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Wednesday, December 03, 2008
H Shridhar RIP
Not a great thing to hear on your birthday. One of the first calls I received delivered the news that the man I look up to as a role model passed away.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Viva La Vida Reading
Frankly all I know about Frida Kahlo is what Sharanya told me when she swapped my freaky fizzy drink for a shot of ginger ale. But I was already sold because Salma Hayek played her in the movie.
Venue: Madras War Cemetery, Nandambakkam, Chennai
Sunday, 6th July 2008 at 10 AM
RSVP:sharanya(dot)manivannan(at)gmail(dot)com
chandrachoodan(at)gmail(dot)com (98844 67463)
Labels: Other
Friday, June 13, 2008
A Crisis of Faith
Having convinced myself that everything has an explanation, I find myself in the unenviable position of both going through a lot of trouble, and being unable to explain it in any rational way.
Worse: Having convinced myself that since everything has an explanation, anything can be sorted out, was something I shouldn't have erroneously believed in!
Sometimes I suppose things are not just beyond your control, but beyond understanding, and that is when you should not try to 'fix it'!
Labels: Other
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Miscellanea
Priya Venkatesan has become the latest, and best ever to have scuttled another Mrs Pandey draft post. In fact she has absolutely rattled the poor old woman.
Chennai Super Kings are alright, but so far my favourite player has been Piyush Chawla.
I have been out in the sun (briefly) and it is not as hot as it could be. The evenings are splendid.
In three years time when the global film industry goes through another lull, I have an idea that could potentially rake in millions (no, not just betting on it to go through the said slump). BTW for those of you still interested, some of the latest FICCI figures for the Indian E&M industry do not add up, or are terrible typos, or both.
Since I am not into substance abuse, please tell me how else I could give my wit and spirit a 'shot-in-the-arm' that would last a few weeks at-least. I badly need it. Please do not suggest a holiday as I cannot immediately afford one. So whatever you suggest should be feasible within my current work schedule. Thanks.
Labels: Other
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
RIP Minghella
The one time I met 'Ant' was when I blagged my way into his masterclass at the Watershed at Brief Encounters 2005. He was scripting Breaking and Entering then. I greatly admire his work on The English Patient and Cold Mountain. Minghella was a close collaborator of my favourite movie geek Walter Murch.
The book I'm currently reading, Charles Koppelman's Behind the Seen is a fascinating look at how Murch worked on Cold Mountain, and provides lots of insights into Anthony Minghella's workings as well. Was also lining up a viewing of Breaking and Entering, DVD courtesy a dear cousin. I shall now read the rest of the book and watch the movie, with a little bit of regret.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The deed is done
Everyone needs a change once in a while!
Labels: Other
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
One more elderly person for Alex Tabarrok's grandma to think about
Apparently there lives in Coimbatore a certain Malayali gentleman who has a curious proposition to make. Said gentleman is single, has no ‘issue’, of reputedly very sound body, very very sound mind, and is 85 years old. But what makes his case interesting is the fact that he lives in a good part of town and owns what has been described by a reliable acquaintance as a rather neat, large flat.
This flat is said to be worth Rs. X Lakhs. Now, our nice man is ready to sell it for an incredible Rs. X-n Lakhs (n is also negotiable). Alas, to provide Navjot Singh Sidhu, who's conspicuously unemployed these days, some fodder, the octogenarian has an obligatory ‘but’.
"I shall generously chop off a few Lakhs from the contract and you pay me right away, but you can take possession of the house only when I have passed on.", says he.
This immediately struck me as an opening for a potentially absorbing tale. Sordid, maybe excruciatingly dense. Probably darkly comic, or thrilling even.
Briefly forgetting how he could draw up a legally valid contract for such an arrangement, think about this. Would you go in for this deal? If you do go for it, then what would be the terms of your contract? How would the two of you enforce it?
Also, help me here. I'm just incredibly curious as to what the hell a single old man wants to do with the Rs. X-n Lakhs he wants immediately.
Labels: Economics, Other, Storytelling
Friday, September 07, 2007
Best, and the most depressing quote in a while
Ajay Shah writes
"A deep flaw of the intellectual landscape in India is that if you picked one topic, it isn't easy to find six good quality authors to debate it."
Monday, August 20, 2007
Where Tyler Cowen thinks I'm worth investing in
Now who would've thunk eh? I of all people to receive a merit-based gift from Tyler Cowen?
Well, I'm also quite happy that I can make a decent pitch. So now, I have one really compelling reason to find time to make a film.
I have not read Prof Cowen's new book yet, but just to see how incentives work, I've put up a flyer at work asking for short screenplays and promising the chosen writer money and full screenwriting credit. 1. I hardly get time to write my own stuff. 2. I have to get used to directing other people's writing. And 3. I teach people that more than one creative mind can actually enhance a film, and would like to see if I can come up with a first-hand example. Let me see if I can also come up with some mechanism to chose a decent crew as well.
So thank you Prof Cowen, and thanks Shruti for telling me to give it a shot.
Labels: Economics, Film, Other, Work
