Phoonk - I need some AIR!

Today I saw Phoonk (a horror movie by Ram Gopal Verma). Reportedly he had issued a challenge to give anyone who would watch the whole movie alone in a theatre a prize of rupees one lakh.
I am sure he issued that challenge because he was sure no one would be able to see it that way. Not because it is a good horror story that leaves looking over your shoulders weeks after the movie. But because it is such a slow and predictable movie that you would die of boredom if you saw it alone. After the first ten minutes I wanted to forward the movie to its last scene.
The story has been copied from Geherayee (an EXCELLENT hindi horror movie) and Ram Gopal Verma's Raat (another EXCELLENT hindi horror movie) which shows an age old struggle between superstition and science.

The actors have all done average work (especially since they didnt have much of a story to go by). But the characterization has been done quite badly. The grandmother keeps shaking her head like a spring loaded car-toy trying to simulate a muscle spasm. I am sure she would have had a neck sprain with all that head shaking.

The good 'tantrik' has a facial expression which is a combination of a man suffering from intense constipation and a man having the best sex of his life. Weird but true!

The only thing positive about the movie is that the special effects were good. Not excellent but much better than the cartoon-like special effects usually seen in Hindi movies.

What to do?

Confused signage... these signs were painted by DLF in GK-2 outside their construction area. Don't know whether they want people to park or not!

;)

Dasvidanya - The best way to say Goodbye!

Dasvidanya is an amaazing Hindi movie even though the concept is not original (English movies like The Bucket List have similar concepts). The movie is not unique as such but it does give out a very important message. Watch the movie for its message not for the story.

People crib and complain about things not being right in life. People wait for things to be perfect. All the while they make the same mistakes and change nothing about themselves. They will continue to live within themselves.

It takes the waking call of death to push people ahead and out of their shell. As they say people appreciate things when they no longer have them.

The acting is pretty straight forward (like the story). Still the movie manages to surprise you. Go ahead and watch this movie. Better yet.. go ahead and take the lesson this movie tries to give.

:)

Copy-cat Marketing...

Vodafone Tuesdays - http://www.vodafone.in/existingusers/Pages/privileges.aspx

Vodafone Tuesdays is a buy one get one free offer for all Vodafone customers on Tuesdays at selected outlets. Therefore on Tuesday in selected multiplexes you can buy one ticket and get the other one for free if you are a Vodafone Customer in Mumbai, India. This offer is slowly being rolled out to other cities as well.

Orange Wednesdays - http://www.orange.co.uk/film/orange_wednesdays.htm

Similar offer from Orange for cinema tickets on Wednesday. This is valid only in UK.

This is what I call copy-cat marketing! Pick a concept from your competition in UK and apply it in India! Just change the day and the scope of the offer!