And the Oscar goes to....

Good People!

What you are about to see is very special - very personal. What you are about to see is straight from the heart - my heart!

While you are watching it, I want you to think of those people who made this film a possibility.

I want you to think of my music director Apurva Shrivastava, who worked day and night to compose the music. I want you to think of his wife Nita, who let him work with me even till wee hours of their wedding anniversary night.... I want you to think of Sandeep Savla, the sound engineer who supported us in our efforts.

I want you to think of Kristi Hutchinson who did an excellent job of playing Amber Anderson and Vikas who did his best as Sameer Azaad. I want you to think of three school going kids Rohan, Rabia and Pranjal who are born and raised here, but did a good job acting in pretty much a foreign language film! I want you to think of Ahamd Khwaja, Anurag Misraraj and Anurag Gaur, GiriMohan Coneti, Sandhya Bhagat, Gandharv, Mullah Luis, Jeff Shipman and Rafiq Batcha....It would require another post to enumerate thier contributions.

I want you to think of those friends that want to remain anonymous, and have requested me not to thank them publicly (yes, Mam these kinds of folks still exists!). I respect thier wishes.

Most importantly I want you to think of YOURSELF, your dreams and your ambitions. I want you to think of your Doosra Kinara, to see if the search of that unknown destination is depriving you of things that matter most in life. I want you to think of your self-inflicted blind spots that are stopping you from re-connecting to your self, your past, from listening to your heart -where your first love lives....

....And finally I want you to think of the writer/director, who made this film with the hope that it will help new generation of dreamers, in realizing that when they fly away they leave behind a loving father who wants them to stay, a mother who does not know what to say, and friends who are proud and yet sad at the same time. This writer thinks that if he can help one teenageer in realizing what is important in life, "to apun ka pasie wasool ho jayega!" (you can never take Mumbai out of someone!). It is a naive thinking but the world sure can afford a few jebronis like him!

Enjoy!

Ps: Rafiqi emailed me yesterday, reminding me of a quality that He "thinks" I have: Determination, he said. (I do not know what else they teach at Gozuieta Business School, coz he was very up-to-date on me!). Well, this one is for that Determination...!