Categories
Film

‘Jalpari’ wins at Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival

Nila Madhab Panda’s second children’s film after the critically-acclaimed ‘I Am Kalam’ wins three awards at fest, including Best Film.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival 2013 was concluded recently, and one film that won in three separate categories was Jalpari – The Desert Mermaid.

This film is Nila Madhab Panda’s second outing after the critically-acclaimed I Am Kalam three years ago. Jalpari was one of hundreds of films nominated from across the world, and it won awards for Best Film (for producer Sushilkumar Agrawal), Best Screenplay (for Deepak Venkateshan) and Best Child Actress (for Leher Khan).

The Film Festival was held in Noida recently. After the win, Sushilkumar said, “It’s an honour to receive awards in three different categories for our film. These awards are a measure of appreciation and an encouragement for us to continue making and supporting content-oriented cinema. I always believed in its subject, powerful performances and treatment, which I knew had the potential to compete and also win. It’s celebration time for us.”

The film is centred around the travails of a girl child in a rural setup where female foeticide is rampant, and also stars Tannishtha Chatterjee, Parvin Dabas and Rajendra Gupta. “After receiving critical acclaim at international festivals, I am super ecstatic on receiving a triple triumph at India’s most honoured film festival for for my second film. Dadasaheb’s work, his history has been a source of inspiration and encourages me to make such movies,” added Nila Madhab Panda on receiving the award.

(Pictures courtesy www.indianexpress.com, jaiarjun.blogspot.com)

Categories
Tech

The best phones under Rs 15,000

Want a new phone on a budget? Here’s a list of phones that fulfill all needs without pinching your pocket.
by Manik Kakra

Phones have become one of those integral gizmos of our daily life. We need them when we are alone, when at work, when partying – just about everywhere, at all times. We all want a good phone that can fulfill our needs, and here are out top picks of phones that don’t worry your wallet but give you the bang for the bucks.

Nokia Asha 501; to go on sale next month, expected price Rs. 6,300 

This S40 phone is a very smart feature phone. It is made for people who don’t want full functionality of smartphones, but who still want to stay connected. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp (coming soon), or just to make or receive calls, this phone has got all bases coveed. What’s more, MTNL and Airtel users get free access to Facebook from their phone, thanks to Nokia’s partnership with Facebook.

Nokia Lumia 520, approx Rs. 9,500
This phone is the cheapest Windows Phone 8 device available in the market. It is a great-looking device that comes with a decent 4-inch screen, 5 Mp camera, 512 MB RAM, and WP8 OS that works just fine on it. People looking for their first smartphone without spending a lot should definitely consider this Nokia offering.

Sony Xperia E (approx Rs 9,900)
The Xperia E boasts a 3.5-inch screen, and comes with Android 4.1. It is a very nice-looking phone which comes with a 3.2 MP camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, DLNA, and microUSB. It comes in a number of colour options, too – pink, blue, and black.

Micromax Canvas HD, approx Rs. 14,500
Micromax has been getting a lot of attention in the phone industry, of late. The company has been busy launching one Android phone after another. The Canvas HD (in pic on left) seems to be the best out of their lot. This phone sports a 5-inch HD screen, an 8 MP rear camera, and the phone runs on Android 4.1.2. This phone seems like a value for money option, and has got received very well in the market so far.

LG Optimus L5 II, approx Rs. 10,000
The Optimus L5II is an Android 4.1 phone that sports a 4-inch screen, and features a 5 MP camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, and microUSB. It is a good option for people looking for an Android device that doesn’t feel too old for its Android version and is within their not-so-high budget at the same time.

Did Manik miss out any smart, budget phones in this piece? Write to him in the comments section below.

(Pictures courtesy chatinbook.info, www.fonearena.com)

Categories
Eat

Diet ki dukaan

Why do we complicate our diet by bringing in dieticians? What’s wrong with home-cooked Indian food for our dietary needs?
by Anurita Gupta

Yeh chaar goli, teen teen ghante mein ek baar.” Remember this typical setup of a doctor’s clinic, with a compounder in the next room putting together a pink concoction for cough syrup and some tabs in a small white paper ki pudiya? These days, new-age diet consultants and nutritionists have replaced these doctors, with their ideas of eating small meals every two hours to lose weight.

My visit to a high profile diet consultant,who is not even a doctor in terms of having a degree, was like a flashback to such a doctor’s dawakhana. Just the way the doctor would pretty much hand over the same meds for everything from viral to tummy complaints, this nutritionist had her lines rehearsed: “The key is to eat, but not all at one go!” This instruction was not even given in person. A bunch of us were hustled to a tiny room with a TV by a rude receptionist, and made to watch a video presentation by this nutri-queen telling us about how eating healthy (read: wheat grass juice) would make all the difference.

It didn’t occur to me then, but in the name of personalised advice, this one was doling out tips wholesale.

Dr Loveleena Nadir, renowned gynecologist and nutrition advisor with the Fortis chain of hospitals, says, “It’s quite simple, and yet people are not willing to accept that being fit can be as easy as eating regular home-made meals that are freshly prepared. They will try and figure various formulae, instead of having a typical Indian meal that is automatically filled with protein in the form of dal, complex carbohydrates in multigrain rotis and rice, and iron and other minerals and vitamins that are found in fresh and green leafy vegetables.”

The home connection
Cut to the 90’s when I was in my early teens and would find a trip to the sabzi mandi a great outing with my badi mamma. She was in her 60s then but more fit than many 30-year-olds. Her mantra? Khao sabb kuchh per kaddo vee (you must eat everything but burn it)! We would both walk more than two kilometres each way and carry back huge bags of sabzi and fruit.

Badi mamma would sweat but never be out of breath. Each of her chores required physical labour – no washing machines for her, and she would lug heavy buckets of hand-washed clothes to the roof to dry. The breakfasts she made were healthy – a grated apple, one bolied egg and two rotis with the sabzi of the day. She was her at her ideal weight of 56 kg with a height of 5ft 6in.

Work complicates matters
We have complicated our lives not just with work but with such little time to concentrate on our health that we pay money for someone to take us back to ‘ghar ka khana’. All our pre-packaged makhani dal and pulao for lunch and many dinner outings have made us ill. No wonder, then, that we are told to have healthy meals in small amounts, just like a medicine.

However the modern concept of ‘eating everything healthy’ in regular doses bears the hazard of completely unhealthy thoughts in our minds against a thali full of proper khana. With a dietician’s advice, we plan ahead and get ziplock bags of healthy, nutritious food. It doesn’t stop there. Many phone apps assist us in carefully calculating our calorie intake of the day.

Dr Nadir says, “It’s important in general to keep your salt intake balanced which, unfortunately, is our biggest problem, because all packaged and fast food is very high in sodium.”

So what’s healthy?

The humble dal chawal and bajre ka rotla were such favourites with gharelu aam ka achaar and mutthi maara pyaaz. I feel so deprived at times, because I don’t have the liberty of time to make or eat the food of my childhood.

Of course, our lives are different than before. Food is mostly a ‘comfort’ for us after a long battle with traffic and sometimes, a painful boss. So fatty, junk food becomes instant relief. With that, we drag our unhealthy selves not back to the kitchen to make a simple, healthy meal, but to knock on the doors of a ‘magic doctor’ who tells us to eat seven medium-sized rotis a day – something that our mothers told us ages ago, for free!

(Pictures courtesy www.myvistahealth.com, www.kidspot.com.au, www.spiceflair.com)

Categories
Event

Art Night Thursday is back

Visual Disobedience, a collective that makes art accessible to people, will let you hop along for an art gallery tour.
by Medha Kulkarni

It’s that time of the month again. Art Night Thursday is back, when some of Mumbai’s best art galleries throw open their doors (past closing time) to share,with art enthusiasts, works by some of the best/newest artists from India and abroad.

However, for most people, an art gallery tends to be an intimidating space. With artworks that spill out of the conventional art definitions and the general stream of heady chatter that seems only to be full of fancy words and concepts, most people tend to give art galleries a miss.

If you’re among those who really want to visit these galleries and have an interest in art but shy away due to lack of company, then the Visual Disobedience hop is for you.

Hop to it
Visual Disobedience is a collective formed by young,upcoming artists and other creative people who believe in breaking rules and essentially questioning the way society perceives art. The idea was born out of a simple desire to make art more accessible to the general public. Your guide for the hop will be Ramona D’Mello, who used to organise these gallery hops as part of Artinfo, but has now recently shifted to be a part of the Visual Disobedience.

“It’s all about making art accessible to everyone, irrespective of background, age or profession. We’re loosely-knit; there’s no upper limit on how many people can join us and no need to be absolutely punctual. If you can’t make it right from the start (of the hop), people can join us at different points during the art hop,” says Ramona.

The hop starts at Project 88 at 7.00 pm and winds its way from there through all the participating galleries. It’s free and open to all.

After a quick briefing, Ramona will take you through the different galleries. At every gallery, either the gallerist themselves or the curator give a short note about the works on display or the ongoing show.

“It might seem like an educational walk/talk, but it isn’t,” insists Ramona. “We usually have a lot of fun and make new friends this way.”

The hop happens today at 7.00 pm, and starts at Project 88, BMP Building, Ground Floor, Narayan A Sawant Road, Colaba, near Colaba Fire Brigade. Contact Ramona at 9892536558 or Kevin at 9769930240.

(Pictures courtesy Visual Disobedience) 

Categories
Tech

Apps and games for your Android phone

Presenting a new list of apps that will make using your Smartphone a more incredible experience than it already is.
by Manik Kakra

So you just bought that shiny, new Android smartphone after reading about it and getting feedback from your friends? Great.  But do you know what would make your device better? Apps and games, that’s what.

Apps will help you get the maximum out of your smartphone and make it convenient to use. Let’s get started with our list of apps to install after booting up your Android smartphone for the first time (Note: Google’s apps like Gmail, GMaps, etc. are pre-loaded, so we are not going to mention those apps here.)

Llama

This is an automated-tasker app, and works really well. You can set events and triggers in this app to have a particular app or function started all by itself – for example, switching off your phone’s WiFi as soon as you leave your office. There are tons of settings, and yes, it takes quite a while before you actually get it running on your tips.

The alternative? Tasker

Tweedle

Are you active on Twitter? Well, this free app is the one you should try. It has smooth scrolling, many features, and a nice UI. This Twitter client has it all covered.

The alternative? Falcon Pro

JuiceDefender

This app is quite handy if you are using your phone for one thing or another. JuiceDefender allows you to tweak the settings on your phone to help you get more juice out of your phone without re-charging.

PowerAmp

It is a music player, which looks good, plays multiple formats, has got EQ settings – yes, all of them are covered. You can try its free version, and its paid version  for Rs 120 is worth your money for a good, one-stop music player on your phone.

The alternative? N7 Music Player

Pixlr-O-matic 

Click too many pictures from your phone’s camera and want to edit and upload them straight from your phone? This app’s got your back. Frames, effects, cropping, resize – you name it, and it has it. This is a simple editing app that is a must-have for you photo junkies out there.

The alternative? Pixlr Express

Nova Launcher 

Bored of your phone’s UI and design? Try this fully customisable launcher. You can make folders, add icons, bring widgets on your home screen, change icons, and have as many home screens you need. Apart from nice 3D-ish effects, this is a smooth launcher which is definitely worth giving a try.

The alternative? ADW Launcher

Any.Do 

Any.Do is a to-do list app that works the way its name says. It allows you to list tasks that you have to yet completed on a day, and you can mark them as and when done.

The alternative? Astrid Task and Evernote

Dropbox

This cloud storage app, a cross platform service, is a must-have for Android users, too.

The alternative? Box

Pocket

This is a read-it-later service where you can add URLs for reading them later, either in the app’s own format, or going to the original webpage through the app. It is a cross-platform app available for Web as well.

The alternative? Readability

Flipboard News 

Flipboard allows you to make a virtual magazine of your own. Choose content as per your liking, and add the sources from Web you prefer. It is a very nice app that works without any hassles, and gives you a lot of content to without wasting your time.

The alternative? Pulse

And some games:

Death Racing 2 

Subway Surfers 

Super Hexagon     

Ruzzle

Hill Climb Racing 

Did you like Manik’s recommendations? Write to us in the comments section below with any apps or games that Manik may have missed.

(Pictures courtesy www.101hacker.com, galaxypocketpirates.blogspot.com, switched-on-tech.pricerunner.co.uk, mplayer.pastemagazine.com) 

Categories
Film

‘Tracing Phalke’ to celebrate 100 years of cinema

NFDC releases coffee table book on life of Dadasaheb Phalke; the book contains rare details of the cine genius’ life.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

What better way to celebrate 100 glorious years of Indian cinema than to celebrate the life of the father of Indian cinema? Carrying this idea forward is Tracing Phalke, a book that chronicles the life of Dadasaheb Phalke.

“Celebrating the completion of an action-packed cinematic century of Indian cinema and the genius of Dadasaheb, NFDC (National Film Development Corporation) is pleased to announce the release of the limited edition of Tracing Phalke – researched, written and compiled by Kamal Swaroop, a film, television and radio director and screenwriter, more popularly known for his masterwork Om-Dar-B-Dar (1988),” a release from NFDC said.

The book is a “text-based visual treat that lends a magnified view into Dadasaheb’s life, the iconic coffee table book is an eponymous compilation tracing the life span of the Father of Indian Cinema, with rare details right through his schooling, places he visited, people he met and experiences that lent value to his innate genius and imagination that eventually lead to the birth of Indian Cinema.”

Speaking on the occasion of the release of the book, Swaroop, said, “I am happy that Tracing Phalke will be re-released this year just around the date of Indian Cinema completing a glorious century. And considering that NFDC is a harbinger in fostering and promoting Indian Cinema, associating with them couldn’t have been more apt for this initiative.”

Tracing Phalke is a very insightful compilation of Dadasaheb Phalke’s life by Kamal Swaroop and we are delighted to present this visual treat for film aficionados and the fraternity in this centenary year of Indian Cinema,” said Vikramjit Roy, General Manager- National Film Development Corporation.

(Pictures courtesy facebook.com, NFDC)

Exit mobile version