The Avant Garde Bloggies Awards 2009 – Kick Off  

Posted by Vee

Avant Garde Bloggies Awards was conceived in 2008 by Visceral Observations. Duly supported in organizing and conducting by fellow Bloggers, the awards last year was huge success. Especially for me it was double treat as I was nominated in 2 categories and I won both hands down (Modesty Sucks... Haha). However, this year I am not nominating any of my posts as I am part of the organizing committee and in all probability a Judge too; hopefully.

For uninitiated as well as those who are aware of it, I request you to read the post on this year’s Avant Garde Bloggies Awards by Visceral Observations. PLEASE CLICK HERE. Avant Garde Bloggies Awards aim to recognize the best posts from your blog. It is an award competition where your entries are voted and judged by fellow, expert bloggers. It is a competition to recognize your blog. And as always, it’s meant to be fun and healthy.

Here is once again the link to everything you need to know about the Awards as well as how to nominate your and other’s posts. CLICK HERE.

Conceived by Visceral Observations

Badges Designed by Chirag. Have a look at the Badges by CLICKING HERE.

Volunteers Vimal, Vee and Magik

Publicist Nikhil

The Categories CLICK HERE.

Official Video CLICK HERE.

I would appreciate if you too could spread the word to have worthy nominations pouring in for each category. Please join the Avant Garde Bloggies Awards Group on Facebook. CLICK HERE TO JOIN US ON FACEBOOK.


P.S. Go through the categories and start nominating posts now.
P.P.S. Revert back in comments section for any queries.

By the first look of it and Reviews  

Posted by Vee

By the first look of it and sincerely by the first of it;

Paa looks foolhardy. With all the feasible offense to the makers and the performers, Paa comes across as an intended attempt of lifting in the name of novelty (Ya, I too dreamt eons ago I will revisit Cinema Paradiso). With Small B playing father of Big B on screen (hard to digest) and Vidya Balan as mother (that was perfectly chosen; she looks that), Paa is the story of Auro who is suffering from some disease which is tough to pronounce (no, I will not google).

Blame Aamir for it. His dyslexia ridden TZP hit right chords, his 15 minutes of memory in Ghajini melted many hearts and since then, everyone wants to suffer from one or the other unpronounceable disease. Watch out for Hrithik in Sanjay Leela’s Guzaarish. By the way, Imran had his heart on his right side of the chest in forgettable LUCK.

3 Idiots is an idiotic one. 3 mushtandaas (no built, vast paunches and huge upper frame) pose as 20-something college goers while in real they are double the age. Who cares they say? Audience is an idiot any which ways.

Just started listening to the songs of it and trust me on this, nothing great about it. All Izz Well is idiocy at its prime, by the lyrics of it and more importantly the shot. Once again, no built, vast paunches and huge ugly upper frame.

De Dana Dan is amalgamation of Singh is King and Hera Pheri. All the casts of this movie along with the director should be banned with immediate effect.

Aao Wish Karein to me is like ‘Aao Piss Karein’. And I am in no mood to be pissed more, especially this year. Thank you Aftab (producer and actor in this) but truthfully No Thanks.

Kurban seems dull in its portrayal. Saifeena (Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor for uninitiated) look couple in some kind of mourning and grief. Maybe the film is about that. Whatever. Vivek in his new style is not shown much in promos. And he is not complaining. After all, no one apart from RGV cares for him.

Songs are nice (I have already spoken about it…HERE).

Tum Mile will be a sleeper average if not sleeper hit; mark my words. No box office records breaking but a decent opening and even more respectable following will make it recover the money. By the way, did I tell I have always enjoyed watching Emran (nothing to do with his kisses; I can do better and bitter). I always find him in character (haha) and totally into it whatever he does. His Awarapan took me by surprise. Way to go Emu.

P.S. I hope I eat my own words as I do not wish to see the efforts they have put go in vain. :):)

Reviews of;

Ajab Prem Ki Ghajab Kahani – 3/5 Santoshi’s 2nd attempt at comedy after immortal Andaz Apna Apna is just about ok. A huge hangover of AAA is what APKGK gives the impression of sans Paresh and co. However, I won’t write this off so effortlessly. The movie works for its characters and their witty one liners that comes in offing. I have never enjoyed watching Ranbir so far. All his previous offerings made me think ‘what’s the fuss’ and finally he delivered. Whether it was his tribute to his famous grand-pa at few places in comic scenes or an attempt to shake and move head n booty like his uncle; he was extremely fine at it. Supporting casts remind you of Hrishikesh’s era. Smita Jaykar and Darshan Zariwala as parents of loser-in-life Ranbir are charming what with few scenes written just for them. Songs play quite an important part and are well placed. The only grieving factor for me was utterly delicious but equally putdownable Katrina.

Katrina no matter what all good things people say about her is an extremely annoying to me. No doubt she looks good and her pairing with Ranbir is like ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’. Two supremely good looking ones together of course will raise eyebrows and many other things. But, I am very disappointed with her. She fucking cannot speak good Hindi despite some 3 odd years here. It is of utmost important to me someone who works in Hindi movies should speak, if not good a decent Hindi and it’s been far too long she learnt it. I do not understand why directors cover that by making her a Christian or some of that sort so that she doesn’t need to utter more Hindi. Bull Crap.

Jail – 1/5 Madhur’s tryst with reality falls flat this time. We have seen and enjoyed his rendezvous with Bar girls, Social butterflies, Corporate honchos, but his take on Jail is far from impressing. Falsely accused in a drug case Neil, a sales guy goes to Jail and doesn’t get bail in all repeated hearings. Few scenes and nonsense later, case is reopened and with same evidences & same witnesses the case is solved. Wow. What’s with the agenda here, Madhur? Tell us beforehand it is just one off a story and not fucking reality and we will give you some credit but not in the name of your shouting ‘Jail shown never before’ shit. As a friend told, Ek Haseena Thi was healthier.

Round And About by Behram Contractor  

Posted by Vee

A man is known by the company he keeps is now an overused clichéd and peeping at it from the same height would be a man is also known by the city he belongs to. Now it's all mixed up. You are born in one city/town/village, grow up somewhere else, get license to vote/drink/drive in some other place, date/marry someone from other planet altogether. There are more friends virtually than in blood and flesh, your neighbor thinks you are moving in when in actual fact you are moving out after staying in that house for gazillion years. Pheew!!!

But this is not the case with Behram Contractor aka Busybee who lived in Mumbai all his life. He was Parsi, and like an average Parsi in Mumbai he too believed till his last breath in 2001 that Parsis belong to Mumbai in a way that no other Indian race belongs to any other Indian city. This is not the narrative of this book. This is the story of the author of this book. Busybee technically never wrote this book. He worked as a columnist for various newspapers of Mumbai 365 days of the year for 30 plus years. He wrote about everything in his daily column and this is an attempt to bring out all his columns in a single book. Round and About is the first of the series covering year 1996-97. His style of writing is snappish and to the point, but it has a rhythm in it which creates an impression of straight-faced humor.

The city Mumbai has always fascinated me for various reasons. My being a big movie buff has nothing to do with that. I know more of Mumbai as a city than of her association with Bollywood. And I bet I am as good or bad as any average Mumbaikar in knowing this intriguing city in spite of not living for more than 10 days at stretch in my numerous visits to this city (Another one week of stay is in offing soon).

To be witty is not a big deal but to be humorous at the same time is. Busybee excelled at witty humor in all his columns, always. A man who lived with a wife, two sons and a dog left a mark on the psyche of every Mumbaikar capable of reading and comprehending so much that his columns became part of their lives and people bought copies of the newspaper plainly to read his columns. This first series is just an appetizer; the full feast is still to be consumed.

Mayanagri (Bombay): I say so as it was Bombay and not Mumbai those days. Busybee called it home and in one of his columns he mentioned not living anywhere else in the world even if he was paid five months salary in lump sum. On January 1, 1996, he honored aam aadmi of Mumbai in his columns as the "man of the year". Why? Because he felt people of Mumbai had never been given due. For surviving and coming out smiling from every adverse situation, for never been consulted in anyway by any from the authority, for his/her city being getting crowded day by day and dirty hour by hour and he/her has been welcoming always. For he had been fed empty promises, for he had been lived through bad monsoon, hot summer and constant threat from people wearing orange and yet in good spirits.

Mayanagri ke log (Her People): This second section of the book has some true, funny, interesting anecdotes of some truly famous, some austerely infamous, known, seen, read people of Bombay. Whats with that Michael Jackson-Raj Thackeray deal in the event of MJ's show in Mumbai back in 1996. The part stands out as the one of the most hilarious sections of the book. Indeed some of his best were people.

Rajniti (Politics): I sometimes feel politicians are not only the source of all the chaos in the country but also the fountainhead of all the humor. Busybee is at his best when it comes to scrutinizing the politicians of our country and especially those from Bombay. He wrote on everyone from Bal to Raj to one time MP Big B to Munde to Joshi. A section talks of the meeting Bal had with Deve Gowda (Ex-PM) at Big B's residence and boy, did Busybee come up with the authentic version of the meeting in his column. Yes, he did. You may take it or leave it.

Gol guttam lakad battam de dana dan khel (Cricket): Nation's favorite pastime. When it comes to cricket, I guess we all Indians tend to treat it as a war and not game and a Mumbaikar is no different. And if it is Mumbai it has to be Wankhede. The infamous hooting at the world famous local boy at his own home ground proves it more than ever. Yes we are fanatics. Period.

Chalo Chaupati (Eating Out): There are puri people and chapatti people. There are rice people and bread people. I am chapatti person. Busybee was rice person. He fed on rice twice a day and in this section he has discussed the eating habits of Mumbaikar. Mumbai is also known for the kind of food and eateries she provides. From Mexican to the vada pav, from German frankfurters to Italian sausages, his column on places for eat-outs is bible for the strangers in the city.

Samajik Titaliyaan (Cocktail Circuit): The most envious circle in whole India. The invitees who eat caviar (or is it chew they do) and drink champagne. Guests who come to outdo the others or to outdo themselves. The wannabes who have their freshly printed visiting card outstretched in their hand along with a shake from the other which straightly meant I-want-to-be-part-of-it.

Gol Chakkar (Round And About): What could not be covered into any aforementioned defined categories, Busybee put it in this section. It's all about what-goes-around-comes-around.

I have been visiting and interacting with all kinds of people from this absorbing city, and it never ceases to amuse me, every time. After having been befriended few elitist, few not so well off and few hanging in between; from the guy who sells beeda at the intersection of Churchgate station and Dalal Street to the service provider of all kinds. From not so famous singer who is a clandestine queer to the famous performer who cruises around the Gateway in her merc. From this much aged, highly obnoxious scribe to the middling commuter of local. These are the people who form the Mumbai and put in some way or the other a remarkable demonstration in the lives of the regulars or the unexpected. Behram knew them all and knew them too well. And let me end it by using another worn out clichéd: They do not make like him anymore.

I preferred reading his compliation as a book, but for lazy bums, here is the link to his work: http://www.busybeeforever.com/round.asp.

This review I had earlier published here and here.

London Dreams – The Real Khan Stood Up  

Posted by Vee

So Namastey London is long gone and Vipul Shah throws up another one at us. I didn’t care much about Namastey London, and there he comes up with another one based on/in London; London Dreams. London Dreams is a story of two best friends. While one (Ajay Devgn) is passionate about music but has no support from his father and uncle owing to the fact music devastated their family; the other (Salman Khan) has talent and support but gives a hoot about it despite his father chasing him to learn music. Circumstances take Ajay to London and he gets on the job to live his dream some day (that of performing in packed Wembley Stadium). While Salman remains in Punjab (chases girls, sleeps with married women, and whiles away his time on ISD with his best bud), and who in the name of music is running a Raja-Rani Band for local marriages. He is happy and wishes all the luck and success for his friend overseas.

On a trip to Punjab, Ajay discovers that Salman is a good singer too and makes him join his band. Salman starts off as a chorus singer in the band moving onto complete the song as solo when out of the blue Ajay goes through an unfortunate accident that renders him voiceless on stage. The song was Barson Yaaron. The song is huge success and Salman is a sudden star. Hence starts the jealousy, betrayal, sacrifice, backstabbing and blackmailing. The movie takes a turn and gets interesting during the second half but ends on a very disappointing note. The climax is a huge let down.

Music is the real hero of the movie followed by Salman and Ajay. Asin is totally wasted in the movie (as I had earlier predicted without seeing the movie; damn, I was bang on). The other two band members (who hail from Pakistan) are playing reel brothers Rannvijay (of MTV Roadies fame) and Aditya Roy Kapoor (Channel [V] VJ) who hail from Pakistan.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s terrific composition with soulful lyrics by Prasoon Joshi makes it
one of the best albums this year. Only Prasoon can come up with ‘Chehron pe dhoop malo’ , ‘Saagaron pe jhoom chalo’, ‘Gham ko peeslo, Khushi chaat lo’ subsequent to Gulzar Saheb. And supporting his words is Shankar Mahadevan’s poignant vocals. Superb. All songs are well composed/sung/filmed. Couples of them do go off track nevertheless.

Ajay has donned the role of intense and brooding one in past as well and quite good always I must say including this time. But the problem I found in his portrayal this was that there wasn’t a bit of struggle shown, there was desperation in his eyes to reach the pinnacle of music but only in words. Just words. There weren’t any fight back in literal sense. All the fight back he ever showed was to keep Salman away from achieving it, by hook or crook.

Salman’s one of the finest work. Nothing like this he has ever portrayed. His charm is same but the andaaz is different. Watch him and you will make out what is the deal about all those reviews on net which talk lowly of the movie but end up recommending it just for him. A good at heart soul who prays for his friend’s success, keeps no evil and gets manipulated eventually whilst mouthing witty one liners complimented with straight from the heart talk will win many hearts for sure. After Wanted, another good work from him. This will enlighten the world who is the real Baadshah, Ace or King of Bollywood. SRK and Aamir can continue their ‘I-am-the-best’ fuck off-screen but it’s Salman who is ruling now and he is back in circuit with bang. No denying. Salman haters can go bite dust; the reality is on your face.

Asin is just wasted as I earlier mentioned. I am not going to say someone else could have done this role because there was nothing to do. Asin for sure accepted it just for the names associated and nothing else. There was no need for a female lead in this. Poor Asin.

The two supporting characters Rannvijay and Aditya are just about ok. This is Rannvijay’s second movie after forgettable Toss and Aditya’s first. Rann and Adi have lot of screen ‘being-there’ sans much to say. Aditya however will go places in assured track if he chooses his projects sensibly. Btw, his next is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaaarish wherein he plays Aishwarya Rai’s husband.

Barring the prolonged penultimate and ultimate scenes which somewhat killed the spirit, the movie is a definitely a good watch especially if you like the music and wan to see Salman doing evitable.

Ithought of 3/5, but an extra 0.5 for music and Salman combined; 3.5/5

Quickie Reviews: Movies and OSTs (Upcoming movies)  

Posted by Vee

A quick take on few movies I watched last week and the music I have been listening to:

MOVIEs:

Blue – 1/5 – I saw some people literally molesting few fishes and embracing few others. Then I saw few others in minimal possible clothing with super duper gadgets trying to find some Khazana (loosely wealth), and rest of them were showing off their sticker piercing( which means not original) and stunts on all kinds of wheelers. A dud.

All The Best – 1/5 – And then few others were seen roaming in rainbow dresses cracking jokes (supposedly) and guess what, one of them had walked in straight out of the sets of Blue mixing everything with everyone; including the script.

Mr. and Mrs. Khanna – 1/5 – Those who were left out of Diwali celebrations were chucked on the airport. To be brutally honest, I caught this one on downloaded version (much to my dismay), but felt ‘serves you right.’

Pithamagan (Tamil) – 4/5 – Came this superbly executed piece that quenched the thirst of the weeks. Vikram (National Award Winner for this) could be more riveting than Sethu I never had imagined. Suriya, Sangeeta and Laila held their waters likewise. An exceptionally well made movie. Heard Hindi one is in offing with Sanjay Dutt doing Vikram’s role. Bakwaas. Sanju can’t (for sure) do that saala.

Arundhati (Telugu) – 4/5 – Sonu Sood can be so engaging, kabhi socha na tha. He burns the screen with his dual portrayal of rich-rapist turned ruthless-aghori (saints who practice dark arts). Giving fuel to it is Anushka Shetty in the title role. She is beautiful, appealing yet strong and hard enough to take on the hardships. A well done job graphically, I wonder how this one will turn out to be in Hindi with Deepika doing Arundhati and Amitabh in Sonu Sood’s role. Trust me, an absolute misfit. Hindi makers, please retain Anushka and Sonu. A gem of a movie.

OSTs:

Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani – 3.5/5 – Main Tera Dhadkan Teri by KK, Sunidhi and Hard Kaur is already a hit and is being highlighted as the main song. But Aa Jao Meri Tamanna by Javed Ali, Tera Hone Laga Hun By Atif and Alisha and Tu Jaane Na by Atif are the songs that will be surely loved by all. Prem Ki Naiyya by Neeraj Shridhar is a peppy one, but it reminds me of his earlier songs from Bhul Bhulaiya and Love Aaj Kal. Neeraj gets the same style of songs and he sings in the same monotonous style. Overall, a nice one. Cannot be ignored.

Kurbaan – 3/5 – Dua, Shukran Allah, Ali Maula, Rasiya and Kurbaan Hua are the 5 songs that make up this album. All seem situational. Would be liked more after seeing them in movie. Wonder why Sonu doesn’t sing much for the movies these days. His Shukran Allah with Shreya and Salim is the best of the lot.

London Dream – 4/5 – An album which reminds me of Rock On. Though songs have the feel of Rock On, they are (if not more) equally good. Barso Yaaron got into controversy for its Hanuman Chalisa lines; that is sorted and the lines remain. Abhijeet Ghosal’s Jashn Hai Jeet Ka is on the lines of Sindbad The Sailor from Rock On (per me). Title song Khaanbadosh is an upbeat number which talks of dreams. Lovely composition. Shankar’s Mann Ko Ati Bhavey and Feroz’s Tapkey Masti have been composed keeping Salman in mind I believe. Overall, a marvelous one.

Radio – 2.5/5 – Like it or chuck it as per your interest lies. 12 songs, I would go with 5 (less than half), but overall, not so bad.

Tum Mile – 2.5/5 – Bhatt (Vishesh Films) ka hai toh achha hi hoga is the believe. By that trend, slightly disappointing.

Wake Up Sid  

Posted by Vee

Ranbir Kapoor walked out straight from the sets of Bachna Aae Haseeno and landed at the shoot of WUS and yeah, wearing the same boxer shorts. He made toast there and did his best to crack the egg in this one and yeah, wearing the same boxer shorts. Even the designs were same. Ekdum ditto.

As the yaawwny, done-to-death-gazillion-times story goes, Siddhart Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor) is a rich-spoilt-brat surviving on his father’s credit card and friend’s nonsensical advices. Son insults everyone, respects no one. Father asks him to get lost. Son lands up at few-days-old friend (of all people) Aisha Bannerjee (Konkona Sen Sharma). Friend treats him as bachcha. Develops a liking-turned-love to him only after she realizes her ever disheveled but dishy boss Kabir (Rahul Khanna) is more interested in Jazz than her unpublished/unread article ‘New Girl in The City’ which she keeps adding to his ‘attention’ list. Boss likes it one fine day and publishes it. Bachcha who by now has gone back to his father reads the article and gets enlightened that its him she is talking of in that article. Comes running, finds her exactly at the place he guessed (of course the monsoon had to hit that very day as he had promised he would show her how good mumbai rains can be). Hugs and lived ‘possibly’ ever after.

And there are flaws written all over it.

Wake Up Sid by its subject and its portrayal convey an awakening of some sort but I do not see any awakening of any sort in entirety. As someone told, you leave home uttering I-do-not-want-your-money and you land up at your girl-friend’s place. Wow! And girl-friend who is possibly earning nothing astronomical deck up her house like she suddenly inherited a lot of wealth. The boy meets girl at a party where he is shooting stuff around. Clue that he will do something possibly related with the camera later. He finds her sitting all alone, writing a diary in a party full of loud music and chaos. Clicks some snaps of her and she shies away. How enchanting. Now where I have seen similar stuff already. Of course, they start talking and go out for a walk. It is absolutely unconvincing that he would walk out of the place just because it’s her first day in Mumbai and there is lot to be seen. He also did not get the idea of sleeping around as she cheekily clears her stand. Not done. Nahi hota aisa yaar.

Dad bribes him with a Porsche for a month of work. Last day of the month he chucks it and goes house hunting with her just-a-friend. So, he spends all his time with new found friend on mail/phone/terrace. And by the way, all this while all his other friends whom director showcased so brilliantly in the beginning as close-knit are ignored. They will be found later in the 2nd half for nothing great but to make him realize few more things which his new found friend was already at it.

Results. Fail. Fight with a friend. Leaving home. Moving with new found friend. Self-respect. Ego. But no, Sid boy cannot make egg and is usually hungry, so goes to a nice café to have a nice lunch and doles out his papa’s credit card. Still? Whatever happened to Nahi-chahiye-aapka-paisa. What an awakening?

Comes roomie for the rescue. ‘Why don’t you click?’ 'No, not me, click other stuff. I will still shy away.' Boom goes the boy and clicks n clocks. Gets internship followed by featured photo. First pay cheque. Shows dad. Father is proud. Aah, like I did not see all this coming all this while. What an idea!

Father calls back home. Bachcha decides to go. But alas, the roomie is already in likings with him, if not love yet. But sooner than later. She doesn’t enjoy brooding boss’s jazz outings and prefer bread-chai-beach with the bachcha. Of course, it is love. Too late. Boy reads her article. That’s me, that’s me she is in love with. Like I did not see this happening as well. What the hell. She tore off all her work till date and he helps her re-writing it. So, of course he had read it. But is feigning surprise reading the dame darn article at the end.

The problem with Wake Up Sid is, it is way too much predictable and tries to bring in lot of things at one go. Why are people accepting it’s ok if it’s predictable. Why? Why not with other mindless craps then? Girls find Ranbir way too much hot and is ready to compromise with his immature act. Boys find Konkona naturally beautiful and her acting skills are praised upon. That’s farce. Ranbir is young and just 3 films old. Arrey, how does the number of films matter. I won’t actually blame him for this. He was actually very natural. Seems he was living his real life. Son of Stars Rishi and Neetu had everything on platter and that’s what Sid’s character is all about. But what about Konkona? Why is she getting trapped into these roles. She is gifted, no doubt about it. But, Dil Kabaddi, Luck by Chance and now WUS. All has her playing characters of the same kind (almost). Rahul Khanna, ditto. Dil Kabaddi, Love Aaj Kal and now WUS. Pathetic loser. And this one goes one step beyond. He is not even looking good; something which goes in his favor. Sleepwalking as someone told.

Anupam and Supriya are just about ok. Anyone could have filled in and not got equally noticed. Friends appear and disappear only to reappear again in a lousy script. Script looks borrowed-from and some scenes intentionally are forced into. Like the one when he goes to click the neighbor’s son. That was done to make him realize that he is missing his mom and should go and meet her. Konkona blatantly says no family and friends to him in first meet but is calling her mom back in Kolkota when heartbroken.

Things do seem dazzling and hopeful in moments here and there especially a few between Sid and Aisha. But that’s all. Music was an average one to listen to which gets a point less when heard along the storyline. Too many references, way too many cliched stuff and predictability beyond imagination. 2/5.

8 Things  

Posted by Vee

Ava tagged me in this, some gazillion years ago. Here it goes:

8 TV shows I like

- The Big Bang Theory
- That 70’s Show
- F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
- So you think you can dance
- Roadies
- Bigg Boss
- Cut
- The Big Fat Indian Wedding

8 Favorite Places to Eat

Not a big fan of food but one has to eat to survive. Any place will do, Still:

- Coconut Grove (Bangalore)
- MTR (Bangalore)
- 13th Floor (Bangalore)
- TGIF (Bangalore)
- Molly Malones (Goa)
- Vie Lounge (Mumbai)
- Bengali Market (Delhi)
- Forgot name, a very fine restaurant in Jaipur.

8 Things That Happened Yesterday

- Got up early, which rarely happens (10:10 AM)
- Had breakfast (once again something which rarely happens)
- Had work like ‘there’s no tomorrow’ in office, so skipped lunch
- Also, did not smoke whole day
- Had a pint at home after work with cousin
- Played agony aunt to a friend
- Saw 2 movies: ‘The Murder of Princess Diana’ and ‘The Purple Rose of Cairo’
- Slept at 5 in morning

8 Things I Look Forward To

- A day off from work. As it is quarter end, I am asked to work 12 days at stretch. Its been 11 days now, 1 more day to go. My next off is 3rd October
- Trip to a resort on outskirts of Bangalore in 1st week (a much needed)
- My Brother’s return from US in 2nd week of October
- Start of Klueless during Diwali. It’s an online game organized by students of IIM every year since 2005. It’s open to whoever has access to net. Last year me and mystiquedew were in Hall of Fame.
- Trip to Alleepey in 4th week of October
- Trip to Mumbai and Indore in 3rd week of November
- My niece’s 1st b’day in 2nd week of December
- Trip to Bangkok in last week of December

8 Things I Love About Winter

- X’mas holidays
- New year’s eve
- No sweat
- Long rides on bike
- Jackets
- Sweaters (like wearing sweaters)
- A walk (anywhere)
- An outing for sure

8 Things on My Wish List

- Longines or Audemars Piguet Watch
- Car for myself
- Brown/Blue contact lenses (current ones are damn plain)
- Home Gym
- Treadmill
- Write a Book
- Make a Movie
- Fly a Plane

8 Things I am Passionate About

- Cinema
- Travel (alone, all by myself)
- Good reads (Books, Mags, anything)
- Cricket
- Conversation on Cinema/Politics/Cricket
- Watching people (can spend hours just watching)
- Writing
- Partying/Clubbing/Socializing

8 Words or Phrases I use Often

- Fuck
- Ainvayee
- Yeah, right!
- Seriously
- Kuchh bhi haan?
- Shucks
- Shuru Tera? (When someone starts bragging, I say ‘Shuru Tera?’ or ‘Started?’)
- Hows the yous, takes the cares

8 Things I have Learnt From My Past

- Fuck, learnt from past? Seriously? Kuchh bhi haan?

8 Places I would Love to Go or See or Visit

- Istanbul
- Jerusalem
- Bhutan
- Moscow
- Rishikesh
- Kashmir
- Amsterdam
- Mecca

8 Things I currently Need or Want

- Same as Wish list above

8 People to Tag

None in particular, Pick it up if you want to.

Dil Bole....Iski Maa Ki.....  

Posted by Vee

The Quirky Indian summed up the review of Dil Bole Hadippa in just three awesome words. READ HERE. I am summing up with a chat I had with Vimmuuu on the same along with some random movie talks. The title which I had in my mind for the review of DBH is somewhere there in the chat.

me: are u hiding like always?

Vimmuuu: lol..
i jus logged in..

me: hehe, me too hiding

Vimmuuu: lol..u call him hormone baweja..
hehehehehehe
thats gud..
btw what do u think...will Whats Your Rashee click ?

me: hardly....

Vimmuuu: hmm.....utv is the only good name wid it...i dont have faith in ashutosh anyway..

me: but if it does i wudnt be surprised either... cuz many will write it off for obvious reasons but many will praise it for being different..

Vimmuuu: hmmm
the first user review in indiafm is not great..

me: yes u r correct.. UTV is d only credibility they got n then priyanka (not even Ashu)

Vimmuuu: oh ya...but again, y hurman!
thats what i dont get..

me: give him a chance.. even Rakhi comes on big screen once a while so why cant hormone?

Vimmuuu: lol..
hehehe
did u watch DBH ?

me: YES
Haahahhahhahaha
hohohohoho

Vimmuuu: one of the worst things that can happen to mankind!

me: I was ROFLing

Vimmuuu: lol
i know..
me too..

me: I lovvvveeeeeee such movies

Vimmuuu: the whole movie i kept commenting..
hehehehe
lol..

me: they make u laugh so much that u feel like puking

Vimmuuu: its a combination of chak de and rab ne bana
hehehe
crap of a movie..
at the end, the pakistan team gets enlightened by her speech...
cant believe i sat thru all that.

me: I wanted to fucking go hold that sherlyn, give one tight slap to Rani n say
shuudddup u fucking ugly girl.. u n bikini?

Vimmuuu: lol
lol.
hehehhe

me: Speech ka toh mat puchhh... I mean STILL???? still that works...??? how how how

Vimmuuu: rani looks idiotic in the movie...she shud stop doing such movies...act her own age or somethng..
lol..

me: They took Rani cuz they jus had to put mustache.. baaki voice n all tho mard ka hi hai uska

Vimmuuu: but think...if this was supposed to release like 5 years ago, it wudve been a SRK movie...for sure IMO
it had SRK written all over it..
NRI returning to india..
father anupam..
rani heroine..
cricket..
i missed kiron kher as a punjabi mother though :D :D :D

me: It had SRK sucking Yash Raj written all over

Vimmuuu: lol

me: Adi opened his fucking zip, asked SRK to come n suck.. he went sucking but got throat cancer so they postponed the release n asked shahid to fill in .. thass it..

Vimmuuu: lol
ROFLMAO !!!!!
hhehehehehhee
that was toooo good

me: Mother fuckers I don know when they will come to their senses

Vimmuuu: i know..same shit over and over again..
im sick of watching punjabis on screen
lol

me: lemme write this in my blog..

Vimmuuu:u shud..
pls..
heheheh

me: I can be very abusive u know.. like u can guess by the chat.. i stop myself in blog
i was like thinking.. Dil Bole Gaand Mara

Vimmuuu: lol
hehehhehe
good one..

me: but... shucks I have some children reading me... and they don wanna see papa writing such stuff.....

Vimmuuu: ya...u cant write all those stuffs there

me: Children like U, Chintu, and others... hahahahhaah... all goody goody souls

Vimal: lol
hehehehhehehehe
i dont mind reading a post of urs that way..
but there are 'others'...like ur girl friend...does she read ur blog?

me: hardly
she gives a hoot to blogs...

Vimmuuu: lol..
but u shud..and another thing i dont understand is...he came to train..and looks like he trained only the sardar kid...the rest of the team played as usual...
:D

me: this goes in the review as well

Vimmuuu: lol..
did u finish it?

me: yups... like it was meant to be written

Wanted - Dead or Alive (A)  

Posted by Vee

An ‘A’ rated movie because of lot of gore and blood with Salman in lead was a good watch.

As Taran in his review said, it’s an absolute treat for Salman’s hard core fans and a factor of jealousy for his foes as this movie is surely a hit for Salman after a long time. I give a hoot to Taran and many reviewers like him who are biased; but I also acknowledge and appreciate few sane things they utter.

It doesn’t work only because of Salman but because of many powerful actors who are part of this movie about whom later in the post.

Now people will call me biased too if they read my last post. Let me for once clarify I am Salman’s fan and I love him to the heart but when it comes to judging him in a movie or reviewing a movie of his, I (like always was) am unbiased and put forth all the aspects. Why? If you remember I thrashed ‘Wanted’ songs sometime back stating not worth one listen except one. I am fair when I got to judge a product as whole.

Wanted per story is nothing new, no rocket science and no path breaking. Clichéd to the guesses by promo and pretentious at places. Especially at the places when our Salman boy is shown way too much than necessary. He is all-pervading, with different attire, different hair, different expressions. Probably too much Vodka flowed whilst the shoot (nothing new, pun intended). You see him all debonair in one scene and the very next one shows his swollen face and unkempt hair; the attire being same. But did that stop the pageant? Nopes. None at all. He was everywhere, entertaining at his best. I remembered his Judwaa and Hello Brother days whenever I found him spooky, unreasonable but lovable; a lot more sobered in histrionics though than Judwaa and Hello Brother days.

I have not seen the earlier two versions of it (Pokiri-Telugu with Mahesh Babu and Pokiri-Tamil with Vijay), but I had been fed with all the details of those two when they were released. I am a follower of all language cinema; I might not watch all other language movies but I do follow them someway. When Pokiri was released in Telugu, it ran for 365 days (1 year) in 200 theaters and Mahesh Babu (who married our effervescent Namrata Shirodkar) became an established star. When Vijay in Tamil donned the same role he was booed even by his fans I hear. Tamil Cinema has much more presence and audience than a Telugu one so people in conclusion called Tamil one a dud.

But, those Tamilians who had not watched Telugu version loved Vijay and Pokiri-Tamil. And the same goes for me. I haven’t seen either and I loved ‘Wanted’. There might be people who hated/loved both the earlier versions and either of them in vice versa ways; the point I am making is ‘Wanted’ is unashamedly a reprieve from craps churning out last few months (post the strike especially).

Original (Telugu) was directed by Jagannath. Prabhudeva directed Tamil version which was a disaster in unison contrary to the box-office (Why? Eevn Kambakht Ishq, RNBDJ and for god sake GHAJINI are called hits) results. Raja Sen, reviewer on rediff (who for last one year seem to be transformed from a biased bhenchod to now not-mincing) accepted the fact that ‘Wanted’ is a much better watch than ‘Ghajini’.

It also works because of Prakash Raj (Winner of this year’s National Award for Best Actor) as a hate-to-love Villain (yeah, not love-to-hate). HE IS AWESOME. He played the villain in all the 3 versions and is one of the best things that happened to Pokiri and Wanted. Govind Namdeo as honest Commissioner is like always; restrained and giving. Mahesh Manjrekar (who nowadays believes in showcasing his acting skills than his direction) as a corrupt cop is what you call love-to-hate types. His one of the best. Manoj Pahwa who enthralled in his ‘Aaloo Chaat’ movie brought us few laughs (if not more than Aaloo Chaat) in this as well. Vinod Khanaa was visible from the beginning but hardly with any feel till I realized his importance in the end and his ultimate dialogue towards the climax. Cameos by Anil Kapoor, Govinda and director Prabhudeva himself make this one an eventful.

I kept Ayesha Takia for the last as I have been reading some really bad reviews on her. Come on, this is not done. As far as I remember, I do not remember even a single bad performance of hers since her debut in Socha Na Tha. Officially crowned as the most natural one after Kajol, Ayesha was like always. Is that a problem she is beautiful unlike Kajol; in the sense a beautiful one cannot act? Huh! And if the grouse is on the lead and the director for showing her as nothing but caricature; then let me say once for all even if that was a caricaturist she came out flying.

I wish to say more but I will stop it now. I have given my reasoning and I am done. I might prefer someone than other but his/her product will be put on the same pedestal. Do watch it if you feel like and enjoy if your mind agrees to.

P.S. And like my earlier reviews I have not spoken of the story at all. That kills any review. I talk of instances and performances and the entertainment and I spoke the same.

Yada Yada Yada... ... ...  

Posted by Vee

Shah Rukh Khan (Hypocrite Hyena), Aamir Khan (Cunning Chutiya). Salman is the only KHAN who rocks. ALWAYS. Rest all shud shove their ass up each other including Dutts, Roshans, Akshay Kumars, Imrans n Shahids. Salman is the BEST. Matter Over. Khallas. Period.

Though I loved SRK all my life, his attitude SUCKS now. Though I loved Aamir all my life, he sucks as whole now. Though I loved Akshay Kumar last 7 years, he is a confused asshole sandwiched in his thinking between SRK n Aamir all of sudden which I cannot fathom. Though I loved Sanjay Dutt more than any other actor, I strongly believe, he wasn't worth it. Though I loved Hrithik and Shahid last few years, I firmly feel they do not deserve it. I mentioned Ranbir n Imran for others as they seem to be popular. I personally never liked them an iota.

P.S. I am extremely busy at work front so wrote this random article. However, I am writing an Iconic Series on Bollywood which is surely gonna be covered in at least 10 posts. Meanwhile, I thought of reminding my leftover (bachhe khuche) readers that I am alive and I shall be soon reading you all.

I will surely write a short one like this on Female-Actors soon.

Yada (the title of this post) is the word used by my friend when nothing substantial is being conversed. So chosen. Was it Emotional Atyachaar at its best?

P.P.S. And the Bachchans... I won't even consider them in this post. They in whole deserve a separate post.

Quick Gun Murugun, India's Got Talent and Kaminey  

Posted by Vee

This is a Quickie on Musics, TV Shows and Movies I have been engaged into.

Music:

I have been listening to songs of Daddy Cool, Fox, Quick Gun Murugun, Toss, Wake Up Sid and Wanted since Monday and have come to conclusion that only Quick Gun Murugun (QGM) is worth investing time and money.

The QGM album is mischievous, slapstick, hilarious and hummable. Composed by Sagar, Raghu Dixit and Vijay Prakash, the album has 13 songs. Lyrics are by Ankur Tewari and Shellee. The music has huge doses of Tamil, Telugu and Kannada songs with unusual lyrics affixed. Sample this: “Kyon Keeda Hai Aapko”, “Naam Mera Mango Dolly”, “Chat Mangni Lover”, “Kuchi Kuchi Twist” et al. The whole album is a laughter bomb to say the least. 4 On 5 easily. Go for it.

Daddy Cool is utter crap and borrows lot from earlier Bollywood movies. I cannot even make out from which movies these songs have been copied, but copied for sure. 0 On 5.

Toss and Fox are ignorable too. Wake Up Sid is fresh and simple. With 6 songs, the album can easily be forgotten though. 3 On 5 for Wake Up Sid. Wanted is a typical Masala album. With 7 Original tracks and 5 of them remixed, it is just about ok. Nothing to rave about. 2 On 5.

As I started writing this, played songs of Whats Your Rashee. Album seems to be ok so with title song stealing the show. Sohail Sen (do not know if he has any earlier songs to his credit) has a catchy voice. 12 Original tracks with just one repeated is a great deal.

Television:

I have been quite busy last 3 weeks and have been missing out on reality shows I spoke about in my earlier post. However, I am catching India’s Got Talent on its website http://www.indias-got-talent.com/ and enjoying the show. The finalists have been chosen and now everyone is waiting for the finals to begin. If you still have not watched it, please do start now. The show which is based on Britain’s Got Talent has brought out the talent in open from unknown/unheard parts of our country. It has lived to its name so far. Yes, I have my own favorites but I believe in let best talent win.

Movies:

Saw Kaminey and was bowled. Something of this stature from India is definitely commendable. I have been reading at many places that what’s the fuss? Let me explain the fuss. Many people liked it and many did not. Those who liked probably can be put into two categories. There are those who judge performances, dialogues, setting and the whole treat given to the film (I fall in this category). They just do not look for entertainment. They do not have any favorites per se. They weigh the film in its totality and pass judgment. And then there are those who want a good entertainer (be it coming out of their favs or not). They are not interested in knowing what all bars movie has outshined. They believe in good returns of their money invested.

Those who did not like can be classified in 2 categories too. The first ones are just plain cynical. "If world liked, let me say I did not like." (Shobhaa De comes here). They have no valid reason for not liking. Shobhaa in her review says “How can a Marathi girl be called Sweety. I haven’t met any Maharashtrian girl who is called Sweety?” Can you believe, that is one of the reasons she cited for not liking the movie. I always knew she was cynic but this cynic. Wow. Isn’t she the one who praised New York to heavens and adorned it with 4 stars? Poor she, can’t even understand a knowledgeable cinema. The second types in this category are those who are honest to themselves and people around. If they do not like any movie, they have their own valid reasons for that.

What I feel about Kaminey is that you might not agree with it at few places or it might exasperate you but no way can you say it is bad cinema. Those who say so are lying from their teeth.

Kaminey has been touted as the one on the lines of Tarantino work. And I agree completely. The movie is heavily influenced by Tarantino’s line of work. Those who have seen Pulp Fiction will understand what I am saying. Even the enormously famous Dhan Te Nan song has a Pulp Fiction touch in it. Yes, Vishal is inspired. He has always been honest about it. This is his tribute to Indian Audiences and I personally feel owed about it. I never thought I will ever see such a cinema made in our country in my lifetime. This is not the end. I might say something akin to something new altogether. It’s just a beginning. Bravo Vishal and Team.

Jhatpat Tag  

Posted by Vee

Ava tagged me in another one.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.

'Sorry to ask again, but a cricket shop in a temple complex? Who will buy?'

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can & catch air?

Office Guidelines sheet stuck in my cubicle.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?

Sleepy Hollow (7 days ago). Haven’t watched TV since then. Missing those reality shows I love.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?

23.45

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?

23.57

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

Girl in next bay talking on her cell phone (Damn, can’t hear what exactly she is yakking)

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

I came to work. At work, I stepped outside cubicle to bring water.

8. Before you started this Q&As, what did you look at?

Browsed through various News websites (a routine)

9. What are you wearing?

T-Shirt and Jeans (Shawl kept aside in case it gets cold)

10. When did you last laugh?

This morning at a PJ. I love PJs. PJ was: Teacher: Sam, What is skin of tree called? Sam: No idea Sir. Teacher: Bark, Sam Bark. Sam: Bow, Wow, Wow!!!

11. What is on the walls of the room you are in?

In Cubicle I have many sheets pinned. At home in my room, nothing except a huge mirror.

12. Seen anything weird lately?

An IDOL with a mask (A Swine Flu Joke)

13. What do you think of this quiz?

Total fun. I love Quizzes.

14. What is the last film you saw?

Gran Torino

15. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?

A Private Jet and a Home in Istanbul.

16. Tell me something about you that I dunno!

U r one of my Close and Best friends. Yes, U did not know this yet.

17. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

Poverty and chauvinism.

18. Do you like to Dance?

Absolutely

19. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

Vivein or Ava

20. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call her?

Agastya

21. Would you ever consider living abroad?

Yes, Istanbul, Israel or Russia.

22. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?

I want you to go back.

I Tag Mystique, Bhargav and Poonam.

AB...Z's  

Posted by Vee

I was busy. Very busy. I am back. Have many posts to read (if possible comment). I have no enthu to write on anything. Have decided to do the tags for sometime... So, please tag me wherever you feel like... Bring it on.

Ava tagged me in this:

A – Available/Single?
Available for one night sit/stands…Single forever.

B – Best friend?
Close - 4 friends, Best - Don’t know, Keeps changing per situation amongst those 4 close ones.

C – Cake or Pie?
None.

D – Drink of choice?
In order of preference: Water, Bacardi, Chivas, Vodka, All Beers, Red Wines.

E – Essential item you use every day?
Cell Phone.

F – Favorite colour?
Black.

G – Gummy Bears or Worms?
Gummy Worms...Heehaw.

H – Hometown
Bangalore, Patna, Delhi, and Varanasi.

I – Indulgence?
Movies, Books, Drinks while doing any of them.

J – Jealous or Benign?
Benign.

K – Kids & their names?
No Kids.

L – Life is incomplete without?
Me of course…. My life is incomplete without me (Ava said same).

M – Marriage date?
Not married and won’t happen.

N – Name? Your real name!
Vivek.

O – Oranges or Apples?
Neither. I like only Guavas in fruits.

P – Phobias/Fears?
Getting Paunch, Losing limbs/eyes, oh there are many.

Q – Quote for today?
I am alive, I am happy.

R – Reason to smile?
Depends.

S – Season?
Winter.

T – Tag 3 People?
Rakesh Bhai, Rakesh V, and Abhishek

U – Unknown fact about me?
I walk in sleep (sometimes)

V – Vegetable you don’t like?
All except Potato and Brinjal

W – Worst habit?
Lazy and Restless. How’s that for oxymoronic

X – X-rays?
Yes. Both Hands, Backbone.

Y – Your favorite food?
None in particular. Eating is waste of time.

Z – Zodiac sign?
Aquarius.

Indian Television Post Ekta Era  

Posted by Vee

Ekta ruled Indian Television for good 10 years or so and made fortune by making monkey-ass out of us viewers. I do not know if she has totally lost the touch but I can say for sure that number of shows coming out of her production house is negligible. Currently, reality shows have taken a whole new look and are intimating some or the other. Many have found Star Plus’s Sach Ka Saamna a nerve-racking one, whereas Sony’s Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao is touted as a skin show if not just freakish and scary. NDTV Imagine’s Rakhi Ka Swayamvar is still not digestible to many and is looked down. How can she do that? It is just a gimmick of making money out of a marriage. Rakhi is cheap and her show is cheapness personified. And many such comments have been made. I find all this a tad too irrational and a lot more hypocritical. Time and again it has been established that we Indians are the hypocritical ones and when it comes to Television, nothing and absolutely nothing which is made/re-produced in our country goes without a hostile response.

I find nothing wrong with the above three reality shows. I have never been an Idiot Box fanatic but a good entertainment at the end of day doesn’t do any harm. I have enjoyed just one show (MTV Roadies) in last 6-7 years post Buniyaad/Nukkad/Fauji/Swabhimaan days. And unlike many others, I have always admitted of catching few episodes of Saas-Bahu saga from Ekta factory. How can I demean them if I do not see them and critic myself? Also, upon finding them utterly uninteresting I have stopped but never made a judgment on those who continue to watch, again, unlike many others.

As I said, these reality shows might be scripted but I do not find them obscene and vulgar. What I find disturbing is that plethora of women/girl-centric television serials have found a foothold after Ekta K-Series. If Ekta promoted debauchery, infidelity, multiple marriages, multiple re-incarnations, these newbies are flaunting ‘How women/girl should be treated as in our society?’ I saw one such show called Ghar Ki Laadli Betiyaan whilst surfing between Iss Jungle and Sach Ka. This was being aired on Zee TV. I thought of stopping for a minute or two but ended up seeing till the end because I could not believe what I was seeing. I was quite bothered after seeing that show for 20 mins or so.

Father-in-law along with his two sons is standing knee-deep in a small river and is about to do his own Shraddh. Both his daughter-in-laws are standing on the shore and are crying. He is furious and angry with his younger son’s wife. He says, “ Tum sab apni marzi ke maalik ho gaye ho. Mera marr jaana hi achha hai.” No where it shows he is sad and being ill-treated. Incidentally, he comes across as an egoist, stubborn and conceited. The elder son then starts shouting and blames the younger one for not keeping his wife under control and blames him and his wife for the on goings. All this while, younger one doesn’t speak or defends himself or his wife. Father continues to pour the ashes in the water.

How a person who is alive could throw his own ashes and conducts his own shradhh is a different thing to laugh about. Anyways, so finally the youngest daughter-in-law, who is supposedly the culprit breaks in, takes small quantity of water in both her hands and says, “Thik hai. Mai is nirmal jal ko sakshi maanke kasam khaati hun ki aaj se mai koi bhi nirnay akele nahi lungi. Mera koi bhi nirnay aapse bina puchhe nahi hoga. Agar kabhi aapko laga ki maine aapki marzi ke khilaaf kuchh bhi kiya toh mera mara muh dekhenge.” Her husband still says nothing. Father-in-law content after hearing this comes out of water. I was quite appalled at this. Women still are being shown as home bound, children raising sex objects. They cannot have opinions and decisions of their own. Still? Ekta had not done enough damage I guess; now these people have taken it on them to finish it off.

I spoke to my mother and sister after this and they filled me in with many such serials being screened these days. Majority of them are showing women in contemptible and low-priced fashion (Agale Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Uttaran et al) and if not that they are shouting from roof top child marriage can work out if the family is well off (Balika Vadhu). What the hell. I find all these disturbing and alarming and not the reality show which are most often scripted but still enjoyable. I can surely switch off or move to next channel and I suggest those who find reality shows offending to do the same but in my case I am not taking back anything from the show after it’s over. However, the ones I mentioned above are clearly throwing wrong signals and many people are indeed catching them and implementing them. These shows must be banned or must be toned down.

Coming back to the aforementioned reality shows, Sach Ka Saamna (Copy of American show Moment of Truth which in turn was based on Columbian Show) has created a furor everywhere. Parliamentarians want it go off air citing various reasons which I cannot fathom and find juvenile. Can I not then rationalize my standing by stating watching someone revealing his/her secrets on national television is much more interesting than watching the same very politicians throwing chappals and shoes at each other right under the nose of the speaker. And that did not happen long ago. Two days ago in J&K assembly, similar story was repeated. Isn’t that sending wrong signals everywhere? Why target TV? People who are participating are adults and aware of what are they getting into. Their family and friends accompany them most of the times and even they take this in their stride (at least on screen). So, what’s the big deal if two or more people in mutual consent decide to rip off their innermost details to the world. The world can watch, enjoy and ignore or go to sleep; but no ways banning it is the way out.

Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao is a copy of Popular British show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here wherein celebrities live in jungle for a period of two months with basic human necessities and have to go through horrendous tasks to earn the good hearty meal else they will be fed just rice and soup. Once again, moralists are up against it. The show is obscene and vulgar as female contestants are being shown taking the shower in open wrapped in minimal clothing. This is their argument. It is jungle and things are supposed to be the way it is in jungle. You cannot have four walled wrap for a shower in jungle. When basic necessities are provided in smallest quantity and contestants are bothered about their next meal, which animal is going to fuck their brain in the next task, how they will survive another day in jungle with no amenities after living a life of a celeb, moralists are complaining about the skin show and the shower in jungle sitting in their comfy home.

A lot has been said about Rakhi Ka Swayamvar. I found the show or tamasha as few called it a total time pass. The show seemed a dud in the first two episodes, probably because the Rakhi we saw was not the Rakhi we knew. She came across as a coy and quiet unlike her blatant self. I will not go into the details of the show and the 16 prospects that came from different parts of country (world) to woo the item girl. But surely I will cite out few scenarios/dialogues and stuff like that. To state the facts, the show is a super hit. No matter what people say, Rakhi and the channel have raked moolah like there is no tomorrow. Rakhi and her mannerisms were nothing less than hysterical at times. But then that’s Rakhi. Sab chalta hai. I find it very irritating when people voice their opinions in complete off-putting mode. Isn’t it a very basic thing to understand and implement that what she is doing is her decision and how she does that is her choice. What is the need of character assassination? If you do not like the content of the show or whatever that is shown, criticize that but generalizing a person’s character based on it is a big put off for me. She is not very fluent in English and sometimes her grammar and pronunciations are off-mark, but she has voluntarily accepted the fact eons ago and prefers to talk in Hindi. Still, I see people making fun of her. The same people, seeing an interview/performance of a non-english speaking actor with subtitles below go gaga about the person’s intelligence or beauty and find no flaw. Even in corporate world I have seen most of the European executives signing off in their local language. Why single out Rakhi? Another case put forth often is she is cheap-slut and a drama queen. So? What harm her drama is doing to you or your life or your character? She is flamboyant, just the way Nandita Das is not or Sherlyn Chopra is. Big deal. So what if she keeps harping on how sad her childhood was or how she doesn’t get along with her parents and how much she had to struggle to come up in life? She says she has not compromised a bit and has done no wrong to survive so far. I will believe that on face value. I am not supposed to do anything beyond that. Did not Salman’s fans forgive him on his face value when he said he has not committed any crime? I did not forgive him or accused him. For me, it doesn’t matter whether he committed crime or not. It’s his 3 hrs presence for which I can judge him. Same goes for Rakhi and whoever. People should just stop being judgmental and mind their own personal life than murdering the disposition of others.

Which brings me to the conclusion, all those moralists/parliamentarians/public should stop deciding on my behalf what to watch and what not to. I would also say, if they feel those women-demeaning serials are giving them a kick, please carry on. I did say those should be banned instead of reality shows, but each to his own I say. You enjoy your drama; I will dance on my routine.

Something To Say  

Posted by Vee



Thanks for the little mercies, I have something to post. Ava presented me with this award. I have 6-7 topics at any point of time running through my mind which goes up to 12-13 when I am high under influence of alcohol; but I am super duper lazy to put them in words. I always have something to say. If I talk of last couple of weeks or so, I had so many things to write on. I wanted to write on decriminalization of Homosexuality and the reverse of it that followed; the ongoing Ashes Test Series; Rakhi ka Swayamvar; Rita-Maya feud; and more such blahs. Sometimes I have started but stopped after 2 or 3 sentences and that has prepared the posts in my draft to 43 as of today (almost close to the number of posts I wrote in last one year). Also, I have realized that nothing gives me more pleasure than watching World Cinema and writing on Cinema which constitutes 95% of my posts.

Anyways, here I go and flaunt my award which Ava gave me. This also comes with few rules and set ups:

The rules that follow are as follows:

* Link the person who tagged you
* The display of award on your blog with these rules
* Reply to the questions
* Tag 7 people deserving the award according to you
* Come back to BLoGGiSTa iNFo CoRNeR (PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS LINK) at http://bloggistame.blogspot.com/ and leave the URL of your Post in order for you/your Blog to be added to the Master List

My Answers to the questions:

* The Person who tagged you : Ava
* His/her site’s url http://thepinkbee.blogspot.com/
* Date when you were tagged: 18th July 09
* My top 7 fav blogs….in alphabetical order

Ava – She has three (or may be 4) blogs but I like ‘The Pink Bee’ the best. She changed the template recently making it more apposite to the name given to the blog. Never to mince words, she has been inspiration to me as a writer since Mouth Shut days for saying things the way they are without being impolite (impolite part I am still trying to overcome)

Bhargav – A fellow movie enthusiast whose reviews are unbiased and succinct. He is quite young to be that knowledgeable about the yesteryears of Hindi Cinema. I sometimes see my adolescent days in his writings.

Garbles (Mystique Dew) – When it comes to being funny and sardonic, she is the best. She writes once in a blue moon but the wait is absolutely worth it.

Rakesh – The versatile writer. A fellow movie fanatic as well. He can write on anything and everything. Of late we have started sharing our bachpan ke days of watching movies on DD National/VCR/Theater. Now, he can say he saw his adolescent in mine.

Sam – Straight friendly gay blogger. A very honest, down to earth and talented blogger. He has got the nicest template and amazing header done for his blog. And whether he shares his unhappiness for movie ‘Dostana’ or talks of 377, he comes out thoroughly genuine.

Smita – Be it Books/Life in general/Movies/Music or Salman, words come easily to her and her posts are utterly engaging. Also, she is the one who pulled me into Blogosphere with her constant nagging which actually was nothing but harassment.

Vimmuuu – When we started interacting on each other’s posts, we realized we for sure are twins on Blogosphere. We now have stopped sharing the likes and dislikes as almost everything came out alike; yes including our love for certain Rakhi Sawant.

OST - Kaminey  

Posted by Vee

Vishal Bhardwaj who shot to fame as a composer of Maachis in 1996 has come a long way. Since then he has established himself as a composer, lyricist, singer, director, and writer. Kaminey is his 6th movie as director nevertheless he has composed music for more than 30 movies so far. He composed the music of all the movies he directed except Blood Brothers which was one of the four short films for Mira Nair’s AIDS Jaago Films.

Review of OST – Kaminey:

Dhan Te Nan:

Singer(s): Sukhwinder Singh, Vishal Dadlani and Robert Bob Omulo – Ranting and Raving already all over. It is the promotional song of Kaminey. The song was out on youtube with still pictures of Shahid and Priyanka to compensate for but listening in to OST is another experience altogether. Sukhwinder and Vishal in duet (first time I guess) harmonize perfectly. Throw RAP by Robert and you have song of the album. 5 on 5.

Pehli Baar Mohabbat:

Singer: Mohit Chauhan – He is every composer’s choice for the soft number post Khoon Chala (RDB) and Tum Se Hi (Jab We Met). If these two gave him recognition, Kuchh Khaas (Fashion) gave him absolute credibility. The guy doesn’t go wrong. This song is not in league of his earlier ones mentioned above including my absolute favorite of his Gunchaa Koi (Main, Meri Patni aur Woh) and Gulon Mein (Sikandar); he is perfect though for the beautiful lyrics of Pehli Baar Mohabbat penned by eminent Gulzar. 3.5 on 5.

Fatak:

Singer(s): Sukhwinder Singh and Kailash Kher – This song will remind you of the title track of Omkara. The commencement with the repeated use of word Fatak is direct musing of Omkara. Only when Kailash joins the song starts to find its own holding, although unsuccessfully. Sorry, Omkara’s title is too strong a remembrance; still. 2.5 on 5.

Kaminey:

Singer: Vishal Bhardwaj – The next best track after Dhan Te Nan is the title which Vishal kept for himself. After singing in Omkara, No Smoking and U, Me Aur Hum, he is once again at his best with title song. He never fails to impress. 5 on 5.

Go Charlie Go:

Singer: None - It’s the theme music of the movie on the lines of Dhan Te Nan. On first hear you can visualize it as a dark night/a chase/a con in progress/anything. 4 on 5.

Raat Ke Dhai Baje:

Singer(s): Rekha Bhardwaj, Suresh Wadkar, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala – Vishal’s wife Rekha [last heard in Genda Phool (Dilli-6) and Ranaji (Gulaal)] along with missing in action for sometime Kunal and Suresh render a different version of Pehli Baar Mohabbat. This will strike a chord of Beedi Jalaile (Omkara) but only if you mull over the lyrics. The composition is singular. 4 on 5.

The next two tracks are remixes of Dhan Te Nan and Raat Ke Dhai Baje.
Vishal is known for incorporating some distinctive Hindi words while working with Gulzar and Kaminey is no different. Not much proficient with Hindi might find it difficult to comprehend few words. Overall, the album is creative and worth a collection. On the whole 4 on 5.

Me and Cinema - Part 2  

Posted by Vee

Continued from Part 1

The seeds of frenzy for cinema were sown.

My father held that position for a good 4 years till he was transferred to Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh. In those 4 years, I watched close to 250 movies. I had a small notebook maintained of the movies I watched beside other details like cast, director, date of watching et al.

Eventually, new releases started hitting the defense theater as well. The first movie ever which I saw on the first day of release was Govinda’s Ilzaam and incidentally it was his debut movie as well. I do not remember much of that but same year Govinda had another release, Love 86http://blessed-curse.blogspot.com/2009/04/me-and-cinema-part-1.html and I saw that movie 3 times. Govinda instantly took over from Mithun as my favorite. Mithun and his Disco Dancer had left a massive impression on me and those days I could be found fighting with my brother for his stance that Amitabh Bachchan can kill Mithun with one punch. There were no arguments on who is better actor; that did not matter to us then as I recall now. There used to be just fights between us for who can defeat whom if they get in a brawl. Another point I used to put forward was Mithun is a good dancer and Amitabh cannot dance at all. For which my brother retorted with this: Mithun is Nachaniya (slang for cross dressers who dance in weddings up north) and Amitabh is real MARD.

All the time he said this, I did something horrible to him (apart from the ongoing punches and kicks we exchanged). Once, while playing in school during interval, I pronto jumped at him, snatched his glasses and threw far away and ran like hell. Or like pulling his knicker down during the assembly, stuffing his lunchbox with sand, emptying his water bottle.

And all this because of he had bad mouthed Mithun.

Govinda after that movie was my favorite for sometime till I saw a movie released much earlier than Love 86. It was Vinod Khann’s Hera Pheri. Well, it was Amitabh’s too but I was never Amitabh's fan. I had seen other movies of Vinod but Hera Pheri transformed me into a bona fide fan of his. And I knew I was his only fan. No one and I say as a matter of fact, no one in my vicinity ever said that Vinod is their favorite. If few did vouch for Mithun or Govinda, no one mentioned Vinod. I now know I was yet to meet some people who were sensible enough to appreciate what an actor he was and thankfully I do now know many such people and particularly few ladies who appreciate a lot more in him than his persona. I know one such who still gets weak-kneed speaking of him.

When it came to heroines, I was absolutely besotted with Sri Devi from then till now. I need a whole different post to talk of her. So, I am going to talk of other few who enormously caught my interest. There was Neetu Singh and her gleaming smile. Dekh Ke Tumko Dil Dola Hai song had three couples; Vinod and Neetu amongst them but not paired opposite. I was not so happy with that information. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoy that song (if not the movie) even now when I see it on some channel.

Bollywood then always came up with movies which were like mind puzzles. Whose son/daughter was born where, raised by whom, finally ending where to avenge whatever crime that was committed by whomever gazillion years ago? And I enjoyed all of them. One such was Dharamveer starring Dharamendra, Zeenat, Jeetendra and Neetu. Chuck all, Neetu was the one for me.

Amrita Singh was another who caught my fancy. I was upset with Mayapuri for calling her ‘Mard Singh’ and I was overtly glad few years later when Jackie Shroff called her the ‘Real Princess’. I am not sure if it was Jackie or someone else. I remember reading that though. Whoever it was knew the real her like I always knew.

As I grew older, I also criticized these very favorites of mine (Mithun, Vinod, Neetu, Amrita) for their idiotic roles and bizarre performances. I knew then, I cannot be anyone’s fan just for the sake of it. I found myself to be blatant in my opinion by the age of 10.

The seeds of unprejudiced position for performances were sown.

P.S. A little diversion here: I am not liking the posts/blogs written on MJ's death and how sad people who are writing these are after hearing he is finished.

When he was alive, none of these people wrote post/blog on 'how good an artiste he was' but post his death everyone seems to be mourning his death out of no where. Be it Shekhar Kapoor, Ram Gopal Varma, Adnan Sami or my fellow blog mates; everyone seems to get up from sleep to say something about him. I like anyone else grew up on his music but I never captured him in my writings all this while; so I see no reason to imprison him in my words post his demise.

I commiserate the sentiment of those who spoke of him. In fact, I did go and comment on few of the blogs which spoke of MJ’s death; but I did that out of friendship with the blogger friend who wrote the piece. I do not wish to offend anyone here by saying this; nonetheless I am finding it very uncanny to read plethora of piece upon his death.

Pakistan All The Way  

Posted by Vee

Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka to win the ICC Twenty20 World Cup Trophy in it’s second season. Pakistan who lost the inaugural final to India in 2007 demonstrated how good they are the team in a match which they almost lost at the end of 15th Over. Cricbuzz reporters after that over wrote: Only Pakistan is capable of losing at this point and only Sri Lanka is capable of not winning from this point. What an ironical statement but I guessed that summed up how Asian teams ultimately choke at the Nth moment. India leads at that is my theory and I stand by it. However, at the end of 17th over it could have been anyone’s game. Many lost faith in Afridi, who by now had just managed to gather 1 or 2 runs if not notorious boundaries and high-flying ones for which he is better known as.

I have been Pakistan Cricket fan since they were defeated by India in 1996 World Cup quarter finals at Chinnaswamy in Bangalore. It was the first ever live match I had seen, despite the fact I was in mid of my Class X board exams and ‘Science’ was 2 days after that unforgettable match. I was over the moon for India’s triumph but I had my heartfelt sympathy for the losing team. I was just 15 then to settle on a favorite. Back then, I had always gone by the fact I am Indian and I need to show my hold up for them. How naïve that was I sense now. As I grew up, I prepared myself for the predictable; wherein, I will be questioned for my beliefs. However, when I still see people holding up to any one for sheer emotional stance, I cringe if their reasoning is not strong enough but I have stopped confronting them.

When Pakistan reached the final of 1999 world cup and were brutally assaulted by the formidable Australian team I was disappointed as a fan. Nevertheless, I also knew they lost to the best side of that time. It was Lord’s and today at the same ground they defeated Sri Lanka and winning by the same number of wickets Australia had won against them 10 years ago, ghosts are finally laid to the rest after that ghastly loss.


Younis Khan
in his most emotional statement ever said before the finals that this win is very important for them and their trouble torn country. Winning is all that is in our mind, he said. And I second that. A momentary happiness but they have something to exult on. And the man who achieved this, of course with the helping hands of other team members is Shahid Afridi. He was the part of the loss in 1999 and he is part of the win in 2009. I cannot see any other sportsman at this moment more joyous than him. He was in his best form throughout and keeping his calm (which is unlikely of him) was appreciable in the close fought match at Lord’s today. The team owes it to him or maybe he was paying back. I remember watching India vs Pakistan Test Match at Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2005 and that’s the only one test match I ever saw live on all the five days. Once, Afridi was fielding at the boundary and I could see him very clearly. Indian crowd booed him endlessly and also threw mouthful of maa-behen ki gaalis at him. I was aghast. Why? Why were my countrymen doing that? Afridi reacted to it by raising his water bottle in the gesture that suggested “Shove it up”. Indians went berserk and gave another round of mouthful. Finally, he was moved to different position; much inside the boundary.

Indians were about to be defeated by then. I tried to reason my mind by thinking the inevitable loss which was about to happen could be the reason for people to behave in such contemptible manner. I was wrong. The public was not bothered about our defeat. I found out; We just love to hate Pakistan Cricket team. I did not like that idea. I was speaking to my classmates after the match and they did not find anything wrong with how few Indians had behaved that day. It was all unsettling for me. I kept my mouth shut. But today I won’t. I have always found them a better team than us. Why I emphasize on 'us' is because all this while I had supported them in mind but this is first time ever I supported them so blatantly and I went into countless arguments for this. For me, It doesn’t matter what Pakistan as a country comes across as to the world and India in particular. When I inadvertently blurted ‘Bhai Log Achha Khel Rahe Hain’ in Pakistan’s favor against their semi-final match against South Africa, a friend in point of fact got hurt by that statement of mine and asked me how could I use term ‘Bhai Log’ for Pakis. For me it was irrelevant, I said it as I would have said ‘buddy’ or ‘yaar’; but he by then had got really upset. I find that stupid. They are my favorites and I have followed their game enigmatically all these years. How can anyone take that away from me? Supporting Pakistan cricket team is not a crime for heaven’s sake. They deserved to win and they did win. End of Story.

Britain's Got Talent, DVD Rental and Bangalore's Night Life  

Posted by Vee

Street dancers Diversity won this year’s Britain’s Got Talent. IMO, they deserved to win after that scintillating dance act in the finals. 48-year old Hairy Angel Susan Boyle for the finals sang “I Dreamed A Dream”, same song which made her an instant star after the first round. Initially ridiculed for her appearance and later for Everything-is-planned ploy which also included the planned shock reaction of audiences and judges alike, she decided to quit the show mid-way. However, she stayed on and came second in the third season of Britain’s Got Talent. I loved her singing but I guess she was hyped way too much. That apart, she has got impressive voice.

My personal favorites Shaheen Jafargholi and Stavros Flatley did enter final but could not reach the final three. In particular twelve year old Shaheen was an absolute delight to hear. Like Susan, he too chose the song he sang in the first round; Michael Jackson’s “Who’s Loving You” and boy was he good? He was enormously attention-grabbing. Greek Irish father-son duo of Stavros Flatley completely entertained with their uncanny dance manner.

Other findings which I enjoyed were: 10-year old Natalie Okri and 11-year old Aidan Davis. Natalie rocked with Jamelia’s Superstar song and Aidan wowed everyone with his delightful dance.

Thanks to talent.itv.com and live commentary by Sujoy on his blog, I was able to watch all these great acts on internet. There were many more amazing performances; I have listed only my favorites.

In my last post, many people asked me the source of those movies. Pirated? Downloaded? Well, nopes. I do not download them from net. I am way too impatient for that. And forget finding those movies in your local dvd library. I am member of DVD rental sites Seventymm and Bigflix. And that’s where I get the movies from. This doesn’t work out cheaper but ultimately I it’s worth it. I had been member of 70mm for over two years now. I am not too demanding, in the sense I do not look out for latest blockbusters or famous ones. I look out for movies which are hard to get otherwise and which we hardly get to hear of. There are so many movies being made all over the world and we get to hear of just 15-20%. Where else could I have seen Iranian/Korean/Mandarin/French/German/Persian/Spanish/Japanese et al language movies? In the name of foreign language films, all that gets released in India are the blockbusters of Hollywood, half of which I found absolute crap. Yes, I am talking of Superman/Spiderman, ye-man, wo-man, Harry Potter and many such. They might be having huge followings but I do not like such movies. Of late, the scene has changed and we do get to see some lesser known good ones releasing in India too, ‘The Revolutionary Road’ for example. Yet, the scene is pathetic when it comes to the release of Non-English movies in India.

Am I happy with them? I have heard from few friends from north that 70mm service sucks. Well, I haven’t found any reasons whatsoever so far to discontinue my membership. And definition of suck varies from one to another. My look-outs are usually the Non-English foreign language films and 70mm comes with a good collection of them. For English, I am trying to watch as many old classics as possible. I am going by the decade and I am still on 50s/60s/70s. I half-way through watching the movies of Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor et al. I do not see any other way to watch their movies as I yet cannot afford to buy DVDs of all these movies.

Serviceability too is an important factor, and my experience says these providers have improved a lot in last couple of years. Initially I did face few hiccups but I was patient. Bigflix I joined recently because I wasn’t getting few movies on 70mm. Though, 70mm remains my primary provider. Cinema Paradiso is another DVD rental site, but I haven’t checked out them. My queue in the former 2 is more than 100+ which will take some time to get exhausted. However, Cinema Paradiso is another good one if words of few of my friends are anything to go by.

I do not go by the fact which site provides maximum number of titles. What is the point if you have more number of titles but what you want to see is not there? These are web based, you can check out the kind of movies you wish to watch and decide whether you want to take the membership or not. Makes sense?

Btw, did I tell how Bangalore is progressing backwards? The deadline for pubs/clubs to remain open is 11.30 PM, killing the nightlife. And, not many know that dancing here in pubs/clubs is banned. This wasn't enough that the show timings of the movies have been revised and the last show of the day will be screened at 8 PM. Can anyone beat that? The last show here till now started by 10 PM and in order to reduce the crime (words of Shankar Bidari, Bangalore Police Commissioner), they have decided to end the show at the most by 11 PM for which the show must be at 8. Now, is that rational? I do not even wish to get into the pros and cons of this as I feel there are many people (working ones usually) who would prefer to go for late night show after day’s work. And if not just that, there could be hazaar other reasons. And why any reasons? Do not we have any say in anything? Ending up show 2 hours early than usual will reduce crime. Mashallah.

Quickie  

Posted by Vee

Facebook and Blogging took backseat, thanks to work. Phone calls and SMSes reduced but Books and Movies never lost their priority. Surprisingly, the number of movies I watched in last one month is almost double of what I watched in 2 months before that. And same goes for the books. I finished 4 books and started the 5th one 4 days back. IPL too was something which kept me away from the world. My favorites since the first edition of IPL (Delhi Daredevils) lost in semi-final, so I wasn't actually rooting for any particular team in finals. No, I am not amongst those who decide their favs based on the place they belong to or feel closer to. Bangalore played good cricket (in the later half of IPL-2) but they were(are) never in my top 3 list. However, I appreciate their game and the rise from nowhere to runner-ups and same goes for Deccans for showing the best of cricket and clinching the IPL-2 trophy.

Anyways, here goes short reviews of the movies I saw in last one month.

World Cinema: (English title in bracket)

Kurdish/Persian:

Niwemang (Half Moon) - *** - Mamo, a musician after seven months of hard labor to get approval to perform in Iraqi Kurdistan leaves for the final concert of his life along with his sons (9 or 10 they were). Along the way, he picks up a female singer Hesho. As women are not allowed to sing in public, they all get in to trouble with the police. Niwemang (Half-Moon), a girl who is a huge fan of Mamo suddenly appears out of nowhere and helps them in reaching the concert place on time.

Portuguese:

Cidade de Deus (City of God) - ****1/2 - If you run you're dead...if you stay, you're dead again. Period. That’s the tag line of the movie. It sums up the movie. One of the finest movies based on Mafia/Crime/Thriller, Cidade de Deus tells the story of a boy (Rocket from his point of view) as he gets entangled in the drugs, crime, and an ultimate rush to get away from it. A true story based in 60s and 70s of Brazil is a real cinema that would leave you with a lump in your throat.

German:

Gegen die Wand (Head-On) - ***1/2 – Part German and part Turkish movie Gegen die Wand is a romantic drama. Cahit is not so happy with his life and after getting drunk at a club, rams his car purportedly into the wall. He survives but has a support around neck. At the hospital he sees a girl (Sibel) staring at her. As soon as he walks out, the girl approaches him and asks him to marry her. He is shocked at the proposal. Sibel explains her reasoning and they get married. Quite strange eh? Watch the movie to realize how amazingly psychedelic it gets. Directed by celebrated director Fatih Akin, Head-On or Gegen die Wand is a fresh story.

Im Juli (In July) - ****1/2 – After Gegen die Wand I wanted to watch other movies of Fatih Akin and got hold of Im Juli. The story is spanned across the first 8 days of the month of July.

Daniel is a school teacher in Hamburg. He is not planning to go out of city for summer vacation. Juli (a vendor) has crush on him but she is too shy to tell him that. She finds a way out. She sells him a ring with a Sun on it. She tells him that he soon will meet a girl who will carry a sun too and that girl will understand him the most. Daniel sees a girl (Melek) wearing a t-shirt with sun imprinted on it. He befriends her. Melek, its soon revealed is from Turkey and is heading to Istanbul to meet her boyfriend. Juli sees them both and is dejected and decides to leave city for vacation. Coincidentally Daniel who by now has decided to follow Melek to the Istanbul gives her a ride when he sees Juli at the road which goes out of city. A marvelous and unexpected journey filled with unusual circumstances begin and things go out of hand. They get separated only to meet at Istanbul by when Daniel has already met Melek and in a surprising way her boyfriend before meeting her. It is a lovely story and was released in 2000. The emphasis on year is because after watching this, I have no doubts that Imtiaz Ali was totally inspired by it to make his ‘Jab We Met’. I was of a mind that JWM was an original story but I do not think so now. Our makers, mashallah.

Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir) - **** - Nominated this year for Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category, Vals Im Bashir is the first animated movie to achieve that honor. Ari, a director once is reminded by his friend about the Lebanon War they both were part of. Ari has long forgotten the war and do not have a single memory of that war. He is not suffering from Amnesia, he knows. Yet, there is no memory of that war. He starts looking for friends who were with him then and gives a picture to what he is told. The movie is a poignant drain. An absolute moving film.

French:

Les Quatre Cents Coups (400 Blows) - **** - Spoilt boy Antoine is a trouble maker and pain in ass for his parents and school teachers. Majorly misunderstood boy soon gets into minor crimes in the neighborhood. He spreads his wings of trivial crimes to the city (Paris). Paris is captured magnificently through the eyes of Antoine in this passionate drama.

Spanish:

Amores Perros (Love’s a Bitch) - ****1/2 – Three stories. Interconnected through a ghastly car accident. Motorcycle star Gael Garcia is in love with his brother’s wife and persuades her to run away with him. He gets his pet dog in a dog-fighting competition to make money so that he can run away with his beloved. A middle aged publisher abandons his family for the love of Spanish Supermodel. The model gets injured in the car accident which is caused by Gael Garcia. A homeless-moneyless ex-teacher who has a junk cart carrying stray dogs is the witness of this accident. There is much more to all this than said. I was absolutely overwhelmed with the great direction and brilliant performances by all.

Korean:

Bin-Jip (3-Iron) - ***1/2 – The protagonist has a peculiar way of living. He looks out for the houses which are empty (probably on vacation et al) and gets into the house secretly to live till the family is back. While staying, he takes care of the house like his own, washing clothes etc. Once, he gets into house absolutely unaware of the fact that the abused and assaulted wife is still there. He goes on living and she secretly watches him. Once he realizes that their life changes. The movie has minimal dialogues and is majorly conveyed through actions and emotions.

Hollywood:

Judgment at Nuremberg - **** - 3 years after World War – II, an American Court puts 4 Nazi Judges on trial for ill-doings during the Hitler’s regime. Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift come once again after ‘From Here To Eternity’ in this highly powerful movie. Clift has a cameo; however he goes onto win Nominations for the Best Supporting Actor at Oscars that year. The best part of the movie was the Actor Maximilian Schell (Won Best Actor-Oscar). A movie loaded with dominant performances and emotion.

In Bruges - *** - Nominated for the Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) at Golden Globes, In Bruges is a story of two hit men (Colin and Brendan) hired by Ralph to go to Bruges. Colin has a disturbing past of killing a young boy. The story thereafter follows their time spent in Bruges. Colin who got nominated for Best Actor at GG and ultimately won has moved from his eye-candy image and grown as an actor a la Di Caprio.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - **1/2 - Woody Allen, The Moghul of sex-inclined movies comes with another tale of sexually-driven story of two female friends (Scarlett and Rebecca) who are on tour to Spain and their encounter with artiste couple (Penelope and Javier). Javier propositions Scarlett-Rebecca to accompany him for weekend to a distant city. Rebecca hesitates but Scarlett is totally smitten by him. They both eventually accompany and the trip and the return thereafter change everyone’s life including Javier’s wife Penelope.

Dot the I - ***1/2 - Another Gael Garcia’s movie. Natalia is engaged to James and on her Hen’s night (similar to Bachelor’s party), she is asked to participate in a tradition wherein she has to kiss a complete stranger. She kisses Gael who is sitting at the same restaurant. Soon, they fall in love and what ensues thereafter is an absolute treat for people who like thrillers with a pinch of drama and romance added.

Milk - **** - Everyone knows about Milk. Oscar winning movie about America’s first openly gay activist Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn who got Best Actor Oscar for this role) who gets elected to California office and his fight for gay rights is an intense and emotional film. The film captures Milk’s life from the day he turned 40 till the time he was killed by his colleague Dan White, who was a conservative.

All The King’s Men - ***1/2 – Sean Penn plays smart and cunning Willie Stark, elected governor who is up against the riches and upper classes. When upper classes (including an influential judge) get together to impeach him, he gets one of his subordinates, Jude Law (who is related to judge but rebelled to support Willie) to trace the life of the judge. Things get ugly during the course and it ends with a dreadful finale.

Left Luggage - ***1/2 – There have been umpteen movies based on Holocaust. Left Luggage is one of them. It tells the story of a holocaust survivor who had hidden the suitcases during WW-II and after the war is over he starts looking for his suitcases (luggage). His daughter Chaya is a party time baby-sitter-cum-nanny at a Jewish family. The head of the family is a conservative Jewish while Chaya is a free-spirited and liberal Jewish. Chaya is well accepted by the other family members (wife and 4 children) especially the youngest boy. The boy cannot speak though he is four years old. Chaya often takes him to the park near the lake and teaches him to speak. Everybody’s life turns upside down one fine morning. A heart-touching drama.

Platoon - **** - The infamous NAM war has been the favorites of many American directors. Platoon, the first in trilogy (followed by Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven & Earth) covering the Vietnam War by JFK director Oliver Stone is not just about men fighting the war. It is an emotional portrayal of a young recruit (Charlie Sheen) who is caught between the fight with enemies and the fight within his regiment.

Henry and June - *** - A true story. Acclaimed authors Henry Miller and Anais Nin had more than just mutual admiration for each other. June (Uma Thurman) who was married to Henry and supposedly had same-sex relation with Anais was an inspiration to both Henry and Anais. Henry and June literally lived off Anais and her husband Hugo’s money when in Paris. Anais gets into sexual relation with Henry while he is working on his novel (Tropic of Cancer; title suggested by Anais). Anais is intimated by June and shares a moment or two of intimacy with her.

Movies of Audrey Hepburn:

When it comes to Audrey, the only word that comes to my mind is enchanting. She is an absolute delight to watch. The first movie of hers that I saw was Breakfast at Tiffany’s and I was blown. Roman Holiday confirmed my confidence in her and I realized there can never be anyone like Audrey. That was last year. I wasn’t able to get hold of her other movies as my search continued. And this month I got to see three of her finest works.

Wait Until Dark - ***1/2 has her playing a blind girl who is left alone at apartment by her husband who has some work to attend to. Three men take advantage of the situation and enter the apartment in search of a doll who they believe her husband has hidden. Only these three men know that the doll has heroine stuffed inside it which her husband was given at the airport by a young woman who wanted to avoid giving it to one of these men present then at the airport. Woman puts it in Audrey’s husband’s hand and vanishes amongst the crowd. A crime thriller well directed.

Charade - ***1/2 – A startling chemistry between legends Cary Grant and Audrey in Charade will be remembered for ever. Audrey while in Paris discovers that her husband (never shown) is killed and has left a fortune which is missing. Many men enter her life suddenly to lay claim to the missing cash, including Cary Grant. She trusts only Cary but later finds out even he is fake and is behind the cash. The movie is full with some very interesting and witty dialogues between Cary and Audrey.

My Fair Lady - ***** - The best of the lot (these 3). Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) is an upper class snob, who thinks that he can make a flower girl (Audrey) who is crude, tom-boyish and unrefined into a proper lady and can pass her as one from roal family with hew teachings on phonetics, language and mannerisms. The musical has many fine moments. This is how a musical should be made I feel. Watch it for a totally different pleasure.

My Zimbio
Top Stories