Changing Lanes

Eid in Dubai started yesterday on the occasion of Eid al Adha. Every evening they have various events at various malls and some of these events are being covered by me for the organizers itself. Boring but easy work so I don't mind it even though the pay isn't really that high.

Yesterday I was at Mirdiff City Centre, covering 5 bands (Emirati, Moroccon, Indian, Lebanese and Egyptian) that played every 15 minutes apart from breaking for prayers that is. They had an outdoor and indoor stage which made life hell cause past sunset, shooting outdoor was close to impossible. This prompted me to make SJ a voice activated light stand which worked out better then I anticipated. Started shooting at 4:30pm and got done at 8pm as I had to photograph all the bands twice.

Then we headed off to have dinner at Zafran, an Indian/Pakistani fusion restaurant at Mirdiff City Centre, recommended by SJ as she'd photographed there for her magazine earlier. The manager recognized her and gave us a 20% discount on the total bill which we balanced out by tipping most of the discount off.

Bill

We started off with the Tawa Murgh (pictured below) as our starter, four pieces of chicken patties that reminded me of something my aunt used to make. I liked the texture and the taste of it but found the fact that they crumbled easily a little annoying. SJ on the other hand didn't like them at all. At the same time both of us were busy slurping away our drinks. SJ ordered Mango Panna (pictured left) that she hated cause she was busy comparing it to something she had in India which in my opinion was a little unfair. The taste was a little too strong while the juice itself was quite thick. I ordered the Mango & Cardaman Lassi (pictured above) that was nice in it's own way even though it wasn't rich enough for my taste.

For the main course we ordered the Lamb Biryani which was delicious. Both of us liked the lack of oil and the large quantity of lamb pieces to divulge into though the quantity of rice in comparison was a little less. Having finished my first drink, I ordered a Fruit ice tea which was brain freezing good (literally). The combination of tea and tangy fruitiness to the drink was spot on.

Throughout the meal, the manager and waiters made sure we were happy with the meal and even offered to exchange the mango panna for something else. Great ambiance, decent food and friendly staff, Zafran is worth a second visit for sure.

We topped off the evening with The Social Network. Based on the book 'The Accidental Billionaire' written by Ben Mezrich about the founding of facebook. The story revolves around how Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin launched thefacbook.com that was later renamed to facebook.com. About the lawsuit between them and another lawsuit with Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra.

Jesse Eisenberg (playing Mark Zuckerberg) and Andrew Garfield (playing Eduardu Saverin) do a fantastic job making the lead characters believable in ever possible way. They complimented each other and the chemistry they oozed on the big screen was enjoyable to watch. Supporting cast in the form of Armie Hammer (playing Cameron Winklevoss / Tyler Winklevoss), Josh Pence (playing Tyler Winklevoss), Max Minghella (playing Divya Narendra), Justin Timberlake (playing Sean Parker) and the various lawyers were well written and performed faultlessly. Justin Timberlake once again proved that he can in fact act and the combination of Armie Hammer and Josh Pence playing the twins was like watching a tennis match between the same player even though it was technically played by the same actor. Very well done in my opinion.

When I first heard about the Facebook film, I was quite skeptical. But honestly, David Fincher (director) has done a fabulous job making this film entertaining and serious at the same time. The screenplay written by Aaron Sorkin might be slightly dramatic but brilliant in a clever sense of way as he has managed to add enough friction to the story to make it a true entertainer while staying true to the basic storyline based on the main characters real life experiences.

No one really knows how exaggerated the book originally was as Ben Mezrich was never able to speak to Mark Zuckerberg while writing the book. His main source of information was co-founder Eduardo Savrin and court documents released to him. So irrespective of how genuine the story is, it makes one good film, worthy a watch in the theater. The added fact that Facebook is in fact a real website, something I used to be addicted to gives the film that added edge making it further interesting to viewers like me.