Kaun Likh raha hain tumhari Kismat?_Aamir Reviewed

Two hard hitting movies for a single weekend (out of which one hits where it hurts most) was lit too much to take. As I happened to watch SarkarRaj for Friday noon show, I desperately wanted to see Aamir.

Reasons:

1. Gut feeling, and to my luck it always holds good for me.

2. Music, I heard "Fass Gaya" and "Mehfuz" on ETC Channel and I really loved the sound.

3. Rajiv Khandelwal~ Honestly I have very little respect for all those big guns from daily soaps. We have few past examples, Amar Upadhyay: Mihir from Kyunki..(his popularity dragged him out of aograve), Ketaki Dave ("Ararara!!" her whole life stuck to these words and as others end up saying just "Arararaah!"). But I heard loads of nice things about this fellow.

4. Director RajKumar Gupta (Strange co-incidence RGV's SarkarRaj and RKG's Aamir got released on same day) was assistant of Anurag Kashyap. and I have deep respect for Mr. Kashyap.

So the reasons were enough but not the theatres. Aamir was screening in only 4 cinema halls in Hyderabad that too on very odd timings. But we knew for sure that we won't be having tough time for getting tickets. As 90% of audiences were going back empty handed as they could not manage SarkarRaj tickets, we returned with triumph. Only balcony tickets were sold out where as entire stall was empty and that was telling the story of Aamir's box office fate.

Plot:

Aamir Ali, a London returned smart doctor was waiting eagerly for his family at Mumbai air-port when suddenly 2 bike riders throw a mobile phone at him. Much to his surprise phone rings and the call was for him.

Within no time his luggage has been taken away and Aamir has been forced to sit inside the cab. The voice at the other end of the call knows each and everything about Aamir. Soon Aamir discovers that his family has been kid-napped and the voice started playing a brutal treasure hunt with him. The hunt becomes gruesome as he has been asked to go down at the underbelly of the Mumbai city, filthy lanes, sultry gallis, shoddy places, tacky toilets all to find out a red colored briefcase. Within a daytime his cloistered life has been thrashed upside down.

Impact:

The winning point for the movie is that you get involve with Aamir from word Go. You get distressed, dejected with him and at times you want to vent.

And what is this all for?

Movie reveals (or at least touched) the unseen conflict between Muslim extremists and secularists. And what hits (and hurts too) is the climax of the movie.

What adds to this picture perfect is the characters taken right away from the streets of Dongari,Bandra and Bhendi Bazzar. Rajiv Khandelwal carries the movie with great stature. This is one of the best debut I have seen in years, So does the camerawork as camera moves in narrow lanes of the Mumbai City.

Special accolades for Amit Trivedi the music director, his background score is haunting and the songs are top notch. Aamir is one of those movies which left you speechless at the end (I had same feeling after Satya, Bandit Queen, Earth 1947 etc.)

It's small movie both in terms of budget and lenth; just 100 minutes long experience.The movie has caption "Kaun kehta hain aadmi apnee kismat khud likhata hain?" and looking into circumstances in Aamir was you do ponder over that thought. And as per me, that's the winning point for the movie, It makes you think. A great applause to all creative team behind Aamir.

A must see.....

Oh by the way AAMIR means Leader.

Get well soon RAMU_SarkarRaj reviewed

There are Somethings in life those are far beyond your control. They just happened to you. As SarkarRaj was releasing in first week of June; some of RGV Fanatics (or to be precised Sarkar fanatics) from my group, were keeping close eye on bookmyshow.com. But much to their dismay (or to my relief) all weekend shows got booked within early few hours as soon as the plan got opened.
Honestly I didn't like Sarkar much, I thought it was "All Style No Content" movie (Just the way 'Kaante' or any other White Feather Productions) what I liked about the Sarkar was the ambience in which we saw the movie. I saw it in Dadar's Chitra Theatre (FYI Dadar is bastion of Shivsana, and there was much to talk about uncanny resemblance between Big B's character and Shivsena Supremo) So our cinema hall was more surrounded by Shivsainiks (who were their to verify authenticity of the character) rather than movie buffs like me. Anyways Sarkar was hit and so does Abhishek Bachhan.

Back to 2008
After array of disasters like Shiva, Nishabd, RGV ki AAG and Darling I had really little hope with RGV. Because when he is bad he is BAAAD. As most of us made our mind to skip SarkarRaj for this weekend. AP's opposition party called for a sudden bandh against petrol price hike and to avoid any mishaps Wipro called a day OFF.

Now Now Now. "Kaun kehta hain AADMI apnee kismat khud likhata hain?"

Friday morning show tickets was a easy buy (First Day First Show...eeeho!). and we hop on to catch the show.

1.The expectations.

Bachhan Trio together in full fledged roles (in Kajra re!~ they simply rocked)
RGV in recovery (or rather damage control mode)~ we know he can do wonders
Plot: Yet another similitude with Thakaray family ~(Enron power plant)

2. And what we got?

I did not hate the movie. I believe it's good to have sequels of not so good movies so that you don't fall flat. (Past examples Dhoom and I know what you did last summer) The Plot revolves around small village of Maharashtra (Yeh! too much of Maharashtra, being a Maharashtrian that did irritate me.) where Aish has plans to set a dream project. That becomes dream of Jr. Sarkar as well which incidently collides with dream of Jr. Raosaheb (new character) and then there of clashes of dreams from different politicians, businessmen, fundamentalist and that's how story proceeds.
The storyline had a great potential to become a political tug-of-war...but Ramu doesnt want it way, had an enormous latent of father-son drama ...but Ramu doesnt want it that way, a good satire to rip of hidden agendas of our ministers and MNCs...but Ramu doesnt want it that way.

3. Then what Ramu want?
An awkwardly camera movements, wide close-ups, excessive violence, over the top performances by almost all the supporting cast and yeah GOVINDA GOVINDA GOVINDA in all possible irritating tunes and tones.

4. Saving grace?
The top notch performances by lead actors. As all three ABs have created magic on screen. Big B's Subhash Nagre still the same, Jr. Bachhan shines harder after Shankar taking over Sarkarship from Sr. Bachhan and yeah entry of Bahurani to Sarkar family though frequent visits of this multi billionaires’ to Nagre family does strikes at a time.
The movie has it's moment. I liked when Shankar confesses his brother's murder in front of Anita, a scene where Shankar convinces his father for power plant (and camera just moves behind the glass table), when Shankar exposes Govind Namdeo in front of Anita that shows Ramu is still very much there and need to bounce back...harder and for god's sake quicker.
The movie has some unexpected twists and turns, importantly the first half is quick and catchy, it draggs in second half.

5. What is missing?
Now I realised that Sarkar had a very powerful supporting cast which is totally lacking in Part2. K Kay, Isharat Ali, Rashid, Baba ,SilvarMani and three babes~Nisha Kothari, Kathrina and Rukhsar (Plz call her back for part 3) all did help to make Sarkar an impactful experience.
Seems that Ramu has lost it's touch (and it's disheartening).

Overall it's not BAD movie at all, but with such cast and crew we do expect a really good movie. I just hope that somehow RGV gets his magic wand again. Get well soon RAMU.

अर्धवट भाग पहिला

"बरेच दिवसात काही लिहिले नाहीस रे?" माझ्या अनेक मित्रापैकी फाइनली एकाने मला विचारलेच...कारणे (की सबबी?)द्यायच्या झाल्याच तर त्या अनेक होत्या...

"अरे sollid काम होते रे"..(हे त्यांच्यासाठी ज्याना माझ्या प्रोजेक्टची सुतराम कल्पना नाही)

"I need peace of mind for writting"(हे त्यांच्यासाठी ज्यांना माझ्या लिखाणाची सुतराम कल्पना नाही)

"अरे ebloggerची site गणलीये" (आणि हे त्यांच्यासाठी ज्यांना माझ्या ब्लॉगशी आणि थोडक्यात माझ्याशी पण काही देणे घेणे नाही) पर इन सबके बावजूद (माझ्यात कधी कधी जावेद अख्तर\अनु मलिक\ सतीश शाह अशी कुठल्याही TV टॅलेण्ट शोच्या judgesची आत्मा घुसत आसते...तुम्हल पूर्वकल्पना असलेली बरी) तर.....

"मी गेले काही दिवस का नाही लिहिले?"


मराठीत एक अत्यंत समर्पक शब्द आहे.. आरंभशूर...

(आरंभशूर 'म्हणजे जो सगळ्या गोष्टीची सुरूवात अगदी जोशात करतो पण फक्त सुरुवातच', well begun is half done अशी म्हण जरी असली तरी उरलेले half पूर्ण करणे तितकेच महत्वाचे असते by the way आरंभशूर हा शब्द केवळ मराठीत सापडतो का हो?) मला त्यासाठी हिंदी किंवा english प्रतिशब्द मिळाला तर हुडकून द्या तेवढा.

तर गेली कित्येक दिवस काही ना काही लिहायचे डोक्यात होतेच...पण केवळ डोक्यात ...ते कागदावर (पक्षी: कीबोर्ड आणि तिथून वेब pagesवर कधीच उतरले नाही) आणि आज जेव्हा बरेचसे विषय त्यातली रंगत हरवून बसले आहेत मला अचानक त्यांचा सोक्ष-मोक्ष कसा लावावा त्याचा पेच पडलाय.

अर्धवट मध्ये माझे अर्धे-उरले सुरले असे पोस्ट्स आहेत त्यांचा एकमेकांशी (किंवा तसाहि) फारसा काही संबंध नाही, पण त्यावर विचार करण्यात मी जसा वेळ फुकट घालवला तसाच तो तुम्हीही वाचण्यात घालवावा अशी माझी आपली एक असुरी इच्छा... तर सुरूवात सध्याच्या ज्वलंत विषयावर

.....नाही! inflation नाही, पेट्रोल टंचाईपण नाही ...आणि अगदी खलिदेखील नाही...

IPL वर काहीतरी लिहायची इच्छा (की खाज?) बरेच दिवसापासून होतीच. त्याला उचल मिळाली (की उंगली केली) जेव्हा पन्क्याने IPL मॅच बघायला जायचा बेत केला... शहरापासून almost 20 kilometers बाहेरच्या त्या मैदानावर आम्ही याची देही याची डोळा "Deccan Chargersना " डिसचार्ज होताना पहिले...तो IPLचा ताम-झाम्, नको तेवढे फुटेज मिळालेल्या Cheer Leaders आणि कचखाऊ वृत्तीच्या Hyderabad आणि Bangalore टीम्स सगळे डोक्यात साचून होते पण कधी ते शब्दात नाही उतरले आणि तसेपण कोणी काही अजुन लिहावे असे काही उरले पण नाही, चाऊन चोथा झालेल्या IPLमधून मी काय शोधून काढणार? ... Postचे नाव होते..

"मनो-रंजन का बाप और क्रिकेट की माँ बेहेन"

मैं गीता पे हाथ रखके (मेरा मतलब हैं भगवतगीता पे हाथ रखके ) कसम खाने को तैयार हूँ के मेरा IPL के matches देखनेके पीछे कोई ग़लत मतलब नही था। मुझे reverse sweep और reverse swing में क्या अन्तर हैं वह पता हैं, में जानता हूँ के प्रवीण कुमार, रोहित शर्मा नामके कोई struggling actors नही बल्के cricketers हैं, मुझे पता हैं के fine leg, gully, silly point इन fielding positions का cheer leaders से कोई वास्ता नाही और में IPL के आठो टीम के कम से कम ४ खिलाड़ियों का नाम बता सकता हूँ। इन सबके बावजूद मेरे IPL matches देखनेपे सवालिया निशान उठाए गये.

1st May(Thursday) को International Workers' Day होता हैं और दुनिया के बाकी मजदूरों की तरह हमें भी छुट्टी थी. अब तो दो ही रास्ते थे, या friday को छुट्टी लेके long weekend का मज़ा लो, या फिर Hyderabad की गरमीमें पड़े पड़े पीघल जाओ. तभी पंक्याके दीमाग की बत्ती जली(finally) और IPL match देखने जाने का प्रोग्राम बना luckily 1तारीख को Hyderabad (Deccan Chargers) Vs Mohali (Punjab Kings XI) की match Hyderabadमें थी . फिर क्या! 4\5 फ़ोन घुमाए, 2\4 SMS किए और 8 पन्टर जमा हो गये. बुकिंग किया तभी IPL शुरूभी नही हुआ था, पर टिकेट इतने आसानी से मिलेंगे ऐसा लगा तो नही . फिर्भी पहली बार stadium में जाके मॅच देखने का excitement तो था

Uppal's Rajiv Gandhi stadium (that is the case with Hyderabad. Every new thing comes out here has name Rajiv Gandhi Interenational, be it Airport or Cricket Stadium) was more than 20 KMs away from the city. Just like any other first timers we wanted to spend as much time as we can in the stadium. Our specially booked cab took us there almost 2 hours in advance. The Rajiv Gandhi Interenational stadium was nowhere matching to international standards (as if I know what are those, but still I belive the stadium which can accomodate 30,000+ crowd should have atleast 1 restroom). 250 bucks tickets asked us not to bring any posters\hoardings\banners in short all the time we spent thinking about posters and banners were gone in vain. ITC was promoting there newly launched biscuits and were distributing 3 packs\ head.

As we reached inside, the view was perfect. Much against our speculations or because the groud was really small, we could able to see most of the cricketers. What followed after that was same old same old. We got to see the serial kisser Emran Hashmi and his new pray Sonal Chauhan as they hop on to promote their upcoming movie Jannat. Without much delay fiannly they arrived..They means the cheer-leaders, I must confessed their performance rather than the drop dead boring match. As always Hyderabad lost that encounter too but in an all I enjoyed the show. It was more like watching a 200 minutes long movie. It had all the action (when I say action I mean it) a bunch losers stared throwing those free biscuit packs on Cheerleaders. Ultimately they have to stop their show in between the match (ohhh nooooo!)

आता IPL Season 1 संपून 15 दिवसदेखील लोटले. सुरुवातीला कोणी कितीही नाक मुरडली तरी थोड्याफार प्रमाणात सगळेच त्याच्यात involve झाले. हा ब्लॉग लिहायला घेतला आणि एका-मागोमाग एक बरेच काही घडले ...काही इथे लिहिले काही अर्धवटच राहीले

This is Not Fare

Date: 5th June 2008
Time: 8.50 A.M.
Venue: Gachibowli Junction (Hyderabad), 5 KM away from Manikonda Campus.

There were 7 autorickshaws standing in a queue. A sight I have never seen in last 30 months (Usually there are 2\3 autowallas fighting to claim passengers for their auto.)
I was pleasantly surprised, the day finally arrived when they learned the importance of queue. But much to my surprise most of the crowd was still standing.
I asked "Wipro?"
Autowala: "Chalo, par 10 rupaye lagege." (generally they cost Rs. 5)
Me: "10 kyun?"
Autowala: "Arey Sir, diesel ke bhaav badh gaye na."
Me: "3 Rupayese woh bhi 1 litre ke liye, yeh toh double kar diya tum logone"
Autowala: " Yahi rate hain ab, aana he to aao."

There were 4 others waiting behind, for me to stop the argument and get into the auto. There was unity within autowalas that I have never seen before. The decision was unanimous, Gachibowli to Wipro would cost 10 Rs.

It was already 9 by now. I said "Chalo"