated among my all time movie legends (deniro,alpacino,eastwood,freeman)
one day i was shopping couple of dvd's for my bro and bought this dvd "as good as it gets and anger management" but never had time to have a look at it as i was ill and nthng productive to do :-) so decided to watch them wat a superb perfomance in these movies ,i feel he is one the few versatile actors in hollywood who can blow ur ass in any role he plays.
Coming to few good men ,my favourite genere's are mafia,war,robbery,prison break,court room and i read some where that this MOVIE has good court room sequences (my fav courtroom movies are "to kill a mocking bird","12angry men","anatomy of a murder,"kramer /Kramer")so with high expectations i was full excited to watch it.
The movie is about two Navy lawyers (Tom Cruise, Demi Moore) tryng to defend two Marines accused of killing a private at the naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba though the lead actor is tom cruise but jack's supporting role was higly commendable he play's Colonel Nathan Jessup for which he won academy award for best supporting actor , Nicholson in his usual way pushes his scene-stealing sarcasm to lethal extremes. though he isn't on screen for long, but his performance has a menacing vitality. We look into the eyes of this hostile, imperious colonel and think, yes, he's a Marine — he knows what it means to kill somebody (and, more than that, to want to).
The best part of the movie was the final courtroom converstaion between tom and jack(i played this scene 5 times...back to back)
Best Dialogue From A FEW GOOD MEN TOM CRUISE AND JACK NICHOLSON Jessep (Jack Nicholson): You want answers?
Kaffee (Tom Cruise): I think I'm entitled to them.
Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth!
Jessep: You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use 'em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!
Kaffee: Did you order the code red?
Jessep: (quietly) I did the job you sent me to do.
Kaffee: Did you order the code red? Jessep: You're goddamn right I did!!
I throughly enjoyed the movie , fultoo paisa wasool perfomance,mere khayal se aaj kal ke launde mein yeh dham nahin hai woh us zamane ke actoro mein tha ,,wackai kya actingaa karthey budde loga .. sahi mein yaaro public in logon ko bhagwan manthey tho main socha kaiko yaaro bolko ,, sahi bolthey they potte OLD IS GOLD.
Jai ho jack Miya ,Jai ho

BIDAR-SHORT JOURNEY

It had been a long time since my last long drive. Hyderabad does not seem like a place which is conducive to fast driving since my last trip i was desparate to hit the roads at more than 120kms/hr,stopping at dhaba's dal fry and tandoori roti(of course with rechilled RC). With project pressures and global recession taking a drain on my mental capacity and band width, it was high time to recharge my batteries. we were planning for suryalanka (dreamt of spending a lovely full moon night on a beach with a splendid Wine bottle,listening to my fav tracks while fishing.......)due to the last minute change in our plans we had to post pone the trip but for Sunday the goons were game,we had only one day for trip and chetan suggested bidara's an alternative place which is 130 kms though i was little skeptical but decided "doing some thng is better than wasting my week Sleeping ".The day before i stayed at Chetans place and got to know its not four of my frnds but the other gang would join us in the morning at 6am near BHEL. The way to Bidar from Hyderabad is to get onto the Pune highway, go on till Zaherabad and then turn right to Bidar. Once you reach the place ask for directions to the Kila (fort),temple,gurudwara. The distance is 135ms from Marredpally(Chetans place) in hyderabad, which is easily doable in 2.5 hrs with stops. On with the journey then :) 5:45am. were are struggling to get up in the morning coz i remember we slept around 4am .Once we were set and started for the first mile as usual i was the DJ of my car the morning raga started with Krishna Leela,Suprabatham,keertanas of Ayyapa,,,, it was all bakthi songs until we break for tea at 6:30then it was followed by desh bakthi.After finishng the 3 rounds of tea , and capturing the early momemts , me bhabhi(chetans wife) and arnab headed towards our destination,arnab took the charge of wheels as i promised him to drive till the sunrise .The early morning is quite beautiful, if it was not for the man-made clutter of wires all around. I dont know when we as a civilization will get aesthetic sense. From all my travels to sites of yesteryears, it seems that our forefathers did have the sense, but we seem to have lost it.

Posted by HUHRUN at 12:10 PM

Emosnal Athyachaar

I would like to start from the ending of Dev D. Be it Hollywood, Bollywood,Tollywood, or any fucking film industry I’ve never experienced such unique or rather unexpcted ending and trust me Anurag, the Hyderabadi audience just loved it. I would leave the reason why for you to decide, watch it and you’ll feel the same.

I’ve been waiting impatienltly for the movies release ever sinc eI got to listen to the audio tracks, cuz I was really wondering as to how Anurag managed to have 18 songs in a movie!!!!. I was religeously waiting for the online bookings and as soon as it was on, I made my booking for First Day First Show, but then by the time I entered the hall I realized that the movie had already begun. I was like ” Oh Shit Bloody Multiplexes, they always start on time..”.

The first scene

Dev
” Paro mujhe tumari ek pic bhejo”

Paro
“Tumari paas to hai na (not sure if they are accurate)”

and then he asks her

” bina kapdon waali….”

And there on when he gets to see her pictures, he calls her up and says

“Mai aa raha hoon”

The song that followed was perfect for the situation.
The first half was pretty interesting though story was quite familiar to the audience. Inspite of that, the script and screen play left the audience guessing .

It would not do justice to the movie if I don’t talk about Abhay deol. One of the finest actors in the industry and the most under utilized as well. After watching Ghajini and Dev.D I strongly feel that we are nothing less than method actors from the west,first half he played a uk returnd son of a rich businessman from chandigarh, a careless,immatu
re spoiled brat. But the moment he realised that he has lost his Paro, then the real Dev-Devil came inot action. His body language and onscreen performance was mind blowing. It was so realistic that I was a little skeptical that abhay was on drugs. Mahi gill truly justified AK’s choice for new face for this role

Basically this movie is aimed at people who understands the celluoid world in true sense,Anurag introduces new techniques of film shooting and completly new genrein each of his movie ,Movies like these are promises for a better future for Indian cinema . I have not seen Muiltplex audidence cheering and singing the tunes of any song in any movie off late. But the magic created by Amit Trivedi and Anurag changed it all ….. Emosanal Athyachar has become an anthem in the corporate world.

Guess what!! i have booked the tickets for saturday morning show as well.

………………………………………..

regards
haran

Originally Posted on http://passionforcinema.com/devd-my-experience/