May 18, 2009
Ek din Achanak…
Ignorance is bliss at the Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, as the car trundles along the bylanes thick with vegetation, entwined banyan trees, rubble, pebbles and dry leaves, when the guide decodes the meaning of Achankmar as Achanak – sudden and mar – assault, it dawns on you that you are indeed a great prey for the leopard that is rumored to be sauntering around. It is too late to turn back. Guide Sahniwal says it has been a chilly morning and our dear pard will probably come out and bask in the sun rays to beat the chilly climes. Leopards are nocturnal animals, active after dusk. Sometimes, they can be spotted basking in the sun atop their favourite rocky vantage points or having a siesta up in a treetop. The locals proclaim that the leopard was sighted just last weekend when a Canadian couple were on their way back from the city.
Last weekend sighting by no means translates that you can sight a leopard now. Animal sighting is like rolling a dice. Just because you haven’t had a six for 42 times doesn’t mean you will have it now. Or just because you had a six recently, doesn’t mean you will not have another again. Wildlife sighting, according to the locals, is about Deepak Chopra’s synchronicity - being at the right time, at the right place. And doing the right thing. Like hiding, becoming alert, not fidgeting and being ready with the digicam.
Hours of craning the neck out of the diminutive car, a thorough scan from the watchtower, surreptitiously approaching the watering holes and the sunny rocks for one whole day did not yield any results. Sahniwal says we could spot a deer, at least, if we are lucky.
A sudden gale of wind passed out with a wave of heady floral fragrance engulfing the car. Guide Sahniwal asks, ‘scent lagaya kya? Now, the deers will never come close to us’, he said. Oh dear!
The only way to spot a deer within 500 metres distance is to conquer a deer's defense of smell, sound and sight, in that order. A deer’s olfactory is 20 times superior to humans. To be able to spot that spotted beauty in here, you need to tackle both your air scent and your ground scent.
Ground scent is the trail you leave as you walk through the grass and dried leaves. A deer's sense of smell is so fine tuned, they know the exact hour of your passing, so they will keep away from you.
Seasoned wildlife enthusiasts, however, have a solution. Use leather boots (no socks as any cloth on your feet will hold and spread the odour) and don’t use any perfumes. If you are used to these fragrances, you can use a suppressant or a scent block to offset it. Right now, in this sanctuary that is at least 100 km away from the nearest keyboard, forget the scent blocks, even spotting a deer seems tough. Look for trees with langurs, they usually have deers underneath, he informed us.
But as the sun calls it a day and the Achanakmar Coffee Centre serves its last series of coffees and chais, it is time to hope for the best the next day.
The reception centre here showcases the escapades of wildlife enthusiasts in Achanakmar. A few snapshots of the sanctuary in full bloom in the spring months of February and March, the spotted deer caught at its most vulnerable moment, the langur taking a look at the Red Bulls beverage can, the Wild Buffalo at its lethargic best etc.
Over a cup of coffee, the locals at the coffee centre will regale you about the how the bison broke open the SUV’s glass pane with its horns alone, how a group of deer ‘posed’ for a wildlife photographer’s lens and other such tales.
Sahniwal keeps reiterating that wildlife sighting may or may not happen at this time. Frankly, it would be silly to expect animals to come visiting you when you are traveling in a noisy revved up vehicle spitting out exhaust every minute. The altitude is so steep that it is literally impossible to navigate on those muddy roads without revving up the accelerator.
Also the number of cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep grazing in these parts happily belies the presence of a wild animal that could prey on these cattle. The reality, however, is that it is a win-win situation for those who graze animals here. Either the animals have their daily grub without any cost to its owner. Should they become prey to any wild animal, it means they now have something more valuable in their hands. The rumour is that when an animal dies because of a tiger or a leopard attack, they send back their animals to the same spot for the next two to three consecutive weeks after smearing the cattle’s skin with a poison. So the next time the wild animal gets the cattle, it will die because it has consumed the poisonous skin. A dead tiger or leopard is then discovered once its body rots. The stench helps them discover the dead wild animal. Now, the animal is open for trade.
However, with the recent WWF funding, the sanctuary is now equipped with the necessary infrastructure to battle the poachers. Two barriers that open only with human intervention, guards with bikes to chase the culprit in times of crises, wireless sets for quick communication has prevented several poachers from walking away with their loot.
Up, up as you go further up from any of the roads into the sanctuary on a safari ride, you reach the watchtower. A dome that gives you a 360 degree view of the sanctuary. Most people believe watch towers are for leisure tourists to be able to spot an animal in the dense. Far from it! Watch towers are primarily to look out for forest fires. Of course, it also gives you a good view of the entire fascinating landscape of the place around.
The watchtower here, on a sleepy afternoon, is a total silence zone. Once your car comes to a grinding halt and even the flash of the camera shuts down by itself, Achankmar transforms into a silent zone. Even the crickets and cicadas are snuggling up in their nests this lazy noon. The blanket of calm in broad daylight seems a little unnerving. The bamboos are certainly taking a nap after all those laborious swings, the sal trees relaxing, in almost a kaizen stance with zero movement. The trees seem as though they have conspired to intensify the silence. By the way, silence too is measured in decibels. Anything below 20 decibels is silence and right now, the silence here appears to be 2000 decibels. Deafening is perhaps the apt objective.
Perhaps, this is the calm before the leopard storm. What if the last of the Wild Bison has decided to survey the shiny White Indica and see if the tyres really have air in it? Having got used to the constant sounds of traffic, electronic gadgets and the trrrring of the telephones, silence seems scary in this part of heaven. Psychologists call it ‘sensory deprivation’ which can result in extreme anxiety, hallucinations, bizarre thoughts, depression, and antisocial behavior. Ah, that explains the hallucinations of a sloth bear silently meandering around the road to reach for us in the outgrowth. The same bear that is used in circus as dancing bears and despite its tag of a sloth, it is known to outrun humans in times of distress. Human distress that is!
Driver Rangaswamy’s impatient honks pierced the silence and gave us a sensory overdose. Ah, the sounds of modern day life! His single minded devotion to keeping his car squeaky clean even in these rough roads brings us to a little flowing stream. A stream that flows along merrily as though it is straight out of those ‘sceneries’ that you can hang in your bedroom! Too good to be true. But then, the icy cold water wetting the fallen branches is so very real. A small, culvert lets you soak your feet in the chilly waters.
There seems to be some romantic connection between the placid waters and the trees on the bank. Almost like young men showing off their six packs to impress the girls out there, the trees stand tall showing off their naked roots. The water has obviously washed off the mud attached to the root and what we have is raw under branches, the lifeline of the tree. The water from the stream is so clear and placid, it transforms into a mirror to double the beauty.
Somewhere a far, you hear the shuffle of feet. ‘Woh dekho chital’, we are informed. Someone hears it as cheetah and scrambles to the car. But it is chital, or the spotted dear, abundant in Achanakmar. It was a herd of six. True to the guide’s words, the deer were spotted under a canopy of trees replete with langurs.
Spotted deer are extremely nervous animals and are always on the alert for a stalking predator. They are often seen under trees housing langurs for two reasons. Langurs warn them about approaching danger because they are perched up there and secondly, the tidbits dropped by the Langurs make easy pickings for a meal.
The deers are indeed graceful animals. They walk without making noise, when they look, they mean no-nonsense. When they run away, they do so without stumbling anywhere or stepping on the wrong place.
It seemed as though the deers had kindly consented to give us a 20 minute show. It seemed to be in perfect bliss as long as it grazed in the highlands. But the moment it sounded an alarm, it took to its heels and vanished into thin air. One moment, a content animal, the other a petrified being. Surely the deer practices the ‘live this moment’ philosophy. How else can they shift so effortlessly from one state to the other?
The safari ends in late afternoon. Achanakmar does not have any eat outs where you can do a formal sit down lunch. The best it gets is fresh maida bhajia hot off the kadai with pieces of hara mirch, onion and jeera in it. For someone who has been starving for anything tasty and hot, the bhajias taste divine. By the way, the fast food here is not really for the visitors who are few and far in between in the cold months of November and December. It is for the weekly haat (bazaar) that happens here every Friday afternoon. People from villages around like Lamni, Keonchi etc display their wares to make a quick buck and proceed home before it turns dark. On offer are cane baskets, cotton garments, haldi, wooden handicrafts, ripe guavas, herbs and Ayurvedic roots, fresh gajar, mooli and lauki and the works.
A mobile open air pharmacy, however, attracts the maximum crowds. The shoppers meet the doctor-cum-salesman-announcer to discuss their health issues. ‘Daud ke jaate ho kya’, the doc asks if the patient has to ‘run’ to relive his intestine. In their parlance, running to the loo is equivalent to having loose bowel movements. The doctor also prescribes medicines for anything between laryngitis to sexual dysfunctions. With vials, bottles, syringes, dirty white polythene covered pills, all that the open air clinic needs is a sturdy charpoi that can take the weight of an occasional outpatient and a fast-talking doc. Clinic timings: 11 pm to 4 pm.There is also a pitstop for the forest labourers here. As your axe gets sharpened, you can load yourself with hot chai and pav served right there. The haat’s products are a far cry from what we see in the city. This one is more a weekly shopping update for the farmers, labourers, cowherds and animal grazers.
About the park:The Achanakmar wildlife sanctuary constituted in 1975, comprises 557.55 sq.km of lush forests. It forms part of the North west forest block of Bilaspur forest division. It is around 55 km north-west of Bilaspur. Nearest railhead is Belgahna Railway Station. Forest vegetation mainly comprises sal, saja, tinsa, bija, bamboo. Gaur (Indian wild buffalo or bison), chital (spotted deer), barking deer, wild bou, bear etc are among the animals commonly sighted even while in vehicles around the sanctuary. Leopard, Gaur, Chital, Wild Bear, Tiger, leopard, striped Hyaena, jackal, sloth bear, Indian wild dog chital, sambar, nilgai, four-horned antelope, chinkara (mountain gazelle), blackbuck, wild boar are the other common animals sighted here.
The sanctuary is about 60 km away from Amarkantak, which is the origin of River Narmada in Madhya Pradesh. The sanctuary is wrapped around by the Mekhal range of mountains known to be the rendezvous of the Vindhyas and Satpuras. The sanctuary is predominantly hilly with altitude ranging from 20-1,000 m. Best time to visit: November – June. The sanctuary is closed for public between July 1 to October 31. So when it does open in November, there are tales about the tiger, the panther, the sloth bear and whatnot. Some of them sounding so true, some so fake. Yet, what is a sanctuary if it does not have a few wild sightings to boast about?
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May 5, 2009
How Anushka got the Arundhathi look
Published in Wow! Hyderabad, May 2009
Character Stylist Deepa Chander of Arundhathi fame shares a few trade secrets with MANJU LATHA KALANIDHI on how to snag the right ethnic look. Also places to shop for best results
It’s funny how Deepa Chander, Telugu industry’s most in-demand character stylist owes her first break to designing to a lowly carrot, palm tree and a bhutta (corn). It was her first ‘hobby’ attempt at designing these costumes for an amusement park’s opening that won her accolades and her first movie assignment Rockford. More about her journey so far, in her own words.
TWIST IN THE TALE: I’ve been in Hyderabad since 2000 and I am now doing character styling for my 42nd movie. Initially, I wanted to design sets for movies, but my passion for clothes got the better of décor and I landed up styling for characters. I would like to call myself a stylist, not just a costume designer, because I also work on the hair and accessories to get the complete look.
MY WORK, MY MILESTONES: The red tie-up choli for Bhoomika in Missamma, the cropped hair for Prabhas in Chakram and the no-nonsense look of Anushka in Arundhathi are close to my heart. I’ve also styled Lakshmi Manchu for her new television series.
HOW SHE GOT THE JEJAMMA LOOK FOR ARUNDHATHI: I first charmed all the great grannies to show me the photographs of their times. I spoke to them extensively, found out what was trendy one hundred years ago, the kind of jewellery their grannies wore for weddings etc. I studied Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings, went back to the history of gems and precious stones, the kind of jewellery in vogue in those days. I culled out information from old paintings, portraits, artists, photographs, sculptors, history books, spoke to the descendents of royal families and looked up their heirlooms. Finally, I used my own imagination with a little cinematic license to come up with the look. I have used natural fibres and vegetable dyes along with the warp and wefts of that era.
BOX ITEMDeepa’s suggestions for the right ‘ethnic’ look for young girls:Hair, outfit and accessories are the three elements that complete your look. Pick two out of the above three elements while playing up your look. So if it’s a lavish outfit and ornate accessories, keep your hair-do basic. If it’s a simple saree, go full steam on accessories and play up your hair. • It’s either Kancheevaram or the embroidered. Don’t go for an embroidered Kancheevaram. It is look having garlic bread with Andhra pickle. Let its original beauty stand out. Don’t mask it with silly beads and chamkis.• Back to basics is back in style. So papidi billa, jada ghantalu, vankeelu (armlets) add to a good look. • The trick is to not do what others are doing. So if every one turns up with nail polish, you should do a U-turn and show off your mehendi and vice-versa. While the rest are sporting off designer bindis with loud sheen, opt for solid monochrome traditional kumkum powder. • If everyone is turning up in heavy sarees and tight joodas, go for a plain chiffon, a sexy choli, one rose stuck behind your ear. Recreate that 60s look. It is all about doing it in style and differently.• For men, the minimalist look is back. So keep the stole, chunky finger rings and bracelets at home and turn up in classic long kurtas with just a watch on your wrist. I believe men should show off their strong arms and leave it bare without the gold accessories.• Try out short sleeves, backless cholis and slacks only if your arms, back and your thighs are toned. These cuts are meant to show off your figure and will fall flat if you don’t have a great figure.
Places to look for:• Silks: The government and co-operative handloom showrooms have the best and classiest silks. Handloom House, APCO and Co-optex near Nampally are good places to look for. Ideally, buy two or three contrast pieces and get it stitched at your local designer for a stunning effect. • Kurtas: Nothing beats the Lucknow in Chikan wear with self-embroidery. Beads, sheen and crystals can never match the eternal look of embroidered kurti. Unless you are the groom, opt for simple, timeless pieces.• Fancy accessories: Laad Bazaar. Charminar. The cluster of shops in a little nook to your left as soon as you enter Laad Bazaar has some of the best fashion jewellery.
Apr 14, 2009
Five Time Management Tips … You Should NEVER Follow
Multi-tasking: Never think of saving time by doing three things at a time. Like for example, turning on the water tap to let the water fill in the bucket by the time you boil the milk to make yourself a mug of instant coffee while you send an SMS. Chances are the geyser has drained out, the bucket of water has gone cold, the milk split over and the sms gone to a wrong person. Now, you are left with cold water, a messy cooking range, burnt milk and a ‘You are fired’ message from the Big Bully boss you’ve sent to. So one thing at a time and that done well!
To-Do List: Collect all your To-Do lists and run them in your washing machine, freeze them in your ice tray or bake them in the microwave oven. Delete the software in your personal computer or mobile phones. Looking at the To-Do list before embarking on tasks is a little like reading the list of lessons you need to study for the impending board exams. It is unappealing, demoralizing and painful. Also like reading about exercises and diet and not doing it. Instead, when you have to do something, just do it. You have decided to sell off raddi, stand in the portico and holler at the first raddiwala and the work is done. Simpler than entering it with time, date, reminder into your Blackberry Storm!
Don’t Procrastinate: Those who never procrastinate know not the advantages of the same. For example, you have postponed the payment of your mobile phone. The fella cuts off your outgoing calls first. Great. That means you save Rs 80 per day on calls. A saving of Rs 2,400 per month. Then he cuts off your incoming also. Super. You also save on the movie program your friends have planned and could not include you, as you were not reachable. Ditto with the car and bike repair. The more time you take time to get them fixed up, the more time you can spend at home without driving into the mad traffic. Petrol ka bachat yaani paise ka bachat. So procrastinate as much as you can, as often as you can. In most cases, the others in the house or office will take the initiative thus saving you enormous time and money.
Prioritize: They say you should divide your tasks into A, B and C. A is for important, B is for urgent and C is for neither. I say make A is for Do it later, B is for Don’t Do it at all C is for Don’t bother. This way, you don’t have a To-Do list and you can revert to the previous point and reap mega benefits.
Wake up early: Those who don’t know the joy of being snuggled up in the bed, the bliss of having your body remain in a state of inertia when the Sun is up and shining will say these things. After all, what do you do when you wake up early? Start on the mundane chores of taking a morning walk, making coffee and fixing up breakfast or super boring tasks of taking bath, getting dressed up etc. According to research, life follows Parkinsons Law, which states that work expands to fill the time available. Therefore, if you wake up early, you have another three hours to fill it with work. Alternatively, you can choose to stay in late and get your work done fast. Again because according to the above law, the work has to get done in this time.
Go ahead, defy all the rules of time management, and write back to us about how much fun you had.
Apr 6, 2009
A Life less complicated
It takes only a genius to lessen complications and make more space and time for the nicer pursuits in life.
Here is a small test to show whether you are calm and composed or restless and stressed out. Look at the seconds hand in your watch for three minutes. Yes, just look at the slim needle do three complete rounds without looking elsewhere or thinking anything. Chances are, most would not be able to focus even for those 180 seconds. That’s because we’ve lost our ability to enjoy things in its pristine form, it its simplistic state.
Even ten years ago, a long drive just meant that. You would drive, enjoy the smooth black tar under the wheels, feel the breeze from the open window, look at the avenues on both sides of the road. Today, a long drive means switching on the FM radio; tinkering between the six radio stations available, jumping from one to another catch only the song and not the commercial jingles or the radio jockey’s blah blah. And then restlessly switching over to your Ipod player and hunting for your play list. Meanwhile, taking a call on your Bluetooth while sending an SMS from your second mobile phone. All this while changing the gear and maneuvering the others on the road. Aah, some long drive this.
Simplicity is no longer a virtue. The more you complicate your life, the more successful you are. Have you spotted anybody in the age group of 18 to 40 just be and do nothing even for five straight minutes?
There was a time when we could simply dunk the glass into a earthen pot of water, drink it with gusto and throw the glass into the sink and you’re done. Today, you bend down to take water from the water purifier which dribbles out water at its own sweet pace. Then you drink the water from the delicate branded Borosil glass and carefully place it on a coaster stand, lest your mahogany table develops rings of water marks on it. Then guard it from the little ones around who may topple it. Do we really need so many complications in life just to drink a glass of water?
Hotels have really perfected the art of complicating. Previously, we used to have nice open bathrooms which would allow fresh air into the wash area. But open windows have given to glass windows and that means air-conditioners which translate to dead air. To keep off the odour, you need to have room fresheners, special containers to hold them, then a hand perfume. Not a simple one but an automatic dispenser perfume holder. Again to dry it off, not a soft towel or even a use and throw tissue but automatic hand dryers! All this for a simple hand wash.
It takes only a genius to lessen complications and make more space and time for the nicer pursuits in life. Albert Einstein was so cheesed off spending twenty minutes everyday simply trying to choose his suit for work. One fine day, he ordered for seven suits of the same colour from his tailor. From that day onwards, he just had to open his wardrobe and pick any suit and it would all be the same. No time spent on futile chores. A month later, he propounded the Theory of Relativity.
Centuries later, we still spend time on whether to listen to Jodhaa Akbar or Om Shanti Om… while the geniuses work on world changing theories…
Mar 30, 2009
What Shade Is Your Brown
Brown is the color of soul food. Brownies, brown bread, plum cake, dark chocolate, beer… How will it be if various shades of brown – auburn, burgundy, sepia, ochre, rust, mahogany and other such come together to create a ‘taste’fully done up living space? Delicious? Yummy? Delectable? With a home designer like Hameeda Sharma of AH Associates, Hyderabad, at the helm of affairs, this space gets transformed into more than just awesome. It is practical, comforting, urbane, sophisticated and above all, spells class - just what the owner of G-2, a big business tycoon who loves to keep a low profile wanted, for his second floor guesthouse at Trendset Vantage, Banjara Hills. It may be a sheer coincidence, but brown in color psychology (representing Earth, mud etc) is associated with rewinding and rejuvenating oneself. Bang on for a guesthouse.
The spacious 3,000 sq feet apartment is an exercise in thoughtfulness. The décor and design elements are not just for looks, but for comfort and practicality as well. Take the wooden ledge in the foyer. Most would think it is for a décor niche. “It’s to sit and put on your shoes on an average day and as a candle holder for an evening party,” says Hameeda Sharma. Incidentally, the wooden panels on the foyer wall deftly cover up the electrical fittings fro the entire house. In the dining space, the marble countertop is not just to put on some brass jugs but to convert it as a buffet counter for an impromptu luncheon. Ditto with the luggage racks in each of the guest bedrooms!
“This is a guesthouse and we don’t expect our guests to stuff in their huge suitcases into the wardrobe. So there is a provision for a knee length table that facilitates easy usage of the suitcase without having to bend all the way down.” Interestingly, the luggage rack has steel protuberances to make it easy to put it, pull in front and back and remove it without any pressure on the handle. “Luxury is not just about duvet beds and mercerized bed linen, but about little details that make it easy for the guest without them having to disturb the host,” says Hameeda. She says the brief for the house was that guests should go back home wanting to come back here again ASAP!
However, there were a few issues that definitely seemed like sore thumbs while designing the house. First, the house enjoyed no view of the outside. Second, a prime window of a bedroom was overlooking a walking corridor. “A playful bamboo lattice in the balcony offsets the lack of view from the backyard. The bedroom with a window overlooking the corridor has been suitably compensated with such interesting and innovative lights and lamps that they wouldn’t bother opening the window instead spend time admiring the flickers from the stenciled table lamp or the Olympic ring showpiece on the wall,” quips Hameeda.
The apartment has three bedrooms, a spacious living room, a bar, kitchen, dining space and an entertainment room. The living room which houses the bar has been designed in such a way that the various spaces – dining, main seating, secondary seating etc all seamlessly connect with each other to allow the guests in a party walk into each other for a conversation. At the same time, the rooms are all tucked in private corners neatly to ensure privacy to the inmates of the rooms.
Color co-ordination was the real challenge as the apartment has various zones. Each zone had to stand out yet have the same thread across. “Brown seemed to be the apt choice as there was a host of choices in this color. So if its chocolate brown in the hallway, it’s walnut brown in the dining, it is classic wood brown in the main bedroom. Some of the rooms have such precise co-ordination, you’d think the room was accessorized first and then painted. “The painting of the eye in the master bedroom and the cream laundry basket are sheer coincidences,” laughs Hameeda about the décor co-ordination.
The entertainment room is certainly the star of the house. With burnt orange décor and seriously sensuous wooden ledges sitting pretty to hold in the remote controls, chords and the sockets for the electronic gadgetry, the room looks techno, almost as though you were sitting in a high-end recording theatre. The wooden flooring ensures there are fewer echoes when the music goes on.
To give the eye an easy view of the various niches of the house, the accessories have been deliberately chosen in symmetric geometric shapes. For instance, a regular round or oblong lamp is replaced with a neat, straight cut, tall rectangular lamp shade. Elsewhere, a staid handcrafted one gives way to dramatic, stenciled meshed up lampshades. Of course, Hameeda confesses to using several camouflage techniques to cover up some boring walls. “In the dining space, we were left with an odd stretch of wall adjoining the hand wash space. Instead of cluttering up the little space with paintings and accessories, we simply used gracious blue wallpaper on the wall with accent lighting. As a central focal point, a hanging lampshade has been used.” The small space looks bigger than it is, thanks to the mirror on the hand wash unit.
The centre of the house is the vantage point from where you can soak in the browns of the house in one go. From the brown wood flooring at the main seating to the brown on the wall painting opposite the bar, G-2 is a harmony of burgundy, auburn and other delectable shades. What the brownies, brown plum cake, dark chocolate is to your soul, these browns are to your eyes. ‘Taste’fully done up, right?
Mar 24, 2009
Funny View, Punny Review
Sambhavi IPS Published in www.fullhyd.com in 2003
Sambhavi (Vijayashanti) has three thugs chasing her. She has only one bullet in her pistol. She takes out a knife and places it before the gun. The bullet splits into three and the thugs die.
Next: a gangster is chasing La Femme Sambhavi. The lady has a gun but no goli in it. So she waits for the gangster to shoot. As soon as he does, she opens the bullet compartment of her gun and catches the bullet. Then, she closes the bullet compartment and fires. Reliable sources in Tollywood say there was another scene where Vijayashanti suffers from a brain tumor that, according to the doctors, can't be cured, and her death is imminent. Then, in one of the fights, the lady is shot in the head and the bullet passes through her head taking the tumor along with it, and she is cured! But they had to chop this scene out because the running time exceeded its tolerance limits. Long Live Lady Superstar. Awww okay, okay, fine! What's a bit of exaggeration if it makes for a funny read! Most of you also know the above descriptions are inspired by a funny forward that did the rounds when Baba released. But trust me, some of scenes in Sambhavi IPS look far dumber than what has been mentioned above in this Kartavyam meets Vijay IPS meets Police Story meets Lockup Death meets Police 100 meets movie. Thanks to the She Spies meets Lara Croft meets La Femme Nikita meets Kiran Bedi meets Chitra Ramachandran meets Lady Superstar avatar of Vijayshanti, the result is a 'frustration meets boredom meets ennui meets tedium meets annoyance meets disappointment' experience. There is not an iota of novelty in this 82nd sequel to Kartavyam, VS's cult movie back in the last millennium, except that now she wears XXXL sized polo neck Tee shirts in the stunt sequences. Inspired by Sidney Sheldon's If Tomorrow Comes, Sambhavi IPS starts off as a fairy tale. She has a rocking career, a flirty husband and a precocious son. Toss in a new-age super cool mavagaru and a Jane Fonda fitness regime on weekends, we have the pre-intermission of Sambhavi IPS. Post the siren bell, life goes topsy-turvy because Sambhavi's husband suddenly decides to shed his image to become a womanizing, corrupt and greedy thug. He plans his own murder and frames his wife in it, so he can sell his son for a price and live in sin with his paramour in the beaches of Goa. Sambhavi is not your average woman. So like Tracey Whitney in the novel, she decides to pay back her husband in the same score and seeks parole. Once she is out, she has to fight off several criminals and get to her son. Some of the excuses given on why the husband decides to suddenly turn so evil are so lame that you want to roll down the floor laughing. In the second half, this guy opens an ugly restaurant in Goa and starts wearing floral shirts. Methinks Sambhavi shot him dead more because of his atrocious dressing sense and preposterous taste. There are exactly three-and-a-half scenes that look interesting in the movie and are what got this movie its rating. A half star is for the stunt director who makes Vijayashanti fly up in the air and remain there till the end of the movie. But for these antics, there is nothing else to redeem this average flick. Not even the mandatory duets. On the whole, the movie comes down with a thud, after flying up with a bang just like Vijayashanti. Like movie, like heroine.