Hamro Team: In a Class of Its Own

[Pre-Script: Sorry, we've been extremely busy and out of sight. But we are definitely not going away. We are coming up with new and exciting stories. Thanks for standing by! :) ]

Talking about stories, Nepalese entertainment has changed forever in the last few months. First feature Nepalese film to be entirely shot overseas: MayaMa released in Australia(filmed in the same country) last week. Independent filmmakers are on rise from America and UK. And around the same time, one of the most awaited Nepalese TV shows of all times, Hamro Team is here!  Funded by UK Aid among others, Hamro Team comes as a product of a project which has successfully made TV shows in over 50 developing countries. The goal of the project overlooked by an INGO called SFCG(Search For Common Grounds) Nepal has been to influence youth and inspire them for good of society using sports. Directed by Bhushan Dahal, this show brings a lots of new faces and talents to the modern Nepalese entertainment media: Illam Dixit, Reecha Sharma and Sauram Tuladhar to name a few. Best thing about the show for me would be the way the way the changing Nepalese society has been depicted. For months, Hamro Team had been the talk of the nation. After being featured in almost every notable magazine, newspaper and websites, expectations were high so the pressure was on for the show to live upto the expectations.


                  Though very excited, I was skeptical of the show especially because it had been quite a while since I watched a Nepalese TV show and the memories of Nepalese TV show were unfortunately not that pretty. As I went watching the show, I started being guilty for being skeptical. Hamro Team HAD GOT IT! Of course it wouldn't compare to your hollywood tv series but it was an amazing feat for the Nepalese entertainment. Cinematography was well done and dialogues were simply down to earth, fit to time and realistic ( i like how they let the mistakes happen!) New faces seen in the series did their part. Overall it was a good show. It is to see if the story catches on with other aspects but we certainly hope so and wish them well.


               In Nepal you can watch it on Kantipur TV on Thursdays @ 9pm. And for people outside of Nepal and those without access to satellite TV, you can watch it online here:

To ensure you don't miss an episode, subscribe to SFCG (Search For Common Grounds) Nepal's youtube channel. (Since the video quality is a lot better here, videos might take a bit longer to load.)


Happy watching! :)

61st Democracy Day: When Bryan Adams Rocked KTM

Reportedly as soon as Bryan Adams, also a freelance photographer got off at Tribhuvan International airport, he had a camera out and started snapping away! The 53-year-old singer who is also known for his knack for writing songs headed straight to the Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Kalimati, after he touched down at the Tribhuwan International Airport on his private aircraft from the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka at around 2:15 pm this afternoon. He was welcomed by a crowd of fans and the organisers of the event. 

            He took a few snaps before he got into the car and headed to the hotel. After reaching the hotel, he posted a photograph on popular social networking site Twitter saying "A big welcoming at the airport on arriving for the concert in Nepal 19.2.2011".  In another post, Adams has written: Just flew over Everest into Katmandu, Nepal. We are the 1st western band to play here. With all the music in the world how is that possible?

            Enthralling over 18,000  in crowds at Dasharath Stadium, the first western artist to play in the Himalayan Nation, he sang popular numbers like Here I am, Summer of 69, Back to you, Can’t stop this thing we started and Let’s make a night had completely engaged the audiences, mostly youths gathered from various parts of capital city and across, in the power-packed two-hour long performances.

 “We are incredibly happy that we are the first international band to perform in Nepal, and hope we are the first of the many more to come,” Bryan Dai said on stage. “I hope, the world opens up for you for more music.” Adams had a rather interesting way of engaging the crowd. He would finish singing one, go pick another guitar — four guitars were lined up next to a piano before he arrived on stage — and then belt out another hit number. Adams and Keith Scott in lead guitar ran across the stage, jammed up and did some funny guitar antics to engage the audiences. He often made the audiences sing the lyrics, asked them to put up their hands and to light their mobile phones.         

           The whole parapet in the country’s biggest stadium looked like stars twinkling in the night sky with the light from mobile phones. Amongst all the hype of the day,  an attendant of the concert became an overnight star when she was chosen to sing along with Bryan Adams for a duo and surprisingly sang very well. Nepalese media is raving about her already. 

         A local resident of New Baneshwor, a bank clerk of Bank of Kathmandu also turned out to have some previous experience in the entertainment  business. Lucky! She kept her cool on the stage and became an overnight star.

         Government officials were happy about the event and positive that this puts the nation in the global arena and generates gossip enough to bring in their targeted no. of tourists (1 million) this year. Let’s hope they’re right!!

Bryan Adams concert cancelled!

            Yes! It’s been cancelled. In India! So yes! You don’t need to worry about the expensive tickets if you have one already! In a major disappointment for Bryan Adams' fans, the rock star's much-awaited Delhi concert scheduled for Tuesday has been put off after police denied permission for it on security grounds.

            

          The sold-out concert, which was scheduled for Tuesday evening, could not go ahead because the Delhi police said the location for the show in the NSIC exhibition grounds in Okhla industrial area of south east Delhi was not suitable for it.

            

            On the other hand, KTM concert is hours away and history is in the making. Reports had said, tickets were selling like hot cakes but the fact that it wasn’t sold out states the obvious; the price. It has been a major turnoff for majority of people. 35000 strong crowd is expected and the event will be closely watched by 1500 security officials.

           

         

         Adams had announced the concert at a press conference on December 8 at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza. As we all now, Adams, a Canadian artiste, is known for his husky, soulful voice and has given hits like Everything I do, I do it for you, 18 Till I Die, Have Your Ever Really Loved a Woman, among others.

            Sunil Hamal (the event organizer JPR Events) had claimed, “We had to convince Adams to perform in Nepal since he is already on a world tour.  The real idea is to support our Nepal Tourism Year 2011.”

The seating has been arranged in three zones, platinum, gold and silver, with price set at Rs 6,000, Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively. The tickets will bear special 3D hologram and bar code which will be readable only through laser lights and cannot be duplicated.  

             But there had to be some drama as usual. “khelkud parishad” (Nepal sports council) has been protesting the concert even though the venue had been pre-approved. (Rumours are there will be protests during the concert too). So that basically means they wanted a piece of the cake(bribe) The venue will be equipped with metal detectors, bomb disposal squad, ambulance, fire brigade and riot control vehicles. A number of police officers will also be deployed in civil dress for closer monitoring. Bryan Adams will have his own security personnel and Nepal Police will be aiding the entourage in case of any possible mob attacks!!

So here’s hoping the event goes fine and an embarrassing riot doesn’t break out as usual!! Stay safe!

P.S: Mongolian Heart, 1974 A.D, Abhaya and the Steam Injuns, etc are also playing during the event. It will be hosted by Malvika Subba!

Pillow Fights anyone??

Hundreds of San Franciscans braved the rain and descended on Justin Herman Plaza on Monday night(Valentine’s Day)  to participate in the annual pillow fight in The City. The event attracts folks from miles around to participate. And no one seemed to be complaining. People even seemed to enjoy the rain.  On the other state of USA, North Carolina, there was another pillow fight going on. But this one was specifically anti-valentine’s day. Now I don’t know if they were against the day or  just some lonely singles. ((http://ashvegas.squarespace.com/journal/2011/2/9/anti-valentines-day-flash-mob-pillow-fight-at-the-vance-monu.html)

But the surprising thing was that this event was organized by an event organizer called Flash Mob. Well whats surprising you ask? Because, the same day, a pillow fight was going on in Kathmandu(Patan Durbar Square). Guess who the event organizers were? Yes! The Flash Mob Kathmandu.  Their  description about the event read something like this:

“From the people who brought you this event: http://vimeo.com/9458580

A fight of epic hilarity, No one will die, Or get hurt!

but
THIS IS WAR
Pillowfight Kathmandu 2011, Feb 14

On February 14, 2011, there’s going to be a pillow fight in one of the most public places in Kathmandu.

Hundreds of total strangers will be acting completely normal until a predetermined time. ABSOLUTELY Normal. And just as the clock strikes a certain time, everyone starts taking their pillows out, and starts hitting friendly shots to other pillow-fighters. The onlookers, who will know NOTHING about the pre-planning, will see just random strangers EVERYWHERE around them hitting each other with pillows.

Randomness is the point.”

Lol!

It had around 250 people attending on the facebook event. So im guessing it must have been good. But hopefully it wasn’t all boys event. That would have been awkward! Also, hopefully they had some ground rules such as:

a)     No hitting in the face!

b)    No heavy pillows!

I don’t know about you but I would have been pretty pissed if I get hit by a dude with a heavy pillow in your FACE!! Anyways here’s hoping you attended, made out alive and even got hit at by a girl/boy and got hit on afterwards.

Also check out the pillow fight that broke out in a  lufthansa aircraft here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8ZTZEvcvNg

and get ready for world pillow fight day on April 2^nd too! According to their website, http://www.pillowfightday.com/, Ireland, Germany, Hungary, USA and so many other countries are lined up already. Who knows Nepal is next! Get your pillow ready. Maybe also invest in a heart shaped pillow. :P

Read more about the sanfrancisco pillow fight at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/02/feathers-fly-during-annual-pillow-fight-san-francisco#ixzz1E0QFkXSU

Top 150 movies of my choice

During our conversation at work, I was always advising movies to watch to my friends. So I thought to write down a whole list of movies, I would suggest anyone to watch. These movies range from the 70’s to date. I have tried to include a whole range of movies; action, drama, adventure, comedy and so on and also I have included movies from everywhere. Of course this is not a complete list of movies but just my recommendation.  You will be able to find my taste of movies as you go along the list. Anyways here's a list of top 150 movies to watch till date:

1.    the shawshank redemption

2.    city of god (Brazil)

3.    schindler's list

4.    die hard movies

5.    up

6.    district 9 (South Africa)

7.    mission impossible movies

8.    minority report

9.    lord of the rings movies

10. the pianist

11. catch me if you can

12. spiderman movies

13. ironman movies

14. harry potter movies

15. the kite runner

16. Godzilla

17. the jurassic park movies

18. troy

19. 300

20. Armageddon

21. Guru (India)

22. charlie wilsons war

23. fahrenheit 9/11

24. bowling for columbine

25. forrest gump

26. castaway

27. Philadelphia

28. van helsing

29. Australia

30. gangs of new York

31. the green mile

32. the bourne identity

33. the bourne supremacy

34. the bourne ultimatum

35. james bond movies

36. devil wears prada

37. apollo 13

38.  2012

39.  the butterfly effect

40.  gone in 60 seconds

41.  the rock

42.  con air

43.  Sholay (India)

44. Caravan (de himalaya) (Nepal)

45.  mukundo

46.  goodbye kathmandu ;)

47.  sano sansar

48.  the ring

49. Gothika

50.  rush hour movies

51.  the counte of monte crist

52. Hitch

53. blood diamond

54. citizen kane

55. saw movies

56. brokeback mountain

57. monster

58. gran torino

59. finding nemo

60.  shrek movies

61.  the hurt locker

62. the greenzone

63. crash

64. borat

65. ali g

66. pirates of the carribean movies

67.  the gods must be crazy movies

68. meet the parents

69.  meet the fockers

70. the davinci code

71. angels and demons

72. the motorcycle diaries

73. city of men

74. inception

75. inglorious basterds

76.  walk to remember

77.  the notebook

78.  Torque

79.  the fast and the furious movies

80. Alexander

81.  the social network

82. the high price of low cost

83.  the damned united

84. Goal

85.  bend it like beckham

86.  Kamasutra

87. Monsoon wedding

88. The rundown

89. True lies

90. Munich

91.  the matrix movies

92. The sixth day

93. Life and death of peter sellers

94. An american crime

95.  The lovely bones

96. Indiana Jones movies

97. Once

98. A short story about love (poland)

99.  Malena (italy)

100.  The earth documentary

101.  Snatch

102.  Lock, stock and two smoking barrels

103.  Reservoir dogs

104.  Rocknrolla

105.  Titanic

106.  Nick of time

107.  How to train your dragon

108.  Syriana

109.  The departed

110.  The terminal

111.  Seven years in Tibet

112.  There’s something about Mary

113.  American Gangster

114.  Street Kings

115.  Death at a Funeral

116.  Gladiator

117.  The Queen

118.  A Good Year
119. P.S. I Love You
120. The Pursuit of Happiness
121. Last King of Scotland
122. Marley and Me
123. Black Swan
124. True Grit
125. Training Day
130. The Big Lebowski
131. Sideways
132. Alive
133. Unknown