March 20th was the day of small budgeted releases. Five such movies were released. Firaaq, Barah Aana, Straight, Lottery, Aloo Chaat. Lottery was absolutely out of question. Abhijeet Sawant had always been unbearable. Despite being Nandita’s debut Firaaq was not priority. Of course, I would watch but not soon. And same goes for Straight and Aloo Chaat. Barah Aana was on top of mind and it is still there. I haven’t watched it yet. So, I saw Gulaal once again. However, as the week progressed I saw Aloo Chaat and Straight (by chance) and circumstances yet dodged me to watch Barah Aana. This week three Hindi movies got released and I had seen Videsh (Heaven on Earth) before its release in India. So, one more Friday went without First Day First Show. I am planning to catch Barah Aana and Aa Dekhen Zara this weekend.

Aloo Chaat: 2.5 Stars

Aftab returns to India from USA to find his family looking out for a girl for him. He is already in love with a Muslim girl (Aamna) in USA. The conservative family can accept a videshi-bahu but not a musalman. He along with his father’s friend Hakeem Tarachand (Manoj Pahwa at his usual best) plots a story. The movie works only when Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Manoj Pahwa and Sanjay Mishra are on screen. Whenever this trio appear, it is a treat. Also Aftab’s granny (Dolly Ahluwalia) in few scenes. Rest of them were below average. Aamna Sharief cannot act and dance AT ALL. Not an impressive debut. The best part was the witty dialogues here and there. 2.5 just for some of the wittiest lines and Manoj Pahwa.

Videsh: 2 stars

Well-educated Punjabi Kudi (Preity Zinta) marries a Canadian-Indian. She suffers at the hand of obnoxious mother-in-law and irate husband (Vansh Bhardawaj). Deepa has a way of showing the intricacies, the minutest details get covered when she comes on board. I thoroughly enjoyed her Fire, 1947 Earth and Water. But I did not enjoy Videsh as much. In fact, I was disappointed with the way it progresses towards the second half.

It's all about belief in the shesh-naag theory. Few will, and few will not. I do not. But, that doesn't hinder me from appreciating a good cinema. Shesh-Naag theory will not go down with many people for sure. It did not go down with me and I am not taking that as a bias. It's fictional. But, as a whole, it lacked soul.

Preity and Vansh are the only people worth watching. It is delight when they are on screen (quite often) but the side happenings deter the pace and in the end it just turns out to be another story of Wife-Married-To-NRI-Suffers. Nonetheless, I rate this as Preity’s finest work. I give 2 to the movie and 4 to Preity.

Straight: 2 stars

Pinu Patel (Vinay Pathak), hotelier in London runs to India with his uncle-aunt-cousin to marry an Indian girl. The girl runs away. He comes back. He is dejected. He is virgin for long now. He cries at his state. Things get worse for him when his employee Kamlesh in the state of jubilation kisses him on lips. Pinu is now confused about his sexuality. The movie could have been a well-brought-up-all-the-way-through if story post interval did not become clichéd. Direction, performances apart, movie is outlandish. Parvati’s debut Rules, Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula was better than this. She loses her touch this time. To add to it, I would say I am getting tired of Vinay now. I am sure if he keeps going this way, few years down the line it would be very hard for me to differentiate Dasvidaniya from Oh! My God and Bheja Fry from Straight. And he will be remembered more as SRK’s sidekick (Rab Ne.. ) or Madhuri’s actor (Aaja Nach Le). This is scary. He is a genius but getting repetitive.

This week also saw me meeting Oz (of PassionForCinema). For uninitiated, he along with Anurag started the website for Cine Maniacs called Passion For Cinema. He lives in USA and is currently on a tour here. I recommend his torture series on the site for every filmi enthusiast. I started writing on PFC last October and after 3 in a row articles I got bored (typical of me) and confided myself just as regular reader and commenter there. My procrastination did not make me author there, still I made some filmi friends there and thanks to them I got to meet Oz. A second chance meet and planned third before he scooted off made me his bhakt for life. The guy is a living encyclopedia of movies. Without sounding immodest he was impressed with my knowledge of Bollywood of 60s, 70s and 80s which is hardly observed these days in new-age-bloggers (as he calls those born in 80s) and left me his personal contact number. Anyways, I got to hear some of the amazing untold stories of Bollywood first hand. The stories that cannot be accommodated any where in writing. What else a filmi wants?

If these things were not an adequate amount to make me contented, my twin brother whose first brush with Abhay Deol was Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye and then Dev.D asked me for DVDs of Abhay’s movies. He was having a long weekend and he wanted to watch other movies of Abhay. I handed him the movies of Abhay in the chronological order of their release. He loved Socha Na Tha. He found Manorama – 6FU his best (after Dev.D, exactly the way I feel) and we just finished watching Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local. He enjoyed the movie. I was watching his expression now and then. Aahista-Aahista and Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. are in offing this weekend. My bro doesn’t easily appreciate any actor/director/performance/story. He is equally enthusiast of a movie but of a different sort. He doesn’t read any reviews (not even mine), he doesn’t crave for a movie the way I do. He watches them at his own pace. He might take years to watch even a gem of a movie but he will never rush himself (unlike me). He can talk of the intricacies like a pro. He doesn’t just watch movies. He absorbs them when he wants to. I won’t say he is a convert as of now when it comes to Abhay but he did say one thing: Abhay is natural. The last time he said same was for Irrfan Khan in Maqbool and Ajay Devgan in Company and Omkara. His favorite now is Ransa (Abhimanyu Singh) from Gulaal.

Some good small-budgeted movies, a meet with a fellow filmi, and re-runs of Abhay’s movies. I am having an amazing week.

Prior to Gulaal, if debate over any movie ever heated-up, I appeased the situation by saying, “Chill, it’s just a movie.” I did it for Slumdog and Dev.D. However, I will not do the same for Gulaal. It’s not just a movie for me. Gulaal is what India is currently. Gulaal is what we all are. We all are somehow part of this system. Gulaal has taken Indian cinema many notches higher and Anurag has established himself as a farsighted filmmaker.

There can be many disclaimers for Gulaal. Do not watch it with Anurag-DevD impinged on your mind; watch it with intact brain. The older the wine, the better it tastes. And so it is with Gulaal that was in making for 7 years since 2001.Censor ate it the way they did Anurag’s debut Paanch that never got released. Gulaal, in Anurag’s own words, is his angriest film.

Plot: The opening sequence of Gulal has Dukey Bana, an aspirant of ‘Rajputana’ (separate state for Rajputs of Rajasthan) addressing a huge gathering where everyone has their faces smeared with red Gulaal. His impassioned words supposedly leave a mark on all attendants except one man.

Flashback

Dileep Singh, a 28-year-old bespectacled, oil-combed hair, docile young man accompanied with his caretaker Bhanwar Singh comes to Rajpur to study law. His roommate Rananjay is stark opposite. Called ‘Ransa’, Rananjay lives a lavish life of self-indulgence in wine, women and weed. Ransa, who is son of His-Highness, has defied his father, wealth and has a vision of his own. Ransa readily takes Dileep under his fold and tags him along.

Dileep is ragged and thrown naked in a dark room where young lady teacher Anuja (Jesse Randhawa) was already ragged and thrown in. Ransa gets furious at this and instills courage in Dileep and together they go to take revenge. They both fall prey. Bhaati, the right-hand of Dukey Bana approaches the duo and takes them to Dukey Bana for help. Dukey asks Ransa to contest the college elections for the post of General Secretary. But fate had something else written.

Enter bastard duo of brother-sister (Karan-Kiran). They are illegitimate children of His Highness and Ransa is their half-brother. Kiran is Ransa’s competitor for GS post. Karan kidnaps Ransa, kills him and hangs him at the chauraha. Dukey now makes Dileep stand-in for election against Kiran. Dileep wins the election, aided by Dukey’s maneuvers.

Dileep is then enticed by Kiran who asks him for the post of Cultural Secretary. Their affair changes the lives of each and every character where people get killed, dumped and the bastards survive.

Characters:

Dileep (Raj Singh Choudhary, also co-writer of the film) is a soft-spoken and humble Rajput. His passive behavior is often made fun of; ‘Kaye ka Rajput be’. Teetotaler Dileep, who when refuses the drink offered by his room-mate Ransa (‘Legaa?’), is snapped with ‘Toh kya meri Legaa’.

Kiran, comes to him after he wins; and allures him into an affair with her charm. Soon she is seen looking straight into him with passion-filled eyes after an adoring sex. The innocent boy he was, he takes it to be true love. He goes onto a killing spree when confronted with the fact that she was just using him. Is he a loser? I do not see him as a loser. What was his mistake? He had just come to study. He acknowledges that he is ‘Darpok’ and ‘Fattoo’. Was he a loser for believing in love? Who would not? She blames him for making her pregnant. And this after she clearly tells him in beginning she doesn’t ever want to. Then what the hell she was thinking? Is only a man to be blamed?

Ransa (Abhimanyu Singh), a Rajput by blood and legacy, Ransa has everything but he defies everything and lives life at his own terms. Most honest and the blunt of lot. He is man with several questions. Just as a common man who has questions that never get answered in our country. He might not be a puritan but he is not a hypocrite either. He gets the best lines. When his bastard half-brother kidnaps him and asks him to withdraw from the election, he retorts, “Agar tere baap ne sahi time pe withdraw kar liya hota toh tu najayaz nahi hota”. He is rough but he is sensitive enough to take on anyone who insults his gentle room-mate. A His-Highness in making, he has no qualms in throwing everything and rebelling against the corruption. He is a man of his words and action.

Dukey Bana (Kay Kay Menon) is a rebel who hopes for a separate state for Rajputs. Kay Kay in one of his most restrained act ignites the whole movie. He is unethical and his stand is not much justifiable. Yet his blood-boiling performance as impulsive Rajput scripts his finest performance ever. We have many fanatics like him who are hell bent on a separate state for whimsical reasons they themselves make up.

Rest of the cast can be termed more than the supporting; Deepak Dobriyal (Bhaati) who won critical acclaim for his Omkara act comes with another stellar performance. He is not just another right hand to Dukey Bana. He has his own ways with him, ridicules him when at fault. He conveys more through his body than the words. The scene at the paanwaala, where Bhati just nods his head, raises eyebrows, makes other facial expressions to answer questions while chewing paan. A restrained yet powerful performance without uttering a single word.

Karan (Aditya Srivastava) manipulates everyone (including his own sister Kiran). He is ruthless beyond thoughts and has just one purpose; to become the senapati, which will automatically get him the surname of His Highness.

Prithvi Bana (Piyush Mishra) is foreign studied, Lennon-Bhakt elder brother of Dukey Bana and has an escort (Ardh-Nari). The duo leaves no chance to make fun of the happenings around including Dukey’s irrational demand of Rajputana. Piyush excels in all the four roles (Actor, Lyricist, Composer and Singer) with his soulful lyrics and mind-fuck compositions.

The Ladies: Anuja (Jesse Randhwa) who we all knew as a Bikini Model is the real surprise. Anuja leaves an impact while playing the role of a teacher who gets ragged by the students, though she doesn’t have much dialogue. Her close-ups with grim-stricken eyes camouflaged with the cigarette smoke tell us more than the few words she spoke throughout. Madhuri (Mahie Gill) whose actual debut is Gulaal (and not Dev.D) is a patakha. On one hand, her thoomkas will make you mad and on the other, you feel sorry for her portrayal as a dejected lover (of Dukey Bana). Mahie has a striking resemblance to Tabu and same is emphasized quite repeatedly. Kiran (Ayesha Mohan), a bastard-turned-bitch is director’s delight. How well a man can be fooled by a woman’s innocent face has never been shown better. She jumps from one man to other to get her work done; hardly realizing her own brother was using her. The last scene, where Karan takes over as Senapati, has Kiran standing in the army below with silent tears rolling down her cheek. Even that doesn’t fill my heart with any sympathy for her.

Amidst all this is Mishra’s compelling lyrics and affecting music. From an anthem like ‘Aarambh’ to political ‘Ranaji’, Mishra creates a setting parallel to the plot.
Sample these:

“Jis kavi ki kalpana mein
Zindagi ho prem geet
Us kavi ko aaj tum nakaar do”


“Sunsaan gali ke nukkad par jo koi kutta cheeckh cheekh kar rota hai
Jab lamp post ki gandli peeli ghupp roshni mein kuch kuch sa hota hai
Jab koi saaya khud ko thoda bacha bachakar ghum saayon mein khota hai
Jab pul ke khambo ko gaadi ka garam ujaala dheeme dheeme dhota hai
Tab sheher hamaara sota hai”


"Surmayi aankhon ke pyaalon ki duniya
Satrangi rangon gulaalon ki duniya..o duniya
Alsaayi sezon ke phoolon ki duniya
Angdaai tode kabootar ki duniya
Karwat le soyi haqueeqat ki duniya
Deewaani hoti tabeeyat ki duniya
Khwahish mein lipti zaroorat ki duniya
Insaan ke sapno ki neeyat ki duniya..O Duniya
Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai"


Anurag says this is his best piece. On the other hand, I feel his movies are exceptional and each one is a cinema par excellence. The year so far has been a delight for cine-maniacs and the craving has just started. Bring them on. Next such could be Vishal's KAMINEY.

My posts in recent past have been about the MovieManiax Awards. The response has been tremendous. Close to 250 people have voted so far and coming to think of it, it’s just been 7 days since the voting went live. I thank each one of you for the support and spreading the word. Those who still have not voted, please click here to choose the Best in Hindi Cinema for 2008.

Now, below are the gazillion things you really would not be interested in knowing about me. However, I have been tagged to do so by friends and I myself am quite eager to do it. Somewhere, some kind soul I hope would be really interested in knowing about me. What you see below are the two tags; 25 Random Things and 100 Things About Me. And I thought of doing both at one go.

25 Random Things

1) I eat very less. I eat twice a day with no in-between snacks/juices.

2) I sleep even lesser. I sleep 5-6 hours on an average basis.

3) I sleep with six pillows to be exact; all positioned tactically at right places.

4) I suffer from mild OCD when it comes to CDs, books, shoes and in particular pillows. They have to be arranged in a particular manner. That’s why I find it hard to sleep at others place if I am not given the room to myself.

5) When I get drunk:

• I dance till I am lifted and taken away or the music is stopped OR
• I start giving a sheepish smile to everyone I come across OR
• I start singing aloud

6) I do not like gifting or receiving flowers/chocolates, candle-light dinner or any such fad. I am romantic person in my own way. All my ex-lovers will vouch for that.

7) I made my first buck when I was 10. The amount was 150 Rupees.

8) When I was 10 or 11, I used to hit kids younger than me for no reasons. I was sent back home more than dozen times for this crime.

9) I once watched movies nonstop for 72 Hours plus with just 15-16 hours of sleep in-between. (Of course on DVDs)

10) I watch 90% of the new releases First Day First Show and for the rest I have no qualms in knowing the story/climax; in fact I ask for it. For me, it doesn’t ruin the fun. Similarly, I have no uneasiness in knowing the bottom line of any book.

11) I have seen Dev.D 5 times in theater since its release for the reason that I loved the movie and I believe if you love the movie, you should watch it as many times as possible in theater. Once, it’s gone from theaters you will never experience the same anywhere. You buy home theater, or whatever, a theater experience is unique. The last such movie was Company that I saw 7 times in theater.

12) I absolutely love Abhay Deol, Kareena Kapoor and Rakhi Sawant (in that order).

13) My brother and I made 1000 plus bucks by selling the tickets of Titanic in black.

14) I was voted ‘The Best Junior’ by seniors in my first year of Engineering. For my birthday that year, I received gifts every hour. I did not sleep a wink that day.

15) Knowingly or unknowingly I have played match-maker amongst my friends (Mind it, not a pimp) with a success-to-failure ratio of 5-to-2.

16) I am University Gold Medalist in B.E. (Instrumentation Technology). (This I told as this is one thing every one gets freaked out at whenever I tell; my own family laughed it off when I called and told them. So, there is something for you to LOL too… hehe)

17) I was addicted to Dope and Popeye in my last year of Engineering.

18) I once walked 12 KMs in monstrous rain with no rain coat or umbrella at 4 in morning.

19) I am a live wire, Party Ki Jaan (as friends say).

20) I quit my first job at a whim and traveled across India for three months.

21) I am extremely good with numbers. I see number plate of the vehicle in front of me and I start fiddling with them in mind. I am completely obsessed with numbers 3 and 7.

22) I have to listen to any song just twice and I can sing-along from third time even after a gap of a decade or more of listening to them.

23) I get impatient when I am doing anything apart from watching movies or any human. I can watch people anywhere continuously for hours without doing anything else. Even if it is one person I am watching I can do it for hours together.

24) I have been hit-on by both the sexes.

25) I got indulged in orgy (more than once).


100 Things

1. Last beverage → Vodka with Sprite & Ice.
2. Last phone call--> 30 minutes ago
3. Last text message→ An hour ago
4. Last song you listened to→ Dhoop Ke Sikke from Sikandar
5. Last time you cried→ 2 months ago

SIX HAVE YOU EVER:

1. Dated someone twice → Yes, I never had sad-break up ever.
2. Been cheated on? → Yes
3. Kissed someone & regretted it? → Yes, my lips touched a dog's (or was it bitch) lips and I almost puked.
4. Lost someone special? → Yes
5. Been depressed?→ Yes
6. Been drunk and threw up? → Yes, twice and out of that once was on my brother's lap.

HAVE YOU:

1. Made new friends → Yes. And currently I have new ones only
2. Fallen out of love → Yes.
3. Laughed until you cried → No
4. Met someone who changed you → No. Initially I feel I am changed but I am back to my normal self and eventually they all get changed.
5. Found out who your true friends were → Yes
6. Found out someone was talking about you → Yes, Very often I get update on that. I have my loyalists spread over
7. Kissed anyone on your friend's list → Yes, so many of them. And I stopped using Orkut much cuz of the confusion n chaos I was getting into.
8. Made the first Move → Yes
10. Do you have any pets → Nopes, and will never have and I hate other's pets as well. Don't ever ask me to mollycoddle your pet please.
11. Do you want to change your name → No
12. What did you do for your last birthday → Had all-night party with friends, Danced, Got drunk, danced more and did a strip show on request.
13. What time did you wake up today – 12:30 PM
14. What were you doing at midnight last night→ Watching ‘Milk’.
15. Name something you CANNOT wait for → Friday
16. Last time you saw your father → Yesterday
17. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life → Be more patient and forgiving
18. Most visited webpage → News Sites, Facebook and PassionForCinema apart from personal ones

ABOUT U:

1. What's your name→ Vivek
2. Nicknames→ Veekey, Vee and Monu.
4. Zodiac sign → Aquarius
5. Male or female or transgendered → Male
6. Elementary→ Kendriya Vidyalaya Gurgaon
7. Schools → Kendriya Vidyalaya Kasauli (Himachal) and KV ASC (S) Bangalore
8. Colleges → UBDT College of Engineering, Davangere, Karnataka
10. Hair color → Originally Black, now Copper Brown
11. Long or short → Keeps changing. Now long
16. Height → 5'8”
17. Do you have a crush on someone? → Yes, The current count is 2.
18: Ever been in love? Yes, twice
19. Piercings → Left Ear
20. Tattoos → Yes, Dragon on left arm
21. Righty or lefty → Righty

FIRSTS :

23. First piercing → Left Ear
24. First best friends → Sanjay
26. First sport you joined: Cricket and Kabaddi (either one of them)
27. First pet → Never had
28. First vacation → Don’t remember exactly, my ancestral home in Patna I guess.
29. First concert → Don’t remember exactly, Either Parikrama or Indian Ocean. Loads after that
30. First crush --> Sarita
49. Eating → ? What can I say for first eating?
50. Drinking → ? again….??? Same as above.
52. I'm about to → watch a movie
53. Listening to--> First would be songs of Aashiqui, currently Gulaal and Sikandar

YOUR FUTURE :

58. Want kids? --> No
59. Want to get married ? --> No
60. Careers in mind? --> Writing, Actor, Gigolo
68. Lips or eyes → Lips
69. Hugs or kisses→ Kisses
70. Shorter or taller → Any
71. Older or Younger → Any
72. Romantic or spontaneous → Whichever as long as good in bed
73. Nice stomach or nice arms → Any
74. Sensitive or loud → BOTH
75. Hook-up or relationship → Hook-Ups
77. Trouble maker or hesitant → Trouble maker

HAVE YOU EVER:

78. Kissed a stranger → Yes, Bus and Train journeys used to be so awesome.
79. Lost glasses/contacts → Yes both Glasses and contacts, many times.
81. Sex on first date → Yes, if mutual.
82. Broken someone's heart → Yes, Why do you think I dated someone twice.
83. Had your own heart broken → Yes, Someone else dated me twice for that very reason
85. Been arrested → No
86. Turned someone down → Yes
87. Cried when someone died → Yes
88. Liked a friend that is a girl/boy? → Made friends with both the sexes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

89. Yourself → Of course, Yes
90. Miracles → Never experienced. So, No
91. Love at first sight → No
92. Heaven → No.
93. Santa Clause → No
94. Peace in this lifetime→ No
95. Kissing on the first date? → Why not, if date is too mouth-watering
96. Angels → No
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now? --> No.
98. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time in the past? --> Yes
99. You will die Young→ Yes, I have that fear.
100. You will end with the one you love and learn to love the one you are with – What? So confusing.

P.S. This one was actually more than 100.
P.S. 2 - 25 Random Things I guess most have finished, so for the 100 Things one (129 actually), I tag Vimal, Poonam, Varun, Rakesh, V and Reema.
P.S. 3 - I watched Gulaal twice already and I guess I will go for at least one more viewing before I write on it.

The MovieManiax Awards went live few hours back.

The voting lines will be open for 25 days and will close on Sunday 5th April’09 at 00:00 IST. The winners will be declared thereafter.

We have made a slight change in the nominees before the polls went live. There had been no deletion of any nominee, however we added an extra option ‘Other’ wherein you can select that option and enter your choice in the box provided below if you do not agree to the 5 nominees already listed. This option was brought in after a lot of debate (and examining the pros and cons of doing so) which ensued upon the release of our Nominees. Please note that this would not be applicable to all categories, but only the popular 6 will come with ‘Other’ option.

The voting is now open for the much-awaited MovieManiax Awards. Do cast you vote at this link: http://moviemaniax.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/voting-open-for-the-moviemaniax-awards-2008/

Also, you can see the Badges on the rightmost side of my page here. Those badges have been made by Chirag and you can take them and flaunt on your blog. Please spread the word amongst your friends and colleagues. Together, we can make the difference. So long.

Search Engines be it Google, Yahoo et al are like a Bible, Quran, Geeta, Guru Granth Sahib and so and such for us these days. Do not we type whatever pops up first in our mind whilst looking for a specific thing? Yes, we do. We all do. To cite a recent example, I in my half-asleep approach read the news of Spanish PM fucking up big time and when online, I had forgotten whether that Spanish guy who made a sexual gaffe was whether PM or President or whatever of that country so I typed Spanish Man+Prime Minister+President+Fuck+Russia (as Russia was another word apart from Spanish and Fuck that got registered noticeably in my mind) in Google search. The first search itself cleared things. See how Google bails us out.

So, this write-up is to make you acquaint with what kind of words/phrases people across the globe have used to search anything remotely connected to the movie Slumdog Millionaire and ultimately ended at my ‘Slumdog Milllionaire’ review, Thanks to FEEDJIT.

Sample my five favorites:

"does salim sleep with latika".

"asshole amitabh blog on slumdog"

"the man with the colt 45 says leave slumdog"

"slumdog jaya ho american review".

"slumdog's euphoria in india-- how much justified".

I am still ROFLing and LMAOing at the keywords used by people for Slumdog Millionaire. Jaya ho? Salim Sleep with Latika?? Justified? Asshole Amitabh?? hahahahaha

Ain’t those keywords funny!!!???

I found "asshole amitabh blog on Slumdog" one quite funny… Which one you think is the funniest?

Out of context, Nominations for the MovieManiax Awards – 2008 are out. Do check out. The voting will start next week.



To know more about the MovieManiax Awards, CLICK HERE.

Perx!

Perx got all right except No. 19. Congratulations! :D

Others who came close are:
Chittaranjan (16 correct),
~uh~ (15 correct) and
Fenil (13 correct).

Rakesh (7 correct) was the next best.

Ish (6 correct) did well too.

CLICK Here to see the answers and the awesome poster which winner can flaunt on his page.

Update on MovieManiax Awards: The nominees will be announced today in a short while. Keep an eye on the MovieManiax Awards site.

Does this make you believe Abhay Deol is nominated? Well, to start with it yes, he is and so is Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye in 9 other categories in total of 20. No, no we are not trying to influence you here. This is just a teaser to something big, real and rational happening.

For every Shaurya there is a Sarkar Raj. On every Sunday, a Dostana happens. A Tashan complements A Wednesday and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye gives frozen fight to Rock On!!!

Box Office status is not considered. Nominations under few categories end at 3 or 4 if no deserving one pops up. Filmfare might have scrapped negative role but we do not overlook things. As we are the ones who make or break a film, the onus is on us to choose the best of the best.

Now, participate in Quiz below to test out how much you know your films?

Do you think you are a big movie fan? Do you think you know your movies well? Take the Movie Quiz 2008 and find out! Check out our MovieManiax Blog or CLICK HERE to participate.

In continuation of my previous post which talked of upcoming awards, I hereby announce The MovieManiax Awards – 2008.



The MovieManiax Awards is an initiative to honor the best of Hindi Cinema. Being the first year of it’s running, the categories are limited and we have not ventured into the technical awards. The nominations under the categories have been discussed, scrutinized and finally arrived on conclusion by a team of Bloggers. The rationale behind the nominations was to bring in the best irrespective of Box-Office status. And now it’s up to you fellow Bloggers to have your voice counted to decide the deserving one. Please participate in this endeavor and spread the word amongst the fellow Bloggers and non-bloggers; basically anyone who has access to internet.



Endeavor by: Vee with able support from Poonam, Reema, Smita, Varun and Vimmuuu.

Creative Consultant: Magik

Awards Badge Designer: Dev

Publicist: Nikhil

Judges: You Bloggers, Aam-Junta

The Nominations are finalized and polls will be live shortly. Meanwhile, we are looking for support from all of you in making this a success. Do spread the word. And before you forget, please bookmark the Award Site, Click here.

P.S. Join 'The MovieManiax Awards' group on Facebook and pledge a vote. Click Here.