Blik | March 2009

Blik | March 2009

 index

Kate Winslet, Sean Penn and Penelope Cruz sharing a light moment.

First Look at Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen
Cover Story
A chat with Sir Michael
Caine
6 Join Sehaj Singh as he takes a look at the develop-
ment of the new Transformers movie directed by
Michael Bay.
10 Sir Michael talks movies, Hollywood and his
experiences.

Oscar Cocktails 13 Drinks inspired by characters from this year’s

Oscars.

Slumdogged 15 View-Counterview of the Slumdog phenomenon.

Red Carpet review 21 The best, the worst and those in limbo on the Red
Carpet.
Oscar Night musings 24 Oscar Night blogged. Synopsis, views and opin-
ions on the 81st Academy.

Harry Potter special 28 Five Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
posters. Couretsy our friends over at Warner
Brothers.

Cover Design Rachit Agarwal Ads Siddharth Behl Content Ashish Lal, Aryan Prakash, Sehaj Singh,
Rachit Agarwal & Siddharth Behl Dummy Siddharth Behl Design Rachit Agarwal Computer Layout
Rachit Agarwal.
Blik | March 2009
2 March 20-26, 2009 compiled by Aryan Prakash

1. Knowing
Last Week: New
Weekly Gross: $31,515,012
% Change: -

2. I Love You, Man

Last Week: New
Weekly Gross: $24,406,773
% Change: -

3. Duplicity
Last Week: New
Weekly Gross: $18,082,380
% Change: -

4. Race to Witch Mountain

Last Week: 1
Weekly Gross: $15,947,425
% Change: -49.7%

5. Watchmen
Last Week: 2
Weekly Gross: $9,201,251
% Change: -60.7%

Blik | March 2009

compiled by Aryan Prakash ...to a theatre near you. 3

1. 12 Rounds
Starring: John Cena | Director: Renny Harlin
WWE champion John Cena is New Orleans Police Detective Danny Baxter. When Baxter
stops a brilliant thief from getting away with a multi-million-dollar heist, the thief's girlfriend is
accidentally killed. After escaping from prison, the criminal mastermind enacts his revenge,
taunting the cop with a series of near-impossible puzzles and tasks …12 rounds…that Baxter
must somehow complete to save the life of his fiancée.

2. Adventureland
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig | Director: Greg Mottola
SUPERBAD's Greg Mottola directs this comedy about a floundering college grad (Jesse Eisenberg)
who decides to work at an amusement park when his post-graduation plans fall through.
ADVENTURELAND's talented cast includes Kristen Stewart (INTO THE WILD), Ryan Reynolds
(DEFINITELY, MAYBE), and KNOCKED UP cast members Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, and Martin
Starr.

3. Fast & Furious

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez | Director: Justin Lin
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reteam for the ultimate chapter of the franchise built on speed --
Fast & Furious. Heading back to the streets where it all began, they rejoin Michelle Rodriguez
and Jordana Brewster to blast muscle, tuner and exotic cars across Los Angeles and floor
through the Mexican desert in the new high-octane action-thriller. When a crime brings them
back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto (Diesel) reignites his feud with agent Brian O'Conner
(Walker). But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an
uncertain new trust if they hope to outmanuever him. And from convoy heists to precision tunnel
crawls across international lines, two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of
what's possible behind the wheel.

Blik | March 2009

Blik | March 2009
 Rachit Agarwal 5

Birth name Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen

Also known as The Boss
Born September 23, 1949 (1949-09-23) (age 59)

Bruce Springsteen, is an American songwriter, singer and musician. He records and tours with
the E Street Band. Springsteen is widely known for his brand of heartland rock infused with
pop hooks, poetic lyrics, and Americana sentiments centered around his native New Jersey.

Springsteen's recordings have tended to alternate between commercially accessible rock

albums and somber folk-oriented works. Much of his status stems from the concerts and
marathon shows in which he and the E Street Band perform intense ballads, rousing anthems,
and party rock and roll songs, amongst which he intersperses whimsical or deeply emotional
stories.

His most famous albums, Born to Run and Born in the U.S.A., epitomize his penchant for
finding grandeur in the struggles of daily life. He has gradually become identified with progres-
sive politics. He is also noted for his support of various relief and rebuilding efforts in New
Jersey and elsewhere, and for his response to the September 11th attacks, on which his album
The Rising reflects.

He has earned numerous awards for his work, including nineteen Grammy Awards, two
Golden Globes and an Academy Award, and continues to have a strong global fan base. He
has sold more than 65 million albums in the United States and 120 million worldwide.

The Boss is currently experiencing a career revival courtesy of the song The Wrestler from
Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler.

Then you've seen me, I come and stand at every door

Then you've seen me, I always leave with less than I had before
Then you've seen me, bet I can make you smile when the blood, it hits the floor
Tell me, friend, can you ask for anything more?
Tell me can you ask for anything more?

These words from the song apply as much to The Boss as they do to Mickey Rourke, or for
that matter, Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Rourke’s character in The Wrestler). Down and out
till the release of the song, Springsteen’s back at doing what he does best.

Surprisingly, this song, which many consideredthe best song from a movie in 2008, was
completely ignored by the Academy. Sure, the Grammy acknowledged the song’s worth, but
the wise men (and women) over at the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences couldn’t be
bothered less about the song. Did I hear someone call the Oscars a farce? Or maybe, Bilk?

Blik | March 2009

6 at Transformers 2 Sehaj Singh

As we all know, Transformers: The evil Decepticons need to development

Revenge of the Fallen is an capture him for information. The In September 2007, Paramount
upcoming science fiction/action announced as late June 2009
climactic battle takes place at the
film due for release on June 24, Giza pyramid complex, where a release date for the sequel to
2009. It is the sequel to 2007's temple is located within. Transformers, and Bay began
Transformers, which was the Producer Lorenzo di creating animatics of action
first live action Transformers film. Bonaventura explained the film sequences featuring characters
Michael Bay and Steven will show the Transformers who rejected for the first film. This
Spielberg return respectively as visited Egypt before the pyra- would allow animators to com-
director and executive producer, mids were built, and "all our plete sequences if the Directors
while Shia LaBeouf reprises the heroes end up here because of Guild of America went on strike
role of Sam Witwicky, the the Decepticons' master plan." in July 2008 (which did not
human caught in the war be- Furthermore, Egyptian happen as the DGA signed a
tween Autobots and hieroglyphs resembling helicop- new deal). The director consid-
Decepticons. The film introduces ters and other present day ered making a small project in
many more robots and the scope vehicles in real life will be ex-between Transformers and its
has been expanded to numerous plained in the film as being sequel, but knew "you have your
countries, the most important of depictions of those Ancient baby and you don't want some-
which is Egypt. Cybertronians who visited Earth. one else to take it". The film was
given a $200 million budget,
The main hurdle in getting the Bay explained the Transformers which was $50 million more than
film produced was overcoming did not blow their disguise by the first film, and some of the
the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of battling in Mission City in the action scenes rejected for the
America strike, as well as first film. "Everybody has gone original were written into the
possible strikes by the Directors ahead. It's realistic. Two weeks sequel. Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Guild of America and the Screen after the tsunami nobody talked said the studio proposed filming
Actors Guild. Bay finished his about it anymore. It's very two sequels simultaneously, but
production on time with the help weird. We decided to do the he and Bay concurred that was
of previsualization and a same with the Transformers. The not the right direction for the
scriptment by his writers government talks about a military series.Writers Roberto Orci and
Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, thing, says all is false, that it's a Alex Kurtzman originally passed
and series newcomer Ehren joke, and people don't know on the sequel because of a busy
Kruger. Shooting from May to what they really saw." The schedule. The studio began
November 2008 predominantly human soldiers have joined the courting other writers in May
took place in the United States, Autobots' ranks in a team called 2007, but as they were unim-
including the majority of scenes NEST (Networked Elements: pressed with their pitches, they
set in outside countries, a mini- Supporters and Transformers). A convinced Orci and Kurtzman to
mum of which was conducted in government front called return. The studio also signed on
those actual nations. McClaren Robotics covers up Ehren Kruger, as he impressed
the robot sightings, and the Bay and Hasbro president Brian
premise Allspark shard is kept by them in Goldner with his knowledge of
Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) storage. the Transformers mythology, and
discovers something about the because he was friends with
origins of the Transformers and Orci and Kurtzman. The writing
their history on Earth. trio were paid $8 million.

Blik | March 2009

 7

Shia on set.

Shia (L) and Megan (R) play the two human protagonists.

Blik | March 2009

 Screenwriting was interrupted by The two locations were used for
filming
the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of Qatar in the first film, and stood
Filming began in Los Angeles,
America strike, but to avoid in for Egypt in this film. A scale
8 California in May 2008. From
production delays the writers model in Los Angeles was also
June 2, three days were spent on
spent two weeks writing a used for some close-ups of the
an action sequence at the Beth-
treatment, which they handed in pyramids.
lehem Steel site in Bethlehem,
the night before the strike began, Shooting at Tucson International
Pennsylvania, which was used to
and Bay expanded the outline Airport and the 309th Aero-
represent a portion of Shanghai.
into a sixty-page scriptment, space Maintenance and Regen-
Afterwards, they shot at the
fleshing out the action and eration Group's aircraft
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
adding more jokes. The three boneyard took place in October
The crew moved to Philadelphia
writers spent four months finish- under the fake working title
on June 9, where they shot at the
ing the screenplay while "locked" Prime Directive (a reference to
Exelon power plant on Delaware
in two hotel rooms by Bay: Star Trek). This location was
Avenue; the University of Penn-
Kruger wrote in his own room delayed from July. The first unit
sylvania; Drexel University; the
and the trio would check on (including Shia LaBeouf) then
Eastern State Penitentiary;
each others' work twice a day. shot for three days in Egypt
Fairmount Park; Philadelphia
itself, at the Giza pyramid com-
City Hall, Rittenhouse Square
Orci described the film's theme plex and Luxor. For security's
and historic Chancellor Street
as "being away from home", with (which represents a street near sake, the shoot was highly
the Autobots contemplating living Place de la Concorde in Paris); secretive: but according to
on Earth as they cannot restore Lorenzo di Bonaventura, a crew
and Wanamaker's. They moved
Cybertron, while Sam goes to of 150 Americans and "several
to Princeton University on June
college. He wanted the focus dozen local Egyptians" ensured a
22. Filming there angered some
between the robots and humans students at the University of "remarkably smooth" shoot. Bay
"much more evenly balanced", earned the Egyptian govern-
Pennsylvania, believing Bay had
"the stakes [to] be higher", and ment's approval to film at the
chosen to reshoot scenes at
more focused on the science pyramids by contacting Zahi
Princeton and script Princeton's
fiction elements. Orci added he Hawass, a fan of the first film,
name in the movie. However,
wanted to "modulate" the humor neither the University of Pennsyl- who made the director swear
more, and felt he managed the not to damage the buildings. A
vania nor Princeton gave Bay
more "outrageous" jokes by fifty foot tall camera crane was
permission to be named in the
balancing it with a more serious used at the location. Four days
film because of a "funny 'mom'
plot approach to the Transform- scene" that both felt "did not were then spent in Jordan,
ers' mythology. Bay concurred where the Royal Jordanian Air
represent the school".
that he wanted to please fans by Bay scheduled a break for Force aided in filming at Petra,
making the tone darker, and that filming beginning on June 30, Wadi Rum and Salt. Filming
"moms will think its safe enough turning his attention to animation continued at the Place de la
to bring the kids back out to the and second unit scenes because Concorde in Paris, with the
movies" despite his trademark second unit taking shots of the
of the potential 2008 Screen
sense of humor. Kurtzman Eiffel Tower and the Arc de
Actors Guild strike. Orci joked
created the film's title. The Triomphe. The cast and crew
"Optimus and company are also
filmmakers considered incorpo- the stars, and fortunately for us, finished on the aircraft carrier
rating the comics character of G. they are not part of a union!” USS John C. Stennis on No-
B. Blackrock, but Bay consid- vember 2, 2008.
Shooting for the Shanghainese
ered the name too cartoonish. battle later continued in Long
Orci cited the Phoenix Lights Beach, California. The crew shot
effects
incident as an inspiration for how at Holloman Air Force Base and The producers expected that
the Transformers manage to stay White Sands Missile Range in with a bigger budget and the
covert after the previous film. New Mexico during September. special effects worked out,
Blik | March 2009

The all new Bumblebee Camaro concept developed for the film.
the Transformers would have a
larger role. Peter Cullen recalled,
"Don Murphy mentioned to me,
'Only because of the tremendous
expense to animate Optimus
Prime, he'll be in just a certain
amount of [the first film].' But he
said, 'Next time, if the movie is a
success, you're gonna be in it a
ton.'" Michael Bay hoped to
include more close-ups of the
robots' faces. Scott Farrar
returned as visual effects super-
visor, and anticipated moodier
use of lighting as well as deeper
roles for the Decepticons. He
stated that with the bigger
deadline, post-production will be
a "circus". Hasbro became more
involved in the designs of the
robots than in the first film. They
insisted on keeping the alternate
modes of some of the returning
characters similar, so people
9
would not have to buy toys of would mean I would have to
the same characters. start prep in September. No
way. My brain needs a break
Bay utilized real F-16 Fighting from fighting robots." Like
Falcon and tank fire when filming Revenge of the Fallen, Orci
the battles. Many of the new refused to guarantee whether he
Autobot cars supplied by Gen- and Kurtzman would return to a
eral Motors were brightly sequel, because "we risk getting
colored to look distinctive on stale".
screen. Orci has mentioned he would
sequel? like to introduce Unicron "for
As a preemptive measure, scale's sake". The co-writer also
Paramount and DreamWorks said introducing Triple Changers
announced a July 1, 2011 would be interesting.
release date for a third Trans-
formers film before completion
of Revenge of the Fallen. Bay
responded, "I said I was taking Transformers: Revenge of the
off a year from Fallen will be released in 3-D
Transformers.Paramount made a tentatively on June 26, 2009.
mistake in dating Transformers 3
- they asked me on the phone - I
said yes to July 4 - but for 2012
- whoops! Not 2011!!! That
Blik | March 2009
10 interview by Alex Simon
It’s fair to say that Michael
Caine was one of the cultural
architects that helped change
the world during the 1960s. As
part of the first generation of
working class English artists
that helped give that turbulent
decade its voice, Caine, along
with fellow blue collar blokes
Sean Connery, The Beatles,
Joe Orton, John Osborne,
David Hockney, Albert Finney,
Tom Courtenay and Terence
Stamp (to name a few) gave
the English working class a
voice, and a spotlight, into the
forefront of popular culture, so
much so, that middle and
upper class English speaking
kids the world-over suddenly
turned into cockneys, accent
and all, seemingly overnight.
Sir Michael is a 6-time Oscar
nominee and double Oscar
Blik | March 2009
edited by Ashish Lal
winner.
He was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II in November of
2000 (under his real name of
Maurice Micklewhite).
Here we find out who Sir
Michael really is...
You first achieved fame when
the working class in England
had a renaissance, in the
1960s. People like you,
Terence Stamp, the Beatles,
all led sort of a cultural
revolution in that decade,
whereas ten years earlier,
you probably wouldn’t have
had the same opportunities.
It was a renaissance and it was
brought about by the writers.
When John Osborne wrote
Look Back in Anger, he intro-
duced the first working class
hero in the history of the English
theater. Before that, all the
characters in film and theater
were middle class or upper
class. If you want a very sharp
comparison with America,
Americans, when they made war
films during WW II, they made
them about privates. The British
always made them about offic-
ers. Someone with my accent
and my background, I was a
private in the British army
anyway, would have only had a
very small part on the periphery.
And ironically your first big
break was playing an upper
class fop in Zulu!
(laughs) I know! That’s what I
had to do! I had to dump my
whole personality and accent
and background in order to get a
big part in a movie.
Harry Palmer, the lead char-
acter in The Ipcress File (and
its three sequels), was also a
working class bloke, with
glasses no less!
Yeah, up until that point, all
heroes in action films had been
perfect: Tyrone Power, Robert
Taylor, even Sean Connery as
James Bond. With the glasses,
we gave him an imperfection, to
make him more like an ordinary
person. Also what we did in it,
we had him cook a meal. One of
the producers said “No, no, you
can’t do that! Everyone will
think he’s gay!” I said “All the
great chefs in the world are men,
and not all of them are gay, plus
he cooking for a woman he’s
trying to get into bed! What
more do you want?” (laughs) So
the meal stayed, I’m happy to
say. Another great thing that
happened from that film was
Harold Lloyd came to London,
saw the film, and rang me. He
said “You’re the first guy since
me I’ve seen wearing glasses
who’s playing the lead in a
movie.” (laughs) He invited me
to dinner, so I got to know
Harold Lloyd, which was won-
derful.
You also helped a lot of guys
who wore glasses, myself
included, when we saw this
guy with glasses scoring with
all these gorgeous babes.
I helped out all those guys with
glasses. They thought “I’m not
such a putz as I thought I was!”
(laughs)
Alfie changed everything for
you.
Yeah, and you know I audi-
tioned for the stage production
several years earlier and I didn’t
get it! That’s when I thought “To
hell with the theater.”
The greatest part about Alfie, of
course, was the research.
Did a lot of field work, did
you?
(laughs) Right, a lot of field
work.
Do you think hardship and
creativity are intercon-
nected?
Yes. For actors also a variety of
emotions in a life are very, sort
of, treasured possessions,
because if you work in the
Stanislavsky system, as I do,
using sense memory, you go
back to a certain place to get a
certain emotion. Me, I go back
to a certain place and bang, I’m
in tears. And anger, laughter, big
emotions like that, I know where
to go, although I never tell
anybody where those places are.
One of my favorite stories in
your autobiography about the
class system in England is
what happened when you
went to buy your first Rolls-
Royce.
It was a bit naughty on my part,
actually, because I went very
scruffy on a Saturday morning. I
had a piece of paper, like a
shopping list, and I brought the
paper out in front of the guy (at
the Rolls dealership) and it said
“Razor blades, toothpaste,
Rolls-Royce, eggs…” (laughs)
And I said ‘Oh yeah, Rolls-
Royce. How much is that one?”
He said “How many do you
want?” (laughs) I said ‘I only
want one. Are you usually this
rude to people who come to buy
Rolls-Royces?’ He said “Get
out!” So I said ‘I’ll tell you what,
I’m going to call you next week,
and I’m going to drive by here in
a Rolls-Royce I’ve bought
somewhere else and I’m going
to give you a wave, okay?’ He
Blik | March 2009
said “Get out!” (laughs) And
that’s what I did. I drove by and
I gave him a very particular
wave. When Americans do it, 11
they only raise one finger, the
middle one. When the English do
it, they use two fingers, with the
top of the hand facing out. It’s
not a victory sign or a peace
sign, which is the opposite way.
What that is, is the two fingers
go back to the battle of
Agincourt when the British
secret weapon, the atomic
weapon which won that war,
was the British archers. And
when the French used to take
them prisoner, they would cut off
the first two fingers, so they
couldn’t use their bows any
longer. So before the battle of
Agincourt started, all the archers
held up their two fingers, to
show they were ready. That’s
where that came from, and that’s
what I used on the guy with the
Rolls-Royce, although I didn’t
fire an arrow at him! (laughs)
When you won your Golden
Globe for Cider House Rules
a few years ago, you gave a
wonderful speech where you
said “I’ve done some great
movies, and I’ve done a lot of
crap.” Is there always, no
matter how successful you
become, that little voice in
that back of your head that
tells you this is your last job,
that it’s all been a huge
mistake?
Yeah, yeah. That never really
goes away totally, although the
voice is much fainter now than it
was. I used to lead a life where I
was struggling to make a living
and I always thought that some-
where along the line it was going
to stop. Now I don’t have to
worry about making a living. I
 just do absolutely the scripts I method called “acting with audience to notice I’m doing an
really, really want to do. If you one eye.” accent.’ And that’s what hap-
see me in a movie that isn’t any Right. You put one eye on the pened. It’s funny, when I first
12 good, it’s because when I read person you’re doing the scene met my dialect teacher, he asked
the script I thought it was going with, and the other eye in the if I could do an American ac-
to be great, and I’ve made a lens. You don’t look in the lens, cent, and I did it for him. He
huge mistake. I won’t do crap but…it’s rather difficult to paused and said “That’s Califor-
movies anymore for the money explain. If I’m facing you, nia, Michael.” (laughs)
or as a favor to anybody. Every- generally I’ll have my two eyes You’ve overcome incredible
thing I do I absolutely believe is facing your two eyes, right? odds to be where you are
going to be great. I call it the Now if the camera is on your today. You’re a true success
offer I can’t refuse, like The right, I take my left eye and put it story. What would you say to
Quiet American. It was the in your right eye so my left eye other aspiring actors, writers,
greatest opportunity I’d ever had goes into the camera. That’s the or directors who are strug-
in my life, so I couldn’t say no! best way I can explain that. gling and, like yourself, didn’t
And it happened when I was 68.
So hopefully I’ll keep getting the
greatest opportunity with each
passing year.
Your master class on acting,
which has been released both
in print and on video has
become a staple for young
actors learning the craft. How
did that come about?
Simple: the BBC kept chasing
me for two years. They had a
series called “Master Class”
where they covered everything:
ballet dancing, playwrighting,
opera singing. They wanted me
to be the one who did the movie
acting class. I said ‘Well, I don’t
know anything about movie
acting,’ but in the end it did seem
You won your second Oscar come into the world with a lot
I had some stuff to tell. I didn’t
for Cider House Rules. Your of opportunities or advan-
write the book, they just
New England accent was tages?
transcripted what I said on the
amazing, and that’s an accent Don’t listen to any negatives.
program, although the book
that most Americans have a Don’t ever let anybody say
contains the full four hours, and
hard time doing. anything negative to you and let
they cut it down to half an hour
The attitude I took with that it affect you at all. Because
for the video. There’s nothing
was, I said to my dialect coach, people will tell you to get out,
written that tells you very much
who was excellent, on my very stop doing, that you’re no good.
about movie acting. There
first day ‘Look, I don’t want to Don’t listen. Just don’t listen. Go
certainly wasn’t when I was a
be that British actor who’s doing ahead. The reason advice is
young actor. The only one I
the best American accent the cheap is because that’s all it’s
remember was by a guy called
audience has ever heard a British worth.
Pudovkin, “The Art of Film
actor do. What I want to do is
Acting.”
be an American, who’s doing
You explain an interesting
nothing, and I don’t want the
Blik | March 2009
 mixed by Rachit Agarwal 13

What goes better than celebrities and cocktails? Nothing. Nothing at all. And, what better event
to showcase celebs than the Oscars? Well, agian, nothing. So, why not mix the two? That’s just
what we did. We took our favourite celeb characters from this year’s Oscars and turned them
into drinks we feel capture their essence well. And then, we published them here so that you
could also enjoy them. Take a look...

1. The Milk
This one was pretty easy pickings-I mean, the dude’s called Milk
so you’ve got to have milk in the drink don’t you? That, and the
bittersweet taste of the drink, symbolise the character really
well.
3 parts milk
1 part black rum
Angstura bitter
Shake all ingredients in a mixer with ice. Strain into glass, garnish
and serve.

2. Anarchy
How do you make a drink inspired by ‘a dog chasing
cars’? How do you capture the essence of a true and
die-hard anarchist? We came up with the idea of a
flaming drink in the Anarchist’s signature colors-
purple and green. And, to top it all, the alcohol con-
tent is bound to give you one hell of a knockout
punch!
3 parts grape juice
1 part vodka
1 part absinthe(verte)
1 part lemon juice
Shake the grape juice, lime juice and vodka together in a
mixer with ice. Strain into a fireproof glass. Next, pour
the absinthe very slowly over the back of a cold bar spoon taking care not to disturb the lower layer.
Finally, ignite the top layer.

Blik | March 2009

14 3. Rachel Getting
Sloshed
In Rachel Getting Married,
Anne Hathaway plays Kym, a
druggie, who returns home for
her sister’s wedding. The drink
version, even though it’s
named after Kym’s sister,
salutes the same spirit of
addiction and debauchery as
Kym.
3 parts vodka (Bacardi)
2 part cranberry juice
1 part tomate juice
1 part sweet lime juice
Shake all ingredients together in a mixer with ice. Strain into glass, garnish with mint leaves and serve.

4. The Bloody María

Inspired by Penelope Cruz’s
Oscar winning turn as María
Elena in Woody Allen’s Vicky
Cristina Barcelona, this drink is
a mix of the Bloody Mary and
the tequila-based psuedo-
Spanish Margarita.
7 parts tequila
4 parts tomato juice
3 parts lemon juice
Add dashes of Worcestershire
Sauce, Tabasco, salt and pepper
into highball glass. Rub its rim
with a lime slice and make some
salt stick to it. Shake the other
ingredients with ice, then
carefully pour into the glass (taking care not to dislodge any salt) with ice cubes. Stir gently. Garnish
with celery, salt and lemon wedge and serve.

for more Oscar cocktails, log on to

www.blik.com/bartender
Blik | March 2009
 Why you shouldn’t watch Slumdog...
Are Indians so blind as to praise a movie that insults India?
Slumdog Millionaire-
Jhopadpatti ka Karorepati
Kutta-for you. Five minutes into
this celebrated patchwork of
illogical clichés, and you are
struck by jarring dialogues. The
cumbersome delivery, in a
language which doesn’t come
naturally to most of the actors,
sounds like someone scratching
on walls with one’s finger nails; it
ruins the possibility of a connec-
tion. Had this film been made by
an Indian director, it would’ve
been trashed as a rotting old hat,
which literally stands out only
because of its stench. But, since
the man making it happens to be
from the west, we’re all left
celebrating it. The real slumdog
in the movie is not the main
protagonist but India as a whole.
The makers and those celebrat-
ing its hard-to-spot brilliance are
actually serving up India as an
accidental millionaire, which in
fact happens to be a slumdog
and like shameless fools we are
gloating over its success without
realizing that it makes a carica-
ture out of India.
The real slumdogs who’ve hit the
jackpot after wallowing in acres
of human waste are the makers
of this film, who are now raking
in millions while those court
jesters who’ve critiqued the film
and showered tributes and
awards need to ask themselves,
why scores of years after our
independence, they still feel the
need to suck up to the gora
sahibs. It’s not a question of
xenophobia; the film is definitely
well cinematographed. But the
film has no soul, especially after
little Jamal has jumped off the
train and become a teenager.
Blik | March 2009
Siddharth Behl 15
The rest of the film is just a
modern version of the West’s
view of India where slums,
slumdogs and Bollywoodian
clichés have replaced the el-
ephants and snake charmers. It’s
a well made caricature of a
country and a caricature can
never be a Mona Lisa, for a
masterpiece can’t be a one
dimensional juxtaposition of
sadistic extremes…and that’s my
grumble with the celebrations.
And, I say all this not because I
don’t know what is India. I
know its poverty and the real
statistics around it a little better
than most others-especially the
Indian film critics who have given
Slumdog an average of 4 to 4.5
stars! But, the fact is that the
film’s entire narration seems like
the germination of a terribly
sadistic and complex mind with
 the sole aim of satisfying the
western idea of India and its
new-found growth instincts at
16 their costs, and it’s done through
the combination of logical
happenings in order to show
everything in a disgustingly
negative vein.
Not that it doesn’t exist, but it
surely doesn’t exist in this
fictitious manner.
I’m sure that everyone is gloating
not just because Danny Boyle
has successfully peddled pov- air lavatories, riots, underworld, When the west wanted Indians
erty, grime, squalor and hope- prostitution, brothels, child labor, to embrace them and their
lessness that surround much of begging, blinding and maiming of companies to come to India and
India. They are gloating because children to make them ‘better capture lucrative markets,
the movie is a brilliant assault on beggars’, petty peddlers, traffic suddenly we had all the Indian
the very Idea of India; the India jams, irresponsible call centre women, some very beautiful and
that you passionately hate and executives-everything apart from some not necessarily so, winning
denounce at every available western pedophiles roaming all the Miss Worlds and Miss
forum. The film has so freely, about on Indian streets! And, its Universes. Today, they are all in
indiscriminately and hysterically winning of so many awards and a crisis and India is looking
bandied about powerful words nominations only goes on to unstoppable despite its slums
like genocide, mass murder, prove strongly that the paradigm and poverty, and they are losing
state terror, Fascism, discrimina- of cinema and recognition of their businesses to us. Isn’t it the
tion, barbarism and feudalism films are in the hands of a few best time to paint India as the
while talking about India and retarded imperialistic minds. Slumdog Millionaire? All in all,
Hinduism that sometimes even It’s a crying shame that our the film is nothing but an en-
agnostic Hindus start wondering media hasn’t seen through this dorsement of an erstwhile
if they might be right after all. ruse and is touting Slumdog’s imperial mindset of the west and
What bothers me more in the nominations to claim that India is its blinkered vision of India.
movie is targeting primarily the shining at the Oscars, while in Analytically, the film is the worst
western audience, most of whom fact, it is lauding a film that and there’s nothing great in it.
have fairly vague idea of what is mocks and ridicules the idea of Amitabh Bachchan was spot on
happening in India. Through ‘India’, pigeonholing its identity when he said that Bollywood has
powerful cinematic images, into the straightjacket of de- made far better mainstream
sound and forcible imposition praved poverty for a global films. Take out a DVD of one of
when none exist, Danny Boyle audience. his old movies instead…
convinces the western audience
that their worst perceptions
about India re true.
There is nothing positive about
the film and it seems that a
deranged sadist has painted his
insecure negative self in each and
every character of the movie. It
illogically shows every negative
thing in India happening in the
protagonist’s life. Slums, open

Blik | March 2009


Critics have unanimously hailed it
as “visually dazzling and
emotionally resonant, this is a
film that’s both entertaining and
powerful.” But, no other film in
recent history as managed to
polarize the general viewing
public as much as Slumdog has.
People have either loved it, or
simply hated it (the latter
predominantly being an Indian
reaction).
Indians have taken exception to
the rather ‘clichéd’ portrayal of
their motherland-a land where
wallow in human excreta, where
communal riots are daily
occurrences, and where half the
population lives in Dharavi.
Surely, this isn’t actually India,
but merely a tainted caricature or
out beloved land! Surely, the
true India is that set of pictures
we saw in the ‘India Shining’ or
’Incredible India’ ad campaigns!
Surely, the real India isn’t the
slums of Dharavi, but the
gleaming glass buildings of
Gurgaon! Really? Oh
REALLY?!
Everyone has been so busy
adoring all that gleaming glass
that they have forgotten that this
sugar coated pill ain’t no sweet
candy, but a pill, after all! Just
because your house doesn’t
overlook an open sewer, doesn’t
mean that that sewer doesn’t
exist. The abject poverty
portrayed in Slumdog is as much
a reality as the MNC executives
of Gurgaon. The maiming of
children to make them ‘better
beggars’, the brothels, the open
sewers, and the communal riots,
believe it or not, actually exist in
Blik | March 2009
Rachit Agarwal 17
modern day India!
Granted, you’ll have to be damn
unlucky to have the sort of
experiences Jamal had, all
before turning 18. But alas! If
only this were called Dharavi
Diaries and nominated in the
Best Documentary Film
category…tchch tchch…then
we’d really have something to
grumble about!
Slumdog never once pretends to
be a documentary. All it aims to
be is a highly dramatic fantasy,
and it succeeds at that. So what
if all the misfortunes of the land
fall on the shoulders of poor little
Jamal? It’s known as creative
freedom and Boyle & Co. use it
to great effect. I’ve seen more
ludicrous uses of creative free-
dom to forward the narrative-
like a New York sewer spitting
Blik | March 2009
Blik | March 2009
 out people (as in Enchanted),
or the whole narrative of Forrest
Gump-which have elicited a less
20 hyperbolic response.
So why this outcry? Why don’t
people accept it as the fantasy
it’s meant to be? More impor-
tantly, why are Indians creating
such a hoopla about it? Is it
because the mirror’s finally
reared its ugly reflective head?
India and Indians desperately
needed this reality check to
show them that it’s not ‘India preachy, and in a fun and vibrant
Shining’ but ‘India Dividing’-the manner. By doing so, the truth
economic growth of the past five has been made accessible to the
years has just increased the masses. This movie should be
divide between the upper and the starting point for a social
lower classes. The two exist as revolution and not the ‘sadistic
separate universes-completely caricature of India’ it’s being
oblivious of the other’s exist- made out to be. Watch it, curse
ence. And, what Slumdog has its improbable story for being
really done is just show us the fantastical, but take home the
underbelly of the obese Indian message…
society. It’s done it without being

Blik | March 2009

 Siddharth Behl and Ashish Lal 21

What are you wearing?

From L to R: Beyoncé, Robin Swicord, Heidi Klum, Miley Cyrus, Mary Hart
Beyoncé’s a little teapot, short and stout. Why is she always there? You don’t see Amy Adams at the
Grammy’s every year? Robin Swicord’s color choices and pattern (!) are disturbing me... even more
than her screenwriting for Memoirs of a Geisha and Benjamin Button did. Heidi Klum usually makes
best dressed lists but there was something atrociously busy about this number. Nice color on her (which
color isn’t?) but all the cut outs and sharp angles and then all the bangles. Any of the elements are okay
on their own but all together?, Miley Cyrus has been at the Oscars two years in a row and... I... I...
don’t understand. Or I don’t want to understand. And we’ll wrap up with Mary Hart. She never leaves
the house without a frozen smile. Even if she forgot to buy a new dress or iron an old one to go with it.

Next page: I’m not quite sure about this....

Blik | March 2009

22

I’m not quite sure about this...

From L to R: Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Angelina Jolie, Bridget Fonda, Phoebe Cates
Actually all of these goddesses look beauteous. But we’re not talking A+ Oscar wear. The Doubt
actresses (Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis) look better as a trio, all earth and fire and well
matched. Probably the point... great for photo ops. But apart from each other the outfits were a little
busy (Amy... but I actually love the huge necklace) plain (Meryl) or risky (Viola). Perhaps I should
explain: I love the gold dress and the woman inside it but unless you’re a lock to win, I always think that
color is asking for trouble. That statue looms large you know.
It was nice to see Bridget Fonda and Phoebe Cates dolled up again but something is missing in both
cases...and not just their careers.

Blik | March 2009

 23

Yummmy!!

From L to R: Nicole Kidman, Reida Pinto, Leslie Mann, Amanda Seyfried, Marisa Tomei
My choices for best dressed are the always ravishing Nicole Kidman (love the feather and shiny details
which rescue this from being another boring white dress, Freida Pinto (Latikaaaaaa!) in blue and that
sleeve is a beauty, Leslie Mann because her dress reminds me of a disco ball and I’ve been totally on a
70s kick (I blame Milk) and there’s something about her whole look, hair, attitude and all that screams
decadent/sexy/underestimated woman. Amanda Seyfried continues to be awesome, despite Mamma
Mia! And finally there’s my girlfriend Marisa Tomei. I have nothing to say about the dress but to tell you
that Nick describes it perfectly on the upcoming podcast. From the back it’s even more deconstruct as
if the strap was barely hanging on to itself to keep the entire dress together.

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 25

What was impressive about these Oscars? What was not? Read on...

Left: Hugh Jackman was the host for this year.

Above: Danny Boyle and the spirit of Tigger.
Top: Hugh Jackman and his bag of tricks.

Blik | March 2009

 Amazing. Simply amazing. That’s
what I thought of the Oscar
The Winners ceremonies held earlier tonight
26 up the street at the Kodak
Actor In A Leading Role Theater in Hollywood. So much
Sean Penn -- Milk {"Harvey was done completely right, and
Milk"} only a few things didn’t work
Actor In A Supporting Role very well. It was a very different
Heath Ledger -- The Dark show than in previous years, but
Knight {"Joker"} refreshingly so.
Music (Original Song)
Actress In A Leading Role
"Jai Ho" From Slumdog Million-
Kate Winslet -- The Reader BEST LINE OF THE NIGHT:
aire -- Music By A.R. Rahman;
{"Hanna Schmitz"} “And now ladies and gentlemen,
Lyric By Gulzar
Actress In A Supporting Role the Craigslist Dancers!”
Best Picture
Penélope Cruz -- Vicky Cristina
Slumdog Millionaire -- Christian
Barcelona {"Maria Elena"} I guess I’ll start off with Hugh
Colson, Producer
Animated Feature Film Jackman as the Oscar host. I’ll
Short Film (Animated)
WALL-E -- Andrew Stanton be honest with you, I was really
La Maison En Petits Cubes --
Art Direction hoping to see him in the Wolver-
Kunio Kato
The Curious Case Of Benjamin ine outfit at some point and that
Short Film (Live Action)
Button -- Art Direction: Donald didn’t happen. That being said, I
Spielzeugland (Toyland) --
Graham Burt; Set Decoration: was SO HAPPY to see an
Jochen Alexander Freydank
Victor J. Zolfo actual MOVIE STAR hosting
Sound Editing
Cinematography the Oscars this year instead of
The Dark Knight -- Richard
Slumdog Millionaire -- Anthony some television personality.
King
Dod Mantle That’s been an issue of mine for
Sound Mixing
Costume Design a few years now. Call me crazy,
Slumdog Millionaire -- Ian Tapp,
The Duchess -- Michael but I think a night commemorat-
Richard Pryke And Resul
O’connor ing and celebrating the best of
Pookutty
Directing the year in the MOVIE busi-
Visual Effects
Slumdog Millionaire -- Danny ness… should be hosted by
The Curious Case Of Benjamin
Boyle someone IN the movie business.
Button -- Eric Barba, Steve
Documentary (Feature) Hugh Jackman fit that descrip-
Preeg, Burt Dalton And Craig
Man On Wire -- James Marsh tion, and was a fantastic host for
Barron
And Simon Chinn the show. I’ll go as far as to say
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Documentary (Short Subject) it was the best job done by a
Slumdog Millionaire -- Screen-
Smile Pinki -- Megan Mylan host since Steve Martin did it.
play By Simon Beaufoy
Film Editing He was fantastic. I hope he
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Slumdog Millionaire -- Chris returns next year.
Milk -- Written By Dustin Lance
Dickens
Black
Foreign Language Film I LOVED the way they pre-
Departures -- Japan sented the acting awards. Having
Makeup 5 previous winners come out to
The Curious Case Of Benjamin name and honor the nominees
Button -- Greg Cannom was a brilliant idea and I thought
Music (Original Score) made those categories very
Slumdog Millionaire -- A.R. special. I was hoping they were
Rahman going to do the same thing for
the Best Director award as well.

Blik | March 2009

I hope this is a tradition they
continue in the future for the
show. It was also very symbolic
having 5 performers who are
already immortalized welcoming
in the newest member making
the ascension. Beautiful.
The one major misstep I think
the show made was with the top
hat musical number with
Jackman and Beyonce. I can
understand why they did it…
and I thought it was a good
idea… but it just didn’t work. It
felt a little clumsy and lacked
spark or any sense of excite-
ment. Instead I just kept waiting
for it to end so we could move
on. Other than that I have no
real complaints.
The 3 most obvious locks of the
evening (Ledger for Best Sup-
porting Actor, Man On Wire for
Best Documentary and Wall-E
for best animated) all won their
respective categories. So re-
ally… besides Departures
winning best foreign film over
Waltz with Bashir, there were no
real BIG surprises… which is
fine.
I think most people knew
Slumdog was going to be the big
winner on the night. 8 Oscars
was a wonderful evening. By the
time it came down to Best
Picture there was no more
drama left… we all knew it was
going to win. Well deserved win
for a beautiful film.
Some people seem surprised
that Mikey Rourke didn’t win
Best Actor. I’m not sure why.
He did indeed give an Oscar
worthy performance in The
Wrestler… but clearly (in my Oscar Quotes
opinion anyway) not AS Oscar
worthy as Sean Penn in Milk ‘Has anybody ever fainted in
(which I contend is the best 27
here? Because I might be the
performance Penn has ever first one!' – Penelope Cruz
given. It was such a strong and accepting her first-ever Oscar
wonderful group of nominees for for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Best Actor. You wouldn’t have
heard me complain had any of ‘Now I'm going to get really
them won. It was nice to see drunk!' - Kate Winslet planned
Richard Jenkins getting the to let her hair down after winning
recognition he so well deserves the Best Actress Oscar.
too!
I think there would have been ‘Say what is on your mind
riots in the streets if Heath because you know we have a
Ledger didn’t win. He did seven-second delay. But if you
deserve it and it was a nice win, we switch to a 20-minute
touch that his family accepted delay.' – Hugh Jackman to
the awards on his behalf. Mickey Rourke, who's well
known for his loose-tongued
Thank goodness they cut the potty mouth.
“Best Song” nominees down to
just the one medley. I’ve always ‘On set they can be your mother,
hated that so much of the Oscar your father, even your therapist.
screen time got dedicated to one They can even manage hostage
of the least important categories negotiations when a certain actor
of the evening. is having trouble coming out of
their trailer. Not that I'm speak-
Less montages! Yay! ing about myself. But you know
who you are, Ben Stiller.' -
Once again the “In Memoriam” Reese Witherspoon before
part of the Awards were very presenting the Best Director
special. However I didn’t like Oscar to Danny Boyle.
how the director of the show
kept pulling the cameras away ‘I want to be very clear that I do
from the screen so that I know how hard I make it to
couldn’t really tell who was up appreciate me, often.' ?– Sean
on the screen or read their Penn referring to his reputation
names properly. I wish they just as being notoriously difficult,
kept it on the screen the whole while accepting the Best Actor
time. Other than that it was well award for Milk.
done.
‘How did he do it? How, for so
The show felt like it had a really
many years, did Sean Penn get
nice pace unlike some in recent
all those jobs playing straight
years. men?' ?– Robert De Niro
introducing Penn's Best Actor
nomination as gay politican
Aryan Prakash and Sehaj Harvey Milk.
Singh
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30

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 31

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32

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Simon Weaving
Great art is sometimes difficult
viewing, and such is Darren
Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, a film
that will be remembered as
Mickey Rourke’s greatest
screen triumph as he suffers his
way physically and emotionally
through a simple story of per-
sistence. Rourke is Randy “The
Ram” Robinson – an ageing
wrestler who was top of his
game twenty years ago, and
who is left at the end of a pun-
ishing career with no more than
a rented trailer, a photo of a long
lost daughter, and barely enough
cash to buy at lap dance at the
local girly bar.
It’s there he befriends stripper
Pam (Marisa Tomei) who is
questioning how much longer
she can go on grinding out a
living with the nightly pole
dance. It’s also she who sug-
gests to Randy that he try
making up with his daughter
Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood),
and who provides us with a clue
about Aronofsky’s higher aims
when she compares Randy to
Christ and jokes about “The
Sacrificial Ram”. Randy – a
sociable soul and scared of
growing old – tries hard to be
something other than the legend
he once was in the ring – father,
lover, supermarket employee –
but is drawn back to the gritty
pain he must endure in the ring
and the cries from the crowd
that go with it.
Aronofsky films the story as
documentary and keeps us
body-huggingly close to the
battered Randy in an intense
hand-held relationship, and it’s
here that Rourke’s extraordi-
nary performance is evident –
he inhabits Randy so totally
that it will be difficult to see
him as anything else for years
to come. Rourke – who aban-
doned his movie career many
years ago to make a return to
the boxing ring – is long-
haired, meat-faced, muscle-
bound – but ultimately plays
Randy as a sensitive indi-
vidual, racked with the most
human of concerns: how to
stay connected.
Much of the film is taken up
with the punishing details of
life in the ring – the opening
sequence sees Randy at his
work on a typical weekend,
Blik | March 2009
edited by Rachit Agarwal 33
whilst the film’s most de-
manding visual experience
sees Randy in bloody hand to
hand combat in an extreme
wrestling bout with The Necro
Butcher (Dylan Summers)
where staple guns, barbed
wire and glass are tools of the
trade.
Whilst the film belongs to
Rourke, Tomei’s strong per-
formance as the troubled
stripper is a critical balancing
force in the otherwise harrow-
ing story. Wood has less
chance to shine with a screen-
play by Robert Siegel that
leaves some questions about
her rapidly changing relation-
ship with her father. But it’s a
minor quibble in a relentlessly
visceral and very moving
piece of art.
34 Rachit Agarwal
Our Rating: 3.5
Music by: David Arnold
Arnold really hit his melodic best
with Casino Royale. He waltzed
into John Barry territory with
tracks like City of Lovers and
Vesper. But, in Quantum of
Solace, we see (actually, hear)
Arnold doing what he does best-
heavily percussive, off-kilter-at-
first action cues. In fact, some of
the cues appear to be really
random and unmelodious on first
listen. But then, after repeated
listening, themes start emerging
amongst all the mayhem. What
first seems like one rambling
mess, turns into something
divine. Especially, after watching
the movie, and seeing how well
the soundtrack fits it. The way
the music's been performed, it
complements Daniel Craig's
ruthlessness really well. The
orchestra pulls hard on the
strings, blows hard into the
brass, beats the drums black and
blue, thus giving the soundtrack
a rather edgy, gritty and driven
feel.
The album starts off with Time
to Get Out, one of the better
tracks. Snippets from the
Bond theme are mixed with
driving percussion to deliver
a nice, foot tapping action
cue to accompany the
amazingly good car chase
seen right at the start of the
film. This is continued right
into The Palio, which gives
us more of the same, albeit,
in a more frentic manner.
The tension of the Palio
foot-chase can actually be
revisited while listening to this
track. Bond in Haiti is a rather
dense, but lilting track. On
screen, it works well in providing
the necessary ambience, but on
disc, its 37 second runtime is 37
seconds too long. Sadly, the
album contains more of such
incidental, crappy tracks in
Talamone and Bolivian Taxi
Ride. Such 'title card' tracks (in
that they are effecive in just
conveying what country Bond is
at the moment) were better done
on the Casino Royale sound-
track.
Pursuit at Port Au Prince is a
nice little action piece, but I
suspect that 10 years down the
line, it'll seem very jaded. The
extensive use of electric guitars
and repetitve drums firmly
cement this track as belonging to
this year, as opposed to the
timelessness of traditional or-
chestral music. But, the track is
rounded up in a very flamboyant
and Bond-like manner, with a
rendition of the 'pre-Bond' Bond
theme from Casino Royale,
which merges into the traditional
Bond theme really well. Field
Trip also features these two
Blik | March 2009
renditions, and is one of the
Bond-est tracks on the album.
Night at the Opera features the
Dominic Greene theme, which
we first heard in Greene &
Camille in full glory, performed
on an orchestral harp, with army
marching band like percussion
driving it nicely along.
The better moments of the album
come when the Vesper theme
from Casino Royale is reprised,
like in What's Keeping You
Awake, Forgive Yourself and I
Never Left. They instill some
humanity into Bond's character
and help us in understanding
what exactly is driving him along.
By far the coolest reprise of the
Bond theme comes in Oil
Fields. The track starts off
extremely dark and tense, and
then about midway through it,
we get to hear a rather deter-
mined and driven reprise of the
theme. In its 2:30 runtime, the
track conveys just how much of
a bulldog Bond really has be-
come. Gone are the days of the
sleek yet hammy Bond, Craig's
Bond is going to get his way by
hook or by crook.
Sadly, after this, none of the
tracks quite matches up, with
nothing of note in the next 5
tracks (including the theme song,
Another Way to Die).
All in all, this album, though a
good compilation of action cues
(like the movie it accompanies),
doesn't quite match up to its
predecessor (again, like the
movie it accompanies). Buy it
only if you're an avid David
Arnold fan...
 Gossip, Scandals & More... 35

Miley Cyrus Body Double?

While millions of fans have forked over years of allowance money
to see the star perform her Hannah Montana concert live, not all are
pleased with the results. And it’s because not all songs are actually
sung by Cyrus!
From a recently released video, it’s quite evident that Miley uses a
body double during one song so she can make a costume change.
Understandly, fans are less than thrilled about the whole deal.
“I paid good money to see the concert. I was disappointed and I
felt like I was played for a fool,” an angered fan concluded.
Tchch tchch...couldn’t agree more...

Elyse Umemoto at it
again....
Miss Washington Elyse Umemoto seems hell bent
on joining the ranks of Amanda Polumbo, Tara
Conner, Katie Rees and Valerie Begue - all pag-
eant contestants that have become better known
for snorting cocaine, feeling up female friends and
posing like Jesus. Why else would she go bandying
about explicit gestures and various gang signs?
Miss Washington Executive Field Director Mike
Miller told celebrity gossip site TMZ the organiza-
tion is “embarrassed.”

facts we bet you didn’t know....

a) Charlize Theron’s mother killed her father because he was drunk and had fired a gun shot.
b) Orlando Bloom’s biological father died when he was very young. He assumed his guardian was his
father until his mother told him the truth.
c) Woody Harrelson’s father was a hit man. He died in prison while serving two life sentences.
d) Michelle Williams’ father has tax evasion charges. The case is still pending.

...fact checked for your convenience by Sehaj Singh and Ashish Lal.

Blik | March 2009

36 March 2009 Rachit Agarwal

Across
Down
3. This actor’s experiencing a career resurgence after
1. Oscar winner, Congress’ new motto. (3,2)
his on-screen daughter was Taken. (4,6)
2. Slumdog helmer. (5,5)
6. Harvey Milk found a cinematical face. (4,4)
4. No Clou(seau) at all. (5,6)
8. They watch over us, who watches over the
5. The late actor snagged his first ever Oscar this time.
____________? (8)
(5,6)
12. Star of The Wrestler. (6,6)
7. Presented the Oscars this time. (4,7)
14. Played a character who aged in reverse. Got nomi-
9. Man who adapted Q&A for the big screen. _______
nated for it. Didn’t win. (4,4)
Beaufoy. (5)
16. Won for Documentary (Short Subject) at the Os-
10. White Stripes rocker, wrote the latest Bond song with
cars. Smile ________. (5)
Alicia Keys. (4,5)
18. One’s a writer, the other’s a director. Both are Oscar
11. Comic book helmer, brought the WW-II drama, Valkyrie,
nominated. This set of brothers is in huge demand
to life. _________ Singer. (5)
after their latest mega-blockbuster flick. They are
13. Star of The Reader, finally got 6th time lucky. (4,7)
the Brothers _________. (5)
15. Wrote those two golden words, Jai Ho! (6)
19. Latest Bat-flick, highly commended, but hardly nomi-
17. 300 helmer, best known for his use of slo-mo. Zach
nated. (3,4,6)
________. (6)
20. Spanish beauty, won for her role in Woody Allen’s
latest flick. (8,4)

Blik | March 2009

Blik | March 2009
Blik | March 2009