Bollywood and The Athirapally Waterfalls

April 30, 2018

The majesty of the Athirapally Waterfalls has to be seen to be believed. These falls lie in the dense forests and jungles of the Thrissur district of Kerala. We drove more than two hours to reach these exotic falls and had to trek downhill for at least half an hour to reach the waterfalls. I then stood on top of huge rock and stone boulders only to see a shallow pond of fresh water under my feet. The afternoon heat and the excursion to the bottom had left me tired and sweaty. So I decided to take off my clothes and jumped into the cool pool of fresh water to take a dip. It was fun as I went on to take this royal bath in full view of the local passers-by. My team got busy shooting this and soon got some nice shots and expressions from me. I spoke about how Shah Rukh Khan’s film Asoka was shot at this very location. The entire song sequence of “San Sanana” was shot under these full as Kareena Kapoor seduces Asoka. Mani Ratnam, another famous director from the south, loves these waterfalls and shot for Raavan here which had Aishwarya Rai slipping down the hills of the waterfalls. It was a very dramatic sequence.

Bollywood has a love affair with this location and that is evident in its beauty. The thick dense forest with bamboo trees give enough shade as one is sliding down, but climbing back to the top is very taxing. With my bulk, I managed to break all the way up but was exhausted at the end.

Our next stop was the Vazhachal Falls. These were just adjacent and is a very shallow waterfall. There were some very rare birds with large beaks that could only drink rainwater when it was falling from the sky. This time, I chose the cooler shades of a large banyan tree just near the falls to deliver my speech. We did a few shots of me walking through the mud lanes into the forest. The trek here took longer. We were walking on flatter ground but it had been a packed day of shooting for us. I must say that I was getting the real feel of Kerala by now with its films, locations and its famous actors like Mohanlal and Mammootty. After all, A.R. Rahman and Ilaiyaraaja are from this region.

The essence of Kerala’s cultural and creativity was truly seeping into me and I love expressing my joy through my talks and through my commentary.

By adminin others, Ukraine

Indo-Pak Conversations in Moscow

November 9, 2017

I stayed at a tasteful hotel in Moscow where there are three hotels in a row called Alpha, Beta and Gamma. It so happened that I had decided to stay in the hotel while spending a week in Moscow. In the lobby, I started chatting to a Pakistani tourist who was sitting opposite me on a broad sofa. “Hello, I am Ahmed from Karachi in Pakistan. I have a huge marble trading business there. Originally, we were from India. We are Rajputs, you know, from Rajasthan in India.” I looked towards him and then glanced at my mobile phone as I was Googling something. “You Pakistani, I am sure you can speak in Urdu. How are you then from India and your forefathers where Rajputs?” I was amazed and got pinned to his chat. “Yes sir, Pakistan is great. I also enjoy travelling a lot. I have been to over 20 countries last month. I was in Singapore and also in Cambodia.”

I started chatting about the politics in Pakistan and how strong Imran Khan was as a leader and a prospective Prime Minister. “Well, Imran, he is all show and glamour. It is true that his party Tehreek-e-Insaf has a lot of young following. The young are its biggest supporters. Nawaz Sharif is the King of Punjab. He has a huge base there and a lot of traders and big businessmen support him. The elites are with him and people see him as more mature and calm. Imran Khan is seen as too emotional and fiery. He is so pumped up that, at times, it seems he will hurt his own chances.” He had analysed the political landscape in Pakistan brilliantly. “But of course, you cannot keep the PPP and the Zardaris and Bhutto away at bay so easily. They rule Sindh and have been in power before, so they have experience on their side. Benazir’s son has also launched his political career in Pakistan as well and has been seen giving many fiery speeches against India”. Ahmed looked like a confident South Asian man in his mid-thirties. We wandered out of the hotel for a walk around the marketplace and street eaters just in front of our hotel. “I used to be a Bollywood actor and have acted with Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Imraan Hashmi. I used to do a lot of advertisements and was a known face on Indian Television.” My Pakistani friend got curious. “I like Irrfan Khan and K.K. Menon and, of course, Aamir Khan, he is top class,” he said excitedly. “You just have to see their struggle yaar. This actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui who has got famous only now has been struggling in Bollywood for twenty years. It is very tough. You need a lot of patience.” I became nostalgic while I was telling Ahmed about my Bollywood days. We decided to have a plate of lamb shahlik and khaboos bread with a can of coke each.

I turned around from my meal and saw Ahmed venture into a local shop to buy knick-knacks and t-shirts. We decided to venture out at night to see Moscow but that was not to be and our Indo-Pak meet had to end abruptly with a handshake.

By adminin others, Russia

The Churches of Sergei Passat

October 16, 2017

Next town was Sergei Passat. It is around two hours from Moscow and I drove in Muzaffar’s taxi to the town. It is a quiet town full of churches – ancient ones with priests wearing black robes offering prayers to Christ. I was in a happy mood and strolled along with Muzaffar with my GoPro camera. By now, he had also become an expert in taking pictures and videos.

I ventured into one of the cathedrals and asked Muzaffar to ask one of the priests to pray for my father’s soul. The priest who was old and had a long white beard refused as Muzaffar told him that I was a Hindu. He said that only prayers for Christians can be performed in the church. Muzaffar and I were both upset at this and Muzaffar said with some frustration in his voice “Ah Anuj, God is one. He is the ultimate. He is one for all of us. Why did the priest not let you pray for your father’s soul? You are as much a part of God as he is”. His words made sense to me and the priest’s rejection at doing prayers angered me. I was now feeling hungry and felt like having lunch. We had lamb chops with mashed potatoes and beer.

Moscow is a no smoking zone. You can only smoke in designated areas. I, unfortunately, did not heed this warning and started smoking in my room. Alas, I had to pay for it and was fined Rouble 5000 for my mistake.

On my way to the hotel, I bumped into some people from Mumbai who instantly recognised me as the Indian actor who acted with Shah Rukh Khan. They stopped over to exchange pleasantries. I was happy that so far away in a distant land, even a small time actor like me was recognised by people. I guess that is the power of Indian Cinema as even Russian people like Muzaffar are fans of Indian films and actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty and Raj Kapoor.

The churches of Russia and its flea markets were my home now for a few days and I was loving every bit of it.