Latest news with #Bugs
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Another Waukesha Mexican restaurant? A new one is planned for what was once The Bun eatery
Waukesha's long-simmering trend for Mexican cuisine may continue with the addition of another restaurant, this time along an industrial section of West St. Paul Avenue. Las Cazuelas Restaurant was listed as the operator in city planning documents involving minor changes at an old commercial building at 818 W. St. Paul Ave., near Prairie Avenue. Used for a number of purposes over the years, it was most notably a drive-in eatery decades ago known as The Bun. Details of the restaurant itself were not part of the discussion. But Andrew Borgstrom, of Waukesha, whose company AmVet Properties acquired the now-vacant building along with the neighboring site, offered some tidbits to the Waukesha Plan Commission on May 28, when the minor site plan and architectural review was discussed. Borgstrom said the restaurant would primarily focus on catering events elsewhere, with some seating for dining. That's why fewer than a dozen parking spaces will be needed, he told the planning panel. It was his nostalgic feelings for The Bun, as well as the neighboring lot that was the previous home of Jim's Bug Center in those years, that led to AmVet's acquisition of both lots, he said. (Jim's Bug Center is a regionally renown Volkswagen Beetle repair business that dates back to 1968 and now operates a shop on Philip Drive in Waukesha.) "My dad use to take his Bugs down there in the '60s, and we'd go over to The Bun to have some food and french fries and stuff at 6 or 7 years old," Borgstrom told the Plan Commission. "So I thought it would be nice to do a renovation." Most of the work will involve striping the lot to define the 11 parking spaces, creating a patio area in front of the building and putting some form of protective barrier separating the road from the lot. The restaurant operators were not disclosed. (Las Cazuelas Chilaquiles & Taco Bar, which opened in 2024 in West Allis, is not connected to the Waukesha site, a worker at the restaurant said May 30.) No preliminary opening date was listed. Borgstrom did not immediately return a phone call seeking more information. Waukesha is already home to at least 18 Mexican restaurants and food trucks, compared with only a handful a quarter-century ago. Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Las Cazuelas Mexican restaurant planned for old Waukesha eatery site
New Indian Express
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Pune Highway Team Interview: India has so many stories waiting to be told
The trailer of Rahul DaCunha and Bugs Bhargava's upcoming murder-mystery Pune Highway chooses to not reveal much. It features a frenzied, musical repetition of four words, Hansi (Laughter), Dosti (Friendship), Khoon (Murder) and Kaun (Who) combined with visuals of the main characters—all packaged under two minutes. At a time when trailers are often accused of laying bare the entire film, the makers of Pune Highway make sure to just give an enticing glimpse into its world. It was Rahul and Bugs' advertising experience that made them go for a crisper cut. 'Our film is made in such a way that if anything is revealed, it will ruin the experience. So, we decided to cut a trailer that only gives an essence of the film,' says Bugs, known for directing thrillers like Barot House (2019) and Nail Polish (2021). Pune Highway is adapted from a play of the same name, originally written by Rahul, where Bugs played one of the characters. It was in 2006 that Bugs first suggested Rahul to make it into a film. Then, what took twenty years? 'Rahul making up his mind,' Bugs says with a laugh. Rahul, who is making his debut as a director, admits that he was scared of the medium initially. With the rise of OTT platforms, he found it easier to make the film. 'Streaming platforms don't seem as intimidating. It gives a feeling that my kind of film will eventually find a place somewhere instead of just being sent to festivals,' he reasons, adding that they eventually decided to release it in theatres for the experience it carries. Initially, when Rahul started thinking of adapting the play, he dabbled with the thought of setting the film in one room. However, he decided to break that continuum and visualise it differently for the screen. 'We have retained the core idea of the play. However big it has been shot, it still feels that the film was born from a personalisation of the play,' Rahul says. The film stars Jim Sarbh, Amit Sadh, Anuvab Pal, Manjari Fadnnis, Ketaki Narayan, Sudeep Modak, Swapnil Ajgaonkar and Rajit Kapur in pivotal roles. Jim, apart from his stint in films, has been part of various plays too. The actor feels that the approach slightly changes when acting for the two mediums. 'It is a matter of volume. Acting in a huge theatre with 2,000 seats, there are certain movements that need to be stretched to engage people all the way in the back. However, doing the same in front of a camera in a close-up shot would look obscene,' he says. Jim also feels that the way everyone reacts to a performance is subjective. He shares an anecdote when he performed a play by 'being' in the moment and 'feeling' every note deeply, yet it wasn't enough. 'I left the stage thinking that the director would praise me for it. But, instead the director comes over and is like, 'Why are you ruining my play?'', Jim shares, contrasting it with some other days when he would not really be feeling in-tune with his character and just go back to muscle memory to perform. 'On such days, the director will come to you and be like, 'The best show you've ever done was today'', he says. 'So, this emphasis on 'what I feel inside while performing' is sometimes not necessary.' The actor recently also ventured into production as he backed two regional films that went on to receive international acclaim. One of them, the Marathi film, Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears), won the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival 2025 and the other one being a Bengali film, Baksho Bondi, starring Tillotama Shome, which premiered at Berlin Film Festival. His decision to support these projects stems from his belief in the diversity of stories in India. 'I think there are so many interesting stories just waiting to be told from all over the country. The more we explore these kinds of stories, the happier we will all be,' he says. Will that also make us better as an industry? 'I don't think it's a question of better or worse. You should just try to help films that you want to see. So, this is something that I want to see. It's just that simple,' he concludes.
Economic Times
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
Things film school never told me about making a movie
Live Events It was in 2022 that Bugs Bhargava Krishna suggested we convert my play, Pune Highway , into a movie. 'It's cinematic. The time is right. Audiences are hankering for good stories, and OTT is here to stay,' he said, adding, 'But can you raise the dosh? It will then truly be an independent film . We make the movie on our terms - no interference, no committees, and we take as long as we want.'I sold my mother's jewellery, comprising one ring and a necklace. 'You have the money, Rahul?' my father asked, through steely eyes. 'I'm not lending you moolah for a film about three buddies. If you add some dames, you can break one of my FDs.' Fair enough.'Any item numbers?' I shook my head vociferously. 'So, it's an 'inty' film?' - his abbreviation for 'intellectual' meets 'intense'. 'What's the film about?' he asked.'Pune Highway is a crime thriller , a buddy mystery... a whodunnit that morphs into a whydunit.''Stop quizzing him, Sylvie,' my mom said. 'We have an early Jehangir Sabavala bought for ₹740 in 1950. It'll be worth significantly more now.'Bugs and I sallied forth towards the windmills. I was armed with Syd Field knowledge, lots of advice from 'legends', and even a course at FTII. Bugs is three films old. We were ready, and everything made sense. day we began one told me that an 8 am-8 pm outdoor shooting shift in December isn't 12 hours. A late sunrise means you begin shooting at 10 am, and an early sunset means pack-up is at 6 one told me that, as you're fighting to finish the day's work, the sun is setting. But at that moment: a plane flies overhead; the camera's memory card is full; an actor asks you a question; the sun disappears, and you don't have all the shots you one told me you can spend two days capturing a sequence on camera, only to ruthlessly chop it out of the film during editing. 'We wear one hat while we shoot, and another when we edit,' Bugs told film institute warns you that the process of making a movie can take 21/2 years, from screenplay to show timings, from page to one ever told me that your independent film is up against the tsunami called 'distraction'. The same weekend you plan to launch in cinemas, you might come up against an SRK starrer, a Southern remake, or a horror comedy... or a war thingie going on trailer may be trippy. But will the audiences come? All the rules I've learnt in advertising hold me in good stead. You've got to somehow cut through the clutter. 'Why should I watch your film?' 'Does it have songs?' 'Does it have stars?' I am asked. What I do know is: it's a captivating no one told me is there's an insidious component called P&A. I thought I was done paying once the film was ready. No such luck. Paul Anderson, director of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood, once famously said, 'Only 40% of filmmaking is the actual film.'And no one warned me that it comes down to one Friday, your release Friday. No one ever warned me that tickets go up for sale 48 hours where will we be next weekend? Bugs and I will be running all over town, catching shows at Metro in Malad, maybe hopping across the highway to Pune to sit among cinema-goers to get a genuine feel: Are they laughing? Are they on the edge of their seats? Are they busy trying to guess the killer? No one warned me that 10 days from release, India would bomb terrorist camps in on that critical Saturday, on May 17, while hopefully hordes will throng to cinemas to catch my debut film, where will I be? Well, I'll be at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, watching Guns N' Roses.
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Things film school never told me about making a movie
It was in 2022 that Bugs Bhargava Krishna suggested we convert my play, Pune Highway , into a movie. 'It's cinematic. The time is right. Audiences are hankering for good stories, and OTT is here to stay,' he said, adding, 'But can you raise the dosh? It will then truly be an independent film . We make the movie on our terms - no interference, no committees, and we take as long as we want.' #Operation Sindoor India-Pakistan Clash Live Updates| Pak moving troops to border areas? All that's happening Why India chose to abstain instead of 'No Vote' against IMF billion-dollar funding to Pakistan How Pak's jihadi general Munir became trapped in his own vice I sold my mother's jewellery, comprising one ring and a necklace. 'You have the money, Rahul?' my father asked, through steely eyes. 'I'm not lending you moolah for a film about three buddies. If you add some dames, you can break one of my FDs.' Fair enough. 'Any item numbers?' I shook my head vociferously. 'So, it's an 'inty' film?' - his abbreviation for 'intellectual' meets 'intense'. 'What's the film about?' he asked. 'Pune Highway is a crime thriller , a buddy mystery... a whodunnit that morphs into a whydunit.' 'Stop quizzing him, Sylvie,' my mom said. 'We have an early Jehangir Sabavala bought for ₹740 in 1950. It'll be worth significantly more now.' Live Events Bugs and I sallied forth towards the windmills. I was armed with Syd Field knowledge, lots of advice from 'legends', and even a course at FTII. Bugs is three films old. We were ready, and everything made sense. Until... ...the day we began shooting. No one told me that an 8 am-8 pm outdoor shooting shift in December isn't 12 hours. A late sunrise means you begin shooting at 10 am, and an early sunset means pack-up is at 6 pm. No one told me that, as you're fighting to finish the day's work, the sun is setting. But at that moment: a plane flies overhead; the camera's memory card is full; an actor asks you a question; the sun disappears, and you don't have all the shots you want. No one told me you can spend two days capturing a sequence on camera, only to ruthlessly chop it out of the film during editing. 'We wear one hat while we shoot, and another when we edit,' Bugs told me. No film institute warns you that the process of making a movie can take 21/2 years, from screenplay to show timings, from page to poster. No one ever told me that your independent film is up against the tsunami called 'distraction'. The same weekend you plan to launch in cinemas, you might come up against an SRK starrer, a Southern remake, or a horror comedy... or a war thingie going on outside. Your trailer may be trippy. But will the audiences come? All the rules I've learnt in advertising hold me in good stead. You've got to somehow cut through the clutter. 'Why should I watch your film?' 'Does it have songs?' 'Does it have stars?' I am asked. What I do know is: it's a captivating story. What no one told me is there's an insidious component called P&A. I thought I was done paying once the film was ready. No such luck. Paul Anderson, director of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood, once famously said, 'Only 40% of filmmaking is the actual film.' And no one warned me that it comes down to one Friday, your release Friday. No one ever warned me that tickets go up for sale 48 hours before. So, where will we be next weekend? Bugs and I will be running all over town, catching shows at Metro in Malad, maybe hopping across the highway to Pune to sit among cinema-goers to get a genuine feel: Are they laughing? Are they on the edge of their seats? Are they busy trying to guess the killer? No one warned me that 10 days from release, India would bomb terrorist camps in Pakistan. So, on that critical Saturday, on May 17, while hopefully hordes will throng to cinemas to catch my debut film, where will I be? Well, I'll be at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, watching Guns N' Roses.
Hamilton Spectator
04-05-2025
- Automotive
- Hamilton Spectator
Do you know what a VW Squareback is? Would you expect it to be … electric?
You can't tell what's the most unique about Steve Payne's 1972 VW Squareback from its appearance. Granted, it's a fairly rare car and has a cool retro patina, but what makes it truly unusual is that it's fully electric. Payne's a partner in Beachman , with Ben Taylor, a Toronto company that builds café racer e-bikes and offers electrified conversions of motorcycles and cars. His interest in vintage cars and motorcycles started long before the company's inception and his interest in electrifying them. 'I'm a VW guy by nature and have owned Bugs and buses from the '60s on. This car is a 1972 Type 3 that was only made for a couple of years. It was basically a barn find. Someone parked it at an airbase and left it for 20 years. The patina is atypical for these cars. Normally, the floors rust off, but with this one, the rust started on the roof from snow. It's really, really solid underneath. Someone bought it and was going to make it a project, then lost interest. I watched the ad sit on Marketplace for months. It had a hefty price, and I finally called the guy, said this was my price and I'd take it. That was a year and a half ago. It had the original motor with automatic transmission, but was non-running. It was an early fuel-injection motor, but it would have cost $500 for basic parts just to make it run, and the transmission was pretty anemic. I sold the original engine and transmission to another VW fan for half of what I paid for the car. I had a motor for a 2012 Gen One Nissan Leaf (an all-electric car produced since 2010) and as fortune had it, the early Leaf motors are easily configurable to weird spaces. The VW's original pancake motor was under the trunk and hidden away. All the Leaf components fit perfectly. It's entirely electric, with a custom subframe and CV axles for direct drive to the rear wheels. I went to school to become a motorcycle mechanic in my early 20s, but couldn't find an apprenticeship. I went into a completely different career and became an audio editor in the TV industry, but kept working on bikes on the side. I always had a motorcycle I was tinkering on. Before my wife and I had kids (ages eight and 10), I came across an ad for a Bug. I knew nothing about them, but I showed the ad to my wife and she said, 'Go get it!' I drove to London, Ontario, bought it and drove it home, and it broke down the second I got into my driveway. I didn't have a clue about the multitude of problems they had, but it put me in the world of air-cooled classic VWs and I met guy in my neighbourhood who had three or four VW buses. Then I started looking for a bus, found a cheap on that had been abandoned and have had five or six over time, including one I have now. I did my first electric car conversion before I did bikes. I bought a '72 Bug and it ran fine, but I enjoy a challenge. Lithium batteries were around then, but completely unattainable cost-wise, so conversions were being done with marine batteries. I found a starter airplane engine and went to Costco and bought a bunch of 12-volt batteries and wired them up. There were no YouTube videos then, so I'd go on online forums and learned things along the way. I converted the Bug, drove it for a year, then sold it. It was worth more with the original gas motor, so I converted it back. Driving the Squareback is an unbelievably cool experience. It's rear-wheel drive and has a 14Kw battery pack instead of the original 24Kw, as the VW is inherently a lighter car. It's becoming my favourite car ever. It's so peppy, responsive, it drives great. I'll let people take it around the block and they are shocked when they push on the gas. It pushes you back, but won't break your neck. I make sure the horn works, as people don't hear you backing up in parking lots. It's unassuming, and the dashboard looks original. Other than one little screen with the battery status, you wouldn't know it has any upgrades. I can top it up at any Level 2 charging station and I have a Level 1 station at home. It has a range of 100 kilometres, but it was never supposed to be a range car or one I wanted to take on the highway, even though I could. Like the e-bikes we build, it's meant to be an in-town car. It's my daily driver for three seasons. I put it away in cold season to protect it from salt. It's my guinea pig, my prototype for car conversions. I've had a 1978 VW bus for 10 years and it's the best minivan ever. I put a Subaru gas engine in it to make it more reliable, and I have a Model S Tesla small drive unit earmarked for it. My other car is a '87 Porsche 924 that fell into my lap. It had no engine, no transmission but the body was good, so it was crying out, 'Come on! Turn me electric!,' so I have a 2019 110 kW Leaf motor for it that will be rear-mounted. One of my kids has earmarked the bus as his future vehicle and the other wants the Porsche. But the Squareback will always be around. Now different cars are showing up at our shop for conversions and figuring out the conversions is good for the brain. It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
