What is the worst film from good directors?

 

Ramesh Sippy directed the all time classic Sholay, and Shakti that was a true clash of the titans- Amitabh Bachchan and Dileep Kumar.

He gave us that delightful entertainer Seeta aur Geeta, female version of Ram Aur Shyam.

And the emotionally captivating Andaz that explored the love story between a single mother and a widower in a very sensitive manner.

Shaan was quite a good entertainer, with a rather James Bond style vibe.

Saagar while a bit long and drawn out, was still a watchable love triangle with great performances by Kamal Hassan, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia.

And then he made Brashtachaar

A movie about political corruption that had Rekha, Mithun Chakraborty and Rajnikanth in a cameo. While the story looked good on paper, the execution was terribly bad, with over the top melodrama, a plot that is all over the place, screenplay that just keeps plodding along, too many songs interrupting the flow, you wonder if this is the same director who made Sholay that never had one dull moment. And above all a terribly cringe rape scene involving Anupam Kher and Shilpa Shirodkar, that is designed more to tittilate than evoking disgust.

Ramesh Sippy was never the same after this, his Akalya was no great shakes but redeemed by Amitabh Bachchan, while Zamaana Deewana was utter garbage. Fortunately after that he stuck to production and TV, ensuring he did not end up a parody like some of his contemporary directors.

What are some of the good bollywood movies that were flops at the box office?

 Although this movie has had several mentions, I felt it deserved one more:

Lakshya

​Directed by Farhan Akhtar (the man behind Dil Chahta Hai and the more recent Don remake and its sequel), this is a story of an aimless young boy who finds his true calling as an Indian Army soldier when, following in his friend's footsteps, he casually registers to appear for the IMA's military exam. Here was a movie that chose to tackle the delicate and important subject of the feeling of aimlessness and career confusion faced by today's youth in the guise of a war movie. In an industry dominated by love stories and romantic comedies with formulaic plots and execution, this one was certainly a breath of fresh air in many ways.

It had an extremely talented team behind it. From the brilliant script written by the great Javed Akhtar who almost came out of a retirement of 14 years to write this film (the last film written by him being Main Azad Hoon back in 1999) to the eye-popping visuals by Christopher Popp which matched up to international standards. And although it had just five tracks, each of those was a memorable and original composition by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy unlike the hefty junk that gets churned out these days. And of course, who can forget the amazing background score, especially the one in the rock climbing scene (which the trio later reused as the title theme of Rock On).

Hrithik gave an amazing performance (and an amazing dance sequence as well which, back in the day, left many scratching their heads over how he did it) as did Preity. Amitabh Bachchan and Om Puri, in relatively smaller roles were highly effective as well as also were Hrithik's parents played by Boman Irani and Anjula Bedi. The film also had a very visible campaign with impressive trailers and song promos leading up to its release with the first trailer airing 3 months before the film's June 24 release date.

​So why did it flop ? Why did such a quality film, made on a budget of just Rs. 32 crores lose money and ended up collecting only Rs. 23 crores when crappier films have earned more ? I guess a lot had to do with the film's second half which was criticized as being too war-heavy and war movies was something Indian's had had enough of courtesy J. P. Dutta's L.O.C. and some other efforts back in the day. The film's length I think was another issue; it ran at just over 3 hours.

​On a personal level though, after viewing it multiple times, I feel the war sequences are actually the best part of the movie. I can only imagine the amount of effort that must have gone to recreate those as well as Hrithik's training sequences at the IMA. And the attention to detail in these sequences is really impressive for a Bollywood movie (and even more so for a decade old Bollywood movie). Its hard to believe this was directed 10 years ago; it still feels fresh as new and with the kind of movies being churned out, I believe this movie deserves a re-release.

Source for Images: I bought the DVD way back when it was released.

What are some mind-blowing facts about food?

 Look at this:

What do you see, a delicious ice cream with yummy syrup, isn’t it?

What if I told you, that the ice cream is nothing but a smashed potato and that syrup is a motor oil.

Yes!

During photo shoot for ice cream ads, their actual product i.e. ice cream can’t stand in front of heavy lights and those syrups are not actually photogenic.

If you try to shoot original ice cream in studios, you might end up getting a milkshake looking something in the bowl.

To present the products appealing, they have to use various non edible items which are photogenic and look way better than the actual food. For food items, they use props. For garnishing effect, motor oil, glue, cotton balls and even a shoe polish are used.

So basically, potatoes and motor oil are making your mouth watery.

What are the examples of good infrastructure in India?

 

• Mumbai's Eastern Freeway- India's second largest
  

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• Solar plant at Charanka village in Gujarat
  

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• Yamuna Expressway
  

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• Banihal-Quazigund rail link through India's longest Railway tunnel
  

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• Gift city in Gujarat: The city will use the energy-efficient district cooling system instead of air-conditioning. It will also use an automated waste collection system that sucks away garbage from buildings at high speed
  

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• Metro Rail projects
  

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• Rail bridge on Chenab river: World's highest rail bridge
  

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• Bandra-Worli sea link
  

• Kathipara flyover: Constructed in Chennai, largest cloverleaf flyover in the whole of Asia.
  

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• Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS)
  

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• Mumbai-Pune expressway

• Vadodara Ahmedabad express highway

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  Pamban bridge

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• Konkan Railways

How can you tell if someone is a good person or just pretending?

 It's impossible to know.

Unfortunately.

Remember Ellen DeGeneres?

A funny, friendly, and nice presenter who even hosted the Oscars twice. But if it weren't for the testimonies and actions of former colleagues, as well as videos of her being rude to her celebrity guests, we would never have known about it. Ellen doesn't allow her colleagues to look her in the eye, speak to her, or eat meat in her presence. On camera, she was extremely rude to Mariah Carey. He even went so far as to offer the singer a drink to put aside the assumptions that she was pregnant (she was, and that was a private matter until then).

Narcissistic liars are everywhere.

But that's a famous person, so I'll tell you another story. About ordinary people.

I knew a man who was such a good liar that many people in his inner circle had no idea what a monster he was. Others, however, only had a vague impression of his true character.

His secret: he believed his own lies.

Even if he, in the deepest and most secret dark chamber of his mind or in what remains of his heart, knows what he truly is, he simply buries the lies so deeply beneath the dirt that he is able to change his truths and believe his lies.

This man drove people to depression, fired others simply because he could, destroyed the careers of other colleagues out of pure jealousy, and tried to bribe people on many occasions for his own benefit.

And yet, I saw him cry - literally CRY, with tears and everything - after someone accused him of some of his mistakes.

The effect of this?

The honest man – the accuser – was considered a horrible person, while the pathological liar was believed to have been falsely accused and was therefore innocent.

A victim.

Pathological liars usually have a way of believing their own lies, because otherwise, they have to admit to themselves that they are monsters.

Another celebrity story. Remember this guy?

Lance Armstrong

He was a former American professional cyclist, the 1993 road cycling champion. He became famous for winning the Tour de France seven times consecutively—an absolute record in that race—between 1999 and 2005. However, in 2012, a few years after ending his sporting career, he lost all titles obtained after 1998 and was banned from competitive cycling by the International Cycling Union due to drug use.

The saint.

You must remember that up to a certain point – that great and beautiful point – he claimed to be the most honest sportsman in the world, having won the Tour de France more times than any other human being.

He swore on his children's blood that he never used performance-enhancing drugs.

He ended up becoming a fraud. A liar, an unscrupulous man who believed his own lies because he needed them as truths to justify his actions.

Therefore, I repeat…

I'm sorry.

You can't catch those people.

They are the kings of their own (and false) truth.

AN ADDENDUM

What is a picture of Lindsay Lohan doing in this response?

Well, she's my main role model when it comes to answers related to psychology.

Lindsay doesn't seem like a pathological liar to me. In fact, I think she's quite the opposite: too honest and hiding very little.

She exposes herself a lot and leaves us with the lesson that being too honest can also harm us.

But I prefer this to the narcissistic liars in the cases above.

What are some good pictures of abandoned buildings or deserted cities?

 When humans leave, nature returns. Here's the proof:

• Mill dating from 1866, Sorrento, Italy:

• The New World shopping mall in Bangkok was abandoned in 1999 after a major fire. Since then, the mall has been flooded and has become a habitat for various fish species.

• Holland Island, Chesapeake Bay, USA:

• New Zealand Island, California, SUA. The Northern California island was abandoned in the late 19th century, probably because of the impressive number of seals, sea lions, and birds that come here to breed.

• Discovery Island belongs to Disney. It was abandoned because a potentially deadly bacterium was discovered in the surrounding waters.

• Abandoned railway tracks (Lebanon, Missouri, USA):

• The Ta Prohm temple in Cambodia is overrun by the roots of the Bayon trees that surround the building.

Which products were discontinued because they were too good?

 Let's see:

There are throat microphones . These microphones pick up sound directly from the throat, not the mouth. The sound is much clearer, and the microphone picks up only the sound of your voice, and nothing else.

Why didn't they replace the previous, less efficient pickups? Because they are different from what people are familiar with. We often prefer the solution we are accustomed to over the more effective one.

It's possible to find some, but not in stores.

Then there's the Dyson washing machine.

Yes, Dyson did make a washing machine. This machine had two cylinders that rotated in opposite directions.

Dyson engineers discovered that hand-washing clothes for 15 minutes removes more dirt than an hour of washing in a conventional machine.

Their machine simulates hand washing. Again, the product was very different. People also feared that the counter-movements would damage clothes and, more importantly, as these were early models and Dyson products, they were very expensive. They never reached the stage of economies of scale.

Google Glass

These glasses enabled augmented reality, internet connectivity via voice command, an integrated camera, etc. They worked very well, so well that they violated several privacy laws.

Astropaths of Lululemon

Yoga pants for women. They were very comfortable, but also very thin. And they became almost see-through when the fabric was stretched, like when you do a stretch, like… during a yoga session. I'm not going to post a picture.

And finally, HD DVD.

HD DVD was a competing format with Blu-ray . There was no perceptible difference. The two products were the same. But people liked the name "Blu-ray," and the Playstation 3 console had built-in Blu-ray. PS3 owners were therefore buying Blu-rays. Toshiba, therefore, abandoned a very expensive format war.

(Blu-rays had more space, at most 20 GB more. On the other hand, no film at the time, or that I know of today, could reach that limit (50 GB). Layers could be added to both formats, and Toshiba created a 50 GB disc in 2007. For these reasons, storage space was not relevant in the context of the format war.)

Honorable Mention: Beta Tapes.

There are also several flavors that have been discontinued due to poor sales. In this case, we changed the packaging and increased the price.