PRELIMS

MAYANK MUJUMDAR

24 questions in the prelims.

1 point for each correct answer.

Q16 to 24 will be used to resolve ties.

Top 8 teams battle it out in the finals.

1Co-founded by Emile Moreau, a French author & Mr. T.K. Banerjee, an Indian businessman; which brand started its first outlet at the Allahabad railway station in 1887 and was mocked for its English-sounding name by Lalu Prasad Yadav in his 2004 Railway Budget as “Angrez chale gaye, ______ reh gaye”?

2This print ad is based on which celebrated movie?

3Shown here is the patch worn by the members of the (fictional) Expedition 31 to the International Space Station. It features the names of the 3 crew members and their nationalities. If Mike Massimino (USA) and Dmitri Rezinov (Russia) are two of them, who was the third?

4A lesser known fact about this renowned author is that he was a self-taught veena player who earned commendation of the veena maestro of Mysore Palace - Vidwan Doreswamy Iyengar and was also his pupil.In return, he taught Doreswamy Iyengar English, and helped him to obtain his B.A. degree. Who is this prolific author?

5This short, loose-fitting nightgown (or negligee) intended as nightwear for women is often trimmed with lace, ruffles, appliques, marabou fur, bows, and ribbons. Sometimes made of sheer or translucent fabric like nylon or chiffon or silk, it is also classified as a form of lingerie by some retailers.For what reasons, very different from fashion, did its name become popular among the Indian masses sometime earlier this year?

6Although this person is known world over for his designs, that does come with a share of people who criticize him for his excessive minimalism, his love for gradients and affinity for Helvetica – as seen in these parody designs.Who are they parodying?

7From the James Bond universe, what connects the following characters:• From Russia with Love - David Somerset• On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Sir Hilary Bray• Diamonds Are Forever - Peter Franks• The Man with the Golden Gun - Francisco Scaramanga• The Spy Who Loved Me - Robert Sterling• A View to a Kill James - St. John Smythe• The World Is Not Enough - Dr. Mikhail Arkov• Die Another Day -Van Bierk• Casino Royale - Arlington Beech

8The following covers are some of the many tributes to which iconic comic cover?

8Based on a movie of the same name, every episode of which dark humor/drama/crime TV show starts with the following super:

"This is a true story. The events depicted took place in Minnesota in 2006. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.“ ?

This claim is completely fictional, and the producer says he let it stay only because “it allows him to tell the story in a new way.”

9Usually available in the shape of an isosceles triangle with rounded edges, these were initially made of bones , shell, wood, metal, amber, stone or ivory before the use of celluloid material resembling tortoise shell material was started circa 1922. Tortoise shell was used for making it extensively, until its use was outlawed in 1973.Since a lot of people are prone to losing these, a company even came up with a magnetic version but was met with mixed reviews.What are we discussing?

10During the Vietnam war, unpopular officers were sometimes killed by their subordinates or serving officers. The method of killing them– typically using a particular kind of grenade – gave rise to a term that has hence been shortened and is now typically used in a video game context (FPS games), where a player dies temporarily and is then resurrected when he receives sufficient lives. What term?

11X is a method of carving, or an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewelry or vessel made in this manner. It nearly always features a raised (positive) relief image; as opposed to intaglio, which has a negative image.Historically, X only referred to works where the relief image was of a contrasting color to the background; this was achieved by carefully carving a piece of material with a flat plane where two contrasting colors met, removing all the first color except for the image to leave a contrasting background.What is the popular usage of the term, associated largely with plays, films and television because of its analogy to "a short literary sketch or portrait“?

12These are the past 3 winners of the Grammy award in which category?

The Suburbs, Arcade Fire 2012Biophilia, Björk

2013Long Night Moon, Reckless Kelly

2014

13As a part of the promotion of which 2014 Hindi movie was a video of the National Anthem shot with the lead actress with officers from the Mumbai Women Police, as tribute to the women police force of our country?

14This is the cast of which movie appearing together to celebrate 20 years of its release?

15When a now famous sculpture was under work, the foundry workers noted its similarity to the tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, sculpted by Michelangelo between 1520 and 1534 - named ‘Il Penseroso’. As a result, even the sculpture was renamed and treated as an independent artwork instead of the original commission.Originally titled ‘The Poet’, what is this artwork?

16Watch this clip from Coke Studio Pakistan, where Sajjad Ali’s Bolo Bolo is being covered. Who was the lead singer of the Pakistani band entity Paradigm , who’s quite a rage among the ladies off late?

17Verizon told George Vaccaro that bandwidth charges in Canada were .002 cents per kilobyte, but billed him at .002 dollars, i.e,100 times as much as he was quoted. When he called, Verizon customer service insisted there's no difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents. This evolved into a major brouhaha and ultimately Verizon apologized for their error.Which person expressed his support for George Vaccaro by putting online this check?

18Circa 2002, the fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø produced a set of experimental images for Dazed and Confused magazine using a handheld 3D scanner with which he scanned his models. Since the scanners of that time were comparatively primitive and couldn’t read color or detect softer materials like hair or fabric well and also had a limited range, the results were interesting images like these. The lead singer of a famous band was flipping through the issue and decided to use one of them for the band’s upcoming album. Sundsbø went on to design several more album covers for them. Which band?

19Developed as a cheaper and quicker substitute to hand embroidery to adorn bridal clothing of regional tribes in Kutch, this form of art is now practiced only by one family in Nirona village near Kutch.The colors used are prepared by boiling safflower, linseed or castor oil over two days and then it is colored mixing in natural coloring agents. The designs are traced freehand and usually feature intricate floral or spotted motifs. Based on the complexity, a single work can take anywhere from a month to years to complete.Name this art style which derives its name from Persian for ‘oil’.

20Seen here is Ed Munro, a 15 year old stage actor, who got his Hollywood break in a rather unusual way – by being the subject of an artwork central to the plot of a recently released movie that has been applauded by critics and the masses alike.

“It was quite strange sitting in a big old crazy building with these amazing old clothes. My hands started to hurt after a while holding the apple,” is what he had to say about his portrait.

In which movie did his portrait get featured?

21Seen here are Jason Segel & Jesse Eisenberg photographed during the the shooting of The End of the Tour, a film based on Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself – a memoir by journalist David Lipsky(played by Eisenberg) who spent a few days with a celebrated American novelist & essayist (played by Segel) as he was on a promotional tour of what would eventually become his magnum opus.Who is Jason Segel playing here?

22Battlefield Earth is a 2000 sci-fi movie starring John Travolta. The film depicts an earth that has been under the rule of the alien Psychlos for 1,000 years and tells the story of the rebellion that develops when the Psychlos attempt to use the surviving humans as gold miners.Travolta was trying for years to make the movie, which was finally produced by an independent company – Franchise Pictures. The film was a major flop, and the company soon got bankrupt.Despite being rated as one of the worst movies of all time, Travolta maintains that he was always very keen to make the movie and has no regrets. This can be attributed to the fact that it was based on a novel by an author who is known among Hollywood A-listers for more than his writing skills. Who is this author?

23Bystander Apathy is a phenomenon of disputed existence where individuals are less likely to offer help in an emergency situation, if other people are present. The more the number of onlookers, the less likely anybody would offer help. This gained recognition after the Kitty Genovese rape and murder case in 1964, when a serial rapist and murderer stabbed Kitty over half an hour in the presence of many witnesses in a New York neighbourhood, none of whom made any attempts to save her.Which comic book character decided to become a vigilante after reading about this event?

24Through the works of which artist does the protagonist sift through in this sequence from Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990)? Which celebrated director’s special effects company provided the visual effects to execute this scene?

1Co-founded by Emile Moreau, a French author & Mr. T.K. Banerjee, an Indian businessman; which brand started its first outlet at the Allahabad railway station in 1887 and was mocked for its English-sounding name by Lalu Prasad Yadav in his 2004 Railway Budget as “Angrez chale gaye, ______ reh gaye”?

1A.H. Wheeler & Co.

2This print ad is based on which celebrated movie?

2Castaway

3Shown here is the patch worn by the members of the (fictional) Expedition 31 to the International Space Station. It features the names of the 3 crew members and their nationalities. If Mike Massimino (USA) and Dmitri Rezinov (Russia) are two of them, who was the third?

3Howard Wolowitz

4A lesser known fact about this renowned author is that he was a self-taught veena player who earned commendation of the veena maestro of Mysore Palace - Vidwan Doreswamy Iyengar and was also his pupil.In return, he taught Doreswamy Iyengar English, and helped him to obtain his B.A. degree. Who is this prolific author?

4R.K Narayan

5This short, loose-fitting nightgown (or negligee) intended as nightwear for women is often trimmed with lace, ruffles, appliques, marabou fur, bows, and ribbons. Sometimes made of sheer or translucent fabric like nylon or chiffon or silk, it is also classified as a form of lingerie by some retailers.For what reasons, very different from fashion, did its name become popular among the Indian masses sometime earlier this year?

5Babydoll

6Although this person is known world over for his designs, that does come with a share of people who criticize him for his excessive minimalism, his love for gradients and affinity for Helvetica – as seen in these parody designs.Who are they parodying?

6Sir Jonathan Ive

7From the James Bond universe, what connects the following characters:• From Russia with Love - David Somerset• On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Sir Hilary Bray• Diamonds Are Forever - Peter Franks• The Man with the Golden Gun - Francisco Scaramanga• The Spy Who Loved Me - Robert Sterling• A View to a Kill James - St. John Smythe• The World Is Not Enough - Dr. Mikhail Arkov• Die Another Day -Van Bierk• Casino Royale - Arlington Beech

7Aliases used by James Bond

8The following covers are some of the many tributes to which iconic comic cover?

8Action Comics No. 1 (Superman’s first appearance)

8Based on a movie of the same name, every episode of which dark humor/drama/crime TV show starts with the following super:

"This is a true story. The events depicted took place in Minnesota in 2006. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.“ ?

This claim is completely fictional, and the producer says he let it stay only because “it allows him to tell the story in a new way.”

8Fargo

9Usually available in the shape of an isosceles triangle with rounded edges, these were initially made of bones , shell, wood, metal, amber, stone or ivory before the use of celluloid material resembling tortoise shell material was started circa 1922. Tortoise shell was used for making it extensively, until its use was outlawed in 1973.Since a lot of people are prone to losing these, a company even came up with a magnetic version but was met with mixed reviews.What are we discussing?

9Guitar picks

10During the Vietnam war, unpopular officers were sometimes killed by their subordinates or serving officers. The method of killing them– typically using a particular kind of grenade – gave rise to a term that has hence been shortened and is now typically used in a video game context (FPS games), where a player dies temporarily and is then resurrected when he receives sufficient lives. What term?

10Frag , from fragmentation grenade

11X is a method of carving, or an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewelry or vessel made in this manner. It nearly always features a raised (positive) relief image; as opposed to intaglio, which has a negative image.Historically, X only referred to works where the relief image was of a contrasting color to the background; this was achieved by carefully carving a piece of material with a flat plane where two contrasting colors met, removing all the first color except for the image to leave a contrasting background.What is the popular usage of the term, associated largely with plays, films and television because of its analogy to "a short literary sketch or portrait“?

11Cameo

12These are the past 3 winners of the Grammy award in which category?

The Suburbs, Arcade Fire 2012Biophilia, Björk

2013Long Night Moon, Reckless Kelly

2014

12Best Recording Package/ Best Album Art

13As a part of the promotion of which 2014 Hindi movie was a video of the National Anthem shot with the lead actress with officers from the Mumbai Women Police, as tribute to the women police force of our country?

13Mardaani

14This is the cast of which movie appearing together to celebrate 20 years of its release?

14Little Rascals

15When a now famous sculpture was under work, the foundry workers noted its similarity to the tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, sculpted by Michelangelo between 1520 and 1534 - named ‘Il Penseroso’. As a result, even the sculpture was renamed and treated as an independent artwork instead of the original commission.Originally titled ‘The Poet’, what is this artwork?

15The Thinker

16Watch this clip from Coke Studio Pakistan, where Sajjad Ali’s Bolo Bolo is being covered. Who was the lead singer of the Pakistani band entity Paradigm , who’s quite a rage among the ladies off late?

16Fawad Khan

17Verizon told George Vaccaro that bandwidth charges in Canada were .002 cents per kilobyte, but billed him at .002 dollars, i.e,100 times as much as he was quoted. When he called, Verizon customer service insisted there's no difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents. This evolved into a major brouhaha and ultimately Verizon apologized for their error.Which person expressed his support for George Vaccaro by putting online this check?

17Randall Munroe of xkcd

18Circa 2002, the fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø produced a set of experimental images for Dazed and Confused magazine using a handheld 3D scanner with which he scanned his models. Since the scanners of that time were comparatively primitive and couldn’t read color or detect softer materials like hair or fabric well and also had a limited range, the results were interesting images like these. The lead singer of a famous band was flipping through the issue and decided to use one of them for the band’s upcoming album. Sundsbø went on to design several more album covers for them. Which band?

18Coldplay

19Developed as a cheaper and quicker substitute to hand embroidery to adorn bridal clothing of regional tribes in Kutch, this form of art is now practiced only by one family in Nirona village near Kutch.The colors used are prepared by boiling safflower, linseed or castor oil over two days and then it is colored mixing in natural coloring agents. The designs are traced freehand and usually feature intricate floral or spotted motifs. Based on the complexity, a single work can take anywhere from a month to years to complete.Name this art style which derives its name from Persian for ‘oil’.

19Rogan art

20Seen here is Ed Munro, a 15 year old stage actor, who got his Hollywood break in a rather unusual way – by being the subject of an artwork central to the plot of a recently released movie that has been applauded by critics and the masses alike.

“It was quite strange sitting in a big old crazy building with these amazing old clothes. My hands started to hurt after a while holding the apple,” is what he had to say about his portrait.

In which movie did his portrait get featured?

20The Grand Budapest Hotel

21Seen here are Jason Segel & Jesse Eisenberg photographed during the the shooting of The End of the Tour, a film based on Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself – a memoir by journalist David Lipsky(played by Eisenberg) who spent a few days with a celebrated American novelist & essayist (played by Segel) as he was on a promotional tour of what would eventually become his magnum opus.Who is Jason Segel playing here?

21David Foster Wallace

22Battlefield Earth is a 2000 sci-fi movie starring John Travolta. The film depicts an earth that has been under the rule of the alien Psychlos for 1,000 years and tells the story of the rebellion that develops when the Psychlos attempt to use the surviving humans as gold miners.Travolta was trying for years to make the movie, which was finally produced by an independent company – Franchise Pictures. The film was a major flop, and the company soon got bankrupt.Despite being rated as one of the worst movies of all time, Travolta maintains that he was always very keen to make the movie and has no regrets. This can be attributed to the fact that it was based on a novel by an author who is known among Hollywood A-listers for more than his writing skills. Who is this author?

22L. Ron Hubbard

23Bystander Apathy is a phenomenon of disputed existence where individuals are less likely to offer help in an emergency situation, if other people are present. The more the number of onlookers, the less likely anybody would offer help. This gained recognition after the Kitty Genovese rape and murder case in 1964, when a serial rapist and murderer stabbed Kitty over half an hour in the presence of many witnesses in a New York neighbourhood, none of whom made any attempts to save her.Which comic book character decided to become a vigilante after reading about this event?

23Rorschach

24Through the works of which artist does the protagonist sift through in this sequence from Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990)? Which celebrated director’s special effects company provided the visual effects to execute this scene?

24Vincent van Gogh, George Lucas