Book: Emma by Jane Austen (1815)

Jane Austen wrote many books, with her most famous books being Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), and Mansfield Park (1814). Emma came after these 3, and has taken its time to become famous. Further, since Jane Austen chose to write her books anonymously, her books started becoming famous long after her death, with a biography by her nephew, written more than 50 years after her death, that awoke more interest in her. It was only in the early half of the 20th century that she started being acknowledged as a classical writer, and now her works are very famous. Jane Austen remained unmarried, dying at the relatively young age of 42, from an affliction that was not particularly known at that time, but which is now suspected to be Addison's disease or Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Like her other works, Emma was also a critique of the society of that time, where a woman's standing was supposed to be based on marriage, and it would be this marriage that would decide her economic and social security; even though her works have a strong touch of comedy to them.



Emma is essentially a novel that describes the life of a 21 year old girl called 'Emma Woodhouse'. She is not worried about finances, being comfortably off; however, she starts to believe that she is good at match-making and guiding who should marry whom, something that causes a lot of temporary changes in the lives of people around her; in the end, however, everybody settles down happily, including her. There are a number of characters in the novel, and you will need to read carefully to ensure that you don't miss any of the turns and twists of the story.
Emma lives with her father, and has just returned from the marriage of her former governess Miss Taylor, and since she had introduced Miss Taylor to her husband, Emma feels that she has a gift for match-making. One of her closest friends is a person called George Knightley, who is from the neighboring estate, as well as the brother of her sister Isabelle's husband. He is perhaps the only one who is able to criticize actions taken by Emma when he feels that she is wrong. Who is the first person on whom Emma tries out this ability of hers ? It is her new friend, the 17 year old Harriet Smith, who is very sweet, but not very bright.
And here starts the main story. Harriet has got a proposal from a rich farmer called Mr. Martin, but Emma has decided that Mr. Martin is not good enough for Harriet, she would be more suited to the local vicar, Mr. Elton. And then, the unthinkable as per Emma happens - Mr. Elton realizes that Emma is a better catch, and proposes to Emma. Her friends had realized that this would happen, but not Emma. When Emma tries to direct Mr. Elton to Harriet, Mr. Elton makes it plain that he considers Harriet below him, and leaves the place for a while.
The story introduces more characters, and spins around the lives and marriages of these folks, and is fairly interesting.

Maverick (1994) - a Western comedy starring Mel Gibson

The movie is based on a Television Series that ran between 1957 and 1962, starring James Garner in the lead role (and the 1994 film was not the first movie made on this TV series, just the latest). What does Maverick actually mean ? Maverick was termed after Samuel A. Maverick (1803–70), a Texas pioneer who left his calves unbranded (as opposed to most people who put a brand on their livestock). Maverick is also a term used for somebody who takes a stand very different from colleagues, and in the case of the movie, maverick is meant to depict a person who behaves most unpredictably.
The movie was meant to be a good combination of humour (sometimes dark) along with a fast moving plot with surprises at every corner, and was a decent box office hit. It was never meant to be pitching for the Oscars, and hence must have been surprised when it got nominated for Oscar for Best Costume Design.
The movie is set in the American Wild West, with a certain disregard for the law, and where a man makes his own fortune with a gun and his own instincts. In this case, Bret Maverick (Mel Gibson) is on his way to a major five-card poker competition. Since he is a gambler, winning such a competition is a way to prove that he is the best. He however needs to collect money owed to him, and he needs this amount since there is a $25,000 entry fee for the tournament, and he is $3,000 short.



The movie is not only about the poker competition, but also about the journey that Maverick takes to reach there. He meets 3 co-passengers called Angel (Alfred Molina), a young con-artist calling herself Mrs Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster), and Marshal Zane Cooper, a legendary lawman of the west (this role is essayed by James Garner, who played Bret Maverick (played by Mel Gibson in the movie) in the original TV series). Maverick is going to have a running battle with Angel during the movie, as they are also rival gamblers.
They go through a series of adventures, including one in which the driver of the stage-coach dies when the coach is moving at full speed and the coach needs to be controlled, more adventures with Indians, manipulated by Maverick. In between Angel waylays Maverick, attempting to hang him from a tree. However, Maverick eventually escapes and manages to join the game. Eventually, after early rounds, the 4 finalists of the game are Bransford, Angel, Maverick, and Commodore Duvall (James Coburn), who is the organizer of the tournament, and the owner of the boat on which the tournament is being held. Cooper is responsible for security of the tournament.
Eventually, Maverick wins, and in the resultant shoot-out, Angel is killed by Cooper and Maverick. However, the movie has its twists in the end, and Cooper runs away with the money rather than give it to Maverick, and it further turns out that the Commodore was also in league with Cooper. What happens next ? Does Maverick get the money back ? What about Bransford ?

Hindi Serials - Information on Ladies Special - the comedy show on Zee TV

Comedy shows are many on TV right now, and they happen on every channel. Another such comedy show happens on Zee TV, called "Hasne Hasaane ka Tonic - Ladies Special". This is a new standup comedy show on Zee TV that provides women a platform to project their point of view through the medium of humor. Based on the numerous saas-bahu shows, audiences have only seen women cry / plot / scheme on screen; this time they will see them make everyone laugh. Ladies Special is the search for ‘India’s Funniest Female Stand-Up Comedian’ and has eight contestants and three challengers. The contestants find try to find humor in mundane stories from daily life and present a unique perspective on domestic issues, saas-bahu relationships, cricket and politics.

Hosted by: Swapnil Joshi

The Judges:
Tabassum
Baba Sehgal

Some highlights from behind the scenes:

- Special sarees are made for Tabassum which can weigh only up to 60 grams. This is because of injuries sustained on her legs because of which she also prefers coming ready from home. Despite her old age and the physical ailments, she is extremely enthusiastic & spirited and doesn’t lose any opportunity to crack jokes or dance with the contestants. In fact, she is the loudest one on the sets!

- Baba Sehgal & Tabassum have hit off very well with each other. They have a unique chemistry since she is from an older generation and is a like a motherly figure. This is the first time a Baba and Baby have come together as judges on a show (Tabassum is famously called as Baby Tabassum).

- Although Baba has taken on well in the new role of a judge in a stand up comedy show, his first passion remains music. He is seen jamming & singing with the live band in any break that he gets between shots. Swapnil joins in this enthusiastically and they keep everyone entertained on the sets.

- The trophy for the best performer every week is a unique golden belan that Tabassum gives to her favorite performer in every episode.

Hindi Serials - Bhaskar-Bharti on Sony TV

I don't think that this is an original idea (about a man turning into a woman due to divine intervention), but this is still a new concept for Indian TV, and so far is working out (although at some time, the serial creators will want to stretch the serial, and that is when the story will start becoming painful). Bhaskar Bharti started on Sony TV on May 25, 2009, and is created by the long running creative group of Deeya Singh and Tony Singh.
Bhaskar is with a media company, and is a hotshot and well acclaimed professional. He is a serial womanizer, who ditches girl-friends all over the place. It is one of these women who cry out that Bhaskar should become a girl so that he realizes what a woman has to face, and it is through divine intervention that Bhaskar converts into a girl, called Bharti.



In the beginning, Bhaskar is shocked, but has slowly started to come to terms with the concept that this is something real, but he is constantly trying to figure out how to become a man back. He is still in his office, but under the name of Bharti now, and starts to see how discrimination against woman happens, and one is sure, that as the serial progresses, they will start to show Bhaskar in his guise of Bharti, learning more and more about the problems faced by woman.

Bhaskar Bharti blog (link here)

Videos of Bhaskar Bharti from June 18th

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:

Hans Baliye - comedy performed by the stars

When you think of Hans Baliye, what comes to your mind ? Nach Baliye, the dance show of TV stars (and others), where famous people from different areas come to display their dancing prowress (and which the famous footballer), Baichang Bhutia won this time. Well, Hans Baliye seems like something similar, given that this also involves famous people (and with both members of the couple being famous is also a common theme).
Hans Baliye occurs on Star One (although if it becomes popular, it will no doubt move to Star Plus). Hans Baliye has started very recently, with the first episode being shown on May 31, 2009. Initial episodes with couples had all of them using the concept of humour within a marriage to make their mark.
The judges for the show are Karishma Kapoor and David Dhawan (both of whom have been involved in many movies that were slightly raunchy comedies). Hosts for the show are Sunil Grover and Gaurav Gera. The couples taking part are:
- Juhi Parmar and Sachin Shroff
- Tanaaz Irani and Bhakhtyar Irani
- Sara Khan and Ali Merchant
- Ashita Dhawan and Shailesh Gulabani
- Rajesh Kumar and Madhvi
- Delnaaz Paul and Rajeev Paul
- Gurpreet Guggi and Kuljeet Kaur
- Mel and Maski

Video of First episode of Hans Baliye



Part 2



More videos of Hans Baliye available at Youtube (click here)