Musings

The first test between India and England has been won by England against all odds after conceding first innings lead of 190. Ollie Pope played the innings of his life, aided by two dropped catches. India was faced with a daunting target of 231 on a turning track. It was a bit of a shock for them because the script had been re-written. England had turned the tables on them. India lost first two wickets of Jaiswal and Gill to poor batting. Rohit played well for his 39 but was undone by some clever bowling by the debutant left arm spinner Hartley. India never counter attacked the English spinners and never seemed to be playing with a plan. K L Rahul looked good till he got out to Root. The runout of Jadeja by Ben Stokes was simply brilliant. The lower order of Ashwin and Bharat and the tailenders fought gallantly to reach 200 but in the end India fell short by 28 runs. It is a co-incidence that Australia lost to West Indies in Brisbane Test in much the same way by just 8 runs with debutan...

After a long time, a five tests series will begin tomorrow. It is between India and England. Due to white ball cricket and considerations of commerce, test cricket has been dwindling over the last few years. Fewer and fewer tests are being played. Nobody seems to be interested in it including the players. However, for the connoisseur of the game, nothing can match the thrill and class of test cricket. It is an equal battle between the bat and the ball. The real class and talent of a player is revealed in test cricket. The loss of Virat Kohli for the first two test matches is a setback for India. Lot will depend upon the skipper Rohit Sharma. Shubhman has been somewhat inconsistent of late. Yashasvi and Shreyas are quite inexperienced. But K L Rahul will be a key player. India has a good attack though, with Bhumra and Siraj at the top, and the spin of Ashwin and Jadeja. It promises to be a good contest. Ravindra Shenolikar

I read this book on the life and times of Devika Rani authored by Kishwar Desai. I could not keep the book away. The incredible passion for film-making shared by Devika with her husband Himanshu Rai and the efforts they took to establish Bombay Talkies, the first well equipped professional film studio in India had me spellbound. Bombay Talkies produced stars such as Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Hansa Wadkar and Madhubala. The twist in the story comes with the untimely death of Himanshu Rai that leaves Devika alone and up against men who were employed by Himanshu or trusted friends of Himanshu. But Devika fights them and wrests control over Bombay Talkies. Her defiance and courage is most remarkable. Just when things are under her control, Devika meets Svetoslav, a Russian artist from a well off and cultured family. Both fall in love with each other. Devika, fed up of the ugly daily struggle at the studio, decides to wind up, sell her shares and marry Svetoslav to live peace...

The world cup football at Qatar is hotting up. Among the big teams, Brazil, France, England, Portugal, Netherlands have qualified for last 16. Germany & Argentina are struggling. The world cup is already throwing up some amazing matches. The match between Ghana and Korea was a thriller. The goal of Recharlison for Brazil was incredible. Mbappe is doing well for France. Brazil is waiting for Neymar to recover and be ready for the knockouts. Next three weeks promise thrilling action in Doha. I hope Argentina win today's crucial game. It will be most probably Messi's last world cup. I want to see him till the finals. Same can be said for Christiano. Both, legends of the game. Ravindra Shenolikar

It was raining when I left office and came down on the ground floor. I quickly walked to my car as I was getting wet. As I approached the car I saw a tiny bee with wings stuck on the front glass just above the wiper. It had got stuck there and was not able to move. I realised that if I start the car I will have to start the wiper and in one stroke the bee will be killed. The thought made me restless. Behind me I saw a leaf fallen from the tree above. I picked it up and brought it near the bee. At first it did not respond. I was getting more wet and frustrated. I tried to place the leaf at different angles near the bee. At some point it started to make an effort. Perhaps it understood what I was trying to do. It was with a lot of effort that at last it climbed on the leaf. I carefully lifted the leaf with the bee perched on it and kept it in a safe place so that nobody will tread on it. Satisfied, I got into my car and drove away. I felt a great joy at having done the right thing, overc...

ह्या चित्रपटात श्रेयस तळपदे व मुक्ता बर्वे प्रमुख कलाकार आहेत. सोबत संदीप पाठक आहे. श्रेयस सखाराम पाटलाच्या भूमिकेत आहे. मुक्ता त्याची पत्नी. सखाराम अतिशय कंजूष व्यक्ती आहे. एकेक पैसा कसा वाचवता येईल ह्याचीच त्याला चिंता असते. त्याच्या घरी लहानपणापासून दामू (संदीप पाठक) आश्रीत म्हणून राहात असतो. पाटलाची छोटी मुलगी माऊ. त्यांच्या घरी पिंकू नावाचे बकरीचे पिल्लू असतं. माऊचा पिंकूवर फार जीव असतो. पिंकू तीन तीन दिवस काही खात नाही म्हणून मोफत उपचार करून घेण्यासाठी पाटील व दामू पिंकूला घेऊन मुंबईत येतात. टी.सी. पकडणार म्हणून ते पिंकूला स्टेशनवरच सोडून पळून जातात. पाटील घरी परत येऊन बायकोला बाता मारतात. पिंकू दिसत नाही म्हणून माऊ नाराज होते. पिंकूला रेल्वेत जमा केले जाते. पिंकूच्या लिलावाच्या दिवशी पाटील बाईचा वेश घालून लिलावात जातात. शेवटी पिंकूला घरी आणण्यात पाटील यशस्वी होतात व माऊच्या चेहर्‍यावर हसू फुटते. श्रेयस, मुक्ता व संदीप पाठक यांनी सफाईदार अभिनय केला आहेः चित्रपट विनोदी ढंगाचा आहे. रवींद्र शेणोलीकर

Yesterday saw this film on OTT. It is a hilarious murder mystery plot. Rajkumar Rao plays Jayant, the upcoming tech wizard in a private company that manufactures robotic machines. Vijay Kenkre is the director of the company and Monica is his ravishing secretary played by Huma Qureshi. Director's son from first marriage is played by Sikander Kher. Director's daughter Nikki is in love with Jayant. Jayant has an affair with Monica who tells him that she is pregnant. That shocks Jayant. Shalu is Jayant's sister. Sukant, another employee in the company, is in love with Shalu. The movie begins with the murder of a boy who has confessed love for shalu and tells this to Sukant who immediately uses the robot and kills him. Fun starts when Jayant, Arvind the accountant and the director's son, find that Monica has been playing with all three. They plot to kill and get rid of her. But the director's son gets killed. Enter police inspector played by Radhika Apte and things move ...