Aditya Pranav: The official webpage.

The perennial critics need to get a life it seems. Their philosophy has always been based upon ‘could’ve been’, ‘should’ve been’, ‘should be’ & ‘could be’ etc. They remain so engrossed in dealing with these trivial things that they fail to notice the glorious moment of NOW and this by far has been the reason for most of the miseries of this world. Why then they still do not understand it? Why would some of the people only look at the bottom side of things? Why are they generally not able to celebrate the precious moments? Have we all not noticed that the cribbing never stops for some of us? What could have possibly gone wrong with such people? Some people on the other hand are able to see the beacon light even in the darkest of the hour and never let their hope die. They exemplify patience and perseverance. I think of Late Victor E. Frankl who sustained most torturous circumstances in a Nazi concentration camp during Second World War and came out alive even though the o...

Atlas Shrugged from Ayn Rand continues to be my favorite piece of fiction. According to a report 445,000 copies of the novel (english editions) were sold in 2011. This speaks volumes about the popularity, influence and relevance it has even today. This 55 year old novel is still widely celebrated and I think it'll continue to do so because of its glory and grandeur. My post below relates to my favorite character Francisco D' Anconia and the sacrifices he made to accomplish his mission. Why did he have to portray himself as a playboy? It looked odd to begin with until the story unfolded and presented the grand picture. Please read on: Francisco D’ Anconia’s character in “Atlas Shrugged”, I think, is a perfect example of a man on a mission. The venerable author Ayn Rand would have termed it as an ideal and spirited man’s mission and very rightly so. Francisco turns out to be the most important warrior in John Galt’s army against the destroyers of laissez-faire capitalism and...

Agneepath is a brilliant piece of cinema and exemplifies a full-blown Bollywood Hindi movie. It turned out to be better than expectation for me. Hrithik Rocks (so endearing in this Macho & serious avtar too, definitely in the league of his best cinema outings) and Sanjay Dutt delivers an epic performance. Thanks to Karan Johar and the entire crew for giving us this visual and emotional ride. ***This film is certified UA. We advise parental guidance due to violence in the film*** Karan Johar's attempt in putting this little explanatory note regarding U/A certification on the posters has been appreciated by the Censor Board. It's a nice move indeed. I really loved following lines from Harivansh Rai Bachchan: वृक्ष हों भले खड़े, हों घने हों बड़े, एक पत्र छांह भी, मांग मत, मांग मत, मांग मत, अग्निपथ अग्निपथ अग्निपथ तू न थकेगा कभी, तू न रुकेगा कभी, तू न मुड़ेगा कभी, कर शपथ, कर शपथ, कर शपथ, अग्निपथ अग्निपथ अग्निपथ यह महान दृश्य है, चल रहा मनुष्य है...

This has been on my mind since yesterday (09.01.2012) and I could not have let it go like that. For me, it was definitely not a good start to this chilly morning in New Delhi and the onus goes to TOI (Times of India) and its cartoonists. For those who have not had a chance to look at it please see below (TOI, Edit page, Monday, 09.01.2012): It is not very funny. Is it? Their dig on world’s most prolific batsmen is completely preposterous and unjustified. I respect their freedom of expression and their opinion; however, I am provoked enough to exercise mine too and that’s because of such an inconsiderate and ridiculous cartoon feature they have come up with.  Should TOI have allowed it to be printed at the first place?? This piece of mine is an open letter to them and any other cricket enthusiasts who have similar views on Tendulkar. In fact I just want to add some figures to what Abhishek Nandwani wrote in his column on cricketnext.com ( http://tinyurl.com/6qbg9yv ) . ...

I made sure that I watched the very first show of Rockstar in the city as I had intended to write a detailed note; however, didn’t find myself in the right state of mind as I was a bit overwhelmed emotionally. I kept thinking and let the feeling sink in. I have now managed to key in some of my thoughts for a few friends have already asked me whether I am going to write a review. So I thank them for encouraging me to get this underway. More often than not, I wonder about the concept of soul mates; is there such a thing really? Can there be a romantic relationship that can be termed as a “true love”. What could be the symptoms of it and how would you know that someone is your soul mate or true love? Will you ever do? Will it be too late if you ever do or realize? Can the attraction and intensity of the connection be so compelling that you do not care for anything else? Apparently, a movie cannot give a definitive answer; however, Rockstar does try to explore that realm and dishes...

The music of Imtiaz Ali's film Rockstar is turning out to be phenomenal with 5-6 songs already striking the right chords among the listeners. “Saadda Haq” has become most popular and now being hailed as a “Youth Anthem” of the year. On the second day of music release this album reaches on top in world's biggest online music download store iTunes in category of "Top World Soundtracks" (Source: Wikipedia). Most importantly, Oscar winner A. R. Rahman comes back with a bang defying the recent and to an extent some unfair criticism. Remember the common-wealth games music score! Apart from that the soundtrack of Blue, Jhootha Hi Sahi and Raavan did not really create enough buzz to meet the huge expectations unlike his previous scores. I had recently read an article in Hindu that had brought forward these points and wondered how important the release of Superheavy and Rockstar could be for the musical genius even though he did not seem perturbed with what was happening arou...

Here’s what Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975) said, when some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday: "Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5th September is observed as Teachers' Day." Everyone liked the idea and his birthday (5th September) has since been celebrated as  Teachers' Day  in India. Even though he is not present among us in physical appearance, he left for us a great legacy in terms of knowledge and wisdom. His contribution to the subject of Philosophy has been acknowledged by the entire world. He made a great effort in taking the Indian philosophy to the world and played an instrumental role in setting a global stage for the knowledge and wisdom he had acquired through Indian epics such as Vedas, Upnishads, Bhagvadgeeta, Bramha Sutra and others. The Hibbert Lecture which he delivered at Harris Manchester College, Oxford in 1929 became the b...