KapilMohan.com

So, finally, after much hardwork and figuring out how to run a LAMP-based site on a VPS, my brother has been able to put together his blog at sohilgupta.com. Nifty, eh? Here are some learnings he picked up on his way to get this done. Congrats doode and keep writing!

kapil :: Jan.03.2009 :: news :: 1 Comment »

I am not much of a movie review guy. But after watching Ghajini, the latest offering from Aamir Khan, I feel I need to let out what I think about it. Especially, since its touted as the best movie of 2008 and a runaway success.

Frankly, I am disappointed with the movie. I think Aamir made a wrong choice this time in signing up for this, much as he did after Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. And it is Aamir’s popularity and trust that people have in him that has made this movie anything next to a hit. I think the producers have used Aamir as a property and cashed on his name. And I have my reasons for why I say so:

- Did someone say this movie is a thriller? Mr. Murugadoss, do you even know what a thriller means? This is a very predictable story of a good guy taking revenge with a bad guy who killed his girlfriend spiced up with some ‘larger than life’ ‘over the top’ action. This is not a thriller. Everyone knows whats going to happen next. And its slow as well.

- The movie has a ‘larger than life’ South Indian tone. Which I particularly dislike. Everything is exaggerated beyond realism, very similar to Rajnikanth movies.

- My biggest disappointment is the screenplay. It is very loose. It’s clear that in order to take story forward, Mr. Murugadoss, has conveniently left many many loose ends in the screenplay. Specifics below:

• The policeman who enters Aamir’s flat in the Odyssey building was not carrying a gun. While I understand that in order to keep violence low in the movie, no gunshots were fired but still, I wonder how come a policeman is carrying out a mission without a gun?
• Again, no guns were shown when policemen caught Aamir in the lift of the girl’s hostel. I appreciate that for the sake of keeping violence low. But the policemen actually made no attempt to catch hold of Aamir. The only way he could think of running was to jump right into policemen’s arms.
• And here’s the best one - no one in the police had any idea who’s this guy whom they have caught inspite of 1 policeman following his lead. No sketch. No identification. Nothing. To top it up, why didn Jiah Khan tell the police whom they’ve caught? If I remember correctly, she was the one who called up police. So, she should have been the first one to be interrogated. No? Well, there was no other way to make Jiah Khan useful in the movie, hence this bullshit. Right, Mr. Murugadoss?
• A minor one: what was Aamir purpose of visiting the medical college where he met Jiah Khan for first time? That was the easiest way to meet her, I suppose.
• And, actually, Aamir throwing guys twice his size like snowmans is quite hilarious. No one could hit him. Not even a punch. OMG!

- One last thing: We could make out that the endless dessert in the song Ghuzarish were digitally created. It was damn easy to know that.

The loose ends in the screenplay popout even more since they are the course changing events in the movie. Also, one does not expect absolutely any slack in an Aamir Khan movie since he’s the perfectionist. Sad to say, this one did not live upto his standards.

Having said all that, I must touch upon a few things I liked about the movie:

- Aamir’s acting is par excellence. He’s not let us down. And he looks really good as Chairman, Air Voice when he’s doing business.

- Asin’s good too. Acts well. Looks good. Suited well to the role.

- The entire drama of Asin thinking that Aamir is fake Sanjay Singhania and Aamir enjoying it, is very tickling. Very hilarious and full of sweet spots. Thoroughly enjoyed that.

- Using villain’s screen name (Ghajini) as the movie title is, I think, a first in Indian cinema. Very cool!

Well, that is all I had to say about Ghajini. I would be happy to hear some more point of views, both supporting and contradictory.

Updates:
Another thoughtful review of Ghajini by Nag: http://www.narendranag.com/ghajini-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.php

kapil :: Dec.30.2008 :: opinion :: 11 Comments »

Hey guys, SlideShare Tweetup is happening at SlideShare’s New Delhi office on Monday, 5th Jan 2009 6PM onwards. And, you’re welcome. Click here to register for the event.

It’s going to be an informal gathering of fans of SlideShare and Twitterers in Delhi. Rashmi Sinha, CEO SlideShare is going to attend the tweetup. It’s a good time to catch up with her and the SlideShare team.

And there are going to be snacks, wifi, gossip etc. I will be there.

More from blogsphere:
http://blog.gauravgupta.in/2008/12/slideshare-tweetup-on-monday-05-jan.html
http://www.webyantra.net/2008/12/27/slideshare-tweetup-on-monday-5-jan-2009-at-600-pm/

kapil :: Dec.27.2008 :: fun, news, work :: 2 Comments »

At SlideShare. Today.

Thanks Swamy for making me the celebrity!

kapil :: Dec.16.2008 :: fun, work :: 1 Comment »

| Get your Presentation Pack

kapil :: Sep.19.2008 :: work :: 1 Comment »

It is the Vodafone’s “buy iPhone on EMIs” SMS which made me write this. It goes on like this - “Now, the iPhone you have been waiting for is even more wonderful. Buy iPhone on EMIs of Rs 2470 only. What are you waiting for {crap}”. Here’s the link to complete plan - http://www.vodafone.in/existingusers/products/pages/iphone3g_emi.aspx

Enough is enough. Frankly, this piece of art from Apple is in bad hands now. First, they (Vodafone) bully the Indian market and launch iPhone at an exorbitant price. Then, they come out with this EMI shit and try to make it “look” affordable. Aw cmon guys, iPhone is a phenomenon. Ride on it. Don’t try these cheap sales shit to sell it. It’ll sell like hotcakes by itself. Just price it in 15K range and see your iPhone business have scaling problems!

I personally don’t like Airtel much for their services. But they are marketing the iPhone nicely. They are giving it what it deserves on its way to become a solid business phone brand in India.

Whatever good or bad is there with iPhone, remember, there can only be one iPhone.

kapil :: Aug.31.2008 :: opinion :: 5 Comments »

SlideShare just announced The World’s Best Presentation Contest 2008. Its really simple - upload your presentation about almost everything, enter it into the contest and win! Prizes are way cooler than the last time - Macbook Air, Amazon Kindle, iPods etc. C’mon guys the time is now.

| View | Upload your own

PS: Kudos to Arun for amazing design and artwork, Swamy and Sugandha for amazing engineering work.

kapil :: Jun.25.2008 :: fun, work :: No Comments »

This is big news for me - SlideShare secured $3M funding, mainly from Venrock and few angel investors. We’ve bootstrapped till now, and this is the first major money that we have picked up from investors. It has been an exciting journey so far, and is just getting better now.

I am taking this moment out to thank all SlideShare users who have justified the use case for sharing presentations online. This is for you guys! We promise to continuously make SlideShare more and more useful to you.

Here’s the “Meet Henry” style annoucement:

| View | Upload your own

Here is some coverage of the event across the web:
Techcrunch: SlideShare Secures $3M for Embeddable Presentations
Mashable: SlideShare Gets $3M for Online Presentations
News.com: Can SlideShare make PowerPoint sharing interesting?

kapil :: May.08.2008 :: fun, work :: 3 Comments »

Its really frustrating to be DDOSed. Heard that. Read that. Now, experienced that. SlideShare is fighting the DDOS of worst kind, apparently sponsored by the Chinese. It has been going on now for about a week now, and is showing no signs of stopping. Damn!

Here’s some coverage on Techcrunch explaining the turn of events and the reasons behind the DDOS. More coverage from Webyantra.

And now my response to the attackers: Fuck you. We’ll fight you, and we’ll overcome you.

kapil :: Apr.24.2008 :: work :: 3 Comments »

Yea, my bro needs it to plug it with his XBox 360 and watch DVDs, my mom needs it for clearer, better TV experience and I need it for … umm … dunno!

Anyway, so its happening. I’m evaluating 26″ LCD TVs these days. I always knew there is one for me around the corner, but this is happening a bit sooner than I anticipated. I’ve zeroed-in on two models - Sony KLV-26V300A and LG 26LC7D, and am not too sure which one to buy. LG seems to be beating Sony on technical front but Sony’s brand name is unbeatable. What do you guys think? Help me out yaar…

kapil :: Apr.07.2008 :: fun :: 10 Comments »