Friday, August 25, 2006

Guess who's joined the Elite Copycat League?

For me, the two (un)distinguished members of the league have always been Bappi Lahiri and Anu Malik. Now, Pritam lays claim for making a grand entry into that league.

As per the Wikipedia Entry,

Pritam's music is catchy and is very popular with younger listeners. However, he has often been criticised for plagiarism. Pritam counters that he is simply "inspired" by various musical sources and cites his sources whenever appropriate.


Typical Copycat Behavior, innit? While Anu Malik and Bappi were stupid to lift directly from the biggest hits of their time, Pritam plays it clever by lifting tunes from music that us Indians would not have much exposure to. Here are a few samples.

Ya Ali (Gangster):

When I reviewed the Gangster soundtrack, I reserved special mention for this song, saying it was the best track of the album. Well, here's the original (Thanks, YouTube!). Composed by a Kuwaiti (or from some other arbit Arab country, I am unsure) group called Guitara (which, it looks like, faced a cash crunch while making the video), it "inspired" Pritam into making a song which sounds eeriely like it. Pbhhtt!




Kya mujhe Pyaar Hai (Woh lamhe):

This song is shaping up to become a massive hit, in the lines of Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai (waitaminnit, is this a flicked tune too?? Will Investigate and put up a post). This one's "Inspired" by the song "Tak Bisamah" by an Indonesian group PeterPan



Bheegi Bheegi (Gangster):

Maybe I can cut him slack here. The song is attributed to Mohiner Ghoraguli bandleader Gautam Chatterjee on the album cover. If only he did this with every song that he got "inspired" by. Listen to the original Bengali version here.

Update: My suspicion turned out true. Even "Tuhi Meri Shab Hai" is a lift. Download the original here

Update 2: This is a great place to find out more about plagarism of music in the Indiam Film Industry. Songs that I never thought/realised were lifted from other sources turned up here! Enjoy!!

Monday, August 07, 2006

The Opa Tudo Bom phenom

Boy, I still can remember the day. I was, as I generally do in office, sitting like Thalaiva on my seat and earning my bread and butter. All of a sudden there's a buzz in the office. I can see people converge to a point, all of them chattering excitedly. Some look disturbed, some downright pale. Like something important had happened. Important, but more frighteningly, BAD. Like i learnt when I joined the group, Orkut had been blocked in office. First there was Shock ("What??Why??Where??"). Then there was Denial ("No f*****g way. Must be some temporary network problem."). Then finally sorrow, as I resigned to my Orkutless fate (" What will I do in office now???")

Till a few days/weeks back, we were quite smug in this part of the software world, that Orkut was not blocked in our office, you see. Damn right and decent of our IT guys, we thought, to allow us our leisures in between our generally hectic work (or vice versa). Till all our dreams came crashing down.

There a few things about being a software engineer. We have at least 2 messengers (to keep in touch), an Orkut account (to keep in touch), an e-mail program running constantly (to keep in touch) and some also keep a blog (those are the evil ones). As most of us would know, Orkut is now the "in" thing these days, even more popular than the messengers. And imagine sitting in office (note: there has been no mention of work) for a whole 8 hours without as much peeping into the hot girls profile who has pictures loaded in her album!!

The reason for all of this?? Some Portuguese speaking idiot decided it would be fun if he created some sort of a virus which would soon be all over Orkut. And some other idiots (both those who speak Portuguese and don't) decided clicking on the link would not be such a bad idea. And before you could say Orkut Bouyukotten (or wassissname again?), "Opa Tudo Bom" became more popular than "Whats for lunch?" in our office.

As faces fell, and mails were sent out to other friends about forced Orkut exile, there was the proverbial ray of light that shimmered in..It was possible to Orkut after all (look, it's a verb now). In a mails that came in from the battle-scarred-Orkut-veterans of other companies, it dawned upon the newly deprived that they would not be so deprived after all. It was possible to Orkut via proxy sites after all. And we could still stay in touch with our near and dear ones and maybe look at the occasional photo album (hot girls only) [At this point, the author wishes to state that he did not indulge in proxy browsing of orkut. Nor did he recommend it to anyone else. He used his home computer to browse Orkut.] The feeling of Euphoria that swept through office is hard to describe. Imagine a situation where a man dying of thirst is given Bisleri Water. Of course, it comes with pesticides in it, but it'll still save your life, won't it?

Now, Orkut is back in office. Nope, not just via a proxy, but directly through the Orkut URL itself. And everyone around me (me included) are happy with the development. After all, no red blooded Indian would like being Opa Tudo Bom(bed). We need our daily dose of Orkut to lead a proper and healthy life. It's the indian way, and I'll be darned if we can be suppressed by some malicious link!

Jai Hind!

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Everything there is to know about me..Well, almost

I may end up looking/seeming like a weirdo, but waddaheck...We only live once, and I ain't embarassed of being me.

What is your full name?
Manjeshwar Vinayak Kini

Are you Amercian Or English?
Indian...Proud to be one too.

What are you listening to right now?
Take my breath away - Berlin (Top Gun OST)

What are the last two digits of your phone number?
82

What was the last thing you ate?
Masala Dosa. Pretty shitty it was too...

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Black. I absolutel adore that color. Seemingly endless.

How is the weather right now?
Very Very pleasant, perfect for cricket.

Last person you talked to on phone?
The cutest girl on earth!

First thing you notice about the opposite sex?
The eyes. Undoubtedly.

Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yes,, of course. I picked it up myself. And I adore me.

How are you today?
Ill. And in no mood to do constructive work.

Favourite Drink?
Water. Beer comes a close second.

Favourite Alcoholic Drink?
Beer. Undoubtedly Beer.

Favourite Sport?
Cricket.

Hair Colour?
Black

Eye Colour?
Black

Do you wear contacts?
Nope...

Siblings?
A yonger sister, who keeps yelling at me.

Favourite food?
Andhra Style Chilli Chicken. It's so good, it makes me cry.

Last movie you saw?
In the hall, Omkara.
On my Comp, MI:3
On DVD, Phir Hera Pheri (What crap!)

Favourite Day of the Year?
Any day that can be strategically claimed as a holiday to add upon already declared Public holidays to give me one heck of a long weekend.

Are you too shy ask someone out?
No. Not now at least. But I used to quite shy earlier. Things have changed now.

Summer or winter?
Winter. Undoubtedly. Go to the room, draw all curtains, turn on the fan, and snuggle under the blanket.

Hugs or Kisses?
Kisses. Period. :P

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Chocolate. An aphrodisiac, ain't it???

Who is most likely to respond?
WGAF.

Who is least likely to respond?
WGAF.

What books are you reading?
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
The Sin City comics.

What's on your mousepad?
The mouse. Duh.

Favourite board game?
Monopoly.

Favourite Smell?
The smell of earth, after the first rain. Also my mum's pepper chicken..

Can you touch your nose with your tongue?
I actually tried this right now! Heck, I can't.

Favourite flower?
Err...Dont know..Poppy, maybe?

What's the first thing you think when you wake up?
Who is today? What is I?

What's the time?
It's the time to disco...

Nickname?
Viinu. Lets not get vulgar here now.

Ever been so drunk you blacked?
Never. And dont intend to either.

Been in a car accident?
Yes.

Been hurt emotionally?
Yes. Forty Trillion times.

Kept a secret from anyone?
Shitloads of 'em.

Wanted to hook up with a friend?
Yes. Many friends (female of course)

Cried during a movie?
Not during a movie, but during a TV show. I was the Wonder Year, and Kevin's leaving the classroom after giving the Math test Mr. Collins has set for him just before he died. And he turns back to see Mr Collins sitting on his desk and says "Good Job Mr Collins". Tears came.

Had a crush on a teacher?
Yes.

Ever thought an animated character was hot?
Never.

Had New Kids on The Block Tape?
Nope.

Been on stage?
Yes. Total Embarrasment all 3 times.

Fav Movie?
Fighclub. But I cannot talk about it. I'll be breaking the rules then.

Fav Subject?
None. I generally hated all subjects.

Fav person you talk to online?
Err..I dont normally talk online.

Do you have boyfriend/girlfriend?
Yes.

Like anyone?
Yes. Women, mostly.

Who have you known the longest of your friends?
Akshay

Who's the shyest?
Me.

Who's the weirdest?
Me.

Who would you go for advice?
No one. I do what I think is best.

Who do you cry with?
Kevin Arnold mostly. Otherwise by myself.

Worst feeling?
When I flunked english in school. Pain turned to relief when I found out it was tabulation error.

Favourite word?
Awesome!

I tag Vijay Krishna. Should be fun..

Progressive Boink

Progressive Boink is one site that people need to visit more often. For people who have an interest in movies, TV shows, cult classic cartoon strips i.e.

You'll find it worth the while. And here's a link to the best CnH strips (I think it's the 20 best), just for starters