Six-Packs n Size Zero - The Nation's latest Obsession

Off-late, I am hearing a lot 'bout six-pack abs. Everytime I change the channel on our TV set, I see a guy on TV sporting a six-pack for an ad on perfumes, inner wear, and what not. I remember a time when women would be used as a - for lack of a better word - prop - to sell cars, or engine oil or other stuff.. Is this like payback time? We are using the male as a prop?

When did this change happen - Did it start with the Badshah khan n his six-packs for Om Shanthi Om? Or was it when Aamir Khan sported the same for Ghajini? Or was it a loong time ago when Salman Khan removed his shirt for the first time in "Oh oh Jaane Jaana" for Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya ... or was it a lot earlier.... I don't really know.

All I know is that I was watching the movie Tarzan I, the other day and I felt that Tarzan resembled Hrithik, six packs n all. A week or so ago, while driving towards Tumkur, I spotted a huge Hanuman Statue and guess wht - Hanuman had six-packs! I also recall seeing the Bahubali monolith on my way to Mangalore - Yupp - Six Packs!! That got me thinking...

As a younster, I recall getting very perturbed seeing the statues of godesses, and princesses with their slim waists, impossibly curvaceous figures and wondering if I would ever look like that and not really sure if I wanted to. Is this like a payback for all that? I felt the waif-like models, size-zero actresses, and curvaceous godesses statues made most young gals and women feel inadequate and confused for most part of the adolescent phase of their lives. Considering most of the young women were blessed with very sensible moms, they did not obsess over such trifles for too loong. Thank the good lord! They left the trifles be handled by the women in the glamour industry.

Can we say the same thing 'bout the men? Well, we have had generations of practise and so it will be a while before paunchy Paresh stops dreaming of becoming Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Kozhi-kaal Vijay realizes he is not Milind Soman. Till then, Gyms will flourish as guys take on the Six-Pack challenge. Jai Ho!! ;P

Dumbest Advertisement

It was a lazy sunday, and I was watching the movie Tarzan - I, on Z-Studio. As I watched the movie, I felt that Tarzan resembled someone but cud not place him. After the first break - I realized who it was: Tarzan resembled Hrithik Roshan :D Freakish co-incidence or my imagination running haywire?? U decide!

It was during the first break that I saw this ad : A gal kid wearing spectacles is standing in front of the mirror and asks her dad, " Am I pretty, papa?" The dad says "Of course, beta" and the kid responds "How come nobody looks like me?" and there is a flashback - the kid's attempts at being friendly are rebuffed by the boy sitting next to her. The nxt day, the papa comes to school and takes the kid out of class to show off his new car, Swift Dezire. As they go on a drive, all her friends stare awe-struck, including the boy who rebuffs her - the kid now asks "Am I so pretty?"

Firstly, according to me, Swift Dezire is the ugliest car ever to be seen on the road. It looks like smne took the front portion (bonnet n all) of the Swift and the behind (dikky n all) of an SX4 and created the Swift Dezire. Marketing it as a different-looking car is a good idea. However, comparing it to a kid who wears spectacles smacks of insensitivity considering that a large population of our cities wear glasses, especially children. What message are we trying to give here?

Second, so if you are not a pretty kid i.e you wear spectacles - your dad shd buy you a car (albeit the ugliest one) and take you out for a ride during school hours - so you become instantly popular. Wah! Wah! Kya solution hai. Totally impressive. So, if your dad can only afford a Maruti800 - u will remain unpopular forver.

This ad takes my vote for being the dumbest ad in recent times. What do you think??

The Week That Was

March has been surprisingly hectic - I was expecting it to be a lazy month - I had my birthday (Gifts!! Gifts!!), we had a new maid (finally!), and a friend was coming in frm Singapore and so we were all going to meet up (Yeah!!). I was kinda also expecting the movie mania to carry on.

The movie mania went on - I saw SlumDog Millionaire, A Wednesday, and Fashion. I actually liked Slumdog Millionaire. It was a feel-good bollywood masala movie made by a Hollywood director. I was pretty impressed with Danny Boyle- who having not lived in India was able to showcase what he saw of India to the world. It is lop-sided - but hey who are we kidding - our bollywood movies have been churning out lop-sided stories for ages - so it probably hurts that we did not make it, I guess. Lot of folks have been saying that Danny Boyle has shown India in a bad light (some of whom have not seen the movie, yet) - I don't think so - However, I did not like the dialogue 'bout real Indians vs real Americans. Considering it was not a script that Danny wrote but rather an adaptation of the book, Q&A, written by Vikas Swarup, an Indian - am not too sure why we are making a song and dance 'bout Danny Boyle. Also, there was no such hulaboo when the book was first released two years ago. Regarding the music, it was nowhere near A R Rahman's best - but we got the Oscar - so ur argument ends right there!! Ne nenne ne ne!!

Wednesday was fantastic - Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher were simply too good. The story was simple, did not have silly songs, was edited xtremely well - I really felt proud tht we cud make such a movie - even if it was a borrowed idea - which most folks said it was - honestly to make such a movie which did not rely on the stuff tht most Hindi movies rely on - was incredible.

Fashion was a beeg let down. I really cud not stand to waste my time watching the movie and so I watched it on fast forward mode. Tht helped :)

Found out by pure luck, that an old friend, was working pretty close to my workplace - Caught up with her over Chocolate milkshake at Barista, cribbed, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company after a really loong time n realized tht we hadn't changed at all; attended a close friend's Gruhapravesh - landed up too late for breakfast n too early for lunch and stood out among the crowd of family junta, unsure of what to do, managed to hand over a bouquet of cute flowers n disappeared soon after; Caught up with a bunch of old friends at Nanking - a fun evening of anecdotes, giggles, teasing, exchanging nasty comments, missing the Glamorous friend, teasing our very own sallu miya, feeling nostalgic, etc. And, the icing on the cake was having a lazy weekend! :) Tht was the week tht was!