I caught the much awaited comedy from David Dhawan starring Salman and Govinda, first day first show yesterday. So here goes.....
Story - The basic premise of the story is that Salman plays a Love guru who helps people not confident in love get the woman they want. Enter Bhaskar Choudhary played by Govinda, a bumbling financial advisor (shocking) in a big company, and in love with the owner played by Katrina Kaif (never seen a dumber CEO ). How Salman helps Govinda woo Katrina is the main story and in the middle of all this, Salman falls in love with a sexy reporter (Lara Datta) who is a single mom as well. And Salman has to woo her kid to get to her and also help Govinda get his love. Phewwwww.
Other than that there are hazaar characters floating in and out of the movie for no apparent reason. Rajpal Yadav plays Chota Don (a spoof on SRK's don) and he is so damn irritating that I wanted to get up and slap him. Lara Dutta plays a photographer who clicks underworld characters and shaadi pics as well, wtf. Puneet Issar has a 3-4 scene role.
There are sequences that have no relation to the story like the rocket chasing Salman sequence in Thailand. I really did not understand why the Thailand story was incorporated into the movie. But there are a few nice scenes where you atleast smile if not laugh. And that is just about saying it all. Also introducing Suresh Menon as the gay friend of Katrina made no sense to the movie.
The sequence where Salman teaches Govinda to dance stylishly on Just Chill is the bright spot in the movie and Govinda is at his best then.
Performances - Salman does what he has been doing best in umpteen movies till date. Act like a cool dude which is now 2nd skin to him. Nothing great acting wise. Govinda takes charge here and gets us to smile in a couple of scenes but we can clearly see that his glory days are long gone and his acting in a David Dhawan movie is not what the public are going to enjoy. Katrina kaif has 3-4 scenes where she has to talk in an accent (a thing she does well for a change) and Lara Dutta plays a reporter who has a longer role than Katrina. Lara does well in the comedy scenes. Rajpal Yadav gives the worst performance of his life and the kid who plays Lara's son does well.
Music - Dissapointing. Not one song is a stand out song. The "you're my love" love has a catchy beat to it and that about all. I guess it's time Salman gets Himesh to compose for his films.
Direction / Cinematography - David Dhawan directs the movie and as usual it makes no sense at all. There is no control over the narration - it feels more like he trying to showcase Salman's and Govinda's acting and friendship. Absolutely confused direction. David better get his socks up now, the audience has becoming more demanding and clever. The cinematography is good and glossy.
Verdict - 1.75/5. If its laughs you are looking for, please rent the dvd of No Entry and watch it again. That movie is 1000 times more funny than this one. I say you can safely stay away from this Partner.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Women are Distracting
Ok,
Before I start I admit that whatever happened - did so because of me. I was at fault.
A few days back , I get out of the house and walk down to my car. The weather is cloudy and breezy. The wet smell of earth is heavenly as it had just rained.
I leave for office thats in Vashi. Quite an uneventful drive I must say - listening to Malishka (on 93.5 Red FM) and driving slowly and steadily I reach Vashi. Traffic begins to increase inside of Vashi and I soon reach the flyover (beyond the new Adlabs wala mall) that takes me onto Thane Belapur road.
(Flashback) - Concreting of the Thane Belapur road has been going on for about a month now. The work is now right at the foot of the flyover. The flyover is 2 laned and one lane from the foot of the flyover is closed for traffic. So all have to get into 1 lane and get onto the Thane Belapur road.(Flashback over)
Cut to present - Malishka continues to entertain me while I get onto the flyover. As I reach the end of the flyover on the other side, as usual there is a pile up of traffic (2 lanes merging into 1) to get onto the Thane Belapur road.
I am in the left lane and behind me I see a biker on a Pulsar, trying to squeeze in between my car and the car next to me. He is honking away like crazy (short bursts, long bursts, irritated bursts) but the car next to me doesn't budge to give him way. The car to my right is just ahead of me, the car in front of mine is a white zen and he moves a bit ahead and I move a bit left so that the biker can go and come up parallel to the car to my right.
Traffic has stopped moving and curiosity gets the better of me. I turn right and want to have a look at the driver who irritated the biker that much. Surprisingly its a lady and a good looking one at that.
I keep staring at her, all the noise is cut off and I cant hear anything. The lane on my right inches ahead and the lady moves ahead too and my eyes follow her and her car.
Suddenly Malishka says " Red FM , BAJATE RAHO" and I feel a jolt.
I am like what has happened ? Suddenly I realise that traffic in my lane hasn't moved and I have the foot off my brake pedal and my car has rolled down a few centimetres and gone and snuggled into the zen's backside (bumper) very gently. The lady meanwhile has dissapeared.
Now the fun starts. The guy in the zen obviously felt the JOLT. He looked behind, saw it was a Skoda that kissed his backside (his car's). He shut the engine and got down like a true hero wearing sunglaases (on a cloudy day ?? ) , banged the door shut of his zen (ouch) and walks up agrresively to me. I roll down the window and lift up my hand in acknowledgement and say "Sorry Mate". He glowers at me and goes and takes a look at the part where his car got pecked, obviously nothing has happened but he has to make his point na.
Thus starts a conversation between him and me which I reproduce below -
Him (angry) - "Dikhta nahi hai kya:
Me - "Dikhta hai boss, sorry"
Him (glowering) - "Upar chadake sorry bolega kya"
Me - "Upar kidhar chadaya boss, sorry bola na, galti hogaya"
Him - "Pata nahi hai brake marna hai toh, door rakhne ka gaadi"
Me - "Haan aage se dhyaan rakhoonga boss"
Him - "Aisa thodi hota hai, kuch bhi karega..blah...blah..blah"
I (after he had finished) - "Boss - meri galti hai, sorry bola maine, ab kya karun? "
So he leaves, still angry, and gets into his zen and slams the door again (ouch). Starts the car and gives me a look that could kill in his RVM and zooooms off.
A dirty thought enters my mind - it says drive behind him and irritate him but then I forget that and drive slowly to work still smiling.
And yes - Malishka was still going on - "Bajate raho"
Lesson Learnt - Always be calm and smiling in ugly situations. Own up if you are at fault with a smiling face and the situation defuses itself pretty fast.
So as I said at the beginning - I was at fault - the fault being getting distracted by a pretty lady.
ACTUAL Lesson learnt - Women distract men, even on roads and can lead to ugly situations. So guys keep your eyes on the road.
Before I start I admit that whatever happened - did so because of me. I was at fault.
A few days back , I get out of the house and walk down to my car. The weather is cloudy and breezy. The wet smell of earth is heavenly as it had just rained.
I leave for office thats in Vashi. Quite an uneventful drive I must say - listening to Malishka (on 93.5 Red FM) and driving slowly and steadily I reach Vashi. Traffic begins to increase inside of Vashi and I soon reach the flyover (beyond the new Adlabs wala mall) that takes me onto Thane Belapur road.
(Flashback) - Concreting of the Thane Belapur road has been going on for about a month now. The work is now right at the foot of the flyover. The flyover is 2 laned and one lane from the foot of the flyover is closed for traffic. So all have to get into 1 lane and get onto the Thane Belapur road.(Flashback over)
Cut to present - Malishka continues to entertain me while I get onto the flyover. As I reach the end of the flyover on the other side, as usual there is a pile up of traffic (2 lanes merging into 1) to get onto the Thane Belapur road.
I am in the left lane and behind me I see a biker on a Pulsar, trying to squeeze in between my car and the car next to me. He is honking away like crazy (short bursts, long bursts, irritated bursts) but the car next to me doesn't budge to give him way. The car to my right is just ahead of me, the car in front of mine is a white zen and he moves a bit ahead and I move a bit left so that the biker can go and come up parallel to the car to my right.
Traffic has stopped moving and curiosity gets the better of me. I turn right and want to have a look at the driver who irritated the biker that much. Surprisingly its a lady and a good looking one at that.
I keep staring at her, all the noise is cut off and I cant hear anything. The lane on my right inches ahead and the lady moves ahead too and my eyes follow her and her car.
Suddenly Malishka says " Red FM , BAJATE RAHO" and I feel a jolt.
I am like what has happened ? Suddenly I realise that traffic in my lane hasn't moved and I have the foot off my brake pedal and my car has rolled down a few centimetres and gone and snuggled into the zen's backside (bumper) very gently. The lady meanwhile has dissapeared.
Now the fun starts. The guy in the zen obviously felt the JOLT. He looked behind, saw it was a Skoda that kissed his backside (his car's). He shut the engine and got down like a true hero wearing sunglaases (on a cloudy day ?? ) , banged the door shut of his zen (ouch) and walks up agrresively to me. I roll down the window and lift up my hand in acknowledgement and say "Sorry Mate". He glowers at me and goes and takes a look at the part where his car got pecked, obviously nothing has happened but he has to make his point na.
Thus starts a conversation between him and me which I reproduce below -
Him (angry) - "Dikhta nahi hai kya:
Me - "Dikhta hai boss, sorry"
Him (glowering) - "Upar chadake sorry bolega kya"
Me - "Upar kidhar chadaya boss, sorry bola na, galti hogaya"
Him - "Pata nahi hai brake marna hai toh, door rakhne ka gaadi"
Me - "Haan aage se dhyaan rakhoonga boss"
Him - "Aisa thodi hota hai, kuch bhi karega..blah...blah..blah"
I (after he had finished) - "Boss - meri galti hai, sorry bola maine, ab kya karun? "
So he leaves, still angry, and gets into his zen and slams the door again (ouch). Starts the car and gives me a look that could kill in his RVM and zooooms off.
A dirty thought enters my mind - it says drive behind him and irritate him but then I forget that and drive slowly to work still smiling.
And yes - Malishka was still going on - "Bajate raho"
Lesson Learnt - Always be calm and smiling in ugly situations. Own up if you are at fault with a smiling face and the situation defuses itself pretty fast.
So as I said at the beginning - I was at fault - the fault being getting distracted by a pretty lady.
ACTUAL Lesson learnt - Women distract men, even on roads and can lead to ugly situations. So guys keep your eyes on the road.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Movie Review - Apne
Apne - The much talked about movie as it gets togather Dharmendra and his 2 sons Sunny and Bobby for the 1st time in their career. Finally got to catch it the other day. So how did it stack up ?
Story - Apne's story is the story of a boxer (Dharmendra) who won a silver medal for India but was falsely implicated in a doping scandal and banned from boxing for 50 years. He wanted to avenge that humiliation and for that he trains his elder son (Sunny Deol) but just when things were looking good, Sunny drops the boxing and becomes an agriculturalist. This is too much for Dharmendra to bear and his relations with Sunny are strained. But they all live in the same house alongwith Kiron Kher (Dharmendra's wife), Shilpa Shetty (Sunny's wife) and the mandatory kid (Sunny and Shilpa's). Also staying with them is younger son Bobby Deol a musician with a left hand thats paralysed due to an accident in his young days.
Dharmendra's friend Victor Banerji cajoles Dharmendra to train a boxer (Aryan Vaid) for a competition where the best boxer from will fight against the current World heavy Weight Champion Luca Garcia (played by an black actor) in America. But after learning the tricks of the trade from Dharmendra, Aryan dumps him and opts to be trained by an Australian coach (a dig at Guru Greg ? ). Dharmendra is shattered but just at that moment Bobby's hand is mysteriously heeled (Bollywood Cinematic Liberty) and he now gets set to go and challenge Luca Garcia but he has to fight his way to become the top contender. And in another cliche - his 1st match is against Dharmendra's former student Aryan Vaid. Bobby manages to beat Aryan and the ensuing competiton to go to America and fight Luca.
So father and son set out to America to challenge the Champion. But Money Rules and Luca wants to fix the match and Dharmendra disagrees - setting up a exciting confrontation between Bobby and Luca. They fight a fierce battle and Bobby is upto the challenge lasting till the 12th round but then oh no !!!!
Near the end of the fight things start to go wrong ......................................
Dharmendra is shattered again. So will he be able to clear his tainted name ? Will an Indian boxer become a champion as he had promised the world ?
Performances - The movie absolutely revolves around Dharmendra and he simply ROCKS. He holds the movie and does not let it go. His is the performance of the movie be it as the bitter boxer , loving dad, tough coach - he excels. And he is supported brilliantly by Sunny (so underplaying his role , its actually unbeleivable) and Bobby (sincere). Kiron Kher as Dharmendra's wife has another punjabi housewife act to do - she does it simply, after all playing a punjabi house wife is 2nd skin to her now. The heroines Shilpa Shetty and Katrina Kaif - only there for the glamour part and song list. Aryan Vaid is adequate in his small role and Victor Banerji does well too in his longer than the heroines role.
Music - The 1st movie where Himesh has flopped. Music is a disaster. Absolutely flat, the movie is let down by Himesh's music. Not one song is such that you remember after the movie.
Direction / Cinematography - CInematography is adequate as is the direction. Anil Sharma has grip over the movie, never allowing it to wander. Also he has 2-3 sentimental scenes where you just might get the hankies out. The boxing scenes stand out. A boxing choreographer was hired for the movie and it shows. Boxing scenes are way better than what we have seen in Bollywood.
Verdict - I give it 3.5/5. Its a family movie that has sentimentality running through the story and it also touches upon the sport of boxing. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND watching it atleast once.
Story - Apne's story is the story of a boxer (Dharmendra) who won a silver medal for India but was falsely implicated in a doping scandal and banned from boxing for 50 years. He wanted to avenge that humiliation and for that he trains his elder son (Sunny Deol) but just when things were looking good, Sunny drops the boxing and becomes an agriculturalist. This is too much for Dharmendra to bear and his relations with Sunny are strained. But they all live in the same house alongwith Kiron Kher (Dharmendra's wife), Shilpa Shetty (Sunny's wife) and the mandatory kid (Sunny and Shilpa's). Also staying with them is younger son Bobby Deol a musician with a left hand thats paralysed due to an accident in his young days.
Dharmendra's friend Victor Banerji cajoles Dharmendra to train a boxer (Aryan Vaid) for a competition where the best boxer from will fight against the current World heavy Weight Champion Luca Garcia (played by an black actor) in America. But after learning the tricks of the trade from Dharmendra, Aryan dumps him and opts to be trained by an Australian coach (a dig at Guru Greg ? ). Dharmendra is shattered but just at that moment Bobby's hand is mysteriously heeled (Bollywood Cinematic Liberty) and he now gets set to go and challenge Luca Garcia but he has to fight his way to become the top contender. And in another cliche - his 1st match is against Dharmendra's former student Aryan Vaid. Bobby manages to beat Aryan and the ensuing competiton to go to America and fight Luca.
So father and son set out to America to challenge the Champion. But Money Rules and Luca wants to fix the match and Dharmendra disagrees - setting up a exciting confrontation between Bobby and Luca. They fight a fierce battle and Bobby is upto the challenge lasting till the 12th round but then oh no !!!!
Near the end of the fight things start to go wrong ......................................
Dharmendra is shattered again. So will he be able to clear his tainted name ? Will an Indian boxer become a champion as he had promised the world ?
Performances - The movie absolutely revolves around Dharmendra and he simply ROCKS. He holds the movie and does not let it go. His is the performance of the movie be it as the bitter boxer , loving dad, tough coach - he excels. And he is supported brilliantly by Sunny (so underplaying his role , its actually unbeleivable) and Bobby (sincere). Kiron Kher as Dharmendra's wife has another punjabi housewife act to do - she does it simply, after all playing a punjabi house wife is 2nd skin to her now. The heroines Shilpa Shetty and Katrina Kaif - only there for the glamour part and song list. Aryan Vaid is adequate in his small role and Victor Banerji does well too in his longer than the heroines role.
Music - The 1st movie where Himesh has flopped. Music is a disaster. Absolutely flat, the movie is let down by Himesh's music. Not one song is such that you remember after the movie.
Direction / Cinematography - CInematography is adequate as is the direction. Anil Sharma has grip over the movie, never allowing it to wander. Also he has 2-3 sentimental scenes where you just might get the hankies out. The boxing scenes stand out. A boxing choreographer was hired for the movie and it shows. Boxing scenes are way better than what we have seen in Bollywood.
Verdict - I give it 3.5/5. Its a family movie that has sentimentality running through the story and it also touches upon the sport of boxing. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND watching it atleast once.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Movie Review - Die Hard 4.0
"How do I always manage to land up in the wrong place at the wrong time" - John Mclane
Well John Mclane manages that again in the 4th part of the Die Hard series. The first 2 parts were good while the 3rd part was a washout. And after a long hiatus, Mclane is back in the 4th installment. Does he succeed to charm the viewers ?
Story - A wafer thin plot is what the movie is about. While on duty to arrest a hacker, Mclane saves his life as he is attacked by unknown guys. Later these unknown guys turn out to be a gang that want to take over the USA through computers, which in today's age is all too easy.And the bad guys get hold of Mclane's daughter too. But there is a small problem - John Mclane. Mclane does what he does best - save the country and kick the bad guys asses.
Performances - Bruce Willis is back as John Mclane and he rocks. The character is 2nd skin to him and he gets into it with relish. Dry witty one liners and some great action scenes, Willis is in great form. All the other actors (sorry I do not remember their names) are adequate. The guy who plays the hacker whom Mclane protects has done a great job as well.
Action (in place of music for Bollywood movies) - Mind blowing. All action scenes are good and the movie seems like its been made for showing off action choreography.
Direction / Cinematograpy - Pretty slick. Actions scenes stand out, infact the movie has no breather from the action. Shot brilliantly I must say, specially the plane taking on the trailer on the highway.
Verdict - 4/5. A triumphant return for Bruce Willis. If you are an action buff, just do not miss the movie. Its a rocking roller coaster ride of action from start to finish. Absolutely entertaining. I loved it.
Well John Mclane manages that again in the 4th part of the Die Hard series. The first 2 parts were good while the 3rd part was a washout. And after a long hiatus, Mclane is back in the 4th installment. Does he succeed to charm the viewers ?
Story - A wafer thin plot is what the movie is about. While on duty to arrest a hacker, Mclane saves his life as he is attacked by unknown guys. Later these unknown guys turn out to be a gang that want to take over the USA through computers, which in today's age is all too easy.And the bad guys get hold of Mclane's daughter too. But there is a small problem - John Mclane. Mclane does what he does best - save the country and kick the bad guys asses.
Performances - Bruce Willis is back as John Mclane and he rocks. The character is 2nd skin to him and he gets into it with relish. Dry witty one liners and some great action scenes, Willis is in great form. All the other actors (sorry I do not remember their names) are adequate. The guy who plays the hacker whom Mclane protects has done a great job as well.
Action (in place of music for Bollywood movies) - Mind blowing. All action scenes are good and the movie seems like its been made for showing off action choreography.
Direction / Cinematograpy - Pretty slick. Actions scenes stand out, infact the movie has no breather from the action. Shot brilliantly I must say, specially the plane taking on the trailer on the highway.
Verdict - 4/5. A triumphant return for Bruce Willis. If you are an action buff, just do not miss the movie. Its a rocking roller coaster ride of action from start to finish. Absolutely entertaining. I loved it.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Movie Review - Don : The chase begins again
Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi , na mumkin hai !
The line above - is a Legend. And director Farhan Akhtar has attempted to do it once more, has he managed to do it ? The answer is YES. So how does this Don line up against the 1978 "AB's" Don ? Well.........
Story - The plot is simple - basically taken from the 1978 movie. A DCP hot on the trail of a dreaded criminal called Don, finally manages to shoot him but the Don does not survive. Now to get hold of the Don and his gang's secrets, the DCP trains and lets loose a duplicate Don (a hamshakal of the Don) in the gang. But just as the duplicate Don is about to get all the info, the DCP kicks the bucket , leaving Don between the devil and the deep sea to fend himself with both the police and his own cronies after him.
But it is here that Farhan excels, throws in a couple of twists in the tale - one comes bang in the middle and the other right at the end.
When the movie begins - you feel you are in a time wrap , the costumes and styling remind you of the old movie - you will tend to compare the going ons on the screen with the original and all the names will come rushing back to you - Ramesh, Narang, Don, D’silva.................but after a while you find that though the movie is a remake , its DIFFERENT. After you get through tthe initial feel , you watch it not as a remake but as a movie on its own and thats where Farhan scores.
The performances - SRK has a tough job to do filling into Big B’s shoes and he does that admirably as Don. Stylish, sauve and debonair , SRK carries off this act as Don beautifully. As Vijay , in my personal opinion SRK falls short of Big B. He cant do the bhaiyya act convincingly and its shows.
Priyanka - Frankly put I did not like her in the movie one bit. She lost weight for the movie and it does not go well with her thin and wiry frame. And her plot with Don hasnt got much importance.
Kareena - plays Helen's role and as much as I tried to put the comparision with Helen out of my head and review her performance , still she left me cold.
Boman Irani - He gets a meaty role and does full justice. People have told me they dont like Boman in the movie but I think that this is the 1st time Boman has got to play a normal character and maybe thats why people havent liked him. They expect a character that stays in the minds and beleive me Boman’s DCP will be there like Iftekar is always there in our minds.
Arjun Rampal - Playing Pran's role here is completely wasted. It would have made no difference if his character was not present as Pran's was in the old movie.
Rest of the cast - Om Puri is wasted and Pawan Malhotra gets meaty role after a while. Rest all are adequate. And what exactly was Isha Koppikar doing in the movie ?
Music - Frankly the music is dissapointing. The 2 songs retained from the original being the major culprits more so the Khaike Paan Banaraswala song. Of the rest the title track and the club song are nice, thats just about it.
Direction / Cinematography - Farhan excels again. As a director he has complete grip over the movie and his introducing the 2 twists works beautifully. Cinematography as I said - perfect. Paris, Malaysia, Mumbai - all captured nicely. The movie could have 15 minutes trimmed off easily from the 2nd half to make it more tighter.
Verdict - I say 3.5 / 5. So Don ko pakadna hai ?? Watch it. You wont regret it. But be warned , try not to compare it scene by scene to the original and you will enjoy more.
The line above - is a Legend. And director Farhan Akhtar has attempted to do it once more, has he managed to do it ? The answer is YES. So how does this Don line up against the 1978 "AB's" Don ? Well.........
Story - The plot is simple - basically taken from the 1978 movie. A DCP hot on the trail of a dreaded criminal called Don, finally manages to shoot him but the Don does not survive. Now to get hold of the Don and his gang's secrets, the DCP trains and lets loose a duplicate Don (a hamshakal of the Don) in the gang. But just as the duplicate Don is about to get all the info, the DCP kicks the bucket , leaving Don between the devil and the deep sea to fend himself with both the police and his own cronies after him.
But it is here that Farhan excels, throws in a couple of twists in the tale - one comes bang in the middle and the other right at the end.
When the movie begins - you feel you are in a time wrap , the costumes and styling remind you of the old movie - you will tend to compare the going ons on the screen with the original and all the names will come rushing back to you - Ramesh, Narang, Don, D’silva.................but after a while you find that though the movie is a remake , its DIFFERENT. After you get through tthe initial feel , you watch it not as a remake but as a movie on its own and thats where Farhan scores.
The performances - SRK has a tough job to do filling into Big B’s shoes and he does that admirably as Don. Stylish, sauve and debonair , SRK carries off this act as Don beautifully. As Vijay , in my personal opinion SRK falls short of Big B. He cant do the bhaiyya act convincingly and its shows.
Priyanka - Frankly put I did not like her in the movie one bit. She lost weight for the movie and it does not go well with her thin and wiry frame. And her plot with Don hasnt got much importance.
Kareena - plays Helen's role and as much as I tried to put the comparision with Helen out of my head and review her performance , still she left me cold.
Boman Irani - He gets a meaty role and does full justice. People have told me they dont like Boman in the movie but I think that this is the 1st time Boman has got to play a normal character and maybe thats why people havent liked him. They expect a character that stays in the minds and beleive me Boman’s DCP will be there like Iftekar is always there in our minds.
Arjun Rampal - Playing Pran's role here is completely wasted. It would have made no difference if his character was not present as Pran's was in the old movie.
Rest of the cast - Om Puri is wasted and Pawan Malhotra gets meaty role after a while. Rest all are adequate. And what exactly was Isha Koppikar doing in the movie ?
Music - Frankly the music is dissapointing. The 2 songs retained from the original being the major culprits more so the Khaike Paan Banaraswala song. Of the rest the title track and the club song are nice, thats just about it.
Direction / Cinematography - Farhan excels again. As a director he has complete grip over the movie and his introducing the 2 twists works beautifully. Cinematography as I said - perfect. Paris, Malaysia, Mumbai - all captured nicely. The movie could have 15 minutes trimmed off easily from the 2nd half to make it more tighter.
Verdict - I say 3.5 / 5. So Don ko pakadna hai ?? Watch it. You wont regret it. But be warned , try not to compare it scene by scene to the original and you will enjoy more.
5 Stages of Drunkennessss
Stage #1 -- Smart
This is when you suddenly become an expert on every subject. You know all and greatly wish to express this knowledge to anyone who will listen. At this stage you are also always right. And of course the person you are talking with is very wrong. You will talk for hours trying to convince someone that you are right. This makes for an interesting argument when both parties are "smart". Two people talking, in fact, arguing about a subject neither one really knows anything about, but are convinced that they are they complete authority on the subject makes for great entertainment for those get the opportunity to listen in.
Stage #2 -- Handsome/Pretty
This is when you are convinced that you are the best looking person in the entire room and everyone is looking at you. You begin to wink at perfect strangers and ask them to dance because of course they had been admiring you the whole evening. You are the center of attention, and all eyes are directed at you because you are the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth. Now keep in mind that you are still smart, so you can talk to this person who has been admiring you about any and all subjects under the sun.
Stage #3 -- Rich
This is when you suddenly become the richest person in the world. You can buy drinks for the entire bar and put it on your bill because you surely have an armored truck full of your money parked behind the bar. You can also make bets in this stage. Now of course you still know all, so you will always win all your bets. And you have no concern for how much money you bet because you have all the money in the world. You will also begin to buy drinks for all the people in the bar who are admiring you because you are now the smartest, prettiest, and richest person on the face of the earth.
Stage #4 -- Bulletproof
You can now pick fights with the people you have been betting money with because you cannot be hurt by anything. At this point you would go up to the boyfriend of the woman who had been admiring your beautiful self all evening and challenge him to a battle of wits for money. You have no worry about loosing this battle of wits because you know all, have all the money to cover this bet, and you obviously win a fight that might erupt if he looses.
Stage #5 -- Invisible
This is the final stage of drunkenness. At this point you can do
absolutely anything because no one can see you. You can get up and dance on a table; you can strip down to your underwear, to impress the people who have been admiring you all evening, because the rest of the people in the room cannot see you. You are also invisible to the person whom you have picked a fight with earlier in the evening. You can walk through the streets singing at the top of your lungs (because of course you are still smart and know the tune perfectly) and no one will think anything of it because they can't see you. All your social inhibitions are gone. You can do anything, because no one will know.
And you certainly won't remember !
This is when you suddenly become an expert on every subject. You know all and greatly wish to express this knowledge to anyone who will listen. At this stage you are also always right. And of course the person you are talking with is very wrong. You will talk for hours trying to convince someone that you are right. This makes for an interesting argument when both parties are "smart". Two people talking, in fact, arguing about a subject neither one really knows anything about, but are convinced that they are they complete authority on the subject makes for great entertainment for those get the opportunity to listen in.
Stage #2 -- Handsome/Pretty
This is when you are convinced that you are the best looking person in the entire room and everyone is looking at you. You begin to wink at perfect strangers and ask them to dance because of course they had been admiring you the whole evening. You are the center of attention, and all eyes are directed at you because you are the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth. Now keep in mind that you are still smart, so you can talk to this person who has been admiring you about any and all subjects under the sun.
Stage #3 -- Rich
This is when you suddenly become the richest person in the world. You can buy drinks for the entire bar and put it on your bill because you surely have an armored truck full of your money parked behind the bar. You can also make bets in this stage. Now of course you still know all, so you will always win all your bets. And you have no concern for how much money you bet because you have all the money in the world. You will also begin to buy drinks for all the people in the bar who are admiring you because you are now the smartest, prettiest, and richest person on the face of the earth.
Stage #4 -- Bulletproof
You can now pick fights with the people you have been betting money with because you cannot be hurt by anything. At this point you would go up to the boyfriend of the woman who had been admiring your beautiful self all evening and challenge him to a battle of wits for money. You have no worry about loosing this battle of wits because you know all, have all the money to cover this bet, and you obviously win a fight that might erupt if he looses.
Stage #5 -- Invisible
This is the final stage of drunkenness. At this point you can do
absolutely anything because no one can see you. You can get up and dance on a table; you can strip down to your underwear, to impress the people who have been admiring you all evening, because the rest of the people in the room cannot see you. You are also invisible to the person whom you have picked a fight with earlier in the evening. You can walk through the streets singing at the top of your lungs (because of course you are still smart and know the tune perfectly) and no one will think anything of it because they can't see you. All your social inhibitions are gone. You can do anything, because no one will know.
And you certainly won't remember !
Narayan Rane's son - A goon
Yes - Its true. Narayn Rane and his sons and followers are goons / goondas of the first degree masquerading as politicians ! Read the following incident that happened on 10th August 2006.
Coming back from Lonavala with my 2 uncles, I got onto the Expressway at about 3-3.30 pm from the diversion when the old road from Khandala meets the expressway. A Gypsy, an Endeavour pass me by. I move to the middle lane and at the same time a Bolero with a flashing light passes me by. On the tight left and right hand turns that follow the Endeavour and the Bolero slow down to 50 kmph approx while I overtake them as i was going faster and am behind the Gypsy. Due to the rock falling incidents the section of the road towards Bombay, the road is closed and vehicles have to get into the opposite corridor (Pune side) in a single lane. I get in behind the Gypsy and the Endeavor gets in behind me with the Bolero following him and after a few minutes, the Gypsy allows me to overtake, I accelerate and when I reach the tunnel , I see in the rear view mirror the Endeavor swooping down fast. But then it is a a tight left hander after the tunnel and he backs of ,but then soon on next tight right hander nearthe Khopoli exit, he gets inside me , I understand that this guy has a problem and I lift of the gas and let him go. As soon as he gets in fronts of me, he starts zigzagging in the right lane, I slow down but he continues. He stops the car, blocks me off and 2 guys (Narayan Rane's sons) get out and start abusing – “Fucker , Bhenchot, Bhosdike you don’t know how to drive a car and cut kisko maara” and stuff. Meanwhile the 2 escort vehicles, the Gypsy and Bolero stop by in the middle lane and about 11 people get down. In the meanwhile my uncle identifies the guy as Mr Narayan Rane’s son. He asks him if he is Rane’s son and he abuses my uncle with "Bastard Fucker" , you don’t know how to drive. 3-4 guys from the escort vehicles come to right and open the door and slam my face and 3-4 guys slam my uncle on the left at the same time. “Dhande pe laga doonga” , “gaadi chalani nahin aati” , “cut kyun maara” and maa-bahen stuff fly at us.
I felt like giving them a kick in their balls but I control as we were heavily outnumbered and who knows , guys like these carry weapons and stuff.
We have to ask their forgiveness and they let us go. My uncle has a broken spectacle frame and I have a bleeding nose to show.
Now points to ponder -
1) 2 escort vehicles for Mr Narayan Rane’s son?? Who the hell is he, some minister?
2) The guys stop just after a blind tight right hand turn in the right and centre lane of the expressway, potentially putting all of us at risk if a car came speeding around the turn.
3) Assaulting me for driving within the rules. Did he expect a car doing 80 kmph to slow down for a vehicle doing 50 kmph, just because he was someone’s son and he had a convoy ?
4) Absolute pathetic behavior and language used against someone equal to his father’s age.
5) And all the way through to Vashi, I saw the men in the Gypsy drive rash, cut off vehicles coming in the way who, were by the way driving according to rules, so that the Endeavour had the right of the way on the expressway. Don’t we pay taxes or are we paying for roads for these guys to drive their cars on?
All this just proves that “NOT ONLY POLITICIANS BUT ANY ONE REMOTELY RELATED TO THEM IS DRUNK ON POWER” and the Irony is that they are “PUBLIC SERVANTS”
I know nothing is going to happen with me raving and ranting here but I posted this just as a warning to all you near and dear friends. Don’t get into fights and ego trips while driving, you never know what is in store.
The Endeavour’s no. was MH43-C-1 (I ain’t sure about C but its Vashi registered, I intend to hunt the car down and note its number) and write in to all newspapers and news channels.
Coming back from Lonavala with my 2 uncles, I got onto the Expressway at about 3-3.30 pm from the diversion when the old road from Khandala meets the expressway. A Gypsy, an Endeavour pass me by. I move to the middle lane and at the same time a Bolero with a flashing light passes me by. On the tight left and right hand turns that follow the Endeavour and the Bolero slow down to 50 kmph approx while I overtake them as i was going faster and am behind the Gypsy. Due to the rock falling incidents the section of the road towards Bombay, the road is closed and vehicles have to get into the opposite corridor (Pune side) in a single lane. I get in behind the Gypsy and the Endeavor gets in behind me with the Bolero following him and after a few minutes, the Gypsy allows me to overtake, I accelerate and when I reach the tunnel , I see in the rear view mirror the Endeavor swooping down fast. But then it is a a tight left hander after the tunnel and he backs of ,but then soon on next tight right hander nearthe Khopoli exit, he gets inside me , I understand that this guy has a problem and I lift of the gas and let him go. As soon as he gets in fronts of me, he starts zigzagging in the right lane, I slow down but he continues. He stops the car, blocks me off and 2 guys (Narayan Rane's sons) get out and start abusing – “Fucker , Bhenchot, Bhosdike you don’t know how to drive a car and cut kisko maara” and stuff. Meanwhile the 2 escort vehicles, the Gypsy and Bolero stop by in the middle lane and about 11 people get down. In the meanwhile my uncle identifies the guy as Mr Narayan Rane’s son. He asks him if he is Rane’s son and he abuses my uncle with "Bastard Fucker" , you don’t know how to drive. 3-4 guys from the escort vehicles come to right and open the door and slam my face and 3-4 guys slam my uncle on the left at the same time. “Dhande pe laga doonga” , “gaadi chalani nahin aati” , “cut kyun maara” and maa-bahen stuff fly at us.
I felt like giving them a kick in their balls but I control as we were heavily outnumbered and who knows , guys like these carry weapons and stuff.
We have to ask their forgiveness and they let us go. My uncle has a broken spectacle frame and I have a bleeding nose to show.
Now points to ponder -
1) 2 escort vehicles for Mr Narayan Rane’s son?? Who the hell is he, some minister?
2) The guys stop just after a blind tight right hand turn in the right and centre lane of the expressway, potentially putting all of us at risk if a car came speeding around the turn.
3) Assaulting me for driving within the rules. Did he expect a car doing 80 kmph to slow down for a vehicle doing 50 kmph, just because he was someone’s son and he had a convoy ?
4) Absolute pathetic behavior and language used against someone equal to his father’s age.
5) And all the way through to Vashi, I saw the men in the Gypsy drive rash, cut off vehicles coming in the way who, were by the way driving according to rules, so that the Endeavour had the right of the way on the expressway. Don’t we pay taxes or are we paying for roads for these guys to drive their cars on?
All this just proves that “NOT ONLY POLITICIANS BUT ANY ONE REMOTELY RELATED TO THEM IS DRUNK ON POWER” and the Irony is that they are “PUBLIC SERVANTS”
I know nothing is going to happen with me raving and ranting here but I posted this just as a warning to all you near and dear friends. Don’t get into fights and ego trips while driving, you never know what is in store.
The Endeavour’s no. was MH43-C-1 (I ain’t sure about C but its Vashi registered, I intend to hunt the car down and note its number) and write in to all newspapers and news channels.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
My Favorite Comedy Movies in Bollywood
Every body likes to laugh. And if it's a movie that makes you laugh when ever you watch it, nothing like it. Precisely for this reason, I would like to list down the top comedy movies from Bollywood that bring a smile to my face everytime I even think about them.
1) Golmaal - Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt.The leading comic duo of feel good movies in the 1970's. Amol Palekar is forced to take on a twin brother identity because of his mustache obsessed boss played by Utpal Dutt. He has to keep his nerve as he plays 2 roles and pataos his boss' daughter as well. I do not remember the name of the female actor who helps out as the fake mother but she was a riot as well. I end up on the floor everytime I watch it.
2) Shaukeen - A story about 3 old men ( Ashok Kumar, AK Hangal and Utpal Dutt ). Seems innocent right ? But it is not when the 3 old men have the hearts of teenagers. Their daily dose of fun includes changing spectacles to watch young girls walking on the beach right upto holding the hand of the female PG a wee bit longer. In the absence of the wife, Ashok Kumar plans a trip for all 3 of them that includes getting laid. So they want a driver to take them out of Bombay. In steps our Mithunda and he manipulates the destination of the 3 oldies to Goa so that he can meet his GF, Rati Agnihotri. But what happens when the 3 leering old men lay their eyes on Rati ? Will they get laid ? Watch the movie - it's amazing fun.
3) Chashme Baddoor - A Sai Paranjpe classic. 3 friends and 1 girl ( the object of the trios affection). Hilarious the way all 3 try to patao her. So who gets her in the end ? The shayar , the sauve stud or the studious and serious guy ? Farukh Shaikh and Deepti Naval excel supported brilliantly by Rakesh Bedi , Ravi Baswani and Saeed Jaffery.
4) Chupke Chupke - The best straight faced comedy ever. Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore get married and Dharmendra fed up of hearing praises of Om Prakash (Sharmila's B-I-L) plans to turn the table. Dharmendra is superb and Amitabh very good as usual. The scene stealer here is Om Prakash. And with a support cast that includes Jaya Bhaduri, Asrani and Kesto Mukherji, this is movie that never loses it's charm.
5) Jaane bhi do Yaaron - One of my all time favorite movies and Bollywood's blackest comedy to date I think. Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani are bumbling photographers who stumble upon all kinds of information , goings on, dead bodies and people, when they are handed an assignment to spy on 2 crook builders played absolutely brilliantly by Pankaj Kapur and Om Puri. Satish shah is in there too as the Municipal Commisioner and Bhakti Barve excels as the manipulative editor of a newspaper. Satish Kaushik and Neena Gupta play important roles too. The climax with all characters playing some role or the other from the Mahabharata is ROCKING. A talking point to date.
6) Choti si Baat - That man Amol Palekar again ! This time supported by Ashok Kumar and Asrani. A classy movie about how a nervous, shy and timid man (Amol )overcomes his shyness and timidness with some help from Ashok Kumar (playing a retired Colonel)to counter a oversmart opponent (Asrani) in his love story. Vidya Sinha plays the lady over whom Amol and Asrani lock horns. All the actors perform brilliantly. The movie touches a cord somewhere because if we look around us we can see the characters played by Amol and Asrani, dime a dozen even today. Do not miss it.
8) Coolie No. 1 - Another favorite of mine. Govinda fools Kader Khan by making him believe that he is a rich guy and marries his daughter, karisma Kapur. When Kader Khan sends Shakti Kapoor to check on them, Govinda manufactures a twin brother to fool Kader Khan, himself. Kader Khan turns the tables by wanting to marry off his 2nd daughter to Govinda as well. Its similar to Golmaal but has the trade mark Govinda style. Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor and Harish give rollicking support.
9) Baton Baton Mein - Not exactly a comedy but the movie has its moments that keep the smiles coming. The movies deals with the Christian community in the 1970's. Amol Palekar (again) and Tina Munim (wow) fall in love on the most common sight in Mumbai, the local trains albiet with a little support from David (playing Tina's guardian). Tina's mom is the ever worrying mom wanting a nice khandaan ka earning guy for her daughter. There is a silent lover for Tina lurking in the background too. The treatment of the movie is so real and the feel and look so amazingly brilliant that you feel you are a part of the movie yourself.
Well there are lots of other movies that make the grade, but I will put them down later. Till then try to catch these movies and smile along.
1) Golmaal - Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt.The leading comic duo of feel good movies in the 1970's. Amol Palekar is forced to take on a twin brother identity because of his mustache obsessed boss played by Utpal Dutt. He has to keep his nerve as he plays 2 roles and pataos his boss' daughter as well. I do not remember the name of the female actor who helps out as the fake mother but she was a riot as well. I end up on the floor everytime I watch it.
2) Shaukeen - A story about 3 old men ( Ashok Kumar, AK Hangal and Utpal Dutt ). Seems innocent right ? But it is not when the 3 old men have the hearts of teenagers. Their daily dose of fun includes changing spectacles to watch young girls walking on the beach right upto holding the hand of the female PG a wee bit longer. In the absence of the wife, Ashok Kumar plans a trip for all 3 of them that includes getting laid. So they want a driver to take them out of Bombay. In steps our Mithunda and he manipulates the destination of the 3 oldies to Goa so that he can meet his GF, Rati Agnihotri. But what happens when the 3 leering old men lay their eyes on Rati ? Will they get laid ? Watch the movie - it's amazing fun.
3) Chashme Baddoor - A Sai Paranjpe classic. 3 friends and 1 girl ( the object of the trios affection). Hilarious the way all 3 try to patao her. So who gets her in the end ? The shayar , the sauve stud or the studious and serious guy ? Farukh Shaikh and Deepti Naval excel supported brilliantly by Rakesh Bedi , Ravi Baswani and Saeed Jaffery.
4) Chupke Chupke - The best straight faced comedy ever. Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore get married and Dharmendra fed up of hearing praises of Om Prakash (Sharmila's B-I-L) plans to turn the table. Dharmendra is superb and Amitabh very good as usual. The scene stealer here is Om Prakash. And with a support cast that includes Jaya Bhaduri, Asrani and Kesto Mukherji, this is movie that never loses it's charm.
5) Jaane bhi do Yaaron - One of my all time favorite movies and Bollywood's blackest comedy to date I think. Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani are bumbling photographers who stumble upon all kinds of information , goings on, dead bodies and people, when they are handed an assignment to spy on 2 crook builders played absolutely brilliantly by Pankaj Kapur and Om Puri. Satish shah is in there too as the Municipal Commisioner and Bhakti Barve excels as the manipulative editor of a newspaper. Satish Kaushik and Neena Gupta play important roles too. The climax with all characters playing some role or the other from the Mahabharata is ROCKING. A talking point to date.
6) Choti si Baat - That man Amol Palekar again ! This time supported by Ashok Kumar and Asrani. A classy movie about how a nervous, shy and timid man (Amol )overcomes his shyness and timidness with some help from Ashok Kumar (playing a retired Colonel)to counter a oversmart opponent (Asrani) in his love story. Vidya Sinha plays the lady over whom Amol and Asrani lock horns. All the actors perform brilliantly. The movie touches a cord somewhere because if we look around us we can see the characters played by Amol and Asrani, dime a dozen even today. Do not miss it.
8) Coolie No. 1 - Another favorite of mine. Govinda fools Kader Khan by making him believe that he is a rich guy and marries his daughter, karisma Kapur. When Kader Khan sends Shakti Kapoor to check on them, Govinda manufactures a twin brother to fool Kader Khan, himself. Kader Khan turns the tables by wanting to marry off his 2nd daughter to Govinda as well. Its similar to Golmaal but has the trade mark Govinda style. Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor and Harish give rollicking support.
9) Baton Baton Mein - Not exactly a comedy but the movie has its moments that keep the smiles coming. The movies deals with the Christian community in the 1970's. Amol Palekar (again) and Tina Munim (wow) fall in love on the most common sight in Mumbai, the local trains albiet with a little support from David (playing Tina's guardian). Tina's mom is the ever worrying mom wanting a nice khandaan ka earning guy for her daughter. There is a silent lover for Tina lurking in the background too. The treatment of the movie is so real and the feel and look so amazingly brilliant that you feel you are a part of the movie yourself.
Well there are lots of other movies that make the grade, but I will put them down later. Till then try to catch these movies and smile along.
Movie Review - Saaya
The Bhatts are back with anotther inspired from Hollywood movie.Saaya is a movie said to be inspired by the Kevin Costner flick Dragonfly. I haven't seen Dragonfly but now after watching Saaya I have an urge to see Dragonfly. Read on for the review.
Story -The movie basically deals with the story of a husband and wife doctor duo (John Abraham and Tara Sharma). The wife, who is pregnant, dies on relief duty somewhere in the northeastern Indian State of Nagaland. The husband can't get over the fact that his beloved is gone and he immerses himself in work and starts working in the hospital continuously. He also gets himself shifted to the same ward where his wife used to work and then things start happening to him. He starts hearing his wife's voice and strange things happen to him. Water starts falling from the ceiling; dead children come alive and tell him they have met his wife. His home starts turning into a waterfall cum swimming pool but only he can see this and feel this. All other people find this strange and think that he has lost his mind and gone crazy due to his wife's death. But an encounter with a former nurse turned nun who believes in life after death, the doctor starts to believe the his wife wants to communicate with him? Does he manage to communicate with his dead wife or has he done crazy ? As he gets closer to his dead wife, the truth emerges. Watch the movie to find out what happens next. The climax of the movie is good, not quite what I expected.
Performances - John Abraham is good but he needs to improve quickly. He carries of his role with his trademark pained expression through the movie. A couple or more of other expressions would have been welcome. Tara Sharma looks cute and doesn't have much of acting to do but she is adequate. Of the supporting cast Mahima Choudhary as the friend, looks and acts well and the rest of the cast is ok.
Music -The songs of the movie are slow, love songs and they gel with the movie. There are some really lovely soulful songs in the movie. The background score is good too.
Direction / Cinematography -The picturisation of songs is good and Kerela looks oh so inviting in the first song itself. The Director Anurag Basu is a new director and he has impressed in his first movie. Certain scenes like the dead child waking up suddenly to stare in the doctor's eyes are well done, handled well.
Verdict - I give it 3.5/5. The producers have another small budget movie that I think should do better than what people are expecting. Overall it's a 2-hour movie that feels slow but will keep you interested without boring you. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND this movie.
Story -The movie basically deals with the story of a husband and wife doctor duo (John Abraham and Tara Sharma). The wife, who is pregnant, dies on relief duty somewhere in the northeastern Indian State of Nagaland. The husband can't get over the fact that his beloved is gone and he immerses himself in work and starts working in the hospital continuously. He also gets himself shifted to the same ward where his wife used to work and then things start happening to him. He starts hearing his wife's voice and strange things happen to him. Water starts falling from the ceiling; dead children come alive and tell him they have met his wife. His home starts turning into a waterfall cum swimming pool but only he can see this and feel this. All other people find this strange and think that he has lost his mind and gone crazy due to his wife's death. But an encounter with a former nurse turned nun who believes in life after death, the doctor starts to believe the his wife wants to communicate with him? Does he manage to communicate with his dead wife or has he done crazy ? As he gets closer to his dead wife, the truth emerges. Watch the movie to find out what happens next. The climax of the movie is good, not quite what I expected.
Performances - John Abraham is good but he needs to improve quickly. He carries of his role with his trademark pained expression through the movie. A couple or more of other expressions would have been welcome. Tara Sharma looks cute and doesn't have much of acting to do but she is adequate. Of the supporting cast Mahima Choudhary as the friend, looks and acts well and the rest of the cast is ok.
Music -The songs of the movie are slow, love songs and they gel with the movie. There are some really lovely soulful songs in the movie. The background score is good too.
Direction / Cinematography -The picturisation of songs is good and Kerela looks oh so inviting in the first song itself. The Director Anurag Basu is a new director and he has impressed in his first movie. Certain scenes like the dead child waking up suddenly to stare in the doctor's eyes are well done, handled well.
Verdict - I give it 3.5/5. The producers have another small budget movie that I think should do better than what people are expecting. Overall it's a 2-hour movie that feels slow but will keep you interested without boring you. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND this movie.
Movie Review - Main Madhuri Dixit Banna chahati hoon
Yawn - another movie from the factory of RGV. But wait, Main Madhuri Dixit banna chahti hoon is a very different kind of a movie to come out from Ram Gopal Varma productions.
Story - The movie tells the story of Chutki ( Antara Mali ) , a Madhuri Dixit wannabe who lives in a village called Gajaorla. Raja ( Rajpal Yadav) is her childhood friend who loves her and wants her to realise all her dreams. Chutki’s dreams are that of becoming the next Madhuri Dixit. When chutki’s parents want to get her forcibly married, Raja understands her problem and steps in and marries Chutki and takes her to Bombay , where he wants to help her in realising her dreams.
From here the struggle for Chutki starts, visiting studios, getting thrown out of offices and studios. A chance encounter with a film extra that makes her realise that she has to change the way she looks. So Chutki tries to get the modern look and finally bags a movie after she does a music album but the movie has in the cast, duplicates of all possible stalwarts of Bollywood. But after some persuasion from the model co-ordinator and Raja , Chutki signs the movie and is promptly devasted as on the 1 st day, the movie opens to empty theatres and flops.
Raja and Chutki decide to hang up their boots and return to Gajoarla but there is a silver lining at the end. Catch the movie to find out.
Performances - A movie like this needed good performances from the lead actors and I must say both the lead actors are fantastic. Antara as Chutki is better in the 2nd half of the movie when she is emotional. Her performance had the spark that a main character needed. She doesnt quite look like Madhuri in all her dances but is good though a stiffer than Madhuri in dance movements. Rajpal as Raja had a supporting role to Antara , but this guy is amazing. HIS IS THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE MOVIE. Amazingly real and restrained, he steals the show completely. The rest of the supporting cast is good too.
Music - The music is just about ok , so-so infact but this movie is not a musical .
Direction / Cinematography - The Direction is Absolutely Fantastic for a guy in his 1st directorial venture. Chandan Arora has done a very good job in keeping the narrative unidirectional and has absolute control over the story. The cinematography is in sync with the look of the film.
Verdict - I give it 4/5. Overall this is a movie that leaves you feeling happy and warm after you walk out of the theatre. There are many funny and emotional scenes in the movie . The scene in the empty movie theatre is poingant.
Go on catch the movie fast . There are not many of these kinds of movies made these days.
ONE THING THOUGH - THE MOVIE HAS TAKEN A LOOK AT HOW THE FILM INDUSTRY WORKS , IT HAS LEFT OUT THE PART RELATED TO CASTING COUCHES. wouldn’t we have loved to see this part addressed so naturally. if only wishes were horses!!!!
Story - The movie tells the story of Chutki ( Antara Mali ) , a Madhuri Dixit wannabe who lives in a village called Gajaorla. Raja ( Rajpal Yadav) is her childhood friend who loves her and wants her to realise all her dreams. Chutki’s dreams are that of becoming the next Madhuri Dixit. When chutki’s parents want to get her forcibly married, Raja understands her problem and steps in and marries Chutki and takes her to Bombay , where he wants to help her in realising her dreams.
From here the struggle for Chutki starts, visiting studios, getting thrown out of offices and studios. A chance encounter with a film extra that makes her realise that she has to change the way she looks. So Chutki tries to get the modern look and finally bags a movie after she does a music album but the movie has in the cast, duplicates of all possible stalwarts of Bollywood. But after some persuasion from the model co-ordinator and Raja , Chutki signs the movie and is promptly devasted as on the 1 st day, the movie opens to empty theatres and flops.
Raja and Chutki decide to hang up their boots and return to Gajoarla but there is a silver lining at the end. Catch the movie to find out.
Performances - A movie like this needed good performances from the lead actors and I must say both the lead actors are fantastic. Antara as Chutki is better in the 2nd half of the movie when she is emotional. Her performance had the spark that a main character needed. She doesnt quite look like Madhuri in all her dances but is good though a stiffer than Madhuri in dance movements. Rajpal as Raja had a supporting role to Antara , but this guy is amazing. HIS IS THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE MOVIE. Amazingly real and restrained, he steals the show completely. The rest of the supporting cast is good too.
Music - The music is just about ok , so-so infact but this movie is not a musical .
Direction / Cinematography - The Direction is Absolutely Fantastic for a guy in his 1st directorial venture. Chandan Arora has done a very good job in keeping the narrative unidirectional and has absolute control over the story. The cinematography is in sync with the look of the film.
Verdict - I give it 4/5. Overall this is a movie that leaves you feeling happy and warm after you walk out of the theatre. There are many funny and emotional scenes in the movie . The scene in the empty movie theatre is poingant.
Go on catch the movie fast . There are not many of these kinds of movies made these days.
ONE THING THOUGH - THE MOVIE HAS TAKEN A LOOK AT HOW THE FILM INDUSTRY WORKS , IT HAS LEFT OUT THE PART RELATED TO CASTING COUCHES. wouldn’t we have loved to see this part addressed so naturally. if only wishes were horses!!!!
Movie Review - Awaarapan
The Bhatt factory rolls out another movie from their assembly line. Presumably the costliest movie to be made under the Bhatt banner. So does it work ? Read on....
Story - The movie is about Shivam (Emraan Hashmi), a fiercely loyal right hand man of a don (Aushutosh Rana) in Hong Kong. The Don and his don brother (Ashish Vidyarthi) have fallen off with each other and are rivals. The brother don has a coke snorting druggie son (Purab the Channel V Vj). The Don has a woman (Mrinalini) whom he bought from a human trafficking gang , he loves her but does not trust her. He trusts Shivam to keep an eye on her when he is gone for some days and find out if she has anyone else. As it turns out, the girl has a lover who wants to free her from the don's bondage. As the don gets to know this from Shivam, he orders Shivam to kill the girl. As it happens Shivam fails. Why ? Because he had a girl friend once (Shreya Saran) who was a muslim and her dad tried to shoot Shivam but shot his daughter instead. She taught Shivam to release birds from cages as they too had the right to be free. This story is told in flashback and Shivam takes it upon himself to protect the don's girl and her lover. Does he manage to do it ?- watch Awaarapan to find out.
Performances - Emraan Hashmi plays the silent, brooding, pining lover with very little dialogue. He does a fair job of it, excelling in some scenes and pretty ordinary in others. 2 heroines, both new comers (Shriya Saran and Mrinalini) make their debut. Shreya is wasted in a 10 minute role and besides has nothing to do in the acting department but look pretty but her make up man messes it up again. Mrinalini has the meatier role but is wooden and stiff and makes a hash of the rocking song "Mahiya" as well. Ashutosh Rana and Ashish Vidyarthi are competent but for me the man who rocks the screen everytime he is on - is Purab. Brilliant performance as a junkie, stunning.
Direction / Cinematography - The Bhatt's blue eyed boy Mohit suri directs this one as well. He does a neat job but the editing should have crisper, a good 20 minutes could be edited out easily. Cinematography is good and the movie is set in Hong Kong which looks good in the movie.
Music - Music is the saving grace. A couple of songs specially the Mahiya song rock. Nice to hear. Thumbs up to the music.
Verdict - 2/5. The movie is slow and tests your patience. The performances are nothing to write about and the music is the highlight. If you are a Emraan fan, or do not get tickets to another movie, watch it else easily avoidable.
Story - The movie is about Shivam (Emraan Hashmi), a fiercely loyal right hand man of a don (Aushutosh Rana) in Hong Kong. The Don and his don brother (Ashish Vidyarthi) have fallen off with each other and are rivals. The brother don has a coke snorting druggie son (Purab the Channel V Vj). The Don has a woman (Mrinalini) whom he bought from a human trafficking gang , he loves her but does not trust her. He trusts Shivam to keep an eye on her when he is gone for some days and find out if she has anyone else. As it turns out, the girl has a lover who wants to free her from the don's bondage. As the don gets to know this from Shivam, he orders Shivam to kill the girl. As it happens Shivam fails. Why ? Because he had a girl friend once (Shreya Saran) who was a muslim and her dad tried to shoot Shivam but shot his daughter instead. She taught Shivam to release birds from cages as they too had the right to be free. This story is told in flashback and Shivam takes it upon himself to protect the don's girl and her lover. Does he manage to do it ?- watch Awaarapan to find out.
Performances - Emraan Hashmi plays the silent, brooding, pining lover with very little dialogue. He does a fair job of it, excelling in some scenes and pretty ordinary in others. 2 heroines, both new comers (Shriya Saran and Mrinalini) make their debut. Shreya is wasted in a 10 minute role and besides has nothing to do in the acting department but look pretty but her make up man messes it up again. Mrinalini has the meatier role but is wooden and stiff and makes a hash of the rocking song "Mahiya" as well. Ashutosh Rana and Ashish Vidyarthi are competent but for me the man who rocks the screen everytime he is on - is Purab. Brilliant performance as a junkie, stunning.
Direction / Cinematography - The Bhatt's blue eyed boy Mohit suri directs this one as well. He does a neat job but the editing should have crisper, a good 20 minutes could be edited out easily. Cinematography is good and the movie is set in Hong Kong which looks good in the movie.
Music - Music is the saving grace. A couple of songs specially the Mahiya song rock. Nice to hear. Thumbs up to the music.
Verdict - 2/5. The movie is slow and tests your patience. The performances are nothing to write about and the music is the highlight. If you are a Emraan fan, or do not get tickets to another movie, watch it else easily avoidable.
Movie Review - Aap Ka Suroor
Finally its released. The much hyped and much awaited (?) movie starring the Indian Rockstar Himesh Reshammiya released yesterday. So does Himesh make the cut or falls out ? Read on...
Story - The movie is about HR (Himesh), a famous Indian rockstar on the German leg of his concert tour with a close friend of his. He meets and falls in love with the event manager of his tour (Hansika Motwani). Also he encounters different people like Concert managers, a sultry lawyer in love with him (Mallika Sherawat) and other sundry characters. Things are looking rosy for Himesh till he downs a few pegs/shots with his friend and the next morning is promptly arrested for the murder of a journalist who had come to take his interview. Now Himesh has to prove his innocence or else his GF's father will get her married to the next available boy (typical bollywood father). So how Himesh manages to prove his innocence and win his love is what the movie is all about.
Performances - Himesh is wooden and stiff. Yes he removes his cap and laughs too (yaay). But he has to really loosen himself if he wants to act as a hero (Noooo). Hansika Motwani as the female lead has nothing to do but to cry and smile (thinking wtf am I doing here) and she does a bad job of it as well. Also she needs a crash course in the make up department (tooooo much of kajal). Mallika Sherawat is the 2nd bright spot of the movie. Looks like a million bucks and really rocks in the Mehbooba song (sad though you have to sit thru the movie as the song comes right at the end). The guy who plays Himesh's friend rocks all the way. He was pretty cool and casual and stole the show when in the same scene with Himesh.
Direction / Cinematography - Prashant Chadda directs this movie. He is Himesh's good friend who has directed all his videos and it shows. The movie has been directed like a music video, looks glossy and shiny but is not anything great. Cinematography is good - Germany looks beautiful.
Music - Although all the songs must be coming out of our ears still I say the music is good and a couple of songs are really good to listen to.
Verdict - I give it 2.25/5. Mallika , Himesh's friend and the music contribute heavily to this score. Avoid if you can but if you are a Himesh fan, watch it once.
Story - The movie is about HR (Himesh), a famous Indian rockstar on the German leg of his concert tour with a close friend of his. He meets and falls in love with the event manager of his tour (Hansika Motwani). Also he encounters different people like Concert managers, a sultry lawyer in love with him (Mallika Sherawat) and other sundry characters. Things are looking rosy for Himesh till he downs a few pegs/shots with his friend and the next morning is promptly arrested for the murder of a journalist who had come to take his interview. Now Himesh has to prove his innocence or else his GF's father will get her married to the next available boy (typical bollywood father). So how Himesh manages to prove his innocence and win his love is what the movie is all about.
Performances - Himesh is wooden and stiff. Yes he removes his cap and laughs too (yaay). But he has to really loosen himself if he wants to act as a hero (Noooo). Hansika Motwani as the female lead has nothing to do but to cry and smile (thinking wtf am I doing here) and she does a bad job of it as well. Also she needs a crash course in the make up department (tooooo much of kajal). Mallika Sherawat is the 2nd bright spot of the movie. Looks like a million bucks and really rocks in the Mehbooba song (sad though you have to sit thru the movie as the song comes right at the end). The guy who plays Himesh's friend rocks all the way. He was pretty cool and casual and stole the show when in the same scene with Himesh.
Direction / Cinematography - Prashant Chadda directs this movie. He is Himesh's good friend who has directed all his videos and it shows. The movie has been directed like a music video, looks glossy and shiny but is not anything great. Cinematography is good - Germany looks beautiful.
Music - Although all the songs must be coming out of our ears still I say the music is good and a couple of songs are really good to listen to.
Verdict - I give it 2.25/5. Mallika , Himesh's friend and the music contribute heavily to this score. Avoid if you can but if you are a Himesh fan, watch it once.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Romance and Rains
This is a specific chapter in the story about 2 people and how rain played an important role in their lives, more specifically their love life.
2 friends (of the opposite sex, ok enough of pj's now) decide to drive to Lonavala via the expressway one cloudy day because the weather was nice for a drive. There was something in the air that both could feel but not pin point what it was.
As the car sped towards Lonavala, 1st stop was the drive in Mc Donalds to stock up on some burgers, fries and coffee. That done, the car gets on to the expressway. The weather is cloudy , windy and the conversation in the car flows while munching away on the grub. After the eating is over, the guy concentrates on the driving and the girl was enjoying the waterfalls along the road.
Soon Lonavala arrives in all its glory and splendor. Its covered in clouds, a slight drizzle and its amazingly green all around. The scenery is breathtaking. As they stand looking at the views between the valley and the mountains, suddenly both feel tense.
Then they drive towards the famous Bushy dam. It being a week day, there are hardly any picnickers around but both are in no mood to get under the waters of the dam. They drive on to Lions end, a place that offers a beautiful view from a place just a little before Amby Valley. The view is simply out of the world. The conversation has now stopped, both are spell bound by the beauty of the place and the rains continue to drizzle. Suddenly there is a crackling sound and both are surprised.
As it happens normally in such beautiful weather, people feel hungry and these 2 were no different . Hunger pangs strike and they get into the car and drive down to Lonavala for lunch. After a nice, satisfying lunch - it's time to head back home.
After driving slowly through Lonavala and Khandala, not wanting to let go of the greenery and views, they get onto the expressway. Its still raining.
The conversation in the car has stopped. The girl watches the scenery outside while her mind wanders on the crackling sound that she heard in the hills. The guy meanwhile is driving the car slowly and carefully - his mind is wandering about too, thinking about the unspoken silence and heaviness between the 2 of them.
And inspite of that unspoken heaviness - the comfort zone is very much evident. There is no need to speak anything - the guy looks at the girl from the corner of his eye and is surprised that she is looking at him. "What happened" , he asks. "Nothing" is the reply. Meanwhile the rains increase in intensity.
A little ahead when coming out of the tunnel, the girl looks at the guy and finds him staring at her with a dreamy look in his eyes. She turns away and so does the guy. As she turns towards the window to look at the scenery outside, a smile plays on her lips. As it does on the guy's lips.
Under the smile, both their mind ticks away. Why is this happening ? Why am I looking at him/her ? And why is she/he looking back at me but not saying anything ? The car speeds towards the end of the expressway - its still raining.
Soon they reach Mumbai and its time to drop off the girl. Saying bye this time is special and the conversation just before she gets off the car is longer. Its like there is an invisible force that does not want her to leave. The rains continue.
As it gets late - the conversation stops but still there is no awkwardness. Both sit comfortably with each other' company while the rain increases the intensity.
Its late and the girl has to go home. She reluctantly gets out of the car and says "Bye". "Bye" says the guy too. As the girl turns away and walks towards her home - it hits the guy - Its LOVE. He has fallen in love ! Suddenly he was scared, very scared. What if she did not feel the same way ? Should he tell her ? How will she react ? Will she not talk to him any more after he tells her ??
With love comes confusion and the guy drives back home in total confusion. The rains continue.
As the girl gets into the house, she can't stop thinking about the day and about the guy. She cant get her mind of the guy, whats wrong with me , she thinks. Its love says her mind and she cannot believe it. She goes to sleep but cannot. She gets up and goes to the window. The rains are still coming down. Now she know that the crackling sound she heard was not thunder but love.She tries to sleep again but to no avail. She is now in love and it hits her hard in the morning.
With love comes confusion and she now has loads of questions on her mind. What if he does not feel the same ? If he feels the same, how will I know ?
Meanwhile its still raining. And 2 people have realised that they love each other. Rains have played their part again.
Fast forward 6 years - to 28 June 2007
Well the 2 are now happy with each other. They managed to tell each other their feelings and both reciprocated.
Meanwhile - yesterday both of them felt the same crackling sound again. And as they looked outside, it was raining.
2 friends (of the opposite sex, ok enough of pj's now) decide to drive to Lonavala via the expressway one cloudy day because the weather was nice for a drive. There was something in the air that both could feel but not pin point what it was.
As the car sped towards Lonavala, 1st stop was the drive in Mc Donalds to stock up on some burgers, fries and coffee. That done, the car gets on to the expressway. The weather is cloudy , windy and the conversation in the car flows while munching away on the grub. After the eating is over, the guy concentrates on the driving and the girl was enjoying the waterfalls along the road.
Soon Lonavala arrives in all its glory and splendor. Its covered in clouds, a slight drizzle and its amazingly green all around. The scenery is breathtaking. As they stand looking at the views between the valley and the mountains, suddenly both feel tense.
Then they drive towards the famous Bushy dam. It being a week day, there are hardly any picnickers around but both are in no mood to get under the waters of the dam. They drive on to Lions end, a place that offers a beautiful view from a place just a little before Amby Valley. The view is simply out of the world. The conversation has now stopped, both are spell bound by the beauty of the place and the rains continue to drizzle. Suddenly there is a crackling sound and both are surprised.
As it happens normally in such beautiful weather, people feel hungry and these 2 were no different . Hunger pangs strike and they get into the car and drive down to Lonavala for lunch. After a nice, satisfying lunch - it's time to head back home.
After driving slowly through Lonavala and Khandala, not wanting to let go of the greenery and views, they get onto the expressway. Its still raining.
The conversation in the car has stopped. The girl watches the scenery outside while her mind wanders on the crackling sound that she heard in the hills. The guy meanwhile is driving the car slowly and carefully - his mind is wandering about too, thinking about the unspoken silence and heaviness between the 2 of them.
And inspite of that unspoken heaviness - the comfort zone is very much evident. There is no need to speak anything - the guy looks at the girl from the corner of his eye and is surprised that she is looking at him. "What happened" , he asks. "Nothing" is the reply. Meanwhile the rains increase in intensity.
A little ahead when coming out of the tunnel, the girl looks at the guy and finds him staring at her with a dreamy look in his eyes. She turns away and so does the guy. As she turns towards the window to look at the scenery outside, a smile plays on her lips. As it does on the guy's lips.
Under the smile, both their mind ticks away. Why is this happening ? Why am I looking at him/her ? And why is she/he looking back at me but not saying anything ? The car speeds towards the end of the expressway - its still raining.
Soon they reach Mumbai and its time to drop off the girl. Saying bye this time is special and the conversation just before she gets off the car is longer. Its like there is an invisible force that does not want her to leave. The rains continue.
As it gets late - the conversation stops but still there is no awkwardness. Both sit comfortably with each other' company while the rain increases the intensity.
Its late and the girl has to go home. She reluctantly gets out of the car and says "Bye". "Bye" says the guy too. As the girl turns away and walks towards her home - it hits the guy - Its LOVE. He has fallen in love ! Suddenly he was scared, very scared. What if she did not feel the same way ? Should he tell her ? How will she react ? Will she not talk to him any more after he tells her ??
With love comes confusion and the guy drives back home in total confusion. The rains continue.
As the girl gets into the house, she can't stop thinking about the day and about the guy. She cant get her mind of the guy, whats wrong with me , she thinks. Its love says her mind and she cannot believe it. She goes to sleep but cannot. She gets up and goes to the window. The rains are still coming down. Now she know that the crackling sound she heard was not thunder but love.She tries to sleep again but to no avail. She is now in love and it hits her hard in the morning.
With love comes confusion and she now has loads of questions on her mind. What if he does not feel the same ? If he feels the same, how will I know ?
Meanwhile its still raining. And 2 people have realised that they love each other. Rains have played their part again.
Fast forward 6 years - to 28 June 2007
Well the 2 are now happy with each other. They managed to tell each other their feelings and both reciprocated.
Meanwhile - yesterday both of them felt the same crackling sound again. And as they looked outside, it was raining.
Monday, June 25, 2007
What the Fuck - Part 2
I just read that post his 105 kgs weight loss (this is another wtf topic) Adnan Sami is being offered lead roles in Bollywood ! WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK !!!
Its been written that after his video where he has danced (haha what a joke), some people have approached him for lead roles in Bollywood. *shocked*
Who the bloody fuck is this Adnan Sami ? A 2 paise singer from Pakistan who has come to India for earning green bucks. If he is such a great singer, why the hell havent we heard that his songs have become hits in Pakistan ?
And whoever these people are - offering him lead roles in Bollywood , I have just 3 words to say to them - Suck my Dick.
I seriously want to believe that all these are rumours and no one has offered him any role in Bollywood.
Its been written that after his video where he has danced (haha what a joke), some people have approached him for lead roles in Bollywood. *shocked*
Who the bloody fuck is this Adnan Sami ? A 2 paise singer from Pakistan who has come to India for earning green bucks. If he is such a great singer, why the hell havent we heard that his songs have become hits in Pakistan ?
And whoever these people are - offering him lead roles in Bollywood , I have just 3 words to say to them - Suck my Dick.
I seriously want to believe that all these are rumours and no one has offered him any role in Bollywood.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
What the Fuck !
So its ended . The tamasha that was on all over - the newspapers , the tv stations and in schools and in temples. Its over now.
I am talking about the Return of Sunita Williams to Earth !
I could see people carrying out havans, poojari's chanting mantras and school children carrying photos and placards of Sunita Williams for her safe return to earth. And that is exactly why I ask - WHAT THE FUCK ? I mean come on - nothing like this would have taken place in the USA also after it was known that there was a problem with the shuttle.
Why do we have to pray for someone who isnt fully Indian yet ? I may sound racist but trust me thats not the point I want to make. Her father left India in the 1960's and thats her only Indian connection. He got married to an Slovenian lady and Sunita is the product. They say she has visited our country - that makes her Indian right ?
Oh I forgot - She carried some samosas that she ate in space, thats an Indian dish. Also she carried the Bhagvad Gita and an idol of Lord Ganesh but so what ? If I carry the Bible to space tomorrow, will the Americans or any Christian country (I hate thise type of words) for that matter carry out mass prayers or havans for my safe return ?
I am not trying to start a war here on the basis of religion or Gods or countries. but can't we ever think rationally ? I mean I am happy that the Space shuttle landed safely but I am glad not for Sunita alone but all her colleagues that they made it back safe.
And the media here is another medium that hypes up this kind of stuff. If you want to wish Sunita a safe return sms us , said one channel. I mean WTF ! By sending our sms to a news channel, we can ensure that the space shuttle lands safely ? Get a life man you news channels and stop playing emotional content to fool the gulliable people of our country.
And we the educated people of India - can't we fucking understand that the space shuttle came back safely because it was repaired using some nice technology in space and not by chanting mantras and conducting havans ? Is this so hard to grasp ?
I am talking about the Return of Sunita Williams to Earth !
I could see people carrying out havans, poojari's chanting mantras and school children carrying photos and placards of Sunita Williams for her safe return to earth. And that is exactly why I ask - WHAT THE FUCK ? I mean come on - nothing like this would have taken place in the USA also after it was known that there was a problem with the shuttle.
Why do we have to pray for someone who isnt fully Indian yet ? I may sound racist but trust me thats not the point I want to make. Her father left India in the 1960's and thats her only Indian connection. He got married to an Slovenian lady and Sunita is the product. They say she has visited our country - that makes her Indian right ?
Oh I forgot - She carried some samosas that she ate in space, thats an Indian dish. Also she carried the Bhagvad Gita and an idol of Lord Ganesh but so what ? If I carry the Bible to space tomorrow, will the Americans or any Christian country (I hate thise type of words) for that matter carry out mass prayers or havans for my safe return ?
I am not trying to start a war here on the basis of religion or Gods or countries. but can't we ever think rationally ? I mean I am happy that the Space shuttle landed safely but I am glad not for Sunita alone but all her colleagues that they made it back safe.
And the media here is another medium that hypes up this kind of stuff. If you want to wish Sunita a safe return sms us , said one channel. I mean WTF ! By sending our sms to a news channel, we can ensure that the space shuttle lands safely ? Get a life man you news channels and stop playing emotional content to fool the gulliable people of our country.
And we the educated people of India - can't we fucking understand that the space shuttle came back safely because it was repaired using some nice technology in space and not by chanting mantras and conducting havans ? Is this so hard to grasp ?
Movie Review - Sivaji - The Boss
So yesterday I walked into PVR cinemas at Mulund and check that no new intersting movies have released. So decided I should catch Sivaji - the Rajnikant starrer that has gripped the whole nation in it's frenzy. And it was in Tamil. So I get tickets easily enough , am surprised and walk into the hall. Its about 20 % full. I find that strange because all of us were led to believe that the movie was rocking everywhere.
Finally the movie starts. There quite a few non Tamil speaking people in the hall and thats surprising to me. As we watch Rajni do his antics , people are enjoying it in good spirits. The 1st half is a rom-com while the 2nd half is a revenge-action set. Nothing new in the movie , nothing great but still the movie keeps you entertained. Something like Manmohan Desai movies back in the 1970's. A couple of songs are nice, AR Rehman's music sounds , nothing like AR Rehman's music. The sets are good specially the glass set for a song.
Rajni struts his stuff and director Shankar aids him ably. Flipping coins and chewing gum in different ways, to imaginative action choreography and different looks for Rajni - its all thrown in at breakneck speed. And it works to an extent.
The female lead Shreya has nothing more to do than flutter her eyelashes and cry and be there compulsorily in the mandatory song sequences. She looks good enough though.
But after the movie - I could see one thing. Rajni has become old and that was most obvious in the dance and fight sequences. Special effects come to the rescue. Rajni has slowed down now, quite a bit. Age has caught up with him but he rocks.
His trade way of walking with a scowl on his face during a romantic song sequence had me in splits. Which again brought me to the question that the whole of India is debating - Is Rajni better and bigger than AB ?
As an actor - AB is leagues ahead of Rajni. As a style king , Rajni is leagues ahead of any actor in Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood and Hollywood put togather.
All in all - it was a fun filled experience. And yes me not knowing Tamil, was not of any consequence. Thats the magic of movies.
Finally the movie starts. There quite a few non Tamil speaking people in the hall and thats surprising to me. As we watch Rajni do his antics , people are enjoying it in good spirits. The 1st half is a rom-com while the 2nd half is a revenge-action set. Nothing new in the movie , nothing great but still the movie keeps you entertained. Something like Manmohan Desai movies back in the 1970's. A couple of songs are nice, AR Rehman's music sounds , nothing like AR Rehman's music. The sets are good specially the glass set for a song.
Rajni struts his stuff and director Shankar aids him ably. Flipping coins and chewing gum in different ways, to imaginative action choreography and different looks for Rajni - its all thrown in at breakneck speed. And it works to an extent.
The female lead Shreya has nothing more to do than flutter her eyelashes and cry and be there compulsorily in the mandatory song sequences. She looks good enough though.
But after the movie - I could see one thing. Rajni has become old and that was most obvious in the dance and fight sequences. Special effects come to the rescue. Rajni has slowed down now, quite a bit. Age has caught up with him but he rocks.
His trade way of walking with a scowl on his face during a romantic song sequence had me in splits. Which again brought me to the question that the whole of India is debating - Is Rajni better and bigger than AB ?
As an actor - AB is leagues ahead of Rajni. As a style king , Rajni is leagues ahead of any actor in Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood and Hollywood put togather.
All in all - it was a fun filled experience. And yes me not knowing Tamil, was not of any consequence. Thats the magic of movies.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
My Bolt fell off !!
This happened on Sunday - 17th June 2007.
8 am - Me and my better half leave for Pune to attend a common friends engagement ceremony.
11 am - Reach Kondwa and attend the ceremony.
12 noon - Proceed for lunch at Mayur's.
1.15 pm - Take leave of the newly engaged couple and proceed towards the express highway. Soon i hit the Old Pune - Mumbai road and plan to get on to the expressway after Dehu Road.
As I near Pimpri, I run into traffic at a signal and I brake to slow down, down shift to 2nd and accelerate - it feels as if the car is struggling to get going. Also I hear clanging noises from the rear which obviously my better half cannot. As a precaution I stop and check from where the noise is coming, cannot pin point, so I continue ahead.
A little ahead, I again hit the brakes and slow down - down shift into 2nd and accelerate, the car is slowing down as if the brakes are not released. I stop at the side and check if the brake pedal is moving properly, it is. So I pull the handbrake and to my surprise its jammed. It wont come up. Now I get the heebie-jeebie. I can sense and am fully aware that something is seriously wrong here. So I start driving slowly and try not to apply brakes. Also keep hoping and praying that whatever the problem is, it sorts itself out.
I know it being a Sunday there are less chances of finding a garage open, forget finding a Skoda dealer open. Soon I spy a MUL garage and enter it, brake and stop. Try to enagage the hand brake - it doesnt , its jammed again. I quickly explain the situation to the mechanics who check out the wheels and the brakes but refuse to touch it as Skoda parts are difficult to get. Man this was getting more worse by the minute.
I pull out and start driving slowly - but just outside the Alfa Laval decanter factory the car simply refuses to move. Feels like the wheels are jammed. I park it at the side and 1st thing I call Adya. Explain the situation to him. He promises to get back to me with the help line number of a Skoda dealer who is close to where he stays. After 15 minutes he calls back saying that the dealer is shut but he is getting his mechanics along to have a look at my car. (God bless Adya and his 2 mechanics).
I wait and after a tense 30 minutes, I see Adya in his blue Opel Astra pull up. His 2 mechanics get to work. 1st thing they check is - the axle and if its dislodged ( Sam's problem with his Verna flash in front of my eyes ). Thankfully the axle's ok. Next they get a jack and wind up the rear left tyre and it does not move. Try the same with the right tyre and it moves freely. Seems like the left rear wheel is jammed. I am sweating.
Suddenly a friend of Adya's mechanic comes by and by luck he has the helpline number of a Skoda dealer. I thank God for sending him along and call up the number. Its unavailable. He gives me another number. I dial and wait - it rings (hurray), a few tense rings later someone at the other end says "hello" - after confirming that its a Skoda dealership number I explain the problem and tell him where I am stuck. He promises to get back in 5 minutes. Relief takes over me.
10 minutes - no call. 15 minutes no call. I dial - and its promptly disconnected. A bead of sweat comes down from my forehead onto my lip. After 5 minutes I again dial - he says 5 minutes Sir. I wait , tense and sweaty. Within 5 minutes, the phone rings startles me - Hello I say. Its the Skoda guy - Sir my man is on his way from Lonavala. he has left 30 minutes ago and will reach you in about 30 minutes.
The time is 4 pm.
40 minutes past 4 and no one has turned up. Sweat starts building again. I dial the number and its not picked up. The sweat starts in multiple streams. I get an sms - reaching in 5 minutes. Adya is keeping a nervous me and my mildly relaxed better half company all this while. Thank God.
Suddenly there is a tap on the window. Sir I am from Skoda. I tell you guys, that was the 1st time I actually realised what the word RELIEF means. Quickly I explain the problem and the guy starts working. Checks the brakes and wheels. And what does he find ?
The lower bolt on the rear brake calliper (right side) has fallen off.
The wheel is jammed as the calliper turns and jams itself. Finding that bolt from the open market is a problem too and to top it - the day was SUNDAY. I explain the situation and tell the guy that I had to reach Mumbai before mid-night. He says he will try but if he doesn't get the bolt, I will have to stay over or leave the car. Adya volunteers (God bless him) to take the mechanic to the local market to find the bolt. While they leave, I have my fingers crossed and pray, pray hard.
After 20 minutes - I call Adya and they are still searching for the bolt. I pray even harder. Meanwhile another guy from Skoda service turns up and I tell him that people are searching for the bolt.
I see Adya coming. He comes and parks. The mechanic jumps out and says they have got the bolt. I almost collapse in relief on hearing that. Adya has got about 7 different sizes of bolts (2 of each size). One size fits and its promptly tightened. The wheel is put back on and off we go for a trial. All fine. Take a trial for 5-7 kms - all seems fine. Come back. The mechanics note down my chasis number , VIN number , engine number , KMs reading and say that the bill will be couried to me. Break down charges are 650 Rs. I pay them the amount and tip them too. They leave.
The time is now 7 pm. I take leave of Adya after thanking him. Drive gingerly till I hit the toll booth not exceeding 60 kmph and keep braking just to make sure all is fine. After a loo break - I feel more relaxed and confident to push the car a bit. Had to reach home and drop off my better half too. Reach Mumbai at 9-30 pm. Finally.
Skoda service - Well all I can say is that I am impressed.
The car is running fine till now. Going to the Service station tomorrow and getting the OE bolts back on again.
And here again I would like to take the chance to thank Adya. Thank You Adya - I owe you one. Also would like to thank that angel of a guy who was carrying Skoda's helpline number with him. And also Adya's mechanics and Skoda service guys.
Also a big Thank You to TEAM-BHP.
If not for team-bhp, I would be stranded with no friends to fall back on.
The Mystery still remains - How did the Bolt fall off ??
8 am - Me and my better half leave for Pune to attend a common friends engagement ceremony.
11 am - Reach Kondwa and attend the ceremony.
12 noon - Proceed for lunch at Mayur's.
1.15 pm - Take leave of the newly engaged couple and proceed towards the express highway. Soon i hit the Old Pune - Mumbai road and plan to get on to the expressway after Dehu Road.
As I near Pimpri, I run into traffic at a signal and I brake to slow down, down shift to 2nd and accelerate - it feels as if the car is struggling to get going. Also I hear clanging noises from the rear which obviously my better half cannot. As a precaution I stop and check from where the noise is coming, cannot pin point, so I continue ahead.
A little ahead, I again hit the brakes and slow down - down shift into 2nd and accelerate, the car is slowing down as if the brakes are not released. I stop at the side and check if the brake pedal is moving properly, it is. So I pull the handbrake and to my surprise its jammed. It wont come up. Now I get the heebie-jeebie. I can sense and am fully aware that something is seriously wrong here. So I start driving slowly and try not to apply brakes. Also keep hoping and praying that whatever the problem is, it sorts itself out.
I know it being a Sunday there are less chances of finding a garage open, forget finding a Skoda dealer open. Soon I spy a MUL garage and enter it, brake and stop. Try to enagage the hand brake - it doesnt , its jammed again. I quickly explain the situation to the mechanics who check out the wheels and the brakes but refuse to touch it as Skoda parts are difficult to get. Man this was getting more worse by the minute.
I pull out and start driving slowly - but just outside the Alfa Laval decanter factory the car simply refuses to move. Feels like the wheels are jammed. I park it at the side and 1st thing I call Adya. Explain the situation to him. He promises to get back to me with the help line number of a Skoda dealer who is close to where he stays. After 15 minutes he calls back saying that the dealer is shut but he is getting his mechanics along to have a look at my car. (God bless Adya and his 2 mechanics).
I wait and after a tense 30 minutes, I see Adya in his blue Opel Astra pull up. His 2 mechanics get to work. 1st thing they check is - the axle and if its dislodged ( Sam's problem with his Verna flash in front of my eyes ). Thankfully the axle's ok. Next they get a jack and wind up the rear left tyre and it does not move. Try the same with the right tyre and it moves freely. Seems like the left rear wheel is jammed. I am sweating.
Suddenly a friend of Adya's mechanic comes by and by luck he has the helpline number of a Skoda dealer. I thank God for sending him along and call up the number. Its unavailable. He gives me another number. I dial and wait - it rings (hurray), a few tense rings later someone at the other end says "hello" - after confirming that its a Skoda dealership number I explain the problem and tell him where I am stuck. He promises to get back in 5 minutes. Relief takes over me.
10 minutes - no call. 15 minutes no call. I dial - and its promptly disconnected. A bead of sweat comes down from my forehead onto my lip. After 5 minutes I again dial - he says 5 minutes Sir. I wait , tense and sweaty. Within 5 minutes, the phone rings startles me - Hello I say. Its the Skoda guy - Sir my man is on his way from Lonavala. he has left 30 minutes ago and will reach you in about 30 minutes.
The time is 4 pm.
40 minutes past 4 and no one has turned up. Sweat starts building again. I dial the number and its not picked up. The sweat starts in multiple streams. I get an sms - reaching in 5 minutes. Adya is keeping a nervous me and my mildly relaxed better half company all this while. Thank God.
Suddenly there is a tap on the window. Sir I am from Skoda. I tell you guys, that was the 1st time I actually realised what the word RELIEF means. Quickly I explain the problem and the guy starts working. Checks the brakes and wheels. And what does he find ?
The lower bolt on the rear brake calliper (right side) has fallen off.
The wheel is jammed as the calliper turns and jams itself. Finding that bolt from the open market is a problem too and to top it - the day was SUNDAY. I explain the situation and tell the guy that I had to reach Mumbai before mid-night. He says he will try but if he doesn't get the bolt, I will have to stay over or leave the car. Adya volunteers (God bless him) to take the mechanic to the local market to find the bolt. While they leave, I have my fingers crossed and pray, pray hard.
After 20 minutes - I call Adya and they are still searching for the bolt. I pray even harder. Meanwhile another guy from Skoda service turns up and I tell him that people are searching for the bolt.
I see Adya coming. He comes and parks. The mechanic jumps out and says they have got the bolt. I almost collapse in relief on hearing that. Adya has got about 7 different sizes of bolts (2 of each size). One size fits and its promptly tightened. The wheel is put back on and off we go for a trial. All fine. Take a trial for 5-7 kms - all seems fine. Come back. The mechanics note down my chasis number , VIN number , engine number , KMs reading and say that the bill will be couried to me. Break down charges are 650 Rs. I pay them the amount and tip them too. They leave.
The time is now 7 pm. I take leave of Adya after thanking him. Drive gingerly till I hit the toll booth not exceeding 60 kmph and keep braking just to make sure all is fine. After a loo break - I feel more relaxed and confident to push the car a bit. Had to reach home and drop off my better half too. Reach Mumbai at 9-30 pm. Finally.
Skoda service - Well all I can say is that I am impressed.
The car is running fine till now. Going to the Service station tomorrow and getting the OE bolts back on again.
And here again I would like to take the chance to thank Adya. Thank You Adya - I owe you one. Also would like to thank that angel of a guy who was carrying Skoda's helpline number with him. And also Adya's mechanics and Skoda service guys.
Also a big Thank You to TEAM-BHP.
If not for team-bhp, I would be stranded with no friends to fall back on.The Mystery still remains - How did the Bolt fall off ??
Back
It's been a year, infact more than a year, that I last "blogged". The reasons are many and varied - some will be silly and some genuine but I have to admit, I am lazy (blame it on my star sign or is it sun sign?).
A friend of mine sent me a link to her blog and I promptly sent her a link to my blog (the big show off that I am) and wonder of wonders, she actually liked what she saw. Ok I agree there are only 2 posts but then quality can be seen immediately..hehe.
She says I write quite well, a statement I do not agree with. I just pen down what goes on in my mind without bothering too much about the language and grammar. Besides I feel if you write too properly, what you want to say doesn't come out the way you want it too.
So now I have decided to keep writing. And this is because of you friend. It gave me something to think and act upon. Thank you and if I someday win an award for writing, I will not be taking your name because I am thanking you right here. Thank you.
So lets go.....
A friend of mine sent me a link to her blog and I promptly sent her a link to my blog (the big show off that I am) and wonder of wonders, she actually liked what she saw. Ok I agree there are only 2 posts but then quality can be seen immediately..hehe.
She says I write quite well, a statement I do not agree with. I just pen down what goes on in my mind without bothering too much about the language and grammar. Besides I feel if you write too properly, what you want to say doesn't come out the way you want it too.
So now I have decided to keep writing. And this is because of you friend. It gave me something to think and act upon. Thank you and if I someday win an award for writing, I will not be taking your name because I am thanking you right here. Thank you.
So lets go.....
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