Friday 26 November 2010

Yeh Teesra Saal Hain...

Inspired by Prasoon Joshi's poem on 26/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3rZmCw_BPU

Yeh Teesra saal hain, aur abbhi wohi haal hain.
Na jaane kitni mombattiyan jalee, NEWS channel walon ko TRP mili
Baaten toh bahut hue, Shahido ko shradhanjali mili
Par uske baad kya?
Yeh Teesra saaal hain, aur abbhi wohi haal hain.

Aaj bhi Gateway pe khule aam ghum sakta he koi bhi
CST station pe mere pados mein baitha koi aatankwadi to nahi?
Shaq aur asuraksha badhti ja rahi
Kya uska koi ilaaj hain?
Yeh Teesra saaal hain, aur abbhi wohi haal hain.

Kasab tod raha he muft ki rotiya jail mein
Uska vakil bhi kar aaya sair, Big Boss ke ghar mein
Ujwal Nikam ne diye bytes har channel ke liye
Aur hum dhoond rahe he conspiracy Karkare ki maut mein
Patil, Deshmukh se istife mangvaye
Aneko dossiers idhar se udhar bhijvaye
Kagzon me simat padi hain aman ki aasha
Yeh Teesra saaal hain, aur abbhi wohi haal hain.

Yeh koi pehli baar nahi tha,
Yeh kuchh aakhri bar nahi hain,
Aaj bhi jab dekhta hu, police ki jang lagi hue bandooke
Sochta hu, kya yeh bacha payenge apne aap ko AK-47 se?
Yeh Teesra saaal hain, aur abbhi wohi haal hain.

Janta hu ek din mein kuchh nahi badlata,
pechida hain mamla, etni jaldi hal nahi milta
Waade to bade bade kiye, batein bhi bahut sari hue
Par kya koshishe kaafi hain?
Itminan hain?
Har saal 26/11 ko yahi sawal hain
Yeh Teesra saaal hain, aur abbhi wohi haal hain.

-Abhijit Arun Chonkar

Thursday 25 November 2010

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.


Wednesday 24 November 2010

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.

Monday 22 November 2010

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.

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Chahar Ka Kehar

The Guy in the left is Deepak Chahar from Rajasthan and below are his bowling figures:

Overs Bowled 7.3
Maiden - 2
Runs- 10
Wickets - 8.

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.