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.

:)

My Name is Khan... Rizwan Khan and I am Autistic!

The movie has done four very important things:
1) Introduced autism to the Indian audience.
2) Shown the America outside the glitzy cities.
3) Managed to bring together foreign and Indian actors seamlessly.
4) Shown the future of Indian cinema - collaboration with foreign studios.

This movie is a rough diamond. It has various bits going for it. The fact that it shows life in suburban America as well as in the smaller towns of the American south. Most Bollywood movies restrict themselves to big cities, typically shooting few critical scenes on location and finishing the rest in Mumbai.
Also the interaction between foreign and Indian actors is amazingly seamless. It must be a first for any movie coming out of a main-stream big budget production house. Maybe the reason for that is the fact that majority of the cast is foreign. The 'friends' do not feel pasted on.
Even though I found it hard to feel the much touted chemistry between Kajol and SRK, I could feel some kind of a chemistry between SRK and his neighbours.
Maybe this is the magic of collaborating with 20th Century Fox?

The Muslim and post 9/11 angle is about 3-4 years too late. Certain elements of the movie seem to be inserted for no reason and they do not really add anything to the story line (for e.g. long shots of SRK walking in the middle of nowhere - maybe he was searching for the US President under a rock in the desert?- and the stabbing scene).
The character of Rizwan Khan need not have been autistic. It would have been more of a challenge to show a mentally 'normal' Muslim male trying to do all this. In many parts of the movie being autistic gets him off the hook or gets him additional sympathy. Also as they say a disability or a disadvantage is a sure way of winning the audience.

The result is Mr Rizwan Khan comes out looking like a bad mix of James Bond and Mahatma Gandhi.

All in all worth watching once if you can sit through wave after wave of emotional scenes (trying to get a response from the audience) and long speeches by SRK . If nothing else watch this movie to see where Indian cinema is heading.

Oh and please don't look for 'logic' in the movie... after all this IS a Karan Johar movie and you know what they say about a dog and its tail.

:)

3 Idiots: Down the memory lane without a map or GPS.

Sadly the movie does not have the Amir Khan stamp of a different or trendsetting movie.
In fact, while it may have a lot of college-level humor to attract the masses and some well tested plot elements, it does not live up to the hype that was generated around it.
This movie has been made using a standard recipe and Chef Azahar Machwe is here to teach the very same to you:
The 3-Idiots Curry
Ingredients:
1 Large helping of Munnabhai MBBS
1 Medium helping of Taare Zameen Par
1 Small helping of Dil Chahta Hai
Corporate endorsements - add to taste.

Recipe:
Take a large helping of Munnabhai MBBS (including copy - pasting characters and actors e.g. Boman Irani as a quirky head) and mix it properly with a medium helping of Taare Zameen Par (take a tried and tested concept and extend it a bit).

Then add a small sprinkling of Dil Chahta Hai (to give that 'coming of age' feeling to the movie).

Add corporate endorsements to taste (Reliance, Airtel, Millionaire Stores, Volvo etc. - remember more endorsements better the taste!).

Cook the mixture in the intense heat of a pre-launch media blitz till it is surrounded by lots of 'hype'.

Serve with a splash of cheap pan shop humour and a dash of spice (Kareena Kapoor).

Before eating:
Remove all the hype from the dish and DIG IN.. oh and don't forget a big bottle of whichever cold drink Amir Khan is endorsing these days, to wash down the mess!

After eating:
Feel satisfied that at least this movie was not half as bad as some of the other time-wasters of 2009 (e.g.: Kurbaan, Kambakht Ishq, Blue etc.).

:)

Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani - Fabulously Confusing Movie

Here is a movie that could be used by the Info. & Broadcasting Ministry to showcase National Integration.
We have a Muslim actor (non-sexist term), Kartina Kaif, playing a Christian girl who falls for a Hindu guy.
Other than that it is difficult to find anything positive about this movie. Other than that this movie does live up to its name, there are lot of 'ajeeb' or strange moments where you are left scratching your head and thinking what a 'gazab ki' kahani.
The movie, for me, spikes like an ECG of a person suffering a heart attack. There are some positive moments (like the scene where the hero unites two lovers). Then there are some stupid and crude moments (like the scene where Tony's father threatens heroin with rape) which seem to have been inserted just to get a reaction.
They tried to make a truly 'gazab' movie but got confused along the way and ended up somewhere in between.

All in all watch this with your brain switched off. Ideal movie after a hard day at work or when you just want to stare at a moving picture and rest your eyes on KK.

:)

BBC Weather Forecast

I thought BBC's UK weather forecast was really accurate!


Take a look at the screenshot of the BBC weather website at 12:20am on 21st December:


It shows the forcast for Bristol for the time....

While at that time outside the condition was:

So it shows the accuracy of the BBC forecast and/or the fickle nature of UK weather.

Also 21st December is the shortest day of the year... the official start of winter! Seems if the start is such, the middle and end should be MOST AMAZING!

:)

Wake Up Sid! (Yawn)

I think the title of the movie says it all. If you don't find yourself nodding off in between the movie then you have the concentration of a tiger stalking its prey!
The movies tries to show the hero growing up and out of a comfortable and rich 'spoilt brat' role into an all round 'MAN' who is worth the heroin's respect.
Sadly only two things grow in the movie:
1) The cast of characters.
2) The sheer stupidity of the story.
Ranbir K. surely did not have to prepare all that much for this role because he played a similar Playstation playing 'bad-boy', in Bachna Aye Hasino (BAH), who is taught a lesson about life and responsibility by a girl. As he learns the lessons of life he revisits the significant people from his past whom he had wronged.
This is exactly the same thing that happens in Wake Up Sid (WUS).

There are several major holes in the movie. While BAH had loads of eye-candy and amazing locations to distract the audience from the lack of an interesting plot, WUS does not enjoy any such protection.
Somehow there is little or no change in the hero's lifestyle as he learns the lessons of life. He is able to afford vodka shots and regular nightouts in trendy places on an intern's salary. He still travels around in auto-rickshaws. He continues to wear designer clothes and sport a funky look which remains unchanged for most of the film.
Along with all this the heroin is able to 'support' him on an personal assitants salary!
Kashmira Shah adds a bit of much needed variety to the movie along with Supria Pathak without actually making the movie interesting.

Oh and one more thing... Rahul Khanna really needs to get some new type of roles. I have had enough of him playing the 'cute' and 'successful' guy who gets dumped (for e.g. Love Aaj Kal)!

Sleeping is better than watching this movie!

:)

Sounds of Silence

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

- Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel
An amazing song... how true it is 'the neon gods we make'.
Yesterday I saw an advert on the TV for a 'cash for gold' service where you send in your unwanted gold by post for evaluation and if you are happy with the amount they will send you the money.

Basically it is an easy way of converting gold into cash.
What would you spend this cash on? The examples they give are a holiday, downpayment on a new car and a flat screen TV.

This seems to me another way of attaching importance to objects. Converting an appreciating asset to a depreciating one even as the sign flashes its warning.
On the other side one can see the clear practicality in this brand new world where cash is king and the hitlist of desires grows silently like a cancer till it consumes our thoughts.

Good luck to us as we seek the sounds of silence by increasing the noise!

:)

Conversations between the opposite sex!

Woman (to Man): Till date I have not heard one intelligent thing coming out of your mouth.
Man replies: If I had intelligence would I be with you?

- - - -

Woman (to Man while shopping): Will this dress look good on me?
Man replies for the first time: Yes looks good! Buy it!
Woman (to Man while shopping, for a different dress): DoesTHIS dress look good on me?
Man replies for the second time: Yes LOOKS GOOD! Why don't you BUY IT?
Woman (to Man, for the 100th dress): Umm.. does this dress look good on me?
Man replies for the 100th time: JUST BUY THE DAMN THING ALREADY!

- - - -

Woman (to Man): I think I need new clothes.
Man: OK lets go shopping!
[6 hours later the Man is hungry, tired and close to collapse after following the Woman around the shopping mall]
Woman (cheerfully): Looks like I have finished my shopping!
Man (suddenly feeling energised): Oh GREAT let us head home then!
Woman: Umm.. wait I think you also need new clothes!
The Man faints.

:D

Shaayari

Main aaya teri gali mein,
paaan chabate hue.
Tune maari sandal,
aankh dikhaate hue.

- Azahar Machwe ;)

The Magic of Microsoft

I was scanning the 'world famous' duty-free at Heathrow Terminal 3 some time ago and I came across a rather strange advertisement (see the image below).

As I was trying to figure out what kind of an ad was this suddenly I realised I had seen this 'ad' before. I just needed to tilt my head a bit (see below!).
Yes! It was NOT an ad. It was a login screen for windows XP. Probably the OS in the contoller for that particular display had crashed and then automatically re-booted. Just that no one realised that once re-booted it would ask the 'user' to login before resuming the standard operation of displaying ads.

I thanked god for limiting Microsoft (MS) software to the airport duty free ad-displays. Imagine if the ticket booking system or the software on-board the plane used MS software!

:D

Alton Towers

Alton Towers Map (April 2009):

(map image courtesy Vibha Gupta)

Alton Towers is an amusement park near Stoke-on-Trent (Postcode: ST10 4DB Website: Family Fun at Theme Park - Alton Towers Resort)

It has a long list of rides divided into different zones or areas. Some of the main attractions include ‘Oblivion’ – the world’s first vertical drop roller-coaster and Air – the world’s first B&M ‘flying’ roller-coaster.

The place is perfect for both groups and singles, bachelors (like myself) and families. It has wide variety of rides for all age groups. It also has other attractions like a water park and sea-life exhibition. So if you get bored of really fast and furious rides (or your stomach can’t take the twists & turns and your legs can’t take waiting in line for 30mins and more) then you can cool off in some of the gentler rides (like Congo River Ride or The Flume) or go and check out the exhibitions and shows.

(Storybook Land image courtesy Vibha Gupta)

The variety: from 'Storybook Land' above to 'Oblivion' below.

(Oblivion image copyright 2009 Azahar Machwe)

Most of the rides have three different lines:

- Group line

- Singles line

- Fast-track line

Fast-track line costs extra and might be a good option for people who don’t want to wait at all. They get first boarding.

If you don’t want your group to be split when boarding a ride then you can go into the group line which usually means long wait (in the main rides about 30-40 minutes). I would recommend this line even if you are going in a group!

If you don’t mind your group being split then go into the singles ride. The wait is shorter (by about 50%) but you may not board the ride with other members of your group. This line gets the least priority.

The ticket price includes all group and single line admissions.

As soon as you enter the park you will see an information display telling you the wait time for most rides and if they are working or not. The day we went Rita – the super-fast roller-coaster, was closed. Don’t worry! Go in the singles line!

Very important thing to note is that there will be a lot of walking involved! So wear comfortable shoes!

At the end of each ride you can view your photograph (taken at a selected point during the ride) and you can buy it if you like the picture! The only problem is that the pictures are quite expensive!

Don’t wear any loose jewellery and remove your spectacles especially before any of the rollercoaster rides. You don’t want you glasses flying off in the middle of a ride!

All rides have storage lockers (use at your own risk!) which you can use to keep your bags etc. before the ride. These are generally safe.

Take food from home as everything is quite expensive there and there is not a lot of variety at the lower end of the spectrum especially for vegetarians.

The four must-do rides are:

1) Oblivion

2) Air

3) Nemesis

4) Rita

The only problem is if you do these rides in a span of one day by the end of it you will be fed up of all the rocking and rolling! Kind of like ‘roller-coaster saturation’. More information on these rides can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alton_Towers

Oblivion and Air are two unique rides. Oblivion basically drops you face down a dark hole and Air flies you around on your back! These two are SUPER MUST-DO rides.

Enjoy!

:)

Dev-d Beyond the Shock!

Like most people after watching Dev-d for the first time I felt it was a great, even amazing, movie! But after the shock (certainly wasn’t expecting a movie like this from the Bollywood stable) wore off I felt that the movie is not that good.

After watching the movie a second time I realised what a big fool they are trying to make of the audience.

Not that good at all.

For someone not exposed to foreign movies it is a shock. A shock to hear the kind of language they have shown. Shocked to see the kind of things shown. But in the end we find the director has picked up things from Hollywood… the smart prostitute (Pretty Woman?), down on his luck hero bent on self-destruction (shown in SO many Hollywood movies).

The file does break the mould of traditional Bollywood where the hero either dies running after the girl or gets the girl and lives happily ever after. Hollywood has been doing this for years though!

Is it a take on Devdas? No way! Devdas was about a hero bent on self-destruction. Here we have a rich dude, living off his father’s money, doping and drinking. What is so great in that?

We also find our rich, spoilt brat doing a bike tour of few hill stations (in a span of 10 minutes no less!). Then the ‘hero’ wimps out and heads back to Delhi! The hero magically gets a BMW which leads to the next part of the story (based on real life cases – HINT! HINT!).

The story gets lost after a while. The problem is that with the title the director committed himself to a theme. But mid-way I think the director realised that there was nothing much he could do different with the movie. Where is the similarity with Devdas I ask? If it is just the presence of a ‘true love’ and a prostitute well then half the movies should be called Dev-d!

I would say that the director is nearly there with this movie but other than crap language and attitude this movie has little of substance.

This movie is going to be a hit with people interested in smut or the attitude. Don’t look for a story here or any connection with Devdas.

On second thoughts I feel as if Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s version of Devdas should not be compared to this. Dev-d is trying to be Devdas while trying to grab the attention of the youth of India.

Watch this movie. So that you know what to look for in a movie of substance (which are the missing bits of the movie!).

:)

13B (2009) – A Bollywood Horror Flick WORTH Watching

After a very long time has Bollywood given us a horror movie worth watching! The story is pretty interesting and the way the film is made is very different.

The only problem with the story is the very last scene which seemed a bit silly given that the rest of the movie was well put-together.

This one is not a serious horror flick since it has a feel of a murder mystery. So you will not find any ‘ghosts’ (actors with funny makeup) or funny camera zooms or any of the other non-sense.

Without giving anything away I would recommend watch this movie without reading the reviews.

:)

Gran Torino – From concrete to your heart!

Gran Torino (starring Clint Eastwood) is one of the most amazing movies I have ever seen.

It reflects the realities of life as it does the thoughts of a man who wants to be left alone at the same time is interested in the world around him. It shows how he fights against the system as well as tries to fit into it.

The movie starts quite normally but then as new characters enter the story we see how the central character (Clint Eastwood) reacts to the changes (sometimes positively sometimes negatively).

As the central character grows so does the secondary character of Thao.

The end of the movie has a strange duality to it. It is unique at the same time follows an age old theme.The only issue I have with the movie is the very last scene where the story goes down the well travelled path right after giving the audience a very different look at things.

Confused? Good. Won’t give out more details. Go watch the movie!

This is a battle that you might be fighting 20, 30 or even 40 years down the line!

Clint Eastwood is as usual amazing!

:)

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

This is a cute movie with lots of cute Chihuahuas. Animation is decent and the story is pretty simple.
All in all a nice movie for when you want to relax and just put your brain in neutral.
Enjoy the movie!

Luck By Chance - A Movie By Chance

Saw Luck By Chance recently. Was not as impressed by it as I had hoped to be. The movie starts out nicely highlighting the 'tricks' of the film trade but then becomes something between 'Life in a Metro' and 'Page 3'.

Konkona Sen, in the movie, refuses a role to prevent type-casting (where she is type-cast). But in real life she has been unable to avoid it. In so many movies we find her going for guys who are either gay or unfaithful or both (see 'Page 3'). Same goes for Luck By Chance.

Dimple Kapadia, Rishi Kapoor and Juhi Chawla have given excellent performances as expected. Hritik Roshan, according to me, is the hero of the movie. He has acted well and I especially like the scene where he puts his face against the window of his car and some street-kids put their face against the same window from the other side. The only thing separating them is a thin pane of glass. It shows that life on the two sides of the glass is very different!

I think it mirrors the relationship between actors and their audience where the glass is the movie screen. Life behind the screen and in front of it is often very different and the view we get can often be distorted.

Go watch this movie, it is different. I am sure you already have seen it!

:)

Amal - A very different movie!

I recently saw a movie named Amal. I am sure very few people know about this movie.
It is a very different movie set in Delhi. The main actors include Seema Biswas, Naseeruddin Shah, Roshan Seth and Koel Purie. Naseeruddin Shah has a small but significant role in the movie.

The movie is heavily grounded in reality. So much so that one feels like screaming for something remotely 'movie-like'.

I guess that is why I really liked this movie. This movie is a success because it manages to involve the audience at an emotional level. The movie left me with an empty feeling like the kind you get when you haven't eaten your dinner properly. It left me wanting more.

It also left me smiling at 'life' and how things turn out right even when they are so clearly wrong.

Won't go into the details of the story but will just say: Amazing movie, refreshing story, a must watch!

There were few bad things about this movie. Koel Purie is not the best actress in the world and even though she has done decent work, I believe they could have picked a better actress to do this role. On the whole the movie could have been made a bit longer and a bit more fulfilling. As I said it leave you wanting more.

Seven Pounds - Heavy movie but worth a watch!

Seven Pounds is a new Will Smith movie. Will not go into the details of the story since that would spoil the movie.

The movie is quite heavy and good for people who like to cry in the movies.
In fact this movie, from start to end, has people crying and weeping therefore the audience is bound to do the same.

The movie talks about how the actions of one man bring great changes in the life of total strangers. It is an interesting concept which brings together different people and their lives, united by one thread. What this thread is, that is what the movie is about.

I was somehow able to guess the story after watching the movie for 5 minutes.

The story is simple and somehow towards the end seems to drag a bit. A simple story is a double edged sword. While it makes it easy to develop the characters it makes it difficult to keep the attention of the audience.

Watch this movie. Cry if you feel like. Go to sleep in between if you want or play with your PSP if you want. The only reason I wasn't that touched with the movie was because it was a movie. It is easy to act but how a person would behave in real life is difficult to judge.

:)

Slumdog Millionaire - Why??

This movie is doing very well around the world, especially in UK and USA. It has already won quite a few awards (such as the Golden Globe Award). I saw this movie knowing how well it was doing. Therefore there was bit of anticipation. Since this movie talks about the life of a child growing up in the slums I was expecting a bit of stupidity as well.

The movie started very very nicely. I liked the concept of linking questions with the boys life. If we divide the movie into three parts, each part representing one stage in the life of the boy (childhood, teenage and adult) then the first part is amazing. But second and third parts are equally dissappointing. In fact when I finished watching the movie I coulnd't understand why it was winning all these awards?

The first part has the kids speaking hindi and innovative subtitles. But in the second and third parts of the movie kids start speaking english with a British accent. They definitely do not look malnurished or that they have any connection with slums.

As the movie progresses it looses touch with reality and in the end is almost like a standard Hindi movie where hero beats the bad guy and gets his girl and the money!

It seems as if after making the first part the producers realised if they made the whole movie in Hindi with English sub-titles they will loose their target audience. Furthermore taking it away from 'real life' ensured that their target audience is not bored by 'another movie about hardships of life in Mumbai'.

All in all it is a one time watch. Nothing great. The in-film music/OST is quite good. Especially the song 'Paper planes' by M.I.A. which plays in the background when they are travelling around India on train.

:)

I don't want to set the world on fire - Horace Heidt (The Ink Spots)

I DON'T WANT TO SET THE WORLD ON FIRE
Horace Heidt
words and music by Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus, Bennie Benjamin and Eddie Durham

I don't want to set the world on fire
I just want to start
A flame in your heart

In my heart I have but one desire
And that one is you
No other will do

I've lost all ambition for worldly acclaim
I just want to be the one you love
And with your admission that you feel the same
I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of

Believe me!
I don't want to set the world on fire
I just want to start
A flame in your heart