The Second Plot

A MELA quiz by Anjan S

Prelims

Rules of Engagement

• 20 questions in the prelims

• Starred questions are indicated

• Ties will be resolved by starred questions, post which sudden death will be used

• I have final say

Before we begin

• A shout out to our stakeholders and sponsors

1• Posted on February 29th, 2016, whose blog explained

design changes to his protagonist as follows,

“X will look different the next six weeks.

I haven’t taken a day off from work for about three years, and my drawing hand needed some rest and rehab. So I asked my “co-workers” (at Universal Uclick) to fill in for me while I try to figure out how vacations work. (The alternative was running repeats.)”

The protagonist has a colleague who shares a distinct similarity with the space you are in now.

ID X and the creator.

And the answer is

Dilbert and Scott Adams

2• He was offered this role by the director who said, 'I

always hire theatre actors,' he said, 'because I have a very strong sixth sense about these things.‘

• He was then asked to fly to London to get six suits stitched. After all, the character he was playing was one of the best dressed men during the British regime in India.

• The only trouble he faced during the shoot was that he had to wear a monocle which was very difficult to hold in the eye. There was a British actor on the set who taught him how to do it. It took a bit of practice.

• Who and what role?

And the answer is

Alyque Padamsee playing Mohammad Ali Jinnah

3• At the age of 40, X decided to become a magician

and this was partly inspired by his creation Y.

• X describes it as "a protracted rant about magic" disguised as a conventional super-heroine story.

• The most pivotal of these “magic” related issues of Y is the issue entitled "The Magic Theatre", a history of the universe told through the major picture cards of the tarot. X did it in rhyming verse. He gave each page a title and all 21 titles were anagrams of “Y" ("Pa Theorem"; "Ape Mother"; "Me Atop Her"; "Heart Poem"; "Meet Harpo" etc).

• ID X and Y.

And the answer is

X- Alan Moore Y-Promethea

4

• Identify the “artist” of the following paintings in the next couple of slides.

And the answer is

Akira Kurosawa

5• When she took on this role she said, “ A few

years ago I was watching the play in the theatre, with Derek Jacobi playing _____, and I was thinking, 'My goodness, this could be played by a woman without having to change a word.”

• "Women have been punished for being powerful for many centuries, and I thought that was the remarkable thing about changing genders: you can bring in that history of female struggle.

• Identify the speaker and the blank.

And the answer is

Dame Helen Mirren and Prospero

6• In January, after Donald Trump raised

questions about Ted Cruz’s citizenship and, thereby, his eligibility to be president, Cruz responded by tweeting a link to a video clip from the classic TV program, ”X”.

• The video clip shows the protagonist popularising a phrase that has come to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality.

• ID X and the phrase

And the answer is

X- Happy Days and “Jumping the shark”

7• ________ books are printed books that are no

longer selling well and whose remaining unsold copies are liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices. While the publisher may take a loss on the sales of these books, they are able to make some money off the sale and clear out space in the warehouses.

• Which American rock and roll band formed in 1992 by exponents of the written word used this term to name themselves in a self-mocking manner.

And the answer is

The Rock Bottom Remainders

• The band includes writers like Stephen King, Amy Tan, Scott Turow and Mitch Albom.

8

• It was a dream sequence in the soap opera Days of Our Lives – starring actress Arleen Sorkindressed as a court jester – that inspired Paul Dinito create X’s look and personality – which Dinidiscusses in his 1998 book, Batman Animated.

• Identify this devoted, slightly crazy, overly obsessed character whose first appearance anywhere was in the September 1992 episode of Batman: The Animated Series.

And the answer is

Harley Quinn

9

• The next slide shows the opening credits of the show, Community, done in the style of another very famous, cult comedy show.

• ID the style it adapts.

And the answer is

10• Bhakta Vidur is a 1921 silent Indian film

directed by Kanjibhai Rathod. In this film,theHindu mythological character Vidura was moulded on the personality of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

• The film was released just after the Rowlatt Act was passed in India and showed many of the contemporary issues happening across the country at that point in time.

• What dubious first is attributed to BhaktaVidur?

And the answer is

First Indian film to be banned

11

• Very poetically, just before Valentine’s Day this year, which ‘nostalgia inducing’ publication house launched its first ever romance title.

• Titled "A Kingdom For His Love," the novel is based on a Sanskrit play 'Swapnavasavadattam',authored by Bhasa, one of the earliest and most celebrated playwrights.

And the answer is

Amar Chitra Katha

12

• Identify this recent Guinness Book of World Records awardee and tell me her claim to fame.

And the answer is

P Susheela for singing most number of songs in Indian languages

13

• "Please don’t go by the reputation of the book. See the film and then decide on the suitability of the content for kids. The 3D effects are so scary that the animals seem to jump right at the audience.“

• Who on what?

And the answer is

Pahlaj Nihalani on awarding a U/A rating to The Jungle Book

14

• Connect the below image and the audio to a phrase which suggests a portent of doom or misfortune.

And the answer is

The writing on the wall

• Painting by Rembrandt titled The Writing on the Wall

• Song by Sam Smith from Spectre titled Writing’s on the Wall

15

• ‘Do not write letter ; without order refreshment. Do not comb hair; is spoiling floor. Do not make mischiefs in cabin; our waiter is reporting. Come again, all are welcome whatever caste; if not satisfied tell us, otherwise tell others God is Great.’

• This verse was put together from signs above the wash areas of Irani restaurants in Mumbai. Who ‘composed’ this poem?

And the answer is

Nissim Ezekiel

16

• Known across the world now for his universal gaffe(s), whose social media post last Christmas said “Happy Easter”, to show his followers that he can take being the butt of jokes.

• Image follows

And the answer is

Steve Harvey

17. WTGW • This word is from the

Persian fairy tale ,”The Three Princes of ______”, whose heroes “were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of”. The word has come to mean “a propensity for making fortunate discoveries while looking for something unrelated”.

And the answer is

The _______ is Serendip

18• The name X was borrowed from the lead

guitarist, Anup’s quiz team in college that went by the same name. The band has always maintained that the pun was actually unintentional and they were more interested in the word pause being part of the band's name. In recent interviews, the band has been quoted giving different origins of the name. Some of them include a tyre company in Brazil, tattooed fans and an attribution to bassist’s mother.

And the answer is

Menwhopause

19• Which thespian’s unconventional claims to fame

include being the founder and chairman of the Internet Users Community of India (IUCI) and in setting up internet organisations like the Ethical Hackers Association.

• A fan of technology, this wild person who passed away in 2011 said “The moment the mouse came in my hand, the cigarette flew away…permanently.”

• ID him.

And the answer is

Shammi Kapoor

20

• The image on the next slide is from the movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy starring Gary Oldman, based on a novel of the same name. The movie has a rare on screen appearance by an acclaimed author. Identify the unlikely actor highlighted below

And the answer is