Skyfall

DISCLAIMER: Forgive me, for my writing is a little rusty now.

My long jinx at watching movies was finally broken and in great style......a rendezvous with James.....Commnader James Bond. Yes yes no matter how many "good" movies I missed including Barfee, I couldn't have missed the latest Bond Flick.....Skyfall.

I know its been touted the best bond movie in 20 years...well that claim could be true.....but I still think Pierce Bronsnan bonds were more stylish.

Here, the story was the hero and not Daniel Craig. The locations and cinematography were brilliant. Add to that Adele's soundtrack.

I would say the Soundtrack of Skyfall was one of the best Bond Movie soundtracks I've heard in a long time.

Definitely worth a watch, not sure if a second one. Personally, it was a breath of fresh air for me.

Hubby and me haven't gone to the movies for a very long time. My college work is keeping me very busy and not really getting time to do the fun stuff. First semester got over on Friday and we will have exams in 2 weeks. Skyfall came as the perfect oppourtunity to break the jinx of watching movies and enjoy a good movie.

Loved watching the movie........and we had a big tub of popcorn to enjoy the movie. The action sequences and the cinematography were great. Daniel Craig was himself, woodden. Sorry, Daniel, I can't get to like you still.....but I like your movies.

So, go on watch the movie......it sure is great fun......got a feeling of the old style Bond movies......loved the vintage Aston Martin.....the movie wouldn't have ended without its usage.

Bhai Ki Dulhaniya Ke Jaaoonga

Sometime ago, I was thinking.....my o my....why don't we have hrishikesh mukherjee style light hearted movies....which one could watch at any time of the day or night and especially when feeling blue and down and instantly feeling total upliftment of mood, just like how we feel after having a tub of chocolate ice cream. And then had the fortune of finally catching up Mere Brother Ki Dulhan a couple of weeks back.

Made an instant plan one weekend morning and informed hubby that I had bought tickets for the early evening show. Hubby was slightly suprised as he wasn't sure how the movie was, since we'd heard mixed reviews. I was reluctant too because of the reviews I had read aka Rajeev Masand.

Rajeev said that the movie is over simplistic. I would say the story was like any other, but the treatment was slightly simple....but not something where the review had to rule it out. Of course, we can't compare it to hrishikesh mukherjee kinds....but it was in the same league......the execution of the story could've been a little better.

Imran was awesome in his chocolate boy role. Katrina, I felt, was a quiet loud in her expressions ( as usual ). Ali Zaffar was good in regular comic role, I quiet liked him. The movie was short and sweet, but could've made it a little better....the fathers were slightly over acting types. The songs were good, very refreshing - "Matrimonial see Aankhen" and "Kaisa yeh ishq hai, ajab sa risk hai". Loved the spoofs. I believe the actors put in their best, but they weren't in the same league as rishi da's stars.

Rishi da and his actors have a special place in our hearts - Utpal Dutt, Amol Palekar, the bubbly chulbulee Jaya Bhaduri and even our dear Garam Dharam. Comparing with any of the stars today is an insult to them, but what do we do we got to make do with our current line up.

Lastly, all I would say is that the movie is definitely once watchable. There are a lot of good moments, don't go without watching it once....it makes a nice watch on a rainy day with popcorns :) :). And Now,

Mausam - change of season too sudden

Watched Mausam today all by myself....of course Mr. Mishra was surprised, but unlike last time he didn't say...."Oh, you're watching the movie all by yourself, you aren't waiting for me to take you to the movies."

Anyways, to do what I want to do - I thought Mausam was changing seasons too many too soon too sudden. 

Just like its slogan " A timeless love story" - I think the the team thought they have less time to tell this story....too many subplots....too many visits around the country and foreign locales.....but what was most important was that there was a distinct difference in the way first and second half were handled.....I thought may Senior Mr. Kapoor directed the first half and then our dear Shasha (Shahid, for all who don't know) threw tantrum and doned the director's chair. 

Loved the look and picturisation.......Sasha looked yum, took me back in time and reminded of all those young officers we used to have a crush at the mess parties :) :).....happy memories. Sonam looked gorgeous. Both papa and sunny kapoor took the wise decision to keep Sonam's lines to the minimum.

Sonam looked gorgeous.Have to hand it to her, very stylish and good glamour for the movie. Atleast she had less lines, otherwise the movie would have been unbearable and long.

The movie seemed a little longer than it should've been.....maybe chopping of a few sequences wouldn't have made a big difference....was Sr. Kapoor's idea or Sasha's idea for the movie to be this dramatic....I think the times of Karan Johar mega drama days are passe....and I think this Kapoor clan forgot about that.....it might be about events of the past, when dramatic movies were a hit, but not anymore.

Mr. Pankaj Kapoor, good luck for Happi...looking forward to it....your directorial venture wasn't bad, but not as par with your acting skills.....I'm sure with time your story telling skills would also reach the same height as your acting.

A Lawyer in a Lincoln - "The Lincoln Lawyer"

My yummy Matthew McConaughey (man the last name is a twister - just copied it off the poster on the left.

Am a little late to write about it, but nevertheless wanted to.

Checked out the movie like a month ago and wanted to write about it. Then, lets get down to business.

Story was interesting, but I felt that the director was in a hurry to tell us the story, felt like the book would've taken longer to tell the story - just like the Potter series. For me, the movie was like the aaloo bhujiya I made yesterday night - over crispy.

It was more like a no nonsene to the point kind of a movie, could've done with a little bit of drama. Maybe could've told us a little bit more about our characters. I thought the "NTGUILTY" number plate for a car was an interesting concept. Would love to compare it with the book :) :).

I would say like any other thriller, except - Jewel Thief and Johny Mera Naam - once watchable.

Our First Couple Shopping Spree

Checked out the Delhi Book Fair on Sunday and my oh my me and my hubby went crazy shopping for books.

Hindi Literature was our favourite buy and we bought lots of it. We bought books till hands ached from carrying them. If you missed, check it out next year. The ride was fun too.

The Delhi Metro ride to Pragati Maidan reminded me my NYC subway days, though it was better this time not just because of better coaches but also because I was with hubby and it was our first metro ride together. The ride also gave me a lightbulb next to my brain.

I give you Sanghrahalayof the book kind of course.

The Great Circus

I always thought The Russian Circus was the longest running circus. There is one Indian Circus which seems to be competing with that - Comedy Circus. Its been running for so long that I don't even remember when it started. So, I decided to ask Google Bhaiya and wikipedia gave me a list of all its seasons. That's when I realised how many seasons it has been and how Archana Puran Singh re-invented her career with this simple show. It was just another reality show because it started around the sametime as India Laughter Challenge. Later, it became a brand of its own and Laughter Challenge and some others on other channels also faded away. The jokes got crassier by the season, but I couldn't stop watching it because there were some really good performances as well. I loved performances of Kashiv Khan, Shailesh Lodha & Apara Mehta, Shakeel and Kuldeep Dubey. Hopefully we'll see good performances in the new seasons.

Legally Downloadable

Big Thanks to everyone on sending over their suggestions about buying a new cellphone. For the ones who just came to know, I'm looking to buy a new cellphone.....not hi-fi....good features and dependable. So, let me know if you want to give me an idea. So, getting back to the point of the post. I discovered the following on cnn ibn website:
http://ibnlive.in.com/photogallery/2417-0.html?from=tn

The article outlines about ten websites where you can download music for free. Now, I know all you new music enthusiasts might not find new songs, but its a start. So, check it out, maybe you might find something useful.

Mystery and Me

Growing up, parents always felt there was a derth of good clean family drama on tv and this was true, as I remember Tara, Swabhimaan and Shanti were the pioneers of popular television shows in India in my generation and were aired on prime time on National Channel. They were hardly appropriate for kids. Alas, at that time the only kids shows were "Potli Baba Ki" and "The Jungle Book". Once cable television kicked in, I upgraded slowly to Saanp Seedi (the Mohan Kapoor show) and then to Crystal Maze - I used to love that show. It was because of Crystal Maze that I picked up interest in puzzle solving, which in turn has made me into this crime thriller fanatic that I'm today.

My tryst with mystery started with Byomkesh Bakshi - the Rajat Kapoor starrer tv show.

As a kid, I used to love watching this show. This was considered a clean family drama by my family. So, every wednesday dinner was spent in front of the television watching the adventures of the genuis Bengali Investigator. I would love to own all the seasons on DVD if possible, as I understand there was more than one season. I did find some of the episodes I hadn't seen on youtube, but "Yeh Dil Maange More."

After this came - Commander and Tehkikaat on DD Metro - the satellite channel for DD National. Of this Tehkikaat was more of my favourite.

The show featured Vijay Anand as the detective Sam and Saurbah Shukla as his trusted side kick Gopi. "Hum tehkikaat karne aaye hain" - from the opening credits is still fresh in my mind. This show also had a funny bone. Comedy is Saurabh Shukla's forte, so he played it with a lot of ease. Compared to Byomkesh Bakshi, this show was slightly on the adult side of the TV Show audience spectrum. Since, we didn't grow up on Nicklodean, we don't know the PG, PG-13 and PG-15 concepts. And good we don't.

Then came Raja Aur Rancho and some other shows which I didn't like very much. Like a drop of water in a desert, came CID.

ACP Pradyuman and his team kept me on the edge of my seat for a very long time. I have to admit that I have this really long ever lasting still continuing crush on Inspector Daya. The character of Dr. Salunkhe, the genius forensic doctor, is very interesting. Made me wonder, how you can tell so much about a dead person by carefully inspecting the body and carrying out some chemical tests on the body. I do understand that the real life of a Forensic doctor isn't as glamourous. If this extra glamourisation, helps highlight a potential employment oppourtunity, why not do this extra drama. "Give her an inch and she'll ask for the whole continent" was when I would watch CID. This hunger for more murder mysteries was satiated by CSI (all three) - CSI, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY.

Grissom and his crime lab team-mates, did teach me a thing or two about forensic investigation. I owe my higtened observation skills to them. And this skill wouldn't have been sharpened had I not chanced upon CSI while watching AXN. The show might have been popular in US, but we caught onto to it pretty late. Once I saw one episode, there was no looking back. In many ways, it reminded me of CID and I would often find myself comparing the two shows and like any Asian, I would prefer CSI over CID. Not because of fair skin, blonde hair and accent, but because of better presentation. Soon, I was to discover a little more glam version of CSI - CSI: Miami.

What happens when you up the glam quotient of CSI, you get CSI: Miami. Better looking actors, more suave and slick with oddles of attitude like the Pierce Bronsnan bond (just the way I like it). In fact, Prince Charming also liked CSI:Miami when he saw it the other day :) :). Smaller team, no infighting and politics of promotions and demotions, good, clean, mystery solving. Though, later I did realise that the whole in-office romance can never be ruled out. Nevertheless, less conflicts between characters makes it a better watch for me. Horatio Cane if my fav in the team. The character sketching is interesting for me. Caring, conflicted yet saving the day everyday. So, what happens when you think that maybe you aren't able to get enough viewers on east coast. You give them CSI with a flavour of the east side :) - CSI:NY.

When you get a chance of getting a free guided

tour of New York, shouldn't really say no and I didn't too. With great reluctance, I started watching CSI:NY, hoping that I wasn't heading towards an overdose of CSI. I wasn't. Took me a while to warm up to the show, but I was able to identify with characters, situations, references and places easily, as I had walked those very NY streets when I was studying at Philadelphia. This is when I also understood, the reasoning behind CID and CID: Special Bureau. Though I didn't like Special Bureau, but at least I was able to understand the rationale that might have driven it - potential business oppourtunity. Unlike, in the case of CSI, that franchise of CID didn't last too long. Anyways, lets talk about my new addiction - The Genius "Monk" who solves crimes for San Francisco Police Dept.

Monk, my latest favourite murder mystery. Cleanest, least side-effects but impactful. Reminds me of Byomkesh Bakshi. The difference is that Byomkesh Bakshi didn't have phobias. Monk, as most of you know, is the story about a brilliant ex San Francisco Police Dept (SFPD) detective working as an external consultant for SFPD. I discovered Monk in 2004, the year I landed on US soil to pursue my bachelors and have always tried to catch all episodes of the show. After Byomkesh Bakshi, Monk is my most favourite show ever.

I haven't mentioned some of my other discoveries - Special Squad, Numbers, Bones, JAG, Casa Picola, Law and Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Murder She Wrote.

My list ends with Monk and does have exclusions, which are listed above. The reason for the exclusion is simple - don't like them much. The reasons for the dislike are only few - too much glam, sub plots running helter skelter within the main plot and weak acting by actors. Now, I'm sure some of you disagree with all that I've written. Looking forward to your observations and comments.

Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival - Day 2 - Awsome!!

Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival started here at Hyderabad this Monday Oct 26, 2009. It has an interesting line up of Hindi, English, Marathi, Telugu and even German performances. Just attended the second play of the festival today and was completely bowled over. Qadir Ali Baig, I hear, was a quiet a popular writer. His son, Mohammad Ali Baig runs the Qadir Ali Baig foundation. This foundation organizes the Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival annually since 2007. Today was Day 2.

Day 2 of the festival was featuring the second play by Naseeruddin Shah - Ismat Aapa ke Naam Part 2. I had missed this play once in Bangalore, during Dusshera time this year. So, when I realised that I was getting a second chance and that mom would also love to watch it, I bought the tickets. The play was very nice. The style presentation, as Manoj Pahwa reminded us in the introduction, was more of a narration style. The character would narrate as well as enact the story. This was quiet an interesting narration style. The plots were interesting too.

The play "Ismat Aapa ke Naam" as the name suggests was a colourful ensemble of stories written by Ismat Chugtai - India's first liberal women writers. Naseer and team had chosen 3 stories - Amar Bel, Nannhi ki Naani and Do Haath. Of the the three stories - I love "Do Haath" the best. All in all good second day at the theatre festival.

Though I will miss the one tomorrow, but always wishing that we have many more events like these. Looking forward to the second leg of the festival to be organised at Ravindra Bharti from Nov 6th.h

Soul Soothing - Jai Ho

Rehman Bhai kee Jai Ho....is the after thought that is part of the after effect of most soul soothing and exhilarating weekend experience....the AR Rehman Jai Ho concert here at Hyderabad on 24th Oct 2009. It was always a secret dream to attend an AR Rehman concert.

Especially after watching the magnificient AR Rehman concert held in Delhi on TV, always always secretly prayed that I should also be presented with an oppourtunity to attend the concert live and watch 2 of my most favourite musicians - AR Rehman and Sivamani.

The evening started off with a bang. I don't want to recap the whole event. All I want to say is that it was an out of this world experience.....with numbers like Dil Se, Khawaja Mere Khawaja and Ring Ring Ringaa. Once the concert started, I didn't look left or right, I was stuck staring at the stage. Rehmaan sahab gave us a power packed night with fast songs, love songs, classical, sufi, rap. The conclusion was the best. My most favourite part was the sitar jugalbandi. Full respect for all performers, and all the love for Rehmaan and Sivamani. Loved our part of audience section.....people sitting in front of us and in a few rows behind were all very sporting.......we all shouted a lot of songs during the concert and, clapped and waved our hands. It was good they asked me to keep the camera in the car, as I wouldn't have used it. I was busy shouting the songs and dancing on my seat. The conclusion was befitting a Rehman concert.

He ended with - Jai Ho and Vande Mataram. We all stood up for Jai Ho and we were all shouting and jumping for Jai Ho and of course we all did a full throated shout on Vande Mataram.

Rehman is simply the best and I feel lucky to have finally attended his concert live.

I sound like a love struck puppy...don't I. Don't care, I was just part of most one of most previleged group of people who watched AR Rehman live.

My Tryst with Theatre

I come from a fine arts loving family and a family where everyone is encouraged to learn at least one of the forms - dance, music, theatre. My grandparents used to play the sitar. My uncles have learnt instruments and my aunt Kathak. I also tried to keep the tradition going.

1. I trained in Kathak for 3 years.
2. I tried to learn the keyoboard, but wasn't too successful.

Then I found performance.

I started with attending the concert by Mr. Anup Jalota and another one by Mr. Jagjit Singh. Then, I went to US to finish my study and then I came back and discovered theatre.

I attended my first play 2 weekends ago, 2nd October. I never thought I would watch Mr. Naseeruddin Shah perform as my first play to attend. It was a great experience. The play was titled "Katha Collage".

Katha Collage - as it was a collection of 3 plays - Bade Bhai Sahab, Shatranj Ke Khiladi and Samantran. The first two were written by Munshi Premchand.

I've probably just read one or two stories written by Munshi Premchand, as part of course work. But, I would definitely like to read Bade Bhai Sahab.

Naseer's son Imad had played the protagonist in this play. He was very good and a very very close resemblence with Naseer, even in the voice.

All in all it was a very enjoyable experience and very theraputic for curing the stress built up for weeks.

Me and mom agreed, that plays and theatre definiltely improves our quality of life. Fine arts isn't a very expensive hobby if compared with the shopping and movies people do every weekend.

Discovering Sudha Murty - the author

We all know her as the better half of the software entrepreneurship icon, but I just discovered Sudha Murty, the author.

During my long hiatus, about which you can read on my other blog, on my way back from Bangalore after attending Preetam bhaiya's wedding I discovered 2 books written by Sudha Murty - Mahasheta and Gently Falls the Bakula.

Easy reads and but awsome books. Had I not fallen asleep on my way back to Hyderabad, I would've definitely finished Mahashweta.

Mahashweta is a simple story which we can all relate to - struggle of a woman when she discoveres she has lucoderma and how her fairy tale wedding comes to an end and she realises the true colours of her husband and in-laws. The other book was more close to my heart - Gently Falls the Bakula.

Gently falls the Bakula is about the emptyness of a woman's life when she totally becomes her husband's shadow and how the female protoganist realises this and takes a bold decision to reconstruct her life. The book made me realise all the struggles and sacrifices my mother has happily gone through for us. And makes me want to stop her from sacrificing anymore and want everyone else around including me to do a little more than we do because its a previlege that a woman sacrifices for her family, its not her duty. This is the first time I read about a strong female protagonist.

Not a lot of stories I read, where the female protagonists are strong to rise to the challenge independently and face them successfully. Somewhere, these novels give me a reassurance that my principle of being completely independent isn't wrong. The only interesting this is that in both the stories the protagonists walk out of their marriage, sorry Mrs. Murty I'm giving away the endings. It almost feels like an indenpendent woman can't make a marriage work because her husband always feels threatened because of her fierce independent attitude. This is also a major point of difference between me and mom.

Mom always tells me that to make a marriage and a family successful, the wife has to take the backseat in terms of work and go into the shadows because one person has to look after the family and kids and nurtuting them and making them a better human being. I don't disagree that a mother has to spend more time with the kids when they are growing up, I've seen this true in our own family. Though, I don't agree with the shadow part.

A woman is most precious gift a man from God gets in his life and he should respect her and cherish her. And when there is a family, the whole family should realise her contributions and sacrifices and not take her for granted. I would love to read a book where a woman lives on her own terms and has a sucessful marriage and happy family.

Mrs. Murty, since you've seen the world more than I have, I want to ask you," Is there no reality where a woman is able to fulfil her dreams and still have a successful marriage and a happy well developed family." If there is, please write about it. I'm not very sure if a woman has to pay the price of being independent as walking out of a marriage and having no family.

Soothing the heart with Music & Lyrics

Ever seen a movie and just said, "Aww, that felt nice." Music and Lyrics did that to me.

It's a heart soothing watch, on a rainy sunday with some coffee/tea/cola/fruit punch (whatever you may prefer). For me, it was like watching one of the lesser known movies which are worth watching once because they are built using the same basic formula without too much glitter and gloss.

I keep watching different types of movies, so sometimes I want to watch the old run of the mill movie. Reminded me of "Never Been Kissed", one of the other lesser known movies of Drew Barrymore. Though, I watched Music & Lyrics for Hugh Grant.

Being a Hugh Grant, I make it a point to watch all his movies - that have come out since I came of age. He is undoubtedly one of the best chocolate boys of English movies. And he plays the romantic roles with best of the best English charm that he doesn't have to try to bring out, it flows naturally. His portrayal of the coming of the age of the pop-sensation in the movie was good to watch. Technically, the movie lacked a lot of things, but I don't want to get into all that.

I had a soothing experience at the end of it, that's what I'm going with. Would definitely have to start with a Hugh Grant collection now.

Raaz 2 - Bhatt can't so without inspiration

Raaz 2 was on my list of movies to watch and I finally caught up with it last night. Bhatt seems to have his director inspired not only by the stories from Hollywood but also the movie making style. Emraan was good, Kangana and Adhyayan were themselves - wooden and for Jackie Dada it was business as usual.

All in all ok.....but watch it on rented DVD.

Don't want to say much.

Raaz was a much better inspiration.

Yeh Delhi Hai Mere Yaar

When a book sketches out the scene in your brain, we call it a lively description. When a movie sucks you into a scene being enacted and you feel like on of the extras in the crowd of the shot, I don't know what you call it, but I call it a super cool, highly engaging visual delight. "Wow" - to sum it up all up.

Yes, I said "Wow" (in my brain) when the movie ended. I felt like I was standing in Chandini Chowk, even though the set was setup in Jaipur. I was completely conumed by the vibrancy and energy of the portrayal. Bravo Mr. Mehra and team.

Yes, all Kudos to Mr. Rakeysh Mehra and his team of technicians for putting us through such a detailed portrayal of the Chandini Chowk. Mehra's team has nailed it to T, in putting the set together. Costumes, look, make-up everything was perfect. I was completely floored by the Visual Treat I was subjected to. Loved that scene where the cow is about is give birth to a calf in the middle of the road or where a sleeping Abhisek Bachchan in the car is woken up by the snorting of a horse on his face. This brings me to the characters in the movie.

First of all, Rakeysh and his team did a fantastic job of sketching out all the characters to the perfection. Secondly, the casting was also perfect except the lead stars. The real stars of the movie are all the character actors - Om Puri, Pavan Malhotra, Supriya Pathak, Deepak Dobriyal, Raghubeer Yadav and the likes. I hope Abhishek and Sonam took a lot of notes when watching the others portray their role if they want to improve their career graph. The plot was good but slightly thin as Rakeysh seems to want to fit a lot in very less time.

It seemed like Rakeysh was a man on the mission to fit every little detail about Chandini Chowk in the movie. I felt he should've developed the Kala Bandar angle a little more. Other, than that I thought the movie was "WOW".

Solace Quantified

Ever thought to yourself, finally the nightmare is over and boom hit by something much worse than the previous situation. I don't know about you guys but this is what I said when I saw Quantum of Solace.

I hoped that Bond may have made peace with his past and we would be treated to watching some uber cool gadgets. I forgot that the last Bond adventure ended at Bond deciding to take revenge.

Thus, he came out full throttle to avenge the death of his beloved. I was happy to see the last Bond movie as it told us about how it all started. This change is trend is quiet harmful also.

It seems like the change of production house means starting things afresh. Thus, we get a whole new series on how it all started with Bond and how our dear Commander James Bond chose to be a playboy instead of a one woman man. If that is true, I would wish that the production sell it that way.

If we are to go down memory lane then I would suggest using props that belong to those times. Can't fit modern props into a movie about old times. This is something that even our larger than life Hindi movies keep in mind. I don't like to see Bond without his sauve nature, gadgets and women.

I read "Who Moved My Cheese" a few weeks ago and I know it says we should accept change as its inevitable. Even then, a change in Bond that makes him look geeky and fixated on one woman isn't the kind of change I want, when I watch a Bond movie. The only changes that should happen are his gadgets, women, enemies and martini. I mean, come on, Bond can't be rustic and un-sophisticated. How's he going to win over the women and destroy his enemies. Also, this whole Bond being a one woman man is kind of a repeated story.

We have already seen On Her Majesty's Secret Service, where Bond was married, wife gets killed by archenemy and bond avenges the death. I know a lot of you might beg to differ, and I totally respect it.

Last words, Commander Bond is making it very difficult for me to like him. Commander, please fast track and give us a window into your present if not the future.

Dark Knight - Finally a comic for grown ups

I had the good fortune of catching this movie at the theaters last week and I regretted not watching Batman Begins. Dark Knight was brilliant. Heath Ledger was very very convincing in his slimy Joker character. According to me though, the heroes of the movie were the editor and the background score musician. The movie was simply brilliant.

Yes ladies and Gentlemen, if you had the misfortune of missing Batman Begins (like me), don't miss The Dark Knight. My first reaction was that of awe and respect for Christopher Nolan (the director); what an imagination. I mean the guy took a simple comic book for kiddies and turned into a Comic book for grown ups without using the sexual connotations of Sin City. Its a good, clean absolutely entertaining movie. Once the movie got over, I told myself that in addition to V for Vendetta, Batman Begins and Dark Knight are also on my list of movies I want to buy for my personal collection. The characterization was perfect. Christopher definitely succeeded in getting the best from his crew, and yes, Heath Ledger was exceptional.

Ledger's Joker gave me the perfect slimy feeling that the director was aiming for; a very different characterization compared to Jack Nicholson's Joker in the George Clooney starer Batman & Robin. Ledger's line "Why so serious?"- gave me goosebumps every time I heard it in the movie. There were some people even more brilliant than Ledger who the made the movie the hit it is - The editor and The Background Score Musician.

The background score of the movie was haunting, perfectly suited for the mood at each scene. During the action scenes also, the background made quiet an impact. Saving the best for the last, 3 cheers for the editor of the movie - what a skilled technician. The editing was slick, to the point and no time wasting at all. According to me, Chris Nolan should thank his editor for doing such a stupendous job. If Chris Nolan was able to keep me at the edge of my seat, it wasn't just because of the story or the way he took a shot, it was also because of how the movie was cleverly edited and each scene was sharp and crisp; making the movie a crunchy delight to the last bite. There is always a second side to the coin and so is true for the movie too.

There were goof ups, bloopers and as I was read on a couple of reviews forums, a lot of them. Also, when the movie started I felt slightly lost as I wasn't introduced to the characters; but it doesn't take you more than 10 minutes to figure out the history. Its actually a good thing because Chris Nolan has succeeded at what most directors have failed since the last part of Godfather - Making a Sequel.

Kudos to Chris Nolan and his team. In retrospect, all I can say is, its a brilliant movie - Go Watch It, you'll enjoy it. You won't feel like a grown up at a kiddie movie.

Everyone's a Winner

"Everyone's a winner" - something we all get to hear from each and every the judge and "celebrity guest" of the dozens of the reality shows running on zillion Indian tv channels. I believe I've finally cracked this mystical coded sentence.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I believe I can say "Eureka" - I have the answer. After investing much time and effort into this thorough research, which did include the torture of watching these shows, I have finally understood what the judges and celebrities mean when they say this mystical phrase.

This phrase "Everyone's a winner" isn't meant for the contestants, but actually for the us poor tv watching audience who believe that we control the fate of the participants through our SMS votes. Everything is scripted- every violent emotion, every hot temper and every tear. Its scripted because, these shows are big money shows and thus can't afford to miss the TRP top charts to keep themselves in business. Generally they have been able to hide this fact from the people, but bad actors like some contestants of Indian Idol 3 and Ravi Kissen at Yeh Hai Jalwa gave away this strategy. Not digressing from the point, I believe our celebrities and judges do understand that their fans are listening to the show and may be they feel a responsibility towards us and don't want us to spend too much money in voting by telling us the truth.

The truth is that, well trained singers (like Toshi, Sharib, Karunya, Amey, Mussarat) showcase their talent and get an opportunity to be in the audience's mind even before they record their first song and bad singers (like Sandeep, Aneek) atleast get some money and a car to keep themselves afloat for a while. And that my friends, is the truth behind these shows. So, I would suggest following the democratic setup of country and just voting once, so that you vote for your favourite contestant without adding a big number on the balance sheet of the tv channels.

Shaurya: Its not "Few Good Men"

I will write about what I thought of the movie. Stop linking it with Few Good Men, its not a copy of it. Its a good movie, Watch It.

If you ask me, I loved the movie. The basics were right, yes the director didn't steer away from the formula of small budget multiplex movies. Samar Khan has repeated his brilliance of Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye (KMHJ) with keeping the story simple and to the point. He has also learnt from the his mistakes
of KMHJ and paid attention to the screenplay as well. The screenplay was tight and put in just the right amount of time in explaining the context to the viewers. The actors were very good with Deepak Dobriyal, playing Capt Javed Khan, shining over the rest of the lot even my personal favourite KK Menon. KK Menon seemed a little uncomfortable and dis-interested in his role. It was refreshing to see Javed Jaffrey in a serious role, haven't seen that since Meri Jung. He seemed slightly at ease with his character of the responsible friend of Rahul Bose. Rahul Bose played his character of a young carefree army officer a slight notch below perfection, but is was good. Minisha Lamba reminded me of Kareena Kapoor's "Geet" from Jab We Met. Amrita Rao was very convincing as a young widow mother and Seema Biswas played her part well as Deepak Dobriyal's mother. The background score amalgamated perfectly with the narrative. The music composed was good too. Saving the best for the last, the cinematography was breathtaking. I've always said that I've only seen the beauty of J&K in pictures, movies and in my parent's narratives. So, 2 extra points to Samar Khan for walking me through the crown jewel of the Indian Republic - the state of J&K. I was absolutely stunned at the shot where Rahul Bose is standing in "the Khaai" looking up at the mountains - what a brilliant shot? I just feel bad now that I wasn't back home and I missed watching this movie at the theaters. And thanks to the so called "film critics" a well deserved movie wasn't able to sustain too long at the theaters.

I was very angry with the critics instantly comparing it to the Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson starer Few Good Men because it was a court room drama about Defense forces. It only reflects the poor knowledge of these critics about the movies. Consider, the following points:

1. Few Good Men was about US Navy where as Shaurya was about Indian Army. Being an ex-defense officer's daughter I'll break into a hysterical laughter if you tell me that Navy and Army aren't different wings of the Defense forces.
   
2. Few Good Men was about improving the mental and physical toughness of a soldier by ragging and troubling the living daylights out of him. Shaurya, on the other hand, was about the issue of Culpable Homicide and Ethnic Cleansing.

My respect for the critics would've remained if they had said that is was an adaptation of Few Good Men, which I believe it was. Some scenes had a very distinct flavour of Few Good Men. Even then, labeling it as a copy of Shaurya is robbing the crew of the credit they should get for this effort. I've realized the lack of knowledge of critics now and also understood why many mainstream directors don't lend an ear to the critics. I was amused by one particular statement made by for brother's former favourite film critics Rajeev Masand - "The climax was pretty cliched with same old Hindu-Muslim thing," - I wanted to ask him; Mr. Masand do you understand the meaning of Ethnic Cleansing in the Indian context? After watching the movie, my brother lost all respect for Rajeev's film critic abilities.

In conclusion, I would like to say to all of you, if you haven't seen Shaurya - watch it. Rent a DVD and watch it. As for me, that's one movie for my private collection. When I go back home, I'm going to Music World and buying the original DVD. I would just like to end with the couple of lines of a dialogue which I absolutely loved - "Shaurya kya hai. Shayad ek hausla. Shayad ek himmat. Hamare bahut andar. Mazhab ke banaye dayere ko todkar. Kisi ka haath tham lene ki himmat. Goliyon ke betahasha shor ko apni khamoshi se chunauti de pane ki himmat. Shaurya kya hai. Aane wale kal ki khatir apne is kayanat ko aaj bacha lene ki himmat."

Remake or Translation?

Last week, I went through the painful experience of watching the latest Priyadarshan botchup - Mere Baap Pehle Aap (MBPA). The phrase "Lost in Translation" is a perfect fit for this project. Additionally, Priyadarshan got his basics wrong for making hindi movies. Though, the movie does have its moments, but was generally quiet painful. Watching the movie on TV, the only thing I was happy about was that I didn't go to the theaters for this one.

I have total respect for all who dared to sit in the theatres to watch this mess called MBPA. As I was watching the movie, I skipped through all the songs and was drifting in and out of the room running some chores as well. The movie wasn't strong enough to captivate the audience. The narration had a distinct South Indian cinema flavor to it and looked like a literal translation of the original Malayalam movie.

Priyadarshan, in my opinion, got his definitions of remake and translation mixed up. If I know my movie lingo correctly, a remake is an adaptation of the movie, the director's interpretation of the original work where as a translation would be just to take the script and translate word for word into a different language. A remake has to be adjusted to the situation and the audience. There is a fine line of difference between the two and thus probably hard to differentiate. Though, Priyadarshan is used to treading this line - Hungama, Hulchul, Garam Masala. With Garam Masala, though I felt, he did come pretty close to cross over into the translation territory and he bailed out safely at the last minute. However, he couldn't resist the temptation this time around with MBPA. It was almost like he blanked out on the basics of Hindi Movie Making.

Nothing seemed right with the movie, except a few scenes. The script, screenplay, dialogues and songs and the name of the movie too seemed liked a literal translation of the original. Though, Priyadarshan did save himself in the scene where he explained why the whole cast is attending a Malayali wedding given that they are all North Indians. It almost felt like Priyadarshan didn't have enough money to make the movie so he just hired a translator to translate the script, screenplay, dialogues and songs in hindi. The movie might have been very successful in its original form, but was completely off-mark in the Hindi version. Priyadarshan should've known better. I understand his eagerness of remaking his hit South Indian movies into Hindi, so that he can penetrate the different segments of audiences. In this eagerness, he can't forget that he has to treat his remakes as completely new projects and also remember the context of the movie. One thing ticked me off the most - the word "Baap". It isn't considered a good word in civilised Hindi and that is where I thought to myself that Priyadarshan has finally lost it. This is the most basic thing - the word Baap will not work at all. I'm suprised how Akshay Khanna and Paresh Rawal also failed to realise this fact.

To conclude, I would only say, "Priyadarshan sir, I love watching your movies but please come back in form. Its heart-wrenching to see that a director who made Hungama and Garam Masala gave us MBPA."