Ki & Ka’s kuchoombar

 It was Valentine’s Day last year when Balki’s 'Shamitabh' was released on the large screen with a full house show. On the day when every couple was busy in their dim-light romance, a lost soul found enlightenment in his cinema. India’s one of the biggest  ad-man, Balki had yet again delivered something which upheld his reputation and delivered an experience more than what the promotions promised (Strange isn't it?). With every movie of his, just like his ad campaigns, he has kept the bar high, but remember, there are dry days too.

Balki’s work on yet another social stigma, the most mainstream till date, the gender equalization debate was promoted as a promising young entertainer (forgiving Kareena’s real age). This was for the 1st time that Balki had stepped into the pure commercial cinema with the young and khandaani film stars as his lead. All that was expected from him was a freshly baked cake on the already heated stove and the already known recipe.

Director R.Balki with the lead couple

What Balki delivered us (apart from the epitome of disappointment) was a half baked cake with a confused recipe from the chef’s side served in a beddable cutlery which sadly leaves behind a taste which one will never be able to taste.

Confused? So were we, just like Balki. Ki & Ka is the most confusing, (NOT COMPLEX), writing of Balki till date. The man who crafted cults with the simplest and micro-emotions failed to repeat the same on a platform that was his biggest, till date. It felt like a freelance sketcher who did wonders with his notebook sketches but failed to paint when provided with canvas & colors.

Despite the overdone raunchy scenes, the chemistry never sparks up

The concepts are as messed up as the prejudices here. The idea attracts us but there is no logic to support it. Neither does one see the lust for success in Kareena’s eye, nor any pain or emotion in Arjun’s to become a homemaker (dictated as a wife). But surprisingly the latter did a better job before the camera when called to act. Kareena looked beautiful, amazingly gorgeous. She tried her best to beat the age and marriage tags with those unnecessary lovemaking scenes but failed desperately to give even one adorable take. Looks like Balki bowed down to someone’s stardom. The only thing Kareena can compete for is Yami Gautam’s 5 crore fairness challenge!

The cutest thing that the movie has is the cameo which features Mr. & Mrs. Bachchan!

For equating gender, you can’t give an example of one in a trillion couple, that too in Doubt. It could have been a good rom-com had it tried not to be so intellectual. One never equates the inferior person by making the superior stand down. Exceptions can’t be examples in a practical world. One doesn’t disagree unless one forces us to agree. Balki’s "Puling & Striling" ends up as a joke on its own. Watch it at the cost of irritation, unless you are an old age outdated soap watching aunty who’s gonna be crazy for this movie!

About the author :- 

Ketan Sharma is a marketer, avid reader, blogger & a future (enthusiast to be a)
Best Seller. He's a student of St. Xavier's College. A die-hard (jersey) fan of Manchester United & Barcelona, & loves Brazil in the international platform (doesn't know why). Not a communist but will chose Russia over America (tho no one asks him to). Also read :-

Kapoor and sons :- Family drama at its best

EDGE-X 2K16

With a number of events lined up, EDGE, a fest organized by Techno India, Saltlake, promised to leave the spectators in awe.

 
And boy did they manage to do that!

 With efficient management and time sorting, this fest stood out to be different from the others, not a single person went back home with a frown. Firstly, throughout the fest, everyone present was provided Redbull till stocks lasted. Much was mainly buzzed by KFC's finger lickin good eats. Big names for sponsorship was also a reason for the crowd puller. NVIDIA, PSP were the gaming partners promising top class gaming. With the level of energy pretty high, how could a fest as good as EDGE not be entertained?

The event list had it's own extremities. From Food for Fun to Cryber Crusade, this fest was a heaven for every geek in town. To top it all recreational events such as Paintball, Laser Tag and Archery was also held in the college premises itself. The different categories of event varied from Innovative, Newton, Compute Aid etc. Each events were judged by eminent personalities of that forté. Amongst all the events, Robotics was a real crowd puller with In Focus, the photography event being the most participated. Different colleges spread throughout the nation took part in this fest. The management team had take responsibility of outstation participants too.

The days were busy while the nights were young. The guest appearance line up was pretty impressive. While EDG Talks had Arunabhab Kumar, founder of TVF Qtiyapa and Som Singh Dutta on the last day, EDG Nights had Pretentious Movie Reviews fame Biswas Kalyan Rath from Pretentious Movie Reviews fame and Kartik Aaryan from Pyar ka Punchnama fame. This was enough to tickle the funny bone for geeks and increase the hotness quotient for the girls. The last day had no guest performances as such because the night was responsible for the prize distribution.

And here we bring to you a few moments from the grand EdgeX 2016!

 

With the follow up event, the Edge Walkathon for Cancer Awareness, on stage and off stage events being a big success, every participant and audience are already waiting for the next edition of it. 

Special thanks to Shreya Dutta

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Jyotishko Paul is a first year Media Science student studying at Techno India College. He loves painting walls, tripping and thinking. Music is his love too.  

London bridge is falling down

There were places to go,

Things to do,

People to love,

Dreams to thrive.

Chunks of corrupted concrete destroyed it all.

31^st of March, 2016 is the Black Thursday in the city calendar of Kolkata. The noon brought along with it a darkness of the biggest nightmare that the city has had in a while. The Vivekananda Flyover collapsed killing and injuring several commuters. What went wrong? Well, corruption first, to start with it all. Negligence. Inaction on the part of the authority. It recently came to light that one of the on-spot engineers had informed the KMDA office that the newly welded concrete slab was bending uncharacteristically downwards five minutes prior to the accident, rather the disaster. But the authority did not consider it to be a matter of major concern.

Credits - NDTV

So, wait. What?

They just assumed that a bridge-in-construction bending down was some early April-fool prank? What else? There was a flyover in construction, everybody! Not a wall to your garden. And the traffic was still on full flow beneath it. I remember being a child; my friends and I were not allowed within a 5 meter radius of even a garden-wall-in-construction in my neighborhood because the bricks could fall off and hurt us. But there was no precaution of that sort anywhere. Rather there were no precautions at all. We’ve seen examples of political ties in this matter and how the cards of corruption have played off. But I won’t go into that because corruption is far too deep-seated to just touch upon the topic.

There were major technical errors too. The workers themselves have come forward to say that inferior materials were put to use without a second thought. Local people had actually seen the nuts and bolts falling off off the planks few minutes before the collapse. MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay has accepted that he had warned the government that the plan for the project was faulty. Given that the flyover perched on the balconies of residences in a heavily populated area of North Kolkata, that is not much of a shocker.

The highly congested nature of the flyover. 

But here is the expected flavor of speechlessness: the project was almost 60% complete and redoing the entire project after drawing another rectified plan would mean a severe drain of money in the state government’s bank account. Yes. Sure. A few hundred crore is way more important. What is the cost of the lives of the citizens? 2 lakhs for the injured, 3 lakhs for the severely injured, and 5 lakhs for the deceased.

Trapped. Credis - DailyMail

This was a project that went through the change in power of the Bengal legislature. So we have the inevitable blame-game. Honourable CM of West Bengal said it is the fault of the Left front, since construction of this particular flyover started back in their time. Just like Mr. J. McGlashan is to be blamed if something happened to the Howrah Bridge? Or the blame should go to Shah Jahan for the recently misplaced pinnacle of one of the minarets of Taj Mahal during its repair works.

There is the counter too, that it was this government that hurried the completion of the project for the upcoming elections resulting in the mishap. But the best is yet to arrive. K Panduranga Rao, Group Head of IVRCL, the Hyderabad based, more than once black-listed company, that was in charge of the bridge’s construction, said after the collapse, “It’s nothing but a God’s act.” 

IVRCL claimed the collapse to be an "act of God". Credits - India.com

                                                                               

I’m sure even God must have been frowning down at us, wondering; “Seriously now? You’re going to throw all the dirt heaven-wards?”

A statement is going viral now. An anonymous private firm employee said to one of the popular newspapers that Kolkata is London now and that is why the bridges are falling down. It is funny, yes. But, on a serious note, we do not want London, we want to live.

Officially the death toll has reached 26 (speculative). But there are many more lives that have been lost. There are children parent-less now, parents who are childless, newly-wed spouse-less. No amount of money will make up for their loss.  No number of votes would bring anyone peace from the guilt of this responsibility. Development is important and infrastructure is an integral part of it. But one cannot expect to take forward a civilization by giving secondary importance to its citizens. All that is requested is that the safety of the civilians be given more regards. Maybe it won’t be too bad to actually be “Sorry for the Inconvenience”.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

SUCHARITA GANGULY IS A VERY NEW ADDITION TO OUR EXPRESS FAMILY. THIS MASS COMMUNICATION STUDENT FROM ST. XAVIERS INSTITUTE, KOLKATA, IS AN AVID READER AND WRITER. APART FROM WRITING SHE IS ALSO A DOG LOVER AND FAN OF SHERLOCK. 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GLORY OR MID TABLE ANONYMITY: WHERE DOES MAN UNITED FIT ?

In a case stranger than that of Benjamin Button, Manchester United find themselves just a point behind the fourth and final champions league spot, as the Premier League season turns into the final stretch.

Louis Van Gaal has been in tremendous criticism 

Watching them against Manchester City in the 171st Manchester Derby, it was hard to believe that they were outside the top four. A disciplined defense, a well-oiled midfield keeping the supply lines to City's danger man Sergio Aguero relatively dry, and a lethal attacking trio, who showed maturity beyond their tender age. All in all United looked a side who should be comfortably in the top 4 and making challenges towards the Title. And it hasn't been much different against most of the top teams. The only team in the top 7 to have beaten United are Arsenal, in a 3-0 embarrassment at the Emirates. Surprisingly perhaps, United have picked up points against every single of the top 7 members, and  lead the points table when it comes to 'points against top half opponents'.

They beat Liverpool comprehensively both at home and away, thanks to a debut Wonder goal from Anthony Martial at Old Trafford, and a late volley from Captain Wayne Rooney at Anfield. They have won at Tottenham, drawn at the King Power, beaten Arsenal at Old Trafford, drawn with West Ham, and taken 4 points off Manchester City. Watching United play in the big games this season has indeed been a rare
pleasure.

Credits : SkySports

And that is where it has all gone wrong. While United have dazzled against "The Big Boys", they have failed to build any kind of momentum against the regular and bottom half teams. They have had shocking losses against Sunderland and Bournemouth, drawn both games with hapless Newcastle and lost to Swansea. There awful away form has put them in the bottom half of the away points table, managing just 4 points from the last 5 away outings.

They have struggled to break down the dogged away teams from the bottom half at Old Trafford, and have at times been stunned by unexpected goals, most recently at West Brom.

Lingard's screamer against West Brom in United's 2-0 victory.

Despite their shortcomings and fragility, United are definitely still in the hunt for a Champions League spot, but with games coming up thick and fast, with back to back games against Everton (United won their game against Everton 1-0) and Tottenham, Louis Van Gaal needs to sort out the uncertainty in the team.

This Manchester United team has produced dazzling pieces of magic, which has only highlighted the prolonged periods of drab football which their fans have had to endure.The mark of a Title winning team has always been grinding out the difficult results, and unfortunately United still lack the steel and resolve of yesteryears which made them stand out in any football field

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

A passionate football fan and a die hard Manchester United fan for a decade, this dog lover and foodie has the ambition of becoming a doctor. With the motto of making, "the world believe the power of words", Debadrit sure knows how to wield his pen as effectively as his stethoscope.