DRAFTS 2011 - DEOOL leaves you speechless at times

As a kid I used to go to a small Ganpati temple near Kurla Station with my sister, Then it was called simply Ganesh Mandir. The temple was very unnoticed and otherwise quite humble affair. Few months later they renamed it to 'JAGRUT VINAYAK MANDIR' and This turned fortune of the temple by 180 degrees. Now there are long queues in front of that temple. May be I was too young to understand the power of word JAGRUT that time. If you look at some of the temples and how it has changed over the years you would know what Deool wants to convey to us.

DEOOL is one of those movies which makes me proud to say that how marathi cinema has matured over the years

DRAFTS 2011 - must listen of 2011

It's good start a year with clean slate, clearing all the 2011 drafts from blogspot....
This, I love to do, Handpicking some of my favorite songs of 2011, and mostly telling why actually liked these songs....

Dilli, absolutely haunting piece by Amit T, liked the rock feel to it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev3QWRbzoPw

Darling, not fully original still Vishal B does the trick with otherwise reliable Rekha Bhardwaj and nice to see Usha Uthup there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMiKYLLW8hI

Yunhi, Its sheer magic of Mohit Chauhan along with some hopeless romanticism in lyrics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrL605XlK70

Khoya Khoya Chand, my personal favorite, the song comes so unexpectedly to you. Some might say a bit out of sych but pircturized wonderfully
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfgxuZmNaC8

Ooh lala - So cheesy yet sexy...I just loved OOH Lala
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg-qlKb4X7U

Nadan Parinday Rehman does the trick again, the song has a graph in itself, true magic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttIKsnxPrMY

Saibo who would have thot that some movie named 'Shor in the city' will give us such a sweet song, Saibo is my personal romantic favorite of this year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnaYB3h75Uc

2011 DRAFTS - Roxtar

It's good start a year with clean slate, clearing all the 2011 drafts from blogspot.....
Watched Rockstar and had mixed views about it....here is what I feel about it...

There are 3 things for which you should watch Roxstar

1. Mohit Chauhan - Mohit Chauhan shimmers and adds soul to 'Jordan'. For me he was biggest take away from the movie.
2. Ranbir Kapoor - The boy wonder of Bollywood, he never dispoints, and shines bright and high even this time. There isn't a single frame without him and he carries movie on his shoulder square and fair.
3. A. R. Rehman - When he is not at his best, still he is far better than others, Rehman gives what needs from him, but then again not at his best. Faya Kun and Nadaan Parinday are my favoirte


There are 3 things for which you should NOT watch Roxstar

1. Nargis Fakhri - Heer could have been next Geet (Jab we met), but Nargis Fakhri kills the charm of Heer Kaul mercillessly. She cant act, (can she be the next Katrina Kaif) and even just watching her on screen sometimes get really irritating
2. Imtiaz Ali - He often shares STORY credits for his movies and does creditable job. This time however he dispoints big time in second half. Mr. Ali ran out of ideas towards the end and this litterally stops the movie.
3. A. R. Rehman - Because we always expect more from Rehman and Tendulkar. Certainly not at his best.

Wow! watching 'Yeh Sali Zindagi' and 'Udaan' on same day is quite something. Where "Yeh Sali Zindagi" is a ride that you enjoy on the foot-board of immensely fast moving train, 'Udaan' is nothing but a soothing journey taken on slow paced train sitting in window seat. Both are awesome and unique in their own sense.
It was started as usual lazy Sunday, we were still getting over a hefty dinner that we had on Saturday Night and decided to skip our Breakfast. Suddenly Ankit's buzz flashed as YSZ is must watch, I hold very little respect for director Sudhir Mishra but still wanted to give a try [to be honest they promoted 22 smooches in the movie way too much] so what the hell!!! even after dismal Friday night show of Sanctum we booked 11:30 AM show tickets [yeah we are that hopeless people] and went for YSZ.

Waha hote toh...udd jaate saale tote

To be honest, I was too biased even before going for this movie. I just loved the director's previous work AAMIR and was ready for yet another masterpiece from this maker. Sadly this is not as good as previous one and luckily this is not as bad either.
To put it in simple word, No one killed Jessica is compromised movie. Not sure, if its economics or to reach larger audience. But this one surely gives you Masala Movie experience. Not that I am complaining!!!
We all know what happened with Jessica Lall so I am straight coming to the things that I liked and those I did not.
Performances - Vidya Balan is top notch with her behenji but definitive taking due justice of her sister's murder. Her transformation from dull and shaken girl in her early 30's to rejected and dejected lady in late 30's is awesome. There is a striking scene in courtroom where she suddenly starts giggling, that's so poignant to show that there is still a dull but little kid inside her. Another moment when she burst on her father for letting Jesica's murder's parents get into their house. One more towards the climax where she broke down at Jesica's grave and says Thanks to Rani. Vidya Balan's Sabrina is undoubtedly superb, those who appreciate subtly would love it.
On the other hand Rani's portrayal of Mira [character largely drawn from Barkha Dutt], a super bitch reporter from NDTV looks too labored. A definite commercial compromise to add little masala to this otherwise docudrama movie.
Both the central characters gets establish in first few moments of the movie and carries the same characteristics throughout the movie.The director gives equal time and chance to both leads to show their talent.
The Third lead is however is most impactful and that is Amit Trivedi's sound. This guy is surely  the NEXT BIG THING in bollywood. His music has it's own soul and that adds to the tension of this movie. I am already crazy about Dilli track and the soulful Dua...is my latest favorite.
The movie has few gripping moments but it never haunts you as AAMIR did [I might be unreasonable comparative but I was expecting way too much :)]
NOKJ is a good masala movie for sure, go with little of expectations and you won't complain!!

TMK WTF

NOTICE: The sole motive of this post is to keep you as away from thing called TEES MAAR KHAN, not that I did not see this coming but now that I have been through this, it is my utmost responsibility to warn those who can still manage to survive. Please do not watch TEES MAAR KHAN and save the humanity

Remember while you are driving on road and a garbage truck overtakes your vehicle and you have to live with that stuff for a while, till either truck goes away or you hold back. TMK has the same amazing characteristic to stick on with you, even you are very well away from the site of disaster. This is Shirish Kunder's revenge on the world for marrying Farah Khan and Farah Khan's revenge on Shirish Kunder for giving 3 babies at a time. [Those who do not know, Shirish Kunder has written, screenplayed, dialogued, lyriced, background scored, edited, musiced TMK and married to Farah Khan] This is undoubtedly worst Akshaye Kumar movie and that says a lot.

Watching TMK is same as passing from Sion to Matunga in Mumbai local train and watching hundreds of people shitting on railway tracks and that too for 2 long hours. And mind you, there is not a pinch of exaggeration and you will actually see one guy taking crap in paddy field.TMK is mind numbingly dumb movie that makes Welcome and Singh is Kingg masterpieces.

Now enough of metaphors and get back to ripping of movie.
Tabrez Mirza Khan [AKSHAY KUMAR] who learned robbery even before he was born. He can open any lock and ofcorse he is KHANO mein KHAN, supported by lame sidekicks named burger, soda etc [laugh! this is supposed to be funny]
Johri Brothers [MTv twins Raghu and Raghav] appoint TMK for a great robbery where he has to loot thousands of kilos of antics from a running train. BTW these are Siamese twins who talks in unison and this supposed  to be funny.
Anya [Katrina] is struggling actress who does item numbers in movies like SHEELA KI JAWANI,
there are some passing references as well to make you laugh that Chunky Panday acting in movie named CHOLI MEIN HOLI, Akshay Kumar holding a book called MUNNI KI AAG KAB BUJHEGI, a dark colored thief named KOYLA who disguises himself in dark, Hollywood directors named DANNY DOYLE and Manoj Day Ramlan. Are you laughing at these things? NO na? Because this is not funny.
Akshay Khanna plays Oscar crazy bollywood actor, a character is clearly rip off of Anil Kapoor and waiting for his DAY-HO! is only manages to tickle some funny bones.
There is huge supporting cast thats just not support the movie, because the movie has no base. TMK's con acts are not smart enough and the great robbery isn't impactful either.

SHEELA KI JAWANI is ONLY highpoint that gets over in first 15 minutes of the movie. Rest we are left with insufferable trauma. Is movie that bad, YES.
In spite of this you are still booking tickets, make sure you take back up of your brain and soul. Because TMK just might steal it.

Khelen Hum Jee Jaan Se

Khelen Hum Jee Jaan Se [will be referred KHJJS henceforth] has gone wrong in every department.

Starting with the title Khelen Hum Jee Jaan Se sounds like any cheesy 1980's masala flick like Jeeten Hum Shan Se or Jamane ko Deekhana Hain

It has been proven that Abhishek Bachan can only deliver in What an Idea Sirji commercials and Koffee with Karan's episode. You give him anything beyond that and he will perfectly screw it up.

Deepika Padukone's best feature is her legs, and when you cant see it on screen, you just can't see her on screen.

Sohail Sen is not even 0.01% of A R Rehman, we know IT and we don't even expect it. But the only saving factor for bad movie can be a good music. We do not have it here.

The striking feature of Gowariker's earlier offerings were it's dialogues, you just can not accept Pritilata Waddedar [the only woman revolutionary in Chattogram Uprising] saying 'par mein tumhare bina jee nahi sakti'

And last but not the least...Ashutosh Gowariker - the only reason I went to watch this movie.

This might be the year of good directors delivering their worst work. Maniratnam with Raavan, Anurag Basu with Kites and now Gowariker with KHJJS.

So what goes wrong and where exactly?

KHJJS is based on Novel DO AND DIE that is inspired by Chattogram uprising took place in 1930's, the not-so-known novel on lesser known revolt [sad but true!] So Gowariker was in safe territory as he has not to deal with book fanatics...that mainly happen with Harry Potter movies. The movie starts on Football ground where bunch of teenagers have been pushed out of their ground by Angreji Seepayee

Few of them decide to go to Surjya Sen [Abhishek Bachan] known for his revolutionary acts. Meanwhile Surjya with his bunch of comrades decides to resume revolutionary movement [that was halted by Gandhiji for an year and so] and when Surjya found that he can use these teenagers in his plan he setup a walk in interview for them [what an idea sirji!!!]

First part takes typical Lagaan tone, where it establishes characters and trying to overcome all the odds. And this is the most tiring part of the movie. Gowariker is famous for his casting and how skillfully he takes out best work from new actors. However KHJJS has bunch of BAD ACTORS and the league successfully led by Abhishek Bachan. As you can see him most of movie with folded arms and giving Bhashan on revolution.

This is definitely one of the most uninspiring leader produced on Indian Celluloid. I bet KKR's Deshdrohi has more flesh and blood to his character than Abhishek's portrayal of Surjya Sen.

So back to movie, in second half when actual action starts, the perfect plan goes haywire due to various reasons. And all the people involved have to rush in jungles of Bengal. The story ultimately end up with protagonist is hanged till death.

Looking at onset this looks really heartening story, the teenagers in their 20's lost their lives for country. But the movie never moves you.....Gowariker failed there miserably.

You just don't connect to movie, on the other hand it gets too boring. Surprisingly the direction looks so amateurish and you actually wonder if this is the same guy who gave us Swadesh and Lagaan?

I am just so disappointed with the movie, the only memorable moment for me is the end credits of the movie, where they have shown pictures of all the martyrs and those who served life imprisonment. The movie never do justice to their sacrifice.

Catching Up - Anjana Anjani

Anjana Anjani looks dish straight out of YashRaj Dhabha...

• The story set in foreign location [Here it's in NYC and San Francisco via Las vegas]
• Gorgeous looking lead pair
• One sufi song by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
• And absolutely crap story line

The only thing missing is Punjab di meetti ki khushboo. Anyhow so Anjana Anjani is story of two stupid people who can not get through a Suicide plan. Reasons for suicide, well our Wall Street Hot shot [Read Ranbir] is so irresponsible that he took 12 Million dollars [yeah you read it right] loan for his company without any consent from his partners. As global meltdown start, our WSHT [Wall Street Hot Shot] is first one to go. As the easy as it could get, he decides to jump of from NY bridge to end all the misery. For our HIGH ON ALCOHOL [Read as Priyanka] its dard-e-dil, her childhood sweetheart [Zayed Khan - yeah things got worse] betrayed her over a firaang. To get even with him she does the same [same pinch same pinch]. Unable to maintain the relationship our HOA decides to end her life once for all. And ofcorse end up at the same time at NY bridge just next to our WSHS. 

Needless to say, they both fail to die, they try N number of ways unable to do so. Our HOA thinks this is some kind of sign and they should wait till the actuall TIME comes. The time has decided 31st Dec - New Year Eve @ NY Bridge [oh so typical]

Now WSHS and HOA has got 20 days to kill. The problem with Anajana Anjani is that it's too pretentious and outrageously simplistic movie. If it's Sajid Nadiadwala production, no one is willing to take anything seriously, but it promotes itself something that you have never seen before. Priyanka Chopra is contuining her 'why should boys have all the fun' act and simply irritating to say the list. Ranbir looks bored in the movie and nothing better to do. Songs on the other hand is the only saving grace. The movie certainly has Jab We Met hangover to it but never reaches to even that level.
The moment they both meet at the bridge, you somehow predict what is going to happen next and surprisingly exactly same things follows. Duh!! the movie present itself as so cool....but has very little fire within.

Hari da Puttar ke Maut Ke Tohfe - HP7

After a long hiatus I am back on movie watching spree, and it's a good time to be back on track.
You know what else is good? the latest Harry Potter offering, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows
I just loved it, it has everything, Friendship, Romance, Jealousy, Betrayal, Magic...all that we EXPECT from Harry Potter series. Being a HP movie fan and not reading a novel has it's own pros and cons.
Pros that you actually do not know what would be offered in the movie.
Cons - sometimes you just do not understand what is going on in the movie.
So when it comes to watching HP movie, I have very limited company...However the ever reliable Tushar came to rescue and we booked the ticket for Sunday evening show.

HP7 is first part of last book so in a way it's beginning of an end, though it's a real treat for it's hard core fans, first timers please stay away from this. With multiple references to previous edition, this one is almost impossible to digest if you are watching HP for the first time. With no one to trust and nowhere to go, our 3 protagonists Harry, Ron and Harmoine are completely on theie own. Enemy is getting stronger and our hero is still trying to get out of the shock of Dumbeldore's death. It's too hard for these 3 teens to figure out the way to handle such a strong enemy, this struggle is so evident in this part.
This is undoubtedly the darkest part yet but what is striking is the amount of magic involved in this one [that was completely lacking in last 2 releases] so snakes appearing from nowhere and magic wounds getting broken, flying scooter ride with hagrid this one is surely a ride to enjoy.
One more new emotion added is the ROMANCE between Harry and Ginny Weasly however that is not as charming as the one between Ron and Harmoine with a pinch of jealousy as Harmoine and Harry gets upclose and cozy.
At the end; as always HP is tale of friendship and sure it is. Harry finds (and then loses) Dobby [a house elf seen in part2] in this part. Ron and Harry fight and then come together in this part. It's so heart warming to see these 3 actually growing in front of you both as characters and actors. All 3 did good job, special effects top notch. This part is particularly to set the mood for ultimate finale and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows part 1 rightly do so. Can't wait for July.

P.S Harry Potter and Maut Ke Tohfe is Hindi Title for dubbed version.
P.S.2: I have seen the English version and will watch Hindi version to catch some missing points.

Guzarish - Welcome to Bhansali Land

How to make a Bhansali Movie?

Take lots of Black, Blue and Red color for the background.
Pick up protagonist with severe physical disability and mixed it up with over caring, high pitched care taker e.g.teacher\nurse.
Sprinkle some caring and loving supporting cast around the protagonist.
Some cliche', stereotypical characters to add struggle and melodrama
Haunting villa and background score to bring mystical atmosphere.

And you are all set to make yet another Bhansali Movie, set in Bhansali Land [something that is no way related to real world with absolutely no sense of time, distance and location]

But Bhansali is undoubtedly one of the most clever director, you criticize his film and might sleep into shoes of oh-that-insensitive-guy who-could-not-shed-a-tear-watching-black (or Guzarish)
There are things that works for and against Guzarish.

Starting with negatives - Guzarish never makes sense, now I know, we can not expect LOGIC from Bollywood movie but it should come from someone like Bhansali.
Ethan's [Hrithik] near death accident is actually a sabotage, strangely he knows that but there is nothing done about it,
a huge villa that can give Salarjung museum run for it's money is where Ethan is living but with bank balance of where he can pay Sophia [Aishawarya] her salary for maximum 2 months.
What made Ethan, someone who is so much full of life, suddenly asking for mercy killing?

Director never bother to ask or answer any of these questions so give a blind eye to it and then surrender yourself to Bhansali world, that is black, blue and beautiful.

Hrithik - Aishwarya makes  one of the best looking pair we have ever had and they got the chemistry going over here as well. Aishwarya acting in her 3rd Bhansali venture knows the tone of the director and she tunes herself UP accordingly. Hrithik is simply marvelous as Ethan. With less flashbacks, he mostly acts with his eyes and hair, but his English is still hard to understand [I somehow never get whenever he talks in English]
Supporting cast is good and works well with the movie. Precisely there isn't much with story and screenplay and few lump in a throat moments are mainly because of its lead pair. Bhansali catches the mood well with his kind of music and background score.
Overall Guzarish is a well made movie with excess melodrama. People with high appetite for emotions will love it for sure.

Catching Up - Aisha

There are around 12 odd movies, waiting for me to get watched and to be reviewed. Somehow I have not not watched new movies for last 2 + months, here is my honest effort to catch up with backlog. And first in list was Aisha. With sincere thanks to Ankit, Tushar and Colors Channel who lend me nice prints of most of these movies.
Talking about Aisha, can surely qualify for one of THE most insensitive and absolutely stupid movie of all times. May be I was so much hoping for this supposedly romcom movie, that is why in spite of statutory warning from Prabha, I dared to watch the movie.
Aisha is Bollywood adaptation of Jane Austin's Emma, NOW help me to understand Aisha here....Aisha is insanely rich, supposedly talented girl who spends ~ 60K on her single shopping outing, her hobby is match making two absolutely mismatched people. She treats her friends like a project with no respect what so ever for their individual liking, if one match making fails....no worries, tie your friend with next possible guy you see.
What strike me more is this came from a female director, NOW without sounding a perfect MCP, I still believe women think more emotionally than men. But not here....
Aisha as a character has no charm, depth and sincerity. It is supposedly answer to Hollywood's Sex and the City without the zing of original one.
It has got interesting pairing of Sonam Kapoor [she is pale and I still DO NOT find her attractive] and otherwise dependable Abhay Deol. Alas! no GOOD actor can do GOOD for such a script!!!
Sadly it's not only THE CENTRAL CHARACTER but all other people are so shallow in this movie, all of them are either busy in parties, outing, polo matches or pubbing...Oh what a crap!!
Bottomline Aisha bores you to the core, if you are expecting the gulity pleasure of Sex and the City from this movie. trust me! just stay away from Aisha.

It's all Oscars

India's official entries to Oscars always surprised me. God knows what are the touch points in their selection. Here is the look at last 10 official entries to Oscars and it's nice to see there are 2 Marathi movies :-)

2000 Hey Ram - If Gandhi is the only name that could bring us to Oscars, then Hey Ram was the perfect choice. Kamal Hassan ever confused rendition of 'Vaishav Jan toh' never had potential to make it big at Oscars.



2001 Lagaan - Oh what a masterpiece. In spite of being shamelessly crazy about Lagaan, I thought the Simple tale of Amelie (French movie nominated in same category) had much more life than Lagaan in it.


2002 Devdas - An over the top melodrama that was highly overrated in India. If Nitin Desai's art direction was the criterion, then Devdas had a great chance to get away with Oscars.


2004 Shwaas - Oh, this movie missed the final 5 by whisker and stood 6th in ranking. My personal favorite and something that brings lump in your throat every time you watch it.


2005 Paheli Why, why....I mean why?? Sending Paheli to Oscars would remain the mystery of Indian Cinema, specially in a year where we had a tailor made Oscar entry BLACK. Now I am not a great FAN of Black either but it was definitely better than Paheli.


2006 Rang De Basanti - RDB is as Indian movie as it gets, something a wee bit tough to digest for Academy awards jury. No wonder it did not make it to final 5.


2007 Eklavya - The Royal Guard - Now we have to get out of western image of India...something that is royal, extravagant and Majesty making it to Oscar stage. Devadas, Paheli and Eklavya were not even a good movies with Indian standards.


2008 Taare Zameen Par - Aamir's honest efforts, perhaps just not enough to move the juries.


2009 Harishchandrachi Factory - Oh what a heart warming story of Father of Indian Cinema. There was nothing larger than life about the movie, and perhaps that's what the USP of it. Sad but could not make it big in Oscars


2010 Peepli Live - I am really hopeful about Peepli Live, it has the another typical INDIAN image [Pather Panchali & Slumdog Millionaire fame] but suspect that may be English subtitles would kill the charm of Peepli.

Wishing Peepli Live all the best for the Oscars!!!!

Bring Back Indipop!!! - Nostalgia Post

May be today's generation...'wHo TyPe Lik Dis' and say 'mah' for 'my'; may not understand what I am talking about, but there was something called Indipop did exist in this world. It was time when MTV (much before Rodies -1.0 aired and idea of Splitsvilla was far away) just started to show Hindi Songs. And people used to wait for Countdown shows like Superhit Muqabla and Philips Top-10.
We saw some amazing music came from a parallel industry, perhaps the Bollywood Music was going dogs that time. But, yes and we did see rise and fall of Indipop याची देहि याची डोळा [with this very soul, with this very eyes]

This is how it all started.....time to get nostalgic and remember some of veterans...Remo Fernandes- you can simply call him a hippy from Goa but he has kind of started all this with great support from likes of Alisha Chinoy and Baba Sehgal. Today Baba might sound out of sync or simply stupid but he did rocked in early 90's hosting Superhit Muqabla and giving Indians a taste of rap music and a must mention of Rukmani Rukmani from Roja. Those were the days when viewers used write postcards to PO Box number xyz. And lucky draws has been taken to find out who are the winners. And there was Alisha making all MADE IN INDIA songs. There are just too many and too good names to mention....here is few on top my mind.

Lucky Ali -
Phalguni Pathak
Shubha Mudgal
Daler Mehandi
Anaida

The Duos-
Colonial Cousins
Shaan-Sagarika

The Remixes That we loved-
Shankar-Ehsan-Loy - Instant Karma
Asha -Leslie - Rahul & I

The Bands-
Euphoria
Silkroute
Viva

The Established -
Asha Bhosale
A R Rehmaan
Sonu Nigam
Anu Malik

The Passing References-
Sunita Rao
Shweta Shetty
Milind Ingale
Rageswari and Rajeswari Sachdev

Un'Grace'ful Downfall

Peepli Live - People Live

Peepli Live is one of THE most uncompromising movies ever made for Hindi audiences. I have seen many good movies getting screwed at the end just to pull more eyeballs , they either add Item song, or cameos etc etc but Peepli Live sticks to it's storyline and hits the right cords. It also teaches us to laugh on ourselves, something that we Indians should learn.
Peepli Live reminded me of Valoo (an excellent Marathi movie), Peepli Live is not about farmer suicide issue, it mainly dwells around the people and how they react in particular situation. The last thing I want is a ban or PIL against Peepli Live. If we fail to protect Peepli Live we will fail as a democracy.
Peepli a small village in Mukhya Pradesh, Natha and Budhia, two bothers and farmers who are failing to save their ancestors land are now on verge of selling it since they are unable to pay the debt. Budhia soon manipulates Natha to commit a suicide in order to fetch hefty 1 lac Rs. as a compensation from government. Natha unable to gauge the consequences immediately agrees to that, however Natha's suicide news accidentally gets published in local newspaper. In time when local elections are just around the corner (and Peepli being in CM's constituency) Natha's suicide decision soon catches the fire. Local MLA, caste politician, Agricultural Ministry, CM, opposition, state & central government and on top of it News media all land up in Peepli to incash this event.
Peepli Live has a simple storyline that has been told with pinch of humor, or I should say more than a pinch. The humor is not labored and comes naturally through the characters, the cast of movie is a real masterstroke where you just can not take away actors from their characters. background score and cinematography enhances the narration. Anusha Rizvi (Director) being a journalist herself catches the exact tone of Hindi and English News Media.
Peepli Live gives a fulfilling experience, movie that you take your home and ponder upon it....Kudos!!

My Perception about Inception

Movies like Inception are those smart bitches that take advantage of fooling around with people, now if you admit that you did not quite get the core of it then you end up being someone who DO NOT get the intellectual orgasm and If you say that 'you just loved it' then deep down inside somewhere it just sticked to you like a chewing gum in your hair. 

It happened with me before, with matrix, with babel, with memento and there you go with Inception again. 

Honestly I have enjoyed Inception much more than any other before mentioned movies, But can I proudly say that Yes, I got what it meant to be?...then the honest answer is NO. 

Now the concept of idea stealing is quite wide and openly available [example Pritam, Anu Malik etc etc] but how about stealing it directly from mind? before it actually came down to reality....what's even more riveting is the concept of implanting idea in someone's head? Isn't that called MANIPULATION in other words? Something that our wamps do daily in soap operas? As if you go back in days of Ramayana...that's what Manthara did to Kaikeyi or a laundryman did to Rama...

Special Appearance Specialist

An accidental visit to Abhishek Bachhan's IMDB page made me realize that he is actually specialized in cameos.
This guy appeared in 12 movies for blink and miss roles. Many of them even I don't remember.

• Hum Tum - As Rani's husband, all I remember is his gyan session to Saif where he says "Hamare andar kahi na kahi ek bachha chhupa hua hain" Sadly (or luckily) he dies right after his marriage in the movie.
• Rakht -Ok this might be more memorable with his "ONE LOVE" act
• Salaam Namaste - One of the most obnoxious cameos, as a narrator and a doctor who delivers Preity's baby in the movie. Arghh!! the climax shamelessly copied from Friends episode
• Home Delivery - Yes, I am the few one who survived from 'Home Delivery' he was there too.
• Ek Ajanabee - I really don't know that he appeared in this movie as well
• Neal N' Nikki - And there are few movies that I chose to skip, Neal n' Nikki was one of them and if IMDB says that he was in a movie, then he really was.
• Alag - This movie had 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' types song, where almost everyone from Bollywood came together and sing 'Sabse Alag' Abhishek was one of 50 actors appeared in it.
• Lage Raho Munnabhai - As Sunny KKhurana, we ditches his dad and jyotish Batuk to marry Lucky Singh's daughter....not a bad cameo to do-  I must say!
• Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag - Arrgh! this is one of league of Neal n' Nikki that I chose not to see.
• Om Shanti Om - As himself, finally getting a filmfare for Dhoom 5. Because he was NOT IN THE FILM
• Mission Istanbul - Did not see, Don't even care.
• Luck by Chance- I particularly liked this cameo, where how politely he turns down Rishi Kapoor's offer. 

I wish he would have given a guest appearance in Raavan as well. Undoubtedly one of the most faltered performance of the year. Anyways So here you go 'Abhishek Bachhan'- Special Appearance Specialist

Rajneeti Reviewed

Rajneeti sets an ideal example of how-to-fool-an-audience-through-promos. When you see cotton sari clad Katrina Kaif moving amongst crowd, waving hands and delivering speeches on stage, looking almost like you-know-who. The first impression you get, oh! did Jha touched holy cows this time? With cast of Naseerudding Shah, Nana Patekar, Ajay Devan and Manoj Bajpai, you do expect performances of top notch.

So what's Rajneeti is about?...No It's not about the supposed first family of India (Jha did not touch the holy cow) it isn't about the new thinking lad in politics either. It's curry of Indian politics saute' with likes of Mahabharta & God-father. Jha is a director who knows his ground (though he lost it sometime back with movies like 'Dil Kya Kare' and 'Rahul') but then he returned to where he belongs to with 'Gangajal' and 'Apaharan'. Sadly 'Rajneeti' stands just in between his 'Gangajal' and 'Dil Kya Kare'. It isn't disappointment just because we have seen Kites recently. But for someone who are so fascinated with Indian Politics and it's dynamism it gives less full-filling experience.

It starts just the way Mahabharta did- Naseeruddin Shah in blink and miss (or in this case kiss and miss) role, disappears right after he realises that he has made one of his comrade pregnant, he goes into hiatus. And the job better left to Nana Patekar to get rid of the new born baby. The baby ofcorse turn out to be 'Karan' played by Ajay Devgan. Now Nana's role is bit confusing sometimes he looks like Bhishm and sometimes as Krishna, however all throughout movie he stands besides Rampal (mix of both Bheem & Yudhishtir) & Ranbir (Arjun) to guide them. And then we have Manoj Bajpai as Duryodhan and Katrina playing role of Draupadi and completing the circle.

The drama within Mahabharta itself is so gripping that Jha needless to borrow anything else.Still there is plot where Ranbir took charge of politics to set things right (???) is copy-pasted from Godfather. Now to all fairness the movie isn't bad at all. But with running time of almost 3 hours you need to carry a bit more patience with you.

Talking about the performances, I liked Nana and Manoj most, Ranbir again delivers an earnest performance and this is his 4th in a row. Wow!! this is like longest run for any new comer....Katrina tries her best to do whatever she has offered but frankly there isn't much for her to do. Ajay unfortunately got the really half-baked role to his credit, Devgan can do such roles even in his sleep. The case in note here is Arjun Rampal, boy... that guy falters and falters again. A total miscast by Jha, he neither seeks sympathy nor evokes any rage. Just as bland as tofu.

The movie promises more but delivers little less...however sure one time watch.

He is 'Back'

Two back to back trailers to re-assure that he is really back. Yes, the HIMESH RESHAMIYA is ooooooowing again with Kajrare (Himesh as Actor, Singer & Music Director- tripple Dhamaka) and Milenge Milenge (one more comeback, where Kapoor Duo - Shahid Kareena will try to grab some lost chemistry). Now You can hate him, curse him or make jokes of him but you just can't simply ignore him. I remember then Himesh (much before his cap or Chinese weird hairdo) was really sweet to ear, that was the time when Jatin Lalit were losing their touch, Nadeem-Shravan were too irregular and Anu Malik's downfall was just started. A perfect time for someone who can play with typical bollywood melodies to make a mark and so he did, an otherwise forgettable movies like Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye (Sawariya re O Sawariya, Oh Priya O Priya and Title Track), Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (Mujhse Shadi Karogi, Title Track), Hello Brother (Teri chunariya dil le gayee, Title Track) and Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya (Odhli chunariya) did survive just for it's hummable music.

Then some big banners and big hits happened to him, Humraaz (Abbas-Mustan), Tere Naam (Satish Kaushik) and Yeh Hai Jalwa (David Dhawan) to bring him in top league.

And then there was Aashique Banaya Aapne, it was late 2005, I was just landed in Hyderabad and all I could hear was 'oooooo of Himesh; Tollywood has very strong hold in Hyderabad and you hardly get to hear any Hindi songs in autos, but not this time. ABA's music was a runaway hit. Except the one song 'Jindagi jo bit jaye' that was shamelessly copied from Ali Jafar's 'Rangeen', rest of album was really interesting piece of music. May be he has given something really hatke to people, otherwise check out the music happened in 2005, Zeher, Shabd, Parineeta, Dus, Bluffmaster etc.

Post ABA he actually became savior for those small budget movies with his kind of music.....whatever he was doing people were grabbing with both hands. The really sick movies like Aksar, Tom Dick & Harry, Anthony Kaun Hain, Rocky, Shadi se Pehle all were musically HIT. Now you may not remember single song from these movies but Himesh definitely rocked 2006, 2007.

But as in the world, every good thing comes to an end, so did his music....after a huge success of his music album 'Aap Ka Saroor' he decided to go for a movie Aap Kaa Surroor - The Real Luv Story ( and it's sequel Aap Kaa Surroor 2 - Ae Himesh Bhai - planned to release sometime in 2011 ). Himesh on screen as an actor looked awfully funny and pathetically awkward. After 3 releases we can safely say that he is not an actor and will never be.

I have no idea why I have written this biographical post for Himesh, but he is coming back and I am kind of happy.

Kites - ek kati patang hain!

Kites can be best described in typical Mumbaiyya lingo as 'ch****a banaya bada maja aaya'. As it happened with most of much-awaited-highly-hyped movies 'Kites' disappoints to the core. And you keep on asking yourself 'what took them so long to come up with this'?
Kites is sickening bore and slow paced movie that unfortunately termed as representation of so called Bollywood Movies to the West. And guess what? it might succeed to reinforce their belief of that our movies are just about songs and dance and story with no soul (and in this case no story at all).
Remember those mid 80's and 90's movies. Rich dad, poor lad, romance, 'khandaan ki izzat' and 'Hamara pyar amar hain' types dialogues? Yes, kites has all this, except that all this set in USA (Like most of big banner movies these days). Papa Roshan has given a perfect launch pad to beta Roshan in Hollywood. We know Hritik looks awesome, He dances bloody well and yeah this starson can act. Papa Roshan, made sure all this will be focused in the movie.
So we have Mr. J (Hritik) with 'Devil May Care' attitude who is a dancer in Las Vegas [Hritik's dance - check] a womanizer who flaunts his body and go all shirtless for many sequences [Hritik's Look and Physique - check] Vegas's big bad daday's [Kabir Bedi] big spoiled daughter Gina [Hysteria Queen - Kangana] fall flat for J, for J it was easiest way to get Rich and he has no hesitation to say Yes to Gina's proposal. The Kahani mein twist comes at Gina's brother's engagement when our Mr. J finds out that Gina's Bro's fiance Natasha (Barbara Mori) is J's Ex-Wife (Natasha formerly known as Linda). Suddenly life starts to run in slow motions and soon J and Natasha releases that they are in love. However they are equally aware of the reality. Both wants to be rich and this love won't take them anywhere. What next?? Gina's brother (Nicholas Brown who acts exactly like Mohnish Behl ) soon finds out about J and Natasha. All badies goes against our lovely couple on run. The movie features more car flying than kites in the sky that must have Rohit Shetty fuming.
The movie looks hugely inspired by 'Ek Duje Ke Liye' but completely lacks charm that was present in it. The much talked about chemistry between Hritik and Barbara is evident but for me it's hardly any reason to like a movie. The communication gap between both our protagonists hardly seems a problem in the movie and mainly used as a gimmick to find more relevance with western audience. Ayananka Bose's cinematography, Salim Sulaiman's background score and action sequences are top notch but those are expected with such a big budget movie. Even if i skip the nitpicking Kites is really 'difficult-to-like' movie. For die-hard Hritik fans it's a visual treat...for rest it's just a kati PATANG hain.