Working Class Snob

For long I have battled this. What category do I fall in? In some cases it’s very clear. Like I always say, the world is divided- between people who like/love/adore Aamir and people who simply like Shahrukh and the twain shall never meet. People who drink coffee and people who enjoy their chai. People who grew up on a steady diet of Archie’s vs. people who can’t get enough of Asterix. You pick a side, and you live in it. You seldom cross over and only losers straddle both.

But when it comes to mass vs. elite, I simply can’t peg myself to one slot.

Recently at an office training, the instructor who had known me for all of that half a day, passed a comment about supermarket shopping and used me as an example of a person who probably never steps into Fairprice and in all likelihood does not even know the existence of a Shop and Save (by the way does Shop and Save still exist?). I was mildly offended, as it a massive stereotyping. And just because I wore a pretty short dress, sipped my cappuccino, and made notes in a hand-bound personalized diary with my Montblanc pen did not make me a person who turns up her nose on Singapore’s very own Fairprice! The nerve of the man!

Except I do. So he was spot on. Unless I am dying of hunger (probably not even then) would I step into a Fairprice.

But I am also the person who coordinates her work schedule based on shuttle bus timings. And takes the MRT to go to my magic temple in Potong Pasir which takes 10 times longer than hopping in a cab.

I still much rather go to Parkway Parade (in the shuttle) for the convenience than trudge all the way to Ion, Orchard for the snob value. Though I do enjoy Ion once every other month. The point being it’s an indulgence and not a norm.

And I would take a Stardust over a Vogue any day!


On the flip side, I would never buy clothes at a This Fashion (though I must admit I did, when I first came to Singapore over a decade ago. On an AE salary in advertising and paying utility and grocery bills, even This Fashion was a luxury). But I do hold Zara in good esteem.

I have certain very working class (or as Indians call it ‘middle class’) values. Like I still do the bindaas rickshaw travel in Bombay and don’t hire an air con car, I do not own more than 10 shoes at ones time (hey! I know people who have over 100 pairs. I am super modest!), I am content with basic dal-chawal meals and more comfortable around books than iPads. And I do not own a single designer bag (No Guccis, no LVs, not even a measly Coach).

But hey I also exhibit many snooty traits- never eating at food courts, only living in Tanjong Rhu (except again when I first came to Singapore), never staying in backpacker kind of places when travelling, turning my nose up on commercial cinema ventures like Patiala House. Well you get the drift.

I feel lost. When I am with the true working class even though I live like them most of the time, I feel self-conscious. But I know the elite people judge me as being way too “middle class”. Who works in advertising to pay a mortgage when you can lead a tai-tai life and go shopping every day? (No one has ever told me that, but boy I have got that look many times).

Guess if I had many readers-which thankfully don’t- I would have pissed off both sects as it may appear I am being snobbish towards one while judging the other.

But here is my thing...I never judge. Really. No one knows about another person’s life completely, so who are we to say who is doing it right and who is oh-so wrong. May be there are certain people I find tough to relate to, but their life is their own. They live by their own choices and thus the consequences. I do wish everyone would award others by the same understanding.

Live and let live is my simple mantra.

So now as I sit by the pool, sipping my lemonade (OK, a vodka infused one) I realise, the most important thing is to be comfortable in your own skin. People will still put you in the buckets they have built in their heads. And there is not one thing you can do about that.

So well I am equally comfortable indulging in high tea in Raffles hotel as sipping filter coffee in Murugans.

I love my wine (German Reisling) and cheese (double brie- still can’t do the blue cheese variety). As much as I relish the 10th Road Juhu bhel puri.

I do not wear Charles and Keith shoes (they are just too uncomfortable!) but I could never get myself to buy a Jimmy Choo either.

And I am equally comfy in a cotton sari (which my friend calls ‘NGO sari’) as I am in a summer cotton tube dress (which my mum calls ‘no shoulders dress’)

So be at ease with who you are and...to borrow a quote from a friend ‘just chill’.

I will never be the woman who...

• Knows bouncers to get access to exclusive night clubs

• Owns a Birkin bag

 • Can dance on “Bollywood” numbers without a sufficient account of alcohol in her system


• Gets drunk after 3 tequilla shots



• Can flirt back in a witty fashion


• Can make round and soft chapattis


• Knows anything more about the stock market expect that it exists and people make and lose money on it

• Has a patli kamar to lachkao


• Sits on PTA committees


• Can always talk in a calm voice


• Can laugh softly


• Is bored in a library or a book store

• Allows a man to carry her bags

• Can carry off the cargo pants-white shirt look


• Is able to walk with style in stilettos. Scratch that. Can wear stilettos in the first place


• Can wear a red dress and look hot and stylish (instead of looking like an older version of red riding hood)


• Can sit through a Farah Khan movie and not get a headache


• Can miss a Aamir Khan movie and not be bothered


• Stops believing in miracles


• Eats like a wannabe anorexic girl


• And the last one to borrow from Carrie of SATC fame... I will never be the woman with the perfect hair, who can wear white and not spill on it :)

Filmfare Awards 2011- Hits and Misses

I LOVE watching Filmfare Awards. In the era before I had Hub TV from Starhub (which was until last year) I used to watch the award ceremony every year on a Sunday night till 3 am- even though I had office the next day.


Thanks to Hub TV (and my friend Alpna who convinced me to get it) I recorded the Filmfare Award last week and watched it araam se pretty much the whole of today.


I remember watching the awards since I was a child...at that time the whole ceremony was not broadcasted on Doordarshan. It was only after cable TV came into our humble homes and there was more than one channel to watch, were the awards ceremony shown on telly in its full glory.

Flashback 1992- it was my FYBcom (first year bachelor of commerce of the uninformed) exams the next day. But I stayed up to watch the awards till past midnight. It was all worth it! Because Aamir Khan's Jo Jeeta Wahi Sinkandar won the Best Film. It was a disappointment then, as its now, that Aamir did not come for the awards ceremony. I remember jumping up with joy that his film won, even though he lost to Anil Kapoor who won best actor for Beta. SERIOUSLY?!


Another year, another award ceremony...but its still as much fun!


The hits this year...

1) 'Udaan' making a clean sweep taking home the 7 Filmfare Awards including Best Supporting Actor (Male), Best Film (Critics), Best Story, Cinematography, Screenplay, Best Background Music and Best Sound Design Award.

Though it was very sad that best debut male award went to Ranvir Singh for Baand Baja Baarat. The person who deserved it most was Rajat Barmecha who played the abused child in Udaan. Spectacular performance! Guess he should have offered to dance at the function like Ranvir Singh did. Other strong contenders were both the stars from Tere Bin Laden- the movie should have got some awards. It was seriously funny and witty.

Same goes for Best Debut Director which went to Manish Sharma again for Baand Baja Baarat- when it should have gone to Vikramaditya Motwane for Udaan. It was good that Ronit Roy got his due (his best performance till date- ever), and Udaan also won the Best Film in the Critics Award. Which means it would not win the Best Film in the Popular Award category. Except for a few occasions, that is the usual trend


2) Rishi Kapoor winning the best actor for Do Dooni Char again for the Critics Award. Vidya Balan won the Critics Award for Best Actress (or as its now called 'Best Actor- female)- which again meant that she would not win in the Popular Award category. But in any case, this year, it simply had to be Kajol! There could be no other.

3) Seeing Madhuri Dixit! Sigh! She is simply the best. She completed 25 years in the film industry! 25 years of looking gorgeous (even though she had terrible dress sense and no sense of style for most of her career), giving us awesome movies that showed her range of talent (from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun to Prem Pratigya, from Parinda to Mrityudand, from Tezaab to Dil to Pagal hai and the list can go on...) She did item numbers when they were not even called item numbers with the absolute hit being 'Ek, Do, Teen' from Tezaab and 'Hum ko aaj kal hai' from Sailaab. No one and I mean absolutely NO ONE can wear a navari and look as sexy as she did in that dance sequence. And who can forget 'Chane ke khet mein' from Anjaam. Only Madhuri can do that fabulous step (and Saroj Khan of course who choreographed most of Madhuri's best numbers).  It was a delight to watch her on stage with Shahrukh. And even to simply see her gorgeous smile when she sat in the audience

4) IK and RK- too funny! Simply entertaining without being crude. All their acts were hilarious but I loved the SRK and Sallu act the most. Their chemistry is superb. Wish they would do a film together soon! I hate remakes...I strongly believe that one must not mess with history (SRK was not even half the Don that Amitabh Bachchan was), but too see a remake of 'Andaaz apna apna' with Ranbir and Imran would be quiet a treat :) (as long as Farah Khan does not direct it)

5) Sonakshi Sinha's performance was actually the best of the lot. And she does have something to her. Her eyes can definitely do the talking and she has that rustic Indian woman beauty that likes of Deepika and Sonam lack. Both of who were inconspicuous with their absence. Guess after the bitchy bithcy session on Karan's couch and all their flop movies last year-they thought it was best to stay away. Sensible choice ladies.

6) The legandary Gulzar saab's acceptance speech where he said a short verse and so humbly thanked Vishal Bhradwaj for 'keeping my songs young'.

7) Amitabh Bachchan receiving an award for completing 40 years in the industry. Words cant describe what a fabulous actor he is. And what never ceases to amaze me is the humility that man possesses and professes


A small request for both Madhuri and Amitabh- please speak in Hindi for your acceptance speech. Its is Hindi movies you are getting the awards for after all. And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE work in a film together. (Amitabh and Madhuri have only shared screen space once in 'Makhna' song from Bade Miyan Chote Miyan)

The Misses...

1) Best supporting actress award for Kareena for We are family. I nearly threw up! It was obviously in exchange for her dance performance- which was also so boring and repetitive. Same songs, same steps, same expression....YAWN....The award should have gone to Amrita Puri from Aisha- stupid film, but lovely clothes on Sonam and too cute performance from Amrita who played small town girl in snooty Delhi society who calls Polo "ghodo waali hockey". LOL!
 

2) Priyanka TRYING to do dance like Madhuri. And I can't emphasize TRYING enough. First of all they had crammed too many songs in that one dance sequence. And yes, Mads has the best dancing songs in the history of cinema...but still...and Priyanka could do absolutely no justice to even one of the songs. It was an insipid performance when the numbers were so lovely. Not to mention, you can't do a dhak-dhak when you don't have boobs!

3) Katrina's expressionless face in the audience and random kisses she blew- once when Kareena was dancing- rather fake. Though her outfit was stunning! And she did look like a million bucks

4) Ash's fat face and bored looking expression- the less said the better. She looks like she is 50 years old! L'Oreal anti aging creams not working for you?

Who looked stunning...surprisingly Prachi Desai (good job getting a stylist sweetie) and not surprisingly Malaika Arora Khan.

  

Who looked like she needs to lose weight and find some films- in the process- Preity and Rani



















And then the ones who looked lovely, but predictable

 


















For once K Jo and SRK both deserved their awards. My name is Khan though long...was a very touching and inspiring movie.

Overall a treat as always...and reminds me why I love Hindi films so much....now if only Aamir starting attending the awards...it would be perfect :)

My Top Ten Love Stories

1) Pride and Prejudice- There is no love story as magical, wonderful and real as Lizzy and Darcy's. Has to be first on the list.

2) Qayamat se Qayamat Tak also known as QSQT- my all time favourite Hindi movie. I know, I know...it’s as cliché as cliché can get. But I can’t help myself. I loved Aamir then, and love him now. And I have lost count on how many times I have seen this movie. QSQT is to me what DDLJ is to other girls.

3) Pretty Woman- classic! Who can create magic better than Richard Gere and Julia Roberts? (I absolutely refuse to believe that he is gay as many gossip sites claim). Its also one of the first movies I saw with friends in Eros during Junior College days. Beautiful memories!

4) Maine Pyar Kiya- sigh! Blame it on my age. I was 15! But it has happy memories so I will not watch it now and ruin them. The movie was also responsible for the catch phrase "Dosti ka ek asool hai madam, no sorry, no thank you".

 

5) Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se- loosely based on Erich Segal’s Love Story. (best romantic book ever by the way- even Sonam Kapoor was reading it in ‘I hate luv storys’). It starred Sachin (so cute!) and Ranjeeta (even cuter!) and it had a sad ending, which only made me like it more. And the title song is the one of most romantic songs ever.

6) Saath-Saath- A Farooq Shaikh-Deepti Naval starrer (one of the best on screen couples till date). It gave us one of Jagjit Singh’s best ghazals “tum ko dekha to yeh khayal aaya”. And it showed what happens to love after marriage. A true portrayal of a love story leading to marriage but with miraculously a happy ending.

7) Sleepless in Seattle- Meg Ryan is the rom-com queen and I can watch this movie multiple times over.

9) Only You- Marisa Tomei’s search of her soul mate since she was a child and a fortune teller at a carnival tells her she is destined to marry “Damon Bradley”. Of course as fate should have it she falls in love with a Peter- played by the devilishly handsome Robert Downey Jr. who just pretends to be Damon. What’s in a name? I will take RDJ even if his name was Bhola Prasad (ok may be I would get him to change his name first)

10) Chandni- Most Indian girls would be seriously offended that I did not count DDLJ, Dil to pagal hai, Kuch Kuch hota hai and other “Raj-Simran” type of movies in my top ten. Sorry! SRK just ruins it all for me. But I am a fan of the older Yash Chopra movies. Could not decide between Lamhe and Chandni and settle for the latter as I kinda like love triangles where the girl has to pick between 2 guys. And Sridevi never looked better!

11) Sailaab (the TV series not the movie)- Though I do feel that Madhuri’s item number in Sailaab the movie in a navari “Hum ko... aaj kal hai... intezaar...koi aaye... leke pyaar” is the best item number in the history of Indian cinema. Ok I digress... (And yes I know this is no. 11 and it says “Top 10” but I didn’t think anyone’s counting, and it’s my post, so live with it). Sailaab is the 2nd best TV show ever made in India (first one is Trishna). Sailaab aired in 1997 on Zee and starred Renuka Shahane (Madhuri’s sister from Hum apke hain kaun who dies), Sachin Khedekar (Tabu’s impotent husband from Astitva), Prajakti Deshmukh (who no one except me probably remembers) and Mahesh Thakur (plays cameos in many movies nowadays and was the dad in Shararat). Sailaab demonstrated a sensitive portrayal of love in an extra marital relationship between Shivani (Renuka) and Rohit (Sachin). But it is the Gaytri-Rohit story angle to watch out for. Very poignant and beautiful. A production by Ravi Rai- wish he would give us some more of this.

That’s my top 11 :)

Will end this post with a quote I came across recently and it stuck with me “Someday, someone, will walk into your life and will make you realize why it never worked out with anyone else”. (This, believe it or not, came up in an office meeting and I nearly had tears)

I love luv storys

Ok, not the most original title, but its topical, no? Though why would you want a movie title with one typo (luv) and one grammatical error (should be ‘stories’ like the plural of story and not ‘storys’), I don’t know. But might as well go with it...


Ok, so I do love ‘luv stroys’. They offer hope, smiles and more stuff to dream about. And am a huge fan of dreams and dreaming. As Mahi (of ‘Mahi Way’ fame) so eloquently put it “Mere dimag mein na har samay ek naya sapna chlata hai- movies ki tarah- woh bhi Technicolor mein”. (My mind is forever seeing dreams like movies or something to that effect).

I am also a Hindi Film movie snob (as my regular readers- all 9 of them- would know, I condone the use of the term Bollywood). I prefer good Hindi cinema, and usually turn up my nose on commercial cinema- but I watch it all the same. Becoz fluff and frills thy name is escapism.

So I naturally went and watched “I hate luv storys”- first day 2nd show! And enjoyed it (more on that later*). But it did make me think about why are love stories so popular? Any film industry all over the world, any soap opera, any TV sitcoms- love stories reign supreme. And even “serious meaningful” movies usually have a love story element. Which I guess is a given, as love is the corner stone of all relationships and finding your soul mate, janam janam ka saathi, companion, partner, love of your life is what everyone desires- whether they admit it or not. So the fact that there is a love angle in most movies, books, soaps, sitcoms, music videos, song albums, etc is nothing to be surprised about.

But the obsession with love stories per se (and the multi-million dollar industry of chick lit and chick flicks- and yes I am a huge contributor to that) does make me ponder sometimes.

Most love stories or rom-coms (romantic comedies for the uninformed) have one of the below story lines:

1) Boy meets girl (or girl meets boys- it’s all about equality), first comes dislike, then friendship, then passion, then love. Remember “Dil- Madhuri-Aamir starrer”?  Or the ever famous “Love Story” (original title that one). The movie which launched Kumar Gaurav.

Side-bar: till date my mom laments on why he could not make it big. Which does beget some thought- as he was one the premier ‘chocolate boys’, had a rich influential dad, well connected in the industry, was talented (remember Naam- brilliant!) and not bad looking. Which does make me believe that luck, fate, destiny have way too much play in our lives. OK- this is much more than any space anyone must have devoted to Kumar Gaurav since he disappeared into oblivion in the early 90’s. So I shall stop.

Bottom line- first “I-can’t-stand-to-see-your-face” dislike to “I-will-give-up-my-life-for-you” love.

What I question: all the things you hated about this person when you first met him, would those qualities not resurface? Or you believe that you can change a person (HA!)

2) Childhood sweethearts: Awww must say this is one of my favourite themes. Remember “Hum Kisise Kum Nahin”? And the sweet “kya hua tera vada” song? Which Tariq (am convinced he was born with a guitar around his neck and has had one in every scene of every movie he ever starred in- all 5 of them) and Kaajal Kiran who used to sing the song to each other as kids and it was the song that bought them together too. So sweet! Other childhood sweetheart love stories are Devdas (Devdas and Paro; though that kinda is more of a tragedy), Parineeta (lovely! Only movie besides Dil Chahta Hai where I liked Saif) and many others that I can’t remember now.

What I question: in today’s fast moving world where you are popular as your last Twitter feed, how can one person continue to be the most important one in your life from childhood till you die? It’s awfully sweet and all that, but won’t you get bored?

3) Bad Boy-Good Girl routine: I can relate to this one most of all. It’s the classic good girl believes she can make the bad boy good. Err “No sweetie (and yes I am taking to myself now), it ain’t gonna happen!” Bad boys don’t turn good just coz they met you and you influenced them. But yes, I like the archetypical ‘bad boy with heart of gold’ and yes, only I can pierce the cold exterior to uncover his nice, caring side. Case in point Kunal Kapoor (he is such a cutie, second place in my heart after Aamir) in Aaje Nachle played the proverbial bad boy transformed because of the good girl Konkana who loved him.

What I question: how do you distinguish between the actual bad boy and the bad boy with the heart of gold? Becoz in 9 cases out of 10, chances are you are with the former

4) Best friends turn lovers: There is something intrinsically beautiful about that fact that the love you were looking for all your life is actually right next to you as your best friend- only you never noticed. My favourite example of that is Barney and Laura from Erich Segal’s epic novel “Doctors”. They grew up as neighbours and best friends, went to med school together, consoled each other through numerous break-ups and f$%$-ups, only to find that they were destined to be together. Ceclie Ahern’s (author of PS I love you book) “Where Rainbows End” is also about 2 best friends Rosie and Alex and the story of how they ultimately get together.

What I question: what if it does not work out? You lose a best friend in the process. That’s sad, no?

5) Rich boy-poor girl; poor boy-rich girl: Needs no explanation. Every Hindi movie ever made in 1970’s and 80’s had this story angle in some way, shape or form. And Hollywood is no stranger to it either. Remember Tom Cruise’s Cocktail? (It even includes the never-gets-old scene of girl’s father trying to buy the boy off). Jeez! Or look at “For love or money” with Michael J Fox or the desi-adaptation “Yes Boss” with SRK and Juhi Chawla. The ‘twist’ here was that both the boy and girl were poor but ambitious and they had to choose between love and money. Any guesses what won? Yes! Love triumphs all! I really liked one dialogue SRK says in Yes Boss “Doh nakamiyamb log ek kamiyab zindagi nahin bana saktein”. (2 unsuccessful people cannot make a successful life). Of course he does go back on his words, and chooses love. But there is a lot of truth in what he said. Bitter truth, but truth all the same.

What I question: Well, there are way too many of them. As this is least believable story line for me. Seriously! An heiress marries a taxi driver  and lives happily ever after?! Really!? (Raja Hindustani with Karisma and Aamir- only Aamir movie I can’t tolerate!)

Ok enough of “Idhar udhar ke baatein, vegera vegera” (my fav line from “I hate luv storys)- let’s get to the point- love stories are:

• Predictable

• Follow a standard pattern

• Are quiet far from reality

• Stretch the truth

• Make false promises

• And worse of all, show us what we are missing in our real lives

So why-oh-why do we still torture ourselves with them?

I think the answer is simple: at heart we all want to believe that magic exists. We sometimes find touches of this magic in our real lives (yes it exists and it happens) but our eyes are blinded with the realities of life- work, kids, school, responsibilities, bills, gym, kitchen, the list goes on, that we miss this magic.

Hence we pay 10$ for a movie ticket and 8$ for the pop corn-coke combo for someone to show us their version of this magic. And for those 2 or 3.5 hours (if its Hum aapke hain kaun), we believe again, we cry for our heart-broken heroine, we laugh with her when she is happy, we look admiringly at our hero and wish we could take him home, we ogle at him shirtless (Imran Khan was looking way too hot without his shirt and gawd! that is way too ‘cougarish’ as he is at least a decade younger than I am, if not more. And any case, I will take his maamu over him any day).

I cannot end without a mention from a Yash Chopra film- as he is the ultimate romance magician after all- "Kahin na Kahin, koi na koi, har ek ke liye bana hai". And it is this belief that keeps us coming back for more...each time..everytime.

* Well, this was supposed to be a review for “I hate luv storys”. But I have spoken too much and about way too many things. So in a nutshell, here goes:

Watch “I hate luv storys” if you love love stories and for

a) Sonam’s winning smile (don’t care what anyone ones, she is tons prettier than Deepika Padukone)

b) Imran’s sense of humor and great bod and just coz he is Aamir’s bhanja and can do no wrong in my eyes (also don’t care what anyone ones, he is tons better than Ranbir Kapoor- though Ranbir is not bad too)

c) The songs- 'Bahara' by Rahat fateh Ali Khan- rules my iPod now

d) The awesome saris Sonam wears in the “Sadka” song. Chiffon sari with a bikini top- start of a trend here!

e) The dig at all Karan Johar movies from “Raj-Simran” at the start, all the way to a beautiful song on the Swiss Alps- oops it’s was New Zealand this time (kudos KJ for being able to laugh at yourself. I like!)

f) The chance to see magic happen once again!

So take your friend, drag your husband, or bring your daughter if she is old enough and smile with Sonam and Imram as they fall in luv.

Jingles that live on....

What’s with Indian jingles from the 80’s that make them so memorable?

Is it the lovely tune that stays in your head? “Jab ghar ki raunak badani ho...deewaron ko jab sajana ho....Nerolac, Nerolac”. Or is it the heart-tugging lyrics of “Yeh zameen, yeh asamaan, yeh zameen, yeh asamaan, humara kal, humara aaj, humara kal, humara aaj, buland Bharat ki buland tasveer...humara Bajaj, humara Bajaj”.

Over 2 decades later, these jingles are still fresh in mind (and heart) and they come back to me at the most obscure and unusual times. And sometimes at the most appropriate ones. Like this morning when I was contemplating painting a wall in my living room in a different colour and almost instantly I found myself humming “Jab ghar ki raunak badani ho.” Now that’s a powerful association between a consumer need and product advertising. Though I do need to admit until I sang the full jingle I remembered it as an Asians Paint ad! That depicts another key association- seasonality and product advertising. Asian Paints like all other paint companies in India, have their peak advertising period pre-Diwali which is now.

Another of my favourite jingle from that era is “Jab mein chota bachcha tha, badi shararat karta tha, meri chori pakdi jaati...toh roshan hota Bajaj”. The story line of that ad as was so adorable and the images are still vivid in my mind.

And then there was the all famous “Happy days are here again with Thums Up” and “Fresh and Juicy, Mango Fruity”. The extension of the Fruity jingle in today’s day and age with its new commercial is pretty cool too.

Of course there were the tremendously annoying jingles as well (but I still remember them!) like, “Tata ka OK, dhulayi ka saboon, OK OK ha Tata ka OK” or “Antiseptic, nahin cosmetic, Vicco Vajadanti Aryuvedic cream”- which incidentally, I saw recently on TV- non-expiring usage rights?

And the ever-so-irritating “Bhool na jana, ECE bulb lana” with the cliché use Bengali, Punjabi and Parsi talents. And who can forget (at least I can’t for obvious reasons) “Cema bulbs aur tubes” with Sridevi in an electric blue dress and thunder thighs. (Gawd I was incessantly teased in school about that one. And it did not help that Sridevi’s character in Mr. India was called Seema*).

The 90’s decade also saw some hummable jingles. The most notable amongst them was “Kya swaad hai zindagi ka” from Cadburys. And fantastic the use of Mozart’s 25th Symphony in Titan commercials. Not really a jingle of course, but the use of that music piece over various Titan commercials created very memorable ads.

A salute to all these ad makers (for their sheer brilliance), the media buyers (for the endless 60 second buys so we saw the commercials more than the Doordarshan programmes), the lyricists (for the beautiful words) and the musicians (for the lingering music).

Thank you! Thank you for creating commercials that I can still remember from my childhood. Now if that’s not compelling advertising, I don’t know what is?

*Nearly 75% of my brain is filled with needless and little known Hindi movie and song trivia. One example related to advertising- Aamir and Aishwarya have shared screen space only once (they have never starred in a movie together). They came together for the 90’s Pepsi “Hi, I am Sanjana. Got another Pepsi?” commercial. Pepsi was then called Lehar Pepsi. The other girl in the commercial was actress Mahima "Pardes" Choudhary, then a lesser known model called Ritu. Yehi hai right choice Baby a-ha! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyulvXIFrK0

New name, same-old ME

Books and movies make up my existence, when I am not at work or being a kid with Sanil.

I prefer beaches over mountains. Archie Comics over Asterix. Classic novels over modern populist writing. Copy over Art. Coffee over any other beverage. And chocolate based desserts over everything else in the world.

Have an affinity for prison based shows and movies- Shawshank Redemption is one of the best movies ever. And yes, Prison Break was pretty cool too (and no, it was not only for Michael Scofield and his tatooed body).

If Jane Austen were alive, I would give the world to spend some time with her. And John ‘Die Hard’ McLane is far cooler than James ‘007’ Bond. (Profound apologies to Bond Fans). Closer to home, Aamir Khan rules, while Shahrukh Khan annoys. (No apologies to SRK fans).

My family is my life and my friends are what make life worthwhile. Food is a passion- cooking it, sharing it and eating it. I harbour dreams of becoming a bartender or running a beach-side book store cum cafe.

Kids are awesome! And their perspective towards life is “awesomer”. (As is their ability to make up words. “Liser” is a person who tells many lies as opposed to “liar” who only tells one lie).

I am a victim of advertising and I know there are many like me (that’s why I am still in the business). New flavours of beverages have to be tried. And anything that screams “sale” is actually an investment.

The sky turns orangy-pink when the sun sets because fairies wear pretty orangy-pink tutus and flitter around in the sky. These and many such stories are products of my imagination.

Coz I believe there is no power greater than the power of imagination. We think we make our dreams, but it’s our dreams that make us.