R2020 - Just the Beginning (review of Chetan Bhagat's latest novel)

All those who think, the ending is bad or incomplete, am sure there is a part two in store for all CB fans. How a book, which titles "Revolution 2020” can leave us where revolution has barely began! With the unique style of telling the story from the view of the character that will be disliked in most part of the book, CB has hit right tone once again.

Setup in the backdrop of Varanasi, a divine place, the story revolves around three characters, Gopal, Aarti and Raghav. Once again, love story being the back bone of the book, it tries bringing in the idea of social revolution by making personal sacrifices first. The book shows up the ugly face of corruption and how it has become 'a rule' in India. The hurtful reality makes us ask some questions, how long it will take to start the revolution.

With his typical narration, witty lines, CB has made sure that the book is engaging throughout, but somehow the predictability did bring down the charm a little bit. Also there are some loose ends like when Gopal executes his final plan, he meets MLA Shukla and plans first and then comes to know about the Aarti’s surprise visit. Without Aarti’s surprise visit the plan could have been almost flop. Also there have been references to movies Chakde India and Main Hoon Na within a span of a year but they were released more than 2.5 years apart.

Having said that, the best thing about CB’s new effort is the graph of this book. The way story reaches its highs and lows is extremely commendable. He has also taken a risk of giving an end which might not be liked by many but it’s important. Along the line of all that good work, CB seems to be happy to stick with commercial value of book and treats love story more than revolution. The title reads ‘Revolution 2020’ but it just starts in this book, one step; that’s it. So in short, by treating love story more than revolution looks like a safe path.

Overall, thumbs up to this love story 2020, and again kudos to story telling; If Dushyasan is asked to describe Mahabharat, he would call his mama as Mahatma Shakuni, similarly, so when Gopal tells his story, he is the saint! J

Movie Review - Burai sang jo khel rachaya, kabhi na choote SRK ka saaya!!

SRK as a Lover boy - Check; SRK as a NASA scientist - Check; SRK as Hocky team coach - Check; SRK even as Asperger patient - Check; But SRK as a super hero!! Clearly NOT his cup of tea... I think its also an example of too much hype can backfire some time by setting up ridiculously high expectations. After watching RA.one, clearly my loyalty as his fan had come under scanner, but he had done too many good works to count and this fan lives on. Out of our group of 14 people, who went to watch this movie, 2 of them enjoyed the most, are the kids who had slept of!

Enough of criticism. Lets give some respect to the efforts. This movie is not that bad after all, but it doesnt meet the hype and expectation it had built. Approximately, two and half hour long movie but I never felt bored or distracted. Your mind will come across various emotions such as anger, pity, humor, frustration but you will be still glued to the seat only because of its pace. Its a classic case study for directorial mishap. Of all the directors, why Anubhav Sinha, I cant understand. I felt like as if I was watching two movies, one, where with all super special effects and story and on the other hand the typical bollywoodisation and double meaning PJs bringing its downfall. If at all story telling could have been better, I think RA.one would have been a completely different movie.

Now lets move onto SRK paragraph. Hats off to him first of all for trying something different and putting so much effort, but he cant do a Rajnikaanth. Its still fresh in memories how Rajni pulled off Robot last year, but SRK cant do that. There is hardly any scope for his acting skills or even his charismatic appearance. It just looks he is trying too hard. I can believe if Rajni stops a moving train but not SRK! So well done for trying but better get back to the roles where SRK is bigger than the characters rather than otherway around.

Strengths:

1. Special effects! Mind blowing. The fight sequences are incredible, especially the final one. You got to see that.

2. Arjun Rampal.. Outstanding; am sure he is the only one who will be benefited from this movie.

3. Chammak challo, and that too Kareena... hmm.. great to watch. Even Dildara song takes you to the good old days where SRK used to charm us.

Weakness:

1. Flawed screenplay, storytelling.

2. SRK can not convince the audience that he is a super hero. Please dont stop a moving train.

3. Too much bollywoodisation. It works with OSO because it was a typcial bollywood movie but not with RA.one

So in short, RA.one is not a must watch movie. Watch it for special effects if you like, but make sure you leave your thinking hat in the house when you go out to watch this movie. If you are an SRK fan, you might still want to watch it as a tribute for trying something new. On a whole its a disappointing experience, as the movies theme says "Burai sang jo khel rachaya, kabhi na choote uska saaya.." May be we have to rephrase it as "... Kabhi na choote SRK ka saaya!". After reviewing this movie from unbiased point of view, I still go out with 5.5/10 for this goofup of 2011, where director had let this film misrerably down. SRK has lot of soul searching to do but it was fun watching RA.one ;-)

My Favorite Commentator

“This was on the cards…” He announces in total grief when Ashley Giles shatters Sachin Tendulkar’s stumps with his left arm spin, and also shattering the Indian chase in Natwest Trophy final at Lords, 2002. We can feel the pain in his voice as he uttered those words. But an hour later, when Yuvraj pulls a ball to the fence, we can actually visualize him jumping like a kid as he says “Wait, are we on to something here?” Thus are powers of his words which remain in the memory tagged with such special matches to make them even more memorable.

Yeah, I am talking about Harsha Bhogle, my favorite commentator, Cricket host. In the era of either biased or boring cricket commentators, he delivers the most polished and diplomatically patriotic comments. Being an IIM grad, he could have been happy doing some over paid job and living a lavishing life. Instead he chooses to follow his first love, cricket. We think, by the time people graduate from institutes like IIM, they will be squeezed to become a nerd but not is the case with Mr.Bhogle. He was also the captain of IIM A cricket team. Not sure how that went on but glad that he decided to pursue his off field cricketing skills rather than on field to entertain people. I think like his fellow Hyderabadi mates, Azhar and Laxman, the artistic touch is by birth to him.

Cricket in itself has undergone many changes over the years. Now, more often than not we are witnessing the commercial and entertainment format of the game compared to good old grueling test matches. Though cricket brings lot of excitement by itself but it’s incomplete without its proper packaging. This is where names like Lalit Modi, Harsha Bhogle raise the bar as per the current market needs. The joy of switching on the TV and Harsha sitting in the studio with his enthusiastic gesture and at least one debatable point is parallel to nothing. His views on Mohammd Yousuf's retirement to IPL franchise’s buying or from Kamran Akmal’s keeping to India’s new ball woes, everything will have something to ponder upon. One of his hilarious tweet I read after Dhoni’s heroics in India’s warm up match “dhoni was batting like it was a video game and he knew the cheat codes! nothing went to a fielder!!”

Once I was switched on the TV to check the score after a match. My brother was next to me. This is the story before the “WWW” days. Our TV had fallen sick and there was no volume. Harsha was holding the mike and saying some thing, we were getting restless to see the result. My brother said, “I am sure we have lost the match, see Harsha’s face has become so dull and small, am sure we have lost very badly”. And he was right! The best thing about Harsha is, along with his age his style, views and comments got better, just like his hair! Who can forget the delightful comment he made about Mahela, “when jayawardene is batting you almost get the feeling he doesn't want to hurt the ball.”

Thanks to the world of twitter, he is more connected with his followers now. Not only listening and watching him on the TV is wonderful but his tweets are something which I follow religiously. Working with other professionals like Boycott, Alan Wilkins, Sunny, Shastri, Tony, Sidhu, Sanjay he made sure he stays on top. With due respect to all of them, some of the names mentioned above have reached their retirement age in terms of their comments as they hardly speak something new but Harsha will remain evergreen. I hope for the IPL’11 he will be back as a commentator than a TV host, as it’s a pleasure to listen to him with the live action. I always say, “The moment Sachin retires, not only me but 50% of cricket lovers might stop watching cricket” But there is one small hope that if Harsha continues to commentate, you may find some people still hooked on television sets.

My first Valentine's day post wedding!

Nikhil Rao and Ravi Kiran accompanied me to watch ‘My Name is Khan’. This is the summary of Valentine’s Day -2010. With due respect to both SRK and my great buddies, that was not the V-day a guy dreams about. But having said that, previous 7-8 V-days have been nothing different, again with an exception of year 2004, where we had a gala time on my bro’s wedding. I can get 10 people to vouch for that! But I never knew, after watching one of the most boring (Still SRK rocked) films ever, there were only 7 days remaining to meet the love of my life.

So here it was, the year 2011, and by the time the V-day of this year arrived... wait for it… I was over 7 months married guy! The celebration started a touch early when I surprised my wife with a live call on radio one 94.3. She was stumped and I was bowled. Carrying on the high of that, 13^th Feb was reserved for shopping in Lifestyle and we did it in style. As the sun shut down on Sunday, 13^th and tube lights took effect in our living rooms, there it was - my wife surprised me with some very romantic hand made greeting cards, a beautiful love letter and few love notes highlighting some of the great moments of our short relationship so far. (which can be unlocked only if I answer few of the relationships quiz questionsJ)

I was totally amused by the kind of efforts put in by my wife without my notice. 14^th was a weekday, and I woke up to a special cup of tea (Usually I don’t have at home on weekdays). As I took bath and came out, I saw a small cup cake with a candle lit on it. The breakfast and few chocolates were surrounding it. I was having the first candle light breakfast ever with my wife. (Ofcource we blew the candle before starting the breakfast)

Oh boy! Now it was my turn again and it’s always difficult for me as bunch of expectations surround. I have to out think my wife who might think that I will out-think to surprise her thinking. Guess what! I achieved it J. With the help of my dearest friend Guru and my wife’s colleague Phani, I had made sure that her V-day gift; a diamond jewel was on her desk before she reached her office. Needless to say, surprises bring happiness and my wife’s facebook status changed to “..Am the happiest today”.

I was not done. We had plans for candle light dinner, so I met my wife near her office but for her surprise … ta da. One of her long lasting wishes of getting my ear pierced had come true on V-day as I decided to surprise her. With Mojito, Colly poly Sizzler and Choco-Brownie accompanying us in the candle light dinner, my first V-day saga came to an end. As I surrendered myself to sleep goddess on that night, another tricky thought crossed my mind – “Oh goodness, next month is her birthday! How do I top this now!!?”

My Name is Khan - A perfect movie to endorse Bubble gum

I think John Abraham would have been ideal choice for Rizwan Khan's role played by SRK in MNIK. SRK plays a character who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, in ordinary terms a person having problem expressing emotions, he's bothered by loud noise etc. Its a real challenge in itself for an actor to act without emoting much through his face. He can not laugh, he can not cry, he can not express affection etc., but still SRK pulls rabbit out of the hat by performing this challenge with his unique gestures, mannerisms and keeping the character as innocent as possible. Thats why John could have performed with ease as he does the same in every movie :p

Anyway coming back to the movie "My Name is Khan" is an hour too long and hard to digest movie. Apart from the marvelous performances by lead cast, there is hardly any thing which will entertain you. First half is simple and engaging where you will be loving the overall plot and characters but in 2nd half too many events taking place in very short time makes it hard to digest and you kill yourself with a virtual knife.

As its been promoted, its a journey of an ordinary man who takes up the extra-ordinary journey of convincing Americans that every Muslim is not a terrorist. Well, I am not sure whether its a completely new plot as "Newyork" and "Quraban" movies have spoken about that already. Yes, people have went through tough time in USA post 9/11.

Actors like Vinay Pathak and Jimmy Shergil have been wasted and even Kajol is largely underused in this movie.

Strengths:

1) Ofcource SRK, a challenging role, performed with lot of honesty and hard work. The best thing about his this role is, in spite the disability of the character, you like him rather sympathize. He has his own strengths, and does his usual cute-little things to make you laugh. The scenes where he reacts when Kajol asks him to marry or when he signs to a security to officer to watch out, he is just too good. A sure shot filmfare nomination for best actor.

2) Kajol - Though she is very much underused, still she is the best. A power house performance, and dont miss out on her expressions where she acknowledges SRK at the wedding while he comes in a suite. Truly her eye speak a lot!

3) Camera work - though there is not much scope in this movie compared to regular KJo movies, but still a good one.

Weekness:

1) No Graph what-so-ever in the movie, carries on in the same line right from opening scene to the climax.

2) Story is pretty ordinary and very much predictable.

3) Too-too long, a perfect movie to endorse bubble gum or even kit-ply plywood - "last long, really long!"

All in all, if you are a die-hard SRK fan, you have something to watch out otherwise dont waste time on this movie, it has hardly anything to offer you. I think Shiv-sena would have seen this movie before the release and hence their protest was blessing in disguise for the people who missed out to watch this. Personally being an ardent admirer of SRK-Kajol, I still can give maximum 5/10 to this movie only because of these heavy-metal star cast nothing else.

Love Aaj Kal - Mineral Water in soft drink package!

After 'Socha Na Tha', 'Jab We Met', Imtiaz Ali delivers yet another master piece with his latest stint 'Love Aaj Kal'. Its nothing other than director's ability to package same old love story in such a refreshing way that inspite its predictability, it keeps you engaged. With the ideas like Break up parties & Saif playing past of Rishi Kapoor, Imtiaz shows that there so much more to explore in age-old plot.

Story Plot:
Hmm.. There is nothing much to tell actually. Its again one girl, one boy struggles to understand their stand on their relationship. There is an impressive comparison between the current generation with some 25 years back generation. Jai, played by Saif & Meera, Played by Deepika, both break up happily (!) realising that their both goals & priorities doesn't match. As they get on with their individual lives, they start to realise its not easy to get rid of their relationship so easily. It might look very clumsy but the dialogues, screen play and wonderful acting makes the movie so special, it brings a touch of sensitivity to it.

Strengths:
1. Saif Ali Khan, has come with one if his finest performances of his career. The one scene where he yells at Deepika at how he is feeling about her marriage, he does an amazing multiple switch of emotions. Lovely to watch.

2. Imtiaz direction, I have said enough about it already.

Weakness:
1. Music could have been better. Just couple of songs are hummable not memorable.
2. Story - old wine new bottle.

If I don't spare couple of lines to Deepika, I can not stop writing. In all my previous reviews, I mentioned her just as an eye candy but this time she has learnt acting! Finally she has a role where there are few lines to deliver and she has done it in a mature way. Harleen kaur, another lead character (I do not her real name yet!), has less to showcase her talent but does justice to her role in whatever subtle scope she has.

At the end, its a refreshing and must watch movie. With not so good movies around it must make lot of bucks at box office. With his wonderful scripting and dialogues, adding enough drama,sensitivity and twist, Imtiaz Ali yet again wins the heart with his Hinglish title movie. Though another love story, packaging is what makes it so special. Without second thought in the mind its an easily 7/10 on my meter. Please watch and have fun.

Delhi 6 - A Visual treat & A Creative feast

I am not the greatest fan of Rang de Basanti, and I believe in that movie there were far too many deaths. But having said that if Rakeysh had allowed one more death in Delhi 6 then this would have been one of my all time favorites. Lets leave this thought here, but Delhi 6 is a movie with a life in it. A very well made movie, has its own flaws but has a soul as well.

Story Plot:
Roshan, played by Abhishek Bachchan returns from America to Delhi to fulfill his sick grand mother's (Waheeda Rehman) last wish of visiting Delhi. That's it. From there on the story completely revolves around a bunch of very interesting characters, their mentality, Problems, Fun, Celebration and so on. Very heart warming journey including the main character Mr.Kala bandar. The fun takes an ugly turn in second half leading to communal violence. Now the so-far-united people and their stands on this issue is what the second part portrays.
Strength:
1. The concept, creativity and the screenplay.
2. Bunch of wonderful characters.
3. A. R. Rahman's perfect score.
Weakness:
Not many actually, but to name a few -
1. Cliched Hindi film Climax, especially last couple of minutes.
2. Monologues delivered by actors in second half to force this as a message movie.
3. Inconsistent accent by Abhishek Bachchan. He has a western accent while speaking English but where as his Hindi is 'Mashalla! quite fluent'

All songs are not only great to listen but also visual treatment to all songs is just out of this world. No doubt 'Masakkali' leads the pack but the under dog song 'Dil mera...' is just too high at creativity. Sonam Kapoor, though not much scope in the movie but she is more than eye candy. Abhishek Bachchan is as usual good with his acting but other cameo roles like Atul Kulkarni, Divya Dutta, etc. are incredibly well casted! The director has complete control over the script and delivers a masterstroke with Delhi 6. Its maturity and skill of director who handles the delicate subjects with a touch of humour. Undoubtedly, one of the finest movies seen in last couple of years, and easily scores 8/10 on my scoring chart. If you need a company to watch this movie, I would like to accompany you, for the second time!

Slumdog Millionaire - Riding high on its undeserving hype!

Movies must be either entertaining or enlightening. If you can mix both then hats off to you. Slumdog, tries to do both but not good enough. On entertainment aspect you have some heart-winning performances and exceptional direction but on enlightening front, the story draws attention of ugly face of India and leaves it there. I would rather prefer movies like Swades, Rang de Basanti, Lagaan which apart from focusing on problems, makes an attempt to give some sort of way out where as 'Slumdog..' not only shows India's ugly face but also in an offending manner!!



Its Indian media's dilemma whether to appreciate the movie which is recognised at global level or to criticise! But Indian media has chosen the safe route by backing this movie which is not a great movie at any day. The message is simple - We are not ready to take on the Hollywood!



This paragraph is dedicated to Mr.Rahman. Sorry, not to appreciate but to feel sorry for him. If you list all his albums, 'Slumdog..' must be listed at bottom five. But here you go, awards and nominations are showering on him for this movie. This is indigestible! In fact I can only laugh at it. But I am trying to digest this by thinking that this is tribute to all his other albums where he might have really deserved.


But before I conclude, I must admit, the subject, the direction and the narration of the movie is pretty good. In fact no harm in watching once. The only problem is the attention, the hype its getting is something which it doesn't deserve. Yes, our country have problems. Which country does not? But that doesn't mean someone just point fingers and laugh at problems. The scene where 'Real India..' is being compared for backstabbing and robbery is just unforgivable!

Since I neither came out the movie hall feeling good nor enlightened but I am still going with 6/10 for this movie because it does have some of the moments to watch out.

RNBDJ - A Delicious Chocolate but Hard to Digest!

The problem with RNBDJ is the benchmark set by DDLJ. People should accept that DDLJ was a miracle, miracle do not happen everyday! Now, once you take off that expectation, RNBDJ is a delightful movie. Yes it has lot of flaws, but its atleast worth-watch once.

The basic flaw in the movie is its story-plot. How a women can not recognise her own husband after he does a make-over? Agreed that she has spent just few days with him and she doesn't like him but still its not convincing enough. Ok Lets live with it as there are so many positives to look at.

Story Plot :

Surinder Sing (SRK) is a common, middle class man who marries Tani (Anushka) in some crisis situation. He is in love with her where has she is still in disaster mood as she has lost her lover and father on the same day. The incredible love story starts from there where Surinder sets out to win his wife's heart.

Story in itself is not honest but cute. SRK delivers one of his best performances till date as surinder. Anushka and Vinay Pathak are rocking! But the pace of second half, an unnecessary song before the interval and an unconvincing twist towards the end lets the movie down miserably.

Strengths:

1. SRK, as I said delivers one of his finest performances after Kabhi haan kabhi naa, swades and Chak de! There are no punchful dialogues to deliver for him but just by his subtle body language and mannerisms, he wins the heart. Its amazing to see in the character of Surinder, he has tried his best that his dimples are not visible!!

2. The humour and some lovely scenes before the interval.

3. A confidant debutant Anushka and ever rocking Vinay Pathak. 

Weakness:

1. Flawed Story plot, a lot said and heard about it already.

2. An unnecessary "chalte chalte" song before the interval, neither doing any justice to the story line nor to the characters not even adding any entertainment. Come on, why Anushka dreams about Raj dancing with other bollywood heroines and she becomes happy!? Hard to digest.

3. Music could have been much better. Except the USP, haule haule other songs are just OK.

Its a movie which will not last long in your mind. There are very few punchful dialogues to make this movie great. First half may please all kind of audience but in second half the movie starts to get complicated. Aditya has tried his best to keep the movie unpredictable but still pace gets hampered and also the final twist in which "Rab" is involved is not justified. 

Watch it if you are an SRK fan, He will not disappoint you. Its he who transforms an average movie to a delightful movie. Being an SRK fan, I am happy to give 7/10 to this entertaining and delightful movie.

Welcome to Sajjanpur - A fermented milk; But tastes Yummy!!

Honest performances, cute characters and lots of fun is what I can sum up this movie as. I am very happy to see that in last couple of months handful of good movies released in bollywood.

Welcome to Sajjanpur is a collection of many tales taking place in a village, Sajjanpur. As my friend Sachin rightly pointed out, this movie could have also given many other titles such as "Ek lekhak ki Atmakatha" or say "Saksharatha..!" or even "Munnibai Rocks". The movie covers various stories like superstitious mother who wants her daughter to get married to a dog and a young widow's re-marriage and even hijda, munnibai's election saga. The best part of the movie is all this drama is caught in a light-hearted and joyful comedy.

Strengths:
1. Shreyas Talpade, not an experienced actor but he stands out with his wonderful character. Superb justice to the role.
2. Humour, screenplay.
3. Bunch of lovable characters.


Weakness:
1. Music is not even hummable.
2. In the second half, the spirit and the tempo of the movie dampens a little bit.

It may not be a movie which will stay long in your mind but having said that its worth watching once. Go for its light hearted humour which blends with the screenplay so well that you enjoy the movie, but you will realise in second half that too many stories make the movie fermented. Amrita Rao, being my personal favorite she has chosen once again a role which will earn respect and fame for her. She is as usual looking innocent but this time she has also acted well. There are some scenes in the movie such as spam postcards/sms messages etc., which can be classified as intelligent humor. In short a very well crafted movie, which tries to highlight common problems in the village. Though I am itching to give it 7, since I looked my watch couple of times during the movie, I will again go out with 6.75/10 for this lovely movie.

Rock On : A heart warming experience

Combining entertainment and enlightenment is quite a task. That's the point where movies like 'Lageraho...' and "Chak de...' score more goals. On the other hand, movies like 'Swades' miss out on entertainment aspect. 'Rock on' is a wonderfully made movie which might touch your heart but refuses to earn points on entertainment.



Story Plot:

If Faran's earlier effort 'Dil Chahata Hai' is in your all time favorite list then this movie may not disappoint as well. Loosely based on the same story, but a great effort put in this time to bring some depth to the characters. A story of four college friends whose ambition to become rock stars, breaks down some where down the life's race due to personal confrontations. The effort that takes to reunite them after a decade and how maturely that has been put is the strength of the movie. Faran and Arjun Rampal have done justice to their lead roles.



Strengths:

1. Intelligent story telling; We can see a great effort put in to make the movie look realistic and matured. Though story is told in current time line, clever references are made to the the past timeline. You can feel the realistic touch even through the lyrics.

2. The character roles and the justification by artists.



Weakness:

1. In the process of giving a realistic touch to the screenplay, the pace of the movie is hampered.

2. Though the narration is good, story is ordinary.

The best part in the movie is nothing looks unnecessary. Director has spent time on finer details and has delivered a quality product. There are no sudden twists without enough evidences. You actually believe in the script. Music is good but not great. Since its a musical movie, the music should have been very popular before the release of the movie but not so. Unlike DCH, this may not please all kind of viewers but still a very sensitive movie which may strike a chord of your heart. Its respectful 6.5/10 to this flaw-less,well made, sensitive movie.

Bollywood please make way, New 'Raj' is here ; Review - Bachna ae Haseeno

It took more than a decade to establish an image of Rahul/Raj for SRK, it took almost same time for Salman to build his trademark character of Prem. But here you go, combining both, RK shows up mischievous romance with a little essence of stupidity just enough to make it look like Innocent , the new-age Raj hits the screen this time. The well-polished, well-groomed Ranbir looks like a complete package. The movie entirely belongs to him and he does the justice. Though some grey areas while emoting positive emotions, but he can only improve from here.



Story Plot:

Yes there is a story in the movie for a change, though not great. Raj (Ranbir) is a typical playboy kind of character who is never ready to commit. Flirting around and having fun with girls is what becomes the top item on his agenda of life and doesn't even give a s**t to those heart-broken girls. He decides to set those mistakes right only when he tastes his own medicine. The movie-maker is very clear about the story and delivers perfectly without any fuss. Though almost 3 hours in length, the pace of the movie is very good and screen play is such that you wont feel bored.


As any other Yash Raj movies, there is no compromise on the performances and cinematography. But what is tragic to see is an average music. I was expecting Deepika to be used as more than an eye-candy, at least in this movie. But sorry folks, she appears on screen in-total for maximum of 25 minutes. Bipasha, does a decent job with acting but her costume and an unnecessary item song letting her down.
Minissha Lamba, I hardly knew her name before the movie but she is good, in fact quite impressive, especially in the first half.



Strengths:

1. RK

2. Screenplay, cinematography and heart-winning performances.



Weakness:

1. Hmm... Probably music should have been better. Hardly one song is good.

2. A little predictable in the second-half without much graph.



I cannot count story in either strengths or weakness column. Humour in the movie is very refreshing. Compared to first half, second half is more predictable but sub-plots are good enough to keep you interested in this movie. I initially felt I am seeing DDLJ-II as they make so many references to it and keeps on happening till the end. Advisable to go with your chuddy-buddys than family as its going to matter a lot with whom you are watching the movie. To sum up its hands-up 6.75/10 to this complete entertainer. At the beginning of movie, Don't forget to watch KJ's next 'Dostana' trailer. :)

Jaane Tu.. Ya Jaane Na... : Old wine in new botle!

Old-age story of friendship<->Love complication presented in a fresh way. A light hearted comedy, will keep you glued to seat. Though some yawning moments, romantic moments will score over them. In short an admirable effort.

Story plot:
As the punch line of this movie says, 'when you know its Love', the story revolves around two friends, (Yes opposite sex friends), claim that they are 'just friends' (Grr...Gimme a break plz!). The feeling of 'just friends' vanishes as soon as they see their friend with some other partner. Probably this is 716th movie made on these lines..!

Debutant Imran Khan makes a promising attempt with his decent acting skills and good chemistry with Genelia. Imran reminds of his uncle Aamir's first movie "QSQT", both with his looks and facial expressions! Genelia... Uhh... I see her an overrated actress (?). The short, Big-teethed cute girl needs to work a lot on Hindi dialogue delivery. There is a distinct difference in being innocent and 'trying to be' one. She is just OK.

Strengths:
1. Refreshing screenplay, good character roles and fresh music.
2. Imran Khan is very impressive. Yes yet another impressive khan!
3. Light hearted comedy, especially Nasiruddin Shah, Paresh rawal and Ratna Pathak makes you laugh your heart out.

Weakness:
1. Pathetic and Boring story line.
2. I repeat, Pathetic and Boring story line.
3. Second half's pace and predictability.

Since its a low budget movie, its paisa vasool for the producer and distributers. In spite of predictable love story, fresh presentation of the plot will make viewers paisa vasool as well. Go with no expectation and you will not regret watching this movie. If not a huge hit, its going to be a movie talked about, and surely will score more points among college students. So don't miss, go and have fun with your friends, a respectful 6/10 for this surprise good movie of this year.

Aramane - An under baked Cake

Aramane, Golden star Ganesh's latest release did not make much buzz before the release, but still turns out to be a decent family drama. Its not going to please everyone though. Loose editing and dragged story lets it down.

Story Plot:

Arun(played by Ganesh) photographer by profession takes up the herculean task of uniting Anant Nag's broken family. Initially he does well but gets caught in chicanery position when he falls in love with Anant Nag's grand-daughter.

Narration of the movie is pretty average. It starts of in fourth gear as film moves very fast in first 30- 40 mins but as soon as our hero falls in love, it starts to loose the plot and viewer feels its getting dragged.

Music of the movie is also average and some songs look like they are forced in the movie.

Ganesh, as usual stands out with his apt timing, hilarious one-liners and takes up the movie from an average movie to one-time-watch movie.

Towards the end, movie refuses to create enough graph with some twists having no meaning to the movie. The integration of the two story plots and the evidences to some of the scenes is not reasonable...looks like script writer did not do much home work and delivers an under baked cake.

Strength:
1. Ganesh, proves again why he has come such a long way in the industry.
2. Story : Though not great, but makes an attempt to link with family values and morals.
3. Cinematography is commendable.
Weakness:
1. Again like Ganesh's previous movie, an over-weighted female lead cast looks like cost cutting option by the producer.
2. Loose editing, slow narration and failure to create enough graph doesn’t help the movie either.

So if you want to watch this movie, suggest you to go with family than friends. Even with a big heart and non-critical mood I can give away maximum of 5.5/10 to this movie.

Gaalipata.... Hang over of Mungaaru Male!

The unconventional hero Ganesh proves again why he is so much loved among kannadigas. He is just awesome with his timing, screen presence and ofcource dialogue delivery. He carries the movie completely on his shoulders. You almost never stop laughing for the first two hours! Last half an hour you may tend to look at your watch twice.

Now, as we know this movie is made by same combo, Ganesh/Yogaraj which were part of the epic movie Mungaaru male. But this movie looks like as if it is in still hang-over of their earlier success. Most of the camera work, songs, dialogues etc. give an indication that they wanted to stick to their success formula, which is so far so good.

Story Plot:
3 youngsters, fed up from hectic/monotonous life style of the city decide to spend some time on vacation to cool/calm place called ‘Mugilupete’. They are off for 15 days and these 2 weeks change their lives. The movie is all about how they spend their time having fun, hunting animals and ofcource falling in Love. Climax is bit disappointing as it is not convincing!


Strengths:
>Ganesh : Undoubtedly the sole of the movie who is present in almost all the scenes and makes sure you are not bored.

>Cinematography, Stunning Camera work: You will be amazed to see that, there is such beautiful place in Karnataka.

> Excellent screenplay, especially climax shot is just incredible!

Weakness:
> Female Lead Cast: Movie makers must have been looking for cost cutting method when they choose the female lead casts. An over-weighted and not good looking heroine doesn’t please you.

> Unconvincing and Abrupt end: There are no enough evidences, supporting scenes to make it a logical end.

Music doesn’t fall in either columns as hardly two songs are good, the title track and other one is just the derivative of ‘Anisutide….’. Romance is not presented well though they claim it as a ‘romantic movie’. But the comic part of it will cover it up for everything.

All in all a fantastic must watch movie and will easily cross 100 days. Just try NOT compare with MM and you will enjoy it more. Vinometer shows 6.5/10 to this lovable movie which is refreshing to watch.

Yuvraj Dilemma

In Indian Cricket, every season of cricket starts with a tag, with a dilemma, with a debate. Latest one is ‘Should Yuvraj be given a place in Indian Middle order considering his excellent ODI form?’ People even go onto say he is in the form of his life. But the simple analysis which every one might have done by this time is who should be dropped? Well here is my take on this which is quite different from others.

Sachin, Rahul, Saurav and Laxman are better batsmen at any point of time than Yuvraj. We also need to see that all these are scoring runs consistently as well. Only the few mindless critics can compare class of Laxman with Yuvraj. Yuvi is a great batsmen, but needs to come a long way yet and he should be happy as he is waiting for the good. So in simple terms, none of these 4 batsmen can be replaced by young yuvi.

Now, is Yuvi ready to open batting for India? I don’t think it’s a good idea. I feel it’s more mental adjustments need to be done than technical tunings. So let him do what best he can do in middle order. With these we leave out the option of dropping either Jaffer or Karthik. Now for blaming Karthik’s poor form, don’t make Rahul to open the batting to make place for Yuvi.

So the left out option is our deputy, Dhoni. If we are ok with Karthik keeping the wickets for us in test matches, why not ask this regular keeper to keep wickets and bring in Yuvi for Dhoni. Under any circumstance, Yuvi is better than Dhoni in technique, in shot selection, in temperament, in class or even in style. So why not drop Dhoni? He is doing a fair enough job as Keeper/batsman/skipper in ODIs and T20s, let him free for those form of the cricket.

It’s a high time. Yuvi has to be the next leader for Indian cricket. He must be given opportunity soon. When you can expect Rahul to play so many roles as a cricketer and may ask him to open innings many times why can’t we ask Dhoni to sit out for the sake of betterment of Indian batting order? Why can’t he be asked for sacrifice?


(Preview of Indo-Pak test series, 2007)

Wake me up if I am dreaming..!

Did we really win the worldcup?? Still hard to believe. Misbah’s lap shot could have gone any where. Well that’s what separate two teams.. Just one shot. You cannot expect a better match than this. Full credits to Indians for putting in a team effort.

In India, there were no loud prayers before the world cup started. There were no ‘Homas’ & ‘Havanas’ for Indian victory. If any one says now, “Hey I expected Indians to win right from the beginning of tourney”, then that person can be penalized under some attractive IPC section. Literally there were no expectations from this young Indian side which was huge bonus for them to perform. For me, the turning point of the series was Dinesh Karthik’s stunning catch against SA to send Smith packing.

Just to draw an ironic comparison without being too much critical, in 2003 world cup, when India lost to Aussies in round 1, stones were pelted at player’s houses. When India lost to NZL here in super 8, no body cared. In 2003, bounce back from such a situation and reach the final was no mean achievement but just the world cup was not in fate of the great players in that team. I am telling you, our current team was at advantage since there was no ‘burden’ of expectations. Also fortune was with us. While batting, no umpiring decisions went against us J

Given that starting point of this tourney, if Indians would have lost in the first round, then no one would have even pointed out a finger at Dhoni. There was an excuse of being young and inexperienced side which is still learning. Now when he wins the world cup for us, shower of appreciation on him! Is it not a good situation to be captain? When you win you are appreciated and when you loose nobody says anything. But Mr.Dhoni, here on your job is going to be only tougher because when you get on to the ground next time you will be carrying at least a three and a half kg of expectations from everyone. Now that makes job more challenging for you. Please note, I am not underestimating Dhoni. He has been a great captain and tactful, but I felt his job was little easy compared to earlier captains.

But like anybody else.. who cares what happens next. Dhoni and boys have won the “WORLD CUP” which could not be done by Azhar,Saurav or Rahul. So just enjoy the moment.

Indo Pak Final: Preview

I am least bothered about the outcome. Yes it’s an India Pakistan match and still I say result doesn’t matter. In my view both teams are winners already. Who would have imagined that these two young subcontinent teams will make it to last 2? Especially after their disastrous World cup campaign early this year! India loosing to Bangladesh and Pakistan loosing to Ireland had touched their lowest point in cricketing history on the same day. But, here we go. Here are the two teams that will be fighting for the championship title of new format of cricket which cricket pundits recognize as ‘Future’ of cricket.

From India’s point of view, it’s their fearless, nothing to loose attitude which brought them to this stage. Indians have to watch out as they have won their all matches in this tournament batting first, where as Pakistan has been winning both ways. Best part is both teams have beaten Aussies! On the big day, I am sure both teams would love to bat first to avoid pressure.

I am getting a feeling that if India wins this world cup, people will be itching to discuss how Indians achieved this fate without the big 3 names! Do we require them really in team? Why cant more youngsters must come to the party… and this may just prompt the big 3 to hang their shoes from shorter versions of the game soon.

So here we are on the dream day of every cricketing lover. An IndoPak Final. You cannot get anything bigger than this. Everybody busy discussing about this including my cab driver. (He was thinking Ganguly is Indian captain so far…) Anyway I say again, result doesn’t matter today. So today its not just chak de India but its really going to be Chak De Cricket!

TZP: Will be a ‘Winner’ in critical section

This is going to be critically highly acclaimed film! This is going to be a benchmark movie for many! This is going to be ‘award fetching’ movie for the junior star ‘Darsheel’. Simply because the subject of the movie is such that even though many negatives are there in the movie, they will be overlooked. Remember SLB’s movie ‘Black’, yes similar to that, ‘TZP’ can not earn even one negative mark as it’s a movie based on a peculiar disorder and only you can sympathize with the script.

Aamir must be applauded to come with such a sensitive subject. This movie will make you to look children around you in a different way. It’s a must watch for parents and teachers than kids.

Story Plot:
Story of Eshan (played by debutant Darsheel), boy studying in 3rd standard, who is very creative but suffers from disability to read, write properly; To judge the time, space and speed at once; To understand multiple instructions. Normal people recognize him as a ‘nuisance’ as he is also mischievous like any other kid of his age. His ‘natural’ disability to progress in studies will make people to blame at his attitude towards studies.
But medical terms it as: ‘dyslexia’. Nikumb (Aamir Khan) recognizes this kid’s disorder and helps him to work on his strengths and improve on his weakness in a creative way.

Strengths:
Ø Sensitive Script, good Screenplay and technically excellent movie.
Ø Amazing performance by Darsheel. He is the real show stealer in the movie.
Ø Needless to mention Aamir, who has done a great job both as actor and director.

Weakness:
Ø Though a wonderful script, unfolds very predictably. No surprises, no twists. Though it is understood as it a more of a ‘material movie than ‘entertaining’ one, the story telling way could have been made more interesting.
Ø Snail speed movie which catches speed only after interval.
Ø Aamir has very under used himself.

Music of the movie doesn’t fall in either strength or weakness column.
I feel they could have made this movie just 1.5 hour long rather than dragging it for 2.5 hours. Though by making it short, it would have become unconventional but movie would have become more interesting to watch. I must mention again that Darsheel’s performance is heart touching and you will feel for him.

To sum up its 6/10 for this long but sensitive movie with tremendous performances

"Deepika, the Cherry on Cake!"

OSO team had promised as its going to be 100% entertainment making sure you will not be bored even for a second. Well, they almost keep up with their words. Melodious music, Masala story, extreme drama and ofcource SRK & Deepika contributes to what could be second block buster for SRK in this year.

For bollywood movies there is always freedom of high drama, endless coincidences and extreme imagination. I felt just towards the end, this movie made use of this liberty excessively.

Story Plot:
As it was publicized, it’s a story based on reincarnation drama, partly inspired by Karz, the 70’s block buster. The story is good enough to hold the people on the edge of the seat till the end with the suspense. But having said that, I felt Karz was logically more convincing story than OSO.

Strengths:
Ø Deepika, (Yes I am naming Deepika before SRK in this section). More by her looks than acting she has impressed the audience to the core. Her screen presentation is just mind blowing! Let it be her pink dress or may be when she unfolds the burkha, she looks just out of this world.
Ø Ofcource SRK, 70’s sets, music, humor and screenplay.
Ø Star packed title song where 31 stars make appearance.

Weakness:
Ø Story could have been more innovative.
Ø Deepika is underused in the movie. Although story is completely revolving around her, she has hardly any role in 2nd half. She is just used as cherry on cake which tends to increase the looks of the cake than the taste. Who knows she might be under used deliberately by OSO team so as not expose her acting skills till she grows more in this profession!


To sum up, hats off to SRK and FK’s efforts for making a typical bollywood movie, a perfect movie to watch with your family during diwali. Surely 7/10 to this diwali blockbuster.