A Quizlover's Diary

  Quiz-Time II Topic : ‘Films of Big B’ This set contains five questions on one of the favourite topics of the bolly-buffs. Hope you will like it.   1.         Before confirming Salil Chowdhary as the music composer for ‘Anand’, director Hrishikesh Mukherjee approached someone else (X) who had a little bit of experience of composing a few soulful numbers in the regional cinema. In fact, popular composer-singer C. Ramachandra also sang under X’s baton in one of those movies. Incidentally, X politely refused the offer which could have marked X’s debut as a music composer in the hindi film industry.  A dramatic scene from the movie Identify X.   2.         An unusual film in the road-genre, ‘Madras To Pondicherry’ was made in Tamil in the 1960s. It’s commercial success prompted filmmakers to remake it in Hindi as ‘Bombay to Goa’ (1972). According to a report published in ‘The Hindu’, the l...

Birth of a Hero… From Zero   I n 1932, fresh from a 5-0 series win at home against South Africa, Australia went for a long tour of North America. That lengthy cricketing adventure, termed ‘Goodwill Tour’, was organised by 46-year-old former Australian Test leg spinner Arthur Mailey. Though not officially sanctioned by the governing body of Australian cricket, Mailey gathered together a diverse team comprising of past and present Australian first class cricketers, several lower grade cricketers and a medical support officer. The touring party included former Australian Test wicketkeeper Hanson ‘Sammy’ Carter who would permanently lose his sight in one eye following an on-field incident later in that tour. Canadian Pacific Railway Corporation agreed to be the chief sponsor of that tour under one proviso – the team had to include one Donald Bradman. A Promo-poster of that 1932-tour R ecently married to childhood sweetheart Jessie Menzies in late April 1932, Bradman was initial...

  Topic : ‘Hindi movies, based on Books’ Here are the answers -- 1.         Reportedly, Gulzar had expressed his reservations when daughter Meghna decided to turn the debut novel written by this author (pic) into a film. For Meghna, what appealed the most about the story was that it portrayed an intrepid young girl’s journey. The film ultimately received 15 nominations at the Filmfare Awards, where it won five awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress.    Which much-appreciated film is being talked about?   Ans. – Raazi, based on the book ‘Calling Sehmat’ by Harinder Sikka 2.         One of the best-selling crime novels of the 19 th century, it became the British Empire’s most sensational ethnographic fiction. Its avid readers included Queen Victoria. Prior to Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, it was the most talked-about novel about India and was responsible for the coinage...

  Topic: 'Hindi movies, based on Books'   This set contains five questions on the above-mentioned topic. Give the answers in the comment section. 1.       Reportedly, Gulzar had expressed his reservations when daughter Meghna decided to turn the debut novel, written by this author (pic) into a film. For Meghna, what appealed the most about the story was that it portrayed an intrepid young girl’s journey. The film ultimately received 15 nominations at the Filmfare Awards, where it won five awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress.  Author of the novel   Which much-appreciated film is being talked about?   2.       One of the best-selling crime novels of the 19 th century, it became the British Empire’s most sensational ethnographic fiction. Its avid readers included Queen Victoria. Prior to Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, it was the most talked-about novel about India and was responsible...

  Was it a Box? Or a Jar?     A s mentioned in the Greek mythology, Fire was once the sole privilege of the gods. One day, ignoring Zeus’ strict order, Prometheus - a Titan god of fire, stole the fire and gave it to mankind. For this act, Prometheus was punished. Zeus, king of the Olympian gods, instructed to tie him with chains to a rock far away in the Caucasus Mountains where nobody would find him. Every day Zeus sent an eagle to feast upon Prometheus’ liver, which grew back every day so that Prometheus would have to endure this deathly torture every day until Heracles found him. After killing the eagle, he let Prometheus free. In yet more symbolism, the struggle of Prometheus is located by some at Mount Elbrus or at Mount Kazbek, two volcanic promontories in the Caucasus Mountains beyond which for the ancient Greeks, lay the realm of the barbarii. 'Prometheus bringing fire to mankind' by Fueger   D espite sentencing Prometheus to eternal torment for his ...

Cinemagic Quiz (The KHAN Special)   I nitially planned as an Indo-American affair, Aditya Chopra wanted to cast Tom Cruise for the role of Raj Malhotra (named as a tribute to Raj Kapoor). But he had to re-work on his story as Yash Chopra didn't approve that idea. Then the Indianised character was offered to Saif Ali Khan who turned it down. Then SRK was signed. ------------ Q SQT had one of the most innovative ad campaigns in Indian Film history. The most famous one of the hoardings of the film had no photographs, just this line: ‘Who is Aamir Khan? ...Ask the girl next door.’ ------------ V ikram Bhatt-directed ‘Madhosh’, released in 1994, marked the debut of producer Tahir Hussain’s younger son, Faisal Khan as a lead-actor. Curiously enough, Tahir Hussain produced a movie having the same name exactly 20 years earlier. That 70’s movie was directed by Desh Gautam and starred Mahendra Sandhu, Reena Roy & Rakesh Roshan. Curiously enough, Aamir Khan appeared as a younger M...

  India’s Hero as a Film’s Extra   F irst published in St. Nicholas Magazine (December 1893) and reprinted in the collection of short stories – ‘The Jungle Book’ (1894), Toomai of the Elephants is a short story by Rudyard Kipling about a young elephant-handler. It tells about a young Indian mahout (elephant driver) who has ambitions to become a great hunter, and has the chance to reach his goal when he charms an Englishman into letting him join his ambitious expedition. The book by Kipling I nterestingly, the character of Petersen Sahib in the story is thought to be modelled on the famous British naturalist George P. Sanderson who used to work in the public works department in the princely state of Mysore. He devised a system to capture wild elephants and was popularly known as the ‘Elephant King’. George Sanderson and Prince Albert Victor   A t that point of time, Robert Flaherty was already a pretty well known name for his filmmaking abilities. Because of the suc...