October 23, 2010
October 20, 2010
October 15, 2010
October 10, 2010
October 7, 2010
October 3, 2010
Anjaana Anjaani: Perfect Rom-Com
Well, What do you expect when you are going to watch a Bollywood Rom Com? Cat Fights between the leading pair (who more often than not are exactly opposites) in the first half and then some lovey dovey chemistry in the latter, Some Cute moments, Some Stupid but funny sequences, Thoda sa Romaaance, Good music/songs, Decent Direction, Story, Script and a lot of 'those' moments which just make it neat. Right? And that's all is there in Anjaana Anjaani. Should watch (Preferably with your boyfriend/girlfriend/prospect).
Every Rom-Com has to have those 'moments' which make you smile and AA has its own share of these moments. The movie is (obviously) about two strangers meeting, both of them are trying to commit suicide and then try to 'live' before they die. Then comes the usual Rom Com stuff with full on Ladna Jhagadna, Pyaar ka Ehsaas hona, milna, bichadna,Thoda drama, Realization hona, Phir se milna, etc. Same old formula with the difference being that the leading pair is Simple Story. The only difference could be in the 'treatment' and there is. The movie has its own 'fresh' appeal despite you already knowing what would happen. Even though a couple of sequences seem slightly forced or predictable, you still enjoy the package overall.
One of the most important reasons of AA working is that i think the roles suited both the leading actors just perfect. Priyanka Chopra is her own bubbly self and you can't escape having a smile on your face when ever she does(or even overdoes) her smiley part. For Ranbir Kapoor, the actor, i already have tremendous respect among the future super stars of bollywood. Every role that he plays seems written for him. Be it his serious role in Rajneeti or loserish lover in Amar Prem ki Gazab Kahani or even the sardaar in Rocket Singh. In AA also he doesnt disappoint at all. He is as smooth as you can get. Full Marks to both of them there. Even if they are good on stand alone basis, i think they become better when it comes to their chemistry. They come across as friends on screen as well as off screen. Either they are, or they are just pretty good actors. Others anyways have no role to play so no need to mention anybody.
Music is plain simple Kick Ass. Almost EVERY song rocks. The range in the album is pretty broad too which could be explained by the variety of singers on the sound track. On one hand you have Rahat Fateh Ali Khan with his soulful sufi in Aas Paas Khuda and on the other you have Shekhar/Shilpa Rao with their jumpy title as well as I feel good tracks. You have mohit chauhan's melodious voice in tujhe Bhula Diya on one hand and on the other you have lucky ali in his rockish avatar with Hairat Hai. Though there are a couple of songs which seem ill fitted in the narrative, but Overall, i think the sound tracks adds to the overall feel of the movie and makes it a better from a good movie.
To be honest, there was hardly anything which i had a BIG problem with. Its one of those movies, where you just go to have some easy masala entertainment with good music, cute moments minus the cheap/overzealous comedy. And you will not be disappointed.
Overall : A Definite Watch.
Feel-O-Meter: 7.5/10
Khichdi: Over Cooked
I have always been a crazy die hard khichdi fan and as soon as i saw the promos on air, decided to watch it first day. And That's what i did. The promos were fabulous and all the jokes (in those 5-6 different promos) were crazily funny. The problem is, those were ALL the funny moments in the movie. If you have seen the promos, you have seen it all. The problem with the jokes is that if you have heard it earlier, it might be the craziest joke ever, but it just sound the same, its just not as funny as the first time. Exactly what happens here, the jokes are neat but since ALL of these were already shown in the ads, they just dont feel 'khichdi' enough. I just love the crazy nonsense on the TV series and have hardly missed an episode. But the movie is not even 10% of the series. May be because the story/script was funny only for half an hour but it got stretched to 2 hours. If you havent seen any of the promos and are a khichdi fan. MAY Go and watch if you have absolutely nothing to do and get free tickets and ride to a good cinema hall along with popcorn, drinks etc.
I think apart from the lack of (number of ) funny moments, another problem was that the movie was too dependent on prafull and hansa. But their chemistry, no matter how good it is, cannot compensate for (overall) bad writing. The stage was set from the initial draft of the story itself. I mean take the funniest gujju family in India, Add to it some sardaars and try to have a marriage between the two. But sadly, the execution did not live up to the story expectations. The script just did not have that punch. Mind you, i am not saying that the jokes were not funny, but at the end of the day you are watching a movie and not a re-run of a laughter challenge show. So those jokes have to be told 'through' the script. I expected a lot more idiocy, lot more goof, lot more over the top humor, lot more slapstick. But sadly, none of it came true. Infact, with in the first half an hour i got bored and started looking at my watch because the story was not going anywhere.
One the performance front Prafull and Hansa rock, but thats the problem. They are the only characters which are funny and they are not the center of the script. To be honest, i think the producer who also playing the lead role has something to do with it. May be he just wanted to put HIM in the limelight, so he made a movie keeping him as the central character. JD should realize that he is NOT funny and no matter how desperately he tries, he just CANNOT be. So he should have given more space to the characters who are. Had he kept Prafull and Hansa in the middle and made a story AROUND them, it would be much funnier. The Jayshree cast replacement also did not help either. The actor who plays the role in the movie is not even 10% of the original. The only funny thing i could find was to do with a perfect (mis)casting of a pretty hot damsel in the role of a perfect sardarni bimbo. To be honest, she looked too good to be dumb and definitely did not have any sardarni-sh demeanors about her. The Sardar cliches were too.. hmmmm... cliched..
Overall: A thumbs down if you are a khichdi fan. A big disappointment. Wish they come up with another one but with prafull and hansa in the center of the storyline. As far as this is concerned, Would advise to watch the re runs of the TV series on youtube instead or watch the trailer @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asS1nFf3CjY. That should be good enough :)
Overall : 2/10 (For the 4-5 ammmazingly funny jokes here and there)
September 28, 2010
Babri Vs Ayodhya
Killings and Massacre all over, There is blood on our hand.
We keep fighting like children, just for pieces of Land.
Happiness seems to be lost, there are only screams everywhere.
This deafening sound of violence, which no more i can bear.
Doesn't matter where you belong, be it saffron or Green.
There are distances all over, To take the first step no one is Keen
I wish all this gets over pretty soon.
The dark night is over and we see the new moon.
The new day arrives when there is just love and no fight.
The darkness deep inside us is gone and let there be light
We keep fighting like children, just for pieces of Land.
Happiness seems to be lost, there are only screams everywhere.
This deafening sound of violence, which no more i can bear.
Doesn't matter where you belong, be it saffron or Green.
There are distances all over, To take the first step no one is Keen
I wish all this gets over pretty soon.
The dark night is over and we see the new moon.
The new day arrives when there is just love and no fight.
The darkness deep inside us is gone and let there be light
Why Commonwealth Games are not a National Priority
First things first, I think the games should not have been organized in the first place. There is absolutely no explanation (financial, political, social or otherwise) for India to host CWG or any sort of an international sporting event altogether. Neither am i talking about the delay nor the corruption. Neither the International Shame that has been bestowed upon us by the Dog Poo in the apartment Nor the Falling Cross Over Bridges. I am just asking a simple Question about Priorities. Why did we have to organize these games?
IF we are trying to promote a 'sporting' culture and 'Healthy Living' then can anybody tell me How many of Delhiites have actually visited Indira Gandhi, National, Jawahar Lal or any other stadium in the past 10 years!!! If you want people to take up sports, then build small sports complexes all over the city, where people can play with their families, Kids can take tennis/swimming lessons and we may have a healthier/sporty generation to follow.
If we wanted to 'show the world' that we had the caliber to pull off a 'Beijing'. Who are we trying to show off to? The commonwealth nations are british ex-colonies most of which (economics wise) do not have anything to boast of anyways. Only Canada and UK have a GDP higher than us anyways. What would it serve to host events for countries to show off our prowess to, who anyways are struggling their economic existence. If you have money to spend, then send that money to the African nations where people are fighting AIDS and actually need that money to save those lives.
If we wanted to build better infrastructure for the urban city dwellers, then Did we have to organize this 'Show Off' for 15 days and spend billions of hard earned money of the tax payer (especially when majority of tax receipts comes not from the builders/contractors/businessmen who don't file their tax returns but from a freaking salaried guy who gets his salary in his bank account and the Tax is already deducted at source, lest he indulges in any tax evasion)? Why not make things better for THAT guy? As a representative of THAT guy and being an 'urban delhiite', I care more about 15 mins reduction in my travel time to work and back without any traffic jams rather than a freaking stadium eating up energy in those floodlights which will be used for 15 days. When the whole locality is sitting in dark, because THEIR electricity has been provided to that stadium nearby, which they will never be able to even enter if they wanted to.
Let's get real guys. The fact is: we are laggards in almost every sport in the world. The only game we play or are 'reallly' bothered about is cricket. A Game that is played by 10 nations in the world, 5 of them in South Asia where more than 60%(i guess) population lives in rural areas. How many of us would actually know who won the maximum number of golds in last CWG or who is the world champion in Discuss Throw, Shotput, long jump, high jump, badminton, archery etc etc etc.
There is no shame, but just that we are not bothered about these sports (as of yet). So what do we do? Do we just ignore the people who play these games in India ? Absolutely Not. But Have we organized CWG for THEM or in belief, that people will start participating in these games, once they have seen these sports themselves in stadiums? I don't think so. Give the hockey team players the money that is promised to them, so that the millions of children who were thinking of joining the game, do not turn away thinking 'Khana kahaa se kahunga?' If you actually care about these sports/sports persons then give the bloody money to the sports authorities/bodies for training/coaches/nutrition and build up a redressal mechanism so that you can 'know' if the money is reaching them
Also, for all those who are thinking that the delay has been caused due to babu giri or red tapism. Think again. If we sleep for 4 years after the games are allotted to us and start working at the 11th hour, as i see it, i think its all intentional. The delay was not caused we are lazy people, but because we wanted it to get delayed. Panic infuses a sense of 'Lets just get it done at ANY cost'. When you stop bothering about the price, you just want to get it done. May be that can explain the high prices at which materials/equipment was sourced. But hey, i don't even want to talk about the corruption in this post. Even if you forget the corruption/international shame due to delays etc for one bit, where does it make sense to build these stadiums in the first place.
For the 'urban' types who are singing song of 'Infrastructural Developments' DUE to CWG. I ask this. What if the CWG was not to be organized in Delhi. Would the government waited till the olympics to provide us with the Delhi Metro or the flyovers or better roads or better lighting etc etc. Are these happening only because CWG are being organized in Delhi? If No, then why organize it. IfYes, then its an even shameful situation that we need to have an international gaming event and the 'sharam' that tourists will come and see our city as being dirty, so let's clean up and build some roads.
We got a Country where 60% population doesn't have food, electricity, water, irrigation, roads, transport, infrastructure in the rural areas and we decide to spend all of 30,000 Crores on building stadiums and purchasing toilet paper for Rs 4000 per roll !! What boost is this money gonna give to the rural development in the country. How are these games going to change anything for the farmers/laborers committing suicides everyday. How are these going to do anything for anybody i dont understand.
For those, who are sharing pretty pictures of the 'world class stadiums' built for the CWG because we should concentrate on 'the positive' and rubbish the 'negativity' spread by the Indian Media, I have a question. Why the hell media shouldn't? Isn't this what the media is for? Its not a makeup artist who would hide your acne through thick layers of make up. Its their job to show what's hidden? Who would have known of this corruption, if the media hadn't shown? Would the PM intervened if it was reported that its all 'hunky dorry' and India is 'shining'.
For those who have this 'Chalo yaar, ho gaya jo hona sa. Ab kam se kam Duniya ko toh apna gandh na dikhao' attitude and are 'proud' of the fact that we are hosting the games. I think this is why we suffer. If a Kid steals and the mom-dad hide him, he will do it again. I hope the 'kids' running our government bodies learn their lesson through this negative publicity and think thousand times before organizing olympics in the next 100 years
PS: I have like a thousand more things/arguments to write and mind you, i have not even mentioned anything on the corruption/international shame/delays etc as yet, but i know, most people hardly read the post, if its longer than a few hundred words. So will stop it now
IF we are trying to promote a 'sporting' culture and 'Healthy Living' then can anybody tell me How many of Delhiites have actually visited Indira Gandhi, National, Jawahar Lal or any other stadium in the past 10 years!!! If you want people to take up sports, then build small sports complexes all over the city, where people can play with their families, Kids can take tennis/swimming lessons and we may have a healthier/sporty generation to follow.
If we wanted to 'show the world' that we had the caliber to pull off a 'Beijing'. Who are we trying to show off to? The commonwealth nations are british ex-colonies most of which (economics wise) do not have anything to boast of anyways. Only Canada and UK have a GDP higher than us anyways. What would it serve to host events for countries to show off our prowess to, who anyways are struggling their economic existence. If you have money to spend, then send that money to the African nations where people are fighting AIDS and actually need that money to save those lives.
If we wanted to build better infrastructure for the urban city dwellers, then Did we have to organize this 'Show Off' for 15 days and spend billions of hard earned money of the tax payer (especially when majority of tax receipts comes not from the builders/contractors/businessmen who don't file their tax returns but from a freaking salaried guy who gets his salary in his bank account and the Tax is already deducted at source, lest he indulges in any tax evasion)? Why not make things better for THAT guy? As a representative of THAT guy and being an 'urban delhiite', I care more about 15 mins reduction in my travel time to work and back without any traffic jams rather than a freaking stadium eating up energy in those floodlights which will be used for 15 days. When the whole locality is sitting in dark, because THEIR electricity has been provided to that stadium nearby, which they will never be able to even enter if they wanted to.
Let's get real guys. The fact is: we are laggards in almost every sport in the world. The only game we play or are 'reallly' bothered about is cricket. A Game that is played by 10 nations in the world, 5 of them in South Asia where more than 60%(i guess) population lives in rural areas. How many of us would actually know who won the maximum number of golds in last CWG or who is the world champion in Discuss Throw, Shotput, long jump, high jump, badminton, archery etc etc etc.
There is no shame, but just that we are not bothered about these sports (as of yet). So what do we do? Do we just ignore the people who play these games in India ? Absolutely Not. But Have we organized CWG for THEM or in belief, that people will start participating in these games, once they have seen these sports themselves in stadiums? I don't think so. Give the hockey team players the money that is promised to them, so that the millions of children who were thinking of joining the game, do not turn away thinking 'Khana kahaa se kahunga?' If you actually care about these sports/sports persons then give the bloody money to the sports authorities/bodies for training/coaches/nutrition and build up a redressal mechanism so that you can 'know' if the money is reaching them
Also, for all those who are thinking that the delay has been caused due to babu giri or red tapism. Think again. If we sleep for 4 years after the games are allotted to us and start working at the 11th hour, as i see it, i think its all intentional. The delay was not caused we are lazy people, but because we wanted it to get delayed. Panic infuses a sense of 'Lets just get it done at ANY cost'. When you stop bothering about the price, you just want to get it done. May be that can explain the high prices at which materials/equipment was sourced. But hey, i don't even want to talk about the corruption in this post. Even if you forget the corruption/international shame due to delays etc for one bit, where does it make sense to build these stadiums in the first place.
For the 'urban' types who are singing song of 'Infrastructural Developments' DUE to CWG. I ask this. What if the CWG was not to be organized in Delhi. Would the government waited till the olympics to provide us with the Delhi Metro or the flyovers or better roads or better lighting etc etc. Are these happening only because CWG are being organized in Delhi? If No, then why organize it. IfYes, then its an even shameful situation that we need to have an international gaming event and the 'sharam' that tourists will come and see our city as being dirty, so let's clean up and build some roads.
We got a Country where 60% population doesn't have food, electricity, water, irrigation, roads, transport, infrastructure in the rural areas and we decide to spend all of 30,000 Crores on building stadiums and purchasing toilet paper for Rs 4000 per roll !! What boost is this money gonna give to the rural development in the country. How are these games going to change anything for the farmers/laborers committing suicides everyday. How are these going to do anything for anybody i dont understand.
For those, who are sharing pretty pictures of the 'world class stadiums' built for the CWG because we should concentrate on 'the positive' and rubbish the 'negativity' spread by the Indian Media, I have a question. Why the hell media shouldn't? Isn't this what the media is for? Its not a makeup artist who would hide your acne through thick layers of make up. Its their job to show what's hidden? Who would have known of this corruption, if the media hadn't shown? Would the PM intervened if it was reported that its all 'hunky dorry' and India is 'shining'.
For those who have this 'Chalo yaar, ho gaya jo hona sa. Ab kam se kam Duniya ko toh apna gandh na dikhao' attitude and are 'proud' of the fact that we are hosting the games. I think this is why we suffer. If a Kid steals and the mom-dad hide him, he will do it again. I hope the 'kids' running our government bodies learn their lesson through this negative publicity and think thousand times before organizing olympics in the next 100 years
PS: I have like a thousand more things/arguments to write and mind you, i have not even mentioned anything on the corruption/international shame/delays etc as yet, but i know, most people hardly read the post, if its longer than a few hundred words. So will stop it now
September 26, 2010
September 24, 2010
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