Indian F1: Vroom & Glamor show

It was action packed Sunday and a great day for Indian fans of Formula 1 as they witnessed red bull driver Sebastian Vettel winning the first Indian Grand Prix at Buddha International Circuit in Greater Noida, India. Audiences were very enthusiastic and supportive. Though there were long traffic jams on the way to circuit but people were patient and did not create any kind of ruckus. Initially there were apprehensions considering the recent postponement of legendary rock group Metallica's show cancellation in New Delhi which upset people and hence created a complete chaotic scenario.

Buddha International Circuit was full of celebrities. From Lady Gaga, Rowan Atkinson to Richard Branson to complete bollywood (Hindi Film Mumbai Industry) celebrities like superstar Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone with her boyfriend Siddharth Mallya son of Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, Imran Khan, Reitesh Deshmukh, Sanjay Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, Minissha Lamba etc and some hot shot Indian cricket players master blaster and a friend of German legend race drive Michael Schumacher Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Virendra Sehwag etc. It seems from tycoons to bollywood Celebes to corporate leaders and even politicians everybody in India wanted to be part of the show.

  

Indian Grand Prix: Action And Fun

Today is the qualifying round of first Indian Grand Prix at Buddha International Circuit in Greater Noida. Indian audience is witnessing first time high speed vroom action in the beautiful mega stadium which has the capacity of almost one Lac spectators. Lady Gaga is also in the town to give a glimpse of her action in the closing ceremony of Indian Grand Prix. She may perform with an Indian DJ on specially made Indian style stage. It would really be exciting to see how Lady Gaga performs. Metallica concert was postponed on Thursday night in New Delhi. It was a complete case of chaos at the venue.

30th October is the day for final race and many Bollywood celebrities have given their confirmation to be a part of this high speed romance. Many Indian corporate giants will also be seen on final race day. In fact, everybody & every organization are trying to catch the racing mania and also trying to promote their cause. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) also made an effort to promote their cause of vegetarianism by dressing their girls as sexy pit crew girls holding signs of 'Rev Your Engine- Go Vegan'.

Indian F1: A dog's tale

It was a quite a scene at first Indian Grand Prix which started on Friday, 28th October, when a stray dog ran out during the first practice session. Organizers had a tough time chasing the dog, thankfully there was no accident. This is not the first time animals sighted on the F1 race track. Former F1 driver, Christiano DaMattah hit a deer at the road America Circuit in the USA in 2006. HRT driver Karthikeyan also sighted hares running across circuits in England Formula 3.

Bollywood goes super hero way...

Ra.One is not the first film on super hero in India and it won't be the last film. Hollywood has seen so much commercial success in exploiting the charisma of these comic superheroes on the box office and this propelled filmmakers across the movie world to bring local super heroes on their silver screen. Earlier attempts on superhero films in India failed miserably. First major success was Hritik Roshan's 'Koi Mil Gaya' and then 'Krrish'. Producer and director Rakesh Roshan in a true sense brought an Indian superhero 'Krrish' first time on Indian celluloid. Though Krrish's character was not from any comic book unlike Batman, Spiderman or Superman movies but he has the superpower to fight evil, fly in the sky and like any Indian hero he can dance with beautiful heroines.

Ra.One is also an attempt to take advantage of this superhero mega market by Bollywood superstar who has pumped all his money to produce this special effect superhero film. Ra.One film heavily depends on copied special effects from Hollywood movies and throws a genuine question on artistic creativity in Indian cinema. Can’t we create original content instead of borrowing, which often our filmmakers call ‘inspired content and treatment’? If we have to still make films on superheroes, then can’t we develop a good genuine character and give him the powers which might be the byproduct of local situations and hence give justice to the craft of film-making.

F1 with Bottled Beer & Indian Curry

Indian curry and Indian Chiken Tikka Masala has always been referred as true British dish. Why I am talking about this? Those friends who are coming to India to be a part of the first Indian Grand Prix excitement in Greater noida now has a chance to taste awesome Indian Curry and spicy chiken tikka masala. The best combination while watching the race would be Indian curry with chilled Beer. It is also the advice of famous cricketer Andrew Flintoff.

Indian Grand Prix: F1 race track unveiled

Indian Grand Prix is going to develop a whole new horizon of racing and its related business in India. First time Buddha International Circuit was unveiled on Tuesday and famous F1 racer Neel Jani was the first to drive his F1car. There are total 16 turns and maximum speed will be 320km/h.  Circuit is looking grand and it has used latest technology to develop this 5 kilometer circuit in not less than 400 million dollars. This track is designed by famous F1 racing track German designer Harmann Tilke. It would be special experience for Indians as well as racing enthusiasts.

Indian Grand Prix Official Website

Sahib Biwi aur Gangster: Movie Review

Who want's to watch a movie with the almost same story and not so great treatment? 'Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster' takes its name from greatest Hindi film 'Shib Biwi Aur Ghulam (1962 movie)'. There are some common points in these two films like, the rich man has a mistress and he has hardly any time for his beautiful wife, who is almost living in seclusion. There was a house help in ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam’ who was faithful to the rich man and his wife. Here, director Tigmanshu Dhulia instead of house help mends his plot to introduce a opportunist character who develops a relationship with his master's wife. This film has used Uttar Pradesh as its milieu and tried hard to infuse local sensibilities and lingo with the huge emphasis on delivering dialogues as much loudly as the actors (Randeep hooda, Jimmy Shergill, Mahie Gill) can.

This film might have worked as a good thriller but it deviates many times. Direction is not as impressive as I expected with Tigmanshu who has directed a very powerful film like Haasil. 

I feel, what differentiates between director like Vishal Bhardwaj and Tigmanshu Dhulia is Vishal always tries to improvise himself with the craft, story and he is the one director who squeezes his milieu to the core and always gives an authentic feel to the movie. Tigmanshu has to work hard on these lines to give memorable movies like Vishal Bhardwaj.

     

Reality of no reality: Random Thoughts

Sometimes you want to write, express something but your mood spoils it. Same thing was with me last night. I decided to refresh myself with idiot box. I switched on the TV and changed channels after channels, but pity there was not a single show which was fresh and offered something interesting to watch out for. I enjoy travel and food shows and sometimes watch good movies on the television.

While swapping channels, there were some reality shows which attracted my attention. It was all about drama and seems everything scripted. Most of the reality shows which have decent ratings are borrowed shows either from USA or from Australia or some other European countries. Who wants to be millionaire is Kaun Banega Crorepati, Fear Factor is Khatron ke Khiladi, Masterchef also has an Indian edition, American Idol is Indian Idol in India, Big Brother is Big Boss etc...: list is endless and they are still going strong. What is noticeable here is a complete bankruptcy of creative energy. How much Indian television is going to survive on copied format and content? It is always easy to borrow a format but always difficult to develop a fresh one.

  

Marzieh Vagamehr: Free Country but not free people

Iran is a free country but it seems Iranians are not free people. How can any government punish its artist with 90 lashes and one year in jail? This happened with Marzieh Vafamehr, who starred in My Tehran For Sale. This film was made in 2009 and also premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. It is being said that this cruel punishment was due to a scene in the film where she appeared with a shaved head and without any headscarf.

Punishment of this sort raises highest concern over creative artistic freedom. 

Bol: Movie or reflection of Pakistani Women?

These days I hardly get time to watch any movie and whenever I get that precious time, I try to use that moment completely and watch something very selective. Yesterday was such day and I selected Bol, a Pakistani movie to watch. It was an fulfilling experience and my selection was right. After watching 'Bol' movie, I was compelled to think whether situation of women is really that bad in Pakistan as shown in the movie or it is just a movie. One can argue over the style of making of this film, which is slow, long and a bit outdated but one can not take his/her eyes off from the matter it raises and that too convincingly. Plight of women is a major area of concern in not only Pakistan but in whole South Asia. 

I recommend everyone who believes in good cinema and concern about the plight of women to watch this extremely good film, which forces you to think again and again. 

Links:

http://bolthemovie.com/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1891757/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bol_(film)#Cast

Indian F1 Will Bring More Action...

It’s just the beginning for India. Buddha International Circuit is giving its final touches to the circuit in Greater Noida for first Indian Grand Prix, which will see all the action from October 28^th to 30^th October. To cash this grand event completely there would be a splurge in first time activities across India. It is certain that every media will report this mega event and hence will generate a enormous curiosity for this type of events in future.

Sports management companies are ready with plans to capitalize first Indian Grand Prix. In the coming months, motor racing will witness a growth path in major cities. Motor sports Management Company using cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador, have plans to open city based franchise competition from December. They are hopeful that if this enthusiasm clicks among youngsters they won’t hesitate to try out league based formats like Indian Premier League of cricket. It would be great to see all these actions first time taking place in India. It’s like we don’t have to go to other places to enjoy these actions. Let’s vroooom….

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Celebrities for Indian Grand Prix

This is one of the biggest event of our times. Developing country like India has taken a leap in terms of staging big events. Country is prepared to witness Formula 1 championship on its soil. Indian Grand Prix will witness top drivers driving their machines on Buddhist International Circuit from 28^th October to 30^th October. But without celebrities there is no fun in any event. A number of Hollywood and Bollywood (Indian film industry primarily Hindi film industry) celebrities are going to make this event bigger for fans.

Though Parish Hilton just left the country after her promotional tour, lady Gaga has confirmed that she would be performing in the closing ceremony on 30^th October. Heavy metal band Mettalica would be doing live and televised concerts alongside Formula 1 race. This great band would be performing on 28^th October in Delhi and 30^th October in Banglore.

Shahrukh khan, one of the biggest celebrity and superstar of Bollywood has already booked the corporate box. Actor Arjun Rampal’s resto-bar Lap, which is in Samrat Hotel, New Delhi will host all the parties during the race. Many more confirmations are yet to come. I will update on this front.

New Dawn - the Indian Grand Prix

All those who were waiting for an international event in India now have a reason to cheer. Most publicized and glamorous event of the world Formula 1 race is finally going to take place in Greater Noida on 30^th October 2011. Number of laps would be 60 and total circuit length would be 5.137 KM in Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of India.  

This area will witness a tourism boom as fans from all over the world will be heading here to witness this phenomenon event’s newest destination. Now everything is set for the big day and most of world top drivers have given a final nod to race in this Buddha International circuit, attention is turning to shortages of finest hotels, cab services and increased airline prices.

Though there are very few hotels in Greater Noida and Noida area, New Delhi is fast becoming a viable and up market choice. But it is being said that 40 kilometer distance between New Delhi to Greater Noida is a bit problematic also considering the flow of traffic. Though, both authorities are doing their best by widening the link roads to New Delhi.  The timing of this grand event is also very good. It will be just after the Diwali celebrations, which is on 26^th October. It is the biggest festival of India and many tourists who would be coming for this event will have an experience of their lifetime of this great festival of lights too. 

Link: 

Indian Grand Prix

Radission Blu Hotel Noida