6 reasons why household chores should be shared by both spouses

May 5, 2015 by Keyur Seta 4 Comments

“I am writing for the #ShareTheLoad activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ariel.”

By: Keyur Seta

Topics like women empowerment, equality for women and women liberation started trending in India after the start of the new millennium. The issue gained mammoth momentum after some disturbing crimes against women that came to the forefront since December 2012. More and more people are demanding equality and respect for women through debates that start in just any setting, be it your home, office, news channels or just any gathering.

Picture: Sarusinghal.com

Unfortunately, as far as my personal experience goes, this preaching about equality for women isn’t being practiced in a lot of families I know, including those belonging to the modern urban class. Since the last couple of decades or so, women are no longer confided to being just housewives. Although not all women are working professionals today, the number of women doing office jobs has certainly increased to a large extent.

But here is the great irony. Instead of liberating women, this change of scene has instead burdened them with double work because now they have to deal with their professional job as well as the job at home as an unpaid maid. I am talking about families I have seen closely, which includes my relatives, friends, neighbors and well-wishers (some of them might be reading this).

Despite the changing times and despite women becoming a key force in India’s financial growth, they are still expected to cook, clean, wash (clothes & utensils), look after the kids, etc. After the marriage, the husband continues his role of working in office without lending any help at home. But what’s more surprising is to see some women having no problem with this whatsoever! Of course, there are exceptions but I have comes across very few such.

This is 2015. It’s high time we practice what we preach. It is high time the workload at home is shared by both the spouses. If this doesn’t happen, your support for equality and emancipation of women is plain hypocrisy.

Sharing the workload has a lot of benefits too. Here they are:-

Love Factor: The professional scenario in modern India has become such that married couples aren’t getting much time to spend together. Sharing household chores before and after work will provide them with more ‘we’ time and rekindle their lost pre-marriage romance. Work will cease to be work when carried out with the one you love.

Anti-Stress: I can state from my personal experience that doing household chores like cooking, cleaning and washing help you de-stress from the hectic day you have had. This might sound outrageous to some but it is like a therapy.

Picture: Yahoo Movies (Daawat-E-Ishq)

Get Entertained: Putting on some music or playing Antakshari or cracking jokes will make the activity all the more joyful. Even narrating some funny or interesting incident you experienced recently will make the task very interesting. And in case if you are a filmi keeda like me, there is nothing more joyful than recalling some ham scenes from some of the terrible films. (Search ‘ham scenes’ on YouTube if you are unaware about it and chances are you might get addicted to them.)

Gratification: Contributing to running the household gives the same amount of satisfaction as completing a project at work successfully. This point also comes from my personal experience. It also provides the same kind of gratification an artist gets after finishing a piece of art.

Health Factor: Activities like cleaning, sweeping, cleaning the floor with a wet cloth, washing clothes and bringing groceries and vegetables help you exercise. I firmly believe that anything providing health and fitness benefit should be attacked upon (in a good way).

Larger Good: This is the most important point. The root cause for all crimes against women is that they are treated inferior to men. It is said that charity begins at home. If you wish to see women being liberated or treated equally in our society, start from your home. Merely preaching and supporting women empowerment in debates won’t change the social status of women unless you practice what you preach.

People, from both genders, give strange or ‘daily soap’ reactions when they get to know that I cook and do household chores (including jaadu and pochha maarna). I am waiting for the day when they won’t find anything unusual in it. Woh Subah Kabhi Toh Aayegi!

Ram Kapoor discloses the most laughable decision by Censor Board (Exclusive)

May 4, 2015 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

By: Keyur Seta

The new Censor Board, headed by ex-filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani, has been receiving criticism and flak in huge proportions following their shockingly silly decisions to ban certain words, sequences and, in some cases, an entire film. Plus, their cuss list, which prohibits harmless words like ‘sala’ and ‘kutta’ are making things worse for them.

Picture: Santabanta.com

But recently, the CBFC came up with a decision of cutting a particular scene, which is been labeled as their most laughable blunder ever. The said sequence is from Devang Dholakia’s upcoming film Kuch Kuch Locha Hai starring Ram Kapoor and Sunny Leone.

During a recent media interaction, Kapoor disclosed the cut ordered by the board. “You will laugh at this but this is a fact. There is a sequence in the film where Sunny Leone presents me with a gift. Since I have nothing to give her in return, I present her with a banana, saying it is very nutritious. This scene was chopped off by the censors.”

As we raised our eyebrows and were about to react, he added, “Wait. Would you like to know their logic? They said they are chopping it off because it is a night scene. If the situation had taken place during the day, they said they would have allowed as it wouldn’t have amounted to double meaning. But since it is a night scene, it becomes double meaning for them.”

Kapoor expressed the need to do something about this saying, “It’s absolute nonsense.”

Gabbar Is Back Review

May 1, 2015 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Director: Krish

Producers: Bhansali Productions and Viacom Motion Pictures

Writers: A R Murugadoss and Rajat Arora

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Suman Talwar, Shruti Haasan, Sunil Grover

Rating: * * ½

Review By: Keyur Seta

Frankly, you don’t need to be an expert to judge a hero-centric commercial masala entertainer. One just needs to ask whether the film provides entertainment. As far as Gabbar Is Back is concerned, it’s a mixed bag. The film is an entertaining saga but it suffers from some serious issues. But if you are an Akshay Kumar fan, you are in for a treat.

The story centers on Aditya (Akshay Kumar) in Mumbai. He is a Professor but secretly heads an anti-corruption unit that kills corrupt government officials. Aditya carries out this secret activity with the pseudonym Gabbar. He targets people from different government departments one after the other. The police try hard in tracking him but never succeed.

During one such anti-corruption exercise, Gabbar’s dark past resurfaces in the form of the corrupt, evil and ruthless businessman Digvijay Patil (Suman Talwar). How long will Gabbar continue his acts? Will he ever face its consequences? The film is an official remake of the 2002 Tamil film Ramanaa.

Picture: Wikipedia

Gabbar Is Back is a typical single-screen saga. The difference here is that it portrays the issue of corruption faced by the Common Man. No doubt, the topic is explored in mainstream Hindi cinema innumerable times. But what makes the film stand apart is the manner in which the protagonist executes his plans. The hospital or medical corruption episode is one of the most memorable sequences in recent times. Anyone with an expensive experience at a hospital will thank the film for this incident.

The film comes with a baggage of negative points. Logic isn’t important in this genre but few events are too unreal to believe. It is vital for the character of the villain to be strong to be pitted against a mighty hero. But what we have here is a foolish antagonist who is more funny than scary. For example, just minutes after the news of the passing away of his beloved son, he screams, “I am a brand!” without a tear or any sorrow whatsoever.

Unfortunately, the character of the female lead (Haasan) is also a disappointment. She is shown to be a silly girl who has nothing to do with the main plot. It is annoying to see Bollywood continuing such regressive portrayal of women even in 2015. And then, there is a raunchy item number too featuring Chitrangada Singh.

Gabbar Is Back does surprise you in the last few minutes. However, that part is difficult to digest given the genre (can’t reveal much to avoid spoilers). Plus, the penultimate events leading up to the finale aren’t so overwhelming.

Coming to the technicalities, the editing and camerawork are decent but the background score is unnecessarily loud, maybe because of the southern influence of the director Krish, which is also seen in a lot of sequences. Apart from the title track, the music isn’t noteworthy.

Lastly, it’s completely an Akshay Kumar film as far as performances are concerned. It’s a tailor-made role for him which he performs with all his might. He is surely the King of Bollywood when it comes to action. Suman Talwar, as the villain, suffers due to the characterization. He is otherwise a fine actor.

Sunil Grover and Ishita Vyas have their moments. It is sad to see Shruti Haasan doing something in which Sonakshi Sinha has achieved PhD. Jaideep Ahlawat and the rest of the actors are just average.

Overall: Gabbar Is Back is for Akshay Kumar fans. The film will earn decent at the box office but it won’t be a formidable success.

TimePass 2 (Marathi Movie) Review

May 1, 2015 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Rating: * * ½

By: Keyur Seta

Director Ravi Jadhav’s Marathi movie TimePass 2 treads on the same path as TimePass. The film is high on humor but not so high on content. In taking forward the love story of Dagadu and Prajakta, the makers have resorted to not only age-old clichés but also unconvincing factors. But there is enough entertainment for the target audience to savor this dish once.

The story of Dagadu and Praju takes a leap. Dagadu is now 30 years old and unmarried. He still dreams of Prajakta (or Parajakta), although it has been a long time since she left him. She has settled in Konkan with her father aka Shakaal (Bhalchandra Kadam) after leaving Mumbai. Prajakta’s father is eager to marry her off with a well-cultured guy.

Both Pictures: Marathistars.com

Meanwhile, Dagadu’s crazy friends encourage him to meet Prajakta, express his love for her and get married to her. Hence, he along with his friends goes on a mission to Konkan. But does Prajakta still love him? What about Shakaal who hates Dagadu to the core?

The USP of TimePass 2 is its humor. But while the comic moments in the first film were born out of Dagadu’s adolescent antics and cute obsession, here the onus is on crazy, whacky and slapstick situational comedy in plenty of doses, which keeps you entertained throughout. Although at times it appears forceful and silly, it goes with the genre.

But the problem areas are big, which cannot be ignored. The basic plot itself is questionable. Why did Dagadu wait till the age of 30 to search for Prajakta? Why didn’t the couple be in touch all these years through various technological means? Also, the twist about the secret profession of a character is completely unconvincing. The film also derails from the main aim post interval and ends on a clichéd, tried and tested manner.

From Chinar and Mahesh’ music, the song ‘Praju’ stands out. The rest of the songs fall in the ‘not bad’ or ‘decent’ category. ‘Madan Pichkari’ doesn’t go well with the family movie genre. Vasudeo Rane’s camerawork captures the beautiful Konkan in a simple and subtle manner. The background score is as per the need. The jingle ‘Insaniyat Ke Dushman’ should have been used more though.

Priyadarshan Jadhav carries the difficult task of playing the grown up Dagadu with confidence, although he overdoes on a few occasions. Priya Bapat once again provides a convincing and likeable performance. Vaibhav Mangle was remarkable in the first film. He goes few notches higher here by being convincing during both comical and emotional moments.

It is heartwarming to see Prathamesh Parab entering the scene every now and then, displaying his typical crowd-pleasing behavior. The same can be said about Ketaki Mategaonkar although she doesn’t get to speak much. Sandip Pathak and two other actors playing Dagadu’s friends are decent while Bhalchandra Kadam, as Dagadu’s father, is effective once again.

Overall: TimePass 2 is a one-time watch entertainer. The brand value and some tremendous hype will make sure that the film will break box office records.

Director: Ravi Jadhav

Producers: Nitin Keni, Nikhil Sane and Meghana Jadhav

Writers: Ravi Jadhav, Kshitij Patwardhan and Priyadarshan Jadhav

Cast: Priyadarshan Jadhav, Priya Bapat, Prathamesh Parab, Ketaki Mategaonkar, Vaibhav Mangle

Music: Chinar-Mahesh

Genre: Romance/ Comedy

Nepal Earthquake: How can you help (in the short & long run)?

April 28, 2015 by Keyur Seta 2 Comments

By: Keyur Seta

The deaths and casualties in the Nepal Earthquake are continuing to go high. According to latest reports, the death toll has now surpassed 4000 with many thousands injured. So, naturally, the help needed should be directly proportional to the magnanimity of the tragedy.

The Indian Army and a whole lot of social groups and independent volunteers are selflessly fighting day in and day out to repair the damage and help out those who are injured and stranded. The Government of India too is taking special care to make sure all the help is provided during Nepal’s hour of crisis.

But when the intensity of the crisis is so high, no help is enough. Hence, it becomes our moral responsibility to make whatever little effort to restore the situation in Nepal. If we can’t visit the affected areas personally, we can surely be there in spirit by donating as much amount as we can.

Volunteers helping

You can make a contribution to Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund in the following ways:-

The headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission at Belur Math in West Bengal are collecting funds for the Nepal Earthquake.
Phone: (91-33-) 2654-1144/1180/5391/8494/9581/9681
Email: mail@belurmath.org

Save The Children, an NGO, is providing help to the many children affected by the earthquake.
Phone: (Toll Free) 1.800.728.3843 (8:00am-5:00pm EST, M-F)
Online Donation: Click HERE

International Association for Human Values (IAHV) is also collecting funds for the tragedy.
Online Donation: http://www.iahv.org/in-en/nepal-earthquake-relief/

Friends Service Council Nepal is an organization situated in Kathmandu, Nepal which is working with respect to the tragedy.
Contact Online: http://www.fscnepal.org/contact-us/
Phone: +977-1-5201497
Email: fsc@wlink.com.np

Goonj, an Indian NGO, too is working for the rehabilitation of the victims.
Contact online: http://goonj.org/
Phone: 011 – 41611244 & 9810032527

Facebook is also doing its bit in collection fund for the tragedy.
Visit FB’s Nepal tragedy page here – https://www.facebook.com/nepalearthquakesupport

But what about the long run?

But an ideal way to help in the long run will be by making sure such devastating tragedies never take place ever. This might sound outrageous to some but I feel it is futile to blame Mother Nature for this because such tragedies are an outcome of our own greed. We have destroyed forest after forest and many other aspects of nature in the name of development and progress. Towers after towers are created without paying heed to nature.

Any development at the cost of nature or ecology is not development. It is downright destruction or violence. And since every action has a reaction, incidents like Nepal earthquake, Kashmir and Uttarakhand floods and other such incidents keep happening and, unfortunately, will continue so, if we don’t do anything in this regard.

But, you might ask, what can we do? Well, there is plenty we can do to, at least, make sure the condition of our planet isn’t worsened further.

Here are some ideas:

Picture: Prsindia.org

– Plant trees or saplings anywhere and everywhere you can.

– Avoid Firecrackers as they violently pollute the environment at an enormous level. Parents themselves should sensitize their kids about it.

– Minimize the use of cars. If you are young and fit, use as much of public transport as possible. Many of you might label me crazy but there is no other alternative to reduce traffic and pollution or to, at least, make sure it doesn’t increase further. The traffic and pollution has already crossed insane levels. Use carpooling to the maximum. Metro Rail is a major boon in this regard.

– But the above option is possible only if our government and authorities improve the condition and efficiency of our public transport systems. There should be more local trains with more bogies. Some years ago, a very lengthy B.E.S.T bus used to run on Mumbai roads. But they have stopped it for reasons best known to them. Such buses will prove to be a major boost.

– Ban deforestation or cutting trees completely. We have destroyed forests and trees enough. We should follow the policy of not a single tree being allowed to cut down.

– Make laws to minimize creation of new industries. Preserving nature is more important than making new products and inventions.

– Make sure the industrial waste is properly decomposed and not dumped carelessly into the sea or rivers.

– Ban polluting or littering into rivers even at a micro level.

Only resorting to the above and many other options will help in sustaining Mother Nature. If we ignore these measures, we should be ready for more massive earthquakes, floods, etc. The equation is simple – If we destroy nature, we can’t expect nature to bear it lying down. This is Nature’s Law and not the man-made judicial laws, so it can’t be tweaked as per our whims and fancies.

I recently read on Facebook – Nature doesn’t need us. We need nature.

Book Review: Ramayana: The Game Of Life – Shattered Dreams

April 27, 2015 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Author: Shubha Vilas

Rating: * * * *

Review By: Keyur Seta

Shattered Dreams is the second book in the six part series Ramayana: The Game Of Life by author Shubha Vilas. The first book, Rise Of The Sun Prince, succeeded in narrating the early childhood of Lord Rama in an enchanting manner (read its review HERE). The author has continued the good work in the second book. This time, Vilas has also overcome the challenge of presenting sad and serious turn of events with so much optimism and pleasantness.

The story commences when Rama is 25 years old. He is married to Sita while Laxmana is married to Urmila. Ayodhya is going through its happiest period until King Dasharata, Rama’s father, starts seeing disturbing dreams. Worried and anxious, Dasharata hurriedly organizes Rama’s coronation as the new king of Ayodhya.

Picture: Amazon.com

However, Dasharata’s dream is shattered after Rama, Sita and Laxmana are forced to go into exile due to the trick played by the evil Kaikeyi, who dreams of seeing his son Bharata on the throne of Ayodhya. Will Dasharata be able to bear separation from his beloved Rama? Will Bharata accept the throne presented to him through treachery?

Rama’s exile is looked upon as a sad incident and rightly so. But the author has presented the episode and its consequences in a positive and hopeful light. Of course, the reader does feel sad by the turn of events but Vilas’ idea of looking at the positives even in a super tragic situation moves your heart.

The character traits and wisdom of Rama, Sita and Laxmana largely help in this. But in the end, you are most awestruck by the wisdom and humility of Bharata. Normally, Ramayana is more about the greatness of the divine couple and their servant. But after reading Shattered Dreams, the youth, its target audience, will consider Bharata equally great. His love, respect and devotion for Rama will overwhelm you long after finishing the book.

Talking about the language, Vilas has continued from where he left in the first book. It is a smart example of rich language that resorts to utter simplicity. This ensures that the book will be an easy read for English literature lovers as well as for those not much into English reading. Except for few dragged portions before the exile, the pace is fast throughout. The gripping drama peppered on every situation makes sure you are always glued.

Now, some minor issues. Going by the story and events focused, the book shouldn’t have been 387 pages long. The theory that a woman should worship her husband and should always be dependent on him shouldn’t have been glorified. The series is written for today’s youth, so such regressive, patriarchal ideas should at least have been limited. The words of wisdom at the end of the page are inspiring and enlightening. However, on few occasions, that portion is too long.

Overall: Shattered Dreams is a must read for mythological lovers, especially if you have read the first book in the series. It provokes anticipation for the remaining parts.

Details:

Publishers: Jaico Books

Genre: Mythology

Pages: 387

Price: Rs 350 (available at discount on Flipkart)

What is Net Neutrality & how can you ensure the same very easily?

April 17, 2015 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

By: Keyur Seta

The support for Net Neutrality is slowly but surely spreading far and wide around the country. This isn’t surprising because it will be absolutely terrible and capitalistic if TRAI and service providers have their way. However, there are still a large number of netizens who are unaware about the whole issue and the reason for such an uproar against it.

So, here is a simple explanation of the same for them:-

How did everything begin?

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) presented a document on March 27, which proposed that telecom companies would be given a chance to make extra money out of 21 apps like Skype, Facebook Messenger, Whats App, Viber, etc. Basically, this contains all apps through which we chat, buy products and send photos, videos and audio.

The reason for such a proposal, according to TRAI, is that mobile companies are facing huge losses due to these aforementioned apps as people are able to talk, chat and send and receive data for free. For example, using Whats App has cut down on revenue earned through SMS and profit earned through ISD calls has cut down due to Skype and so on.

Picture: Neutrality.in

What will happen if this proposal is passed?

– Telecom operators will categorize internet into different segments. You will have to pay for every segment, apart from paying your normal internet service charge.

– If your telecom operator fixes a deal with an online retailer company X, you would be able to access the website of company X with good speed without any issues. However, this will also mean that the website of another retailer company Y might load slowly since it doesn’t have a deal with your telecom operator. Hence, as the website of company Y will open slowly or maybe won’t open, you will be forced to shop from company X.

– If a new emerging player joins the market, it will be next to impossible for him/her to run business successfully since big players will crush him/her due to their deal with the telecom operator.

– Airtel had recently come up with Airtel Zero service through which it tied up with FlipKart. Through this deal, the public won’t have to pay for the internet. Airtel will receive money from FlipKart. But if you try to use other services like Amazon or SnapDeal, you will have to pay. But due to the huge public outrage, FlipKart has backed out of Airtel Zero plan.

What is Net Neutrality?

Net Neutrality is the freedom to go to any website or use any online service without any restrictions whatsoever. It is a freedom that is provided to netizens and it should remain with them come what may!

What you can do to keep Net Neutrality alive?

– TRAI has put this matter up on their website and has asked for people’s responses. However, it is a barbaric 118 pages long document that is hidden in small font on their home page and that too with a title as ‘Consultancy Paper for Regulatory Framework for OTT (Over the top) Services’. Now, how would a user know that this Sanjay Leela Bhansali-like lengthy title is asking for your response on Net Neutrality? Even if s/he realizes it, do you expect that person to read 118 pages of technical stuff?

– But there are some truly kind souls who have made things terribly easy for us. They have come together and created the website – http://www.savetheinternet.in/. Just visit the site and click on the tab ‘Respond to TRAI now’ and you can send a mail to TRAI demanding Net Neutrality. It takes hardly a minute! Seriously, may God bless them!

– Keep spreading the word about Net Neutrality on social media, blogs, mass mailers, general discussions, etc. So go ahead please, soon!

Court (Marathi Movie) Review

April 14, 2015 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Rating: * * * *

By: Keyur Seta

Courts have had a long relationship with Indian films. But mostly the court proceedings shown in our movie are no way near to reality. It is only since recent times that films like No One Killed Jessica (2011), Jolly LLB (2013) and Shahid (2013) have depicted court scenes as close to reality as possible.

But director Chaitanya Tamhane’s Marathi movie Court depicts the judicial process with never-seen-before reality. However, at the same time, the film stays far away from being a documentary or docu-drama. It focuses more on the dark humorous side while raising several serious questions about our judiciary and law and order procedure.

The film revolves around Narayan Kamble (Vira Sathidar), a senior citizen from Mumbai working as a tution teacher. As a passion, he also writes and performs folk songs that depict the sorry tale of laborers and menial workers. Once, while performing, he is arrested for allegedly writing and performing a song that instigated a menial worker to commit suicide. Lawyer Vinay Vora (Vivek Gomber) fights Kamble’s case. Is Kamble Guilty?

Picture: Wikipedia

Court is not a film in conventional sense. It is an honest presentation of a court case in an actual form. The arguments inside the courtroom, the casual conversations and the everyday, routine scenes appear right out of reality. There is also no background music whatsoever while the camerawork goes with the realistic genre.

However, this doesn’t make for a tedious watch as there is continuous dark humor. In fact, the film proves that you don’t need any melodrama to make court proceedings interesting. As I have witnessed court proceedings, I too agree that the real courtroom scenes have plenty of potential for entertainment, especially if it is Sessions Court, which is the case in the film.

But amidst the humor, the film completely succeeds in its motto of presenting the sorry and, at times, disturbing realities of our judiciary system. It also hints at the removal of Victorian laws that are completely irrelevant in today’s era.

Court has a questionable aspect though. There is too much footage given to the personal lives of both lawyers and the judge. Although these parts are also entertaining and meaningful in a way, few moments appear unnecessary, especially the way the film is dragged in the last few minutes. Thankfully, this point doesn’t lower your satisfaction much.

The performances fully complement the subject. It is difficult to believe that Narayam Kamble is not a real person and is just a fictional character. This is simply because of Vira Sathidar’s excellently realistic performance. Vivek Gomber isn’t behind though. He too perfectly gets into the skin of a Gujarati defense lawyer. Pradeep Joshi, as the judge, and Geetanjali Kulkarni, as the Public Prosecutor, render brilliant acts too. Shirish Pawar shines in a supporting role.

Overall: Court is a daringly realistic saga that is also high on entertainment. The film has received the National Award for Best Feature Film and a number of other international awards and rightly so. It deserves positive word-of-mouth to make a good impact at the box office.

Director: Chaitanya Tamhane

Producer: Vivek Gomber

Writer: Chaitanya Tamhane

Actors: Vira Sathidar, Vivek Gomber, Pradeep Joshi, Geetanjali Kulkarni

AAP is different, it plays same politics differently…

April 12, 2015 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

By: Keyur Seta

Picture: Dnaindia.com

Despite the continuous crooked efforts by the enemies and a section of the media, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to win 67 out of the 70 seats in the Delhi Elections, which is an unthinkable feat. Hence, they became politically invincible. But when you are unbreakable, it only means you can’t be broken by an external force. No matter how strong you are, you can’t escape an internal collapse.

This, unfortunately, has come true for AAP. The party’s ugly internal war between Yogendra Yadav-Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal & Company has thrown the party off from the high moral ground it had created for itself. It has shown that AAP hasn’t taken time in becoming like any other political party, something it has always tried to prove otherwise.

It is always difficult to take sides in such tussles. But the events that led to this fight and Kejriwal’s reactions to it compel me to support Yadav and Bhushan. They might be blamed for making the fight public by going directly to the media. But the points raised by them are absolutely logical and give serious indications of the throwing away of principles by AAP High Command (Kejriwal).

I have explained myself through the following points:-

Click to read the leaked letter

Questionable Candidates: Yadav and Bhushan’s leaked emails show the list of people with dubious past record being included in AAP without any issue. They had even provided details of their past, which showed they indulged in hooliganism, communalism and some other criminal activities. Most of these people are ex-members of other parties.

Click to read the leaked letter

Click to read the leaked letter

I have checked the records of the people in the list (listed HERE) and I can say with certainty that Yadav and Bhushan’s concerns surely make sense. This obviously means that the party threw away its basic principles just to get people that can earn votes even if they have a criminal or dubious record. Haven’t Kejriwal and other prominent AAP members time and again criticized other parties for resorting to this very practice?

Sting Affair: Kejriwal’s sting operation where he is speaking of breaking Congress gave further indications. One can argue that he isn’t heard given money, ministerial posts or any kind of favors, which is true. But he is clearly urging his party member to break (todo) Congress’ tally of MLAs so that they can support AAP in forming the government in Delhi.

Plus, Kumar Vishwas’ cunningly reacted to the issue on a news debate. He defended AK saying he isn’t horse-trading but at the same time he maintained that he doesn’t consider the tape to be genuine. So, what exactly is your stand? Later AAP issued a statement that it was ‘political realignment’. But you don’t need to be an expert in politics to understand that such talks about breaking a party’s MLAs can never be termed as ‘realignment’.

Listen to the sting conversation:

AK’s ‘Under the Carpet’ Response: Kejriwal’s response and reaction to the whole issue made it very clear that AAP is just like any other party as far as internal democracy is concerned. Initially, he Tweeted that he doesn’t want to get involved. This was just a drama to show how clean he is despite the fact that the issue concerns him the most. After he returned from his Vipassana treatment, he released a video message on YouTube regarding the issue.

Considering him to be a man of integrity and principles, his supporters felt he will honestly speak his heart out. However, the only thing he said in the video was that ‘some people’ are trying to break the party! That’s it! Isn’t this the response of a typical double-faced politician who buries the issue under the carpet while doing a fake show of ‘All Is Well’? Doesn’t this make him one of those against whom he has waged a war?

See his message:

So-Called NC Meeting: If this wasn’t enough, the video recording of the National Council Meeting some days back became the final nail in the coffin. Kejriwal tried playing a victim by blaming Yadav and Bhushan for all. He didn’t allow the duo and their supporters inside. He saved his best (read: worst) drama for the end where he emotionally blackmailed everyone in choosing either him or ‘them’. This made the meeting into a scripted shoddy reality show. The video is also a smartly edited version.

Watch it yourself below:-

So, the question that is lurking in everyone’s minds is what will happen to AAP now? I also ask myself whether I will continue to be an AAP sympathizer. No, I won’t. Will I vote for them? Yes, I will (provided Yogendra Yadav doesn’t form his own party). But this has only to do with the fact that the other big political parties have become highly criminalized, so I am left with no other option. In front of their terrible misdeeds, AAP’s issue is negligible. The party’s performance in Delhi has so far been satisfactory, so it might be saved from completely falling apart.

But considering the ghastly events mentioned above, did we support the party for it being the lesser evil or for the honest and clean politics it always advocated?

Did people support AAP for bringing in new brand of politics or for playing politics differently?

Latest Update: Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan have been sacked/removed/expelled from AAP. I guess the only option Yadav and Bhushan have is that they start their own new political party.

Coffee Ani Barach Kahi (Marathi Movie) Review

April 4, 2015 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Rating: * * ½

By: Keyur Seta

The current lot of youngsters are suffering from generation gap when it comes to marriage. While they don’t consider concepts like ‘marriageable age’, their parents think otherwise. This conflict is explored in director Prakash Kunte’s Coffee Ani Barach Kahi through a love story that youngsters of today’s era will relate to. However, this doesn’t ensure a quality product since the film falters in the writing department.

Jai (Prarthana Behre) is a girl-next-door who believes in fairytale romances. She has recently fallen in love with her senior at work, Nishad (Vaibhav Tatyawadi). He too has similar feelings for her. One evening, Nidhad calls Jai at a coffee shop as he has finally decided to propose to her. However, just as Jai is about to leave, her father informs her that his friend’s son (Bhushan Pradhan) will be coming to see her for marriage. What will she do now?

Coffee Ani Barach Kahi scores well while presenting a realistic situation of a young girl mildly forced to meet a prospective groom while she is in love with someone else. Although this idea isn’t novel by any means, it is presented in a new-age manner, which also makes sure that the parents don’t turn out to be atyacharis, thankfully. The same modern presentation is also seen in the office romance. The real subtle humor too makes the proceedings viewer-friendly in the first half, despite not much story progression.

After defining the basic plot in the first half, you naturally expect the story to move forward. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen as the audience is presented with pretty much the same thing that they were served in the first half. The writers tell us the story we already know and present us with the age-old filmi climax. In a bid to make the film simple, they end up making it bland.

The film is blessed by the magical romantic track ‘Rang He Nave Nave’. Its violin tune, which is also used in the background, deserves to be saved in your mobile phone. The cinematography and editing turn out to be decent.

Prarthana Behre is does justice to the character of Jai, in which she fits perfectly. Vaibhav Tatwawadi is also natural. You easily feel for him. Bhushan Pradhan does well as the mature guy who comes to see Jai. After Samhita and Ajoba, Neha Mahajan continues her good work. Ashwini Ekbote, Vidyadhar Joshi, Ila Bhate and Suyash Tilak offer good support. Dilip Prabhavalkar is memorable in a cameo.

Overall: Coffee Ani Barach Kahi is an average romantic film. The film will have a tough time at the box office due to biggies like Detective Byomkesh Bakshy and Fast & Furious 7 releasing on the same day.