In a Flash

From red carpet premieres (remember Dev D & Delhi 6),Thursday previews,increase in the DVD market and sale – that too legal-wali,grand world Tv premieres of big hits to locals like Munna Dhiman,Kulraj Kaur Randhawa,Irshad Kamil,Vansh Bhardwaj making it big,release of international blockbusters like Twilight and Avatar,shootings of big crossover budgets like Heaven on Earth and West is West,celebrity footfall which saw big names like Zeenat Aman,Abhay Deol,Om Puri,Anurag Kashyap,Salman Khan,Asin,Ajay Devgn,Bollywood,- in spite of the three month lull due to the strike,Chandigarh kept itself pretty entertained. In addition to this,on a local level,it was the occasional short film festival,not to miss the Dr Gaurav Chhabra’s Garage Film

Festival,that kept the reels rolling.

Punjab Mail:This one calls for an applause. So what if their films are made of NRI re-runs,pind di kudi and jatt’s dollar dreams,Punjabi cinema went a step ahead and revamped itself with extensive media coverage,rocking item songs,dedicated film websites and red carpet premieres. The year also saw Harbhajan Mann and Gulzar Chahal join hands for a new production house,Tulip Joshi stepped into the Punjabi light while Puneet Issar is all set to deliver Nischay Kar Apni Jeet Karo. Right said!

Reality Check:The city’s a magnet for telly talent hunters,especially when it comes to grabbing eyeballs with the reality dramarama! Check this out: Roadies,Splitsvilla,Mrs Gladrags,HP Space,Desi Rock,Idea’s Baap of All Bands,Mahi Way (which will air next year),Yeh Pyaar Na Hoga Kam,Jaspal Bhatti and group on Sab Tv,etc,etc,etc! Palak,Prabhjot,Paramvir Singh Baidwan,Stutee Nag,Suyash Kumar,Rahul Diwedi,Aman Sharma,Shikha Rana,(Dance India Dance),Pooja Tandon (Perfect Bride),Neetu Narula and Karishma Randhewa Mookhey (Mrs Gladrags),Sawan on HP Space,Yami Gautam…aren’t we the big fat telly-tubbies! Move on to the virtual space,and the year saw active participation from the city on Mistsubishi Cedia Sports online show,‘The Great Driving Challenge’ and the animation film portal,filmaka.com. Soon,you’ll see more names on another other one on climate change. Log onto http://www.exchangeconnect.com.

Musicology:It officially started with Rock in Rio in Sector 43. The underground rock-pub club opened its doors to musicians from in and out of the city and recorded some of the most amazing live performances on its music-meter. Speaking of live-wire,Orchid Lounge and the Jagats introduced Chuppies to Hari and Sukhmani who further entertained us with sufi nights,retro picks,qawwali in queue and soft rock. Following this,Hari expanded his outfit to Teen Taal and Hari Chutney. Out with more closet musicians,Sahil Sarin and The Carrot Fish went places,Dr Rupak Das and gang impressed the folks at Idea Baap of all Bands while Nirdosh Sobti made it big with Saadhak on MTV’s Desi Rock. On the business front,there was positive news with the announcement of Mobile Music Exchange (MMX),a new weapon to fight piracy in the digital world. In a similar attempt,all the leading music companies of Punjab got together and have formed ‘Worldwide Digital Distribution Licence’ and a website called http://www.digidhol.com. Finally,the entry of Skullcandy,world leaders in headphones made our year musical.

Wheelocity:Funny how a tiny thing like Nano can make headlines and grab the space of a Merc. Sasta aur tikaoo – working on the quintessential Indian principle,the Tata Nano drove in like a Queen followed by little pink Tuk Tuks,a host of medium and luxury hatchbacks including Honda Jazz,Tata Mazda,Fiat Punto,(out of reach) brands like the BMW,Merc (spotted X5 too),limited edition Audi,Fortunner,Chevy Cruze and trucks in all sizes. Along with this drove in fashion shows,art exhibitions,Sunday rallies,offroading stints,damp squib of an Auto Mall 2009,Yamaha Great Drive,Fiat Diesel’s stopover…the city was in top gear.