Bollywood Unlimited

1982 – Reel Bollywood:
While I had grown up as a kid, I was an ardent fan of Big B (off course I am still a big fan of him) but the scenario then was somewhat different. We were only delighted to see his performance on the silver screen and if we wished to see the same performance repeatedly, we had to book multiple tickets (then there was no option of Bookmyshow or Ticketplease to book tickets online and sometimes we had to pay double the amount). Post that, the era of VCP & VCR (Video Cassette Player & Video Cassette Recorder) emerged where TV used to be the so-called silver screen at home or in clubs. We also had the luxury of reading about our favourite stars in the dailies or magazines. Beyond this, the star connectivity was almost negligible.

2012 – Real Bollywood:
This era brought the real tinsel town from underneath and placed it on our platter; the digital connectivity age. Google tells you all you want to know about your favourite and your not-so-favourite stars. Where they are right now and doing what, Twitter updates you with everything, be it about their mood, what shoot location they are currently in, when they are taking the flight and which city restaurant they are visiting (and lots more, which I cannot put in this small space). Don’t miss the Facebook and the Youtube, where you will be able to find the fan pages to their latest videos (sometimes even the spoofs) and so many of us have been viewing them again and again without even counting how many times. Yes, the Stars love to connect with their fans / followers closely through this virtual world and why not, even they get to promote their latest ventures with the followers, who would eventually brew it as the next blog buster.

2042 – Really Bollywood:
The future will be the Real interaction with the Reel Stars digitally as well as three dimensionally. Gone will be those days where reporters would give away those personal interviews online or anecdotes about their coming project. You yourself can be the latest reporter and could do a one-to-one interaction with your favourite stars. Well it is not my only prediction; the stars predict and anticipate the same. Networking and socialising are the two transitional avenue that will reach to its peak in this era (hopefully the world survives the 2012 prediction). Well all I have to say is long live networking and long live Bollywood Unlimited.

Marriages are made in heaven….and Connections over Internet

The largest convict Internet is an Angel in disguise: One of the nicest things you can say to your partner, "If I had it to do over again, I'd choose you: Again." In the 21st century it can be easily rephrased as, “If I had it to do over again, I’d never choose the same way: Not Again.” Seema’s would-be in-laws blessed her from Chandigarh, as she touched the edge of the webcam from her Los Angeles flat. Seema Kohli, creative head of a leading advertising company and Kaustav Singh, the LA based entrepreneur have decided to tie-a-knot close to December and hence the formality of introducing Seema to his parents was a mandatory. Well the “saath janam ka rishta”…yes marriage was a real heck for the love birds and a trauma for arranged birds or fowls (they can decide it themselves). ‘Beti tum gaana to gaa leti hona na?’…’Tumhe khana to thik thak banana ata hain na?’…These are a few sample Saas-Bahu questions asked by the in-laws (who appear to be Mr. Amitabh Bachchan of Kaun Banega Crorepati) during their visit to her place. While the bride-to-be sits on the hot seat with immense exasperation amidst many aliens, hoping to counter correctly (only she wishes to get at least 4 options with few life-lines). So for Seema, the internet comes as an angel in disguise. She had two lifelines for immediate help….Google the God of Search & off course her would be: Kaustav to help her answer all those queries like cooking, dancing, singing etc. from her mother-in-law.

Marriages are made in Heaven…But so is thunder and lightning: We surely don’t want to decide that. The only concern is that we are in the digital generation and at the click of a mouse, we can find just about anything, including that elusive marriage affair. It’s the most creative way to find, meet and set the plot for even the most difficult social union. And why not; when we can buy the most expensive gadget by trusting the brand and the portal blindly, we can even do the same for our son and daughter. We can believe what our groom-to-be or bride-to-be has to say about themselves over the webcam (they can also sneak-peek at those elaborate profiles on those networking sites). While they are nicely dressed and well behaved in front of that mini camera, we surely don’t take the guarantee of how he behaves in person or how her food tastes when cooked. But it surely gives them a chance to escape the sheer embarrassment. Save a little money each month and at the end of the year you'll be surprised at how little you have; as for Seema and Kaustav, it’s all about saving time, but for few others, who stays in various parts of the globe, visiting their in-laws can be an expensive & time consuming affair before the “marriage”. Nevertheless, who wants to meet their in-laws so often?” After-all Indian marriages are an expensive and sometimes real expensive affair.

Well it was just a single outlook how the digital communication & connectivity have made our personal relationship & marriage affairs so simple and smooth; the positive attributes of this digital space cannot be covered in the small space of this blog at a time so I will share more such facets as well in coming days. Hence in today’s generation, it’s rightly said, “Marriages are made in heaven…and Connections over Internet”