I Hate Luv Storys.....

I was talking to a friend last night and she said, "I read few of your post because you sound too political, serious and depressing". So, I decided that instead of giving you serious Bhasahan everytime, I must also give you a light hearted snippet of my imperfect life with this movie Yatra I had a day before.

As usual, I was working in my office when Ainu, the lady love of my life, called me up and announced her plan to watch the matinee show of I Hate Luv Storys. Obviously I protested that I can’t leave like this but to any avail as she was adamant to see Imran Khan’s stupid skin show. Thanks to the marketing team at I Hate Luv Storys and the ever ready media for creating this pseudo hype as I didn’t find anything attractive in that kid’s skin show.
Now, after the call, I started brooding over my early departure from the office. Whom should I declare dead? Hmmm…I was thinking of everyone under the sun but that was too risky as my colleagues will start presenting their condolences which I can’t bear. Or should I act like been poisoned by a jealous colleague? But being an innate Sharif insan, I went straigh away to my boss and told her the real story and amazingly she complied with my request.

She drove to my office and almost threw me in her car and while considering herself to be a Superwoman with invincible speed, drove both of us to the theatre before the movie started. But the whole journey has its usual ingredients like Ainu asking directions for the same theatre where we have seen dozens of movies; everyone crossing our way was been blessed with curses and abuses and the usual panic associated with socially challenged people(us). After driving at the speed of God knows miles per hour, we finally reached at our destination. We actually ran from the parking lot to collect the ticket but before that we both were checked by security personnels. As I was been man-handled by guard whom I would give 2.5(Tip: Adding decimal to figures make you more authentic) on 10, I cried out to the officer that she got bomb in her large bag to which she honored me with fine words of her I am unable to share here. After collecting the tickets as we were rushing towards the hall, all of a sudden, she realized that she badly need diet coke and popcorn to go through this cinematic experience so went to the tuck shop and got required props. While holding coke in one hand, popcorn in the other and ticket in my mouth, as I entered the dark alley leading to hall a not so happening ticket checker took ticket from my mouth, tore the required piece down and put in my pocket smilingly.

After settling down, the first thing I noticed was the generic freshness Sonam and Imran have brought to the screen. From its catchy title to the on-screen chemistry between the leads, is a success story, all the way. But the most striking thing I noticed was the shots, and the excellent camera work done by Ayananka Bose et al.


The basic idea was novice as Punit Malhotra, the writer and director, weave the storyline around Imran’s maxim “I hate love stories.” Although it was expected that in the end, he would defy his ideology and will fall for none other than our female lead but the way plot was developed and executed, scene by scene, one kept on expecting what would happen next. That’s an achievement for the new comer Punit who mantained viewers' interest intact. The idea of movie within the movie and usage of famous dialogues from Karan Johar productions was a treat for his fans. And let me confess I am one of them. The way those moments were recreated and ridiculed, while I was getting nostaligic and happy, is a highly appreciatable work.

Moreover, I haven’t heard so many lesbian references in any Bollywood movie before as I laughed my heart out when all of them were directed towards Imran. I strongly believed that Sonam should have married her childhood love till the very last scene between them, where Sameer proposed her. But I changed my mind; when the writer made me realize that he didn’t even know that she like red flowers, holy shit. If I would be in her place, I would have created a huge drama there and slap and beat him up and run away, which precisely she did (without creating potential drama.

As far as music is concerned, I liked the title track as well as Bin Teray by Shafqat and Sunidhi but for me the hallmark was Baharaan Baharaan by Sherya Goshal. It is such an amazing track that as soon as I reached back at my place, I took my bed spread and while flaunting it like a duppata, started dancing and received fully loaded comments from my sister who thinks that I sing and dance awfully. At the same moment, I was also getting nostalgic as I remembered, how much I used to deny love at first sight and how I was grounded. I was re-experiencing that same euphoria of first love when everything seems so happy and gay. And Baharaan Baharan was making me relive it……

Baharaan baharaan huya dil pehli baar ve
Baharaan baharaan ki chain to huya faraar ve
Baharaan baharaan huya dil pehli pehli baar ve…..

Pakistani Advertisment Industry

The astatic world of advertisement is full of glitz and glamour with its countless manifest and latent pageantry outcomes and forms. It’s all about looking good, feeling good and in the end becoming good (at least every second ad claims so). Omnifarious print and electronic advertising campaigns are taking up the media scene with frenzy every day (as we don’t have anything else to do). This media revolution touched its zenith during the past few years due to the media friendly government policies which enabled several new TV channels and Radio stations to dive into the media sea and to test their meter and capability to be a part of mainstream. Getting strength from this media boom, the field of advertising also spreads its wings for a full new flight and tried to infuse new life in the field by reinventing something catchy and creative to inspire public. The increased interest of national and international multinationals and brands in the Pakistani society and their close and ruthless competition also fueled this urge to advertise one’s product in a more unique and user friendly manner.

It can be easily maintained that today’s world is simultaneously reflecting and is being shaped by the creative ideas of ads and at times they serves as a unique source of entertainment among the monotonous soap operas, news and talk shows. Consider it a virtue or vice, but its true that we are living in an ad driven world with bundle of ideas and thoughts, not necessarily be of quality. Ads should be more than making females’ anorexics and males’ hypochondriacs. Sometimes it seemed that the dear advertiser is more conscious and anxious about you than you yourself are. That’s the level of Apnapun, Etamad and Saalon ka Bharoosa, with which one feels compelled to tie up and remained a faithful buyer of the product. When we compete the level of ads being generated by the kings rather Vikings of our advertising industry, we at times feel that they are not up to that specific level of excellence which we witness in foreign lands or even in our neighboring country India. I am unable to digest the idea that by using a specific brand of toothpaste how one can win one’s loves interest or if one shows his/her loyalty towards product X, he/she can be a head turner. Mainly the ideas are just a lethargic repetition of the previous one with changed models, outfits and locations. These run of the mill ideas depicts either the barren minds of our directors and advertising agencies or the outcome of the typical Pakistani psyche, the residual of Macaulay’s training which has unabled us to think of our own and to polish and carve our own creative niche, unique from others. Let’s have a bird’s eyeview over the advertisement scene in Pakistan and our neighboring India.

Cellular Companies and Cell Phones:

If you just sit for a few minutes in front of your TV sets, watching local TV channels, with your ears and eyes open, you will end up in deducing what I have concluded that we are only selling mobile Sims and buying cell phones(as we don’t have any other option left). Every year the cellular companies and mobile manufacturing companies spend billions of rupees just to make their presence felt through the expurgated and savory celebrities. You might have watched Ali Zafar and Aminah Haq enchanting Yehi Hai Sab Ke Dhun, Meera, Gia Ali and Veena Malik dancing in obnoxious way (thinking of Shakira) over the remix version of Nazia Hasan’s Baat Bun Jaye and Iman Ali and Mommar Rana thanking some Happy hour as it had Kar de Mushkil Aasan. All these cynosures of our eyes just want us to believe in the product they are endorsing and amazingly we get convinced. But why there’s always someone renowned, why not general public, any obese housewife, a middle aged rickshaw driver, or a school going boy? Cannot they make us believe in the very perennial comfort and access which the cellular companies promises? If you just see the print versions of all these ads, you will find all the models posed in a slightly tinted manner to one of their respective sides. This semi recumbent pose reminds me of the images one used to witness in fashion magazine pages where celebrities and socialites pose to be noticed.
If we just peep into Indian ads of same genre, you will end up quite astonished and at time smiling at the uniqueness of the idea. They do make star studded ads but also make ads with general masses; even they have worked miracles by casting children in these ads. I think it’s simply awesome to watch children mouthing out the company’s philosophy in a simple, cute and convincing way.

Soaps:

Discarding the regular washing soaps likes of Gulahri, Gaey soaps, we shall concentrate on beauty soaps which ensures our Ticket to Edenhood. Before the invasion of cellular companies in the advertisement industry, soap ads were the undisputed kings of advertisement world and I think they feel in a same way as a dethroned king feels. There are old and established names in the market who have carved the golden statement of Log Hamara Chehra He Tou Dekhtay Hain, delivered through a gorgeous lady with impeccable beauty. Most of the times, the International brands make similar ads for there campaigns to be run in different nations. Difference lies in the selection of popular faces and in storyline which yields the cultural values of the respective country. One can take the notice in the famous soap brand’s ad of Reema stipulating Ab Khoubsourti Say Daar Kaisa and its Indian version of Priyanka Chopra. But again, it’s run of the mill idea with least innovation of idea, cast and content, although it promises to be an eye candy and visual treat otherwise. As I have mentioned, it’s all about, looking good and feeling good.

Insurance Companies:

A much popular field of advertisement in India, the insurance companies ads have been ignored in Pakistan. Having only the golden jingle Aye Khuda Meray Abbu Salamt Rahein at our disposal, we haven’t witnessed any thing substantial since ages. Although with the recent surge of terrorism prevailing in the country, we may be in a need of more than our voluminous and devouring neighbor of more than 1 billion souls.

Soft Drinks:

As the scorching summer is on its way to hit us, the soft drinks ads will also come to bang us. With the great titans in the field, every year the whole country spend drift on their purchase as soft drinks have attained the status of social and culture drink. Mainly targeting youths, these ads are comparatively innovative and permissible enough to be appreciated. But this list strongly discludes the local desi ads of lemonades, lassies and sardaiyes compelling the whole nation with the slogan Piyo Piyo or Piyo Jiyo.

Cooking Oils:

The politicians, social activists, writers and businessmen all have their mutual consensus over the fact that we have purged into the great 21st century but I don’t think that our advertising people have completely reckoned it. They still portrays women as a household products and cooking oil ads are the evidence of it where wife or mother is using the prescribed oil in order to win the hearts of her family members. The Maa aur Maamta connection has never withered after its continuous exploitation since ages. Its still catchy, emotional and in. our Indian counterparts are also following our footsteps in this regard by using more Bahus instead of Maas for these ads (got there obsession with Saas Bahu serials).

There are bundles of others products that target the potential consumers equipped with the latest technological advancements beyond imaginations. But I resign here in the vast national interest (Qoom Kay Vaseeh Tar Mafad Main), and hope for that dazzling time when we shall rise from the microscopic views about things and issues and shall be able to comprehend the diverse spectrum of viewing at things. We shall learn it someday, yes someday (not now).

Anime Flicks and Me

Looking in the retrospect, about 10-15 years back, as children we didn’t have much recreational activities except climbing trees and picking up fruit, playing in the courtyard, running to catch butterflies and glue ourselves in front of television sets to watch the few cartoons that were aired. At that time, the only existing television network used to telecast them as a chunga (complimentary) just sort of to acknowledge, “Yes we do have kids in Pakistan.” I remember, how much I used to hate cricket matches because they replaced the time of our chunga cartoons, leaving us feeling deprived. Nevertheless, my prayers and wishes were eventually amply granted and a separate sports and full time cartoon channel were launched, but as my mom said, “It’s too late, you have grown out of that age.”

But the time has gone when animated movies and cartoons were considered to be only ‘child’s play’ and a ‘no adult zone’, because with the discarding of conventions all around the globe and the countless possibilities to experiment and improve existing knowledge and potential, the production houses are generating new creatively aesthetic animated movies that cater to children and adults alike. That’s even evident from the number of renowned actors who have lent their voices for various anime characters like Walt Disney, Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Martin Scorsese, Antonio Banderas, Tom Hanks and countless others. Academy Awards have also recognized it as a unique genre of movies and offers nominations in the categories of Best Animated Feature Film and Best Animated Short Film of the year.

Animation is basically a graphic representation of drawings to show movement within those drawings. A series of drawings are linked together and usually photographed by a camera. There is a slight change in each individual frame to follow whatever movement is to be depicted so that when they are played back in rapid succession (24 frames per second) there appears to be continuous movement within the drawings.

Among the pioneers of animation, Winsor McCay of the United States, Emile Cohl and Georges Melies of France are included, but it was Walter Elias Disney commonly known as Walt Disney who epitomized the genre of animation movies. He was the first animator to add sound to his movie cartoons with the premiere of Steamboat Willie in 1928. Some consider McCay's Sinking of the Lusitania from 1918 as the first animated feature film but in 1937, Walt Disney produced the first full length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. A dyslexic by birth, Disney had difficulty with language and vocabulary and thus shifted his genius towards animation and started working at the Kansas City Slide Company, with his friend Ubbe Iwerks at the age of 19 and won his first Academy Award for Flowers and Trees. This film was the first to use 3 strip Technicolor (color).
Early animations, which started appearing before 1910, consisted of simple drawings photographed one at a time. It was an extremely labor intensive process as there were literally hundreds of drawings per minute of film. The development of celluloid around 1913 quickly made animation easier to manage. Instead of numerous drawings, the animator could now make a complex background and/or foreground and sandwich moving characters in between several other pieces of celluloid, which is transparent except for where the drawings would be painted on it.

With the introduction of computers, animation took on a whole new meaning. Many feature films of today had animation incorporated into them for special effects. A film like Star Wars by George Lucas relies heavily on computer animation for many of its special effects. Toy Story, produced by Walt Disney Productions and Pixar Animation Studios, became the first full length feature film animated entirely on computers when it was released in 1995.

Talking about the psychological aspect of the anime flicks, the psychologists have opined that they provide a sort of escapism from the hectic realities of busy practical life, where logic is the prime factor and motivation is money. Animated movies nourishe and project the more humane side of the human personality to which a person can relate or even become nostalgic about his or her tension free, fiddly diddly childhood days. Movies are regarded as the perfect form of mass communication and even propaganda to some extent and the same is true for anime flicks.

Whenever you have sometime to probe into animated flicks and cartoons, you will notice that while most of the anime flicks and cartoons project the positive and humane virtues of love, care, generosity and sacrifice, but along with them, there are too many others which give negative messages, promoting violence, anger and frustration among viewers. Such flicks should be discouraged by anime film producers as well as by the viewers alike, because basically people always associate anime flicks with children and childhood, and we should celebrate these carefree happy days throughout our lives without any streak of violence. What do you think?