No server. No post. Bahut afsos ki baat hai, ki MTNL was on the blink for 36 hours, maybe more. I went into severe depression.... so severe, that I left town! Seriously. I drove to Pune at 7 a.m this morning, and got back at 7 p.m. Slightly frenzied, but any excuse to go to Pune. Especially if that excuse is as scrumptious as the unbeatable kheema pao served at the coffee shop of the Blue Diamond Hotel ( an old haunt - I remember going there with Smita Patil and Vinod Khanna years and years ago, when both of them were smitten by Rajneesh -Osho ). Well, I came home in a car that was reeking of the dish... and the aroma must have been so overpowering, Kiara jumped all over me - which was a good sign. She has been droopy and unwell for the past two days - no appetite and a mournful expression. The vet said it could be a case of gastro. I wanted to cheer up Kiara on Mother's Day ( sunday), but she was not in the mood even for an ice cream treat. My own treat at the Four Season's Prato was fun and bubbly ( thanks to the Bubbly!), but the buffet was seriously disappointing. I didn't have the heart to state that to my son-in-law, since he was paying!

Before I run away, I'd promised a mini-review of 'Antaheen' - well, let me put it this way - only a Bong film maker would have the audacity to start the movie in the voice of a French chanteuse ( the song segued into a Bangla rap number - how? Why? Don't ask - it's a Bong movie , remember?). Self -indulgent, self -conscious and soulful, the film is pretty pointless, even amateurish, with far too many sub- plots and tracks. The protagonist Brinda sings far too many songs ( they all sound the same, and break the pace of the film, which is painfully slow to begin with), and admires Freida Kahlo ( how totally Bong- pretentious!). The cop (all he does is moon over the mystery girl and talk about Jim Morrisson to a Pravin Mahajan -inspired character) played by Rahul Bose playing Rahul Bose, is all Bong angst and little else. That leaves Aparna Sen wearing a dreadful wig and smoking too many ciggies, when she isn't moaning about her 'best work' (snapshots of Ladakh). Oh yes, Sharmila Tagore as the spinster pishima is wonderfully 'naekka' in most of her scenes with the Bose (Rahul).... but that's Sharmila - still playing the Kashmir ki Kali. Inox on a saturday night, was crammed with Bongs. Just BONGS! Most agreed the movie was a bit of a bore.... but it was ''so us!" (what on earth does that make us?? Bores????). I loved Kalyan Ray, and if the burly, bearded gentleman is indeed Aparna's husband in real life - lucky Aparna.