"Quotes never make a person famous. Whatever a famous person says becomes a quote" - Gaurav Batla :P

Life would have been so much cooler if we had more comics than philosophers

127 Hours: Every Second counts

127 hours is indeed worth every second you spend in the cinema hall. Its much more than the bear grylls type 'adventure' that you expect. Its much more than the triumph of human will over circumstances. Much more than age old mind vs body debate. Its much more than the adrenaline rush that you expect. It IS all that plus much more. Its more to do with it the human emotions in the state of trauma. Its more to do with what are the important things in life. Its about loving the people around you. And overall, its about being thankful. Thankful to your loved ones. Thankful to life. Thankful to God in general to have given you the opportunity to 'Live'. It tells you that life is indeed a privilege and not something which is to be taken as a 'Given'. Overall, a must watch despite getting (just a tad bit) slow in a couple of scenes and (according to me) ill fitted Rahman Score.

The most brilliant part about the movie is its story (or the lack of it). I mean, a young adrenaline junkie falls into a crack in a mountain and his hand gets pinned to the wall by a falling rock. He is stuck there for 5 days with just a bottle of water and a 'Chinese' swiss knife and how he escapes. Compelling story on paper but the challenge is to portray this one line story on the big screen for one a half hour, with nothing but one actor. No flashy special effects. No 'Dramatic' performances. No hard 'O shit' moments. Sounds boring? Wait till you watch the movie. Danny does a superb job in taking this 'boring' story and weaving a tale of triumph of human spirit over circumstances. Nothing short of brilliance i would say.

Another thing which makes the movie work is its 'emotion-ness'. When you go for the movie, you expect this to be 'adventurous'. You expect some jaw dropping moments. Some kick ass action stuff. Some high flying jumps. Some adrenaline rush etc. But actually the movie is very emotional according to me. It just uses this tragedy as a medium. The message is much larger. The movie talks about being thankful to life in general. It talks about being with the family and importance of the things we take for granted. When you know you are going to die, THEN you think about the important things in life. These things are not THINGS but people and relationships. That was a key take away for me.

The movie also inspires you to do what you have to do in times of distress. Either you can leave things on fate. Or you make your own fate yourself. Sounds filmy? Well, the story itself filmy so how can the movie not be filmy! Anyways, i think apart from danny boyle, the movie is as good as it is because of James Franco. To be honest i had my doubts about his being able to carry off the burden of a movie where almost 99% of the screentime is given to him. There is hardly (or wait i don't thin there is) any scene where he is not on camera. But his goofiness, his free willy nature, his cuteness, his humour, his 'oh how can such a bad thing happen to him' irony makes the audience falls in love with his performance much more than the character. I'm not sure if he would be able to win an oscar for this performance but it is way up there no doubt. Kick ass performance by franco. I hope he lands in the big league after this.

The only thing i didn't like about the movie was its background score. I felt it was too much of a misfit in the whole narrative. The movie had its own feel and it was as if Rahman was composing for some other movie. I know most would think i am crazy to say such a thing about a score which has been nominated for an oscar. But it just didn't work for me. Or may be i am too big an Hans Zimmer Fan ! Also i think in the middle for about 10 minutes, you are like, 'OK this is getting kinda boring now' but then it comes back to its pace. Apart from these two things. Its as brilliant as it can be.

Overall : (Need i say?) Must Watch for the Inspiring Story and James Franco.

Feel-O-Meter: 9/10

Food fpr thought: What if Matt Damon was there in place of Franco? ;)

Weekend: The time that starts with a yippie and is gone in a jiffy

Dil to Baccha hai ji: Rubbish

Dil to Baccha hai Ji (DTBHJ) is an absolute waste of time, money and effort. The movie tries to be funny, romantic and emotional in different parts of the movie and fails miserably on each front. The script is boring. The direction bad. Performances are pathetic. Music/Background/Songs have absolutely nothing to offer. One of the worst movies i have seen in some time. Absolute Rubbish. Do not watch, even if you get tickets free.

The movie is about 3 room mates. A Divorcee, A 'Nice Guy' and A Playboy. The Divorcee falls in love with his junior in office who is 17 years younger than him. The Nice Guy is in love with a struggling actress who uses him for money. The playboy is a boy-toy for a socialite and then falls for her daughter. First a peek into their lives with (a failed attempt at) some humour. Then 3 love stories and some more un-funny sequences. Then the 'Cute' factor in the 3 love stories, then emotional sentiyapa and then revival.

The biggest problem with the movie was its confused nature. It tried to be everything and achieved nothing on any front. The funny sequences were not funny. The romantic ones weren't cute. The emotional sequences seemed (almost forced). Its as if the director was too bored of his 'realistic' cinema and thought of 'trying to be different' from his genre just to prove that he CAN do other stuff as well. But a miserable attempt nonetheless. I think he should stick to his strong points rather than wasting producers' and audiences' money.

On the performances front, Ajay Devgan does decent and Shahzahn padmsee is cute (as her character). I have always considered Omi Vaidya as a fluke since in 3 idiots he was not ACTING, the character itself was like him so he clicked. He is pathetic. No comments on Emraan Hashmi are required anyways. Nobody else even comes close to 'acting'

Music is HORRIBLE. One or two songs try to get you in the sweet romantic types mode, but you lose interest after 2 minutes. Nothing is special and after half an hour you are constantly looking at your watch. The pace is absolutely slow and the situations in the situational comedy are hardly funny. They are boring and irritating to say the least

Overall: Do not watch even if you get free passes. Stay home and watch a rerun of some DVD you have.

Feel-O-Meter: 2/10

With so many monday morning blues updates. Soon it will be renamed as mourn day

Dhobi Ghat: Clean but not spotless

In Every frame, Dhobi Ghat reminds you of arthouse cinema stuff. Its more like a play or a painting which is supposed to be appreciated in a certain 'mood'. It has a very realxed pace and does not hurry in its narration. It just takes things easy. Story is compelling. Cinematography is brilliant. Background score could have been better. Narrative Slow. The director at a lot of places gave preference to the 'direction' rather than 'story telling' so sometimes, you feel that you are watching a movie which tries too hard to be an 'artwork'. Aamir Khan is there just to draw the numbers. Remove Aamir Khan and too much stress on the 'artyness' and you have a winner. Watchable if you appreciate slow narratives.

To be honest, i had my doubts about the movie from the day i saw the first promo. I wasn't too impressed by it. Then, my facebook newsfeed was filled with 'Boring, Pathetic etc' type comments about the movie. So , i had some very low expectations. But the movie turned out pretty decent for me. I loved the simple storys. I think a maturer director and less emphasis on making a pseudo intellectual cinema, could have made it from good to brilliant. I just hope someone makes it again.

The plot revolves around 3 interconnected stories. One, where an loner artist Arun (Aamir Khan) shifts into a new house and he finds the earlier owner's camcorder discs in a daily diary form addressed to her brother telling him about her life in mumbai after she shifts here post her marriage. Second, an Investment Banker (yes, cliches are present here too) from US called Shy (Monica Dogra) comes to India on a sabbatical and meets Arun and falls for him. third, of a Dhobi called Munna (Prateik) who washes Arun's clothes, Meets Shy, become friends with her and then falls in love with her.

The best of the lot, both in terms of story as well as performance according to me was the most under-rated story/performance of Kriti Malhotra (who hardly gets a mention anywhere in the marketing too). Her monologues to the camcorder were so fresh that as soon as she goes off the screen you start waiting for her next video diary chapter. Aamir Khan was the most overrated and performs the worst according to me. It feels as if he has done this movie just because his wife directing it and he is also taken just to pull the audience to the theaters rather than character's demand. Prateik looks really cute in a couple of scenes. A couple of more films and you will have a 'Lambi Race ka Ghoda' in the Industry. Monica Dogra is good but there is nothing special that i could feel about her performance.

The film suffers on the Direction front. It screams, 'I am an artwork' in every frame. The director made it a too pseudo intellectual european cinema rip off at a lot of places, which according to me took away the soul of the movie. But makes an impact because of its Plot and its sweet-simple-ness. The background score although was good but i felt it could have been much better had an indian composed it. I think Kiran in her attempt to give it the 'International' marketing took away the could have been most important ingredient. Not a bad effort though for a first timer like Kiran Rao. I am sure she would come out with some brilliant stuff the next time

Overall: Definitely Watchable provided you don't mind the slow narrative and are in a relaxed mood to immerse into the 'experience'. Don't expect a thriller or a fast paced entertainer and you will not be disappointed. Not bad but not brilliant as well.

Feel-O-Meter: 7/10

Braking news: Post earthquake, cadburys changes its tagline to 'Have you felt TILT lately'

Sunny Deol = Punjabi Rajnikant

Its Mayawati's bday today. Request all to pls observe a 2 min silence on the occasion

Yamla Pagla Deewana: Go Crazy 7/10

YPD is one of the 'Keep your brains at home' movie which actually IS funny. Its full of spoofs and making fun of your own self moments. Add to that, A bit of confusion. A bit of romance. A bit of action. A bit of drama and you have a fulltoo bollywood masala which tickles your funny bone at more than a few occassions. May be about 20 minutes longer than it should have been and with bad (i mean really bad) music. Otherwise, a definite time pass comedy which makes you laugh without the 'embarassing to watch with mom/dad' moments. Clearly shows the difference between being stupid and being funny. Do watch with family.

To be honest, when i went to watch this movie, i had some 'supposed to be' funny movies in my mind which didn't turn out to be funny at all. I had thought that this would be another 'trying too hard' to be comedy which would have 2-3 laughable sequences, a couple of item numbers, double meaning dialogues and at most times irritating. But i was in for a pleasant surprise. The movie turned out to be a CLEAN comedy. No stupid Sardaar jokes despite being based in punjab.

The best part about the movie was its ability to laugh at the lead actors' previous works especially Sunny Deol. In every other sequence, movie tries to spoofify some movie or sequence or dialogue or mannerism of earlier movies of the deols. But thats not the only humour that's there. The lines are very witty, the timing is apt at most times, the humour doesnt seem to be forced, No slapstick, the 'situational comedy' just takes place by itself.

Sunny Deol rocks and i would really like to see him doing more comedies from now on. He takes care of the movie alone throughout the movie. A Surprising package for me was Mukul Dev, who does a very subtle Om Puri-ish (Remember his jaane bhi do yaaron bit) punjabi touch. Bobby does well given his acting limitations. Dharmendra obviously because of his old age is not able to give his best but tolerable none the less. Anupam Kher is pretty neat. Kulraj Randhawa does what she is supposed to do. Being Cute.

Although the movie could have been 20 minutes shorter to make it much tighter in narration but you can't really pin point which scenes should have been deleted because i found something or the other in every scene funny and that makes it really difficult to decide what should have been left out. Item numbers were absolutely unnecessary and should not have been there in the first place. Songs are absolutely rubbish and are the only irritating factor in the movie.

Overall, a very nice and clean comedy which doesn't take itself seriously. Makes fun of its own actors' cliches. Doesn't resort to the slapstick or double meaning dialogues only. Doesn't only TRY to be funny but IS funny as well. Go watch with your family

Feel-O-Meter: 7/10

No wonder paki cricket is screwed. With a (salman) butt at the top rather than the bottom, they even have the batting order in reverse..

I don't understand the song nazar k samne jigar ke paas. Pyaar ka lever se kya lena dena? or some connection with increased daaru consumption later?

The way ' wings' are used so frequently in sanitary napkins ads, pretty soon they will be competing with boeing and airbus

EditNo One Killed Jessica: Go and Witness :10/10

Let me warn you at the outset that the review is going to be very 'feely' coz i think this is one of the best hindi movies i have seen in recent times. The Story, Script, Direction, Performance, Background Score, Music. Everything is almost perfect. This describes what cinema is supposed to be and How stories are to be told. Need i say more? Just go and watch it tomorrow if you haven't done it already and if tickets are available.

This is a slap on the Dabanggs and Tees Maar Khans of the world who think that the audience wants to watch shit in the name of 'Entertainment'. Movie making as i see it is as basic as story telling and NOJK does exactly the same. It tells you a story. A Story which everybody is already aware of and still keeps you on the edge of your seat in every single sequence. A Story where you know what is going in the end but still immerses you in the journey and not the destination. Cinema is not only about mindless 'entertainment', it is also about showcasing our society, it is nothing but a mirror of our surroundings. and THAT is exactly what NOKJ does, in a hard core, non apologetic way. It shows us the dirt in our system and how people can give power and when time comes they can take the power back as well. All it takes is one joint effort.

The subject itself is so strong that even an average film could come out to be nothing short of brilliant, but the way the director takes the story to a different level altogether is mind blowing. The movie should bring out emotions in even the most cold blooded movie goers. Even to those, who hardly care about the 'storytelling' or the social significance of cinema. Hats off to Raj Kumar Gupta for keeping it real and maintaining the perfect balance between the commercial and the artistic parts. On one hand he takes two mainstream actors since otherwise the movie will not sell and nobody will come to the theaters no matter how good the movie is. On the other hand he takes an entirely new support cast, where almost no one has done any (noticable) roles earlier and takes out the best performance possible from their limited screen time or one or two dialogues only. I think more than an actors' film, this is an absolute writer/director's film.

Vidya Balan (as expected) does a very realistic portrayal of Sabrina Lal. Rani Mukherjee also does justice to her cocky/bitchy portrayal of the news anchor although at a few places you might feel that she is doing the bitchy bit a bit too much and it was all unnecessary. I just wish that somebody else was taken in place of (ex VJ) Neil for Vikram's role. Rajesh Sharma does well in his police officer role and a special mention must be made of a 2 minute dialogue of the guy who did Manu Sharma's role. Also the girl who portrays jessica does her part so well in the two or three scenes that she gets, especially in the flash back bits that you desperatly want her killer to go down in the end.

I also loved the unapologetic tone of the movie, be it in the usage of cuss words throughout the movie or mock the socialites like bina ramani or lawyer ram jethmalani. I think the movie is a slap on their faces as well. Throughout the movie, you feel ashamed of living in a society where a man kills a woman surrounded by 300 people and no one has the guts to just say the truth.

Although the movie could have been about 15 mins shorter but i guess i am ready to discount all that given the fact that someone atleast had the balls to stand up and show us our real face and does what movies are supposed to do apart from 'entertain' especially through some crazy writing. Some of the dialogues are so hard hitting that they show you the 'real' world that we live in. My favorite ones being 'Mujhe 1 Crore nahi chahiye, But Mujhe 1 Goli bhi nahi Khani' and 'Sab Khaate hain madam, but fark padta hai Kisliye'

Overall: A Brilliant start to the new year and a MUST watch at any cost movie.

Feel-O-MeteR: 10/10 (Yes, you read it write, i have written 10/10)

PS: Yes, I understand that on a 'movie' front its an 8/10 but for me just the fact that the movie plays its 'social' role in this case and is a brave effort in itself. The Subject itself counts for 2 extra points in my books :)

Gulliver's Travel: Lost from Start to Finish

Gulliver's travels is by far the worst Jack Black movie i have seen. It just did not have anything to offer at all. The Story obviously is known to the world. The Difference could have been made through the treatment and the script. The least we expect is that Jack Black touch which makes the movie from bad to atleast average and watchable. This fails on all counts. No Chemistry. No Funny moments. Mostly Boring. A Definite Not Go. Bad Start to the year i say.



Gulliver Travels is a story about Gulliver a normal mail man in a corporation who goes to Bermuda Triangle for an assignment he undertakes. He gets lost and meets 'Tiny' people there. Becomes their Hero. Then is thrown out. Then comes back to save his 'friends' and everybody lives happily ever after types. Add to that a couple of love storys, some jealousy the usual fairy tale type stuff and all. The work becomes all the more difficult if you already know 'what' is going to happen. Then you watch a movie to know 'how' it is going to happen. But that is where the movie fails miserably.



The most important ingredient in a funny movie is the 'fun' part. I mean even if the jokes are stale, it should atleast be fun to watch and the audience is not supposed to get bored to say the least. There is absolutely no excitement anywhere. There are absolutely no 'wow' moments. Nowhere in the movie you feel that you are watching a 'fantasy', everything just looks too usual. I think the movie is all about Jack Black and even he couldnt do anything given the pathetic nature of the script. There are just no funny lines.



I think the love story angle etc took away from the movie's essence as well. The graphics were all too lame as well. the 3D was the most stupid addition that one can think of. There was absolutely no requirement of 3D anywhere. The build ups to the fights was too much and the fights themselves were like 'what! its over?' types. They end before they even begin. The height of desperation comes towards the end where they even include an anti war song, which was like the nail in the coffin, which make you go WTF man.. Seriously WTF..



Overalll: An Absolute bummer. Not funny at all.



Feel-O-Meter: 2/10



PS: May be i missed the point altogether here. May be its supposed to be a Kids movie and they might really enjoy the not funny jokes and the JB antics. Didn't work for me. So if you have a kid at home whom you want to take a movie to. Can watch given the fact that there is nothing else in theaters for the kids right now.

The Tourist: Stay Home, this season

The first thought that comes to your mind when you are watching the movie is 'THIS movie got a golden globe nomination, that too in the best comedy or musical? I mean like seriously? The second thought: 'WTF! Angelina Jolie is also nominated as Best Actress, like seriously?' The Third: Johnny Depp is nominated too? and the final one: 'I think Golden Glones are fixed' That pretty much would sum up my feelings right now. The movie is just about below average for a one time watch if you are too desperate to watch a moviel, have free tickets and would definitely won't mind drooling over Depp/Jolie depending on your gender/preference. Apart from that on the 'movie' front. This one is nothing more than a 70s bollywood movie re-released in hollywood with a power packed cast.



To be honest, I wasn't too excited about the movie and had no plans of watching it. But i read in the papers today that it has received the above mentioned Golden Globe nominations and just wanted to have a look. And i absolutely regret my decision. The movie is nothing but sheer star power to draw audience to the theaters and thats all. Funny part is, that it is supposed to be a thriller and is nominated in the best comedy/musical category which proves that even the people who decided on the nominations were as confused as the audience as well as the film makers. Nobody seems to understand what the movie is all about. The movie also moves towards being a 'romantic comedy' towards the end too. The genre can definitely be classified as 'confused'. It appears that the movie was only supposed to generate buzz over the lead pairing with the supposedly hottest man and woman in hollywood and just survive a couple of weeks only on that buzz.



The plot revolves about a certain Alexander Pierce who has swindled more than $ 2 billion (yes, as ridiculous it sounds, it IS billion) from a gangster (who is after him) and since he also has not paid taxes on these earnings, the scotland yard is also after him. Nobody has seen him ever except Angelina Jolie, so the police and the ganster are after her also. Then there are twists and turns, plots and subplots but it seems nothing more than a 70s bollywood movie with absolutely no excitement or 'thrill' about it. The thrilling chase sequences are absolutely lame and there is no excitement about them. They match the pace of the movie too, which is dead slow. You start getting bored in the middle of the movie and just hope that it finishes already.



The chemistry between the lead pair is almost non existent. Angelina Jolie's 1000 times operated upon face (which btw looks nothing short of ugly) doesn't help the cause here as well. I think the role of 'M' in the current bond series would suit her more given the way she looks. Old that is. Johnny depps acts decent and is the only saving grace (to a certain extent only). He is the reason you don't get up and storm out of the cinema hall. You still wait till the end, which leaves you with nothing but an irritation. You are like WTF ! 'THIS' was the suspense. Oh Gosh, please shoot the writer will you.



Overll: A Below Average movie. Watchable only if you get free tickets. There is excitement at a few places but overall slow pace kills the impact.



Feel-O-Meter: 4/10