Author: The Metrognome

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Film

Review: Gurukul

Langourous and tedious by turns, the Marathi film ‘Gurukul’ does not do justice to the plot with its slow pace.
by Ravi Shet

Rating: 2 out of 5

Written and directed by Rommel Rodrigues, Gurukul is a social drama that centres on ‘Gurukul’ an educational institution in a town named Ranjangaon. Its head, Nanasaheb Vishwanath Gokhale (Nagesh Bhosle), is fondly referred to as Guruji. The film starts with a party thrown for Ravi Thakur, one of Gurukul’s ex-students, who has won the CEO of the Year award. His friends Rishi and Rajeev also meet in the party along with their spouses. The three couples have been ex-students of Gurukul, and they plan to take some time out of their busy schedules to visit their college and Guruji.

During their road trip to Ranjangaon, they remember their good times at Gurukul and the film goes into flashback. The story starts from the day they enter the premises of Gurukul for the first time. One day, Rishi sees the news item of a Lavani show and plans to go with Ravi, Rajeev and another classmate. They cautiously leave from the hostel and reach the place; however they are not able to find the place where the show is happening; instead, the person guiding them takes them to bar where they play cards.

The bar is raided and everyone is arrested, however once Rishi and his friends say they are students of Gurukul, the police inspector takes them directly to Guruji. On hearing the incident, Guruji reacts in a very gentle manner towards the four students.

 

By the end of first half, these three couples are shown to graduate from Gurukul. It is in the second half of the movie, that the audiences realise that the existing Gurukul is different from the past one and also Guruji is no longer serving there due to local politician Girishbhau Velangekar (Vidyadhar Joshi) who has taken over Gurukul by fraudulent means.

Only the Lavani number sung by Asha Bhosale and the film’s plot can entice you into watching this film. The pace of the film is patchy and the first half is really boring. Watch at your own peril.

(Picture courtesy timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

Categories
Enough said

Nothing’s changed in Kashmir

Where is all the money from Government packages going? There seems to be no change on the ground in Kashmir.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

I visited the Kashmir Valley last fortnight, my first visit since the terrible floods of 2014 and the PDP-BJP tie up in the State. I was curious to see what changes were underway in the State; after all, a lot of Government money is being poured into the area by way of ‘packages’ worth crores of rupees.

As expected, nothing has changed. There are no traces of any help being given. The roads are still run down and broken. The pavements are still dented, the bridges still damaged, the garbage still sitting in undisturbed piles. Amidst all of this, only one thing has changed – strays abound in this once-beautiful city. They were not there before.

There is little transparency or accountability in this conflict zone, and nobody dares question the political tie-up in the State. The PDP’s rationale when allying with the BJP was that the tie-up would help get finance to repair the damage of the flood. But it has more than a year, and the supposed packages have still not done their work. Why is this so?

I wonder if those announced packages have reached J&K, or are they still stuck in file jottings? Or has the money come in but the repair and restoration happening at a glacial pace – so glacial, that they show no signs anywhere? In the backdrop of all this is the people’s resentment about the PDP tying up with the Right wing BJP.

What has been introduced in J&K is the presence of more check points. The police and army seem in total control of the place and its people.

The worst hit are the State’s young, especially those who were born in the 1990s and who have never seen the face of peace. There are no recreational centres, playgrounds and reading rooms for the youth, and this lack of a venting space is making the youth very volatile. The youth are not impressed by speeches made in Delhi, they want basic dignity and freedom. If the PDP does not recognise this in time, it has a potential problem on its hands.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy www.digitaljournal.com. Image is a file picture used for representational purpose only)

Categories
Event

Jazz on, Delhi!

Jazz concert this evening will not just present musicians from Manhattan, but will also talk about the history of jazz.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Delhi has the chance to get all jazzy this evening, Sunday, August 9.

Jazzaddicts bring to the national capital an evening of jazz with a ‘Back to the future’ concert headlined by Rajeev Raja (Jazz and fusion flautist) accompanied by international jazz musicians, all the way from Manhattan, New York. The concert is being organised at Qla, Delhi today, August 9, 2015. Jazzaddicts in an attempt to revive the original sounds of Jazz (sounds of foot stomping, swinging Jazz music) to which one can dance and snap one’s fingers.

This concert will combine performance with presentation, with a power point presentation that outlines the evolution of jazz from its beginning to the modern days live on stage. Rajeev Raja will present the history of jazz using a laptop and a giant screen. Meanwhile, the Manhattan musicians will perform jazz music from different eras. A band member said, “We are indebted to Jazz for the impact it has had on our development as musicians. The least we can do is spread awareness of this sublime form of music.”

Their most recent performance was to a packed house at the NCPA Experimental theatre in Mumbai. It took the audience by storm, as it was both incredibly informative and widely entertaining.

Categories
Listen

Attend: Hindustani classical vocal recital

The NCPA Mumbai hosts two vocal recitals by Kalpana Zokarkar and Ramakant Gaikwad this evening. Do not miss this performance.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If you are a Hindustani classical music lover, you wouldn’t want to miss this performance.

This evening, the NCPA hosts two recitals featuring classical and semi-classical streams of Hindustani music, as presented by two talented vocalists. Kalpana Zokarkar and Ramakant Gaikwad.

Trained in classical music by her father, Krishnarao (Mamasaheb) Mujumdar, Kalpana was also groomed by senior artistes like Sushila Pohankar and VU Rajurkar. Gifted with an appealing voice, she has an equal command over the classical and light classical styles of music. In a career spanning three decades, Kalpana has won numerous accolades.

Born in a musical family, Ramakant Gaikwad has trained with his parents, Suryakant and Sangeeta Gaikwad. As a practitioner of Patiala gharana, he also specialises in thumri presentation, and has a penchant for thumris immortalised by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.

At NCPA, 6.30 pm today, Friday, August 7, 2015. Tickets are priced at Rs 150 and are available here.

(Picture courtesy NCPA, Mumbai)

 

Categories
Eat

5 must-visit burger joints in Mumbai

Mumbai is spoilt for choice when it comes to burger options. We pick 5 little-known places for your eating pleasure.
by Ravi Shet

Burgers are awesome. Vegetarian or not, they are sumptuous and addictive. We went burger-hopping recently and came across 5  places in the city where you can munch scrumptious burgers.

Here is our list, in no particular order.

  1. Café Free India, Lower Parel

Veg Parmaggiano Burger_Cafe Free IndiaThis place has yellow and white walls with wooden chairs and tables, and is situated opposite Deepak Cinema. It was founded by Sachin Roche in May 2012. All their burgers have hand-made patties and are accompanied by fries. Their Veg Parmaggiano Burger (Rs 260) consisting of vegetarian fried patty topped with a tomato concasse and parmesan crust, Juicy Lucy Chicken (Rs 275) consisting of crumb fried patty filled with Swiss and cheddar cheese and Crunchy Cajun Chicken Burger (Rs 275) consisting of cornflakes-crusted chicken breast with a Cajun rub are worth trying out. Sachin says that all patties are hand-made and nothing is kept frozen so that customers can enjoy fresh patties. He also adds that he keeps on experimenting with the patties so that he can offer customers different options.

  1. Meltz Treatz, Kandivali (West)

Serving 100% vegetarian burgers from January 2015, this place is located at Mahavir Nagar, next to Sukh Sagar Restaurant and near D-Mart. Co-owned by Indian Spiced Oats & Moong Dal Burger_Meltz Treatzfranchise owners Nirmala Valavan, Jaya Bhalchandran, Parvati Vishwanthan and Mukund Sadrani, this place is open on all days from 12 pm to 11 pm serving customers vegetarian burgers in four different buns – Foccacia, Seeded Burger Buns, Multi-grain and Italian Herbs and cheese.

Their Curried Vegetable Burger (Rs 59) consists of veggies having flavours from northern part of India, Chick Peas and Spinach Burger (Rs 59) and Indian Spiced Oats and Moong Dal Burger (Rs 79) are my best picks for their taste and flavours. Nirmala says that the outlet was started to serve healthy burgers which are not easily available at most places.

  1. The Big Burger, Powai

The Big Burger_The Big BurgerThis outlet is situated at Hakone Children’s Park, Hiranandani Garden and is founded by Nick Bagga in 2010. They serve grilled meat burgers in chicken or mutton, as well as paneer and crispy vegetarian burgers. Italian Chicken Burger (Rs 160) consisting of chicken, pesto mayo and mozzarella and The Big Burger (Rs 250) consists of two portions of mutton meat and a cheese slice, and are really worth trying out.

Also, the Punjabi Burger (Rs 90) consisting of corn and palak with spicy mint sauce is a good treat for vegetarians. Nick says that the recipes for patties and sauces are his.

  1. The Good Food Co., Vile Parle (East)

Founded in December 2011 by Anuj Jodhani, this place is located at Nehru Road, opposite Brijwasi Sweets. It serves 100% vegetarian burgers. Simply Vego Burger (Rs 50), Corn Cheese Surprise Burger (Rs 100) and Mexicano Burger (Rs 100) are great eats here. Anuj says that the menu comprises only 5 vegetarian burgers, but all are hits among the customers. The outlet plans to add more burger options soon.

  1. Urban Burger 11, Goregaon (West)

At a walkable distance from Goregaon railway station, this outlet at Aarey Road has been serving vegetarian and non-vegetarian burgers from March 2015. Burger_Urban Burger 11Minty Veg Burger (Rs 45), Chicken Burger (Rs 45) and Chicken Schezwan Burger (Rs 55) are my best picks from here. The patties are hand-made. Hitesh Patel, owner of the outlet says that he wants to introduce more options and is currently experimenting on various combinations.

Categories
Read

Asiatic Library opens its doors to world scholars

Over 200 years old, the Asiatic Library’s treasures will be digitised and stored in DVD and microfilm format for reference.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The Fort-based Asiatic Library has long been a source of study and inspiration for scores of scholars and academicians. Mumbai and the rest of the State have long revelled in the Library’s bounties. The Library contains valuable resource material, periodicals, books, magazines, newspapers and other published material.

Digitising the Asiatic LibraryHowever, users have rued the fact that the paper format publications were in a state of constant decline. This meant that this treasure trove of information would not be available to subsequent generations of readers and scholars.

This picture is set to change, however. A mega digitisation project is soon to be underway, to make the Library’s treasures accessible to scholars all over the world. The Governor of Maharashtra Ch Vidyasagar Rao on Wednesday, August 5, 2015, inaugurated the Digitisation Project of the 211-year-old Asiatic Society Library in Mumbai.

Under the digitisation project, 1 lakh books, 2,500 manusripts and 1,200 maps will be digitised and the output will be saved in the form of DVDs and microfilms. The project is expected to open up the treasures of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai to scholars in the world.

The Government of Maharashtra has sanctioned Rs 5 crore to the Asiatic Society for the digitisation project.

President of the Society SG Kale is said to have told the Governor that the Library has a collection of 2,55,463 books and bound volumes of periodicals. He further informed that the Library has a collection of more than 12,000 coins including the gold coin of Kumar Gupta, a gold muhar of Akbar and coins of Shivaji Maharaj. The Governor was shown the old manuscripts, antique books, maps and other special collections of the Library including old coins on this occasion.

(Pictures courtesy Raj Bhavan, Mumbai)

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