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Film

Kashish Film Fest to return next month

The ‘Queer Film Festival’ comes back for the sixth time at three iconic locations in South Mumbai; registrations have opened.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival returns for its sixth edition this May – with a lineup of around 180 films from 44 countries, it is bigger tha previous editions. South Asia’s biggest and India’s only mainstream LGBT film fest will be held between May 27 and 31, 2015 at three venues – the iconic art deco Liberty Cinema, Alliance Francaise de Bombay and the Max Muller Bhavan. Online delegate registrations have opened on the festival website www.mumbaiqueerfest.com.   

“We are indeed very happy to continue to organise our festival at Liberty as the main venue. Its grandeur and scale is befitting the ambitious scale of KASHISH this year,” said festival director Sridhar Rangayan. “Considering the sheer number of entries we received and the diversity of experiences each of them offered, we decided to expand the framework of KASHISH. We have included one more venue to accommodate more films, so that the audience has more varied choice of films to pick and view. In terms of venues, films, allied events there is a lot the festival has to offer this year,” he added.

There will be film screenings, book readings, panel discussions and performances, all of them highlighting the cultural diversity of its host city Mumbai. The theme for this year, ‘Reaching Out, Touching Hearts’ reflects the urgent need for all of to reach across barriers and boundaries and reach out to everyone – parents, families, friends, colleagues and peers. KASHISH is not only a platform for showcasing quality cinema, but also a platform for creating awareness about human rights and equal rights, the organisers said.

“This year the influx of film submissions was so high, the preview panel had to work hard to pick the best. Our festival is slowly and steadily becoming a platform for filmmakers and audience to come together to share and experience quality LGBT cinema,” said Saagar Gupta, Director of Programming.

KASHISH is organised by Solaris Pictures, and The Humsafar Trust is the co-organiser.

The schedule

May 27 to 31, 2015 at Liberty Cinema,

May 28 to 30, 2015 at Alliance Française de Bombay, and

May 29 to 30, 2015 at Max Mueller Bhavan (screening only on May 30, 2015).

Look up www.mumbaiqueerfest.com for details. There is a 20% early bird discount till April 26, 2015.

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Watch

NGO children perform for live audiences

NCPA’s outreach initiative for NGO-supported children in Mumbai will feature various kids’ stage performances in front of a live audience.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It is always a joy to see young children performing songs, dances and other acts. Today, you will get the chance to see a lot of great shows put up by children, at the NCPA.

This multi-genre,  multilingual event will feature performances by young children from different NGOs based in Mumbai. As a part of the NCPA’s outreach initiatives, these talented performers will get the opportunity to perform on a professional stage in front of a live audience. The event includes a range of wide performances from group singing, a puppet show featuring the Panchatantra tales, a Judo pyramid and dance performances in the styles of Bollywood, folk music, Odissi and Gotipua depicting the Dashavataar from Geet Govinda.

Talent from NGOs such as the Bal Jeevan Trust, Apun Ka Club, Mumbai Mobile Creches, E.A.R., Aseema and Seva Sadan and others will be showcased as a part of this show.

Admission for all on a first-come-first-served basis. Head to the Experimental Theatre, NCPA, at 3 pm.

(Picture courtesy ncpamumbai.com. Image is a file picture)

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Tech

Review: CyanogenMod 12 OS on the OnePlus One

We take a look at the OnePlus One’s hardware and software specs, and come away impressed by CyanogenMod 12 OS.
by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

OnePlus’ story in the Indian market has been quite unique. The company gained popularity on the social media for its invitation-based buying procedure (which the company has now stopped). So, when I got a chance to try the phone (64 GB sandstone black model) for more than just five minutes at my own leisure, I was obviously interested in checking how well its hardware and software really stack up for its price of Rs 21,999.

The looks. As soon as you pick the device up, you realise how different it is to other smartphones and how well it fits in your palm. The phone is not small, which has a lot do to with its thick bezel in the front. The front has a 5.5-inch full HD (JDI) panel (Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top) with three touch keys at the bottom and ear-speaker grille, sensors, LED notification and 5 MP front-facing camera above. The top and bottom have a silver ring all across and a noticeable curve to them and gel well with the overall look of the phone.

The left panel has the SIM card tray – you get one nano SIM card tray inside the phone and one micro SIM card tray in the box, so you can use whichever you need. The right panel gets the Volume rocker and Power/Lock key – I just wish these keys had more tactile feedback for pressing. The top has a nicely-drilled 3.5mm headset jack and secondary mic; while the bottom gets the microUSB 2.0 port in the middle and speaker grilles and primary mic around it. The back sports a 13 MP oval camera module with a dual LED flash, and the OnePlus logo near the middle. The more you use it, the more it seems the company had a good idea on the paper for its design.

Software and performance. Under the hood, the One carries a Snapdragon 801 chipset (2.5 GHz quad-core processor, Adreno 330 GPU) coupled with 3 GB of RAM. The phone had CM11S (Android 4.4.4) out of the box, but I flashed its official CM12 zip file (though the official OTA update must have started rolling out when this piece goes up).

The first thing you notice on getting CM12 (based on Android 5.0.2) is the new Cyanogen boot animation. On getting the phone started, I liked how refreshing the new icons looked. There are no shabby or ill-fitted icons here. The default launcher has been assigned to the Google Now Launcher. The OS supports Ambient Display, which gives you a glance at notifications as soon as you pick the device, something we have seen on the Moto X and the new Moto E. It also supports double-tap to wake and double-tap to lock the screen. In the previous OS version, you can choose to either have on-screen navigation keys or keep using the physical touch keys.

As soon as you enable on-screen keys, the touch keys fade out and become non-functional. The pull-down notification and toggle button has been tweaked a bit. You can pull down to check notification and if you pull it lower you get toggle buttons, something that requires two swipes in stock Android, and this one feels better to use. You also get to see downloading speeds when updating or downloading an app from the Play Store, another thing that might be useful for a lot of people.

CM’s App Themer allows you to apply themes from their store, and also change icons, font, sound options. Using your Cyanogen Account, you can choose which ones you want to download and apply. Another interesting feature is Privacy Guard, which gives you full control of what apps (whether a system app or a third-party app) on your phone are required to access your location, network data, messages and phone resources.

The recent app Menu is same as card-like stock Android with an added clear button for clearing all apps from the list at once. Though I was a bit disappointed by the camera app, which could do with a bit of work on its viewfinder, focus and even sharpness, there’s some work in progress for the same, apparently. It won’t be wrong to say that CM looks cohesive and nice on the OnePlus One. There are not too many changes done, but quite a few useful changes and addition made to Android that many will like how their phone functions. The phone works smoothly, is able to load u and exit apps just as one would need and can handle multiple Web browser tabs without struggling. The phone’s battery life is also satisfactory.

The verdict. Overall, the OnePlus One’s OS is cohesive, smooth, well-designed and has many options users will like. You get a good 64 GB (54 GB available space) smartphone for these many bucks (and about Rs. 19,000 for 16 GB), an active community if you’re interested in tinkering with your phone, which makes it even better than several other phones for some. The invite system is still the procedure you would have to follow (can’t say I like it), though there are now also no-invite normal online sales once every week.

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Watch

Dhruv and Ila go goth for ‘Dhima’

Mumbai musician, lyricist and guitarist Dhruv Ghanekar and folk singer Ila Arun star in ‘Dhima’, a goth-inspired video for ‘Voyage’.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mumbai musician Dhruv Ghanekar, after performing music across all genres and media, is now back with a new album, ‘Voyage’. The single Dhima in this album is composed and performed by Dhruv Ghanekar and noted folk artiste Ila Arun. Dhruv is confident that the innovative video will make audiences sit up and take notice.

“The video for Dhima can be described as a hybrid of gothic rock, North African rhythms, and new wave,” Dhruv explains. “The song is inspired by the desert of Rajasthan and North Africa. I have been listening to music from West and North Africa and found that there are so many intrinsic synergies in both the musical cultures. The marriage of these two sounds was screaming to be fused!” He adds that Ila Arun was a logical fit to sing the song as she is “the queen of folk music in India.” Karim Ziad, who hails from Algeria but is a Parisian, performs on the drums while Linley Marthe performs bass. “This sort of video has not been done in the country. Director Razy Ghai has given it a Steam Punk Gothic vibe and created a visually stunning interpretation that challenges the viewer both sonically and visually,” Dhruv explains.

He claims that the gothic grunge themed video features an eclectic blend of “the fantastic, the ghoulish, the bizarre and the forbidden”. The crew was excited about Ila doing the video – she excelled, decked out in a dark gothic attire with her signature husky voice bringing a distinct sound to the single. The sexy, extravagant video explores the dark side of human nature with visions of anarchy, monsters, love and death set in a Burlesque Goth setting. She says, “When I was asked to collaborate on an ethnic folk song on Dhruv Ghanekar’s international world music album with such a star-studded array of musicians from all over the world, I was thrilled and nervous. However, the experience of recording the song turned out to be fantastic and totally invigorating.”

Watch the promo of the video:

 

For the uninitiated, Dhruv Ghanekar is a composer, producer and highly respected guitar player based in Mumbai. He has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in music in India and in the international arena. He has collaborated and performed with Vieux Farka Toure, Richard Bona, Trilok Gurtu, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Bernard Purdee, AR Rahman, Raul Midon, Bob Belden, Scott Kinsey, Etienne M’Bappe, Dominic Dipiazza, Louis Banks and Ranjit Barot, to name a few. He has also performed at many leading festivals around the world as a leader of his band ‘Dhruv’, and composed music for over 3,500 commercials, many of which have won awards in India and abroad.

Dhruv has also scored music for many chart-busting film hits and several television programmes, including the prestigious BBC 1 – UK, Star TV, PIX, SONY and many more.

Categories
Eat

5 must-visit eateries to beat the heat

We pick five of Mumbai’s best juice and falooda centres that whip up awesome concoctions to cool you off this summer.
by Ravi Shet

The mercury is rising by the day and making us more tired, thirsty and craving for cool food. This summer, beat the heat by consuming fresh fruit juices, ice creams, faloodas, and kulfis.

In our endeavour to keep the citizens of this great city well hydrated and healthy this summer,we present a handy list of places to help beat the heat with their mind-blowing concoctions and versatile variations! Read on…

Watermelon Juice n Mango Milkshake, GunjalGunjal Juice Center, Dadar TT

Established in 1960, this place has been a haven for riders passing from Tilak Bridge towards Khodadad Circle, Dadar TT. The centre is open between 10.30 am and 11.00 pm. All juices are made as per order; they don’t stock any of their juices and they never use stale fruit. The ever-smiling manager Swapnil Karale says that their lemon juice (Rs 15), watermelon juice (Rs 40) and mango milkshake (Rs 100, in pic on left) are hot selling items in this season.

Must try – Watermelon juice and Mango milkshake.

Apple A Day, Khar West

Looking for healthy, fresh vegetable and fruit juices with no sugar or additives? This little place in Khar is worth a visit. Founded by the Sakpal brothers – Kiran and Sanket– in May 2013, this place is a boon to the people who believe that they should consume their juices in a fresh and natural form.Chopping and blending of vegetables and fruits are done only once you place the order. Their Carrot-Beet-Ginger-Mint (Rs 69), Carrot-Cucumber-Celery (Rs 69) and Wheatgrass Shot (Rs 69) are really worth trying. Kiran Sakpal, co-founder of this establishment says that even though they have a menu, they offer customised preparations as per customer’s requirements. For instance, if you don’t want ginger in your Carrot-Beet-Ginger-Mint juice, they will do it for you, as also whip up a juice with the ingredients of your choice.

Must try – Carrot-Beet-Ginger-Mint and Carrot-Cucumber-Celery juices to combat the heat.

Baba Falooda, Mahim

Look no further for cool and quick service than Baba Falooda (see their kulfi falooda in pic above). Irfanbhai, the son of owner Abdullah Bilakhia, says that they have been in the business for the past 34 years and believe that all the 20-odd items on the menu are quite popular among the people who throng to their place. Hence, they do not believe in adding 100 more recipes to the menu, focussing instead on delivering what the public loves. The Baba Special Falooda (Rs 100), the Dry Rabdi Kulfi Falooda (Rs 100) and Baba Double Special Falooda (Rs 130) are my personal favourites from this place.

Must try – Baba Special Falooda and Dry Rabdi Kulfi Falooda for sinful gluttony.

Prabhu Ice Cream, Mulund West

Situated diagonally opposite Mulund railway station, this place has been a hit among Mulund residents for years now. Established Kulfi Falooda Rabdi, Prabhu Ice Cream24 years ago, they have been serving people from 9.30 am to 1.00 am from the time of their inception. Sunil Karle, manager, says that their customers demand their kulfis and mango milkshake more during the summer season. I love their Kulfi Falooda Rabdi (Rs 60) served in a flat dish and their Mango Thick Shake (Rs 50) in the summer. Also, their Mango Sandwich Ice Cream (Rs 30) which consists of a slab of mango ice cream in between two wafer biscuits, is really good.

Must try – Mango Sandwich Ice Cream and Kulfi Falooda Rabdi.

Sukh Sagar Juice Centre, Girgaon Chowpatty

This place has been a wonderful source of refreshment for people staying near Girgaon Chowpatty for their fresh fruit juices and faloodas. In operation for the past 50 years, they have been catering to their customers with good quality and service. Their Mix Fruit Sundae (Rs 175), Special Dry Fruit Falooda (Rs 170) and Mango Milkshake (Rs 170) are the best picks for summer.They are really busy after 7 pm every day as they take orders for faloodas and milk shakes, so you might want to visit or place your order earlier.

Must try – Mango Milkshake and Special Dry Fruit Falooda.

(All pictures courtesy Ravi Shet)

Categories
Tech

Review: Huawei’s Honor 6 Plus

Huawei’s flagship device, the Honor 6 Plus, has a battle on its hands cracking the Indian market at its price.
by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

Huawei has been quite busy in the Indian market lately. The company launched two smartphones (we reviewed the Honor 4X a few days ago) and now the company’s flagship, the Honor 6 Plus, has arrived. Priced at a little under Rs 26,000, the phone clearly has an uphill battle against their rival’s offerings. So let’s try and see of the device is up to the task or not.

The looks. The new Honor 6 Plus (they really could have done with a better model name and not a known one) follows a glass and metal chassis design. What you will notice the first time you hold the device is its use of glass and metal frame (except for the bottom). The 5.5-inch full HD screen is accompanied by the front-facing camera, speaker grill and sensors at the top, and plain bezel at the bottom, as the phone had all on-screen navigation keys.

The left side panel has been left blank, making the right one look a bit busy with the Volume buttons, Power/Lock key, which are followed by nano SIM/ microSD card slot and micro SIM card slot. The keys don’t feel very tactile and firm, though. You can either use a nano SIM card or a microSD card, while using a micro SIM card in the other slot.

At the top, you have the Infrared port, 3.5mm headset jack and secondary mic, while the plastic bottom gets the microUSB port in the middle. Coming to the back, the subtle pattern looks nice. The dual-lens camera and the LED flash sit at the top right corner while the Honor logo is imprinted near the middle. The phone is quite big, but not too heavy for its size, its metal sides and glass back don’t feel slippery, but the metal sides get scuffed and dented even with minor falls and slips.

Screen. Speaking about the phone’s (1920 x 1080) LCD with Gorilla Glass on top, I don’t have too many complaints with the display, which looks quite sharp with decent viewing angles; it is quite bright and not bad for use outdoors in sunlight. Colour reproduction does seem a bit off, as the screen goes a warm yellow when viewing images.

Camera. One of the USPs of the phone, as per the company, is its dual sensor 8 MP camera. Using the dual sensor with the wide aperture mode on, you can change the focus area in an image as an after-effect. This ‘trick, previously seen on the HTC One (M8), Galaxy S5 among a few more, is becoming somewhat common in phone cameras these days. Here are a few sample images.

The camera on the back is pretty good, actually. It can take detailed and sharp photos in daylight conditions, and not too bad in low-light (if you don’t try zooming in). Colours come out quite bright, and the overall performance seems to be on par with best phone cameras (the Mi 4, LG G2) in this price range. The Wide Aperture mode for changing focus does work well if used in correct settings, and many users will like using it. The 8 MP front-facing camera is more than capable of taking good selfies and do video calls, so there’s not much to complain with what you use the front-facing camera for.

Battery. The phone is equipped with a 3,600 mAh abtetry unit, making it one of the largest among the smartphones available in the Indian market. The device lasted me a day, more often than not. With Email, Twitter, a bit of YouTube and music playback, I was able to get over 20 hours of usage a lot of times, and its battery was never really a big concern throughout my usage. Of course, with a lot of HD videos, games and camera usage, it is bound to go down.

Call and sound quality. The phone supports 3G, 4G LTE (no CDMA), WiFi and Bluetooth, all of which worked well for me except for the nano SIM card slot thata didn’t work on my review unit. Call quality and network reception hold fine on the device with no troubleshooting required.

Sound quality from the rear-facing loudspeaker is just about okay, though, getting the job done for games and videos, but I was expecting a better output from it considering how vocal Huawei has been about the phone’s multimedia performance. It might have helped if the speakers had dual speaker openings.

Software and performance. The Honor 6 Plus runs on Android 4.4.2 with Emotion UI 3.0 to go on top. Under the hood, there’s Huawei’s custom SoC HiSilicon Kirin 925 (1.3 GHz quad-core + 1.8 GHz quad-core, Mali-T624 GPU) along with 3 GB of RAM. The overall look and feel of the OS is very similar to that of the Honor 4X. I wish Huawei did a little bit of work to get their icon set and fonts look better or give more options than what they currently do under Themes. Since this is Huawei’s flagship device, it should be updated to Android 5.0, in my opinion, but there’s no official word when it’s going to be.

Messaging, dialer and Clock apps have been loaded with useful features (like blocking features in Messaging and Dialer) and gel well with the overall look and feel of Emotion UI. There’s one nifty little feature – where you can mark a particular WiFi access point to be a hotspot, so that the phone uses it just like your network operator data and not a full-fledged WiFi connection, meaning you save on data.

Performance-wise, the phone is just about okay. It handles most apps and tasks fairly well, but I wouldn’t count it as the smoothest smartphone in this price category, and rank its day-to-day performance below the Xiaomi Mi4 and OnePlus One. A few places like multi-app view, or three-four tabs in Chrome, show you where the OS stutters and doesn’t give a very smooth performance.

The Huawei Honor 6 Plus is pitched against the likes of the Nexus 5, Mi 4 and OnePlus One, so it surely has an uphill battle on hand, but from what I have seen and tried, the phone isn’t too behind its competitors. To buy an Honor 6 Plus, you have to register for Flipkart’s flash sale and then manage to order it when goes on sale. Huawei is offering decent promotional offers With Freecharge, Hungama, which makes a better deal. So, with a good screen, capable camera and satisfactory battery, the phone does have quite a few things going its way and it will be interesting to see how well it performs in the market against those three devices.

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