Emma Graham-Harrison

Watching a movie like “De Dana Dan” in a single screen theatre where people are hooting and clapping at crass humour on screen may give you an insight into Indian audiences.

This audience doesn’t really mind that Archana Puran Singh uses foul language or that people randomly slap their husbands and wives or that there is really no logic to speak of. They found all of the above hilarious.

I am not judging that audience. After all, we all have our own tastes. I guess this is what they mean about Hindi movies that you have to “leave your brain behind and then watch”.

Akshay Kumar plays Nitin, a down and out young man who works as a servant with a rich woman in order to pay off his father’s debt to her. He is in love with Anjali (Katrina Kaif) but doesn’t have the money to marry her. He meets Ram (Suniel Shetty), a courier deliveryman who also needs money to marry his rich girlfriend (Sameera Reddy).

They decide to kidnap Nitin’s mistress’s dog, which she holds very dear. However, the plan goes awry and that is the start of the “confusion” in the film. One mistaken identity leads to the other and yet another, until the plot becomes so convoluted that you lose track.

I am writing this an hour after watching the film and if you ask me for the rest of the plot, I will be unable to tell you. It baffles me as to how the scriptwriter remembered all the twists and turns.

For all the confusion however, the end is so lame you feel the entire team was so tired of the film they just put their hands up at one point and said, “That’s it, this is where we end it”.

There are no performances to speak of -- in fact none are required. The “Hera Pheri” team of Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal and Priyadarshan don’t reproduce even half of the magic on screen.

This is entertainment at its lowest level. Take your chance though. To each his own.

The banking index dropped 1.4 pct on Friday, dragged down by heavyweights ICICI Bank and SBI after Dubai said two of its flagship firms planned to delay repayment on billions of dollar of debt.

The move raised investor fears that debt defaults could hit other parts of the globe, and rattled global markets sending banking shares down.

Sensex heavyweight ICICI Bank tumbled over 4 percent in intra-day trade before closing 1.6 percent lower at 851.25 rupees.

Bank of Baroda, which has a total exposure in the UAE of around 100 billion rupees ($2.1 billion), saw its shares plunge about 7 percent before closing 4.6 percent lower at 521.40 rupees.

Other stocks in the banking index which felt the heat were Axis Bank (down 3 percent), Kotak Mahidra Bank (down 2.9 percent), Bank of India (down 3.6 percent) and SBI (down 0.4 percent)

Do you think this sector will see more erosion over the Dubai debt repayment crisis?

Cadbury hits new high as bidders circle

Many analysts doubt whether either of these three would bid alone, but possible combinations of them could trump Kraft's current cash and shares bid of 9.9 billion pounds ($16.4 billion) or push the American food giant Kraft to raise its offer.

In my Canadian Oxford Dictionary the definition for "either" is "one or the other of two".

Should I return my dictionary?

R.O.H.

No, your dictionary is fine. We fixed that error in a subsequent update of the story: GBU Editor

A Ferrero Rocher chocolate is seen in Milan, November 20, 2009. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

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Around the world referees are forever criticised by fans, players, managers and the media but an Uzbekistan official has managed to buck the trend, receiving an unusually warm welcome after being named Asian Football Confederation (AFC) referee of the year.

Fans at Tashkent airport blew horns and trumpets to celebrate the return of Ravshan Irmatov, a candidate to referee at next year's World Cup, after he won the award for a second successive year.

"I am overwhelmed by this reception. I am thankful to all those who came to greet me," Irmatov said. “I have seen this kind of reception only for the players and this is unprecedented in Uzbekistan. I hope I will fulfill their expectations."

In bizarre scenes, fans were jostling through crowds to try to shake hands with Irmatov, who was returning from Kuala Lumpur where he collected his award on Tuesday.

"He made Uzbekistan proud for the second consecutive year and I hope he will continue to fly our flag in the years to come,” excited fan Ulugbek Salimov said

Whatever next? Manchester United boss and frequent referee critic Alex Ferguson treating match officials to fine glasses of wine after games or Serena Williams praising line judges for good calls?

It is an interesting change and maybe Irish and Egyptian supporters should forget their gripes about missing out on South Africa and get behind their officials at the World Cup. Oh wait, they didn’t make that cut either!

PHOTO: Referee Ravshan Irmatov from Uzbekistan gestures during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games qualifying round soccer match between Qatar and Japan in Doha October 17, 2007. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad

If Lou Dobbs decides to make an independent bid for president in 2012, he will probably find the political climate as hospitable for an insurgent run -- if not more so -- as it was in 1992, when Ross Perot captured a fifth of the popular vote.

The dreary economic New Normal that is the aftermath of the Great Recession has created a huge political opening for Dobbs or Michael Bloomberg or Sarah Palin, or some other American with high visibility or deep pockets or both.

It was a slow-recovering economy and concern about big deficits that drove the Perot phenomenon. There's a high probability both factors will be at play three years from now.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities forecasts annual budget deficits to average $1.2 trillion over the next three years. And the Federal Reserve is forecasting a so-so economic expansion that will leave unemployment over 7 percent in 2012.

Then you have a populist, anti-Wall Street sentiment that neither Democrats nor Republicans have been able to capture successfully.

The result is that party loyalties are frayed, with the tea party movement one manifestation. According to the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of Americans identify themselves as independents, the highest number since 1992. And they seem to be up for grabs.

Barack Obama won 52 percent of the independent vote in 2008. But a recent poll by Rasmussen Reports shows Obama with a 61 percent disapproval rating among the group.

None of this means an independent would actually win. Rasmussen has Dobbs at 14 percent in a race with President Obama (42 percent) and Mitt Romney (34 percent.) With the more populist Palin replacing Romney, Dobbs gets 12 percent versus 44 percent for Obama and 37 percent for Palin.

Yet without Dobbs in the race, Romney is tied with Obama and Palin trails by just three. So an independent could, at the very least, radically alter the political landscape.

And if the New Normal turns out to be worse than expected, with the GOP blamed for the original collapse and Democrats for a bungled remedy, an independent might accomplish much more than that.

Today's a serious shopping day for serious shoppers.

Black Friday is no longer a sport for the leisurely shopper. From our late-night rounds, it became clear that people were lining up all over in the dead of night (and some earlier than that!) not just for the fun of it but out of necessity.

While many of the stoutest shoppers were grimly determined to get their deals and get out, there was some fun and holiday cheer.

At a Best Buy in Springfield, Pennsylvania at midnight, the 50 people in line created an atmosphere part football tailgate and part Department of Motor Vehicle tension. A card table was set up near the end of the line, but the reception on that end was quite frosty, possibly "enhanced" by the consumption of cheap beer.

But for the most part, the deals were the thing.

Take Nate Bryan of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, who arrived at 2:30 am EST this year to get a laptop for his daughter.

"It's normally $1,000 and now cut in half. That $500 can go to other things," he said.

Laptops and big ticket items are favorites of this day, but they are not the only items.

Debbie Techac, who works as a cashier at a supermarket, had waited for more than 12 hours outside a Best Buy in central Phoenix to buy a heavily discounted Dyson vacuum cleaner reduced to $329 from $549, two laptops -- one of them a Sony -- and some DVDs. She expected to buy the laptops for $200-$300.

While many shoppers are looking to scale back spending, some of our early risers had other plans.

Techac said she was spending about the same as last year, and felt fairly optimistic both about her own job security, and the outlook for the wider economy.

"I have job security. I work at Fry's. It's a grocery store, everybody has to eat ... I think (the economy) is going to get better, I hope."

Lou McAnany, a college student in Phoenix, was playing Monopoly on the sidewalk with his girlfriend to pass the time waiting for Best Buy to open. "I'm playing with fake money, wishing it were real," he said with a chuckle.

McAnany was lining up to buy a 40-inch LCD television, although he was not yet sure what brand or model, paying around $300, with savings of around $400, as well as an iPod and a Nintendo Wii.

"I'm happy with the discounts, I wouldn't be standing out all night if I weren't. It seems like they are better than last year."

So, with all this buying, everyone will get something, right?

Well...

"Anybody old enough to get a job," is being cut off this year's Christmas list said Ayanna Brown, a 34-year-old Brooklyn resident who worked as a bookkeeper at a legal firm but lost her job last year, is now back in school and will graduate in June.

"Around Christmas you have to splurge on the kids, so the grown-ups understand."

How has your Black Friday been? Any fantastic deals you want to share? What's Number One on your wish list?

Also in the basket:

* What wine goes with pumpkin pie?

* No Thanksgiving rest for retailers in sales race

(Additional reporting by Phil Wahba, Tom Hals and Tim Gaynor)

(Reuters photos)

Blog Guy, I saw a photo of a ballerina smoking, which really disturbed me. I think of everything having to do with ballet as being healthy and squeaky-clean.

You couldn't be more wrong. As an art form, classic ballet makes rap look like gospel singing. At least this ballerina is smoking backstage. Until fairly recently, dancers smoked and took swigs from vodka bottles while dancing onstage.

Are you sure about this, Blog Guy?

Oh, grow up. Have you seen "The Sleeping Beauty," one of the most popular ballets? The subtext here is that the princess is too hammered to stand up.

No!

And THE most endearing ballet, "The Nutcracker." Oh please, giant dancing mice battle a walnut-cracking soldier? That's an absinthe and acid flashback if ever there was one!

Wait a second, Blog Guy. Surely my very favorite, "Swan Lake," is a wholesome tale?

Oh, you mean "Those Swans are So Beautiful, Hand me my Crossbow?"

Blog Guy, do you really know anything about the ballet?

About as much as any other subject. Why do you ask?

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Above: A Croatian ballet dancer smokes in a theater cafe during a break in rehearsals for a new ballet show, in Zagreb, November 26, 2009. REUTERS/Nikola Solic

Right: A general view during the dress rehearsal for The Nutcracker ballet at the Sadlers Wells Theatre in London, in a 2007 file photo. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

More stuff from Oddly Enough

Blog Guy, I saw a photo of a ballerina smoking, which really disturbed me. I think of everything having to do with ballet as being healthy and squeaky-clean.

You couldn't be more wrong. As an art form, classic ballet makes rap look like gospel singing. At least this ballerina is smoking backstage. Until fairly recently, dancers smoked and took swigs from vodka bottles while dancing onstage.

Are you sure about this, Blog Guy?

Oh, grow up. Have you seen "The Sleeping Beauty," one of the most popular ballets? The subtext here is that the princess is too hammered to stand up.

No!

And THE most endearing ballet, "The Nutcracker." Oh please, giant dancing mice battle a walnut-cracking soldier? That's an absinthe and acid flashback if ever there was one!

Wait a second, Blog Guy. Surely my very favorite, "Swan Lake," is a wholesome tale?

Oh, you mean "Those Swans are So Beautiful, Hand me my Crossbow?"

Blog Guy, do you really know anything about the ballet?

About as much as any other subject. Why do you ask?

Go for the bronze! Join the Oddly Enough blog network

Follow this blog on Twitter at rbasler

Above: A Croatian ballet dancer smokes in a theater cafe during a break in rehearsals for a new ballet show, in Zagreb, November 26, 2009. REUTERS/Nikola Solic

Right: A general view during the dress rehearsal for The Nutcracker ballet at the Sadlers Wells Theatre in London, in a 2007 file photo. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

More stuff from Oddly Enough

(Photo: Poster to vote "yes" to minaret ban in a Swiss meadow, 13 Nov 2009/Dario Bianchi)

A threatening image dominates Switzerland's streets in the form of a dark woman dressed in a Muslim niqab veil, looming over a Swiss flag covered with missile-like minarets with a call to vote "yes" in a referendum on Sunday to ban minarets on mosques here. The posters clearly seek to tap into the concerns of the country's traditionally Christian majority about increased immigration from Muslim countries. 

"I find the nature of these posters very provocative against the Islamic world. The presentation and the way the minarets are presented like rockets is unbelievable. Also the colours -- with all the black -- look very threatening," says 34-year-old air traffic controller Judith Baumer.  "I assume that it's supposed to trigger strong emotions or fear in the population."

The poster, described by the Swiss race commission as demonising Muslims and provoking religious tensions, has been banned in some cities but seems omnipresent in others.

(Photo: Vote "yes" posters in Zurich's main train station, 26 Oct 2009/Arnd Wiegmann)

Polls suggest the referendum could be close-run. With only a slim majority of Swiss questioned expressing opposition or a tendency to oppose a ban, turnout and currently undecided voters could yet sway the vote towards behind the "'yes" campaign.

"It's fine to build minarets in a Muslim country, not in Switzerland. I'm strictly against that," says unemployed electrical fitter Rolf Waechtler.  "People from abroad are ok with me, but I'm in favour of them putting minarets directly there: abroad."

The anti-minarets initiative was organised mainly by members the right-wing Federal Democratic Union (EDU) and Swiss People's Party (SVP), which won the largest share of the vote at the last election on rising anti-foreigner sentiment in Switzerland spurred by increased immigration.

Under Swiss law citizens have the right to force referendums on any issue provided they collect enough signatures in support of their initiative.  But the Swiss government and other parties -- including the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP), which broke away from the SVP in 2008 -- oppose a ban, warning it would violate the country's constitution and stir religious tension.

(Photo: "Yes" posters in German, French and Italian at SVP meeting in Geneva, 3 Oct 2009/Valentin Flauraud)

The Swiss vote is just the latest example of mistrust between Muslim and Christian communities that has created tensions and fuelled support for far-right groups in other European countries as well.

It is all the more surprising because Switzerland's Muslims, who make up around 4 percent of the 7.6 million-strong population and are mainly of European origin, are a low-profile minority. There are also just four minarets in the entire country.

Three attacks on one of these few mosques with minarets, in Geneva, this month could indicate the ban is already having an effect on race relations in the country.

The initiative has been slammed at home and abroad and a ban would damage Switzerland's reputation as a neutral country that upholds freedoms of worship, speech and expression. It could lead to the radicalisation of some members of a Muslim community generally regarded as well integrated into Swiss society.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee and Amnesty International say a ban would contravene Switzerland's international obligations to uphold human rights.

(Photo: Poster to vote "no" to the minaret ban by Geneva interfaith group, 21 Nov 2009/Denis Balibouse)

And the Swiss think tank economiesuisse warns it would damage business at a time when the country's private banks, hit hard by the relaxation of Swiss bank secrecy, are stepping up attempts to attract more business from Muslim clients around the world with new Islamic banking products.

On Sunday, the world will see whether Switzerland's voters use their model of direct democracy to defend the country's long-cherished values of tolerance and freedom or instead choose to isolate their country's biggest religious minority.

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Read more on Dubai's debt woes in the following stories.

- Who is who in Dubai corporate map

- Banks, world leaders play down Dubai debt threat

- Dubai must recover investor faith