Dinesh Kamath's review of movie Ashok Chakra published in Newsband newspaper

Ashok Chakra is a film set against the backdrop of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. Newcomer Rajan Verma plays Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving culprit of the attack, who was sentenced to death by a court recently. But the makers of the film had decided months before the real trial ended that Kasab will be hanged to death in the film. They felt that it was the only just thing to do. The film shows Kasab accepting his guilt before his death.
Earlier titled Total Ten, the movie has been directed by S P Munishwar and is based on media reports of the carnage and accounts of police officials and survivors. The terror attack on Mumbai in November 2008 had shocked one and all. There were many film makers who were inspired to make films based on the attack. Ashok Chakra is the first such film to get released and it narrates the story of the 26/11 attacks with focus on the policemen who lost their lives.
The incident had greatly disturbed the writer of the film, Mohanish Sharan, and his heart went out to the policemen. That is when he decided to write the film from their perspective. The film stars Homi Wadia (as Hemant Karkare), Ashish Vidyarthi (as Tukaram Ombale), Sudesh Berry (as Vijay Salaskar) and Ashok Kulkarni (as Ashok Kamte). Apart from them, the film has a number of small time actors playing Kasab's handlers in Pakistan. Sharan intensely followed news reports and studied footage from news channels to build the sequence of events and has stuck to the reality. With different channels and news sources giving varied accounts, it was a bit tough to establish which of them was the most precise. So Sharan had to intensify his research.
The movie shows Ajmal Kasab (played by debut actor Rajan Verma) training at the LeT cam in Pakistan and then following his journey – along with nine others – to India. From there on, the main characters are the policemen and their family as the film talks about the anguish brought upon them by the terror attack. However, in Sharan's original story, the film ended with the policemen Karkare, Salaskar and Kamte receiving the Ashok Chakra and Kasab awaiting trial in the jail. But when Kasab was pronounced guilty and given death sentence recently, the makers of the film Ashok Chakra changed the ending with patchwork. The film is hoping to cash in on the interest the case has generated as the nation awaits the date of Kasab's execution to be announced.
With such films, one has to introduce some elements of fiction and drama to keep the audience interested. Ashok Chakra is a docu-feature. Only 30 percent of the story has been fictionalized. So if in real life Kamte is survived by a son, the film makers have taken the cinematic liberty and have shown him as the father to a daughter.
Film Ashok Chakra depicts a war against terrorism. It was Kasab who informed that he was one of the human bombs. These human bombs are made in quantity and sent to different countries to spread terror. Kasab was one of them who came to Mumbai through water and created terror in the city and killed people in Mumbai. Thus, every year, 26/11 will be remembered as terror day in Mumbai.
The film has all its actors who include Rajan Verma, Arun Bakshi, Milind Gunaji, Mushtaq Khan, Avtar Gill, Ashan Khan, Sudesh Berry, Homi Wadia, Amit Bhel, Mehul Buch, Ashok Samarth, Adi Irani, Sandeep Munde, Manini De Mishra, Vaibhavi Bhel, Usha Jadhav and Firdous playing their respective characters convincingly. Director S P Muneshwar, Cinematographer Najeeb Khan, Music Director Aroon Bakshi, Lyricist Manoj Kumar, Action Director Nisar Khan, Art Director Suresh Pillai, Editor Rakesh Kakaria, Dialogue writer Mushahid Husain Pasha and Story wrtier Sartaaj Maani have done their jobs excellently. The producer of the film is Hari Om Sharma. The film was made with a budget of Rs 2.5 crores.
The film, which was earlier titled Total 10 and was then changed to Ashok Chakra – A Tribute to Real Heroes, has a sequence in its climax where the protagonist Rajan Varma, who plays Kasab in the movie, screams, “Hang me without the hood so that my nation (Pakistan) sees my plight and suffering, especially the youngsters.” It was important for the filmmaker to change the title of the film as Total 10 seemed to glorify terrorism. The film focuses mainly on the top cops who lost their lives on that night. Rajan has also done a full nude scene. The scene features him wearing nothing as that is said to be the time his character is suffering in jail and has lost all interest in life. He then goes on to write 'mere gunaah ki saza sirf maut hai' on the wall.
The UPA government had decided to restrict the Ashok Chakra for those who died in the Mumbai terror attacks to ATS chief Hemant Karkare and ASI Tukaram Omble. On the night of November 26, Omble took the bullets but held on to the gun which led to the capture of terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab at Girgaum Chowpatty while Karkare was killed in the line of duty at Cama Hospital. Though the Maharashtra government had recommended that all 16 policemen who died in the attacks be awarded the country's highest peacetime gallantry award, the Centre decided to award it to two with Kirti Chakra for six, including Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar and Shashank Shinde, and police gallantry medals for the rest.
Newcomer Rajan Verma was chose to play the role of Ajmal Kasab because he bore a striking semblance to the lone surviving terrorist in the Mumbai massacre. He is only an actor playing the character. The film is not against the law. The film maker has made an effort to show the reality. It is clear that he doesn't intend to misguide anyone nor does he make any judiciary judgments. Sudesh Berry who plays Vijay Salaskar is shown as a sharp shooter. When he was approached with this role, he was shown some pictures and briefed about Salaskar. One of Sudeshes friend was familiar with Salaskar and he told him about the man in real life. He was a simple man, not one of the typical foul-mouthed policemen we generally see.
The film just pieces together the 60-hour ordeal the city went through. The story has not been fictionalized so much so as to make it captivatingly entertaining. But it is not a full-on documentary too. The narrative follows the lives of ten people, including the police officers and their families, who were directly affected by the unfortunate events that struck Mumbai about 18 months ago.
Thus the film Ashok Chakra really makes the audience feel like it is reliving the events of 26 November 2008. Such realism is perhaps which separates Ashok Chakra from other films tackling terrorism in India. The film shares with audiences the grim tales of martyrs and honoured deaths. It talks about human bombs, justified killings and the spread of terror. The psyche and mentality of each character is vividly portrayed. The film is a gripping psychological tale on martyrdom. It is a tribute to the Indian soldiers. Such riveting emotion and stark realness make Ashok Chakra a film worth watching. So do watch it!

Journalist Dinesh Kamath and Journalism

I was brought up in a family where reading English newspaper was a part of our culture. My dad, mom, brother and myself had the habit of reading the latest newspaper early in the morning everyday. When I was small I would read newpaper to know maximum about what was going on in the cricket world at the national and international levels. Today I don't read even a word about cricket and hence am totally ignorant about who's who in international and national llevel cricket today.
I developed interest in lournalism when I was doing Jr. BSC (14th std) at Sathaye College. I would read books which taught how to write for newspapers. I would read many English newspapers which got published in Mumbai those days. I simply loved to read certain columnists. Among the columnists I liked most were Busy Bee (Behram Contractor), Shobha De and Bikram Vohra. Busy Bee would write for Midday which had a special corner in its last page reserved specially for him He would write regularly. He would write around 400-600 words every day. He had his own style of writing which I simply loved. He would write very lucidly and effortlessly and he would always end his column with a punchline that would not fail to make me smile. I would read Busy Bee practically every day. I too have been writing my film columns for News Band newspaper since last more than three years practically everyday. I was inspired by Busy Bee and Busy Bee alone to become a regular columnist. There are hardly any columnist in the world who write columns practically everyday. They either write once forthnightly, once a week or twice a week. So I feel proud to say that I'm one of the few columnists in the world who had been writing columns practically every day since last three years. My idol, my inspiration was none other than late Behram Contractor or Busy Bee. Another columnist I liked was the great Shobha De. Shobha has done India proud today by becoming the only prolific Indian novelist. She is compared with great American and British female novelists. When I read Shobha De for the first time I fell in love with her. I would try not to miss any of her columns since then. She has a style of writing. She has a sophisticated style of writing. She is an excellent speaker too. I've heard her talk quite many times on TV and video film in the computer. She was a model initially who later became a columnist and then the editor of magazines like Star Dust, Socieity and Celebrity. After that she became a author. I read somewhere that today she is occupying the top position in Penguin Publications. If that is so then I would like to congratulate her for having another feather to cap which is already full of feathers. Bikram Vohra too was my favourite as far as writing a column is concerned. Bikram Vohra would write every week humorous columns which would never fail to make me laugh. He would also do compering for Quiz shows for Doordarshan those days. But he was in the limelight only for a short time after which he disappeared from public view. God knows where he got lost. Another writer whom I admired was Russy Karanjia. He was the editor of Blitz which was in the tabloid form and which would come out once a week. Karanjia had an attacking style of writing. He would use strong language. He was a delight for readers like me who loved reading sensational pieces. So these were the Indian writers who inspired me to beocme a writer too although in a small way.
Now I'll tell you how I fell in love with cartooning. When I was very small I would read comics like Phantom and Mandrake. I adored these two heroes. I had a huge collection of Phantom and Mandrake comics. Those days I would attempt to sketch my heroes by referring to the comics. That is how I discovered my drawing talent. After I grew up a little I got hold of a cartoon book by the famous cartoonist of those days who was none other than Shanker. That book contained a huge collections of Shanker's cartoons based on Nehur Era. I would not only enjoy watching the sketches but relish even the punch lines. After that I became the fan of cartoonists like R K Laxman, Mario Miranda, Sudhir Dhar, Vikas Sabnis and so on. It was R K Laxman who inspired me to become a regular cartoonist. And for last three years I have been making cartoons based on the characters Alooramji and Puno almost regularly for Newsband newspaper. Before that, Newsband was a weekly called 'In New Bombay" for which too I would draw cartoons practically every week. Today I got the collection of more than 2000 published cartoons of my own and I owe this success to the above mentioned cartoonists without whom I would never learn the art of cartooning. The number of published articles I got to my credit are more than 1200. Today I really feel that I've done something worthwhile for the society. I feel really great and nice. I'll stop here and I'll pass on to you still more interesting information as and when I get inspiration. Till then, bye!

Journalist Dinesh Kamath's review on Kites

Review of Kites
Kites is a film directed by Anurag Basu, and produced by Rakesh Roshan. The film has Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Kangana Ranaut, Kabir Bedi and Luce Rains playing important roles.
The film depicts the harsh terrain of the Mexican desert where a mortally wounded man is left to die in the heat of the desert sun. He is Jai who was once a street smart, carefree young guy. Now he is a wanted man. His death appears to be approaching nearer and nearer but what keeps him alive is the quest to find the love of his life, Natasha. She is a woman who is engaged to another man. Jai and Natasha fall in love despite language and cultural barriers, and embark on an action-packed adventure of love, dance and danger across Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Mexico – an adventure that could kill them both, or bring them together forever.
The film has Hrithik Roshan playing Jai, who is orphaned in childhood. He has learned to live by his wits and his charming good looks. He loves life and wouldn't hesitate to make a shady deal to make a few dollars. He is a Salsa teacher who makes just one wrong move – he falls in love. Barbara Mori plays Natasha, a beautiful but illegal immigrant from Mexico who is in constant fear of discovery and deportation. She is desperate to make her fortune in the USA any way possible, including getting married to a rich man. When she meets Jai, she throws all these cautions to the wind. Kangana Ranaut plays Gina, a spoiled, rich girl who is used to always getting what she wants. At present she wants Jai, her salsa teacher – as her husband. Kabir Bedi plays Bob, a powerful and wealthy casino owner. Nick Brown plays Tony who is Gina's brother.
Kites is the first big budget film for Anurag Basu. The film was a gamble for producer Rakesh Roshan. Having an unknown heroine for the film and choosing of foreign setting were gambles. The story unfolds through a series of flashbacks in the trademarked Anurag Basu style. The character Jai is first shown in the film as in rough shape, alone, bloodied and bruised. Then we are shown the flashbacks where we find Jai roaming in the streets of Las Vegas where he follows his quest for financial stability. He falls in with the daughter of a gangster (Kangana Ranaut) and seems set for life until he meets her future sister-in-law Natasha (Barbara Mori) and sparks fly. Both Jai and Natasha fall passionately in love with one another and they end up on the run together. They love each other to such an extent that they are willing to risk their lives for one another.
Hrithik Roshan is every inch the star of the film. Matching him in everything, except dancing, is Barbara Mori, who is quite a revelation. She has a natural charisma and charm and communicates in broken English. The supporting cast consisting of Kangana, the spoiled daughter, Nicholas Brown, the sultry gangster and Kabir Bedi, the gruff casino owner are also excellent. There is one fantastic dance number early on in the film (Fire) featuring Kangana and Hrithik. The song Kites in the Sky is sung by Hrithik himself and it is a touching and emotional song.
The film is made in such a way that it is bound to appeal to an international audience. The film has thrill, romance and action. The film is a Romeo Juliet kind of tragic love story between an Indian-American lad and a Mexican damsel. For the sake of Hollywood audiences, the movie has been cut down from 130 minutes to 90 minutes to remove some melodramatic scenes. All the songs, except for 'Fire', will be deleted in the Hollywood version. The number 'Fire' will have an alternative English version. The Hollywood version of the film is racier, edgier and spunkier than the Hindi edit.
Anurag Basu did cast Barbara in the film because she was attractive. But it wasn't just her sex appeal that made him sign her. He considered the fact that Barbara has done so much good work in films as well as on TV. Also Barbara Mori is one of the most searched stars on internet. When you watch the chemistry between Barbara and Hrithik on the screen, you will be blown over. They look so real and good together.
The trouble for the character Jai, who is a salsa-dance coach, starts when Gina (Kangana Ranaut) enters into his life as his student. It is then that the movie becomes more of a thriller than romantic. Jai, for your information, is not only a dance teacher but he also has a side business marrying illegal immigrants so that they get green cards. When spoiled casino heiress Gina decides she wants him, Jai sees another kind of green and goes along. But when Gina brings him home to meet the family Jai realizes how dangerous her family is. They can torture and kill while police and judges will just look the other way. Barbara Mori calls herself Natasha although she is supposed to be Linda and she turns out to be girl of Gina's brother (Nick Brown). But Jai falls desperately in love with Natasha who reciprocates his love with equal intensity. Thus we have a love quadrangle here. The doomed lovers' fateful romance consists of a series of narrow escapades, punctuated by a cascade of car crashes.
Rajesh Roshan is in charge of the music. The film has songs like Zindagi Do Pal Ki sung by KK, Dil Kyun Yeh Mera by KK again, Tum Bhi Ho Wahi by Vishal Dadlani and Suraj Jogan, Kites in the Sky by Hrithik Roshan, Javed Dayma and Suzanne D'Mello, Fire by Rajesh Roshan, Vishal Dadlani, Anirudh and Anushka Manchanda, Zindagi Do Pal Ki (Remix) by Dj A-Myth, Dil Kyun Yeh Mera (Remix) by Dj A-Myth, Tum Bhi Ho Wahi (Remix) by Dj A-Myth and Fire (English version) by Rajesh Roshan, Vishal Dadlani and Anushka.
On the whole, the film Kites is a pure Bollywood entertainer from start to finish and it aims at a younger, action oriented audience. The movie is definitely worth watching. So don't give it a miss!

Journalist Dinesh Kamath's review of Hollywood filim Remember Me

Review of Remember Me
Remember Me is an American romantic drama film directed by Allen Coulter based on a screenplay written by Will Fetters. The film stars Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin and Pierce Brosnan.
Ally Craig had witnessed the murder of her mother when she was just 11 year old. Her mother was shot in the chest by two muggers trying to rob her. 10 years later, Ally (Emilie de Ravin) is a student at New York University who lives at home with her overprotective detective father, Neil (Chris Cooper). Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson), a moody, directionless 21-year-old is auditing classes at New York University and working in a bookstore. He has had a strained relationship with his businessman father, Charles (Pierce Brosnan) since his brother Michael's suicide. Charles appears to lack concern for Tyler's younger sister, Caroline (Ruby Jerins), with whom Tyler is very close. One night, Tyler and his trouble-making roommate Aidan (Tate Ellington) find themselves in trouble with Neil. Aidan decides to retaliate against the detective by having Tyler sleep with and ultimately dump Ally. Tyler spends some time with Ally and then the two begin to fall for each other. When Ally sleeps over at Tyler's house without informing her father, she and her father have a fight, ending with Neil hitting her. Ally then moves in with Tyler and Aiden. Tyler confesses everything to Ally. He tells her that it was Aidan's ill-advised plan that made him sleep with her. Ally leaves him angrily and returns to her father's home. The couple remains alienated until Aidan visits her to explain that only he is to blame, and that Tyler was sincerely in love with her. Shortly thereafter, Caroline gets teased by girls in her class and this makes Tyler turn violent and he ends up in jail once again. The best thing is this incident makes Tyler and Charles feel close to each other. Subsequently, Tyler is killed by the terrorist attacks. A montage of all the characters including: Neil, Aidan, Caroline and Ally witnessing the disaster follows this scene. In the end, Caroline and Charles seem to have a healthy father-daughter relationship. Aidan, who has since got a tattoo of Tyler's name on his arm, is working hard in school. The movie concludes with Ally finally taking the subway. Thus the movie has a strong political message intertwined in a love story. The ending does not need an explanation; however its political goal is clearly to make a more human picture of lives lost on September 11, 2001. Tyler, played by Robert Pattinson, garnered a huge emotional response, especially in the younger crowd. This is one of many movies made since 09/11 that aim to create emotional responses from the terrorist attack.
The film has scenes between Pattinson and De Ravin which exude genuine charm. The score and cinematography brings notable sparkle to this heartfelt drama. Making great use of his charming look, Robert Pattinson delivers a fine performance as a deviant and depressed youngster Tyler who shares a strained relationship with his father (Pierce Brosnan). Tyler exudes defiance in his behaviour as he cannot stand the fact that his elder brother committed suicide and in spite of the loss, his busy business tycoon dad won't give enough time to him or his younger sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins) in order to salvage the family from breaking up. Tyler's constant mental dilemma and grudge against his father makes it unable for him to lead a normal life. He writes poems, reads books and prefers being alone until he finds solace in Ally (Emilie De Ravin). Ally too has a tragic past and their common resentment for their respective fathers helps create a strong bond of love between the two.
The film Remember Me is not a love story. It is more of a family drama, revolving around Tyler, the thoughts and fears that engulf him, his tragic past and him hoping to see his kid sister smile forever. The film is an intense drama on how people should leave aside past grudges and live in the moment instead for you never know how long you'll live. The romance between Tyler and Ally is a subplot.
The film is slow paced. Director Allen Coulter has kept the suspense quotient high and the mood intense. Pattinson and Ruby Jerins have given fine performances. The twist in the climax is heartrending and leaves an impact thus doing justice to the film's emotional title. Pierce Brosnan plays a sensitive dad who has a tough exterior with élan. Emilie De Ravin's character is shown as judgemental and strong headed. Both Robert Pattinson and Emilie have decent chemistry.
The film has Tyler following Mahatma Gandhi's sayings, especially the one where he quotes, “Gandhi said that whatever you do in life will be insignificant. But it's very important that you do it.” The film leaves you with pretty much the same feeling.
Thus the film Remember Me is quite a beautiful romantic drama and will be appreciated by those film-goers who simply love to watch a lot of romance and dramatic moments on Big Screen.

Diinesh Kamath on Sadhana

Today I'll talk about my most favourite Bollywood actress who is none other than Sadhana who is an actress of the past and who was part of many hit Bollywood films. Sadhana was a stunning beauty. She had her own style of acting. Her best feature was her extremely beutiful eyes. She had ice-cool eyes. She would stare in such a way that she appeared extremely romantic to the audiences. I liked her in the film Saaya when the song 'tu jahan jahan chalega mera saaya paas hoga' was picturized on her. That was a haunting song which suited her haunting look. Then I liked her in a romantic duet which was picturized on Sadhana and Sanjay Khan. The song was 'Parda hata do, mukhda deekha do, hum pyar karne wale hai koi gair nahi'. Then I liked the way she danced to the tune of famous number from Saaya. The song was 'Jhoomka gira re Bareilly ke bazaar mein'. What a way she danced to that tune! In the same film (Saaya) Sadhana had played a double role. One of the character she played was supposed to be a dacoit. The film depicted a court scene where Sadhana gave a memorable performance. She literally acted like a psychopathic dacoit at one stage. When I saw that particular scene I could not believe that she was the same romantic and cool actress who had won my heart while I was watching many of her movies. She had played the role of a ghost in a movie 'Woh Kaun Thi'. One particular song that was picturised on her impressed me the most. The song was 'Lag ja gale ki phir ye hasin raat ho na ho shayad phir is janam mein mulaqat ho na ho'. I liked Sadhana also in a romantic scene that she shared with Sunil Dutt in a scene in the movie 'Waqt'. That scene consisted of a romantic number 'Aage bhi jaane na tu, peeche bhi jaane na tu, jo bhi hai, bus yahi ek pal hai'. Sadhana looked extremelu cool, romantic and seductive in that particular scene. Whenever I try to recall all my favourite heroines of Bollywood, Sadhana doesn't fail to dominate in my memory. Very rarely do you get to witness an actress and beauty of the caliber of Sadhana. She is indeed one of the most unforgettable beauty of the past. Bye!

Journalist Dinesh Kamath and cricket

When I was in third standard I was taught the basics of cricket. After that I fell in love with that sport. Cricket became my passion, my dream, my everything. Even beautiful girls would not appeal to me as much as cricket would do. Those days there was no Television. Hence I would listen to cricket commentaries on radio. I would never miss a single test match. Among the commentators I would adore Anant Setalwad, Suresh Saraiya and Raju Bharatan. Initially I would play with the tennis ball or rubber ball. But when I reached standard five I began to play with the season or hard ball. When I newly became the fan of the game called cricket, my heroes were G R Vishwanath, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Farokh Engineer, Eknath Solkar, E A S Prasanna, B S Chandrashekhar, Bishen Singh Bedi, Abid Ali and so on. Later on, when I grew up, I became the fan of Sunil Gavaskar, Dennis Lillee, Thomson, Vivian Richards, Kalicharan, Imran Khan and so on. I had developed an ambition of becoming a test cricketer. By the time I reached standard eight, I had become an extremely speedy bowler, a fantastic fielder and a hard-hitting batsman. I was fit for test cricket but my school didn't give me the encouragement I needed. Also my excessive love for cricket led to my scoring a low percentage in SSC exam. I was not only brilliant in sports but also clever when it came to academics. I had scored distinction in every standard, right from first standard to tenth standard. But in SSC (those days it was eleventh standard) I fared badly. I held cricket resposible for my poor performance in SSC. Gradually I began to lose interest in cricket. Then there came a time when I lost total touch with the game Today I just don't know the who's who of cricket. Once upon a time I used to know those things about cricket which no other person would know. But today I'm an ingnoramus as far as cricket is concerned. Today my passion is film, politics and journalism. I wish to show interest in cricket once again. But the thing is time doesn't permit me. Bye!

Journalist Dinesh Kamath talks about Shyam Benegal and Madhur Bhandarkar

There are lots of similarities between the films made by Shyam Benegal and the works of Madhur Bhandarkar. If you compare Shyam Benegal's 'Kalyug' and Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Corporate' you'll find lots of similarities in the two. 'Kalyug' dwelt on the conflict between the two parties who pursued the same business. 'Corporate' too dwelt on similar theme. Both Shyam and Madhur believe that a film should consist of only the essentials and there should not be even a single unnecessary element. Both give prominent importance to editing aspect. You'll find every film of theirs perfectly edited. Shyam was called an off-beat filmmaker. But it was he who created the audiences who fell in love with his type of cinema. This benefited Madhur a lot. When he came into picture, his off-beat films already had a audience which Shyam had created. That's the reason why Madhur began to be called an offbeat-cum-commercial filmmaker. Both Shyam and Madhur believe in realistic cinema. They hate fantasy and unrealistic fiction. I think that they share the common love for realistic cinema because both of them are Saraswats. Madhur should be given the credit for having carried on the good work that was being done by Shyam in the past. He not only continued the good work but also improvised on Shyam's style of making film. That's the reason why even the top class heroines or filmstars who normally work in commercial films feel extremely privileged when they get the opportunity to work with Madhur. Madhur got that knack of giving tremendous boost to the careers of the heroines he chooses for his film. Top filmstars like Tabu, Raveena Tandon, Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra are still remembered for their magnificent performances in Madhur's masterpieces like Chandni Bar, Satta, Corporate and Fashion respectively. Now it is Kareena Kapoor who is all set to work in Madhur's film which is based on the life of a film heroine. Kareena is the number one heroine of Bollywood today but yet she finds it a great privilege to be working with Madhur. That prove how terrific and powerful filmmaker is Madhur Bhandarkar. I am looking forward to watching more and more of his masterpieces. Bye!

Dinesh Kamath talks about his best moments

There were two best moments in my life. One was when my daughter Dhanashree was born. The second best moment was when I got a break as a journalist. When my daughter was born I felt extremely happy. I always wanted a daughter more than a son simply because I didn't have a sister. My daughter looked extremely cute when she was born. Today she is in her teens and is doing extremely fine academically. When my daughter was born there was no English medium school at a walking distance from my home. But my daughter was lucky because just during the time when she was in the womb of her mother, a superb English medium school called Bombay Cmbridge School sprung up just outside the compound of my home. It was a school that belonged to American Education Society. My daughter did her entire schooling over there and she passed SSC by scoring a little more than 86 percent. My daughter proved lucky for me too because when she was in sixth or seventh standard I got a job in the weekly newspaper In New Bombay at Vashi. Today it has been converted into a daily newspaper called Newsband. I used this golden opportunity that I got to prove my worth as a sub-editor, columnist and cartoonist. My ambition is to one day start my own newspaper or magazine. I am waiting to be financially fit enough before I can start working to achieve that goal. It will not be enough for me to start a newspaper or mag. That newspaper or mag should click too. Only then can I say that my ambition is fulfilled. Starting a newspaer or mag is very easy. To make it click is difficult, if not impossible. But I have a feeling that I can click as publisher of newspaper or mag once I've accumulated enough money. Let's see when this particular dream of mine will materialize. Bye!