He came, he saw, he logged out...

The jinx is finally broken?

2012-01-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

After my rant exactly a year ago, the "jinx" finally seems to be broken! For the first time since 2002, someone other than well-past-his-prime-as-a-leading-actor Amitabh Bacchan, performs-well-but-gets-awarded-for-the-weirdest-roles Hrithik Roshan and I-yam-the-self-proclaimed-khinggg SRK has won the Best Actor at Filmfare. Lets give a round of applause to the David who managed to defeat these Goliaths - Ranbeer Kapoor. Janardhan Jakkhad has managed to do what people like DJ, Radhey Mohan, Munnabhai, and Chulbul Pandey couldnt! Hopefully, this isnt a one-off year when the choices are sane and this will usher in a new era of unbiased and non-SRK-in-hammy-self-anointed-king-role-winning-for-bullshit awards!

The Filmfare winners this year are given below. My choices can be seen here.

BEST FILM : Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
BEST DIRECTOR : Zoya Akhtar for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

BEST ACTOR : Ranbir Kapoor for Rockstar
BEST ACTRESS : Vidya Balan for The Dirty Picture
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE : Farhan Akhtar for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE : Rani Mukerji for No One Killed Jessica
BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR : A.R. Rahman for Rockstar
BEST LYRICS : Irshad Kamil for "Naadaan Parindey" from Rockstar
BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (MALE) : Mohit Chauhan for "Jo Bhi Main" from Rockstar
BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (FEMALE) : Rekha Bhardwaj and Usha Uthup for "Darling" from 7 Khoon Maaf
Best Debut (Male): Vidyut Jhamwal for Force
Best Debut (Female): Parineeti Chopra for Ladies vs Ricky Bahl
Best Debut Director : Abhinay Deo for Delhi Belly
RD Burman Award for upcoming talent in field of music: Krsna for Tanu Weds Manu
Best Film (Critics): Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Actor (Critics): Ranbir Kapoor for Rockstar
Best Actor Female (Critics): Priyanka Chopra for 7 Khoon Maaf

Best Dialogue: Farhan Akthar for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Screenplay : Akshat Verrma for Delhi Belly
Best Story: Sanjay Chauhan for I Am Kalam
Best Production Design: Shashank Tere for Delhi Belly
Best Editing: Huzefa Lokhandwala for Delhi Belly
Best Cinematography: Carlos Catalan for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Background Score: Ranjit Barot for Shaitan
Best Sound Design: Nakul Kamte for Don 2
Best VFX: Red Chillies VFX for Ra.One
Best Action: Action Concepts for Don 2
Best Choreography: Bosco-Caesar for "Senorita" for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Costume: Niharika Khan for The Dirty Picture

Fire in the belly

2012-01-29T01:31:00.000-08:00

I had not expected Karan Johar to back such an intense, gritty film, and I am pleasantly surprised he did! Agneepath is a difficult film to make, especially since the original, in spite of being a pretty bad movie with hammy performances, continues to live in memory of the audience. Kudos to Johar and director Karan Malhotra for making their own film borrowing only the basic theme of the original!

Agneepath is NOT your quintessential masala potboiler. Whoever claims it is probably does not know what a quintessential masala potboiler means! It is a dark revenge drama, replete with excellent performances, strong but rarely over-the-top dialogue and above all, hardcore, earthy action. The direction is really good, especially for a newcomer, and it is to the director's credit that he manages to extract focused performances from pretty much the entire cast! Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala is a knockout, and it is wonderful to see him play an out-and-out negative character at this stage of his career, not bothering about screen image and length of role. THIS is how a superstar ought to age! Sanjay Dutt is brilliant as Kancha and invokes terror every time he is on screen. His expressions, his dialogues and his overall demeanor are worthy of a villain and after the Munnabhai series and Vaastav, this is another performance of his that will be remembered for years! Hrithik Roshan carries off the main protagonist's role with a lot of intensity and pathos. His eyes speak when his lips dont and not giving him too many lines is a masterstroke, for I have always found Hrithik weak in the dialogue delivery department. He tends to mumble a lot and comes off as incoherent when given too many complex lines to deliver. Which is why he excels even more in this role which needs him to talk less and emote more. That he is brilliant at the latter is no secret and he proves it once again with a near flawless performance. Its just the end of the first month of the new year and we already have a couple of brilliant, award-worthy performances from Agneepath! Chetan Pandit as Master Deenanath Chauhan and Arish Bhivandiwala as the young Vijay are really good in their roles too. Cinematography is brilliant and complements the proceedings very well. The dialogues deserve special mention for being impactful without going over the top even once.

Now to the downers. Priyanka Chopra sticks out like a sore thumb in this mammoth cast and in spite of having almost nothing to do, still manages to botch it up by acting like someone who needs to be in a mental asylum. Once a competent actress, she has surprisingly lost all talent since 7 Khoon Maaf, which was perhaps the high-point of her career, acting-wise. Zarina Wahab playing Vijay's mother, has to make do with a confusing role and although she doesnt do a bad job, you cant really tell what her issue in life is. Does she not realize why her son is doing what he is doing? Does she not know a way of trying to stop him from being bad? Does she not want her daughter to never know about Vijay? Maybe she is supposed to be confused, but she comes off as indifferent, due to the poorly sketched role. The songs act like speed-breakers and at times, spoil the realistic portrayal of the story. Gun Guna is idiotic and takes the movie down a notch or two while it is on. Chikni Chameli is energetic but wasted. Shah Ka Rutba has some unintentionally funny choreography, although it goes well with the proceedings. Deva Shree Ganesha is superbly picturized and aptly used in the pre-climax. The background score is top notch and fits the mood of the movie. Action is excellent and, with the exception of one hilarious bit in the climax, takes the movie to a different level altogether. Thankfully, it is not over the top and very believable, which is a relief after watching some ridiculously choreographed set pieces in Bodyguard et al.

Ultimately, Agneepath is an action drama with a strong story and commendable performances. Its violent, yes, but its also gripping and in spite of being almost 3 hrs long, manages to hold your interest for almost all the time, which in itself is no mean feat. In times when good, sensible movies are few and far between, Agneepath is one movie that gives you pretty much all you could hope for from an action drama.

Bye bye 2011

2011-12-29T02:50:00.000-08:00

The year is almost over and its time to wrap up with lists and awards. So, here they are :)

My favorite movies of the year
1. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - Amazing!
2. I Am Kalam - Simple and beautiful
3. Pyaar Ka Punchnama - Packed with punches and so relatable
4. Dhobi Ghat - Poignant and impactful
5. Rockstar - So much pathos!
6. Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster - Delicious and raunchy
7. Delhi Belly - Haha-fest
8. Saat Khoon Maaf - An interesting experiment
9. Yeh Saali Zindagi - Twist-filled story with Irfan on top
10. Shaitan - Zany
11. Ladies vs Ricky Bahl - Fun of the Lol Dimpy variety
12. Ready - Salman-tertainment

The worst movies this year according to me
1. Ra.One - Yuck!
2. Dum Maaro Dum - Shit-fest
3. Damadamm - Unbearable!
4. Singham - Not everyone can do a Dabangg!
5. Game - Why waste money on an Abhishek starrer, Farhan?
6. Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap - Terrible disservice to the legend that is Big B
7. Bodyguard - What the fuck were they thinking?
8. Mere Brother Ki Dulhan - Terrible acting by a bunch of non-actors
9. Don 2 - Yawn! Making a sequel is not mandatory, Mr Akhtar! And save the facial contortions for your mime shows Mr. Khan.
10. Mausam - Soooo slow and full of holes!

And now for the awards....

Best Film
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Pyaar Ka Punchnama
Delhi Belly
Dhobi Ghat
I Am Kalam

Best Director
Zoya Akhtar - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Bijoy Nambiar - Shaitan
Kiran Rao - Dhobi Ghat
Nila Madhab Panda - I Am Kalam
Luv Ranjan - Pyaar Ka Punchnama

Best Actor
Hrithik Roshan - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Ranbir Kapoor - Rockstar
Prateik Babbar - Dhobi Ghat
Shahid Kapoor - Mausam
Harsh Mayar - I Am Kalam

Best Actress
Priyanka Chopra - Saat Khoon Maaf
Vidya Balan - The Dirty Picture
Mahie Gill - Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster
Katrina Kaif - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Vidya Balan - No One Killed Jessica

Best Supporting Actor
Farhan Akhtar - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Divyendu Sharma - Pyaar Ka Punchnama
Kunal Roy Kapoor - Delhi Belly
Randeep Hooda - Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster
Rajeev Khandelwal - Shaitan
Gulshan Grover - I Am Kalam

Best Supporting Actress
Monica Dogra - Dhobi Ghat
Kalki Koechlin - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Rani Mukherjee - No One Killed Jessica
Parineeti Chopra - Ladies vs Ricky Bahl
Poorna Jagannathan - Delhi Belly

Best Music
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Ram Sampat - Delhi Belly
Harris Jayraj - Force
A R Rehman - Rockstar
Amit Trivedi - No One Killed Jessica
Sohail Sen - Mere Brother Ki Dulhan
Sachin Jigar - Shor In The City

Best Song (Couldnt decide at all! They are all so good! Help me!)
Character Dheela - Ready
Sadi Gali - Tanu Weds Manu
Te Amo - Dum Maaro Dum
Saibo - Shor In The City
D K Bose - Delhi Belly
Der Lagi Lekin - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Teri Meri - Bodyguard
Sadda Haq - Rockstar
Ooh La La - The Dirty Picture

Best Male Playback Singer
Lehmber Hussainpuri - Sadi Gali : Tanu Weds Manu
Ash King - Te Amo : Dum Maaro Dum
Neeraj Shridhar - Character Dheela : Ready
Ram Sampath - D K Bose : Delhi Belly
Mohit Chauhan - Khwabon Ke Parinday : Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Shankar Mahadevan - Der Lagi Lekin : Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Ash King - I Love You : Bodyguard
Ali Zafar - Madhubala : Mere Brother Ki Dulhan
Mohit Chauhan - Jo Bhi Main : Rockstar
Mohit Chauhan - Sadda Haq : Rockstar
A R Rehman, Javed Ali, Mohit Chauhan - Kun Faya Kun : Rockstar

Best Female Playback Singer
Shreya Ghoshal - Saibo : Shor In The City
Alyssa Mendonsa - Khwabon Ke Parinday : Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Shreya Ghoshal - Saathiya : Singham
Neha Bhasin - Dhunki : Mere Brother Ki Dulhan
Bombay Jayshri - Chahoon Bhi To : Force
Shreya Ghoshal - Main Chali : Force
Harshdeep Kaur - Katiya Karoon : Rockstar
Shreya Ghoshal - Ooh La La : The Dirty Picture

Drum Roll

2011-12-10T11:42:00.001-08:00

This post comes a bit late. But nevertheless, I am happy to announce that I had entered a couple of posts (this one and this one) from this blog for the Reel Life Bloggers contest by wogma and reviewgang and the Guilty Pleasures post won some recognition in the contest :) You can read more here.

After last year's Top Bollywood blog award, this comes as another pleasant surprise and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the readers of this blog. It is you and recognition like this that keep me going :) Thank you! :)

Con-Test

2011-12-10T01:06:00.001-08:00

The Band Baaja Baaraat team is back this December and although Ladies vs Ricky Bahl is no patch on the super-entertainer from last year, its a pretty decent one-time watch. Generously borrowing its plot from Marathi play To Mee Navech, Hollywood turkey John Tucker Must Die, Jeffrey Archer's book Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less and YRF's very own Bachna Ae Haseenon and Bunty Aur Babli, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl manages to hold its own for more than 2 hours without inciting a yawn from you and that in itself is no mean feat!

The story is quite predictable, but the cons, although not totally believable, are well-written and engaging. The first half is a breeze except for the songs which stick out like a sore thumb. The second half is bumpy but not too stretched, and since there's an agenda all through the movie, time passes by pretty quick. The dialogues are quite good and the screenplay, although hardly believable, is taut and doesnt even pretend to make sense, and that works in its favor. The acting is okay-okay. Ranveer Singh does decently but cannot recreate the Bittoo magic. Anushka Sharma looks emaciated and pretty much indifferent in her role. Dipannita Sharma is monotonous while Aditi Sharma fits her part perfectly. Parineeti Chopra is the life of the movie and steals the show completely! She is amazing as the Delhi girl and brings the house down every time she speaks. Here's one actress with some sense of comic timing and hope she gets more roles to showcase her talent. The music is a huge disappointment - barring Jigar Da Tukda to an extent, all other songs fail - on the eyes as well as the ears. The climax is a cop-out and the conventional treatment could have been avoided. But in spite of all its drawbacks, the movie is a fun ride. If not for anything else, do check it out for the new kid on the block - Parineeti Chopra! She maybe Priyanka Chopra's cousin, but she has the capacity to leave her more celebrated cousin behind with her spunk and non-fake attitude!

The Busty Picture

2011-12-03T01:00:00.000-08:00

Cleavage, boobage and thunder thighs - the life of an erstwhile silver-screen temptress is told through as many body parts as possible and while that in itself is not an issue, the corny template-ish treatment definitely is, and that is what made me walk out from the theatre un-moved after the movie ended. The premise is interesting, and so is the acting, but what kills this movie is the Madhur Bhandarkar-ish treatment which makes it a very un-entertaining, long drawn and unrelatable saga of make-believe pathos.

That Silk is played by Vidya Balan with loads of courage and spunk helps the movie a lot. Supporting her ably are brilliant actors like Nasseeruddin Shah, as a lecherous superstar and Emraan Hashmi as a I hate you (like I love you) arty director. And although both do a good job, their characters are half-baked because the director is in a hurry to pack an entire lifetime of the actress and wants to do it hurriedly when not required, while taking his time when totally unnecessary. The movie begins well, but loses its way soon after the intermission and goes totally haywire by the time it ends. Its not a particularly bad movie - the over-the-top dialogues and Vidya Balan ensure that much. But it makes the one cardinal sin that no movie should make - it gets boring very quickly and stays that way till the end. And ultimately, it is so busy focussing on other stuff that it forgets giving enough footage to invoking sympathy for the actress and her feelings.

I know this movie got great reviews and has raked in a lot of moolah, and I am happy to see it do that. If only we had a more heartfelt film with less weirdness like that forced cabaret dance-off and the silly red saree metaphor, it would have felt much better. Alas, the year has pretty much ended the way it began with No One Killed Jessica - another brilliant idea gone all ho-hum due to less-than-able direction and screenplay.

A flawed piece of art

2011-11-12T02:18:00.001-08:00

Imtiaz Ali, A R Rehman and Ranbir Kapoor - take a bow! It takes guts to make a movie like Rockstar and although the movie is far from a masterpiece, its a class apart from most movies we have seen this year. Rockstar is, at its core, a love story, and yet, when have we last seen a love story portrayed so unconventionally? Rockstar brings back images of Dev D, and while it fails to rise to the dizzy heights of the latter, mainly due to a fractured screenplay and the interminably long second half, it does manage to make its mark in a big way.

Rockstar is carried beyond the safety line by the simply outstanding Ranbir Kapoor. He is a powerhouse of talent and showcases such a wide range of emotions that you cant help but admire this 4 year old actor for his guts and talent. Any other actor in this role would have failed to do justice to the part! And to think that Imtiaz Ali had written the role with John Abraham in mind! Thank God John did not understand the script and rejected the movie! Itna layered role kisi wooden block ke bas ki baat nahin! Kumud Mishra does a fab job as Khatana bhai. Piyush Mishra is effective as Dhingra, while Aditi Rao, the bhabhi from Genda Phool in Delhi 6, is decent. Its nostalgic to see Shammi Kapoor on screen and his jugalbandi with Ranbir, although shortlived, is a delight to watch! Nargis Fakhri is perhaps the biggest flaw in the movie - she is terribly miscast in a meaty role that she cant carry off for the life of her! She looks sweet in a couple of scenes and tries to act coy when the script demands, but her dialogues delivery and emoting is so flat, that she takes the movie a few notches down with her. A much better actress was the need of the hour and someone like Mahie Gill would have added so much to the movie! Alas, the die has been cast and much of the flak for the failure (yes, I dont see this movie making much money or gaining much following amongst the audience. I hope I am proved wrong though!) will have to be burdened by Nargis. Imitaz Ali does a fine job of portraying pathos and pain and gets a stellar performance out of Ranbir. The first half especially is not only poignant but also quite enjoyable. The second half, on the other hand, suffers from too much diversion and is stretched endlessly, meandering from pointless to shocking. Nevertheless, its the director's vision, even though flawed, so we dont have a say in how the movie should have been.

Last but not the least, A R Rehman's music is as much a character as Ranbir's Jordan in the movie! The songs are a heady mix of soulful, melodious and rebellious, and move the story forward beautifully. All songs sound so much better on-screen and enrich the narrative immensely. Cinematography is fitting and almost every frame looks beautiful without looking fake.

Rockstar is not for people seeking entertainment or logic. Its for those of us who enjoy the journey more than the destination. Not many movies absorb you into their guts and then, when they let go, you are compelled to carry at least a bit of them with you, forever. Rockstar may not strike a pot of gold, but it makes room in a small corner of the heart, and that is an accolade few movies earn!

No.One

2011-10-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Lets begin with saying that Ra.One is not as big a disaster as it is being made out to be - not because it is making so much money (although it's going to be tough to recover all its costs) and also not because it is a great film. Only that, in a world of Bodyguards and Readys, I am willing to give a substandard movie a chance. The VFX in places are very good, and a couple of scenes even leave an impact. What lets the movie down is ...well...everything else.

I am willing to suspend disbelief and grant cinematic liberties to the makers and ignore a lot of blunders. For instance,

1. Why would anyone make a game where the hero and villain are guaranteed to reach Level 3, no matter what, and the entire game essentially boils down to a single bullet fight, which can also end in a tie if both miss, or both take out their H.A.R.T.s or both just decide to collaborate and put the players in a quandary?
2. If not wearing your H.A.R.T. means the opposition cant defeat you, why would you carry it with you everywhere? Wouldn't treating it like a horcrux be a better way of dealing with the situation?
3. If Ra.One wants to kill Lucifer, why doesnt he do it on one of the innumerable chances he has?
4. If killing the irritating kid is Ra.One's only aim, why does he have to come up with elaborate and ultra-lame conditions for G.One like saving the local train and the people in it?
5. If the player can only play as G.One, why did they even make a Ra.One suit?
6. Why doesnt anyone miss the Chinese scientist Akashi for 2-3 days until the irritating kid goes back to the lab?
7. Why doesnt the gaming company give a tiny rat's ass about the fact that their latest game lab has been totally destroyed on the night of the game launch and their two chief game developers are dead/missing?
8. Why would you put a Tam-brahm in a coffin and then cremate him?
9. How can an android not be detected by metal detectors?
10. Why does Shekhar's Tamil accent come and go as per his whims?

I am willing to disregard all of this and more. Coz its a movie, you are not supposed to think so much. Enjoy what is being shown and have fun. Sure, I am ready to do that. Bring it on!

But...but....where is the fun? Am I supposed to find a kid saying "Condom condom" funny? Is it funny that a game launch party attended by friends and family of the team behind it, is graced by a large number of unwieldy butts? That the developer's wife decides to do away with the remnant of her dress in a party attended by her own 11-year old son so that she can titillate the crowd with her panties playing peek-a-boo? Is it funny that the kid's bday party has a highlight item number by his mom who drops her pallu, coz you know, that's what Indian moms do - they drop their pallus in a family party and dance away, baring massive cleavage? Is it funny that the security guard licks his lips seeing G.One's pierced nipple? Is it funny to grab, kick and generally salivate at the thought of a crotch? Is it funny to videostream a sex-tape of your teacher in class? The simple answer is no!

Coming back to the movie - it is fractured and poorly directed and edited. The dialogues fall flatter than Kangana's chest before she got the boob-job. Yes, I said that, and yes, it is inappropriate but then again, I did not promote my blog for 7 months as a blog for kids and I did not get a U certificate from the censors for the same. That statement is indeed offensive but I never claimed otherwise. So, at least I am not a hypocrite. The acting is horrendous - coming from talented people like SRK and Kareena. And Kareena can be forgiven, coz her role is half-baked and not terribly crucial. But SRK! Why would he make a fool of himself in a movie he has spent 175 crores on! Give me the charming Raj anyday over this pathetic Tamil stereotype character. Arjun Rampal is hardly there. Everyone else is insignificant - even the usually funny Satish Shah. The cameo by Rajnikant is just worthless - what a waste of so much star wattage! The cameos by Sanjay Dutt and PC are funny in parts but marred by horrible gfx and a jackass-like SRK in Veer's costume. The music sucks on screen - Criminal is killed by all that in-your-face booty shaking, while Chammak Challo is murdered by all the cleavage on display.

All said and done, Ra.One is a terrible disappointment - coming from SRK and given the fact he spent 175 crores on it. Its just plain bad - both as a normal movie and as a superhero movie. It has a couple of well done gfx sequences but that's not saying much given the costs. Bad direction, pathetic dialogues and ultimately a very boring movie! Please no sequel, please!

Bawdyguard :|

2011-09-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

Mediocre with no redeeming factors. Ready and Dabangg seem like masterpieces in front of this one. And they are not. Time to reinvent self sir.

Dirty deeds

2011-08-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

As we turned round a corner, I noticed him. He didnt seem much older than me - maybe 2-3 years. We stopped at the signal and that gave me more time to observe. Dirtyish white shirt, worn out pants, a glint in the eye. But the most striking thing was the piece of paper he held in his hands. Tidily written words on it said "Single dad, jobless for 4 months. FINALLY FOUND A JOB. But first pay-day on 12th August. Need money to feed my child. Anything helps." Something about that sign touched me. He wasnt the first jobless person I was seeing in this part of the world. But something in those words told me he was genuine. Maybe it was the "FINALLY FOUND A JOB" or maybe it was the "Single dad". Instinctively, I reached for my pocket to take out a 20 dollar bill, and then came the hesitation - what if he was a phony, what if he was just another junkie trying to dupe people for another pinch of powder, what if he had no intentions of working and was just trying to use his kid to make money, what if he....The signal turned green, my friend accelerated on the pedal of his swanky BMW and we sped away. The pang of regret that crossed my heart was unbearable. My slight hesitation might have cost a young dad and his little kid tonight's dinner. I hope it did not, but I cant cast the "what if" away. The moment is gone. The guilt continues to stay.

You live but once!

2011-07-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

There are few movies that touch something inside you so deeply, you cant help shed a tear or two. There are fewer that make you do so out of self-realization. The last ones I can recall were Rang De Basanti and Dil Chahta Hai. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara joins that elite list now.

How flawless can a script be? How perfect can scenes get? How to do spontaneous, everyday comedy without going over-the-top and without resorting to gimmicks? How to ensure all the protagonists in your movie get their fair share of screen space without making it unfair to the story and the audience? How to blend music so well in your movie, it becomes another character by itself? All these questions and more are answered effectively by Zoya Akhtar and gang in ZNMD! After her lovely debut in Luck By Chance, which I loved immensely and have watched at least 6 times btw, Zoya Akhtar has pulled out all stops to give us a delicious masterpiece! ZNMD is one of those rare films where every character is played spot on by actors who have some acclaimed work to their credit from before and yet who have managed to surpass their own benchmarks with effortless performances. The casting is perfect! I read somewhere that initially the movie was supposed to star Ranbir, Imran and Farhan, and am I glad those two refused the film!! Not to say they are bad actors, its too early in their careers to call them good actors just yet.

Coming back to ZNMD, I have never really liked Hrithik Roshan's performances before, except his beautifully nuanced act in Lakshya (directed by none other than Farhan Akhtar. Coincidence?) and his awesome cameo in Luck By Chance (directed by Zoya. Coincidence?). I always felt he went way over the top even when not required and his charm and body carried it off for him on more occasions than one. But in ZNMD, he is just awesome! Underplaying his character to start with and letting the real Arjun come to the fore later, his transformation is wonderfully captured and the scene in which he cries after experiencing a whole new world while getting rid of his fear for water is simply out of this world! Hrithik does a marvelous job and should be a strong contender at award ceremonies next year (which I am sure will neglect him for doing well in a multi-starrer and give it away to SRK for Ra.One or Don2 :| )

Farhan Akhtar is brilliant as Imran. I cant imagine many other actors who could have done this role better. Maybe Aamir Khan, but Farhan Akhtar brings a certain tempered energy and depth to Imran, that is the mark of a mature actor who knows the demand of the script inside-out. No surprises there since he has written the dialogues. His squabble with Arjun is one of the high-points of the trip and the movie.

Abhay Deol - the emerging Rahul Dravid of Indian cinema - underplays his part just right and brings the vulnerable and suave side of Kabir to the fore with such ease, you cant help but admire his thespian skills! Kabir is the glue that holds the group, the trip and the movie together, and although it is a bit of a thankless role with lesser shades than the other two, its made tremendously enjoyable by Abhay.

Katrina Kaif is pitch-perfect in an extended cameo, essentially playing the catalyst in the story. Her scenes with Hrithik are mesmerizing. Kalki Koechlin is a fine actress and does her job wonderfully well! Her lip-syncing to rock chick is hilarious and so real! Ariadna Cabrol, who looks stunning btw, draws the boys and us like a moth to flame. She is just wow! Naseeruddin Shah is dependable as always in a crucial cameo while Deepti Naval is effective too.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy give us songs that will stay anthems for a long time to come. Be it the spirited Kab Tak Gine Hum Dhadkanein, or the peppy Suraj ki baahon mein, or the foot-tapping Paint It Red, or the philosophical Der Lagi Lekin, or the beautiful Khaabon Ke Parinday, or the utterly enjoyable and wonderful Senorita, they elevate the movie to a different level altogether with each tune. The Senorita song especially is so well picturised, its as if you are there, sitting in the audience, watching your friends play fool in a public performance! Farhan Akhtar's poetry is deep and meaningful - unlike say, the smart-ass lines said by guide Rehan in that monstrosity called Fanaa. Cinematography by Carlos Catalan is top notch - Spain is on my list of next destinations! Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti have written a fabulous script, and Zoya does full justice to it with her flawless direction.

And finally, the philosophy of the movie is what makes it what it is! For how many of us have really been happy, and I mean really happy, from the inside, on getting every paycheck? In a world that teaches us to keep fighting to stay afloat, and by afloat I mean chase a billion after you have reached a million, ZNMD is a whiff of fresh air that tells you to...well go get some fresh air for yourself and your soul. You deserve it because its you who decides what you deserve and what you dont! :)

Guilty pleasures

2011-07-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

Update : This post is a submission for the Reel-life Bloggers contest by wogma and reviewgang.

Update : The post won an award in the contest :) You can read more here.

While there are a number of classics that everyone digs, we all have our own guilty pleasures - movies that might not have cut ice with many, but ones you can watch with immense enjoyment even if for the hundred and fifteenth time! Had been contemplating writing about some of my guilty pleasures for a while and now that I have gotten around to it, I have decided to go all the way. Hope you have as much fun reading as I had writing :)

Note : These are not necessarily my all-time favorite movies. These are simply movies that were either heavily panned by critics or majorly rejected by audiences or both and yet ones I watched again...and again...and again! There are (much) better movies out there and definitely ones that I enjoy more! So, presenting, in no particular order....

1. Main Hoon Naa

Classic masala movie! Absolutely loved the references to and digs at old and new movies alike! Farah Khan cooked up a snazzy story of long-lost half-brothers, appropriately called Ram and Laxman, with a Raa(gha)van lurking around trying to stop an Indo-Pak friendship gesture for personal vendetta! A remarkably spoofy script, deliberate corny dialogues, foot-tapping tunes by Anu Malik and a lovable larger-than-life turn by SRK made it one of those (quite a) few movies that I have seen multiple times on the 70 mm screen! The movie did pretty well at the box office but was somehow not loved as much as it deserved to be!

Forgot to mention how much I L-O-V-E Suneil "hamming" Shetty in this one! "May-jjja.....I thot u were the vary bast" :D Oooh, gotta go watch that scene again :D Meanwhile, I'll leave you with one of the best qawwalis of recent times! :)

2. Judwaa

One of the most senseless comedies ever, made not just bearable but stupendously enjoyable, largely because of the charisma of the oh-so-charming Salman Khan! (He looked sweet back then, in the non-beefed up look, doing his stuff like only he can...also back then, it hadnt gotten that repetitive and irritating! :D). The comedy was situational and could have been pretty banal, but for the way Salman and Karishma delivered the most ludicrous lines, making them seem inherently funny! Also, who can forget the bickering inspector-constable duo played by Anupam Kher and Satish Shah! Sparkling stuff! Anu Malik came up with a truly wacky score that still gives me goosebumps every time I hear lines like "Tu meri hai Pepsi-Cola, main tera hoon Coca-Cola" and "Oonchi hai bulding, lift teri band hai" - truly classic! :D

Lotsa memories associated with this movie! Had performed in school gathering on "India Is The Best" :) Check out one of many funny scenes from this howler. (Part upto 3:30 is trite, after is awesomeness!)

3. RHTDM

Hands down the best first 15 mins(part1 and part2) of any movie ever made! Such style, such conflict, near-perfect portrayal of Engineering college campus rivalry and above all, uber-cool Maddy! Rest of the movie is pretty good too altho the climax is tepid. Maddy's love story is ultra-sweet. Music by Harris Jayraj is simply awesome. The lovely Diya Mirza, crack-up-till-you-pee dialogues, an ultra-cocky Hirjee and ultra-sweet Maddy - this ones truly a guilty pleasure. The movie flopped big time on release but has gained a cult following ever since.

4. Salaam-e-Ishq

Heavily panned by critics and rejected by most, and yet I love this movie. Its lengthy yes, and tends to drag after the 2-hour mark, but all the stories are so beautiful, I was willing to sit through it, thrice! I especially enjoy the Govinda-Shannon story and Akshay-Ayesha one. John-Vidya story is probably the best and the most crucial, and it succeeds in making an impact except for the ridiculous Pakistan market scene broadcast live! That's a major WTF moment, but considering its a 3.5 hr long film, its a minor abberation. Salman-Priyanka story had the most potential, being a spoof on the industry and media but somehow fizzles out due to a lukewarm follow-up after a rollicking start. Anil-Juhi-Anjana story is good although a tad too long, while the Sohail-Isha track is howlarious! SEL's music is rocking and some stellar performances carry the movie through to the campy climax which ties all ends together remarkably well, while just managing to not go over-the-top! Nikhil Advani made a noteworthy follow-up to Kal Ho Naa Ho, altho he ripped off a lil bit of Love Actually! But he also managed to make a good film, actually! :D

5. Welcome

This one's Nana Patekar all the way! Uday Shetty sets straight everythng else that's wrong with this film, from Akshay Kumar's pathetic role to some of the hideously tapori dialogues to cringe-worthy romantic scenes, with his spontaneous comedy, delivered in a manner only he can! Anil Kapoor plays a great supporting role and altho he did splendidly in No Entry, here he has to play second fiddle to Nana who is in his element after a long time! Mallika Sherawat delights in a sprightly cameo! Despite the crappy finale, the movie stands on its own due to stellar performances by Nana and Anil!

6. Jaan-e-Mann

This is probably the best and most innovative college campus story told in Bollywood (Sorry team Kuch Kuch Hota Hai!) Shirish Kunder makes a rocking debut as director and gives us this Broadway-esque saga of love and friendship. Supreme performances by (surprise, surprise!) Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar and wonderful melodies by Anu Malik along with the unique story telling style make this a memorable movie! I still cant get why the movie didnt make enough money! It was released during Diwali, most of the ppl who watched it liked it, critics praised it for the new story-telling techniques used and yet the movie ended up an average grosser! :| The competition from Don probably killed its prospects big time! Beautiful movie nevertheless! One of my favorite Salman movies :)

7. Kal Ho Naa Ho

A straight-faced guide to living your life to the fullest no matter what! Kal Ho Naa Ho is probably my favorite SRK movie - I loved him in those tending to larger-than-life and yet human roles. Kal Ho Naa Ho is a true gem, and I have had endless debates with friends about this. What draws me to it every single time I watch it, is the spontaneous and intelligent humor, which doesnt wait for the audience to laugh along but moves on at a brisk pace, and the subtle, underlying message of living your life to the fullest without complaining about what's missing, indeed making the most of what you have. Saif and Preity turned in one of their career-best performances for this one. And although the ending is labored, the impact isnt diluted one bit, at least for me. I am so glad Karan Johar let Nikhil Advani direct this one!

8. Love Aaj Kal

A true ode to love, as seen by our generation and the one before ours. Love Aaj Kal was somehow disliked by many, inspite of making truckloads of money, mostly because people found it fake and pretentious...and boring. And somehow, I found it honest, relatable and very touching! A good example of "to each his own" I guess :) What worked most for me in Love Aaj Kal was the fact that it captures the thoughts of today's youth very well - couples do break up because they dont believe in making long-distance work, couples do try to ensure smooth, hassle-free break-ups and couples do continue to be in love after break-ups if the reason for break-up in the first place was frivolous. Of course, there are tons of examples that point otherwise. The music by Pritam is super, Saif turns in a spirited performance in a smart double role, ably supported by the delightful Rishi Kapoor, and contrary to popular belief, Deepika does her job decently as well, seeming spontaneous and confused, just as the character demanded. The comparison between love of yore and love today is fabulous and the dialogue between the older Veer and younger Jai is superbly written and delivered. One film I can always turn to when I need to wake up the practical romantic in me :)

9. Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local

This one's a riot all the way - superfast, superzany and choc-a-bloc with unconventional comic moments and enough twists to put Race to shame! Abhay Deol is dependable as always in the role of Nilya. Multiple bits and parts players do brilliant jobs - most notably the actors in the roles of Mak, Inspector, hawaldar Tawde and the newly inducted, Rajni-fan constable. Snehal Dabi and Deepak Shirke turn in hilarious extended cameos, while the cleavage-toting Neha Dhupia does surprisingly well too! The movie is a start-to-end caper and, aside from the blatant rip-off scene from Pulp Fiction, everything works perfectly. Sadly, the movie did not do well when released, prime reasons being it wasnt marketed enough and, well, sadly, not everyone makes a beeline at the theater to watch an Abhay Deol starrer.

10. Dus Kahaniyaan

One of the better anthology films made in Bollywood, Dus Kahaniyaan has a few very well made stories along with some mediocre ones and a couple boring/ridiculous ones. The best of the lot are undoubtedly Gubbare starring Nana Patekar - simple, touching and non self-indulgent - and Zahir starring Manoj Vajpayee and Dia Mirza - dark, visceral and ending with a poetic justice. Pooranmasi starring Amrita Singh and Minisha Lamba is really good too. Rice Plate, enacted by stalwarts Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, is interesting, but also a blatant rip-off of an American short film. Matrimony starring Mandira Bedi and Arbaaz Khan is very Jeffrey Archer-ish - short, meaty and with a shocking end. High on the Highway starring Jimmy Shergill and Masumi Makhija talks about the self-indulgence of youth but ends up being too self-indulgent in the way it is presented. Neha Dhupia and Mahesh Manjrekar's Stranger in the Dark starts out as an interesting concept but ends up being a damp squib because of the manipulative end. Sanjay Dutt and Suneil Shetty's grand finale Rise and Fall is a predictable story shot with style and although it doesnt work completely, its not too bad either. Aftab and Anupam Kher's corny and boring Lovedale and Dino Morea's trying-too-hard-to-be-cool-and-hot Sex on the Beach vie for the bottom honors and while Sex on the Beach at least has a hot chick in skimpy clothes throughout, which is scant respite btw, Lovedale fails to engage at all.

Like I said, not all of them work, but the ones that work, work really well. Ultimately, its like reading one of Archer's short stories compilation - you like some, you ignore some. The movie works pretty well in terms of style and content and should have made more money than it did.

11. Socha Na Tha

Its fitting to end the list with Socha Na Tha, Imtiaz Ali's delicious debut about innocent love and arranged marriages. Abhay Deol and Ayesha Takia manage to take your breath away with lovable performances and everyone else chips in to make Socha Na Tha a believable, relatable tale of confused marriageable minds and how things unfurl with time and situation. Ably supported by some lilting music, which includes Socha Na Tha and O Yaara Rab, and some simple dialogues, this one's an absolute delight for true romantics at heart and one of the best movies to come out of Bollywood in the rom-com genre.

There are lot of movies that I enjoy more and tend to watch multiple times but then so do many others and discussing those movies would have been pretty moot. To give an example, I really doubt readers would be interested in me raving about Andaz Apna Apna or Dil Chahta Hai or Rang De Basanti or even Jab We Met, coz they are justified classics and there's no dearth of good stuff on these movies. Like I mentioned before, these are not mere pleasures, these are guilty pleasures - movies I know are flawed in some way or the other, and yet, movies I cant resist enjoying. You know, like that 1600 calorie slice of cheesecake, that you know will reduce your life by a couple of days right away, but one you cant resist letting melt away in the mouth. :)

Koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota...

2011-07-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

Note : The concept of this post was in my mind for 3 weeks, exactly the amount of time I have been in India in this trip, but this brilliant article finally triggered off the actual post.

As I stood in line for the security check at the Mumbai domestic airport, being relentlessly jostled by fellow passengers, each of who, for some reason, seemed to be in more of a hurry than the other, I couldnt help but wonder how people who could afford to buy Rs. 10000 airplane tickets managed to be so uncouth and uncultured when it came to social behavior. And then it occurred to me - I was being such a fool! I have lived in India for 23 years of my life and after only 2 years in the US, I was expecting everyone here in India to act all prim and proper, like the cultured Westerners! Wait! Did I just call the West cultured? Those beer-guzzling, porn-watching, trigger-happy yappies painted as villains and everything that's wrong with the world in Indian media? Well, yes! Coz culture in this context doesnt mean not looking your wife-to-be in the eye in front of your and her parents (when secretly you are trying to picture her in various...err...."fun" costumes) . It means respecting the fact that other individuals are human beings too!

Now before people launch an attack on me and say I have become American, an NRI, no longer fit to be called Indian etc, let me clarify. Yes, we Indians are some of the most genuinely helpful people in the world. Yes, we will ensure a stranger knows exactly how to find his/her way to a new address if they ask us. Yes, we will in general be very nice to our guests and make sure they are comfortable and happy. Yes, we will do all it takes to maintain our relations in the best way possible. But yes, we are also the same people who will never obey a line! Yes, we will try to find loopholes in everything, from tax returns to real estate laws to traffic rules, and exploit them to the maximum. Yes, we will lech and daydream and yet never admit to it. Yes, we will also guzzle beer, watch porn and secretly harbor a wish to possess a firearm just for the sake of feeling macho, and again, in true macho style, never admit to it! Not everyone falls into all of these categories, but most of us fall into at least one of these. And its not all our fault. Lets face it - life in India is a struggle. You have to fight for every little thing that forms part of your day - from the line in the milk store to the line for the bus to finding your way among hundreds of speeding vehicles while trying to cross the road to haggling with the landlord while paying your rent to arguing with the MacDonalds cashier over getting the exact change in return. There are surely many more instances where we have to make a genuine effort just to stay afloat. And its not always about the money - more often than not, its about the feeling it gives you. You dont want to admit defeat and pay 20 bucks extra to the rickshawala because that would mean feeling like a loser for the rest of the week every time you see a rickshaw. Its all in the mind and its all a struggle - all the way.

So, when faced by a demanding situation, like the one I faced at the domestic airport in Mumbai, the natural instinct is to fight and ensure you arent late for your flight, even if take-off is a good 3 hrs away. The stark contrast between the international terminal and the domestic one hit me like a ton of bricks that day. The same Indians who were acting all sophisticated at the international terminal - progressing patiently in the lines, not making loud noises, not trying to tackle the old lady in front of them, not ogling at the hot lady in the low-cut dress - those same people had now become a totally different social organism - pushing at least 3 people simultaneously to ensure their security check happens before everyone around them, elbowing the guy in front to put their bags through the scanner before his, staring deep down the cleavage of a lady who dared to wear that bold an attire to an airport, redefining what a single file means by ensuring there are at least 6 people contesting for every spot in the "single file"! The competition to survive gets to us as soon as we are in an Indian scenario. And what's worse, some of us feel proud of it! We are proud of the fact that we have enough fight to survive in a line for the Mumbai local or in a bid to find a parking spot, even if it is by cutting across someone who came before us.

I loved the "holding the door open for the person after you" example in the article, because it happens to me all the time everytime I visit India! I find myself holding the door open for the people after me and they move out without so much as a cursory glance, and worse still, dont bother holding the door for the person after them! On one occasion, my dad had to chide me to let the door go after around 10 people had walked out without bothering! And this is not about some difficult-to-understand culture, these are simple etiquette, that we Indians surprisingly lack, the moment we find ourselves in an area with majority Indians. I have seen it happen at the Bangalore bus station, I have seen it happen at the Mumbai airport and I have seen it happen at the AMC parking in Santa Clara! Our Indianness comes to the fore right away, coz you know, its survival of the fittest. Sadly, we forget that the "fittest" arent always the happiest.

To wrap up, yes, the Western culture is fake at times, yes a lot of people dont mean to know how your day has been when they ask you "How's it going?", yes they have their issues with family, but yes, they also know how to behave in public, yes they also know why cutting across you in traffic is unfair and yes they know even if they are seventh in the line, its only a matter of minutes before its their turn and jostling will only make things worse and unpleasant for everyone. We Indians are some of the most compassionate people in the world. Unfortunately, we are also probably the most ill-mannered lot. And this can change, but it will take a long time and until the seething anger for disorder, corruption and other man-made issues doesnt abate, its not going to be a reality. The start, as always, should be from ourselves. Ghar ki safai mein haath gande karne ka time aa gaya hai.

Chilled out Disco, Prude wale Khisko

2011-07-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Delhi Belly! What a ridiculously funny and thoroughly enjoyable movie! Another feather in the cap of AK Productions! Its difficult to make a movie of the genre that boasts of classics like Pulp Fiction, Lock,Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. After all, trying to emulate Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino is not a mean task! There's every chance of falling flat on your face. But director Abhinay Deo and writer Akshat Verma perform a fine job of not only sketching a loony story but also fleshing it out on screen with aplomb! Delhi Belly is pathbreaking for Hindi cinema for rarely have you heard such irreverent dialogue delivered so nonchalantly by mainstream actors in a supposedly indie film produced by a leading production house and released in all major centres across India and the world.

Technically, the movie is fine with some razor-sharp editing, stupendous background score, great art direction and a deadly mix of subtle as well as in-your-face dialogue which basically elevates the movie several notches above regular comedies dished out by Bollywood. The music by Ram Sampath is creative and top-notch to say the least with almost all tracks including D K Bose, Jaa Chudail, Switty, Nakkadwaley Disco and the egregiously named I Hate You (Like I Love You) scoring on the ears as well as the eyes. Direction is spot on and although the movie starts off slow, it picks up pace pretty soon and doesnt slow down till the very end.

Of the cast, almost everyone does a near-perfect job. Imran Khan is excellent in the main protagonist's role. Vir Das is brilliant as the poker-faced sidekick while Kunal Roy Kapoor gets a crucial role which he plays with a lot of character. Aamir Khan was interested in playing this role when he read the script and although its a pity he couldnt, since it would have taken a lot of time to put on weight for the film, Kunal makes sure that doesnt have any negative impact. Poorna Jagannathan is hawt in an unconventional female lead while Shenaz is competent. The real scene-stealer though is Vijay Raaz with his wonderfully nuanced and understated act. There are plenty of actors who perform bit roles and have their 15 seconds of fame on screen viz. the "loondry" guy and the pervert landlord. Aamir Khan makes a "Look-I-made-an-insane-movie-and-still-made-you-enjoy-it" appearance in the end in the delightfully choreographed number with the zazzy Anusha Dandekar, which is like a tight slap in the face for the audience - a gift from AK Productions to you - which hurts and still feels good!

Delhi Belly is a fun, well-made movie, and while it may not be the best we have seen this year - Dhobi Ghaat, 7 Khoon Maaf and Yeh Saali Zindagi were probably better products - it is for sure something new and immensely enjoyable. As long as you dont shy away from a few expletives and some toilet humor, go get your dose of gross!

Ready?

2011-06-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

So, the promos made no bones about this one being a typical, masala entertainer fueled by the audience's new-found love for Sallu. But after watching Ready yesterday, I must say I expected the makers to make an effort to exploit Sallu more! The fact that there is a story, silly as it may be, and there are a host of actors who actually get to say funny lines and play a part in the proceedings, came as a pleasant surprise! Lets not get carried away though, for Ready is hardly great, or for that matter even good, cinema. Its not even old wine in a new bottle - more like old wine in an old bottle with a new shining label and elevated brand value.

It would be blasphemy to review the movie since that would mean putting a lot more thought into the review than the makers put in its making, but I am willing to make the effort, even if only for Sallu. I loved the fact that dependable actors like Mahesh Manjrekar, Manoj Joshi, Paresh Rawal and Manoj Pahwa get to play reasonably significant roles and they do pretty well. Most of the rest of the cast is okayish - special metion must be made of the bike riding maid though :D There are plenty of funny gags altho a couple of pathetic scenes stand out like a sore thumb. Like that one involving a kid and pee and a skeleton suit. Not sure who the target audience was for that one! The direction is ho-hum - anyone who knows something about movie making could have directed it. The dialogues are not very funny but the actors put enough conviction in them to make us laugh. The cinematography is nothing we havent seen before, and the editing could have been sharper.

Ultimately what saves Ready is the spate of in-jokes and comic timing of most actors! Sallu's self-digs at Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Prem, his colossal flops Yuvvraaj and Veer, the hit-and-run case and more are quite amusing and make you laugh, even if for their sheer silliness, or at times, the honesty with which Sallu owns up to all accusations made against him. Sample the scene in which he takes his shirt off after his uncle says "Prem, shirt utaarne ka isse acha mauka nahin milega" after the goon's shirt tears, and how it all turns out to be a figment of Asin's imagination, meaning she wants to get a look at the hunk herself :D Also, the way Sallu asks later "Mazaa aaya?" ; its hard to imagine any other actor who can pull this off while being self-critical and brash at the same time. Few such moments aside however, Sallu looks disinterested in the proceedings. Hopefully, Bodyguard will be a welcome change from his bored-looking roles (I have read the story and it has a lot of potential if made well). Asin looks horrible - I was constantly chiding her to go wash her face throughout the movie. Not sure what went wrong with her make-up, coz she's quite pretty otherwise. The music is a mixed-bag. The romantic Humko Pyaar Hua is a yaaaawn and the shaadi song is an exercise in showcasing Sallu's moves. Dhinka Chika and Character Dheela however are superb in terms of picturization and I definitely got my money's worth with those two music videos. The cameos by a horde of actors are fun to watch too!

Ultimately, Ready is a fun, family film that does nothing new and yet ensures you enjoy. I must admit I alternated between being non-plussed and amused, but the rest of the jam-packed theatre was enjoying every bit of the movie. Its all luck - had this movie released 3 yrs earlier, nobody would have seen it. Post-Dabangg, everyone wants a slice of Sallu entertainment. One one hand, its sad Ready will make more money than a lot of Sallu's much better and under-appreciated movies like Jaan-e-Mann and Salaam-e-Ishq, on the other hand, it was fun to watch an entertaining Hindi movie in theaters after so long!

P.S. : Does it seem like I was disinterested when writing this review? Well, can you blame me? :)

Dump Maaro Dump

2011-04-29T01:36:00.001-07:00

Watching Dum Maaro Dum is actually like taking a dump, coz you know "Oonche se ooncha banda, potty pe baithe nanga"(@0:39). Wow! Did I repel you with that first line? Then imagine how the viewers must have felt when this line was repeated 4 times in a hideous non-item song, 1.5 hours into a movie that started with so much promise and by then, had clearly lost its way. But I am getting ahead of myself here, for such movies should be reviewed with relish. So, lets start from the beginning!

DMD starts off as a cool,stylish feature with lots of promise. The first hour, although a little too episodic, is well-paced and manages to hold your interest. And Abhishek's entry heightens the expectations with the proverbial twist in the plot that makes you go "Alright! Now on to the real story!" And that is the last time you can say the words story and DMD in the same line. For the director chooses to show Abhishek, an ACP, rapping on the streets of Goa, while he cleans up the place. And not just rapping mind you, lip-syncing to the rap. Lame would be an understatement. Nevertheless, the movie doesnt nosedive right away, it continues to hold promise, but another 20 minutes later, it is clear that this is going to be a long ride with an utterly unsatisfactory end, coz there is no way they can tie up those loose threads with any credibility whatsoever, especially with the set of writers they have got. What follows is utter boredom, reel after reel showcasing basically nothing. No doubt it takes a lot of talent to show nothing with so much at your disposal, and that is in fact an art, its just not what I paid 12 bucks for! The Dump song is the nadir and the movie can only rise afterwards, which it does. Only it takes awfully long to do that, and by then, you are desperate to get out of the theatre, coz there's only so much of "Baki sabke liye Google hai" (@2:25) that you can take sanely.

Of the cast, Prateik Babbar is a sheer embarrassment, with his whiney, juvenile portrayal of a, well, juvenile! Bipasha Basu is non-existant. (Note to producers : A bikini scene would have enhanced her presence in the movie considerably! Since you anyways decided to give her a weak role, a few more bucks spent on a fancy bikini doesnt seem like such a bad idea now does it?) Rana Who-ggabati is wooden and his dubbing artist is a douchebag. Aditya Pancholi takes hamming and growling to new pathetic levels. Govind Namdeo doesnt. And yes, he hams too! Deepika Padukone's rib-cage is a total turn-off. And my dear AB baby is surprisingly better than most of his other roles. But that's not saying much for someone who has "Dus Ass Wale" Raavan and "Tha Tha Tha" ACP Jay Dixit to his credit. And what's with the incessant referencing to daddy dearest's movies?? Get a life son, and get your own identity. I know a lost cause when I see one and yet I am saying this out of sheer respect for your dad, or what he once was. STAND.UP.ON.YOUR.OWN.FEET.

Technically, the film is superior but when the script is boring, there's little technique can do. Nevertheless, kudos to the team for getting something right. Ultimately, DMD is not even like taking a dump, coz that activity is actually satisfying. Its more like suffering from a severe constipation after eating something that tasted good but left a bad after-taste.

Why?

2011-02-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

Why does the hottest girl in class, who almost never sits next to you for lectures (because there is always a rare exception to the law of averages ), have to come and sit next to you right on the day of your mid-term? And why does she have to look hotter than usual on that day? And why does she have to forget her watch and ask you "How long before the exam begins?"? And why does she have to start chattering nervously about how she couldnt sleep the last night because there was so much to read? And why does she have to be all "Oh! This is sooooo time-consuming! How are we gonna get this done in 70 minutes??" in her cute voice during the exam that only you can hear because you are sitting next to her? And why does she have to forget her calculator and ask if she can borrow yours? And why does she have to bump your elbow with hers just when you are doing an ultra-tricky calculation? And why does she have to giggle when the professor makes a joke about there being only 5 more minutes left? And why does she have to ask you after, how you did in the exam? And why does she have to get a call and leave just before you could ask her name?

So many questions....no answers...none at all.

Filmfcuk awards

2011-01-29T21:13:00.000-08:00

[rant]Alrit, this is gonna be a rant, if the tag wasnt clear enough. That Filmfare Awards are a big joke is no secret, it has been that way for years. In fact, they make this extra effort each year to ensure that everyone who attends returns home happily with a smile on their face and the black lady in their grasp, deserving or undeserving. Then why am I spending so much time talking about these awards if they are so obviously shitty?? The reason is in the last couple of years, it so appeared that the world of Bollywood was changing, people had begun to take note of good movies and real talent and had even started acknowledging them. This was definitely a step in the right direction. I mean any jury that has previously recognized screenplays of movies like Pardes and Kaho Na Pyaar Hai as best screenplays of that year had definitely grown up to acknowledge that Life In A Metro had a better script than Chak De India or Mumbai Meri Jaan was much better written than Fashion or Race! It seemed the jury finally had some sensible people in the team who could understand what the words story or screenplay mean and hence could judge better. But then, looks like the sanity reserved for the finer awards like story, screenplay, background score and cinematography, to name a few, is conveniently dumped when it comes to the popular awards - the ones that create the biggest buzz in the media, and in a sense the ones that matter the most - Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress. And this is precisely where Filmfare continues to be Filmunfair.

Sample this : In the last 15 times out of 20, and in the last 9 times out of 10, the Best Actor trophy has gone to either Big B, SRK or Hrithik! One might argue they are brilliant and consistently come up with great performances, but before we jump the gun, lets take a look at which movies they got these trophies for and who did they "defeat" in the process.

Year 1998 : SRK won the trophy for Dil To Pagal Hai, a movie I love immensely btw, beating Anil Kapoor (Virasat) and Kamal Haasan (Chachi 420) in the process. Agreed, he was good, but was he better than Anil Kapoor? Probably not.

Year 1999 : SRK won again for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, a contrived and manipulative film, which was very enjoyable and a lot of fun. But his Rahul act was defintely not better than what Ajay Devgan did in Zakhm or what Aamir Khan managed in Ghulam.

Year 2001 : Hrithik bagged both, the Best Debut and Best Actor for a swashbuckling performance in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. He was superb and fresh, and it was ages since someone had had such a smashing debut, but was he better than Anil Kapoor in Pukar? Definitely not!

Year 2007 : Hrithik for Dhoom 2?? Really?? In a year that had Aamir Khan for RDB and Sanjay Dutt for Lage Raho Munnabhai amongst the nominees?? Need I say anything else?

Year 2009 : Hrithik for Jodhaa Akbar. Better than Nasseeruddin Shah in A Wednesday? No way!

Year 2010 : Big B for Paa. Now I know it was an impossible role and he did a great job, but I wouldnt put him above Shahid Kapoor's brilliance in Kaminey, or even above Ranbir Kapoor's heartfelt honest performance in Wake Up Sid. I mean, Wake Up Filmfare!

Year 2011 : SRK for that hammy autistic character he botched up in My Name Is Khan?? Better than Ranbir Kapoor's silent killer performance in Raajneeti? Better than Ajay Devgan's cool as a cucumber job in Once Upon A Time In Mumbai? Better than Hrithik's sensitive, albeit slightly over-the-top portrayal in Guzaarish? And better than Salman Khan's lovable lunatic Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg?? Abso-fucking-lutely NO WAY!

The case for Best Actress is dicier since there are very few really good female roles in a year and even fewer good performances. But this year, both Vidya Balan for Ishqiya and Anushka Sharma for Band Baaja Baaraat were definitely better than Kajol. And dont even get me started on Best Director. Karan Johar for MNIK!! Above the directors of Udaan, Guzaarish, Peepli Live, Band Baaja Baaraat, even Dabangg? What the major fuck man!

I know most of these awards are decided by popular vote, but I cant help feeling the votes are rigged! Performances aside, there's no way SRK's act in MNIK was more popular than Sallu's Chulbul Pandey. And there's no way Karan Johar was a popular choice for director of the year! And finally, you know the award function is rigged when Kareena Kapoor wins for an atrocious monstrosity like We Are Family!! I rest my case[/rant]

Picks of the decade...

2011-01-15T01:02:00.000-08:00

Update : This post is a submission for the Reel-life Bloggers contest by wogma and reviewgang.

With the year 2010 coming a close and a new decade getting started, the media is rife with lists and bests and worsts and what-nots...So, I thought, why not do a list of Hindi movies, one for each year this past decade, which all lovers of Hindi cinema should absolutely not have missed....These may not be the biggest blockbusters for those years, nor the ones getting best RoI for their investors, nor the ones with maximum awards or critical acclaim...just plainly movies, that I think changed something in Bollywood for good...and of course, movies that were, by definition, enjoyable, at least in part! :)

2001 - Dil Chahta Hai

Although 2001 will probably be remembered as the year Ashutosh Gowariker got his first big blockbuster with the backing of debutant producer and Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan, the Oscar-nominee and immensely enjoyable Lagaan, the movie that really ushered a change in Bollywood was a much lesser hit in the form of debutante director Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahata Hai. Yes, this was also the year Sunny Deol hit jackpot for his unabashed jingoism in Gadar, Karan Johar gave us the soppy drama with a whopping starcast in the form of the overtly melodramatic and yet partly entertaining K3G and Madhur Bhandarkar made a foray into serious cinema with the chilling Chandni Bar, which made everyone take notice of Tabu as a really fine actress after her previous superb outing in Astitva. However, the reason I find DCH a worthy pick is because it presented urban youth in a very contemporary way for the first time in Bollywood. Sure, we had seen youth stories before, but they were usually too cute to be true (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai). With DCH, what we saw was a peek into lives of people we could relate to, people who did not necessarily spout wittiest lines at the drop of a hat, people who had certain definitions about love and friendship, like normal, regular people do. No "dosti ki hai, nibhani to padegi hi" stuff. More like "You have crossed a line in friendship". Technically, it was the first movie to use sync sound, a technique in which audio is recorded at the same time as the video so that dubbing is not necessary for all scenes in post production. DCH showed us how effortlessly Aamir Khan can pull off a role he is 20 years too old for, it discovered the actor in Akshaye Khanna for us, it showed us a certain Saif Ali Khan had the ability to tickle our funny bone with his poker faced humor, and it made Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy a household name in a world monopolized by A R Rehman and Anu Malik! And most importantly, it showed us what being young and making mistakes and learning from them is all about! Kudos to the team for entertaining in such a subtle and classy way!

2002 - Company

A year that saw glamorous epic like Devdas and trite like Raaz take pole position at the box-office, one movie that didnt make a pot of money and yet managed to grab eyeballs was RGV's Company. This was back when he was still sane and not bitten by the I-want-to-take-the-biggest-movie-ever-in-India-and-give-it-in-the-ass bug. Company was an edgy thriller, almost a docu-drama on the Indian underworld and its equations, finely directed and enacted with some superb performances by Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi and Mohanlal. With Vaastav and Satya, Company forms a trilogy in my mind, and this is as good as movies in this genre can get in Bollywood. Of course, RGV could never repeat his feat, Vivek Oberoi miraculously lost all charm and acting chops thereafter and Ajay Devgan, although he continues to do well, has never been as acidic and effective while saying so few words. This one is the baap of crime dramas.

2003 - Munnabhai MBBS / Haasil

A year ruled by Jadoo and Hrithik's different act as well as SRK's effortless charm in the wonderful Kal Ho Naa Ho, 2003 had a couple of little gems lurking in the background. While one of them - Munnabhai MBBS - at least made a decent amount of money and got lot of recognition, the other - Haasil - was reduced to a no-show at the Box Office and went largely unnoticed until a few months later, when it picked up on the DVD circuit and has enjoyed a cult following since. (I remember searching for the Haasil dvd in multiple stores in Bangalore for my cousin in 2007 and most of the store owners had no idea what movie I was talking about!).

Munnabhai MBBS, for me, is the most ultimate feel-good movie ever made. Its funny, its got a heart and in the right place, and there's something to take away, in fact, a lot! It is also the only movie to have done justice to Sanjay Dutt's acting talent apart from its wonderful sequel and Vaastav. Raju Hirani's debut film not only gave us jadoo-ki-jhappi but also a wonderful actor in Boman Irani. If you ever feel really down and out, just get a DVD of this wonderful movie and you are all set!

Haasil, on the other hand, is more grim and dark. Its small, has low-key production values and was probably made on a shoestring budget, but it doesnt fail to pack a punch! The dialogues, the innocence of Jimmy Shergill and most of all, the legendary performance of Irfan Khan, that earned him awards and recognition as an actor to reckon with, and of course, who can forget that memorable Abhijeet song "Aankhen Bhi Hoti Hain Dil Ki Zubaan". Haasil is definitely the best campus-politics movie ever made in Hindi cinema, although Gulaal challenged that claim in 2009.

2004 - Lakshya / Yuva

A year ruled by out-and-out entertainers like Main Hoon Na, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Hum Tum and Dhoom, 2004 produced two of the most relatable films for youth. Lakshya, Farhan Akhtar's follow-up to his amazing debut, was as much about a young man's journey to find his inner self, as it was about finding your ambitions in the unlikeliest of professions. Farhan and Hrithik portrayed the confusion resident in a young mind perfectly. I mean, who amongst us hasnt felt what Hrithik's character feels in his early 20's! It took him 24 years and 18000 feet to discover himself! Amazing movie that got overshadowed by the Kargil backdrop and did surprisingly poorly at the BO. These are moments when you want to shout out to the audience "For Gods sake, grow up!" :(

Yuva is, in IMO, Mani Ratnam's finest product this side of the millennium. A story about why and how Indian youth can and should enter politics, it laid the foundation for the Rang De Basanti kind of thinking. Technically sound and told from three character's vantage points, Yuva not only made us realize that Abhishek Bacchan in fact could act, it also gave us Sonu Sood and some brilliant techno music from the maestro. An inspiring story, Yuva should have been seen by more people, many more, but unfortunately, it made no impact whatsoever due to surprisingly bad reviews and critical panning. Totally under-rated!

2005 - Page 3

In a year, that saw the hilarious No Entry, the pathetic Bunty and Babli, the puke-worthy Salaam Namaste and that utterly over-rated monstrosity called Black hit Box-Office gold, along came a smart, small film about the rich upper class and their ways of life as seen by a Page 3 journalist. A gritty, at times gut-wrenching and witty saga about the rich and the famous, sans the glamour, Page 3 made Konkona Sen and Sandhya Mridul household names and catapulted Madhur Bhandarkar into the league of really good directors, a tag he was unable to keep later, after churning out horrific films like Traffic Signal, Fashion and Jail. Aided by a great ensemble cast performance, and some hard-hitting moments, Page 3 made us more aware of what goes on behind those super-rich closed doors and what we may not be envying them for.

2006 - Rang De Basanti / Lage Raho Munnabhai

2006 was an epic year in every sense - it marked the comeback of super-blockbusters in the form of super-trite but super-hyped Dhoom 2, superhits like Fanaa, Krrish, Don, KANK and Phir Hera Pheri (all flawed pieces of cinema, all huge hits!), delicious films like Khosla Ka Ghosla, Corporate and Omkara making their mark, and most importantly, the year when amazingly well-made message movies like RDB and Lage Raho struck a chord with the paying audience! 2006 was perhaps the most successful year for Bollywood in terms of creativity as well as economics.

The more I say about RDB, the less it will be. It is the most inspirational piece of cinema I have seen - stupendous script, brilliant performances from a huge cast, great dialogues, great music and a message that hits you like a ton of bricks - "Zindagi jeene ke do hi tareeke hote hain, ek - jo hota hai hone do, bardaasht karte jao...ya fir - jimmedari uthao use badalne ki". Brilliant parallels drawn with the pre-independence revolutionary movement and superb direction, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra and team nailed this one really really well! Hats off, is all we can say! Movies like these are made once in a long long time and we are lucky to have witnessed one in our lifetime!

Lage Raho Munnabhai, that lovable sequel to Munnabhai MBBS, which reminded us of Gandhi and how his values can still be safeguarded in today's materialistic world, is again a cinematic masterpiece that gets everything right - from the cast with Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani revving it up even further, to the screenplay which is immensely enjoyable and relatable, to the subtly embedded comedy, to the social values it stands for, to the breaking of the sequel-jinx! While Munnabhai MBBS taught us how to live for ourselves, Lage Raho was a lesson in standing up for whats right, and in a non-violent way. Raju Hirani cemented his position as a master-director with this one! Superb feel-good cinema in all respects! If Gandhi were to come back, he would surely say "Aal Is Well" :)

2007 - Jab We Met

A true-blue rom-com as the most notable film of the year? Really? In the year that had Taare Zameen Par and Chak De India, not to mention Life In A Metro, Manorama Six Feet Under and Namastey London? Yes!! Because, nobody has done the boy-meets-girl story as wonderfully as Imtiaz Ali did, since perhaps DDLJ! The oddball pair of Shahid-Kareena worked wonders on screen with Kareena coming into her own as Geet while Shahid showed us he can be even more charming when he is not trying. Pritam hit the bull's eye after being just about there for a while and what we had on our plate was an unexpectedly delightful and super super fun ride that left us wanting for more!! Jab We Met is one of those rare films that brings a grin on your face even at the slightest mention of the name of the movie. A true entertainer that also subtly asks you to live life your way so you have no regrets later, this ones for everyone who's ever been in love or hopes to be!

2008 - A Wednesday

A movie with 50+, unconventional looking actors in the lead roles and no music - no chance at the Box Office right? Wrong! Indian audiences grew up and how! In the year that saw Ghajini smash all box-office records to smithereens, with super crappy stuff like Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Singh Is Kingg and Race making tons of money, while sensible and enjoyable movies like Rock On and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye thankfully also made their mark, A Wednesday rose above all, primarily on the basis of a rock-solid script and towering performances from Nasseruddin Shah and Anupam Kher , two actors who finally got their due at the Box Office! A film that vented the frustration seething in every Indian's mind in a very effective way, this was one heck of a thriller, that had a point to make, and that made it in a very very strong way! A Wednesday told us that movies without superstars and music and hotties dancing in skimpy wear can succeed!

2009 - Dev D / Gulaal

The world woke up to Anurag Kashyap and his creative bent of mind in 2009 with a bang! While neither Dev D nor Gulaal set the BO on fire, both made for some game-changing cinema that took the very concept of telling a story by its guts and doused it in new colors! Lets not forget, this was the same year that saw the biggest blockbuster ever in Bollywood - 3 Idiots - hit the screens, as also great stuff like Kaminey and Love Aaj Kal that saw huge turnout. Of course, there were crowd pleasers like Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and Wanted and intellectual fare like Luck By Chance. But, all of them were overshadowed by the unabashedly bratty egoist Dev, the rustic and bindaas Paro and the uber-cool Chanda in a dopey twist on the original novel. With insane camerawork, some utterly genius stuff dished out by Amit Trivedi and true-to-the-core performances by Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill and Kalki Koechlin, Dev D was cinema on ecstasy and indeed, it gave a high to all and sundry! Devdas will never be made again, simply because it cant get any quirkier than this! Two thumbs up!

Gulaal, on the other hand, is grim, almost depressing. Again powered by an ensemble cast led by the wonderful Abhimanyu Singh and the ever-efficient Kay Kay Menon, with zany music by Piyush Mishra, Gulaal is a very real take on youth politics in erstwhile kingdoms and how it can lead to destruction of multiple lives. Visceral to the core, Gulaal explores the dark side of the human mind and gives violence a new meaning. Another gut-wrenching fare, this is not for the faint-hearted, but it packs a severe blow right in the solar plexus, where it registers the most! With Dev D and Gulaal, Kashyap showed us what he's capable of after the superb Black Friday and the eccentricity called No Smoking.

2010 - Peepli Live

In a year ruled outright by Dabangg, with not much else, except the wonderful Raajneeti, the triter-than-trite Golmaal 3 and the wannabe My Name Is Khan, registering much of an impact, Peepli Live was like a lantern that kept the sanity flickering in Bollywood along with movies like Udaan, Tere Bin Laden and Band Baaja Baaraat. This Aamir Khan backed vehicle - a political satire on plight of farmers in India - can be a brilliant case-study on how to market films that have no known stars and have no prospects at the BO unless marketed exceedingly well. Filled with spunky performances by an ensemble cast, notably Onkar Das Manikpuri and Raghuveer Yadav, Peepli Live was a realistic take on the Indian media's frenzy to make news out of anything and everything that succeeded in drawing accolades even from the media, which speaks volumes of its success. Not only that, it made thrice its initial investment, making it a smart little product with great RoI! Kudos to the team and especially Aamir Khan. Coz without the marketing, this could well have been like any other indie film that is great but goes sadly unnoticed!

That was my take on the last decade and its films. The format for this was inspired by a post on rediff, that mentioned top films of the last decade. Although I do not claim credit for the concept (best-of lists have existed since times immemorial!), I do claim credit for the stuff posted here coz its all my own :) Hope you enjoyed reading what I immensely enjoyed writing :)

Kal ho na ho...

2011-01-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

Its unfair to expect all life's experiences to happen to you...sometimes you have to make do with learning from other's experiences too...Last year has been full of learnings for me - some sweet, some bitter...but one thing I learnt recently left an indelible impression, and it was through someone else's experience...Nothing can sum it up better than these lines penned by the legendary Javed Akhtar...

चाहे जो तुम्हे पूरे दिल से,
मिलता है वो मुश्किल से,
ऐसा जो कोई कहीं है,
बस वो ही सबसे हसीन है|

उस हाथ को,
तुम थाम लो ,
वो मेहरबान,
कल हो ना हो ...

Sad...probably even unfair, but that doesnt stop it from being true.

And my award goes to....

2010-12-30T08:37:00.000-08:00

Like every year, I present my nominations and winners for the year that was...I dont really care about any of the other awards, but this year I really really hope that Salman Khan gets at least one Best Actor award for his daredevil act in Dabangg...If he ever had a sure-shot chance of winning, it is this year!

Best Film
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha
Raajneeti
Udaan
Peepli Live
Dabangg
Tere Bin Laden

Best Director
Prakash Jha - Raajneeti
Dibakar Banerjee - Love, Sex aur Dhokha
Anusha Rizvi - Peepli Live
Maneesh Sharma - Band Baaja Baaraat
Habib Faisal - Do Dooni Chaar
Vikramaditya Motwane - Udaan

Best Actor
Shahrukh Khan - My Name Is Khan
Ranbir Kapoor - Raajneeti
Salman Khan - Dabangg
Onkar Das Manikpuri - Peepli Live
Rishi Kapoor - Do Dooni Chaar
Ajay Devgn - Once Upon A Time In Mumbai

Best Actress
Kajol - My Name Is Khan
Vidya Balan - Ishqiya
Sonakshi Sinha - Dabangg
Anushka Sharma - Band Baaja Baaraat
Neetu Singh - Do Dooni Chaar
Katrina Kaif - Raajneeti

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Arjun Rampal - Raajneeti
Manoj Vajpayee - Raajneeti
Nana Patekar - Raajneeti
Raghuveer Yadav - Peepli Live
Paresh Rawal - Aakrosh
Sonu Sood - Dabangg

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Shruti Seth - Raajneeti
Sarah Thomson Kane - Raajneeti
Ira Dubey - Aisha
Amrita Puri - Aisha
Aditi Vasudev - Do Dooni Chaar
Malaika Shenoy - Peepli Live

Best Music

Amit Trivedi - Aisha

Vishal Shekhar - Anjaana Anjaani

Sajid Wajid - Dabangg

Pritam - Badmaash Company

Vishal Shekhar - Break Ke Baad

Vishal Shekhar - I Hate Luv Storys

Amit Trivedi - Udaan

Best Playback Singer - Male

Toshi Raina - Gal Mithi Mithi - Aisha
Amit Trivedi - Suno Aisha - Aisha
Nikil D 'Souza - Shaam - Aisha
Lucky Ali - Hairat - Anjaana Anjaani
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Fakeera - Badmaash Company
Neeraj Shridhar - Ajab Leher Hai - Break Ke Baad
Neeraj Shridhar - Kya - Crook
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Tere Mast Mast Do Nain - Dabangg
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Dil To Baccha Hai Ji - Ishqiya
Aadesh Srivastava - Mora Piya - Raajneeti
Mohit Chauhan - Pee Loon - Once Upon A Time In Mumbai

Best Playback Singer - Female

Anushka Mani - Lehrein - Aisha
Shreya Ghoshal - Aadha Ishq - Band Baaja Baaraat
Mamta Sharma - Munni Badnaam - Dabangg
Shreya Ghoshal - Chori Kiya Re Jiya - Dabangg
Sunidhi Chauhan - Sheila Ki Jawani - Tees Maar Khan
Sunidhi Chauhan - Ainvayi - Band Baaja Baaraat

Best Lyrics
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Lehrein - Aisha
Vishal Dadlani - Hairat - Anjaana Anjaani
Anvita Dutt Guptan - Fakeera - Badmaash Company
Prasoon Joshi - Adhoore - Break Ke Baad
Faiz Anwar - Tere Mast Mast Do Nain - Dabangg
Niranjan Iyengar - Rang De - My Name Is Khan
Sameer - Mora Piya - Raajneeti

Dum Dum Dum Mast Hai!

2010-12-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

Band Baaja Baaraat...the name doesnt do much justice to the film, in spite of the obvious reference to weddings. At most, it makes it sound like a tacky, over-the-top rendition of a wedding related tale. Thankfully, BBB is anything but that! And are we thankful to YRF for making an enjoyable film devoid of the Swiss Alps and sucky cliches! Hell yeah, we are! Because its been a while since I enjoyed a Hindi movie (Aakrosh was the last I liked, and that was 2 months back).

BBB, a tale of two wedding planners and their partnership, has a brisk narrative and an interesting story at heart. Predictable, yes, but there are enough interesting twists to keep you hooked. The dialogues by Habib Faisal are simple and interesting enough to keep the goings-on fun. Music by Salim-Sulaiman is really good, ranging from lilting tunes to foot-tapping numbers. Ainvehi and Dum Dum are the picks of the lot mainly due to energetic picturization. But what lifts this movie above the average are the performances of the leads as well as character actors and the direction by debutant Maneesh Sharma. Sharma avoids most cliches and although a couple of convenient plotholes escape his notice, we are willing to let that go as long as the movie is engaging. The character artists avoid caricatures and paint realistic yet non-boring characters, which adds to the fun quotient. Debutant Ranveer Singh pitches in a near-perfect performance as as the wannabe Bittoo. He is no Aamir Khan in acting chops, nor does he charm like a Shahid Kapoor but his sincerity can give some of the potential stars-in-the-making a run for their money! Anushka Sharma is a revelation, showing she possesses decent acting skills and carrying a lot of the film on her shoulders. Her looks are hardly conventional and yet she manages to look really good and perform really well. After a so-so performance in Rab Ne Bana Di BS and a half-baked role in the decent Badmaash Company,we are definitely impressed Miss Sharma!

BBB brings the fun back in watching movies, reminding you of an era when not all movies were magnum opuses, not all movies were touted to be the next big thing, not all movies were about more glitz and less script, not all movies were about more slapstick and less simple humor. This one deserves to be paid for and watched, for its an honest effort that delivers more than it promises and ensures you walk out of that cinema hall happy and satisfied. :)

Ganda mazaak hua aitbaar....

2010-12-06T01:37:00.000-08:00

Amit Trivedi delivers again and how! Although his latest album NOKJ is no Aisha or Dev D, it still is in a class of its own. I have a project due tomorrow, which I should be working on right now, so lemme get down to business straight away.

Dilli Dilli : Undoubtedly the heart and soul and beat of the album! Pulsating would be an understatement for this rollicking track which has spirited vocals by Tochi, Shriram Iyer and Aditi Sharma. The "d-d-d-d-d-d" hits you like a ton of bricks every single time. Lyrics are earthy and blend amazingly well with the brilliant guitar riffs. Its not even Jan 2011 yet, and I am gonna go out on a limb here and say this is sure to be the track of the year 2011.

Aali Re : Sung by as many as 8 singers (yeah! you read that right! 8! ), Aali re will probably sound really irritating the first time you hear it...It did to me...But rest assured, it is one of the most "mooh-phat" tracks we have heard in Hindi music till date. Amitabh Bhattacharya weaves magic with acidic words and phrases which sting and yet manage to touch your senses - of humor and otherwise. Might turn out to be the most unconventional party track ever if promoted well!

Aitbaar : Vishal Dadlani rocks the rock-ish Aitbaar, which is slightly reminiscent of Nayan Tarse in terms of music arrangements and resembles Zehreeley from Rock On! in terms of vocals, but again manages to stand tall on its own. Lyrics again are caustic and brilliant!

Dua : Starts with some lilting work on the keyboard, and slowly but surely rises to move. Newbie Meenal Jain shines while Amitabh Bhattacharya changes gears to give us some nice lyrics, and also pitching in as one of the three chorus singers. As mentioned before, the song rises from a melody to an anthem, much like Khoon Chala from RDB. The eventual effect is inspiring and exhilarating at the same time.

Yeh Pal : Sung by Shilpa Rao, Yeh Pal has that quality which keeps you gripped to the track inspite of being slightly slow. The instrumental piece in the latter half is particularly well arranged. Something about this song struck me as Rahman'ish, not sure what. But another different and difficult composition that cannot be classified into any genre.

The first promo caught my eye like a spicy Mexican hottie or like an underdog startup which comes out of nowhere to capture 100,000 hits in a few days of launch. The audio has definitely lived up to expectations and the following promos have shown a glimpse of what lies in store. I must confess I have never been a fan of Rani Mukherjee's histrionics but this definitely looks like her comeback movie. That's good news because its been a while since we have seen an actress pack a punch on-screen. As much as I like the long-legged Deepika and the cute Kat, I would rather watch some good acting than over-hyped Sheilas on-screen.

Looks like 2011 is gonna start with a BANG! To more issue-based movies and more Rajkumar Guptas! And of course, more Amit Trivedis and Amitabh Bhattacharyas!

Are you kidding me!

2010-11-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

Read this online a while ago :

"One fails to understand why the girl drops the guy like a hot brick. Actually, there's no valid reason for her to do so. He is so committed, so devoted, so trustworthy that any girl would give her left arm to be with him. "

LOL! Clearly the writer has not been living in the real world! Who said committed, devoted and trustworthy guys dont get dumped!! That's like assuming all guys are commitment-phobic and all girls are commitment-centric. So stereotypical!

The world is not black and white - its shades of gray...always has been, always will be.

A bitter-sweet symphony....

2010-11-23T00:55:00.000-08:00

Just when you begin to feel things are finally falling into place, a piece of the puzzle lifts itself and turns over...and ur back where you began...Just when you think you can now come to terms with reality, reality decides to play the bitch and refuses to come to terms with you....Just when you think this is it, this is the moment I have been waiting for all these years, you get an email which tells you the moment isnt coming anytime soon...Just when you think you have made a sweet discovery, you make another one which sweeps the first one off its feet and not in a good way....Just when you think things couldnt get any colder, a ray of sunshine pierces the clouds and brightens your day...Just when you think you cant be more lost, you are given a map which tells you you are not even in the same book, forget the same page as others....Just when all seems lost, you come home and find a surprise waiting for you....Just when you think, you are right on track, you find that the game has changed now, and you need to switch if you want to continue playing....Just when you begin to harbor hopes of a new beginning, you find ghosts from the past trying hard to haunt you...Just when you get rid of them, you run into new potential ghosts...Just when you want to move forward, you take a step back....Just when you think all is lost, someone comes along and holds your hand....Just when it seems life cant get any better, it surprisingly does...

Time flies, shit happens, people move on, seasons change...friends and family remain the only constant in life....enabling you to play the symphony....ensuring you continue playing even if you miss a note or two...

FAIL!

2010-11-13T15:11:00.000-08:00

Vishal Shekhar turn in a surprisingly pedestrian soundtrack with TMK! Nothing much to write home about. The title track is different (sung in multiple voices by the versatile Sonu Nigam) but that's it....And its composed by Shirish Kunder. So, after the pretty ho-hum trailer (with the lame aadha Robinhood line!), the music is another indicator that this one's probably gonna be a damp damp squib...Only God can save this movie now! Or, you know, Katrina Kaif.

Or there's the slightest chance that the following might just do the trick :

Update within 12 hrs : I was wrong about at least 2 songs. The title song is highly addictive, despite being pretty silly....mainly due to Sonu Nigam's magical vocals....And Walla Re Walla, although seemingly okayish to begin with, is zany and a sure-fire riot on screen with Sallu and Akki sure to set the screen on fire....The album though still qualifies as a disappointment!

Cry for sanity in a lawless land...

2010-10-24T03:18:00.000-07:00

Priyadarshan has finally made a good sensible movie after showing sparks of brilliance in Gardish and Viraasat (which is by far the BEST Anil Kapoor movie IMO)...Aakrosh may not be that killer, in fact it has some glaring holes and very easily noticeable discontinuities, but that doesnt take away from the fact that it still manages to be an engrossing movie....Its been a while since I saw a decent movie which is neither ridiculous nor amazing - kind of run-of-the-mill and yet gripping...Once Upon A Time In Mumbai came close, but lost out due to corny dialogues....

Coming back to Aakrosh, it is decently directed, decently enacted fare, which touches a social issue wthout being too preachy and dull, manages to pack in some chase scenes and action to keep the adrenaline flowing, also squeezes in a couple of (listless) songs and despite not being able to cross the line into awesomeness, manages to leave a mark...Ajay Devgan is as efficient as ever...For some some reason, I always like Akshaye Khanna, even if his performance is sometimes over-the-top and sometimes indifferent...here it veers more towards the latter but thats more because the characters are half-baked and less bcz of his lack of sincerity....Paresh Rawal turns in a crackling performance as always, this time with a more villainous bent...The others dont do anything worth mentioning...Dialogues are average and yet not too corny, which saves the movie from being cringe-worthy, something that's really important in these Raavan-esque times...Cinematography and action are pretty good and bgm complements the proceedings well for the most part...

There was a lot of scope for some interesting camaraderie between the lead pair (Devgan and Khanna) and had that angle been developed further, the movie might have turned out even more memorable...Its only above average as a result, but still watchable and dare I say, even enjoyable...Its good to see Priyadarshan move away from BS like De Dana Dan and Khatta Meetha, even if through a "mild" inspiration of Mississippi Burning...Looking forward to more from his Viraasat days...

Just another day in the life of.....

2010-10-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

R : So how was it?
A : What do you think?
R : Your face tells me it went well!
A : Really?? That's what you could read from my face??
R : Why? Am I wrong?
A : Duh huh! Yeah you are!
R : What happened??
A : Everything that could have possibly gone wrong, did!
R : Like....
A : For starters, I forgot the name of the dude who invented radiophrenology....and then the gaspernetics theorem, what the hell is that thing??! I never seem to understand it! Every time I read it, I think I do, but clearly I dont! And to top it, in the end, I messed up the Max-Kruger duality equations leading to the wrong answer to the Y-modal problem.....
R : Oooh! That's bad! Tough luck dude!
A : Well, its not just luck you know...Sometimes I think all of this is connected...somehow....someone, somewhere is making the decisions for us, while we sit here thinking we are the masters of our own destiny...
R : Now you are just sounding like Yash Chopra uncle...someone, somewhere...is made for you....and all that crap!
A : Why? Dont you believe in something like that? Dont you believe in destiny?
R : Yeah right! I write my own destiny!
A : Exactly! That's what I said! We think we do, but really we dont! We just lay the dots...someone up there connects them ...and as you know, the dots dont mean anything by themselves....its only when they are connected that they form a pattern...
R : !
A : clearly you disagree :)
R : Well, not completely....but in part, yes! If we lay the dots, why cant we be the ones to connect them?
A : Because we cant see the pattern from here! The pattern appears only from a third person's point of view...and to us, only in retrospect....Consider this : how would you construct a building if you were standing inside one of the rooms? Its something that's going to "grow" organically around you....of course, someone will build it from outside but to you, it seems like its growing, evolving...It all depends on the perspective!
R : Wow! Never looked at it that way! That's actually fascinating!
A : See! Sometimes I do make sense :)
R : Sometimes! That's the key word here :D
A : Yeah! That's better than never....which is the key word for "some" people... :P
R : Oh yeah! That's precisely why I keep telling you everything's gonna be alright everytime you are low! :P
A : Hey! I am never low okay! I just try to act that way...coz you know, people shouldnt feel I dont care about important stuff like studies and career...
R : Haha! That's just BS! You never admit your insecurities, do you! :P
A : Insecurities! Blah! You are the one with insecurities!
R : Haha! Who calls me at the middle of the night to say she misses her mom!
A : And who cries like a baby everytime he loses like an amateur on the tennis court?
R : I never lose! I let others win!
A : lol! Now THAT, my dear friend, is BS!! :D
R : "I miss my mom, I wanna go home!" :P
A : "I am never gonna be able to build my muscles...even if I start LIVING in the gym!"
R : "My roommate gets asked out all the time...Cant guys see me??"
A : Alright alright! That's it! Lets call it a tie...
R : What tie! I always win and you say its a tie!! No tie-shie! I won outright!
A : What win! We werent playing anything! It was just random philosophy for godsakes!
R : That's something you always say when I win! Never give me any credit!
A : Now that's just not true....
R : Even day before yesterday, at the cafe....you were.....
A : Every time you have to bring winning and....
R : Bullll....
A : No listen to me...every time...you do this....and I am fed up....
R : Yeah, like I am not!
A : ..............
R : ...........

Rahul aur Anjali ka firse jhagda ho gaya....

Completely oblivious to the fact that they are indeed standing in "the room", while "someone" is building something special around them....something they will only see in retrospect...only from a third person's point of view...indeed, someone is connecting the dots, but they cant see it...And until they cant, Rahul aur Anjali ka jhagda hota rahega, aur ye sab aisehi chalta rahega :)

N - S

2010-10-15T19:21:00.001-07:00

I am about a year late....and after the 3 Idiots fiasco, my "respect" for Chetan Bhagat has gone down several notches....but that doesnt change the fact that I liked 2 States...

All the cliche and north vs south brouhaha aside, 2 states is at its core a sweet love story (yes, big surprise...i am a hopeless romantic at heart...), one that conquers all odds, step by step, almost clinically and yet takes you along for a fun ride...What worked most for me was the girl Ananya's character - she's such a kick-ass, strong girl who believes in what she wants and does it without any apologies and reservations! Would love to meet her if she indeed exists!

Although Five Point Someone remains the best Chetan Bhagat book yet, 2 States sort of gets him back into the game after a Bollywood-ish 3 Mistakes....Hope to see more slice of life stuff with fewer cliches and more Ananyas from Bhagat...

P.S. : Somewhere down the line, I had plans of penning down bits of my story....but alas, life has different plans for everyone....cant complain! :)

If you cant beat 'em, distract 'em!

2010-10-13T18:43:00.000-07:00

N : Wow! Your handwriting is beautiful!

Me : Its a defense mechanism....like Chandler's....makes people momentarily forget that my solutions to some of those math problems are plain BS....

Forgotten dreams...

2010-10-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, typing this out, while not more than a few meters away, a bunch of youngsters strum away on their guitars, producing those utterly irresistible sounds that only a guitar can...I listen to the strumming, zoning out from the work I am supposed to be doing and contemplate how much I miss holding a six-string, struggling hard to make sense of the plucking...Its been more than 20 months since I stopped playing (not that I ever played very well, just about okay....but I miss trying hard to make the transition from just-about-okay to this-sounds-pretty-good) ...With time, your aspirations change, some things gain more priority over others, you move on in life....and yet some of these dreams linger...somewhere in the back of your mind...trying to find a way out and cease to be just dreams...trying to make a transition to reality...I just wonder where that passion, that desire, that hunger to try and master something totally unknown disappears in the need to find your own feet and stay true to your purported "potential"...

Recent top listens...

2010-10-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

Taking a cue from Milliblog, and due to lack of time (and sometimes desire!) to write elaborate music reviews for every album, here's a quick list of top recent listens. The list is personal but the appeal of the music, I'm sure, is universal!

Hello Hello - Jhootha Hi Sahi : A R Rahman
Karthik sings this beautifully orchestrated track, which has traces of middle-eastern music, adding a nice touch to the otherwise Jaane Tu-ish album by ARR. Nice, different stuff. Much better than Raavan!

Kya - Crook : Pritam
Pritam is back with some vintage stuff in Crook, not least Kya sung oh-so-well by Neeraj Sridhar. Breezy and likable to the core, the laid-back rendition more than bowls you over. The rest of the album is pretty decent too. Emraan Hashmi continues his tryst with melodious and memorable music!

Hairat - Anjaana Anjaani : Vishal Shekhar
As stated here before, Hairat is a superb "comeback" for Lucky Ali, and may well end up being the song of the year. The amazing tune and arrangements elevate it to dizzying heights in an even-otherwise noteworthy album, choc-a-bloc with foot-tapping as well as melodious stuff.

Munni Badnaam and Tere Mast Mast Do Nain - Dabangg : Sajid-Wajid
Mamta Sharma does a fab job in Lalit's inspired composition Munni, which will probably earn her accolades as the year draws to an end, but really its Malaika and Sallu who have made this song so much fun! One of those rare gems which sounds so much different and better once you have seen it on screen! Tere Mast Mast, on the ohter hand, is slow poison, something Rahat Fateh Ali Khan keeps doing fairly regularly. Full marks, nonetheless!

Naina Miley - Robot : A R Rahman
Suzanne and ARR create a heady mix of electronika and vocals to serve a funky, catchy, foot-tapping number that refuses to leave ur sense inspite of some intermittent loony lyrics. Super stuff from ARR!

Rang Dalein - Lafangey Parindey : R Anandh
Suraj Jagan does a great job keeping the feel alive in this spirited number, which deserves reruns especially because of its music arrangements, not least the Corrs-inspired clip played intermittently.

Gal Mithi Mithi, Suno Aisha - Aisha : Amit Trivedi
Toshi rocks Gal Mithi Mithi with Amit Trivedi goin Punju, while Suno Aisha by Ash King and Trivedi himself is delectable and addictive to say the least. Gems in a studded album, probably the album of the year!

Till next time then! Ciao!

Your best friend is suing you...for 600 million dollars

2010-10-02T03:32:00.002-07:00

I must admit....the first time I saw the trailer of The Social Network, I was skeptical. I couldnt understand why Hollywood had decided to screw up the story of the founding of one of the biggest phenomenon of our times. I was sure the movie would be over-simplified, over-dramatized, and basically moronic, and the understated promo did nothing to change that. Having dismissed the movie, I moved on with life, and it was only today, the day the movie premiers, that the media coverage caught my attention - for some reason, everyone was talking about the movie. And not just because its a movie about Facebook but because its a good, (according to some, great!) movie about Facebook! That was so unexpected and totally unforeseen and 12 hours later, I was at the cinemas, with a bunch of friends, waiting for the saga to unfold, curious about how interesting and binding a movie about coders could be. And boy! Was I wrong or what! The Social Network is probably the best movie out of Hollywood this year....and yes! This is indeed the year when soon-to-be cults like Inception, Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me have enchanted audiences worldwide!

Director David Fincher, whose last effort - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - was a cosmetic bore, has done a fabulous job by extracting some noteworthy performances from the entire cast, and that is no mean feat considering the cast comprises of Justin Timberlake! Jesse Eisenberg is brilliant as Mark Zuckerberg, resembling the youngest billionaire in the world in look and (reportedly) mannerisms perfectly. Andrew Garfield as Eduardo is excellent and lends a load of credibility to the frames he is present in. Armie Hammer packs a sucker punch in dual roles of the Winklevoss twins, while Justin Timberlake takes you by surprise completely with his flamboyant, genius-bordering-on-self-destruction portrayal of that shrewd wolf Sean Parker, who not only gave the world Napster and Plaxo, but was also instrumental in making Facebook the phenomenon that it is today. But the real star of the movie is undoubtedly screenplay writer Aaron Sorkin, who creates such a spellbinding script full of energetic and relatable dialogue, it elevates the movie to an altogether different level. The background score deserves special mention for lending a lot of emotion and feel to the proceedings.

The movie is a part-fiction, part-real portrayal of the rise of Facebook, and while which parts are more real than others is debatable, herein lies a tale that catalogs the conceptualization and implementation of one of the most influential ideas of our generation. More importantly, it is a study in human psyche and the fact that, while you cant stop admiring Zuck for his spirited and almost single-handed launch of Facebook, at the same time, you cannot forgive him for being so influenced by Parker and being unfair to his best friend and business partner Eduardo, shows how well the character has been etched. Above all, the movie is an inspiration and a warning for budding entrepreneurs, who have dreams of making it big but can oversee friendships in the process. Although the movie paints Zuck as an a-hole and shows how inept he is/was at social relationships (while ironically building a social networking website!) , I found something ultimately inspiring in the way he went about his business. True - his motive was wrong, his conduct too, his maturity was virtually non-existent and he didnt get chicks or entry to the elite clubs, but in the end, he succeeded in building his vision and preserving it without giving in to the demands of others.

There's something to learn and a lot to observe in The Social Network. All wannabe entrepreneurs, all CS people, all Facebook users and all movie lovers, go watch the movie...NOW!

P.S. : Oh! and Aaron Sorkin FTW \m/ If they dont give him the Best Adapted Screenplay this year, the Oscars will just become another Filmfare for me.

Shameless...err "fearless" entertainment!

2010-09-11T04:29:00.003-07:00

First things first....On one hand, Dabangg is formulaic, doesnt even get the formula right, has a slow, almost boring, first half, has too many abrupt songs, is devoid of much substance and most of it does not make much sense. On the other hand, SALMAN KHAN!

After watching Dabangg, all I can say is there is NO other star (note, I didnt say actor!) who could have carried off something as ridiculously shameless and unabashedly unpretentious as Dabangg with such elan and made it so much fun as Salman has. That I am huge fan of his is no secret, but really take a moment and try to imagine if there is any other star, or even actor, who can ensure that people, some of them super-sophisticated, not just sit through but enjoy something like Dabangg to their heart's content. Nope, I cudnt think of anyone and if you can, plz lemme kno! Now to the movie...

As mentioned before, Dabangg is hardly path-breaking cinema. In fact, after a couple of remarkable opening scenes, it peters out to become quite tepid for another hour till the interval. And frankly, some part of it is plain boring. The abrupt placement of melodious songs doesnt help either, and inconsistent focus on multiple story lines makes the film quite incoherent. But, what it lacks in cinema, Dabangg makes up in charisma! And that's because unlike his usual style, this time Salman Khan bites into the character so hard, he makes you stand up and take notice of the fact that here's a maverick character written with him in mind, and while he may not possess great acting chops, he has enough charm and screen-presence to bring someone as asinine and insane as Chulbul Pandey to life and kick ass on screen! The movie ultimately is an ode to his star-power and while that was what Wanted was too, this character is much better fleshed out and played by the "actor" like he belongs!

Of the rest, Sonakshi looks kinda cute and does a commendable job whenever she's required to. Sonu Sood is really good and I wish there was more of him in the first half! Arbaaz Khan should have refrained from being in the movie. His character is perfunctory and his acting non-existent. Dimple Kapadia chooses to ham for some reason, while all others are pretty much sidelined. I liked the cameos by a couple of havaldars and the camera-guy tho. They were hilarious! Music is really good and sounds so much better on screen. Song picturization is an ace and pretty much makes up for their abrupt placement. Of course, Munni is the best of the lot and simply sets the screen on fire! Malaika, the foot-tapping beat, the wtf lyrics and Salman's antics make it a truly paisa-vasool number! Cinematography is brilliant and technically, the film has a lot of finesse. Dialogues are very well-written for the most part and Salman gets most of the good one-liners and does a mighty fine job!

Ultimately though, its just Salman Khan who saves this movie from being a complete mess. Take him out of the equation and what you have left is nothing but incoherent hoo-haa and unbelievable sequences. While the first half is pretty much saved by stylishly choreographed actionsequences and Salman-Sonakshi's innocent love story, the second half packs quite a punch with Salman and Sonu Sood's constant bickering and, along with Munni and the climax, ensures you leave the cinema hall satisfied and high on adrenaline!

So, is Dabangg a good film or bad? Well, who cares as long as you are hooting, whistling and cheering for 2.5 hrs in the theatre, for that's what no-holds-barred, all-stops-pulled-out entertainment is all about, aint it? :)

P.S. : The marketing team has done an amazing job of cutting solid promos which ensured tremendous buzz and enabled Dabangg to break 3 Idiots first day figures all across India. And while the movie may not match up in substance or even commercially in the long run to 3I, it is a fine marketing effort nevertheless!

Woah there!

2010-08-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

When Sajid Nadiadwala declared Anjaana Anjaani as a musical, my reaction was "A peppy movie with Ranbir and Piggy Chops - romcom yes, but a *MUSICAL* romcom, uh I donno!" Trust Vishal Shekhar to prove the whole world wrong! After delivering crappium craptitude in the form of Aladin, they showed signs of a promising comeback with IHLS, which in itself was a pretty good album, but with AA, VS are truly back to where they belong! I know I said a few months back that I rarely do music reviews, but now that people like Amit Trivedi and VS have decided its a stupid rule, I cant help it can I! :)

Both the title tracks are as different as chalk and cheese, and yet they both have something in common - they are both really really good! The softer version sung by Vishal and Shilpa Rao has a lilting tune and soft rock feel, which makes it saccharine sweet while the club number by noobs Nikil D' Souza and Monali is a true-blue foot-tapping, "oh-yeah" kinda song! Its difficult to miss their enthusiasm and when the singers have fun, so do we, the listeners! Simply rocking!

Lucky Ali is back and boy, did we miss him or what!!! Hairat is probably gonna be the song of the year when the sun sets on 2010 but lets hold our horses till we get there... To put it mildly, Hairat is one heck of a rollicking song - partly reminded me of Fakeera from Badmaash Company! With repeat hearings, this one grows on you like nobody's business! And once again, Lucky Ali FTW! \m/

Tumse Hi Tumse by Shekhar and Caralisa is refreshing albeit slightly been-there-done-that. The lead guitar sounds leading into the song make it totally delightful and inspite of the slightly 90-ish feel, its an amazing song that stays with you despite being part of such a rich album!

Tujhe Bhula Diya is a different take on sad songs and Shruti Pathak literally made me jump with her spirited Punju rendition that kick-starts the song...she's a delight! The qawalli-ese portions are good too, altho not very novel. Ultimately the ever-dependable Mohit Chauhan and Vishal ensure the song stays above the bar the other songs have set with their brilliant vocals! A beautiful number!

I Feel Good is good, in any other album it could have been one of the best numbers of that album, but simply because it stands amongst such celebrated tunes, it seems only above average! Not the songs' fault! Vishal sounds surprisingly like Shankar Mahadevan here tho, which is different - good or bad dunno, but I Feel (pretty) Good! :D

Aas Paas Khuda has melody and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan going for it, but it probably is the weakest link in the album. Not to say that it is a bad song, in fact far from that! Its one of the better Rahat songs of recent times but a feeling of deja vu lingers, and along with the banal "Tu na jane aas paas hai khuda" line, ensures the song doesnt rise above its merits...The unplugged version is much better IMO.

The promos did not get me as excited about this movie but now the music has. Read somewhere its partly inspired by Before Sunrise, and if this ones even 10% as good as that classic, we have a really good movie to look forward to this September! Well, even otherwise, we already have a great gift here from VS!

He punched the highlights out of her hair!

2010-08-15T14:49:00.017-07:00

When you go into a movie with so-so expectations and get to see something like Scott Pilgrim vs The World, its akin to going on an blind date with someone you met online 3 days ago and then finding out she works as a body double for Angelina Jolie...AND Scarlett Johansson....AND she reads Michael Crichton...AND her favorite director is Tarantino....AND she was the Miss Teen USA 2 yrs ago....I kno the chances of tht happening are rare, but wat the heck "Scott Pilgrim" is a rare gem! As professed by the makers, it is indeed an epic of epic epicness!

It will be stupid of me to dissect the story here and plus, u shud really go see the movie for urself! Michael Cera turns in a goofy endearing performance as Scott...I simply loved Kieran Culkin who plays the part of his gay roomie, altho not the way he loves other guys :D He gets the best lines of the film and gets 1-UPs on all! Alison Pill as the ultra-rye Kim, Johnny Simmons as Young Neil and Mark Webber as Stephen crank it up several notches as members of their supposedly ultra-lame, but IMO super-awesome, band Sex Bob-ombs (one of numerous supercool video-game references in the movie)! Anna Kendrick is super-dry as Scott's irritating sibling...Ellen Wong is super-awwww as Knives...Mary Eliz Winstead looks supercute and acts supercool as Ramona Flowers....but the real deal is the League of Evil Exes! Chris Evans, Brandon Routh and Jason Schwartzman stand out prominently, more-so bcoz their characters are better written than others...

The movie is a medley of rocking music, crack-you-up lines, superawesome fight sequences and hilarious scenes, all peppered with ultracool video game references...and a lot of insanity and randomness, which makes it epic-er...This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Kill Bill of "our" generation!

Altho I dont wanna give any of the good stuff away, I have to admit I am madly in lesbians with this movie! I wish I was Scott, not bcz he is part of an awesome band, not bcz he has one awesome chick stalking him while another awesomer chick totally leads him on, not bcz he has nothing els to do in life but be himself; only bcz life with cool background music and video game references rocks!!

Summer movies....

2010-08-06T01:14:00.002-07:00

Movies movies and more movies! This summer has been fab and I have a horde of movies tht I shud hv reviewed...Due to lack of time and energy, I have decided to just do a quick round-up :)

Raajneeti

Loved it! Probably best Hindi movie of this year yet! (Wait till Dabangg releases :D) Loved the Mahabharat and Godfather references! Nana Patekar and Ranbir Kapoor steal the show big time.

Man Som Hatar Kvinor

Visceral and brutally honest movie! Loved how human and lifelike the characters of Salander and Blomkvist are and how effectively they are portrayed by the actors! Reading the sequel right now and enjoying it. Looking forward to more Swedish movies!

Toy Story 3

To borrow a line from one of my dear friends "Awwwwwww" :)

Raavan

WTF! Read this!

Knight and Day

Huh! Did I just get transported to the 90s when such movies were the order of the day and made money by the gallons? Its not too bad, but pretty banal stuff to be frank!

Despicable Me

Probably the BEST 3-D animation movie ever! So so so entertaining!! Double thumbs up!

Inception

Interesting concept and commendable execution. Wont gush about it as much as everyone else did, because I still think The Prestige and The Dark Knight are better works than this one...For some reason, I think Inception misses the emotional connect and gets too involved in its awesome concept. Nevertheless, its superbly directed and well enacted. Brilliant movie but IMDB All time # 3 above The Dark Knight? Nah!

Yet to watch Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, Aisha coming up this Friday, Dabangg looking HOT, Anjaana Anjaani another caper, Aakrosh looking interesting; lots to look forward to!

When life gives you lemons...

2010-08-06T00:37:00.002-07:00

...they say, u make lemonade...But you know what? Sour lemons can only lead to sour lemonade, no matter how much sugar you put in...Adding other flavors doesn't help either...So what do you do then? Live with the fact that you got sour lemons? Make a yucky lemon pie? Say "lemon who"? Develop a liking for other, probably tastier, fruits?

Its one of the toughest conundrums in life. This might sound cliched, but how you react to the downsides in life defines how far you can go. It could be a personal issue, a professional setback, or even a psychological thing; how you face it and how quickly you can bounce back will more or less decide how quickly you can rise from the ashes. Alrit, enough of the Paulo Coelho-esque crap (If you are wondering whether I am a Coelho fan, lemme put it this way - I prefer a hamming Suneil Shetty to his books, that should put your doubts to rest...For those confused by the phrase "hamming Suneil Shetty", check this) ....Moving on to why I have been rambling about life, lemons and all kinds of random stuff...

People who have been dumped on e-mail, who have been stood up on their 4th date, who have been left at the altar, who have had to say goodbye to someone they have been with for more than half their lives, and who have seen the Mallika Sherawat, Rahul Bose starrer Pyaar Ke Side Effects, you all know what I'm talking about when I say "Break-up Ke Side Effects"...While the process by itself is painful, the aftermath may not be as bad as you may have imagined....

1. You suddenly have a lot of time on hand

Because something you thought about for 23 out of 24 hrs in the day till now is something you want to forget asap. So, suddenly you have time for all the things you had been postponing all these days for "lack of time" or some such weird reason. You can now register for that dance class you have been wanting to do for quite some time, play some sports, go talk to that pretty girl you have been wanting to talk to for a while but kept avoiding lest something serious come out of it....its time to start living for yourself for a change...

2. You are free to make your own decisions

Because that someone for whom you changed 11 out of 10 decisions no longer matters as much (not because you dont care any more, but because you have to make an effort to not care any more), you suddenly find yourself basing your decisions on what YOU want to do, rather than stuff like what will he/she feel, does he/she like it, will he/she have fun, does he/she dig it, yada yada...Its time to enjoy being in control of your life!

3. You can make friends with anyone!

Because you no longer have to worry about potentially inappropriate advances, inadvertent complications and jealous backlashes, you are free to meet new people, especially those belonging to the opposite sex, and try and strike a connect! Its time to forge new friendships, something you could do only to an extent till now because you had to devote so much time and energy to that special someone. Its time to get out on the dance floor of life and jive with new buddies!

4. You can reconnect with old friends like never before!

Because of 1, you have lots of spare air-time that can be put to good use by trying to rebuild relationships/friendships you could (unintentionally) give only so much time to, because that special someone demanded more of your attention! Its time to get back to pre-rel times and rock the floor, friendship-style!

5. You save A LOT!

Because you dont need to spend on gifts and on looking/being the way someone else wants you to look/be like, you can stop spending on relatively useless stuff and keep the money for stuff that really matters- good food and latest gadgets! This, friends, is a real saver and probably the biggest material side-effect, or should I say advantage!

6. You can go after your dreams!

Because the only person majorly affected in long-term by your decisions now is you, you can reopen that wish-list and finally try to make a serious effort towards making at least a couple of things written there true! Nobody/nothing stops you from going for what your heart wants, and has always wanted!

7. You can be genuinely happy!

Not that you weren't happy before! But you no longer need to suffer from an external focus of identity! Happiness can finally come from within, based only on how happy YOU are!

Pretty positive eh? Life post-breakup aint so bad! :) Its best to enjoy this phase before the next one beckons and history begins to repeat itself! :)

Aisha!!!

2010-07-13T23:42:00.004-07:00

Amit Trivedi is back with a bang! And not just your ordinary bang, not the kind they used to depict in the Batman TV series by lame words-in-clouds like POW and WHAM! This is serious kick-ass stuff!

It begins with Suno Aisha sung oh-so-delectably by Ash King, of Dil-Gira-Dafatan-fame, with able assistance by Trivedi himself and while it reminds a lot of another recent classic, Aditi from Jaane Tu, that's only bcz its reminiscent of the former in spirit. The use of saxophones and trumpets is a master stroke and Ash King does a fab job at making the song simply irresistible!

Gall Mitthi Mitthi is a winner all the way with Tochi at helm crooning a very non-mundane Punju tune, which is a refreshing change...especially bcz the lyrics are true-blue Punjabi, as compared to the random mundiya, chunari, kudiyon crap usually served till date in Hindi movies...The beat grows on u after a mere 2 listens and while i cudnt get what the hype abt the song is all about in the first listen, by the end of listen 2, i was hooked, in fact bowled over!

Sham is beautifully sung by Nikil D'Souza and is the soothing element in the album...well written, awesomely arranged and amazingly pleasant, Sham is a treat for the ears...'nuf said!

Lehrein is an introspective song, again awesomely arranged and beautifully sung by Anushka Mani, with some great lyrics! Another song u will be willing to listen on loop, especially if ur in a melancholy mood!

Behke Behke is probably the first Spanish style Hindi song ever...its energetic, vivacious and foot-tapping, belly-shaking to say the least. The awesome Anushka Manchanda sings this one and boy, does she do it well!

Anushka comes back for By The Way, which is a very VIVA-like song and yet, much better than what VIVA cud ever manage, of course bcz its Amit Trivedi at the helm of affairs here! Bubbly, effervescent and full of life, this ones a winner too!

Remixes of Gall Mitthi Mitthi and Lehrein wrap up the album, and both up the ante considerably! All in all, Aisha is hands-down, by far, the album of the year! Its a superb follow-up by Amit Trivedi to his much deserving and brilliant Dev D! He manages so much with some lesser-known singers, that its truly remarkable how carefully he has chosen the right voice for the right track! I hate to compare but, I havent felt like this abt an album since Rock On...Delhi 6 came close and while Dev D had 7-8 masterpieces, it also had another 4-5 tracks that I rarely liked to listen to (not bcz they wr bad, only bcz m not into that kinda music)....so considering the whole album, Aisha is a rarity, at least for me, where EVERY track stands on its own and tall! Dont take off ur headphones for the next month! :)

P.S. : I remember finding Emma pretty boring when I read it abt 12 yrs back...But Aisha sure looks a peppy adaptation! And not to forget, it has that most important factor every Hindi movie shud have...no no not the script....Abhay Deol! \m/

Dus Ass Wale...

2010-06-20T03:01:00.001-07:00

Raavan, without any doubt, is the WORST MOVIE I have seen in the last 10 years, probably even the worst I have ever seen ...I dont remember being as utterly perplexed and mindfucked while and after watching a movie since I saw Refugee and LOC, but even those had some redeeming moments...and some of the recent crap like Kidnap and Karzzzzz was of the so-bad-its-good variety....

Raavan is the lowest of low points in Mani Ratnam's career and Abhishek Bachchan's non-career...For some reason, Ash's (non-existent) cleavage hogs more limelight than any shred or iota of acting skill she allegedly has...I have seen some seriously BAD movies, and i mean real bad bad movies like Jai-Veeru and Team-The Force, and even they seem like Picasso in front of this Dus Ass Wala Raavan...Mindfuck! डोक्याला शॉट! डायरेक्टरच्या आईचा घो !

Irony of life....

2010-06-07T10:15:00.002-07:00

You always want to be the Akash of your life, but no matter how much good you mean, sometimes you just turn out to be Rohit...

And the irony is .... one person's Akash can be another person's Rohit....

Maybe its a good idea to just be Sameer and not bother about the Shalinis of the world...You could try to be Sid, but takes a lot of maturity and unfortunately, I'm not there yet....

Yo James...

2010-05-20T11:56:00.002-07:00

Sometime in the mid-90s, somewhere in California....

"Ron, I'm gonna build a big ship...huge one...cut it into half ...tie people to the posts and railings on tht ship...then get a bunch of cranes and pull it vertical so that it looks like one half of a sinking ship....the tied people all sway, hanging on the threads they are tied to...its all natural...looks awesome...you capture it all using multiple cameras, edit it, post process it and lo, you have an awesome scene of a sinking ship...waddaya think?"

"You know James, its a ridiculous idea...its not gonna work...there's so much technology available...you should use it!"

"Technology schmecknology! I'mma make it work! You'll see..."

"Take my word James, you'll come back to technology later when it doesnt work out...and you'll have wasted money and time! Listen to me now, I know this stuff..."

"Oh you scientists know squat about art! You'll see"

6 months later....

"Yo James, hows it goin man?"

"You know what Ron, you were right...my goddamn idea was a boo-boo....it looked hideous..."

"I toldja didnt I!"

"Yeah! I put my foot in my own mouth...gimme your goddamn technology...lets see how it goes!"

A coupla years later in 1998....

Titanic smashes box-office records worldwide...

The people

Ron - Ron Fedkiw, my Special Effects professor (More info here)
James - James Cameron, Director

True story.

The real superhero...

2010-05-08T13:30:00.004-07:00

...is Robert Downey Jr! How else can you explain Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man 2 is succession!! He has now officially displaced Leonardo DiCaprio as my favorite Hollywood actor.

Getting back to the movie, Iron Man 2 is no The Dark Knight, but it is not Transformers 2 either, nor is it Spiderman 3! I guess you see where I am going :D While it explores less of psyche and more of the superficial, Iron Man 2 delivers what all superhero movies are intended to deliver in the first place - loads of entertainment and action - and it does that without disrespecting the IQ levels of the audience, which is more than you can ask from this genre! While it does not delve into depths of almost any of the characters' psyches, save Tony Stark to some extent, the film is so edgily written and performed that you are willing to overlook that fact. While Mickey Rourke as Whiplash and Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury get sort of a raw deal, they nevertheless shine to the extent they can. Gwyneth Paltrow is adorable as Pepper Potts and Scarlett Johannson burns the screen with her chutzpah. How I wish there was more of her in the movie. I need not repeat the fact that she is H-O-T, she is superhot in this one! Sam Rockwell is brilliant as Hammer. But the real superhero as I mentioned is Robert Downey Jr.! He builds on top of the Tony Stark character he conceived in the first part and while the focus is more on his situation this time than on his psychology, the filmmakers are lucky to have him since he comes up with such an eccentric, delicious and towering performance that overshadows everything else including the half-baked characterizations, the unoriginal and underdeveloped rationale to Whiplash's action, the kick-ass action set-pieces (though we all have seen better!) and even Scarlett Johannson's assets! Now if that isnt a superpower, what is!

Its an entertainment fest, laced with lots of sarcasm and punch! And while it misses the chance of being another Iron Man or The Dark Knight, Iron Man 2 leaves dumbass flicks like Revenge of the Fallen and Clash of the Titans light years behind, both in terms of pure adrenaline and sheer joy!

P.S. : I wouldnt mind seeing an entire movie on the Black Widow, btw! :D

Where exactly is the devil?

2010-05-07T12:12:00.005-07:00

Okay, so I have kept my views to myself for 3 weeks now, in the (unlikely) hope (yeah right!) that they will change, because, you know, Rahman's music is different, it grows on you with time...While I dont disagree with that, (I have had my share of music-grows-on-you factor with Jaane Tu..., Yuvvraaj and Blue), I hate to admit that this time ARR gets it wrong...That's okay...We all are mortals, and its too much to ask from a person, even if a genius, to deliver just awesomeness everytime...We have seen Sachin fail at times, we have seen Aamir Khan deliver turkeys, and we have seen Michael Schumacher end 10th behind less-gifted drivers...So, ARR delivering an uninspiring album should be no big deal...What stings me however, is the unequivocal raving that has accompanied the release of the soundtracks of Raavan...Its a case of worshipping someone just because we put him up on a pedestal so high up that now calling a spade a spade will mean demeaning the someone to such an extent that is unbecoming of his genius...Now THIS is what i call blasphemy!

Raavan may not be his weakest work till date, but it is definitely ARR's least deserving works in recent times...Least deserving of the accolades, the hype and the hoopla! Lets get this straight, ARR misfires more often than we like to believe, but when he scores, he scores Bull's eye and more, which indeed makes us forget the misfires - indeed the true mark of a genius. But that shudnt make us shy away from calling crap crap! When you have deplorably hideous songs like Kata Kata and the highly pretentious Ranjha Ranjha, there is no way you can convince me with tales of how he has broken away from the convention by delivering a beat on the 13th count instead of the expected 12th and thus, created a masterpiece...The song sounds not-good and that's the result on which the verdict should be based! I mean sample this analysis of Kata Kata:

"There is a madness, wildness and subtle darkness to this playful pre-wedding composition. The bugles at the beginning awaken everyone to an emergency, a crisis, something going amiss followed by drums. What turmoil has arrived, you ask?"

Seriously WTF! The songs sucks...plain sucks! why is there a problem saying tht loud and clear? Pretentious douchebags need to stop writing reviews! Rahman has given us much much better and calling this track a masterpiece and a master stroke is like Filmfare awarding Aamir Best Actor for "Raja Hindustani"! Its seriously WTF...

Coming back to the album, Beera is energetic and has so much energy that it carries you with it for the 4 minutes the song lasts and beyond. So much so that you are willing to forgive the random signature Rahman tribal words "Mehegumenjaaaaaaaaaaaaloooooooooooooo" (I have never understood Rahman's fascination for random, meaningless words in songs; it was "Bala bala, aa ora, o meego, tu bala pada hoysa....taboo, bala bala" in Jai Ho; "Hosa, keecha keecha" in Shano Shano; "Thoda thoda Zimbabwe"in Latoo and numerous more...I mean seriously why spoil a song just by randomness!! I can understand the French rap in Delhi6 but these "tribal" sounds r laughable, not to mention irritating, and just bcoz its ARR, ppl wont say a word...let Himesh or Pritam put somthng like tht in a song and u'll hear no end of it!)...Nevertheless, the song is really good and is the best of the lot because it is energetic and you cant get it out of your head! Behne De is another inspiring track and while it bears some resemblance to Satrangi, the credit goes to ARR for creating such a racy track! Khili Re is the last shred of sense in the album and while its cloyingly sweet and similar to most of the Jodhaa Akbar music, it is well sung and melody keeps it afloat.

Now to the major f*ck-ups! Thok De Killi is fast-food and it has zero impact. People comparing it with Yuva can go get their braincells checked. It is uninspiring and strictly below average. And btw, the lyrics are BAD! Kata Kata is deplorable to say the least, and comparisons with Rukmini are absolutely uncalled for! It is hideously penned and sung and I dont care how awesome the music arrangements are when that happens! Ranjha Ranjha is the most utterly over-rated track of the year - its the Singh is Kinng of music! People raving about its wonderful lyrics need to tell me if they even understand what is being said! Nothing exceptional about the song, nothing even bloody okay about it! The much-awaited Jaa Re Udd Jaa Re sung by the man himself, is not bad but is not worthy of the sky-high praise it has received! Again, its idol worship more than rationale which has prompted people to say tht!

I am aware I may have gone majorly overboard in criticizing Raavan here, but frankly it kills me to see people praising something just bcz it is supposed to be praised. We should stop being afraid of admitting we cant understand "genius" when we dont! Everyone makes mistakes and its stupid to cover up one mistake with another.

This is unconventional music which fails to touch or move...Lets be honest and gutsy enough to call it tht!

Badmaash Soundtrack!

2010-04-11T13:38:00.005-07:00

I usually dont do music reviews...bcz music is something that you cannot judge in 1-2-3-..-10 hearings...sometimes it takes a mere 15 second prelude to a song to decide whether ur gonna love it for the rest of ur life, sometimes even 100 loops arent enough...

Wait! I am not breaking my aforementioned unwritten rule bcz I found a kick-ass album! Just that its been a while since I heard some good music and I figured I havent raved about inane, senseless songs with foot-tapping beats and delicious melodies in a while....Doesnt hurt to do that occasionally, right? ;)

Badmaash Company looks like a rehash of Bunty Aur Babli, and while that makes me wanna puke, the soundtrack by Pritam sure is a guilty pleasure!

Ayashi, with its guitar-riffin' start and the 'beparwah' rendition by KK(after loong!) is just brimming with enthusiasm and chutzpah! Reruns galore and you still cant get the tune out of your head...

Chaska, sung earthily by Krishna, is refreshingly different, with its laidback mood and irrefutable reverence to a "high"er power. Brings back memories of "Dum Laga" from Dil Dosti Etc. Addictive!

Jingle Jingle is awesome with Mohit's unique rendition, the super-fun lyrics and the brilliant music! But for the ridiculous "Jingle Jingle" chorus which sucks to the bone, this could have been an anthem for keeps! Still a whole lot of fun, if you can phase out the pathetic "jingle jingle" sound!

Fakeera is the best of the lot! And that's saying something considering the album's full of pep and vigour! Rahat Fateh Ali Khan moves away from his typical stuff to give this lilting, meaningful and racy song, with a vintage Pritam stamp all over it!

That brings us to the title song, which put me off with the very first line

"Look Look Left, Look Look Right,

Kar Le Apni, Jeans Pant Tight!"

Trite has a new meaning!! Benny Dayal is wasted in this unflattering piece, which stands out like a sore thumb in an otherwise winner from Pritam!

Lets get this straight : the music of Badmaash Company isnt of the masterpiece variety, but come on, Pritam is no ARR, and to give credit where its due, he has given us awesome (albeit "lifted" :P) stuff like Gangster, Woh Lamhe, Life in a Metro, Awaarapan, Jab We Met, Jannat and Love Aaj Kal (woah! thats some line-up!! and I didnt even consider his massier stuff like Dhoom, D2, Billu and Race!); so when we say Pritam is back in form, it does mean something! :)

Hope the film works too, at least for Shahid Kapoor's sake, coz here's one actor who needs to get his due (and who also needs to learn to smell crap(Dil Bole Hadippa, CpD) from a distance and stay away!). Btw, Anushka, though not much of an actress IMO, is looking smokin' hot in the promos :D

EPIC!

2010-04-11T13:01:00.006-07:00

My friend Sagar shared this howlarious stuff tht I cudnt help sharing....a few glimpses below....

Know you FB contacts!

Irony anyone?

The very definition of a trivial breakup!

Wait! Wha....?

Get a life! My favorite :D

Reinforces my belief about the dumb ___ stereotype! (Ping me if you wanna know the blank)

See the real deal here....contains risque, often tasteless, and really really gross, stuff...keep your fingers to yourself if ur too uptight...(i mean dont click the link :P)

When quake hits a geekozoidal town....

2010-04-11T11:36:00.004-07:00

This is EXACTLY what happened last week!!

Courtesy: xkcd

A geek's hell....

2010-04-11T11:32:00.007-07:00

Having been a huge fan of Tetris for years, this one just literally cracked me up...I mean figuratively...

P.S. : Non-regulars at xkcd who did not get the "literally-figuratively" connection need to go here.

Courtesy: xkcd

Worth more than a LOOK...

2010-04-09T01:17:00.008-07:00

Just finished watching Look, an unheralded, little-known movie, which is clearly the "inspiration" behind LSD. (I am highly surprised no one found out about this movie yet! Quite a few concepts in LSD are clearly clearly taken from here!)

Look is a brilliant film in all respects, true to the core and very neutrally narrated...The stories are gut-wrenching and leave you with an aftertaste alright, but its to the credit of the director that he whips up such a simple yet complex inter-twining of tales that is not only delightfully novel but entertains! The stories keep you hooked because you want to know how they end, and the director manages to tie up all loose ends except a couple that are kept open on purpose. The end is just hard-hitting and overall, the movie brought back memories from a lot of good flicks like Life in a Metro and Mumbai Meri Jaan, not for the similarity in story but the similarity in feelings they evoked. Performances are extremely competent and most of the characters are underplayed beautifully.

The songs in the movie deserve special mention, especially noteworthy is High. Just marvel at the lyrics -

Opening a can of worms

That are now out of date

No matter what you do

Dont you dare throw them away.

A harlet sparks the boat

With regurgitating grace

We hide under a broken rainbow

Waiting for the rain to fade.

B'coz Deja Vu

Sounds like something not true

But I think

That I have seen it with you.

I am sure

I have never been here before

There's a dead marker

That is writing on the floor.

High...

About the shooting rains

Where the kids play

In that weather....we were high

And feeling okay

Where the cards change is where we...rely

High....

This is cinema that deserves to be watched! (Just read on imdb that it won the Best Film by the Grand Jury at the CineVegas Awards. At least someone saw and appreciated it!).

P.S. : You can watch the movie here. It contains a considerable amount of nudity and violence so watch it at your own peril if you are too judgemental!

New blog....

2010-04-03T22:14:00.004-07:00

Finally! :)

http://straightfromthestomach.blogspot.com/

Dont worry...this one will be alive and kicking as well....the new one is exclusively for khavaiyye! :)

Superhit Pyaar, Paap Ki Dukaan aur Badnaam Shoharat

2010-03-20T13:35:00.007-07:00

LSD...the day the movie was announced, DeeBee had me all excited abt what he'll bring to the screen next, after an earthy middle-class comedy and a riveting biography of a small-time thief...The music had me hooked with its zany, unconventional (and witty!) lyrics and the catchy tunes...Saw the movie last night...its very novel and interesting, altho also a tad underwhelming....

LSD is hyper-link cinema - one of my favorite kinds, along with anthology films....there have been numerous hyperlink movies i have simply loved, most notably Pulp Fiction, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Babel and Yuva. LSD, however, is not just tht, its cinema with a difference - difference in the way its scripted, the way its shot and the way it presents itself...somewhat like a news item....something you can choose to be or not be neutral about...that's a major plus and LSD scores big time on these counts as well as direction and performances...

The first story is the most appealing of the lot, maybe because it spoofs stereotype, maybe because it is so real, or even maybe, because of the shocking end (believe me, it'll make your senses numb!)...its the funniest of the lot and probably also the most enjoyable (upto the end, that is)....

The second story is interesting in bits but has an uneven pace and does not keep you hooked throughout...the climax and culmination are very poignant and extremely real...the coldness of human psyche is presented and portrayed commendably....the extent to which human ego can go to prove one's point and the utter disregard of other's sensitivity and situation is something that's very subtly laid out, without commenting upon it...the pace seriously hampers tho and makes you a lil impatient at times...

The third story is the corniest of the lot and altho it has some memorable performances, the setting is too over-the-top and takes the graph of the film lower...It also has a hurried, "non-flowy" quality which mars the overall effect of the movie...

The way the stories connect is brilliant...something that has always drawn me towards hyper-link cinema...seeing the same scene from the perspective of different characters and figuring out where this piece fits in a totally new puzzle every time is really intriguing and DeeBee carries it off very well..the end is fantastic and but for the poor pace in the latter half, the movie could have been deemed flawless...Much has been said about the cinematography and the roles played by different types of cams in the movie, so I'll refrain from repeating it...This is daring and different cinema, make no mistake about it...If only it was trimmed a lil more, it could have been as riveting for the entire length...

The choice of actors is top-notch and DeeBee has been brave enough to present something off-the-beaten-track in a radically different way...This is a movie you should watch if you like variety...only dont expect too much, since its more of a "reality" movie than a dramatic one, so the underwhelming feeling lingers...and if u can make ur peace with tht, LSD is one movie you probably shouldnt miss...

Scientines day....

2010-02-13T01:26:00.003-08:00

14th Feb + geek_max + frust_max + "science" =

courtesy : xkcd

Trash of the year.....

2010-02-13T01:12:00.020-08:00

In keeping with the spirit of last year, here's some of the trashiest stuff dished out this year...

Worst Film
Radio

Blue

Main Aurr Mrs Khanna

What's Your Rashee

Dil Bole Hadippa

Luck

Kambakht Ishq

Chandni Chowk To China

Worst Actor
Akshay Kumar - Blue
Akshay Kumar - Chandni Chowk To China

Akshay Kumar - Kambakht Ishq

Harman Baweja - What's Your Rashee

Sanjay Dutt - Blue

Himesh Reshamiya - Radio
Sohail Khan - Main Aurr Mrs Khanna
Neil Nitin Mukesh - New York

Worst Actress

Lara Dutta - Blue
Kareena Kapoor - Kambakht Ishq

Lara Dutta - Billu

Rani Mukherjee - Dil Bole Hadippa

Deepika Padukone - Chandni Chowk To China

Worst Director
Anthony D'Souza - Blue
Prem Soni - Main Aurr Mrs Khanna
Anurag Singh - Dil Bole Hadippa
Soham Shah - Luck
Sabbir Khan - Kambakht Ishq
Nikhil Advani - Chandni Chowk To China

I hope we dont have such movies next year so I cant come up with this list (Yeah! Right! And lets hope pigs fly!)

And the award goes to....

2010-02-13T00:22:00.009-08:00

After the *really* lame nominations put up by Filmfare, i cudnt resist the urge to do some justice to ppl who toiled hard and made classy stuff, some of it so good, the mediocre Filmfare and Screen juries barely got it! Here's hopefully a more comprehensive and deserving list for the year...(Winners are bold and italicized)

Best Film

3 Idiots
Dev D

Gulaal
Kaminey
Luck By Chance
Wake Up Sid

Best Director

Anurag Kashyap - Dev D

Anurag Kashyap - Gulaal
Ayan Mukerji - Wake Up Sid
Rajkumar Hirani - 3 Idiots
Vishal Bharadwaj - Kaminey

Best Actor In A Leading Role - Male

Abhay Deol - Dev D

Farhan Akhtar - Luck By Chance
Ranbir Kapoor - Wake Up Sid
Ranbir Kapoor - Rocket Singh-Salesman Of The Year

Salman Khan - Wanted

Shahid Kapoor - Kaminey

Best Actor In A Leading Role - Female

Konkona Sen Sharma - Luck By Chance

Konkona Sen Sharma - Wake Up Sid

Mahie Gill - Dev D
Priyanka Chopra - Kaminey
Vidya Balan - Paa

Best Actor In A Supporting Role - Male

Abhimanyu Singh - Gulaal

Amol Gupte - Kaminey
Boman Irani - 3 Idiots
Chandan Roy Sanyaal - Kaminey

Hrithik Roshan - Luck By Chance

Piyush Mishra - Gulaal

Rishi Kapoor - Luck By Chance

Salman Khan - London Dreams

Best Actor In A Supporting Role - Female

Ayesha Mohan - Gulaal

Divya Dutta - Delhi-6
Kalki Koechlin - Dev D
Kareena Kapoor - 3 Idiots

Supriya Pathak - Wake Up Sid
Best Music

A R Rahman - Delhi-6
Amit Trivedi - Dev D

Piyush Mishra - Gulaal
Pritam Chakraborty - Love Aaj Kal

Pritam Chakraborty - Tum Mile

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - London Dreams

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - Luck By Chance
Vishal Bharadwaj - Kaminey

Best Lyrics

Amitabh Bhattacharya - Nayan Tarse (Dev D)

Gulzar - Dhan Te Nan (Kaminey)
Gulzar - Raat Ke Dhai Baje (Kaminey)

Javed Akhtar - Iktara (Wake Up Sid)

Piyush Mishra - Aarambh (Gulaal)

Prasoon Joshi - Khanabadosh (London Dreams)
Prasoon Joshi - Masakali (Delhi-6)

Best Playback Singer - Male

Amit Trivedi - Nayan Tarse (Dev D)

Mohan - Khanabadosh (London Dreams)

Mohit Chauhan - Masakali (Delhi-6)

Mohit Chauhan - Ye Dooriyan (Love Aaj Kal)

Shankar Mahadevan - Sapnon Se Bhare Naina (Luck By Chance)
Sonu Nigam - Dont Say Alvida (Main Aurr Mrs Khanna)

Sonu Nigam - Shukran Allah (Kurbaan)
Sukhwinder Singh-Vishal Dadlani - Dhan Te Nan (Kaminey)

Tochi Rainaa - Pardesi (Dev D)

Vishal Dadlani, Roop Kumar Rathod - Barso (London Dreams)

Best Playback Singer - Female
Kavita Seth - Iktara (Wake Up Sid)
Rekha Bhardwaj - Genda Phool (Delhi-6)

Shreya Ghoshal - Dont Say Alvida (Main Aurr Mrs Khanna)
Sunidhi Chauhan - Chor Bazaari (Love Aaj Kal)

Sunidhi CHauhan - Oh By God (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani)

Best Song

Aarambh - Gulaal

Dhan Te Nan - Kaminey

Emotional Attyachaar - Dev D

Iktara - Wake Up Sid

Khanabadosh - London Dreams

Masakali - Delhi 6

Sapnon Se Bhare Naina - Luck By Chance

Peace!

Recap....

2010-02-05T01:00:00.005-08:00

Its been more than 5 months since I wrote stuff here...and I know its been too long, I shud have come here earlier, but sometimes things dont necessarily work out the way you want them to....anyways, i'm back and thts what matters for now i guess :)

The last 5 months have been just fab! Right from packing for 2 years, which was an amusingly monumental task, to saying goodbye to loved ones, which was surprisingly not as hard as I had imagined, maybe because I was better prepared, to flying across the globe to a totally new and unseen place on my own, to finding my feet in one of the awesomest places on earth, to getting thru a bitter-sweet, whirlwind first quarter, laced with more lows (all academic, none personal or social :) ) than I had had in life till then, to the fantastic vacation, where I ensured there's not many places I'm yet to see in this part of the US :) , to a rollicking second quarter which is already halfway through, phew! Its been quite a journey! I wouldnt want to bore people with a detailed account of these months, but still, there's quite a few snippets worth sharing...So here goes...

1. The Half Wave Rectifier
One of my first memories of the place is the EE dept orientation, especially the end of the Chair's welcome speech. After he had finished welcoming us and wishing us all the best for the upcoming wonderful years of our life, Prof. Horowitz asked the besotted, bedazzled crowd a seemingly simple question...

Whats this?
I thought "Great!! The quarter's not even begun and Profs have started pestering us with questions, albeit ridiculously simple!"

"Half wave rectifier!", the whole class answered in chorus.

"Correct! Now tell me what happens if the breakdown voltage of the diode is lesser than the input voltage? How do you ensure the diode stays alive?"

"You add another diode in series!", pat came the reply from the class!

"Very good! What if their combined voltage isn't enough to withstand the input?"

"You add another diode in series!"

This was getting ridiculous! Just as I was about to form a really bad impression of this whole place, Prof. Horowitz said

"Now students, like this sine wave, you all will have lots of ups and downs at Stanford. What matters is how you can keep the highs and get rid of the lows, just like this half-wave rectifier! What do you need for that? Like you all said, diodes! Who are these diodes??"

There was perfect silence in the room full of 200 people! This wasnt a technical question and hence nobody was willing to venture a guess :) Everyone was eager to hear what was coming next!

"Look around the room....Its full of diodes....like you! How much you like your time at Stanford depends on how many friends you make....the more diodes there are in your circuit, the happier you will be in this wonderful place!"

People couldnt stop beaming at that statement! :) Prof. Horowitz himself could barely stifle his smile :)

2. In retrospect...

Dec 11...The day I felt like a huge load was off my shoulders! Last day of my first quarter at Stanford! A hectic 12 weeks later, I was lower on confidence than I had begun but that was more because of lack of mental preparedness than anything else. For one thing, I hadnt studied much for the past 2 years, and for another, I hadnt expected Computer Networks to be a difficult course after taking it once at COEP and after working in the domain for 2 years! Guess what, it was the toughest of the lot! Believe it or not, I came pretty close to flunking the class, but in the end managed decently well. AI turned out to be the savior of the quarter for me. What networks took away, AI supplied in plenty - confidence of being able to work on something totally alien but totally awesome! Now as a I look back, I cant believe I have already programmed a robotic dog to cross the most difficult of terrains, written a handwritten digit recognizer, written maze games and puzzles, encoded a whole static router, encoded a whole dynamic router, implemented NAT, unsuccessfully written TCP reliable layer, programmed robots called Romeo and Juliet to find each other after they are lost in Gates(CS dept building) and yet attended almost every home game, most of the parties, and managed to stay alive, with a semblance of sanity still intact! :)

Life at Stanford isnt as much about time management or workload management, as it is about managing and controlling the fears within you! What a Masters degree teaches you here is more relevant than what the Professors teach in class or what you teach yourself during assignments, and that is recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, and playing to your strengths while trying to convert the weaknesses to strengths! The awareness of this is primarily the reason why my second quarter has been so fun-filled and rollicking! :)

3. A superb vacation!
December was so much fun after the exams! A couple of laidback days and i was off to LA to meet Niks and Ravi. Dhav had a lil surprise in store for us and before we knew it, we were in Vegas! After seeing "most" of Vegas and LA, Stanford was the next stop, where Gou joined the party and in the process, added another dimension to the gang! Ksh's entry was the quintessential icing on the cake, and as a result, Muir Woods was much more fantastic than before, Golden Gate bridge was really Golden, Sausalito was like a fairy land and best of all, the 17-mile drive was heavenly bliss! Another week in LA and San Diego capped off what was a truly memorable trip in all respects! The first of many many more to come surely! :)

4. Season 2 begins...
would be a very wrong statement to make, especially since today is the last day of week 5 of Season 2, and there's only 11 weeks in all :D So, its more like season2 is half way thru! Again, courses are really interesting, in fact, the workload is much much more this time, but since I am in a better state of mind now, I am enjoying it all even more! How Google Street View works, detecting people in videos, writing my first research project proposal, building a working car out of Lego pieces after solving puzzles to make money to be able to bid for raw material, vehemently supporting Skype against the traditional telecoms in Scandinavia, learning team-building through the Beatles, bagging a high-profile Microsoft project on cloud computing for climatology to help Berkeley National Labs and ultimately, NASA, getting surprisingly large number of internship interview calls, especially when people obviously much smarter and more experienced than me have got fewer, and bagging a Qualcomm offer have only been a few high-points of this quarter yet. And mind you, its been only 5 weeks! :) There's definitely more in store!

I'll try to be here more often. But even if I'm not, keep the comments coming people. This is a fab way of sharing stuff and it wud be a pity if we do away with it! :) Till next time then, ciao!

Movie time!

2010-02-05T00:45:00.022-08:00

It was harder not watching and not being able to write about movies than it was trying to find the memory leak in my NAT code! But truth is, I had zilch time! Still managed to watch a few movies and here's a quick recap of what i thought of some of those...

Wanted
Unpretentious, unabashed actioner packed with a powerful, in-form, confident Salman Khan! Pleasant surprise! Inspite of a hackneyed, predictable plot and lame supporting actors except for Mahesh Manjrekar, Salman packed a sucker-punch to ensure people stayed glued to their seats. One of my favorite Sallu performances in recent times, especially since he seemed to be enjoying it too! :)

Dil Bole Hadippa

WTF! Double WTF! Didnt complete it, but WTF!

BlueROFL-fest of the year! Paunchy Sanjay Dutt as scuba-diver! :D aptly referred to as Sethji by a freakishly-goateed Akshay "buffoon" Kumar, who survives a whole 2-day thunderstorm underwater by breathing the air from the tires of the bike he jumped into the middle of the ocean with! Unbelievably howlarious! And some "dialogues of the year":

Bikini-clad Lara Dutta to husband paunchy : "You know..mera sapna hai...oceanography institute...jahan pe main marine life pe research kar sakoon" ROFLMAOTICST!!! Yah they have whole institutes for ONE SINGLE "passionate" researcher, especially if shes hot and promises to wear bikinis throughout working hours! :D

Immensely constipated Lara Dutta to immensely busy paunchy during a bullet fight "Discussion karke matter solve nahi kar sakte kya?" :D :D Lady, there's bullets flying around and none else got a "shield" like you (pun totally intended!)

Some jackass cald Rahul Dev to some jackass cald Zayed Khan : "Sawaal yeh nahi hai ke kam hua ke nahi, sawaal ye hai ke agar kam nahi hua hai to main kya karoonga!" WTF.

For more fun, go buy an original Blue DVD! This Blue film's worth watching! :D

Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna

Gah! Boring to the bone!

All the Best

Abandoned after half an hour! I am not in 2nd grade anymore!

London Dreams

Not bad at all although not a patch on Amadeus. Again, Salman Khan outperforms himself! Was he on steroids or something while shooting this and Wanted? Cant believe this same guy played that soporific character in something something Khanna! Awesome songs btw! Couple of my favorites of the year in Barso and Khanabadosh :)

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Huh! Decent movie with a few good laughs and good work by Ranbir, but whoever compared it to Andaz Apna Apna?? You cant compare M S Dhoni with Sachin Tendulkar! Even if Dhoni starts making more money from commercials!

Invictus

Well-made, well-meaning, well-performed and insightful look into how and why Mandela thought the way he did at the beginning of his Presidential career. Sadly, drags a bit and hence, not very entertaining.

AvatarVisual orgasm! Cameron is GOD. Following up something like Titanic with something like Avatar is no mean feat. And although the story may not be meatier than a single-layered steak, its substantial and spicy enough to ensure a never-before movie watching experience! Hats off to the vision and the visionary!

Sherlock Holmes

Delicious, delectable, crazy in its own way! Guy Ritchie does a Nolan on Holmes franchisee and brings our beloved detective out of his pristine aura, to give more human touches than Doyle could have imagined. Brilliant work by Downey Jr and Jude Law as Watson, but real hero of the movie - Director Guy Ritchie! Probably the best sleuth movie ever!

3 Idiots

Where do I start! Brilliant, at times tacky, at times unoriginal, at times slapstick, at times gimmicky, but still, brilliant! Mr. Hirani, Mr. Chopra, Mr. Khan, Mr. Joshi and Mr. Madhavan - a point well made!

Missed out on quite a few movies, most notably Wake Up Sid and Rocket Singh. Will try to catch up as soon as possible.

Signing off with my lists of the year. Not as comprehensive and as many as last year, since there werent as many bad films this time around, what with Sanjay Gadhvi and Subhash Ghai having no releases :D ...but still, something to chew on :)

Movies of the year

1. Kaminey
2. 3 Idiots
3. Dev D
4. Gulaal
5. Wake Up Sid

6. Luck By Chance
7. Love Aaj Kal
8. Delhi 6
9. Wanted

Music Albums of the year

1. Dev D
2. Delhi 6
3. Kaminey
4. London Dreams
5. Love Aaj Kal
6. Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani
7. Luck By Chance
8. Tum Mile
9. Raaz-TMC
10. Blue

Halloween!

2009-11-15T21:00:00.004-08:00

Had wild wild back-to-back nights at Stanford campus with all the funky parties! Partying at Stan rocks!Especially when u have slogged ur ass off for so long! \m/

Missing India! bcz of Wanted!

2009-09-18T10:57:00.001-07:00

This is the first time i am missing India...and u kno y...bcz Wanted has opened to rave reviews...and I wanna watch it with my Salman-fan frnds!! Man, an actioner frm Sallu aftr such a long time (Garv was the last one i guess, and it ws mediocre, to put it mildly!) with some rocking music and dances, and m not in India at the time! wat a tragedy...hope to catch it at the 1-hour drive away Naz theatre soon if i find some1 to accompany me...els gotta watch it ol this weeknd...

I wanna Jalwa!

Carnal humor?

2009-09-13T17:39:00.003-07:00

This conversation happened today afternoon when me and my roomie, Adrit went shopping at Trader Joe's...

Adrit: Dude, u have picked up a lot of breasts! u sure seem to lik them!
Me: I like breasts!
Adrit: I picked up some thighs....i thot those wud b enough!
Me: Well...lets have some breasts too!
Adrit: U like breasts more or thighs?
Me: I kinda like both!!
Adrit: Ok lets take both then!

And then we realise tht quite a few ppl around r staring at us!

Later, as we moved to the billing counter, the chick thr got into the conversation...

Billing chick: I wonder why breasts r more expensive than thighs!
Adrit: Hmm...true its always tht way!
Me: ?!!
Adrit: I think thts because they have more meat than the thighs...that makes sense rit?
Billing chick: Yeah tht sounds rit...breasts r always more juicy than thighs...thr u go...have a nice meal... :)

If u havent guessed it yet, we were shopping for some chicken.

Stereo....Radio....I'm a superstar...

2009-08-15T19:07:00.010-07:00

If u like watching a well-made, engrossing and complex-yet-brilliant movie tht gives ur intelligence the respect it deserves, then stop reading this article rit now and book urself a ticket to the earliest show of arguably (no... make tht unarguably!) the movie of the year!! Move over Dev D, Kaminey rocks Hindi movie-dom Quentin Tarantino style and how!!!

For all others who have ventured this far in the post bcz they arent too keen to watch intelligently made movies and who lik to give thr brain a break when watching movies, get ready for some real insults...I assume u guys r the ones who make trash lik Singh is Kinng and Kambakkht Ishq seem like pieces of art based on thr box office collections...well i have 1 word to describe all u guys - Kaminey!

I gues only some1 very interested in knowing abt Kaminey wud venture this far...so lemme start...Vishal Bharadwaj gives us a heady tale of twins with a rollicking screenplay that lets u fill in more than it tells, and in the process makes u a part of the movie...It wud b sad to giv away any part of the story but i gues the fact tht this is probably the BEST ensemble cast ever shud b good enuf to make u watch it first thing...the only hitch cud b tht by the end of the movie, u dont get enough of all these wonderfully crazy characters....bcz its a film and has to b wrapped up in 2-2.5 hrs...but for once, u wudnt mind if this one went on for 5 hrs, wit more abt each of the zany characters presented on screen...altho every1 pitches in fantastic performances, Amole Gupte deserves special mention for his portrayal of Bhope Bhau who is probably the most memorable "villian" on-screen since the legendary (and very dramatic) Gabbar...Shahid Kapoor is brilliant in both roles and this movie marks significant growth in him as an actor after being stuck in chocolate-boy roles for quite some time now, roles that he did remarkably, but also roles tht did little for his cud-have-been much better career...A superstar, nay a super-actor is well and truly born! Piggy Chops is lovely in a relatively small role and her Marathi accent is sure to give u goosebumps...the actors playing Mikhail and Lele are excellent! Technically, the movie reminds u a lot of Pulp Fiction, and thts saying a lot! Songs have been a rage since the music release so saying anythng abt them wud b redundancy...

Kaminey is for the people who r hungry for intelligent cinema, which, for a change, doesnt preach but just entertains....and in the process, keeps in mind the fact that ur IQ isnt below par!

Love Aaj Kal

2009-08-05T11:05:00.008-07:00

I am surprised-pleasantly and otherwise...othrwise bcz a lot of ppl - and i mean a lot - have not liked Love Aaj Kal (in fact quite a few despise it), and pleasantly bcz inspite of the not so good reactions of ppl who hv seen the movie, it has emerged one of the biggest grossers of all times! Now i dont normally care much abt how much a movie makes, but sometimes its good to c well-made and well-meaning cinema make some money too, in times when any kinda trash lik Rab Ne and Singh Is Kinng makes moolah!

Enough of analysing the public perception! On to the movie! Imtiaz Ali springs a pleasant surprise in the form of Love Aaj and Love Kal, with a non-linear, time-sliced narrative style tht enhances the movie considerably...the dialogues deserve special mention as they r very real and so-not-gimmicky! no1s expecting u to laugh at any of the "jokes" bcz lets face it, thr r few in the real world who spout witty, funny lines every minute!! The Love Aaj story is very relatable...its got slices of love stories u see around ths days...mayb even frm ur own! Love Kal story is really sweet and has unforgettable moments lik whn Harleen comes down and unveils Veer's favorite black coffee frm underneath her dupatta! beautiful!! romance at its adorable best! :)

Saif does decently well in both roles....Deepika is lovely and acts fittingly for her role, contrary to popular opinion...for all those who said Kareena wud hv been better for the role, i have the following to say - Main Prem Ki Diwnai Hoon, K3G, Khushi, Kambakkht Ishq and many more!! Rishi Kapoor is as usual dependable while Giselle as Harleen is cute but a poor actress...thankfully she doesnt need to act much :)

The movie is full of subtleties and for all those who r wondering which ones, no wonder u dint like the movie...let me put it this way - u dint undstnd the vein of the movie! On the flipside, the music is poorly utilized...such fantastic songs deserved better screen portrayal...wit the exception of Dooriyan and Chor Bazaari, othr songs r a bit of a letdown, not least Twist, whr u literally Twist in ur seat watching Saif make an ass of himself wit those idiotic dance steps...the slow pace can also get a bit nerve-wracking and it wud hv been a good idea to position the interval better! And finally, Love Aaj Kal is not really enjoyable in the true sense of the word...its good, very good, thought-provoking and real, but when it comes to entertainment, its like watching Sanjay Manjarekar bat! Nevertheless, its a well intentioned and decently made movie...

Looking fwd to somthng more definitive frm Imtiaz Ali next!

Coming soon...

2009-07-13T11:28:00.007-07:00

Like i said before, Dhan Ta Dan from Kaminey is a rocking composition, much-reminiscent of the immortal Misirlou theme from Pulp Fiction and a sureshot chartbuster, dancefloor scorcher and the works...with a host of other interesting songs like the AIDS-awareness inspired Fatak and the beautifully written and sung title song, Vishal Bharadwaj has given the Hindi music industry a new lease of life after a severe 4-month long musical drought...the promos look engaging too...hope this one turns out to be a roller-coaster!

Meanwhile, the more promising looking movie currently is Love Aaj Kal...boasting of a novel concept, with a non-cliche approach to storytelling, this one seems like an interesting tale in the offing...with rollicking music by Pritam, once again, and fresh-looking promos of a charming Saif and a mesmerisingly beautiful Deepika, Love Aaj Kal hopefully will quench the thirst of movie-goers like me, who are waiting for something fresh from Bollywood!

Kambakkht trash!

2009-07-13T10:58:00.006-07:00

What do you call a person who knows how insanely idiotic a movie is gonna be and yet who turns up at the theatre the day aftr the movie releases, spending hard-earned cash and invaluable time on what he knows is gonna be guaranteed trash the day they announced the movie? Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to this insane jackass....yours truly!

Now moving on to the Kambakkht movie...To put it plainly, it is juvenile trash that sucks at all levels! There are a few laughs, sure, but only if you belong to the sadomasochistic variety... It will be an honour to this movie if we discuss plot and performances...So lemme move on to the only thing i liked about the movie - Sylvester Stallone! He has screen presence amounting to much more than the sum of individual screen presence of self-proclaimed King, or more appropriately Clown, Akshay Kumar, Aftab, Kareena, Amrita Arora, Jaaved Jaafrey and all other what-nots.

If self-inflicted torture is your idea of a good movie, then we have a gem here in the form of Kambakkht Ishq!

P.S. : If you know any female surgeon who moonlights as a model in her spare time, to pay for, get this, MED school (!), lemme kno...wud love to meet the chick!

A Hangover i'll never forget!

2009-07-13T10:45:00.004-07:00

Wow! Simply brilliant and amazingly hilarious "comedy" that redefines slapstick! A very interesting plot, handled exceedingly well by the director to ensure that the movie steers away from the Hollywood comedy cliche scene and becomes a classic in its own right! Not to mention fitting performances by the entire cast, especially by the little-known Zach Galifianakis, who redefines weird in the role of Alan! Rocking performance by him lifts the movie to a differnet level altogether, making it the Titanic of Hollywood comedies! Dont miss it for anything in the world! THE best comedy in recent times!

Wanna be 17 Again? :)

2009-07-13T10:35:00.003-07:00

I went to see this movie just bcz we cudnt get tickets to Angels and Demons and we hd a lot of time to kill...My expectations werent much...i expected to see a run-of-the-mill, going-back-in-time Hollywood comedy, with liberal doses of chic-lit teen stuff! It was a pleasant surprise to watch a pretty decently etched out screenplay, with touching as well as funny moments, well directed and enacted! Surprisingly, Zac Efron was pretty decent and it was gr8 to see Mathew Perry again on the big screen, though why he has to be Chandler-ish in each and every role is beyond me....but undoubtedly, the show-stealer was Thomas Lennon as the nerdy Ned! His portions truly rocked and reminded me of some scenes frm The Big Bang Theory. Decent watch and perfect date movie! :)

New Dork!

2009-07-13T10:26:00.003-07:00

A glitzy, much-cliched, occasionally gripping, often boring, more cosmetic, less hertfelt, stereotypical YRF stuff, thts saved frm being pure YRF-trash by a sensible director with some conviction and a heart somewhat in the right place and competent performances by John and Irrfan Khan and yet let down by unnecessary and unwarranted glamour, one-dimensional Neil, laughable loopholes, and an extremely banal, pointless and senseless climax, tht made me laugh my guts out at the end of the film when i shud hv been touched by the sensitive material on display....Its a crime to make a bad movie, but its a bigger crime to spoil an excellent concept, which in fact is pretty gripping till the last hour! Congos YRF on doing it yet again!

AFK...

2009-06-06T22:51:00.007-07:00

I have been away frm my blog for , like, forever now...and its been a roller-coaster of a ride ths last 2-3 months...right frm the time i got my first admit frm CMU to the surprise admit frm Stanford to the amazing PF this yr (my last for a few yrs to come :( ) to last few weeks at HP to constant travelling to getting the visa power to last week in Bangalore! phew!! it hs been quite a year this...the next week will c me bid goodbye to a lot of thngs quite dear to my heart...its gonna b tough, probably not as tough as it ws 2 yrs ago, leaving pune :( but nevertheless tough...but more on tht l8r....lets not get nostalgic ahead of tim whn thrs so much more to talk abt :)

last few weeks hv been amazing, diffrnt to say the least...lemme do a wind up so tht i cn feel i never missd writing on my blog :)

1. IPL 2.0 ws amazing, contrary to wt most ppl said...i followed it completely and hd a gala time...esp in the latter half...rohit sharma, suresh raina, gilly, rp, haydos rocked the scene!! but perhaps the real star of ths edition ws fakey, with his witty, at times Madhur Bhandarkar-ish 'skeletons-out-of-the-closet' kinda writing, tht set this IPL apart frm the prev one...SRK hd a torrid time and so did Sachin...the first ws a delight to watch, the second ws just painful...i hope Sachin helps his team to win at least one major tournament final b4 he hangs up his boots...

2. Today FedEx tries to giv anothr shot to winning the only grand slam thts eluded him al these yrs...and surprisingly his nemesis isnt gonna b thr to stop him frm doing it...altho tht mayb a comforting thot fr al FedEx fans, including himself (cudnt resist tht, sorry :) ), the giant-killer may well prove to b handful fr the suddenly-turned-sentimental-and-all-mushy FedEx...i still hope Fed wins tho...he deserves to b rit up thr wit the GOD- Sampras! :)

3. ManU lost the Champions League final! i hv nothing more to say!

4. Watched Vicky Christina Barcelona...found it intriguing, even appealing...Woody Allen hs always given us interesting movies full of interesting characters....Penelope Cruz particularly rocks...so do Javier Bardem and Rebecca Hall...

5. India finally got a "stable" govt thts free frm "debts" of all kinds...so nw v can expect some "tough" and progressiv decisions to b made in yrs to come...plus the cabinet hs quite a few "young" leaders...so expect to c a 40 yr old PM "soon"...mayb in anothr 100-150 yrs!

5. And... Stanford let me in... :) even the US govt hs given the green signal...so if all goes well, come Sept, i'll b continuing writing my blog frm SF :)

Cheers to wt has been and wts to come in days tht'll follow! :)

How I Avoided Lifting The Brush

2009-05-02T03:13:00.008-07:00

Cause: An irresistible urge to go back to the long dead and buried dreams of painting....

Effect: An amateurish attempt at MS Paint...

Result:

Inspiration:

P.S. : Its all handwork...No tricks/converting softwares involved...any imperfections r a result of my limitations at painting wit MS Paint....any perfections are a result of persistence and luck! :)

A twist in the tale!!

2009-04-24T22:10:00.004-07:00

The extent to which human mind can go to "ensure a few laughs" is outrageously wicked :D
(with all due respect to the players involved in the game!!)

Pray define an "honest" effort!!

'Sifting' towards the future...

2009-04-03T09:05:00.006-07:00

What if objects were intelligent enough to interact spatially and 'understand' each other through their colours, orientations or relative positions? MIT grad student David Merrill ws puzzled by the same question and he and his team came up with an answer thts not just amazing in nature but also in implications...Siftables opens up an entirely new world in interactive computing and cud well prove to be the next HCI tht will become a household phenomenon, provided a practically feasibl and inexpensive prototype is possible....
Watch the video if u hvnt seen or heard abt siftables already....

Finally F1!

2009-04-02T06:16:00.003-07:00

The season hs been kick-started by an amazing Australian GP and looks lik, aftr long, this season is gonna be really interesting....my interest in F1 hd kinda reduced aftr Schumi retired and i hardly watched any races in the last 2 seasons, altho i did keep track of the results...but somehw ths yr, somthng inside me wants me to get back to my old self and watch all the races incl qualifying, just lik it used to b few yrs back....so heres to an awesom season ahead!! and as always, m willing to bet my bucks on Ferrari yet again, altho Brawn Mercedes seems the team to beat ths season...but this is just the beginning...the field is wide open! only time will tell whos gonna top!

Aarambh hai prachand...

2009-04-02T05:39:00.005-07:00

Anurag Kashyap's Gulaal is perhaps the best film ever made on student-politics...Altho it mayb argued tht the crown belongs to Haasil, i'm tempted to say Gulaal scores, basically bcz of the power in the screenplay and dialogues....not to forget the impact it creates by the time the mindblowing journey on-screen culminates!

Gulaal comes really close to becoming a flawless flick, especially bcz of the straightfwd and raw handling of the subject by AK and the towering performances...KK is amazing as usual...Raj Singh Chaudhary, who hs also co-written the story wit AK, is perfect as the submissive nerd who gets entangled in things he hs zilch knowledge and attraction abt, thru circumstances totally out of his control....Abhimanyu Singh as the brash, rowdy Ransa is simply superb and leaves a strong impression....AK's Asst. Director Ayesha Mohan makes a sparkling acting debut as Kiran...more thn her performance, the graph of her character is so well-etched, u cant help but accept her ways of life...the manner in which she uses Dileep is one of the numerous high-points of the movie...Deepak Dobriyal is pitch-perfect as KK's side-kick....Aditya Shrivastava, Jesse Randhawa and Mahie Gill are good in thr small parts...especially Mahie Gill, who conjures up some of the most entertaining scenes in the film...and to top it all, the sucker punch is delivered by Piyush Mishra, whos also the lyricist of the film, in the role of KK's elder brothr, Prithvi Bana, a brooding, bordering-on-insanity individual, who seems to hv lost it, but is in fact more on terms with reality thn any1 else....his monologues r the peaks of the Alps...in fact he deserves double kudos, for writing such amazingly pithy, dark, profound lines and then delivering thm so well, be it thru prose or song! Piyush Mishra is the real star of the movie considering hes responsibl for most of the profundity in the lines as well as the music and the vocals...the songs, once again lik Dev D, are used to carry the narrative ahead and tht registers a really strong impact...of note especially is Aarambh, as it makes u dizzy by the tim the song climxes...

again, thr r plenty of subtle references and sly remarks towards society for ppl who appreciate such art, and altho not all of thm are readily tangible, the ones tht can be deciphered raise ur opinion of the film so much tht the ones tht dont, not only remain few but also insignificant! The references to John Lennon, Gandhi, Hitler, nihilism and America's war on terrorism are simply brilliant and light up the proceedings with thr wit and the manner in which they r portrayed!

The victory of Gulaal lies in the fact tht it manages to tk the viewer into an unknown era and surroundings and yet manages to convince him hw and why, wt happens, happens...if living-the-movie ws one experience u hd been missing all ths time, heres wt the doctor ordered! :) undoubtedly one of the best movies of the yr! and thts a feat considering its just april....and in the first 3 months, v hv hd path-breaking stuff lik Dev D, Luck By Chance and Delhi-6!

Mirror mirror on the wall...

2009-03-09T06:24:00.007-07:00

After the revolution-inducing RDB, ROM is back with a different kind of a journey...while RDB sparked a mass awakening, Delhi 6 is more a journey into ones own psyche...a journey of discovering our own prejudices, convictions, biases and putting them in perspective of the society...a journey of a deeper, more meaningful, inner realisation...

While Delhi-6 is a study in metaphors, what limits its overall impact is the fact tht not many in our society hv the patience and open-mindedness to delve deeper into the layers and absorb the morale...ths is precisely why the movie hs flopped...nevertheless, such movies cn never be measured in terms of the money they make...D6 succeeds in wt it sets out to prove and tht is its biggest victory, despite the cliche-laden, icky climax...I personally loved the metaphors used to depict the maladies ailing our mindsets, and consequently, our society...the acting by the ensemble cast is apt and drives home the point with elan...of particular note r the acts by Atul Kulkarni, Pawan Malhotra and Divya Dutta...the music is fitting and used intelligently...the cinematography is visceral and creates a perfect ambience for the tale to b told...the background music, however, is jarring at times and the fact tht ARR complted it in 5 days, in the week b4 the release, explains why!

ROM is in sublime form, especially with the Kaala Bandar bit and the mirror incident...however, subtlety is somehow lost in the climax, whr BigB had to make an appearance and spoil the party :( sadly, it ensures dilution of the impact tht the movie hs created til thn...and the consequent re-birth of AB ws totally uncald for...a populist gimmick for sure...yet, u hv to giv it to ROM for having the gumption to paint such a gutsy revelation on celluloid...for in todays society, whr ppl r busy minding thr own business, nobody likes to be told wats wrong with thm as a society...tht is wt elevates the movie to dizzyingly honest heights...unfortunately, it also proves to be the movie's bane, commercially...

nevertheless, masterful effort....which sadly went largely unnoticed and unappreciated... :(

Glumdog Gazillionaire... :D

2009-03-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

http://bedusworld.blogspot.com/2008/12/slumdog-millionaire.html

Kaminey firft look...

2009-02-24T08:38:00.003-08:00

Lookf like Vifhal Bharadwaj if back with another adaption -thif time itf Fhakefpeare'f Comedy of Errorf...

Check out the theatrical trailer....fundoo :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Z61ue5G4Q

Will he do an encore after converting vintage literature into mafterpiecef twice already with Omkara and Maqbool? Letf hope fo :)
DhanTaDaaaaaan....TaDaDaDaaaaan :)

The Wonderdog! ... and the others...

2009-02-24T06:49:00.005-08:00

For all those wondering what all the brouhaha abt Slumdog Millionaire is, here's a revelation....Slumdog may not be a gr8 movie in the 'Oscar' sense of the word but fact is its won 8 of the 10 categories it was nominated in including Best Picture and Best Director.... ya ya...i know....everybody knows tht! wats so new abt it?!! every damn news channel worth its rock-salt is shouting frm the rooftops abt surmounting Mt. Oscar ever since the news broke....

Well...the news is...some "biggies" hvnt been taking it the rit way! What surprised me most whn Slumdog released abt a month ago in India was the way some ppl reacted to it, as can be read here...while i cudnt digest wt Bachchan said thn, i still decided to leave his opinion to him....until....this happened!
Right at the bottom of the post, BigB goes
"SlumDog is ok and Delhi 6 not ??"

Whats wrong Mr. Bachchan?? y do u want to compare every damn movie to Slumdog? and y do u hv to defend every damn movie ur son decides to portray his thespian skills in??
I must admit here tht i hvnt yet hd the chance to watch Delhi6...and i am very much looking fwd to it...ROM is probably one of the most responsible directors around and he makes socially relevant cinema which is the hallmark of an aware and awake citizen! but wt i do not undstnd is y the "so-called" superstar of Hindi cinema is unable to digest the success of Slumdog!! and y cant he take commercial failure of his son's movies in his stride?
Now, i did read the entire post, and tht guy surely seems to be having problms with critics...but at hs age an experience in ths field, u wud thnk he wud hv outgrown all ths stuff, wudnt u? he on the othr hand hs begun to tk everythng very personally and startd reacting to all and sundry....some maturity tht!!
Mr. Bachchan sir, thr r millions around the globe who still believe ur a good actor, urs truly being one of them.....but ths barrage of uninteresting roles, crappy adverts, constant nepotism (yeah thts wt it is!) and venomous immature statements tht u hv unleashed on the 'big,bad world' is totally uncalled for...whn u say 'Slumdog represents India as a third-world nation to the globe, is tht wt we r?', do u realise wt 'Boom', 'Bunty Aur Babli' or for tht matter even 'Amar Akbar Anthony' made out of us Indians? thank God, not many watched those movies globally, or mayb we wud never hv got the chance to showcase a rare Monsoon Wedding or Namesake or Slumdog to the world! With all due respect, I think its time to get back into action sir...Let ur 'bat' do the talking....shut down tht prejudiced blog for a few months and let the creative juices flow whr they ought to!
Amen!

Meanwhile, a certain Mr.Priyadarshan hd also taken potshots at Slumdog calling it cheap, trashy and mediocre....really sir? mediocre?? tht coming frm the director of gems such as Mere Baap Pehle Aap, KyonKi, Dhol and Bhool Bhulaiyya!! (yes, i am pointing out ur trashy, cheap and mediocre films only...bcz isnt tht wt u hv done!) ....for some1 who thrives on remakes of acclaimed malayalam movies, a story based on a novel is cheap only bcz of reasons as mundane as these: (in his own words)
"Why has Danny Boyle not taken one shot of Marine Drive? Do his slumdwellers exist only within their slums? And look at the absurdities…A boy becomes a national hero on a game show. One cop takes him under arrest and interrogates him relentlessly. Where is everyone else? Is this kind of confinement possible in this day and age when television cameras enter your bedroom?"
Ya right Mr...if i tried to apply so much logic to one of ur Bhagam Bhags or Billu Barbers, i wud b insane before i said B! look at ur own torn pajamas b4 pointing at someones trendy shorts and calling him naked! i kno, u hv made some good movies...and virasat is one of the best hindi films i hv seen till date...but tht doesnt giv u the right to judge any1 else's work so viciously...ur entitled to ur opinion and u cn keep it...dont say it out loud simply bcz ur in the same business and the day ur next movie releases, ur gonna hv a taste of ur own bitter medicine!!

Mumbai Meri Jaan...

2009-02-21T03:54:00.009-08:00

First of all, i deserve a kick for not watching this movie much earlier, while at the same time ensuring i watched mindless crap lik Rab Ne, Race, Tashan within hours of release...Now, lets get to the point...

Mumbai Meri Jaan is sensible, sensitive, thought-provoking, subtle and responsible cinema... (Note how frequently the word 'subtle' has been used recently! hindi cinema IS changing after all!!)...the story is good, the characterizations are brilliant, the portrayals are almost-perfect, and most importantly, the direction is extremely apt and competent...thr r several moments in the story which touch u, move u, choke u, blast u away with thr simplicity and impact! i for one, cudnt hold back my tears at multiple points in this journey, notably KK's realization, Madhavan's visit to the hospital, Paresh Rawal's last scene and Irrfan Khan's redemption...Technically brilliant, the movie has its heart in the right place...and manages to put our hearts in the right places too...

Each and every actor deserves a standing applause for not just doing this film, but doing more thn full justice to it...one of the best ensemble casts ever! The end is so fitting and moving, tears refused to stop rolling down my cheeks whn Rafi's timeless rendition of 'Aye Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahan...Zara Hatke Zara Bachke...Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan' began...

Truly the city rocks...and Mumbaikars rock the most! A fitting tribute to thr spirit! (and by spirit, i dont mean the gutless indifference tht the media keeps blabbering abt...i mean the real 'spirit'...watch the movie and u'll kno wt i mean :) )

P.S. : You can check out the official movie site here...creative!!

P.S. : If u read this post before sunday noon and if u hvnt seen the movie, u hv a golden chance to watch it on zee cinema sunday 12 noon....enjoy :)

Free??

2009-02-16T07:27:00.006-08:00

I have begun to wonder whether.....
=> morality is overrated?
=> the ppl who make the most fuss abt morality are the ones who care the least abt it?
=> the pinkchaddicampaign was an appropriate answer to morons like mutalik and the ram sene?
=> expressing love in public is the same as toting a machine gun?
=> had some1 assaulted a girl on V Day, wud the RamSene/MNS/Bajrang Dal hv been as swift in kicking the shit out of the attacker?
=> ppl lik Pramod Muthalik and his disciples are the future(?) of the nation?
=> we are going backwards rather than forward?
=> India will make it thru this social crisis even tho it'll sail thru the economic one?
=> women r still considered 'objects'?
=> i hit a guy real hard for troubling my friend, will i be locked up bcz i am the one who assaulted?
=> i still live in a free country?

A day later...

2009-02-09T05:56:00.004-08:00

Its almost 24 hrs since i watched Dev D and the movie hs been sinking inside all this while...I am sure there r gonna b hundreds of opinions abt this one and i know mine is just one in the whirlpool....but if ur an ardent lover of cinema as an art rather than just a mode of passing some time, only then will u undstnd wt m abt to say...Dev D is to hindi cinema what penicillin ws to medicine...or Galileo to astronomy...or Niels Bohr to chemistry...or T20 to cricket...its radical, its eccentric, its psychedelic, its subtle (rathr baap of subtle!), its technically astounding, and most importantly, its a crazy, crazy ride into the psyche of humanity! Thank God for mavericks and non-conformists!!!
Anurag Kashyap hs put an amazing spin on the age old Devdas story and the result is just spell-binding...his vision as a director is evident in more scenes than one...thrs so many memorable moments in ths movie, it'll b a huge spoiler to say anyone out aloud...and yet i cant stop myself frm talking abt one particular scene in which Chanda passes a stricture on morality in today's society "Half the country downloaded the video and derived self-gratification out of it...and they call me a slut!"...the takes on morality, ego, love and self-destruction are honest and raw...and path-breaking for hindi cinema...
Abhay Deol plays his part perfectly, but more than him, its the writer who writes his part to the T...the character is written so well, tht u begin to loathe Dev for the self-conceited egotist tht he is...and his self destruction is so tangible, u cn actually see it happening b4 ur own eyes! Mahi Gill as Paro is startling and forthright...the care she hs for Dev inspite of him being a scumbag, is genuine....and whenevr, some1 tries to make a doormat out of her, she doesnt hesitate one bit before showing the othr person his place! Darn good! But probably the most emotionally-relatable character of the ensemble is Chanda.....its brilliantly written with all the finer nuances crafted expertly and painstakingly...and wonderfully underplayed by Kalki...she lives the role like its her own...and in the process, provides the movie with the much needed emotional depth tht it othrwise lacks...
Inspite of being a trippy trip, this ones essentially a musical in the truest sense possible, bcz the songs carry the story forward instead of being huge boulders between scenes....its a case study in how songs cn serve as worthy substitutes to dialogues in narration...a word here for Amit Trivedi, who hs created the most freakin', tru-to-the-movie soundtrack ever!the songs r so appropriate and so well-used, tht they end up towering over everythng else, even the intelligently written lines and the technical finesse....and THT is sure a monumental task! not to take away anythng frm the technical crew, who hs done a fantabulous job, rit frm the camerawork to the art direction to the choreography (esp the break-dancing dudes in Pardesi!) to the background score to the editing....ths probably is one of the few movies, where almost nothing goes wrong in any of ths depts...
Of course, thr r bound to b a few glitches...lik the second half drags a wee-bit... and the end, altho radically diffrnt, is kinda abrupt and doesnt hit u lik a ton of bricks (and mayb thts y it does eventually manage to hit u hard, no matter what!)...the return of the break-dancing dudes for Saali Khushi seems like stretching the rubber-band too hard...and thrs self-indulgence on part of the director in a couple of instances, whr he gets carried away by his craft and tends to lose control....but ths r just minor abberations in an othrwis flawless piece of cinema (and for once, i wudnt hv the slightest hesitation in calling it ART, altho i used to hate tht word bcz of wht was erstwhile referred to as art in cinema!)...
The scenes and lines stay with u loooooooong aftr the movie's over...and the Einstein-ian 'A-Ha!' moments keep happening as each layer keeps unfolding with time...the multi-layered, multi-dimensional nature of the movie sure makes u take a trip inside ur own psyche....and thts saying a lot...bcz not many thngs, let alone movies, cn manage tht!
Everyone associated....take a bow!! Hats off!

Dev.D

2009-02-08T10:07:00.005-08:00

INTELLIGENT.CAPTIVATING.INTELLIGENT.MESMERIZING.

INTELLIGENT.OVERWHELMING.INTELLIGENT.AWE-INSPIRING.

INTELLIGENT.BRILLIANT.

Anurag, Amit Trivedi, Abhay, Mahi, Kalki and everyone else...Take A Bow!

Likely turkeys! :D

2009-01-31T06:48:00.005-08:00

The following movies IMO are most likely the worst we'll see this year...Thankfully, Subhash Ghai hs no projects coming up (hopefully forever :D ) else i wud hv stopped watching movies altogethr :)

1. Billu Barber - altho the story revolves around Irfan Khan, the way SRK is being promoted as the face of the movie, it is likely to be a huge disappointment...and i dont really hv any respect for Priyadarshan's directorial skills...he stopped making good movies aftr Virasat...did i hear some1 say Hera Pheri ws a good movie?? well yeah, true, but essentially bcz of Paresh Rawal!

2. Veer - Sallu and screenplay writing!!! :O WTF?!! he did tht wit the insanely hilarious and crappy Chandramukhi 16 yrs ago and some ppl stil hvnt recovered frm laughing thr asses off! and aftr i saw this pic of Sallu, whr hes supposed to be a good samaritan-warrior frm ol' times, i cud barely stop myself frm puking!! :O Salman hs lost it (i kno, i kno...long back!!)...and whn u hv Anil 'Gadar' Sharma navigating the ship, it sure is a disaster waiting to happen! actually its one of those rare bad movies m actually lookin fwd to! hvnt ROFLd in a long tim :D

3. Main Aur Mrs Khanna - its a movie abt extra-marital affairs (how innovative!!) whr Sallu and Kareena play Mr. and Mrs. Khanna....and Sohail Khan presumably plays the 'affair'! :D with a debutant director at the helm of affairs, the Khan bros r sure to sabotage the project and serve us some yucky stuff tht wil leav a horrible after-taste! M sick of watching Salman and Sohali act 'funny' wit thr pelvis-crotch brand of humor!

4. Kajraa re - A 'realistic' movie abt Pakistan's infamous Heera Mandi area directed by Pooja Bhatt and starring Himess Bhai!! Noooooo...spare me the horror! :D

5. Hook Ya Crook - Directed by David Dhawan, John plays a cricketer in this movie :D :D :D and to top it, its touted as a thriller with a sprinkling of comedy and romance :D ha ha ha :D LOLs

6. Hidaba (watevr tht means!) - this one stars Rani Mukherjee as a girl who wants to play cricket and hence, she puts on a moustache and, hold ur breath, joins the boys team to play alongside Shahid Kapur.....ROFL :D :D :D to top it, Rakhi Sawant is said to hv a major role....all the more reason to watch the movie they feel :D and to top it even more, its a YRF film!...yikes :O sounds lik anothr Tashan to me! :)

7. My Name Is Khan - The mere fact tht SRK plays an autistic character in ths KJo venture hd me in splits whn i heard it for the first time! SRK and autistic!! aur kitna ham-overact-ham karega yaar!!!

8. All Govinda starrers - tht guy is back on hs ego-trip tht he hd to abandon mid-way in 2002 bcz of heavy public backlash...but one (thoroughly pathetic) Partner in his kitty and hes feeling euphoric again!

9. All movies Sanjay Gadhvi associates himself with - Mr. Gadhvi, seriously Dhoom2 and Kidnap are enuff! Get lost!!

10. All Akshay Kumar movies - i am sick of this guy...he made me cry wit every movie of his aftr Namaste London - be it Bhool Bhulaiya, Heyy Babyy, Singh Is Kingg or CC2C...no more Akki for me please!

i hope u all tk my cue and stay away frm these turkeys! lets b safe out thr! :)

An inside story...for the inside people...

2009-01-31T06:05:00.004-08:00

Luck By Chance is a true sign of a republic- in the sense that it is a movie by the film fraternity, of the film fraternity and for the film fraternity! Zoya Akhtar makes her debut with this long-in-the-making movie (or more appropriately, docu-drama) which is subtle, intelligent, insightful, realistic (if i may use the word!) and pretty impressive...but alas! as i said, it is a movie for movie maniacs- ppl who love films and not just as a means of entertainment....its for ppl who like movies for wat they r, ppl who care abt how they r made, ppl who r not looking just for thr money's worth but somthng more....and diffrnt....its not a mass-entertainer...

What the team serves us is a delightful dish which hs a lot of meat in it, but which is also a bit bland, sans any masala....the movie gives an insider's view of the hindi film industry and it does a commendable job at tht! the subtlety and underplay is brilliant...the scenes with most of the special appearances are excellently written and executed, especially the ones with Anurag Kashyap, Akshay Khanna, Abhishek Bacchan and SRK...the inside jokes are really clever but not everyone will get them bcz u need to know abt these ppl and hw the industry works to undstnd wt they r driving at...Farhan and Konkona prove to be sincere and worthy actors....Farhan especially is very good in his protrayal of a struggler when he arrives for the auditions and suffers from insecurities after seeing his competitors...Hrithik, Sanjay Kapoor, Juhi, Dimple, Isha, Aly Khan, Arjun Mathur-everybody plays thr part to the T...however, the show stealer is undoubtedly Rishi Kapoor, who is hilarious as well as sensitive in the right proportions...he is just awesome! music is good but surprisingly, not as effectively utilised in the narrative, as it cud hv been...the opening credits deserve special mention...and amongst the appearances, Anurag Kashyap and Akshay Khanna, are especially emphatic....

However, the direction is a little too elite and tht makes the movie undecipherable for some...i saw the movie wit some of my frnds and not all of thm appreciated the subtlety...since tht makes the motive behind the scene difficult to comprehend for all and sundry...as a whole, the movie lacks the punch tht cud hv made it create a lasting impression....i kno, underplay is emphatic too, but too much of it can kill the narrative, jus lik too much of in-your-face humor can!

Its difficult to predict how many people outside the film fraternity, barring a few movie maniacs, will appreciate the movie...it will most likely face rough weather at the BO....so commercial acclaim seems a distant dream...but critical acclaim, it wil (and has!) definitely garner in loads....it IS good cinema after all...only thing is it isnt half as entertaining as it cud have been....guess thrs no answer to the question 'Should i watch this movie?'. Good, it certainly is....Entertaining, i wont say! Not every1s cup of tea! :)

The circle of life...

2009-01-24T03:51:00.007-08:00

wake up....groan...get ready in a jiffy...look at the watch...groan...make a dash for the bus...see the bus pass by towards the stop...groan...lurch towards it...miss getting hit by fast cars...run...shout...get in...plop on a seat...heave a sigh of relief....pull out a book...read...converse....read....converse...watch a bike-rider almost meet his death....watch him smile moments aftr hes narrowly escaped...wonder....read...converse...read...doze off momentarily...read...screech to a halt...get out...get in....hit the gym...change...kick ass...get ass kicked...change...stand in a queue...order food...wait...groan....get food....gorge....smack lips...lick off the last bits...climb stairs...avoid getting in the way of people...avoid people getting in your way...reach cube...plop on chair...check mail...check 'to do list'....groan...focus...wade through code...try to find somthng...groan...check new mail....listen to music...wade through more code...focus...relish the 'moment of awakening'....write it down...wade through more code...get cald for an 'important' meeting....groan...lock pc...enter conf room...listen to people droning away unenthusiastically...focus....lose focus...dream....day-dream...focus...answer questions...lose focus...dream...look at watch...yawn...get up...leave room happily...unlock pc...more code...more groans...more enlightenment...get up...go downstairs....order lunch....wait in queue...hum...look around...check the better looking chicks...get food...try to find a table...roam around...keep trying...get a table...sit...eat...enjoy the food...chat...crack jokes...laugh...smile...enjoy....laze around...roam...go back to work...more code...more mails...more music...more meetings...more work...look at watch...rush to cafe...fill up water bottle...pick up bag...rush downstairs...run towards bus...grab the door handle...jump in...find a seat...sit...smile...heave multiple sighs of relief...smile at self...plug headphones into cellphone...play songs...lip sync word for word...enjoy...wallow in the music...feel happy....feel content...feel lik ur alive an' kicking...love every moment...converse...relish the music...reach stop...get down...walk home enthusiastically...enjoy the chirping birds...and the walking birds...reach home...put the music on loudspeaker...sing aloud...change...keep singing...dance around on the beats...live in the moment...switch on laptop...check mail...check regularly visited sites...chat...look out the window...enjoy the dusk...call a frnd...go back to old times...talk...talk some more...hang up...get ready to cook...cook...enjoy the smell of home-cooked food...simmer...cal home...talk...switch on mtv...check out the latest songs...start dinner...laugh....talk abt the day...finish dinner...wind up...go back to laptop...check mail...chat....enqueue the next episode of Friends/HIMYM/Two and a half men in WMP...watch...smile...laugh....enjoy...watch one more episode even tho its late...check blog...chat...switch off laptop post midnight...set alarm...sleep...dream...snooze off alarm...snooze more...snooze some more...turn off alarm...doze off...wake up...groan...get ready in a jiffy...look at the watch....groan....make a dash...............

Parallels...

2009-01-24T03:48:00.001-08:00

The music of Dev D makes me feel the same way the music of Pink Floyd does...

A precursor of 09...

2009-01-20T06:48:00.002-08:00

easily the best and most intelligent 'predictive' post i hv read in ages!!

http://wokay.in/2009/01/18/2009-in-preview/

Of dashed dreams...

2009-01-20T06:08:00.003-08:00

SEL hv come up with a brilliant single in Luck By Chance and the lyrics hv swept me off my feet every single tim i hv heard the song! Here they are...

Song: Sapnon Se Bhare Naina

Bagiyaa Bagiya Baalak Bhaage
Titli Phir Bhi Haath Na Laage
Is Pagle Ko Kaun Bataaye
Dhoondh Raha Hai Jo Tu Jag Mein
Koi Jo Paaye To Man Mein Hi Paaye

Sapnon Se Bhare Naina..
Toh Neend Hai Naa Chaina..
Sapnon Se Bhare Naina..
Toh Neend Hai Naa Chaina..

Aisi Dagar Koi Agar Jo Apnaaye
Har Raah Ke Wo Ant Pe Rastaa Hi Paaye
Dhoop Ka Rasta Jo Pair Jalaaye
Mod To Aaye Chhaav Naa Aaye
Raahi Jo Chalta Hai Chalta Hi Jaaye
Koi Nahi Hai Jo Kaheen Use Samjhaaye

Sapnon Se Bhare Naina..
Toh Neend Hai Naa Chaina..
Sapnon Se Bhare Naina..
Toh Neend Hai Naa Chaina..

Door Hi Se Saagar Jise Har Koi Maane
Paani Hai Wo Ya Ret Hai Yeh Kaun Jaane
Jaise Ke Din Se Rain Alag Hai
Sukh Hai Alag Aur Chain Alag Hai
Par Jo Ye Dekhe Wo Nain Alag Hai
Chain To Hai Apna Sukh Hai Paraaye

Sapnon Se Bhare Naina..
Toh Neend Hai Naa Chaina..
Sapnon Se Bhare Naina..
Toh Neend Hai Naa Chaina..

Movie Name : Luck By Chance
Singer :Shankar Mahadevan
Music Director : Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Lyrics : Javed Akhtar

Music to the ears!

2009-01-18T08:22:00.006-08:00

What a start the yr 2009 hs hd music wise!! Slumdog Millionaire, Dev D, Luck By Chance and nw Delhi 6! Awesome!

Slumdog hs ARR at hs brilliant best, esp with O Saya, Paper Planes and Mausam & Escape...

Dev D is an awe-inspiring composition...Most of the tracks r brilliant with Saali Khushi, Aankh Micholi, Duniya, Nayan Tarse and Yehi Meri Zindagi taking the cake...but the true show-stealer is Emossanal Atyachar...the brass band version is diffrnt to say the least...whil the rock version is probably the only hard rock song ever in hindi movies (not counting Zahreelay frm Rock On!!) and its brilliant!

Luck By Chance hs some classic SEL stuff...Sapnon Se Bhare Naina, Yeh Zindagi Bhi and Baawre rock the scene! An amalgam of classical and techno, vintage SEL stuff ths!

Delhi 6 hs ARR at hs maverick best...the title rap is lilting...Dil Gira Dafatan is superb...Rehna Tu is very Jaane Tu-ish but still very good...and Masakali will probably turn out to b the most captivating song of the yr! Its been sung superbly by Mohit Chauhan...

So our ears r in for a treat ths Jan...turn on the speakers full volume at the right equalizer setting...and jus let ur hair down! :)