The Con of Don and Randomness of Ra-One

"Apne aap ko hamare hawale kar do!"

This dialog has been ringing in our ears from Mumbai, 1978 (original Don) to Berlin 2011 (Don 2). But something that added to the suspense yesterday, only made the audience laugh today.

Unfortunately the same has happened to good old Shah Rukh Khan.

Both the movies were over-hyped under-prepared offerings, much like a cake that is burnt from the outside and still raw from the inside.

Both were about Shah Rukh Khan the actor and the ego, definitely not about the story. One had super-glamour of Kareena Kapoor and the needless magic of special effects (some of them really good!). The other had Priyanka Chopra trying her best to give her best in a bit role, playing second fiddle to 'Don' SRK.

Finally both were seeking to bring in a new style of film-making into Bollywood.

But I think they failed badly. In case of Ra-One we were unable to find the common ground between a Hindi family drama about a woman loosing her husband and a sci-fi thriller about the fight between good and evil. Maybe such a common point exists, but definitely finding it would not be aided by all the attention going on a super-star actor playing the lead role.

In Don 2 things are bit more different. There the movie is about one person and everyone else plays second fiddle. There is a lot of forced style injection, most of it at the wrong place. All the 'action' sequences are old by about 3 years (even for Bollywood).

We can go on bashing both the movies but one common factor responsible for the failure of these movies is Shah Rukh Khan. He has grown too large for any role.

So what he needs is to destroy his own reputation and do some meaningful cinema. Which means (to put it simply) stop hyping his movies, concentrate more on the script and NOT his part in it. Something similar to how we cut a rose plant to encourage growth.

Maybe the first thing he needs to do is watch some of his older and more 'honest' works like Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Darr and Chak-de India.

Good luck SRK! Hope to see you back at your best in 2012!

:)

Istanbul Diary

Date of visit: 12th June 2011 - 19th June 2011

Istanbul may not be the capital of Turkey (the capital is Ankara) but it is surely one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We found the city to be an amazing mix of the old and the new. It is also a city where the new infrastructure supports the old monuments. The transport system is excellent especially the tram system.

Let us talk about one thing at a time:

1) Transport:

Probably the most important thing of all. Being able to move around Istanbul is absolutely critical as each part of the city has its own flavour. Even though most of the must-do places are clustered in the Sultanahmet area you will need to negotiate the local transport system if you want a fuller experience.

Looking towards Sultanahmet Square - on Yeniceriler Street

- Get down to the IETT office in Karkoy Square (in the Karkoy Funicular Station) or the IETT travel shop east of Galatta Bridge and get an IstanbulKart (Oyster card like travel card). Akbil system is finished and you will have to buy an IstanbulKart. Each card costs 10YTL (non-refundable) and then you can top-up at machines or kiosks (lots of them around). Remember one IstanbulKart can be used by more than one person but you will get the discounted rates only once per use (it is a strange system!).

Looking towards Karkoy Square and the Galatta Bridge

- Otherwise you can get yourself some Jeton tokens. Each token is valid for a single entry and exit and costs 1.78YTL. Jetonmatik machines are there at almost every station.

- Another option is a mavi (blue) travel-card which is like a normal unlimited-travel, fixed-period card. It is available at the IETT travelshop in Karkoy Square.

The ferry for the Asian shore at Eminou - heading for Harem

Crossing the Bosphorous on the ferry

- Trams are amazing for travelling around and they connect to all major sights including Dolmabache Palace and Sultanahmet (which includes the big 3 of Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya). The only problem is they are usually very crowded but the service is frequent and the trams tend to travel in pairs. Therefore many times the tram in front is jam packed but if you wait 5 minutes the tram behind it will come and it will be a lot less crowded.

- Take the local ferries to cross the Bosphorous, you can use your IstanbulKart on them.

- Try and avoid taking taxis. They are expensive and most will not want to take you by the meter.

- One easy (and cheap) way of getting to the airport for your return flight is to book yourself on a bus. If you give your hotel address they will pick you up from the hotel itself. The ticket costs 11YTL per head and the coaches leave quite frequently. You can buy the ticket from a kiosk in front of the AyaSofya (near the Exit).

2) Being a Tourist:

Being a tourist in Istanbul you will need to relay on bottled water, soft-drinks and eateries (unless you have the option to cook your own food!). One good thing about Istanbul is that water is cheaper than coke. 1.5 ltr of water costs 1YTL and a 300ml can of coke costs 1.5YTL. In fact the good thing is that coke and other soft drinks can be insanely expensive which encourages you to drink water. Which is good because my first tip is about water.

- Drink lots of water! You will be doing a lot of walking around in the city and it can get very hot and humid there. Keep a big bottle of water with you and keep yourself hydrated. Drink only bottled water.

- The main touristy areas are VERY safe. Police personnel are seen everywhere and there are regular police patrols, especially in the core areas. Just take the basic precautions and all should be well.

- It is better to take the excellent audio guides at Aya Sofya and Topkapi palace than a guide as both these places are quite big and should be done at your own pace. The audio guides give good coverage of the building and are very cheap. Remember to take a photo-id (any card with a photograph of yourself will do) as they will require you to deposit it before they give you the audio guide. Prices: Aya Sofya - 10YTL, Topkapi - 10YTL for Harem OR Palace, 20 YTL for both.

- If you don't like to get into needless conversations with shopkeepers trying to get your custom (especially in the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar) then learn how to say 'No, Thank you' in Turkish or just quickly give them a smile and a wave. A common way to start a conversation is by asking you which country are you from, if you tell them they will say something nice about the country which will be swiftly followed by a 'special country price' for you.

- A note about currency. Even though the official currency of Turkey is the New Turkish Lira (YTL) almost all the main places in Istanbul (including shops in Grand Bazaar) will accept (and often give out the price) in Euros. Dollar and Pounds are equally well received. My advice would be to stick to YTL (makes sure you are not dependent on the shopkeeper's ad-hoc exchange rate).

ATM machines in the touristy areas give out money in YTL, Euro and Dollars.

- In our opinion (me and Mrs.) Topkapi Palace is a must do (both Harem and Administrative area). Dolmabache palace do the main area but the Harem can be skipped as you get a good flavor of the decor while visiting the main area. Also the main area guided tour passes through the Harem so you can take a quick look around.

3) Food:

Istanbul is a city famous for its kebabs (or kebaps) and obviously the world famous 'Turkish Delights'. The variety, cost and quality of food is quite variable. A simple chicken doner wrap (really tasty) in the Sultanahmet area (the touristy part of the city) can cost around 5YTL. But head about 2 kms west-wards towards Beyazit - Istanbul University the cost goes down to 3.5YTL.

- Remember, in the restaurants and 'self-serve' cafeterias, ALWAYS ask the price before you order anything. While in most restaurants and cafes the price along with a photograph of the main dishes are displayed clearly, some places can be really sneaky about it. Especially in the Sultanahmet area. Prices tend to change with the weather and the face of the person buying.

- Also many times in the self-serve cafeterias the person serving at the food counter may try and force items on your plate (especially if you are buying a salad platter). Also the restaurant owners are found standing outside trying to get customers. Most are good natured and will indulge in harmless banter but some can really get aggressive.

- When buying a kebab, if it says 'meat' always find out what kind of meat it is. There meat usually means a mix of lamb and beef. If you are not a beef-eater make sure you order a dish that says lamb or chicken. Most eating joints in the core areas will understand if you tell them that you want no beef or if you want only vegetarian food.

- Eat at Simit Sarayi. It is the Turkish version of Starbucks and the food is EXCELLENT and the staff understand English. Simit Sarayi shops are everywhere and the baked stuff they sell is quite tasty. I would recommend the spinach rose puff and the cheese puff. Turkish coffee they serve here is quite good as well. It is not cheap but it is also not expensive. In other words it is a good place to stop, whether it is for an evening snack and coffee or a heavy breakfast.

- The local Turkish chai (tea) and Apple tea are really good as well for giving you that kick at the end of the day.

4) Bosphorous Cruise:

There are several options here. Many operators offer a short 1.5 hours cruise but I would suggest doing the longer 5 hour tour. It costs 25YTL and it is well worth every Lira. The full cruise takes you almost to the Black Sea (double the distance of the shorter cruise) and has an added benefit of giving you a two hour stopover at Anadolu Kavagi (Asian shore), which is towards the northern end of the Bosphorous.

There is a very picturesque castle there. The castle is about 1.5 kms away from where the boat docks. The climb up to the castle is a bit stiff but can be easily done in the 2 hour window with enough time left for a quick lunch by the dockside once you are back (don't eat before setting out for the castle!). There are excellent views of the Black Sea and both the Asian and European sides as well as the Bosphorous, from the castle. The road up to the castle also gives good views of the village and the city of Istanbul in the distance.

5) Leander's Tower (Maiden's Tower):

Leander's Tower is a must-do attraction. Boats go from both the Asian as well as the European side and cost 5YTL per head. On the Asian side take the boat from the landing near the Harem ferry station. On the European side take the boat from the landing near Dolmabache Palace.

I would recommend having a coffee at the coffee-shop on top of Leander's tower.

Activia Yogurt: Not suitable for vegetarians?

When I was in 5th standard we had a story in our English reader titled 'Look before you eat'.
The moral of the story was, you guessed it, to always look before you eat.

But in this modern age of packaged processed food there is no knowing what you might find if you do look at the printed stuff on the packaging before you eat it. It could be something funny or something scary.

So here goes my personal 'look before you eat' story. The other day while shopping I saw a rhubarb yogurt from Activia. Now we have all seen the yummy looking ads they show on TV, so I said to myself (being a good little consumer), why not try it!
Later that evening, after finishing dinner, I sat down with my Activia rhubarb yogurt in front of the TV. Maybe I was getting bored with what was on the telly or it was god guiding my hands, but I happened to look down at the yogurt pot in my hand (as yet unopened) and saw loads of stuff written in fine print.
That got me curious so I decided to read what it said.. and the funny thing was the first thing that caught my eye was a warning: Not suitable for vegetarians (see pic).

Now that made me even more curious, I mean what could be there in rhubarb yogurt that made it not suitable for vegetarians?
So I went through the list of ingredients and one word leaped out (see pic): Cochineal.

Now that didn't sound chemical, didn't sound fruity, didn't sound meaty. The word cochineal sounded just plain alien. Something about it set of my 'research instincts' and I opened up Google on my phone (Google is our friend!) to find out what exactly is this cochineal stuff.

The result was anything but boring!
As per Wikipedia: "The cochineal (/kɒtʃɨˈniːl/ koch-i-neel or /ˈkɒtʃɨniːl/ KOCH-i-neel; Dactylopius coccus) is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the crimson-coloured dye carmine is derived"

In other words the Activia rhubarb yogurt contains a dye that is extracted from insects. Thus making it unsuitable for vegetarians (?) where as us non-veggies are not expected to be bothered by insect-origin ingredients. Hell, isn't a chicken a really really large and feathered insect?

;)

P.S.: Not all Activia stuff is 'not suitable for vegetarians'. Their strawberry one is 'suitable for vegetraians'. From now on those three words are going to be my guide whenver I try new products.

Source Code

Guys will know what reaction one can get when you suggest a sci-fi movie to our girlfriends/wives/sisters/female friends. The amount of bribing, begging and pleading required to convince females to watch a sci-fi movie is sometimes amazing. But Source Code is a movie for the masses. It is not a heavy machinegun fire filled sci-fi romp that it sounds like. In fact it is a very smooth movie with both a romantic twist as well as an intelligent storyline (girls how many rom-coms can boast of both?). At the same time, believe it or not, it explores the nature and meaning of 'death' and the quantum nature of reality. So it is a sci-fi rom-com thriller with an intelligent base for the story. The movie starts of at the deep end (like all thrillers should) and the plot is laid out bit by bit in every scene. Watching this movie is kind of like peeling an onion and many people will find it simlar to Vantage point but a whole lot less confusing. The basic storyline is simple: a bomb on the train, hero has to locate the bomb and the bomber. Then comes the first big twist: the hero has just 8 minutes to achieve that. From there on it is just one layer after another. Go watch this movie even if the trailor or the title made you think yaawn not another time-travel sci-fi thriller with explosions and stupid twists. The only complaint I have about this movie is that short-cuts are taken with the location of the bomb and the bomber. This has been done, obviously, to fit the timescale. It would be impossible for the hero to search a double decker commuter train with around 400 passengers in 8 minutes. Thus the reason for taking a short-cut! But all that aside, the movie is quite good and I rate it as a must see! :)

My pilgrimage to the Jet Airways Office..

Jet Airways are really good at customer service. So good in fact, that they want you to come to their office and sample their customer service first hand, where as other ‘stupid’ airlines believe in getting the work done over the phone!

This was when we had to postpone the return leg of our journey (as we had one change free). So we called them up and got the booking changed (which was rather efficient, I must admit!).

Then came the surprise. They asked us to come to their city office (in Rajiv Chowk, New Delhi) or the one at the International Airport (a good 1 hrs. drive one way) to physically get the e-ticket changed.

Not only that they also asked us to bring the old e-ticket and a copy of the passports (for identification purposes, as if our identities had changed somehow!). I asked the person that why can’t you e-mail us a copy of the new e-ticket (duh! E-mail  -  E-ticket!) but he said sorry that cannot be done.

So thus began the great pilgrimage to the Jet Airways office.

As we had LOADS of time for random forced journeys (I mean we ARE on our holiday!), we chose the city office thinking it would be easier to get it done there.

So there we presented ourselves at 4pm (by the way office closes SHARP at 5.30pm) only to find the small office (for a BIG airline the front office was the size of a small cozy coffee-shop) full of people. At the desk were two partially trained office staff handling a queue of about twenty-five people.

Let me digress and describe their business process (or the lack thereof).

So the agent sitting on the front desk will physically get-up to give certain documents to the cashier (and a normal transaction would require couple of such trips). Then there would be a small conference at the credit card machine where they would discuss the best way of processing a particular credit card (while people were standing – including me and thinking DAMN this is slower than a government office!).

Then out of the back office there appeared two more agents and the processing got a little quicker (thank god at least they had a token system for the waiting people!). After about 40 minutes of standing around our turn finally came.

Moving to the desk I discovered to my horror that out of the three female staff members two had French manicured nails and were typing with just two fingers! Only one staff member had her nails down to normal length and using both hands to touch type.

So imagine the frustration of watching the lady input the passport details for both me and my wife using just two fingers.

The typing took so long that I almost got hypnotized watching those two manicured fingers click-clacking on the keyboard.

Then she looked up, smiled and said ‘You can collect the tickets from the cashier’. I went to the cashier expecting old fashioned tickets (you know the ones with that red carbon coating and all those magical codes).

But the cashier just handed me two printouts of the new e-tickets. That is what you call ‘irony’.

The Airtel Re-activation Saga

The Appeal:


This is the story of how one man, with the help of a woman, managed to rescue his Airtel mobile connection from the menace of Permanent Disconnect.

The story starts when our hero lands in his hometown. Between struggling with hand luggage and observing the new airport terminal, he juggles with his cellphone, trying to get it working.
Soon the Immigration desks fell far behind and the phone was still refusing to connect to the Airtel network.
After the baggage collection was a distant memory, with the cell phone showing the dreaded words 'Limited Service', our hero resigned himself to a long journey home without his cellphone. Already the fear of a protracted struggle to get it restarted was growing within him as he sighted his home.
All the while our hero was struggling with the reason for the failure of the cell phone connection. He knew the cell connection had enough credit and it had been working 2-3 weeks ago when he had tested it.


Our hero was fully confused and disconnected. He could not tell anyone he was home! After several hours of struggling with the cell phone the hero decided to consult the Facebook Oracle to resolve the mystery of 'Limited Service'.
The Facebook Oracle advised our hero that he had not proven himself to Airtel. That is why his cell connection might have been 'temporarily disconnected'.


The very next day the hero with his fairy queen wife by his side strode into the local Airtel office to prove himself. He carried with him the papers of the land bearing the seals of Ruler.
The office was a hotbed of lethargy and every worker there was infused with the singular desire to do nothing. Using his Shield of Patience the hero managed to obtain the information from the staff about his connection. The Oracle was right. He would have to prove himself.
The office staff told him that he would have to prove himself not to them but to the Airtel high office in the deepest and darkest dungeons of the land, otherwise known as 'Nehru Place'.


The Application:
A new day dawned and the hero again set out with his fairy queen wife towards the Airtel high office. But minutes after entering 'Nehru Place' the hero and his fairy queen wife were lost. But the hero was lucky to find a Dungeon Troll, also known as a Delhi Police Constable, harassing the local population. The Dungeon Troll pointed the hero towards a different, smaller Airtel office instead of the one that the hero was seeking.


So the hero and his wife arrive at the small Airtel office. As the hero opens the door to the office waves of hot, stale air as if from a dragon's mouth assaults him. Luckily the hero is wearing his Aura of Armani. The fairy queen uses her magical hands to keep the door open to get rid of the hot air while the hero ventures forth into the office.


Within the office the hero finds two staff members flirting with each other. A sister seeking 'Activation' for her brother and father. A bored-to-death clerk busy counting bank notes. And between this quagmire of human emotions the hero manages to get his application accepted. While he is waiting the fairy queen, angered by the apparent suffering of the sister, unleashes a fireball of complaints at the zombie-like staff. They wither in front of her onslaught and quickly hide.


By then the hero receives the word that his proving has been successful but it will take 7 circles of the sun to get the connection restored.


Now what will our hero do. Will he wait 7 days or will he activate his magical powers?


The Wait:
But our hero is very resourceful and blessed with great friends. He approaches his friend who is a High Priest at Airtel. The High Priest promises to see what can be done to speed up the process. As the documents have already been submitted the hero sees no reason for the re-activation to take 7 days!


One day turns into two and then three days. On the third day he receives a happy message from Airtel saying 'All izzz well'. The hero swings into action and tries to make his first call to his fairy queen but the Airtel witch intercepts the call and informs the hero that he has 'insufficient balance to complete the call'.
Which is surprising because the office staff at Airtel had promised him that he would get all his balance from the previous re-charge sent to his connection after re-activation. Sure enough after using the magical spell of *123# the hero found that he had no credit!


But the hero knew that he better get a small recharge done so that at least he had a working cell connection.


Thus ends the Airtel Re-activation Saga, with the hero already preparing himself for the great Airtel Battle for Balance Transfer!

A Perfect Double Bill... Do Dooni Char and Aashayien

It is rarely that I watch two new movies one after another. It is even rarer for me to enjoy both of them. So last week we sat down to watch Do Dooni Char (DDC) not planning to follow it up with any other movie. But the energy of DDC kindled this deep hunger within us to feast on another yummy movie. The movie we selected was Aashayien which lived up to its potential.

DDC is an amazing movie. I rate it a MUST WATCH especially for people who have lived for any length of time in Delhi. The movie feels like a Sunday brunch of aloo parantha and yoghurt (or a dinner of butter chicken and naan). Somehow they have managed to get the best out of Rishi Kapoor - Nitu Singh team and it is amazing to see how you start flowing with them in their day to day life.
It is a movie which combines the engaging story line of a serial like Nukkad with slick Bollywood production values.

Aashayien is another amazing movie. Completely different from the ordinary life of DDC. That is what makes the combination perfect. Imagine a Sunday brunch at home followed by a dinner at your favourite Italian place. Aashayien takes you far far away from the normalcy of daily life shown in DDC to a strange and difficult confrontation with death.
From challenges of daily life to challenges of a different magnitude.
Aashayein does take a bit of an open mind to go along with but it makes it all worth it. The movie tries not to dwell to much on the obvious and shows a new dimension in the struggle between life and death.

Go watch!

Then we saw Guzaarish two days later.
So from Sunday brunch to your favourite Italian to most exotic Central African cuisine.

Guzaarish: watch it at the theatre or forget about it. The story needs to be absorbed at all levels. The visuals/sets, music, atmosphere, acting, expressions are all very well put together. It does get a bit heavy in parts but these are thankfully short. Also you can say certain elements in the story stick out and prevent me from calling the movie a work of art. Kind of like putting up a cell phone tower on top of Taj Mahal.

Aakrosh (2010): Component-based Film Development At Its Best!

What is the most important element in a movie? There are several candidates to choose from including the story, the script, the editing and the acting.
For me it is the story. If the story is entertaining enough it will keep people talking about the film.
I think that Bollywood is either running out of this magic ingredient or is becoming very smart and seeking stories from outside the usual settings we find (e.g. gangsters, young love, family sagas etc.). Such stories promote 're-use' and 'adaptation' and lead to creative new cinema. Kind of like mixing ingredients from different cuisines to come up with exotic flavours. One such example is We Are Family.
Another thing to appreciate is that we have started acknowledging the source of the story and declaring openly when stories have been lifted from other movies/sources instead of just copying and claiming credit for originality.
But there are times when this re-use is stretched beyond reason. It is ok to to re-use or adapt stories but certainly not lift it scene for scene even if you repackage story elements to give it an Indian feel.
Aakrosh is guilty of doing just this. They have lifted Mississippi Burning (1988) scene for scene.
They have cleverly re-packaged story elements to use news-worthy issues which makes the final product easier to sell.
So FBI from Mississippi Burning is the Special Investigation Team of the CBI, segregation in southern state of Mississippi in the 1960s is repackaged as honour killings in Haryana, race issue is repackaged as a religious issue, sheriff of a small town is converted to the local inspector in a small town and so on... I could write a new blog post just to map out the massive repackaging effort that is Aakrosh.
But that is not the end of it. They have actually lifted full scenes from Mississippi Burning (MB) including the camera angles, dialogs and situations. I have not even seen Aakrosh (as it has not been released yet) but I can tell you, from the trailor, what each scene means and what is the general flow of conversation.
Two examples:
1) Bips being beaten by her husband and landing in hospital - the whole scene that follows with the fight between Akshay Khanna and Ajay Devgn which ends in Akshay Khanna pulling out a revolver on Ajay Devgn.
2) The whole sequence where a witness is taken in with his identity hidden using a cardboard box.

So all in all Aakrosh is looking like a pasta dish with 'desi-laal mirch ka tadka'. If they have done it well then the movie would be more than watchable. Trust me I have had pasta dish with desi-tadka. It tastes yummy! But if they have just lifted MB then it is a movie best left unseen.

Oh and Mr Priyadarshan... at least acknowledge the fact that you have lifted the whole concept and entire scenes from MB!

;)

Finally the Capital gets an ENZYME!

It may or may not be something to be proud of... today I found out that New Delhi, the capital of India has a enzyme named after it!
It is called the New Delhi-Metallo-1. The only problem is that this enzyme is not all that good for humans as it gives drug-resistance to bacteria!

It is causing a lot of worry (as usual) in UK and other European countries as the drug-resistance brought about by the enzyme means there are just 2 anti-biotics that are left for doctors to try and control the bacteria!

More here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1302035/NDM-1-Alert-unbeatable-superbug-spread-worldwide.html

I think it is our corrupt politicians and babus who probably have loads of this enzyme which makes them resistant to all forms of checks and balances. Also probably the bacteria bribed them to get the enzyme.

;)

Chuski - Freedom at Midnight!

A common, after dinner plan, during the summer months, for people of Delhi is to have a cold and refreshing 'chuski' at India Gate.
Chuski is a lump of ice on a stick with flavoured syrup poured on top.


At India Gate every night, especially during the summer months, the air comes alive with the calls of chuski salesmen trying to attract customers.
The whole process of buying a chuski is very straight forward. Go pay (approx. 35/- per chuski as of June 2010) and get a token. Exchange token for the chuski.
The various flavours of syrup include:
- Kala Khatta (very famous flavour)
- Meetha (sweet)
- Khatta Meetha (sweet and sour)

You can get more syrup if you run out.

It was very good to see the people of India enjoying the warm weather and cold ice at the same spot where more than 60 years ago India gained its independence in the middle of the night.
It was good fun to see the place brimming with energy and life inspite of it being a weekday. Maybe it was the warm weather or something else that drives people to converge in the center of the city. Take a look around and you will find all kinds of people from all walks of life. Kids, teenagers, young couples, shouting policemen (trying to clear the VIP area of parked cars - after taking bribes), entire families stepping out of their brand new SUVs.

All in all being there are the middle of the night made me realise the power of India and the energy of its people. It is not a city which believes in switching off at 10pm!

Chuski Area:

Raajneeti - How to copy a classic and how to make babies..

The movie is a straight through adaptation of the Mahabharata. That said I found Shyam Benegal's Kalyug to be a better adaptation.

It has some stellar acting by the masters (Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgn) leading to certain very powerful scenes (I am not talking about the steamy sex scenes which have been chopped off by the censor board). Overall the movie is a mix of brilliant and B-grade moments. Just that the brilliant moments are really 'brilliant' making this movie worth watching.

But as usual our movie makers keep forgetting the two cardinal rules of film making:

1) Use an interesting concept don't abuse it! Just because the idea is good doesn't mean it needs to be used over and over again.

2) Some questions are good! Not all threads in the story need to be tied up neatly before the movies end. Just make sure the questions are logical and not the resultant of bad editing or story.

The concept of Mahabharata has been used over and over again till the movies becomes predictable, especially for people who have seen the TV series.
In trying to weave a complex tapestry of a story they end up with a lot of knotted threads.
The movie should have been shorter and the editing definitely could have been better.
For example
- just before the interval we find that Prithvi (Arjun Rampal) has been released from the prison. Now that would have been a good point for the intermission. But no.. we see another short scene where the party leader in hospital throws throws Pritvi out of the party.
- out of nowhere Katrina Kaif suddenly finds a load of loving for Arjun Rampal. So from putting blanket over a sleeping Arjun Rampal, Katrina makes the leap to full blown sex with him in the span of a few scenes. I don't think even a Ferrari can do a 0-100kmph that fast!

There are also some really funny dialogs lifted right out of the Mahabharata TV series ('tum mere jeshth putra ho').

This is one of those movies which you can neither recommend nor ask people to stay away.
My advice: wait for the DVD or at least wait for the public interest to die, instead of sitting through it in a housefull theatre.

The Economics of Iced Tea...

Location: Select City Walk, New Delhi

I had gone to Select City Walk (Saket) to do some shopping.
Since I love iced tea I thought I would treat myself to one from Barista. I went in and ordered the drink at the till. The guy replied '105 rupees sir'. My mouth dried up when I heard the cost!

Since I was on vacation I decided to shell out the money. But I went and stood near their counter as I wanted to observe what magical process they use to make a Rs. 105iced tea.

Well the process was dead easy:
- Take a cheap plastic 'glass'.
- Squeeze a bit of lemon juice from a plastic bottle.
- Squeeze a bit of sugar syrup from a plastic bottle.
- Fill the glass ALL the way up with ice (yeah! ice is cheap and takes up a lot of room!).
- Add some black tea.

I can bet the whole thing didn't cost Barista more than 10 rupees.

What I did end up paying for was the staff which didn't serve me all that much, the cool furniture which I didn't sit on, the air-conditioning which I did not take any advantage off and some board games which I had no one to play with! Oh and let us not forget: the Barista logo on that cheap plastic glass.

Photographed by Google!

In 2008 I posted a few pictures of the Google car taking pictures for the 'street view' feature.
Yesterday I checked the street view (on Google Maps) for the area where I had photographed the car and I was surprised to find my picture taken by the Google car!

Here is me walking down the road as the Google car takes my pic:

Going for the CHERRY...

I saw the above ad for a mobile phone in Times Of India (14/04/10). I am sure it breaks quite a few intellectual property laws. ;)
I wonder what blackBERRY have to say about this?

All that aside it just shows how easy it is to buy a 'smartphone' in India!

;)

Hence Proved ;)

ABC: u see gals dont have sense
-

XYZ: whatever ABC
I am fed up of hearing this for the past 7 years
u truely need to come up with something better
-

ABC: well facts do become boring after a while
-

XYZ: grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
-

ABC: i mean would you get excited if someone told you that the earth is round
-

XYZ: who cares man
if earth is round
-

ABC: hahahah seeee
-

The Blind Side (2009)

The Blind Side
After watching this movie there was just one thought in my head:
Why are all the Oscar winning movies so amazing and why are all the Filmfare Award winning movies so random and stupid?
One thing is quite clear, the Oscars do not care about how much money a movie makes. It is a shame the same cannot be said about the largest film industry in the world (Bollywood).
The Blind Side is a beautiful movie. Very well directed and very smooth. Even though it deals with some heavy issues it makes sure to give a balanced view. The movie is based on actual events and all the characters shown in the movie are real.
Won't reveal more about the movie. Will just say go and watch it. Amazing performance by Sandra Bullock, she deserved the Oscar for this.

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD)

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD) (2010)
You will love this movie.
This is a very different breed of movie coming out of the Bollywood stables. The reason for that is that LSD written and directed by Dibakar Banerjee (DB) who is known for movies with very different concepts (e.g. 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' and 'Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye').
I won't spoil the story by dissecting the movie and will just say WATCH IT!
With this movie DB has opened up a new area for Bollywood to explore. Oh and whoever says that this movie is based on 'DPS RKP mms episode' is stupid.
;)

Shutter Island - a psychological thriller done right

Shutter Island (2010)
The movie is an excellent psychological thriller directed by Martin Scorcese (who also directed 'The Departed'). Amazing movie, amazing atmosphere and amazing actors (mainly Leonardo di Caprio) makes this movie... well amazing. Make sure you catch this on the big screen. If you can't for some reason and end up watching it at home then make sure you switch off the mobile because this is a one sitting movie.
One word of warning though: this movie will only draw you in if you are bit patient. During certain parts (especially in the first half) the movie can get a bit slow. But sure enough your patience will be rewarded in the second half of the movie.
The people who made Karthik Calling Karthik should have read the book 'Shutter Island' is based on before starting. It would have taught them how to create an atmosphere and that IT IS ALL RIGHT TO LEAVE THE AUDIENCE WITH QUESTIONS! In fact it encourages the audience to watch the movie again.
Or maybe they should have just gone ahead and asked Martin Scorcese to direct the movie.
;)

Kathik Calling Karthik - beware of your telephone instrument!

This was one movie where my expectations were low to start with (mainly because I managed to guess the central plot after the first scene) but increased after the first 30 minutes or so.
Mainstream Hindi movies have this nasty habit of wanting to answer all questions and leave nothing to the imagination even if that requires them to kill an interesting story.
This movie suffers from the same problem. By the time the movie was about 80% complete there were so many questions floating around I KNEW that they would need something to quickly wrap up the movie. In fact that is exactly what happened.
One did not expect such a tame ending where the movie wraps up in about 20 mins (time it if you want!).
The only message of the movie is 'make sure you are aware of all the features of your telephone'.
;)

Rann (2010) - A real fairy tale...

The movie is good even though the plot is a simple one of good guys win and bad guys loose. Excellent acting by some big names and crisp implementation of the above mentioned simple plot mixed with some good camera work (fisheye lens and floating cams - hallmark of Ramu) and posh locations makes Rann a nice, entertaining movie.

For those who were expecting connections with reality or any kind of realistic coverage of the play between politics and media... they should go watch Page 3. For people expecting to see the industry-politics game being played... they should go watch Corporate. This is nowhere close to a Madhur Bhandarkar movie.

Why? Because Rann does not do justice to the complex and floating reality of this game. Rann starts out in the grey area, connecting with several 'real' events, but soon the black and white squares are clearly visible. You can easily label the good and bad guys unlike in the real world where it is very difficult to do the same in the political arena.

In any kind of big scam, sting operation or scandel no one has the complete information. No one can be painted black or white. Most times media is the one responsible for creating this grey area.

While Rann makes several important points about media and how it is used and abused, it is in no way a ground breaking movie. Still watch it! I guarantee you won't be bored.

:)