Sheldon & Gutthi : Blog # 213

Sheldon & Gutthi

        I was watching an episode of the series, ‘The Big Bang Theory’. The episode was one where the character, ‘Sheldon’ is doing a show on flags. It suddenly struck me as to how similar the mannerisms and expressions of Sheldon Cooper is to ‘Gutthi’, a character in the much loved Indian show, ‘Comedy nights with Kapil’. Both the shows are immensely popular for their comic appeal and the characters are much loved by the audience.

            As I thought further, there were other similarities too. Both of them have quirks which make us fall in love with them. Sheldon knocks on a door thrice, calling out the person’s name, ALWAYS. Gutthi introduces herself in a peculiar way where she calls out every one’s name who are around in a kind of a forever loop. How much ever times they repeat this, it is equally funny every single time.

            Both of them mostly believe only one person or confide in only with a single character. For Sheldon, it is Leonard and for Gutthi, it is her sister, Palak. Both the characters have a punching bag each. Sheldon is always dismissive about Penni and  for Gutthi, it is Palak who is always a butt of her jokes. Both the characters are narcissistic in their own ways and have a bit of an inflated self image about themself.

            If you stretch your imagination a bit, Bazingaa and Babaji ka thullu are also similar, isn’t it? ;) These are similarities in words. If you want to look at gestures, Gutthi shows Babaji ka thullu time and again and Sheldon’s favourite is Live Long & Prosper J

To my eyes, somewhere, both of them kind of look a bit similar too, the actors who play the characters I mean. Sunil Grover plays Gutthi and Sheldon Copper is played by Jim Parsons. In more ways than one, both of them have similar facial features. Both of them have awkward smiles and quirky expressions too.

Keywords : The big bang theory, Sheldon Cooper, Gutthi, Comedy nights with Kapil, Sunil Grover, Jim Parsons

Blog on Dulquer Salman’s Filmography #3 : Blog # 212

Blog on Dulquer Salman’s Filmography #3

April 18^th will be a day Dulquer will remember for a life time for it is on this day, that his movie, OK Kanmani, directed by Mani Ratnam released. You know this movie has created waves when much loved Tamil actors like Surya appreciates the film and more importantly, the actors involved on a public platform like twitter. The icing on the cake is that the Telugu version, OK Bangaram has also been widely appreciated. How do we know? All you need to do is ask the Telugu super star, Rana Daggubaati J. That Mani Ratnam will carve out a classic was an expected outcome, given the artistic brilliance that the veteran director has showcased in his illustrious career. But that DQ will be as much appreciated for his acting prowess is testimony to his growth as an actor and the sincerity with which he is approaching his craft.

In the last blog, we were looking forward to the release of two movies, ‘Njan’ and ‘100 days of Love’. ‘Njan’ was a critically acclaimed movie directed by the much revered Malayalam movie director, Ranjith. It was one of those movies you watch for the love of cinema. It was not a typical popcorn popping, masala entertainer. Predictably, this movie did not set the cash bells ringing. But it did do decent business and DQ was noted for his craft. This one, like ‘Theevram’ is the kind of movie an actor does for posterity. Undeniably, commercial success is always a pleasant outcome.

'100 days of love’ is familiar territory for Dulquer. He plays a character by name, ‘Balan K Nair’. That is the name of a villain of the stature of Amarish Puri in the Malayalam film industry. To make the audience fall in love with a character by that name is no easy task J. It is like naming elixir as poison and still expecting people to take it in for immortality! In the movie, there were scenes where he reminded the audience of his immensely talented, national award winning, Malayalam actor and star, Mammooty especially when it comes to the baritone. This movie was a grand success or should I say ‘IS’? It is still running to packed theaters. He played the character of a journalist who falls for a girl he meets by serendipity with much ease. Notable was the fact that his comic timing is like a Swiss watch now J

Did I mention that the Tamil audience has already celebrated him with a best debut award for ‘Vayaimoodi pesavum’? That he is one of the sharpest dressed actors around is no secret. Apparently, ‘Ritz style awards’ is also in agreement J. Many more awards came his way including ‘Asia vision’.

From sources inside and on the periphery of the film industry, one hears about DQ being a good person. Is that a big deal? When one is born with a silver spoon and has much to be proud about and still manages to be level headed, I think it is a big deal. 

Not belittling OK Kanmani in anyway, but here is hoping it to be just the tip of an iceberg of accomplishments that is to come DQ’s way J.

See you at the movies!

Latest Movie's Trailer : Charlie : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYxtLNJJ54Y

Earlier blogs on Dulquer’s Filmography :

Blog 1 : The rise of a new star

Blog 2: Bangalore days and more

Blog 4 : Charlie all the way

Blog 5 : Comrade in America

Blog 6: Spoilt for Choice  

I am off Facebook ! : Blog # 211

I am off facebook !

A while back, one of my friends put up a post on Facebook saying he is leaving fb. Another friend of mine commented on that post saying “A huge loss for facebook!” In my mind, that comment was the best reply that post could have got. Many a time, we tend to misread our own importance in the scheme of existence of the whole Universe.

Before you jump at me saying it is a personal choice, I agree with you on this aspect. It is indeed personal discretion. But the only person who has anything to lose is him/her. Whenever a new technology sweeps mankind, there is a group which step aside from that wave. They attach an almost evil dimension to it. Would you believe me if I said there were people who said they were against computers? It worked for them for a small time. In today’s world, if one doesn’t know to operate a computer, it is as good as saying that person has stopped living or is frozen in time. Add to that, life could become immensely easy for them if they had kept an open mind.

Social media exists to connect people and to share information. Of course, it has its frivolous sides where we use it to boost our self esteem albeit momentarily and to sustain relationships even if it’s through exchange of fake pleasantries. But many a time, we do that even in a social gathering too. Does that mean we stop meeting people or that is all we do in a social gathering? At times, to get along in a society, one has to hold back a few words and utter a few generous words even if one doesn’t subscribe to a fellow being’s school of thought completely.

Now there is this angle of addiction to this debate. Whatever we start doing in Life, it goes through phases. Initially, there is a lot of enthusiasm about it. Then comes a stage where the enthusiasm slows down gradually and then it plateaus. Social media is also no different. We learn to deal with these phases at various points in life. One should learn to rein in ones addictions and exercise control over ones urges. Stepping out completely from something for fear of addiction only hinders this learning. It is like saying “I am not taking an electricity connection for fear of getting a shock!”

There is a concept called ‘Network Externality’ in the study of business. An application of this concept is that a good or service gets used by almost everyone that it becomes extremely popular and furthers its own demand. So what happens is when you choose to not use that good or service, you kind of get left out. In our case, social media essentially facilitates communication. So it becomes difficult for people around you to know about you and stay in touch with you if you choose to not use this service. And if you really think those who care about you will make an effort to reach out to you inspite of your absence in one of the popular channels of communication of the day, it is like waiting for a telegram. And by the way, telegrams are dead J.

Keywords : facebook,socialmedia,deactivatefacebook,quit facebook,quit twitter,twitter,leave facebook, delete facebook,leave socialmedia