Shahrukh Khan... the name is enough.

While creating Devdas he had said, "There lies a little bit of Devdas in everyone of us". And Shahrukh is that man about whom we can say, "There's a little bit of Shahrukh Khan in everyone of us".

The NASA scientist uplifting the moods of the kids with 'Ye tara woh tara...', or the autism inflicted Khan expressing his happiness dancing on "Sajda..." or the foreign returned MBA running to reach his Mom in "Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham.. " and the ''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' Casanova forgetting the girl's name he is hitting on ...

Ab jaan lutt jaaye, ye jahaan chhut jaaye
Sang pyaar rahe, main rahun na rahun 

Sab Yeh Roop Hain Mehnat Ke, Kuchh Karne Ki Chahat Ke
Kisi Ka Kisi Se Koi Bair Nahin 

All the people who say we hate SRK, well come on..... we adore him, don't we. He is the man. oh yes he markets himself well, but that's what makes him much better. He is an avant-garde actor. especially now when we can see Agent Vinod following the same tackticks to come in to the limelight. No other paper is carrying his comics other than Times of India. Well, you see... SRK is an ICON!!

Uff... I would always wish to meet him and say, " Sh..Sh.. Sh.. Sh... Shahrukh, from Baazigar to RA.One... hmm hmmmm... eh... hm hm hm hmm....... you have been the hero. You have never let me down.. because I have been canvassing for you all these years, I might not remember your dialogues to prove myself a fan but hey I am not just your fan and I am not wanting to prove it here. I just admire you, for you show that the emotions are natural and human and not alien as per the generalist stereotypes. And it is human to be".

Thanks for being there when the Legends of Indian Cinema have left us... Dev Sahab, Shammiji, Pran Saab, we hardly see Dilip Sir now. Bachhan Saab did make us feel overjoyed... Buy you are the always youthful Hero. 

I wouldn't be wrong to put, "Everyone has a little bit of Shahrukh Khan in them". 

The only thing Delhi doesn't have is...

Hyderabad has Tollywood...

Chennai has Kollywood...

Bangalore has Sandalwood...

Mumbai has Bollywood...

Kolkata too has Bengali Cinema sometimes referred to as Tollywood origining from where it all started - Tollygunge.

Even Bihar, Jharkhand and UP also have Bhojpuri cinema.

But, the only thing that Delhi doesn't have is a Dollywood!

Being in Hyderabad for quite sometime now, I have often found myself engrossed in discussions on Tollywood. The amazing thing is that these discussions take place with full intensity with the Auto-wale Anna, the maid and her family, my friends at some of the top IT companies here and with most of the industry friends. Almost everyone is in awe of the stars and their aura.

I have realised that the city dwellers have it in their genes and it has eventually become a part of their culture and routine. It is the same feeling that I had being a Delhite when I related with 'Janakpuri style' in Band Baja Baraat or 'Tilaknagar' in Oye Lucky Lucky Oye or 'Pahadganj' in DevD or 'North Campus' in Rockstar. Its more than just relating to the location; it is completing a full circle with society and culture forming cinema and cinema in turn depicting society and its culture.

As a Delhite watching movies which invariably were Bombay oriented, we most of the times saw them as, "oh, so once in Bombay there was a man or a woman who....". Satya, Rangeela, Bombay Boys, Chameli, Chandni Bar, Munna Bhai, Zanjeer, Agneepath are a range of fine examples. It was on very less occasions where we saw a movie with such belongingness saying, "Here in Delhi there lived a man or a woman who...".

As I find myself overpowered with the charm of Tollywood (and its insanely ravishing heroines), I  understand that Delhi might never have a Bollywood alike Dollywood; notwithstanding which, "Main aur meri tanhai aksar yeh baate karte hain,  Dollywood hota to aisa hota, Dollywood hota to waisa hota..."    :-)

Footnote:

Well, a conversation struck and a discussion kicked off on this at Chutneys. We realised how does it affect the lifestyle / culture apart from the aesthetic pleasure of living parallel to a  Tollywood. In Delhi at every instance of a road rage or any rage the most common line is, "Do you know who I am, my Uncle is the ....... or My aunty is the..........". In Hyderabad, the common man is 'a hero in himself'. He doesn't need anybody to strengthen his case. He alone can. 

Well, this holds true for the Telugu movies I have been watching; Jnr. NTR has all the time been a shanty colony idol, stylish hero Allu Arjun was an orphan turned Mr. Perfect, the lean Varun Sandesh hitting his senior in Happy Days or the nutcase Naga Chaitanya, wooing away the girl  of his dreams and living his dreams as well. So, there is a mutual respect in the city. People don't feel low about someone else and at the same time they don't feel they are lesser to anyone. I think that's the characteristic of Hyderabad, maybe a discussion awaits on this...

I understand that laws of gravity and physics are a bit lenient here but then that much for, 'entertainment, entertainment, entertainment'.

A friend from Deccan

Migrating to a new city never comes easy; to some it is like erasing locus to an acquainted circle ─ streets, markets, familiar faces…one point at a time. Somewhere between unwinding to unfamiliar lands and embracing opportunities, one feels alienated. Some men and women too(see I am not gender biased) are for sure an island but for others looking for a relation beyond the internet, there is always a friend in the waiting ─ the dog!      

In this guest post, Udit Joshi recollects his early days in Hyderabad and the onset of a brewing friendship.

HE is one of my first few friends in Hyderabad. Though Hyderabad is a very warm and friendly city, being new to any place one has to overcome the perceptions or general inhibitions before feeling the sense of belongingness. (My God that was too long a sentence!) And I, who always swore by Delhi and took it for granted, took more time than usual to feel that way in Hyderabad.

At the pan shop of the chourasta of Cyber Tower stays Raju, healthy, handsome, jumpy and way too affectionate. He adorns thick fur, good skin, well formed muscles and has a twinkle in the eye. Later a friend told that he has cataract. Well, Raju is too jumpy to be taken to a vet and be asked to sit through any of the proceedings.

Breaking the ice with Raju was way too easy. Easier than it has been with most of the humans. After a few cookie packets from the pan shop we were happily spending time together forgetting our blues of life. Because he was very wobbly I asked him to, “Sit”. He gave a damn. I told him, “Baitho” and he continued jumping. It rang a bell; I asked the pan wala Anna for the word to sit in Telugu and ‘Kucho’ was the word. He sat down! Kucho was also my first word in Telugu.

Since that day I made it a point to visit Raju on my way home and have some cookie time. He has become a very good friend and looks forward for my visits. Since he has the eye ailment he doesn’t really know from a distance if it is me, but the direction of his head and body inclination are always exactly towards me.  He’s a tough proud dog and doesn’t really express his happiness but with me he did with a very soft wail.

A few days back I returned from Bangalore and dropped to meet Raju. It had been days since I had met him. I looked around and didn’t find him at his usual place. I searched and saw a disoriented Raju trying to cross the road towards me. He was limping. On a closer look I found his leg bandaged. I was taken aback. Anna told me that he was hit by a speeding car. Damn that bugger!! I consoled patting him for a long time. It pacified me when he ate the cookies. He had a special extra packet that day. He was bandaged by the Anna’s family but that was not the solution.

I am really thankful to Bluecross, Hyderabad for being so cooperative and helpful to me. They came, took Raju with them, nursed and bandaged him. They tried to keep him in observation overnight but my hyperactive idiot was too difficult to be kept in a cage. “He tore off the belt into 30 pieces”, said Pradeep, the volunteer at Bluecross. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for him.It has been two weeks and Raju has recovered though a slight limp remains. He’ll get better I am sure.

Post originally written as a guest blogger on - http://calvy.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/a-friend-from-deccan/