arkive

Initially I expected the regular ‘Punjabi fare’, with a dhaba-like setting, and was looking forward to find multiple iterations of ‘Makke di roti and sarso da saag’. I was surprised to find nothing like that. I was happy to find nothing of the cliche there.

The setting is huge with multiple seating options. As I entered, I received a sticker for my sleeve. Waah!

The food menu had delectable mocktails, cheese shots, chicken grill tikkas, paneer tikkas, and my absolute favorite – the samosa burger!

The samosa burger had a humongous filling with mashed potato, crumbled papris, tamarind sauce and other ingredients which made it an all-in-one chaat experience. I may just visit this restaurant for this one delight.

And the experience was rounded off with the warmth of my host, mere bade bhaiyya, Gurpreet bhai aka Mister Tikku. 

The ever-so-amazing Gurpreet bhai!

He, along with his equally talented wife, Gurleen ji, made sure that all the guests felt at home, while our taste buds carefully settled in some exquisite corner of Punjab.

Also special mention for the Butter Chicken I got to eat here. It’s apparently the maximum Butter Chicken, a Butter Chicken ever got be.

Okay, time to plan my next foodie hangout.

Picture Post-Mortem: Happy Bhaag Jayegi

Cheerful, happy-go-lucky Punjabi girls are giving serious competition to Usain Bolt in long distance running. Geet ran away in Jab We Met. And Happy runs away in Happy Bhaag Jayegi, and keeps running around almost throughout the runtime of the film. One eventually gets tired, and pleads, ‘Ab rukk jaa yaar‘ – both to her, and the movie.

This movie shuttles between Amritsar and Lahore, with one of…

Writing in Hindi after a long time – class 10th Hindi Board exams to be precise. Jittery, but happy. I hope it connects. So, this is the story of an evening at Jama Masjid…

कहते हैं की तस्वीरें बोलती हैं | शायद एक तस्वीर हज़ार के बराबर हो जाती हैं | ज़रूरी भी है की वो बोलें, भला अभिव्यक्ति की अाज़ादी की लड़ाई में तस्वीरें क्यूँ चुप रहें भला? लेकिन अफसोस तब होता है जब सिर्फ तस्वीरें ही बोलती हैं और…

Go on this journey to find your rainbow.

I have caught almost every latest Shah Rukh Khan film in their very first shows. Or latest, the second screening of the day. A few other big budget movies might have pulled me in, on their previews or initial days, but that’s a happening so rare, that I don’t remember them right now. I’ll remember Dhanak.

I saw Dhanak’s trailer a few months ago. Will it turn out to be another I am Kalam or Nanhe…

Living With Shah Rukh Khan: 24 Years & Counting

We all dream. Dreams have hope, and hope has a part of your life clinging to it. You sleep with those dreams, and wake up with those hopes. They become a part of your existence.

May 30, 2016. It was late evening, and I had just reached home from office. As I settled with a glass of mango juice, my phone rang. A lady from the other side announced she’s from a Public Relations company and there’s…

If Baaghi wouldn't have been a movie, it could easily have been a Telebrands TV ad of Tiger!

After the past few weeks with a 3D Bagheera, and a dual-role big hero, Baaghi punched its way into the theaters. Baaghi – which means a rebel – is brought to you by the team of Heropanti. I haven’t had the luck (fortunately?) to go for it then, but I sat through Baaghi. Partly for Shradhha Kapoor, and partly for this review.

And Tiger Shroff? Itni jaldi kya hai, abhi to maine start kia hai.

If…

"Fan needs to work", an Indian melting in the heat and SRK may have similar sentiments.

“Fan needs to work”, an average Indian melting in the heat and Shah Rukh Khan may have similar sentiments at the moment. It’s a crucial film indeed.

FAN, directed by Maneesh Sharma, tells the story of a Bollywood star and his besotted fan. Quite intriguing. And after playing with fire with a few forgettable films in the past couple of years, this was supposed to be SRK’s agnipariksha. The heat…

How a ‘Tolerant India’ Made Indians #AntiNational

Proud to be an #AntiNational – this was the original title of a draft I was writing a few days back. I held back from publishing it as a lot has already been written, discussed and debated round the clock. Then Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai wrote one too, with a similar idea and title. I let it go.

Earlier it was important to write this. Now, it became inevitable.

Why? Well, like an average functioning…

This year, I got the chance to experience the show from the other side. I attended two media preview days of the Auto Expo, and observed a few nuances that I might have otherwise missed/ignored. The expo is an international platform where almost all the big global automobile manufacturer display their new launches, tease concept models and reveal their plans for the year ahead.

After all the launches, there’s usually a small press interaction, and then there’s a dedicated counter which distributes ‘media-kit’ to the attendees. There are always enough of them to fit the need, but not the greed.

From the very first launch, I observed a few people who were seen only at those counters. They weren’t interested in the launch. They gave a damn about the press interaction. They flashed their ‘Media’ cards and placed themselves right in front of the distribution counters, and their numbers often swelled from a few people to a full-fledged mob. They justified their ‘right’ to have those kits, and possess them first, lest the kits run out.

So what’s inside those kits?

A goodie-bag roughly has pen drives, key-chains, organizer, pen, badges, press release (with information about the launches), brochures. Goodie bags from luxury automobile manufacturers often have gifts running into a few thousands. So that’s the deal.

But the gang of ‘freedom fighters’ don’t stop there. After carefully fishing out all the ‘valuables’, the brochure, the paper-bags, and the press releases are dumped – sometimes right on their counters.

To their credit, the mob of free hoarders earn this. They fight, struggle, overstep and go overboard, shout/scream/abuse to reach the coveted bag. The hoarders almost brought down a section of Suzuki Motorcycle’s stall, broke through the security cover at the Jaguar stall, pushed and shoved at the Tata Motor’s stall and a similar story everywhere.

I overheard the crew of an international luxury car-maker saying, “We’ve been to motor shows across the world, but nowhere is it as bad as it’s here in India”.  I felt a strong pinch in my heart. I felt embarrassed.

This post is to say sorry, on behalf of all those ‘media-persons’ who raided your stalls, and made the experience lesser than what it should’ve been. And fellow members of the press, as an organizer shouted at one such crowd, ‘You’re educated, so-called learned members of the society, please act like that. Kindly behave’ And I would just like to say those three beautiful words for you – stop being shit.

If you’re in Mumbai or Bangalore, kindly keep standing through Raja Sen’s Airlift. Yes, that patriotism.

Airlift is based on the story of one of the world’s largest evacuation drives in the world, during the Iraq-Kuwait war. Akshay Kumar plays Ranjit Katiyal, a Kuwaiti businessman who has got it all there. A plush home, cars, flourishing business. He behaves like a prick to his drivers, servants…

The sanskaar brigade is back with Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, with most of the usual faces missing this time. Major missing happened for the original patent-holder of Babuji-ism – Alok Nath. This time the star-family (Note: We are above star-caste, or religion. It's all about family, for this one) includes Salman Khan in two versions, delightful Deepak Dobriyal, a flower pot credited as Sonam Kapoor, magical Swara Bhaskar, the-no-longer-Game-of-Thrones guy Neil Nitin Mukesh, and the most tolerant person in India, Anupam Kher.

“Main waapas aagaya. Main waapas aagya”

With these auspicious lines, and the blessings of revered Sanskaar guru, Mr. Sooraj Barjatya, I bring back my #PicturePostMortem. It’s been months since I wrote one, and I think it’s ghar-waapsi time. Pranaam!

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (PRDP). I initially flinched at the name, mostly because of my inability to comprehend it. Prem’s got to be Salman. One down.…

On your birthday, you said that the nation is seeing increased intolerance all around, and how stupid are those people who question you on your patriotism. But sadly, you just set the tolerance alert ringing. There were calls to send you to Pakistan, tagging you a terrorist, and your personal life threatened, just to remind you that we are really very chilled, and tolerant. Please mind this fact.

Dear Shah,

Why do you do this to yourself? Why do you get swayed in all the public enchantment, and start talking from the heart? This world needs balance, of mind and power. Heart? That you need to cross out, for romance and love – however realistic they may be – are only limited to your movies.

It was nice hearing you on your 50th birthday. You’re on the wiser side of age now, and you’ve been…

"Beta lunch pack kar rahin hoon, please kha lena," my mother used to pack my lunch with a polite request to have it in the afternoon. With a nod, I used to run to the bathroom and got myself freshened up. As soon as I was ready, the lunch would already be packed and stored carefully in my bag. 18 years on, I still see my mother waking up early so I don't go to office empty-stomach and have something for lunch as well. I think it's time to give something back. Just a small effort, a very small step for the fraction of what she has done, and continues to do.

5.30 AM. The alarm buzzing aloud in a vintage, metal desktop clock, sounding almost like a mini emergency in my part of the world. I used to wake up with groggy eyes, still not letting the blanket go. The winters are cruel for not changing the world order. Why can’t we hibernate in a cozy corner, as we patiently wait for the spring? The whistle of the cooker used to break my very first daydreams.

A Dam’s Story on Why India’s Droughts Are Not Just Natural

You may not have ample food this year. That’s a very scary thought, isn’t it? And it’s true to a large and dangerous extent. No, not only because of the meat ban – that’s a very urban and political phenomenon. It’s because the country’s suffering from a serious drought situation. Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have gone dry in many districts. Farmers are attempting and succeeding at…

Time To Stop The Clock, For My First Expert

I still remember the long evening walks I went on with my mother, to fetch a bar of orange-flavored ice cream. It was around 17-18 years back. I was a kid then. I am 23 now, but still a kid, for her.

My mother is exceptionally beautiful, just like all the mothers of the world. The radiant smile, the crooked strand of hair on the edge of her forehead, which has remained curled ever since I first…