After having seen Wanted and Dabangg, I had certain expectations from Salman Khan’s latest movie Ready that did not exactly get fulfilled. However, to say that Ready was not thoroughly entertaining would be unfair.

Directed by Anees Bazmee, who has in the past made blockbuster comedies like No Entry, Ready stars Salman Khan and Asin Thottumkal (from Ghajini) along with a long list of the best comedic actors Bollywood can boast of at the moment, led by the amazing Paresh Rawal.

Without giving away too much, Ready is about Prem (Khan) and Sanjana (Asin), whose paths cross each other when the latter, while running away from her uncle, pretends to be someone she is not. Somehow, as it usually happens in the typical Bollywood movie, the boy and the girl fall in love with each other. However, Sanjana, who turns out to be the niece of two warring gangsters, ends up needing Prem to rescue her from them. The movie then revolves around Prem’s attempts to persuade every other character on screen to help him teach the uncles a lesson.

As mentioned earlier, the cast in Ready may not be star-studded, but it sure is brimming with talent.

Sanjana’s uncles are played by Sharat Saxena, who has been playing villainous and comic roles since I was barely out of diapers and Akhilendra Mishra, an excellent actor who has never failed to entertain. Meanwhile, Mahesh Manjrekar, Manoj Pahjwa and Manoj Joshi have been cast as Prem’s father and two uncles, respectively. You may not know them by their names, but their on-screen presence is certainly something to look forward to.

A separate mention must be made for Paresh Rawal, who is not unknown to anyone who knows anything about Bollywood.

However, what did disappoint slightly was the choice of the lead female. Asin, though she certainly is good to look at, especially on the big screen, does a mediocre job. She doesn’t dazzle you, and doesn’t have that wit or charm, or dare I say — that X factor that is expected from a protagonist. No other female character in the movie has much of a role, so Asin didn’t even have any competition and could really have used this movie as her launching pad. Sadly, she does her career a huge disservice by mincing her way through the movie ineffectively.

The film has some very catchy and memorable songs out of which “Dhinka Chika” has become the most danced at song at mehndis in Pakistan.

Ready is full of slapstick humour and violence without bloodshed, which makes it sort of a family movie (apart from the subtle perversion in some jokes). While I wouldn’t place it at the same level as Dabangg, you’re in for a reasonably good time if you watch Ready. Just don’t get your hopes up too high.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, July 24^th,  2011.

KARACHI: Hack Chuan Ong, a blogger from Jakarta, who arrived in Karachi to attend the Pakistan Social Media Summit, started blogging after reading the book “Naked conversations” by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel.

After reading the book, Ong, Technical Advisor at a company called Maverick, decided to start a corporate blog in order to take his company ahead. As a result, Maverick was one of the very few companies that, after realising the importance of blogging, got into it.

The implications of social media, when it came to the scene, Ong explains, was that it removed the need for conventional media for companies to reach out to their consumers. “The companies could talk directly to the consumers,” he says.

Ong describes a corporate blog as a place where a company can clearly put down its own point of view while interacting with its consumers and other stakeholders.

Pestablogger

Ong speaks of how, shortly after entering the blogosphere, he along with 12 other bloggers decided to hold a session, “a talk fest,” called Pestablogger for people to share their views. To his surprise 500 people attended the seminar. In four years, Ong says, Pestablogger’s audience grew to 1,500.

As the blogging world became more organised, they started holding ‘blogshops,’ workshops for bloggers, with the help of the US consulate in Jakarta. As a result the US consulate became very popular with the blogging world. An example of its popularity, Ong points out, is that once when President Barrack Obama was visiting Jakarata, the embassy made a Facebook page for it, which gained 70,000 followers within three weeks.

What to take from the summit

Ong describes Pakistan as ‘Indonesia five years ago.’ He believes that Pakistan is heading in the same direction with respect to technological as well as political progress.

Talking about the summit, Ong says it is reminiscent of the Pestoblogger when it first started in Indonesia. Ong sees energy in the people of Pakistan and believes that Pakistan should open itself to the rest of the world through the use of social media.

Facts about Indonesia and Social media

Indonesia is the second largest market for Facebook in the world with the US on top.

It is the third largest use of Twitter, with Brazil and Netherlands topping the list.

It has the third largest number of people using WordPress.

It is one of the very first few countries that started using 4Square.

People from all over the world are investing in the tech industry in Indonesia because of the facts stated above, says Ong.

“An antique car is like another man’s wife. Look and admire, but do not touch,” says Jim Agha as he stands next to his buttery 1949 Riley Roadster. Agha explains how this beauty is one of only two cars of this model to have touched the roads of the subcontinent. 502 of these cars were made for the American market, 32 for the British market. Out of the latter, two landed in the subcontinent, one of which now stands in Agha’s garage. The other is in Bangladesh.

Though he normally drives a 2004 Vitz, he also takes to the road in his Riley Roadster and when you see Jim puttering on the streets of Karachi, you might think that he is driving a vintage car … but you would be wrong. A vintage car is one that was manufactured between 1919 (end of World War I) and 1930, according to the British, though according to the Classic Car Club of America, the vintage era ends around 1925. All cars produced after that up till 1948, fall in the classic category. Beyond that time, you have what you call modern cars. However — and this does take a moment to digest — a modern car can also be an antique, since any car that is more than 45 years old can be termed antique. Agha’s car then is a modern car… and an antique car.

If all this seems like hairsplitting, talk to the people who collect and restore old cars. These distinctions are of paramount importance to a car enthusiast like Agha, who founded the Vintage and Classic Car Club of Pakistan along with Mohsin Ikram in 1986, to provide a platform for old car enthusiasts in Karachi. Since then, the club which holds Vintage and Classic Car shows all around the country, has opened a chapter in Lahore.

For some people, collecting and restoring old cars is merely a hobby, while for others it is life’s overriding (no pun intended) passion. Javed Ansari, who has been restoring cars since 1970, says, “I’ve always loved old cars.” Ansari, whose shiny, red 1957 Chevrolet stands quietly in his garage, derives pleasure mainly from restoring his cars, rather than displaying them. But many collectors relish the appreciation they get from others, which plays a big role in motivating them to continue with the activity. For Shahnawaz Khan, who currently owns a 1951 Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire Limousine which once belonged to the nawab of Bahawalpur, the most appealing aspect of the hobby is the admiration he gets from people on the road. “I like it when people see my car and feel good about it,” he says. On regular days, Khan drives a Toyota Premio but he loves the occasional thumbs up, while he’s out on the road on a Sunday in his Siddeley Sapphire. Khan has displayed his vehicles at several Vintage and Classic motor shows in the city and he loves the smiles and admiration on people’s faces. He is currently working on restoring a 1970 Austin 1100.

Giving new life to an old car is a mighty challenge and car enthusiasts associate a sense of achievement with the hobby. Given the lack of car parts, the effort put into finding the cars and the work that goes into making sure the final product is exactly the same as when it was first rolled out of a factory, it is a rather difficult task. But it is this very challenge that stimulates hobbyists. Mir Zubair Ahmed, standing in a makeshift workshop that he has constructed inside his house, points out, “For me it’s the challenge that comes with it.”

As one would expect from avid restorers, they are deeply
nostalgic. Their activity takes them back to a time when they were young and could not afford to buy expensive cars. “I started by looking at my neighbours. They used to have nice old cars,” reminisces Agha, who, like other car-lovers, enjoys reliving the past.

“It connects you to your past — to the world your parents lived in,” adds Ahmed, who has been working on old cars for the last 30 years.

In this respect, Madeehur Rehman stands out from the pack. At the age of 28, rather than reliving his past, this car-lover from Abbottabad is taking forward a legacy. An enthusiast since he was 14, Rehman explains that his grandfather and then his father were admirers of old cars and the love passed down to him.

But restoring old cars takes a considerable amount of time. “I spent nine years collecting parts before I started work on my cars,” says Ansari while talking about one of his many projects. “Before starting work on a project, we do all our research and find the required parts.”

While it may seem ridiculous to some that these men spend such a long time just collecting parts, to the enthusiasts it is this very quest that keeps them hooked. “Short cuts are easy, but then the originality goes away,” says Ansari stressing on the need to use original car parts. Ahmed on the other hand feels the longer the time spent on a car, the better. “It is food for my passion,” he says.

Original car parts for these vehicles are difficult to come by but car lovers are an unusually perseverant species. The major source of car parts in Karachi is a shop called Perfect Motors but many others are imported from the United States, UK or Germany, depending on the car. For the more flexible types, trips down to scrap markets are very good options as well.

“You have to know which car part you can fit in another car,” says Ahmed who frequently visits scrap markets for car parts. “Sometimes it hurts to see something very valuable crushed for its metal” which is later sold by its weight.

Time isn’t the only thing you need to indulge in this hobby — a great deal of money is needed as well.

Restoring old cars certainly isn’t a poor man’s game. Even the most enthusiastic car lovers admit that it is expensive. “At times it you may be asked Rs10,000 for something that really costs Rs500,” says Ahmed. “Other times you may find something that you would value at Rs20,000 for Rs200,” he adds.

However, Agha says, “Being rich does not mean you can get into restoring cars — it takes a lot of perseverance.”

While most enthusiasts say you need to work on the cars by yourself, they agree that they need a hand with tasks they simply aren’t qualified to perform.

“We have a team — a mechanic, a denter, a painter — that does what we tell them to,” says Ahmed. Ahmed used to extract motors out of his toys as a kid, but when it comes to his precious cars he explains, “There are certain things we cannot do with our own hands — it’s like those people who compose tunes but can’t sing.”

This is why it is important to keep your mechanic happy, says Khan. In fact there is a common saying among old car owners: “Be friendlier to your mechanic than your in-laws.”

Ansari is a strong believer in working by himself.  “You can’t expect a car to be restored by giving it to someone else.”

Once an antique car is restored, it means a lot more than just means of transportation — it is a symbol of prestige and for some even more than that. “It is like bringing back something to life,” says Ahmed, of the sense of achievement that results.

“It is always a pleasure to see such cars on the road,” adds Rehman.

There are many among old car enthusiasts who keep their cars only for Sunday drives, while some adventurously take them out on city to city rallies. However, there are also those who believe in driving the cars regularly. “What is the point of having an old car if you can’t enjoy it?” says Ansar.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, May 29^th, 2011.

‘I Am Pakistan’ is a short video that displays the many positive sides of Pakistan which generally go unacknowledged.

The video starts with the line “I am not what you think” and goes on to explore the different areas of life where Pakistan has actually reached milestones.

The short length clip, which is done very well in terms of its animation, art and transition between sections, features a number of prominent personalities including media, military, charity, fashion, development and politics to show how far the country has reached in each sector.

The makers of the video, iampak.org explain the purpose of the project on their website:

I Am Pakistan speaks towards the future millions of our citizens at home and abroad. With a reason to look forward, we have travelled across the country from Khyber to Karachi finding the true soul behind a Pakistani.

A lot has been said about Pakistan as a nation and as a people. However as Pakistanis, at home and abroad, we know that a lot of what is said is untrue and at the same time, a lot of what should be said is not said at all.

Video Rating: Two thumbs up for the positive message and its creative presentation.

Do you have a YouTube video you wish to have reviewed by The Express Tribune? Submit your url with a brief description to web@tribune.com.pk. Only local content will be considered for review.

A video, known by multiple titles – ‘police maray gi tu ham inqilab kaisay laain gay…??’ or ‘Imran Khan is doomed’ to name a few – has been making rounds in the web space of Pakistan.

The video features a gentleman, apparently present at a protest rally of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI), expressing his dissatisfaction at the behaviour of the law enforcement agencies, while also being agitated by the unpleasant weather.

The video has been shared, far and wide, on the internet on sites such as YouTube and Facebook. In fact, some fans have gone ahead and made Facebook groups on the young man. These groups have been rather successful in gathering thousands of members, that too very quickly.

Video Rating: Two thumbs way up for going viral and achieving a significant fan following.

Do you have a YouTube video you wish to have reviewed by The Express Tribune? Submit your url with a brief description to web@tribune.com.pk. Only local content will be considered for review.

A video of a group of foreigners telling the story of their visit to Pakistan and how they came to appreciate the good things about it has gone viral in Pakistan.

The video, which has gone viral via Facebook, is a sequence of photographs with custom lyrics to the song “I will survive” providing a humorous take on the visitors’ tour. The video’s cheerful pro-Pakistan message at a time when good news about Pakistan is rare makes this worth a watch.

Video Rating: Two thumbs way up for reviving hope!

Do you have a YouTube video you wish to have reviewed by The Express Tribune? Submit your url with a brief description to web@tribune.com.pk. Only local content will be considered for review.

Politicians, journalists and civil society members expressed their grief and outrage over the assassination of the Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti.

Bhatti was killed on Wednesday morning in the I-8/3 area if Islamabad as he left his residence at around 10:30am. Three assailants, in a Suzuki Mehran, blocked the minister’s car and then shot at him. According to the police, Bhatti received eight bullets on his body.

Here are a few who expressed their reactions on Twitter.

Farahnaz Ispahani

This attack on every voice that threatened the crazed extremists started with Shaheed Bibi’s assassination. It is an attack on Pakistan .

Husain Haqqani

Shaheed Shahbaz Bhatti spoke passionately about need for all Pakistanis to fearlessly stand for an inclusive, tolerant Pakistan

Shehrbano Taseer

I don’t know about the rest of you but this makes me more determined to keep fighting for a progressive Pakistan, not more scared.

Marvi Memon

Shahbaz Bhatti was a good colleague. Shell shocked.

Mosharraf Zaidi

My minister Shahbaz Bhatti loved Pakistan. Loved Pakistan more than his own life. I am beside myself.

Marvi Sirmed

They are all working in unison. Some of these banned groups issue threats against Shaheed Shahbaz Bhatti, TTP implements it. Shame.

Ayesha Tammy Haq

It was never about blasphemy. It’s always been about power and control. We have abdicated our control over ourselves.

Bina Shah

Black day for Pakistan. I’m feeling sick to my stomach.

KARACHI: A coffee-table book ‘A world without smoking: One picture is worth a thousand words’ was launched at the Indus Valley school on Monday in a room full of paintings by teenagers from schools across Karachi, depicting happy images of a cigarette-free world along with gloomy ones displaying the evils of the deadly habit.

The book, authored by art critic and curator Marjorie Husain, is a compilation of work from a Pfizer Pakistan competition last year. “The idea focused on generating interest among schoolchildren, as most smokers take [it] up in their teens,” said the company’s Ahmer Ashraf. Many schools took part, including the The City School PAF Chapter, CAS, The Citizens Foundation and St Joseph’s Convent. When asked if a book was a good idea in an environment where less and less children are reading, Ashraf pointed out that it was mostly “based on pictures with small descriptions.”

Marjorie Husain told The Express Tribune that the book was not aimed at teenagers. Instead, it was a message from young people, who are well aware of the effects of smoking, to the adult population. “Young people who have experienced their adults smoking; for them smoking became allegorical in their lives,” she said. When asked if she ever smoked in her life, Husain said that she had started when she was in high school in England. However, she managed to give up the habit soon.

Naheed Raza, one of the judges of an earlier competition, Jimmy Engineer and Dr Javaid Ahmed Khan, chairperson of the National Alliance for Tobacco Control, came. Raza appreciated that children were so aware of the evils of smoking.

According to Dr Khan, every year more than 100,000 people die of smoking. “I see victims of tobacco every day. Even at this moment, my hospital as patients gasping for air,” he said. The government has passed anti-smoking laws, but the public is not aware of them. The law that was passed in 2002 has yet to be implemented properly. The doctor said that 24 per cent of university students in Pakistan smoke sheesha and if they are not stopped, “we will see a disaster in the next 10 years”.

Anti-smoking laws

Smoking is banned in public spaces

You can’t sell cigarettes to people under 18 years.

Tobacco products are supposed to be heavily taxed

Advertising for tobacco products is banned

All sorts of sponsorship by tobacco companies is illegal.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2011.

The Green Hornet is not a known superhero, at least in this part of the world. So, when you watch a movie about a masked vigilante who is very rich, can boast of numerous technologically advanced gadgets and a sidekick to boot, and makes people think he is the bad guy, it doesn’t take long for you to go “Batman?”

While there are many similarities between the Green Hornet and the Dark Knight, the film differs from those about the caped crusader in two ways: It is more comedic and it isn’t done as well as the many Batman movies that have aired on the big screen in the past (except, maybe, Batman Forever).

As already hinted, The Green Hornet’s plot is similar to Batman. It revolves around a rich boy, Britt Reid (played by Seth Rogan), whose father dies and leaves him a wealthy business. Reid has so far lived a fairly empty existence partying it up with pretty young things and yearns to do something meaningful. It is just then that he meets Kato (Jay Chou), his father’s ex-mechanic, who is a technological genius as well as a crazy martial arts expert. Together, the duo go out every night to find trouble (Batman alert! Batman alert!).

Now, if you’re familiar with the sort of humour associated with Rogan, you won’t expect classy witticisms and smart jokes —which is good, because the humour in The Green Hornet is pretty lowbrow. One thing that does stand out about Rogan is entirely unrelated to his acting chops — the guy has lost a lot of weight.

Jay Chou plays Kato who, other than having the aforementioned jobs, also drives the Green Hornet around. Chou, who hasn’t really done any noteworthy English language productions before, actually pulls off a good act. However, at times you’re left wondering whether Chou’s character is supposed to be funny or not. But then again that’s how you feel about most of the movie.

The best character in the movie is that of the villain Chudnofsky who later on becomes Bloodnofsky, played by the extremely talented Christopher Waltz. Now, if you have seen his last film Inglorious Bastards, you would know exactly what is being referred to here. The man is made to play a witty and eccentric villain. Even though he is the bad guy, Waltz’s performance will probably make Chudnofsky your favourite character.

Cameron Diaz as Lenore Case was a waste of a role. Enough said.

All in all, The Green Hornet is a somewhat funny, action packed movie which features lots of cool gadgets. On a boring day, it’ll take your mind off your troubles for a little while.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, February 27^th, 2011.

The weather took a turn for the unexpected when a hailstorm which lasted for nearly half an hour left much of Lahore covered with a layer of ice on Saturday.

The heavy hail, unusual for Lahoris, left most residents of the city astonished by the change in weather. However, many residents took to the street to enjoy the rare view of a ‘white Lahore’.

This is a video made by one such Lahori while driving around in the Gulberg II area of Lahore. The excitement in the driver’s voice as he comments on the situation and the look on his face shows that, if no one else, at least he found the change in weather to be a welcome happening.

Video Rating: Thumps up for the effort, the excitement and amazing commentary.

Do you have a YouTube video you wish to have reviewed by The Express Tribune? Submit your url with a brief description to web@tribune.com.pk. Only local content will be considered for review.