Zee Ley Jara...

 

On the sets of the Zee TV Talk Show "Teer Kamaan" which I directed for a season, sometimes in the mid-90s. The set design and construction was by Omung Kumar (also called OK), familiar to the then television audience as the very popular host of the game show 'Ek Minute' (also on Zee)

"The Positive Health Show" - another show I directed at Zee in the mid-90s. It was anchored by one Dr. Batra (yes, the famous homoeopath who helps you deal with hair loss and other sundry deficiencies). One of the show's sections dealt with health cooking. I remember at the end of this one all of us unwholesomely rushed in to eat the just cooked gourmet dish. Incidentally, the smart boy intently observing me at the back is Sagar Ballary (later to become famous as the Director of 'Bheja Fry'). Sagar was a young college student then, assisting me in Zee while bunking his classes at Ruia :)

Offline Rant

Get off Facebook, you dumb ass
You have a book to write
Get a life
Go for a walk
Fight with your neighbour
Make odd shaped balls
And odder sounds
Ones that you say sorry after.
Or don't.

Ek Choti Si Love Story - Top Left, and Top Right

Once upon a time (some time it was !), there was a boy, top, left. He loved the girl, top right. But the guy in the top middle kept coming in the way. So did the girl in the middle right, whose shoulders (and counsel) the top right girl trusted; while the one in the middle middle kept scoring aces in exams, in accomplished ignorance. Meanwhile the graceful guy at the bottom (middle) quietly rose up in ranks, to become the Vice President, Special Programs, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C. (not joking, this). End of story.

Facebook Fry

Fifty two years

And just two hundred and ninety-one friends

Doesn’t quite add up, Facebook.

Are you up to something?

Should I be talking to your superiors?

Only yesterday

I got two likes, one comment and

Strong possibility of

A friend request

While honourably clicking

Every post I saw

On my news feed

Or theirs.

Those assholes

They never honour

With likes, comments, and sharing

Stuff that I put up

Stuff that is tepid, cold

Occasionally a wee bit warm, even daring.

See

That is almost a rhyme

I told you I am good.

Like me, like me, like me, please.

People half my age

Are baking their cakes

And eating them too

While I

Am still eying the recipe.

The one who turned twenty one

Have you seen her around, lately ?

The one I used to know,

The one who turned twenty one.

She wore glasses

And the Principal’s son

(May he rot in something not so nice)

Fancied himself to be

The suitable boy

While I

Looked the Sun

Squarely in the eye

Calmly awaiting

The invitation to

Her secret brotherhood

Of the not-so-sighted.

She had almost blond

Sunsilk hair

And chubby cheeks

(I did not even get to touch them – honest!)

But we talked

Rather I did

Of Marx, and the meaning of life

Outstaring her

Opinionated tom cat

And doggedly dating

The bus stop

To her home.

Have you seen her around, lately ?

The one I used to know,

The one who turned twenty one.

Winter loved,

And summer strung.

Rimzhim, rimzhim, Esselworld...

An ad I made nearly two decades back, while working in Zee. The idea was to sell Esselworld (their amusement park, off Mumbai) during the monsoons (a traditionally lean season), as a romantic destination for the young. A busload of enthusiastic hip youngsters were transported from St. Xavier's College, working for fresh air, junk food and being taken on rides. The result did not particularly boost the sales of Esselworld or the confidence of my bosses in my evident talents. However my takeaway was this jingle, WRITTEN by me (Music & Voice: Uday Mazumdar). 

रिमझिम रिमझिम, एस्सेलवर्ल्ड 

रिमझिम रिमझिम, एस्सेलवर्ल्ड 

देखा जबसे मैंने तुझको हुआ है दिल दीवाना 

बारीश के प्यारे नग्मे और एस्सेलवर्ल्ड में आना 

रिमझिम रिमझिम, एस्सेलवर्ल्ड 

रिमझिम रिमझिम, एस्सेलवर्ल्ड 

प्यार की बातें, प्यार से करले 

अन्दर, बाहर, ऊपर, नीचे 

छोड़ दे गुस्सा मान ले कहना 

तू आगे में पीछे पीछे

रिमझिम रिमझिम, एस्सेलवर्ल्ड 

रिमझिम रिमझिम, एस्सेलवर्ल्ड

भूल भूलैया, चक्कर टक्कर 

मिले हैं सुर अब सात 

झूम के नाचो, भीगो, गाओ 

बनी है अपनी बात 

रिमझिम रिमझिम, एस्सेलवर्ल्ड 

रिमझिम रिमझिम, एस्सेलवर्ल्ड

(Banegi Apni Baat was a popular 'youth love' serial on Zee, during my times there)

'Bin Tere' - Lyrics (Vishal Dadlani) & Song

"राह में रौशनी, नी है क्यूँ हाथ छोड़ा 
इस तरफ शाम ने, क्यूँ है अपना मुह मोड़ा 
यूँ, के हर सुबह, एक बेरहम सी रात बन गयी 
है क्या ये जो, तेरे मेरे दरमियाँ है 
अनदेखी अनसुनी कोई दास्ताँ है 
लगने लगी, अब ज़िन्दगी, खाली, खाली 
लगने लगी, हर सांस भी, खाली
बिन तेरे, बिन तेरे, बिन तेरे
कोई खलिश है, हवाओं में, बिन तेरे" 

 "Raah mein roshni, ni hai kyun haath choda

Iss taraf shaam ne, kyun hai apna muh moda

Yun, ke har subah, ik bereham si raat ban gayi

Hai kya yeh jo, tere mere darmiyaan hai

Andekhi ansuni koi dastaan hai

Lagne lagi, ab zindagi, khaali, khaali

Lagne lagi, har saans bhi, khaali 

Bin tere, bin tere, bin tere 

Koi khalish hai, hawaon mein bin tere"

Film: I Hate Love Stories (2010)
Lyrics: Vishal Dadlani 
Music: Vishal-Shekhar
Singers: Shafqat Amanat Ali & Sunidhi Chauhan