Going Bats!

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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batmobile, Batmobile in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Dark Knight, Dennis McCarthy, Lincoln Futura, Patrick Tatopoulos, Robinson Batmobile

Since the announcement of the release date of Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, fans of the caped crusader are eagerly looking forward to seeing the iconic, gadget-loaded automobile – the Batmobile – in action again.

Designed especially for the film by Dennis McCarthy and Patrick Tatopoulos, this custom-made crime-fighting automobile is 20 feet long and 12 feet wide. Unlike its predecessors, this black beast can be raised and lowered using certain manoeuvres, thanks to beefed up control arms at the front and an upgraded suspension system. In short, much-needed additions to handle the Dark Knight’s action-packed missions.

Over the years, the Batmobile has had many renditions, every one of them in line with the style hallmark of automobiles of the day. In 2014, the 1960s version of the Batmobile came up for auction and sold for a whopping $4.2 million. Long thought to be the original Batmobile, this Lincoln Futura was customised by George Barris.

Last December, the first official Batmobile licensed by DC Comics went under the hammer at Heritage Auctions in the United States. This Batmobile is a buffed-up version of a 1956 Oldsmobile 88, and was created in 1960 by Forest Robinson, a New Hampshire resident. It resembled the 1940s Batmobile as it had a metal fin and prominent bat ears and nose, and matched the original concept art of the Batmobile envisioned by Batman’s creator Bob Kane. No wonder Batman purists and collectors point out that the ‘Robinson Batmobile’ is far more authentic than the $4.2 million dollar 1960s version.

Despite this, the Robinson Batmobile was forgotten and remained parked in a New Hampshire field for over 50 years before it was discovered and restored by the collectible company Toy Car Exchange, and eventually auctioned off for a mere $137,000.

– Tariq Ziad Khan

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Curtain Call For Nishat Cinema

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Doli, Fatima Jinnah, Gul Plaza, Inayat Hussain, M.A. Jinnah Road, MA Jinnah Road, Nishat Cinema, Rajesh Khanna, Saddar, Shehri Babu

Nishat Cinema in all its glory (c. 1950)

Located on M.A Jinnah Road, Nishat Cinema was Pakistan’s first movie theatre, and despite facing competition from cinemas that were established later, including the nearby, Bambino, Capri and Prince, which boasted 70 mm screens and plush interiors, it continued to entertain crowds for almost six decades. Unfortunately, Nishat Cinema was burnt down during a protest in 2012 and two weeks ago, any hope of its restoration were dashed when it was put on sale.

Charred remains of Nishat Cinema

It’s show time… According to its Director, Nawab Hasan Siddiq, Nishat Cinema was inaugurated by Fatima Jinnah in 1947. People who went there regularly recall queuing for hours outside to buy tickets for blockbusters including Shehri Babu and Doli (starring Rajesh Khanna and Inayat Hussain Bhatti respectively) in the 1950s. They vividly remember the hushed silence as the lights dimmed and the films began, as well as singing along to the songs of these films.

Out and about… Several high-end malls such as Gul Plaza and Star City Mall have cropped up recently near Nishat Cinema, replacing old-fashioned, wholesale bazaars. Several of Karachi’s oldest healthcare institutions, including the Taj Medical Complex, OMI and 7 Day Hospital, that have treated people for generations, are also located nearby. Foodie options are restricted to roadside cafes offering doodh patti and parathas, or fast food at the malls’ food courts.

Home accessories at Gul Plaza

The real estate take… Commercial property options in this part of M.A Jinnah Road include standalone shops as well as retail space in low- and high-rise buildings (the latter have been established recently). Property prices and rentals have increased by approximately 45 and 50% in the last three years; property is in high demand. Residential property options are limited to apartments.

Scarlett’s Tara

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furniture, Georgia, Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell, Old South, plantations, Rhett Butler, Scarlett O’ Hara

One of the grandest and most memorable homes in literature is undoubtedly Tara, the home of the vivacious Scarlett O’ Hara – the heroine of Margaret Mitchell’s evergreen classic Gone with the Wind.

Where the Founder of the Kapoor Dynasty Once Lived

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Amjad Afridi, Bala Hissar Fort, basement, bazaars, Bollywood, Bombay, Dhaki Munawar Shah, Dhaki Nalbandi, Dilip Kumar, dynasty, fabric, first family of Indian cinema, five-storeys, food, gemstone market, gold market, grandchildren, great grandchildren, jharokas, Kapoor family, Kareena Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor, Lady Reading Hospital, landmarks, Madhubala, Market of Storytellers, Mohabbat Khan Mosque, museum, Namak Mandi, Peshawar, peshawari tikka, Prithviraj Kapoor, Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Raj Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Sarafa Bazaar, Shahrukh Khan, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema, Venus of Hindi cinema

Intricate jharokas still adorn the house

The ancestral home of legendary Indian actor, Prithviraj Kapoor, is located deep inside Dhaki Nalbandi, in a narrow street called Dhaki Munawar Shah in Peshawar. The family did not have filmi roots and it was on a whim that Prithviraj left Peshawar for Bombay, against his father’s wishes, to pursue his dream of becoming a ‘film star’ at the age of 22, in 1929.

Prithviraj Kapoor as Alexander the Great in Sikandar (1941)

A dynasty is founded… As it turned out, he did more than that; he founded a dynasty, the Kapoor family, popularly called the “first family of Indian cinema”. Prithviraj’s children (Raj, Shammi and Shashi), grandchildren (including Rishi), and great grandchildren (including Karisma, Kareena and Ranbir) have continued Prithviraj’s legacy. Of Prithviraj’s three sons, Raj Kapoor, “The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema”, was born in this house in 1924; the remaining were born in India.

Forbidden Love

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19th century Turkish novel, Adnan, Adnan Ziyagil, Behlul, Beren Saat, Bihter, Bosphorus, Emek Manti, Forbidden Love, ill-fated affair, Ishq-e-Mamnu, Istanbul, Istanbul’s wealthiest residents, Kivanç Tatlitug, local drama industry demise, local entertainment industry, local versus foreign software, Mrs Firdaus, Nihal, Pakistanis, primetime programming, Sadberk Hanim Museum, Sariyer District, Shahrezad Samiuddin, Turkish billionaire Rahmi Koç, Turkish soap opera, Ziyagil House

The cast of Ishq-e-Mamnu (L-R): Hazal Kaya, Selçuk Yontem, Beren Saat and Kivanç Tatlitug

With the airing of the dubbed Turkish soap opera Ishq-e-Mamnu (Forbidden Love), Pakistanis discovered that nothing tastes quite as sweet as forbidden fruit. Based on a 19th century Turkish classic novel, Ishq-e-Mamnu charts the tempestuous and ill-fated affair between the beautiful Bihter (played by Beren Saat) with Behlul, played by Turkish heartthrob Kivanç Tatlitug her husband’s (Adnan Ziyagil) gorgeous nephew.

Inside Downtonia

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18th century, Abbey, Anthony van Dyck, Arundel bedroom, bath stone, Charles I, Downton Abbey, Earl of Carnarvon, England’s greatest gardener, equestrian portrait, Etruscan temple, Hampshire, Highclere Castle, Houses of Parliament, Jacobethan style, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, Marylou Andrew, oak staircase, red staircase, Sir Charles Barry, Spain, Stanhope bedroom, Temple of Diana, World War I

Season three of Downton Abbey got off to a flying start on September 16 and fans are once again being treated to some fantastic views of the home that is the backdrop for all the major action in the series.

Highclere Castle, which serves as the Abbey, is built on a 1,000 acre estate in Hampshire and has been the country seat of the Earl of Carnarvon since 1679. The Castle was first built in 1692 as a classical mansion and then rebuilt between 1839 and 1842 in the Jacobethan style and faced in bath stone by the famed architect Sir Charles Barry (who also rebuilt the Houses of Parliament after the building was destroyed in a fire).

Where Superheroes And Villains Clash

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Bane, Batman, Batman’s alter ego, below 14th street…, Broadway, Bruce Wayne, Cataclysm story arc, Comic book, comic book writer, Commissioner Gordon, DC Comics, Denny O’Neill, Dickensian hellhole, Fox Gardens, Gotham, Gotham City, Gotham City analogue of New York, Gotham Square, Gotham Village, Greenwich Village, Home of the Batman, home to Bruce Wayne, Iceberg Lounge, Luigi’s pizza, Main Street, Manhattan, Marvel comics, most famous city comicdom. Rife crime corruption, New York, New York’s Time Square, New Yorkers, nickname for New York, Penguin, Shayan Shakeel, Spider-Man, Superman, The Gotham Theatre, the Joker, the most catastrophic city in the world, the Riddler, The Ritz-Carlton, vibrant nightlife, Wackdonals

Gotham City might well be the most famous city in all of comicdom. Rife with crime and corruption, not to mention violence, it is home to Bruce Wayne, Batman’s alter ego, and is arguably the most catastrophic city in the world.

Where it is… Although New Yorkers have long believed Gotham City to be an analogue of their city (Gotham has been a nickname for New York since the 1800s), readers have pondered over its exact location. Maps of the city in Commissioner Gordon’s office depict it as an island similar to Manhattan. In an interview, comic book writer, Denny O’Neill, said it is located in “Manhattan, below 14th street…”

Living in Gotham… Gotham is a Dickensian hellhole, as one writer calls it; in fact, how New York would have been without a planning commission. Skyscrapers tower above hospitals while buildings often encroach on spaces reserved for parks. However, after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake nearly destroyed Gotham in the Cataclysm story arc, Bruce Wayne has been using his influence to turn Gotham into a bright, vibrant and well-planned metropolis.

The Nightlife… Like New York, Gotham has some of the most vibrant nightlife on the north-eastern coast. The Iceberg Lounge is the trendiest spot for anyone with rich tastes, illicit interests and a yen for eccentric company (owned by the conniving Penguin, the nightclub features a pool where seals and penguins perform). The Gotham Theatre on Main Street is the city’s version of Broadway, while Gotham Square and Gotham Village (like New York’s Time Square and Greenwich Village respectively) are major crowd pullers.

‘Super’ dining venues… To hide his Batman identity, Bruce Wayne tries to give the impression he is a billionaire playboy by entertaining guests at posh hotels and restaurants such as The Ritz-Carlton or Fox Gardens. The city also boasts a slew of vendors selling falafels and hotdogs, while Luigi’s pizza on Main Street is a popular hangout, as is Wackdonals, a well-known fast-food joint.

In a nutshell… Dark and grimy, Gotham City continues to attract superheroes such as Superman and Spider-Man from time to time, who join forces with Batman to fight villains such as the Joker, Bane and the Riddler for control of the city; clearly that’s where its appeal lies.

– Shayan Shakeel
Send your feedback to realestate.review@dawn.com

First published in the Real Estate Section of The DAWN National Weekend Advertiser on July 1, 2012.

Super Suits And Super Gadgets

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ability to glide, agility, array of gadgets, Bat Suit, Batman, Batman has no superpowers, Batman’s cape, built-in cameras, bullet proof, bullet proof Kevlar, Catwoman, Civil War, cords, DC Comics, defeat villains, ears mask, enable communication allies, equipped with antennas earpieces amplify ambient sounds, extraordinary strength, fight crime, fire-resistant Nomex, gadgets enhance powers, grappling hooks, grim brooding millionaire, handcuffs, impact-resistant graphite composite, ingenuity, inventors par excellence, Iron Man, Joker, Marvel comics, Marvel. billionaire superhero, radioactive spider bite, red and gold, ropes, Spider Balls, spider sense, spider webs, Spider-Man, Spider-Man has superpowers, Spider-Man is not as rich as Batman, Spiderman, suit of armour, Superheroes, Tariq Qadri, technology, tentacles, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, thermo-reactive foam dispensing Spider Balls, Tony Stark, utility belt, web-shooters, wisecracking freelance photographer

Although they are both superheroes who fight crime, Batman and Spider-Man are as different as chalk and cheese. While the former is a grim and brooding millionaire, the other is a wisecracking freelance photographer.

However they do have something in common; both are inventors par excellence.
Although Batman has no superpowers, he uses technology and ingenuity to defeat villains like the manic Joker and the cunning Catwoman. The Bat Suit is constructed out of impact-resistant graphite composite, fire-resistant Nomex and bullet proof Kevlar, making it strong enough to repel bullets and fire balls.

And so what if he can’t fly? Batman’s cape is designed to give him the ability to glide. The ‘ears’ on his mask are equipped with antennas and earpieces to amplify ambient sounds and enable communication with allies while his utility belt contains an array of gadgets including grappling hooks, ropes, cords and handcuffs.

On the other hand, thanks to a radioactive spider bite, Spider-Man has superpowers such as extraordinary strength, agility and ‘spider sense’. Spider-Man too has a number of gadgets to enhance his powers. These include spider webs used to swing from building to building, web shooters from which he slings the spider webs and the thermo-reactive foam dispensing Spider Balls (capable of destroying enemies).

Spider-Man is not as rich as Batman, which is why his suit was nothing to brag about in the beginning. In fact it needed frequent mending especially after a particularly long chase or fight. But during the Civil War storyline, another billionaire superhero – Iron Man – enabled Spider-Man to create a full fledged suit of armour. Decked in red and gold, it was bullet proof and came with a set of ‘tentacles’ which could latch on to surfaces and had built-in cameras which provided Spider-Man with an extra pair of eyes.

Both superheroes continue to evolve and reinvent themselves every few years; the fact that they will don new incarnations in forthcoming movies this summer is proof enough of this.

– Tariq Qadri

First published in the Adbuzzzz Section of The DAWN National Weekend Advertiser on July 1, 2012.

The Spider Mobile

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Agha Ali Raza, Andrew Garfield, Avenger, Batman’s, Corona Engine, Corona Motors, ejection seats New York’s police force, Emma Stone, Green Revolution, Hawkeye, Hudson River, Human Torch Fantastic Four, Johnny Storm, New York, Smithsonian Museum, Spider Mobile, Spider-Man, Spider-Man comeback movie big screen, Spider-Signal spotlight, Spiderman, Spidey, super fast buggy-style automobile, superhero, The Amazing Spider-Man #130 comic book, The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, Tinkerer, Toyota Corona, web-shooters, web-slinging happily, zero carbon emissions

Spider-Man is set to make a comeback to the big screen later this month with a new movie called The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

Although Spider-Man uses his fantastic web-shooters to sling from building to building, there was a time when he once drove a car called the Spider Mobile. This was in 1974 in The Amazing Spider-Man #130 comic book when a fictional car company, Corona Motors (a take on Toyota’s popular Corona model), approached Spider-Man to endorse their latest product – the Corona Engine which was the first of its kind with zero carbon emissions; the writers were clearly proponents of the forthcoming Green Revolution.

Spider-Man agreed to endorse the product, primarily because his landlord was threatening to evict him from his apartment if he didn’t pay his overdue rent. The contract required Spidey to build the car himself, which he did with the help of Johnny Storm (the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four). The result was a super fast buggy-style automobile equipped with web-shooters (similar to those in his suit), a Spider-Signal spotlight (similar to Batman’s) and ejection seats (in case he needed to escape). Best of all, the car could become invisible by the mere touch of a button!

Unfortunately, Spider-Man proved to be a rash driver and had half of New York’s police force chasing him for violating traffic rules. Exasperated, Spidey dumped the car into the Hudson River.

However, this was not the end of the car. The evil Tinkerer fished the car out of the river and modified it to drive on walls and shoot gas bombs. In true superhero spirit Spider-Man fought a fierce battle to retrieve the vehicle and it was then donated to the Smithsonian Museum. Later, the superhero Hawkeye – an Avenger – bought the car and customised it.

As for Spider-Man, he has been web-slinging happily since he bid good riddance to his car.

– Agha Ali Raza

First published in the Adbuzzzz Section of The DAWN National Weekend Advertiser

Learning From Superheroes

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always right side law, Avengers, Batman, Batman no inherent superpowers wealthy resourceful, career column, combines technology strategy outfox enemies, learn from them, Leon Menezes, look part roles work, mission clean Gotham City fiends criminals, resourcefulness get out tight spots, sidekick Robin butler Alfred, Spider-Man, Spider-Man bite radioactive spider, strategy planning, superhero costume, Superheroes, tech-savvy web-shooters creepy-crawly, use technology human ingenuity

It seems the world is full of superheroes and they are all coming to a cinema screen near you! And, as if we haven’t already been saved by the Avengers (all six of them), we now have new releases of Batman and Spider-Man to look forward to. What do any of them have to do with a career column? Well, let’s see what we can learn from them.

Batman, as we know, has no inherent superpowers. However, as a wealthy and resourceful individual, he sets out on his mission to clean Gotham City of fiends and criminals. He plans carefully and combines technology with strategy to outfox his enemies. He teams up with his sidekick Robin, and his butler, Alfred, to show us that no matter how good we are individually, we must trust those who work with us.

Spider-Man, on the other hand, has fantastic abilities thanks to the bite of a radioactive spider. He has an amazing physique and enhanced strength and agility. He is also very tech-savvy; his ‘web-shooters’ come in handy to get him out of tight spots, and he uses his sense of humor to lighten situations.

So, while your office may be full of creepy-crawly types, be grateful that none of them are radioactive or you could be in for a few surprises.

There are several learnings for us: strategy and planning to be prepared for what the competition (or environment) may throw at us; use of technology and human ingenuity; resourcefulness to get out of tight spots and always being on the right side of the law.

And what would a superhero be without a great costume? Yes, even mere mortals like us must ‘look’ the part for the roles we play at work. And if you are able to crawl up walls on your own, you never have to wait for the boss to drive you up one!

– Leon Menezes
The writer is General Manager, HR, at a multinational company.

First published in the Careers Section of The DAWN National Weekend Advertiser on July 1, 2012.