total timepass...

First things first, I liked Talaash. Maybe because I had heard enough negative reviews to lower my expectations or maybe just that I have a low base level for Hindi movies:). Anyhow, I was very involved with the movie throughout and enjoyed it completely. Would agree that the end was a bit out of the place but the rest of it was very well crafted. The movie follows Aamir Khan's investigation into the death of a famous movie star along with his dealing with personal pain and loss. The movie is very well developed, slow at times but still bringing out the different aspects of the story very well. The acting was brilliant, both by Aamir and Rani. But for the first time ever, I liked Kareena and her acting. As the outspoken but warm prostitute, Rosie. There is pain in her eyes and looks like she has a lot to share (and hide). The music was good, always in the background and adding to the storyline. I think the only part out of place was the end. Not that Kareena was a ghost, but...

Gangs of Wasseypur is a movie which brings to my mind the word 'good cinema' which is more often than not used to refer to the artsy part of the movie business. But GOW is not just artsy, its as mainstream as possible but still maintaining its integrity and saying and showing what it wants to! I don't really know what I can write about this movie. I think its just amazing. The story is well crafted, flowing at its own pace but with a solid foundation. The pace is definitely slow, it just takes its own time to reach its end, introducing and developing all its characters on the way. It meanders all over the place but finally takes you where it wants to. The character etching is amazing, you remember each character for what he or she stands for. Sardar Khan with the i-dont-care-about-anything attitude is just so real. His acting is out of this world, and even though there are many of his dialogues which are good, what I remember him for is his dance on top of a tempo to...

Skyfall is the first Bond movie I have ever seen in the theater  Have watched some earlier ones but all were on TV and I found them all extremely mindless and entertaining:). But this one promised to be different! For one, Daniel Craig has been a different Bond, focusing not as much on the style quotient of the movie as the thought behind the man. And this one was definitely in that genre. The focus of Skyfall was on M and her relationships with the spies she trained, while also raising a question at the existence of her department. It starts with M allowing an agent to take a shot at Bond risking his life for a higher reward. But then Bond returns from the dead to save her and her department from the unknown enemy.Some sequences later turns out the unknown enemy was none other than an ex-Bond, burnt by M's betrayal in the past now looking to take his revenge on her. Its a story of delving into the depths of M's mind, 'orphans make the best recruits'. Even ...

The TV series, Yes Prime Minister has been long appreciated by all who can enjoy British humour. But once you had watch the entire series, there wasn't anything new to look forward to. So when there was an on-stage production of Yes Prime Minister playing in London (at Trafalgar Studios), I was obviously keen to see what the latest version had to offer. Of course the fact that there are not too many comedy plays running at a time also limits the choice but still I was very excited about this one:). Anyways, first things first, I was suffering from jetlag, and so could not pay 100% attention to the play. Still I think I do remember the essence! The play centered around a country Kumranistan which was doing an oil deal with England for which England had to join the EU (which of course was kept hidden from the PM). On the way to signing the deal, multiple crazy developments keep coming up including the foreign minister of Kumranistan asking for an escort! Anyways many twists a...

As happens every year, Shah Rukh had a release on Diwali, and as happens every year, I went to watch it too! And as has been happening every year in recent times, I regretted it! But to be frank, I felt a lot more let down this time, it was a Yash Chopra romantic movie with Shah Rukh, Katrina and Anushka; it had beautiful locales like Leh and London; music was by AR Rahman; how could it go wrong? But it did, terribly! I could not see one saving grace in the movie. Actually there was one, which was the ' Challa ' song. Other than that, nothing at all! Where do I start? The story was just terrible! Was it not read before the filming of the movie started? There was no character development, no story development at all. Things were just happening for no real reason! A fish-seller-and-waiter-and-street singer-and-snow plower, all-in-one in London runs into rich girl Katrina Kaif couple of times, starts teaching her to sing and they fall in love. There are enough sequences b...

Barfi! Whats not to like about this movie? Beautiful locations: Darjeeling with its white clouds covering the idyllic green forests all around, the tea gardens filled with simple people going along with their simple lives. Its virtual poetry all around! Barfi: The very lovable, good for nothing but very naughty (and with a heart of gold) resident of this small town. Barfi cannot talk or hear but leads a very interesting and unapologetic life (and Ranbir has done a brilliant job portraying him). Jhilmil: The daughter of a rich gharjamai son-in-law. A girl suffering from autism, who does not find a home at her own home. Barfi and Jhilmil cross paths with each other and what follows is a beautiful story of the bond of friendship and support they form with each other. The whole setting is beautiful and feel good to watch, with some comic sequences added in between, some good songs et al. All this has been well made and would go for 4 stars upto here. But the movie h...

'Ek Tha Tiger' is a typical Salman Khan movie, a mindless masala entertainer with lot of action and pretty locales to keep you entertained throughout. The story is simple: a RAW agent falls in love with a Pakistani ISI Agent while on a mission, and then both of them run away to lead a life away from the enmity of these two countries. The story being so simple and straightforward, the whole movie is just about Salman in a lot of action scenes, and the background being a travel advertisement for Ireland, Cuba, Istanbul and so on. There is pretty much nothing else in the movie. Some songs, not worth remembering either. Salman Khan looks funny though, he doesn't fit the role of an agent. He is so fat and when he tries running around and jumping from here to there, he looks out of place. And he is different from the rest of his recent movies, like Ready, Bodyguard, Dabbang etc too. Its a different but still Salman role that he does. Katrina looks good as usual. As I said, n...

Since I am not an action-hero movie buff, there are not many in-depth views that I have about the Dark Knight Rises. All in all, I can just say that the movie was enjoyable, with a decent script and lot of good special effects to be fully involved. But there were a couple of interesting things I thought of after coming out of the theatre. For one, in the Dark Knight Rises, the focus is on Batman rather than the villain which was very unlike the last movie. When you came out of the movie theatre, you thought about Batman, his troubles, his doubts and his rise rather than Bane. This was in sharp contrast to the Dark Knight where all that was in your head was the Joker and Batman was relegated to a supporting presence. Also, Bane as the villain was too plain, just a strong body and a couple of people he controls. Not too much about him to remember. Another interesting point in the movie was its portrayal about what may happen when the 99% take over from the 1%. I am not supporting ei...

Cocktail, is it part of the new age Indian cinema that we see so often nowadays, a different and more realistic look at what we are rather than the nice image we still have of our society? Frankly, no. It's a bad movie, terrible actually but I would still recommend a watch. Why? Just because it is different and it does start out in a new direction even though it loses its way in between and ends up where it always has been... Anyways, let me first start with the characters. Deepika (Veronica): the first thing about her is that she looks hottt! I mean, really hot! And surprise surprise, I never thought I would say this but I think she acted, quite well in fact. Which is something new for her given her earlier movies. As for her character, its a rocking one. I wudn't go into whether what she does is right or wrong, but its just a well etched character, she is who she is, fun, carefree, independent and always partying. Its something different too, don't remember seeing many...

The issue of 'Reservation' in India has been debated endlessly for years now: in online forums, in social gatherings, in educational institutes.. everywhere. It's pitfalls have been debated, the advantages have been discussed, changes have been advocated to the system and so on. But it has still not been sorted out, it is still a highly inefficient and misused system which is not serving the purpose it was originally introduced for. There are endless stories coming out regularly on how the system doesn't work properly. The latest I read was this article  which shocks you with the fact that you can get an entrance into an engineering or a medical college by scoring a 0 in the exam!! Does this not make you feel frustrated? And shocked? And angry? Is this correct, is this what we want in our future? Don't countries achieve greatness based on merit alone? And we are creating a generation seeing merit give way to other considerations. The reason given for such a sys...

Ted, the latest from Mark Wahlberg, is a comedy unlike most of his previous movies which were mostly action-based. To be frank, I am not a fan of animations or other children's movies and don't enjoy them much. So expectedly, I wasn't keen on watching Ted either. I went in with minimal expectations but surprisingly enjoyed the movie! To be honest, a movie about a walking-talking Teddy Bear has to be a children's movie! But Ted was more than that. It started out just like that, where a small boy's wish to have a friend of his own, a talking Teddy Bear brings joy to his life. His 'thunder-buddy' forever is the friend to him he never had, his constant companion and they both share a happy life together. But once in adulthood, the same friendship weighs him down. He is not able to outgrow the carefree days of his childhood and the presence of Ted in his life makes sure this never happens. This is the premise of the movie, when Mark's girlfriend wants hi...

Some days back, a Delhi Court passed a judgement saying as per Muslim law, a Muslim girl could be married at 15 if she had attained puberty (as against 18 which is the law for 'other' girls in India).  As expected, there was a lot of hue and cry about this judgement and articles being written about whether this is right or not? I was also expectedly shocked by this judgement. It does not make sense at all. When there is a law in India for the legal age for any girl to get married, how can there be another age for a certain Indian girl? Is she different, is she special or not-so-special? It seemed completely outrageous. My first thought was of the court being incorrect in its judgement. But then as I researched this a little more, I realized that the courts are not to be blamed, they are simply following the law. And the law is the one which is currently faulty. And then I remembered all the articles I had read earlier about the demand for a Uniform Civil Code in India. It...

Recently I saw this BBC 4-episode miniseries based on a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell called North & South and totally loved it. For one, have become a big fan of BBC shows and secondly I love all these old Jane-Austen-type of English novels. So combine the two, and am halfway a fan of the series too! Anyways, North & South is the story of the move of Margaret Hale from southern England to the northern town of Milton. This itself is the basis of the novel, depicting the contrast between the idyllic and rich towns of the south to the working class and cold culture in the north. Milton has many cotton mills and the residents of this town include the (rich but still working class) mill owners and the poor mill workers which is very different from the life and people Margaret was used to in the south, the more classy and rich southerners. The novel showcases many issues throughout the story: the different living conditions in the working class towns, the workers and their problem...

Shanghai, quite an unusual name for a Hindi movie, isn't it? And the movie lived up to its name. It's unusual, its different and its good. Shanghai takes us through a couple of days of events in a city called Bharatnagar, where the politicians-builders nexus is exploiting the poor and taking away their lands. There comes an activist, Dr. Ahmedi who gets murdered and then his friend, Kalki tries to find the real culprits. Its a very down-to-earth kind of movie, feels so real and close to you. Any Indian can relate to the corruption shown in the movie, the goondagardi depicted and the helplessness felt by all against the system. Shanghai keeps you so involved with all thats happening and brings out all the emotions possible for the state our society is in nowadays. Abhay Deol as the IAS officer Krishnan caught between the benefits of remaining quiet and whats right, plays his role well. Kalki is ok. Emran Hashmi rocked his role, playing the tapori videographer with a pau...

We saw Avengers sometime back after it had already been declared a hit. And we had high expectations from the movie. But it turned out to be a movie made for kids! We really failed to understand how it became a hit. To be fair, its not a bad movie. It is decently well-made, with a well flowing story, lot of super-hero characters, animation etc. Its fun for sure. But its definitely not something great or deserving to be a hit. At least that's what I felt! As for the movie, its made well. Guess if you have followed the individual super-heroes, you get a lot more of the contextual jokes. I did not understand most of them, but don't think that took away anything from the movie. Loved the interaction between the superheroes. Iron-man was my favorite, his jokes, wit and humor was entertaining. Hulk's acting was good. Captain America felt boring. Thor was interesting. The whole premise was forgettable, an attack with support from outerspace. As I said an ok movie, but not...

In terms of quantity, Indian TV has grown exponentially in the last 10 years. From 2 channels, DD and DD-Metro in the early 90s to the 100s of channels we have now, there is no disagreement that we have become a more developed nation in terms of media and entertainment access. But have you also (like me) at times felt that inspite of the unlimited channels, many a times you just keep flipping channels but find nothing worthwhile to watch? When we had just two channels, there were always a couple of shows each week that you followed and looked forward to. Is there anything like that on TV anymore? I would have assumed that there should be, but alas we have traded quality for quantity in terms of tv shows. To be fair, there is enough of good quality sports to watch, multiple hindi and english movies running all the time. But what about the fictional TV programming, is there anything on Indian TV that you follow nowadays? I for one haven't found anything worthwhile on TV to wa...

This post is posted in the category of 'News'. Well, it should be, it has become a matter of such national importance, that it hogs enough limelight in the news regularly anyways. "Why is Aishwarya so fat still ?!!" The first time I saw such a headline, I was almost outraged. How and why would anyone even think about somebody else's weight? But I chose to forget about it, assuming it was just one person's random views.  But soon enough I figured out I was wrong, but so wrong?? I had just not expected that. Aishwarya's weight has become a national obsession. And I just cannot understand it! To be honest, I am not an Aishwarya fan. I think she is beautiful but she is quite a terrible actress and given the big movies she gets, its quite a waste to see what she does to those movies. That being said, I still cannot understand why the media writes about her weight. For one, its none of their business. Its her life, she might chose to be fat or slim, its...

Its a nice movie. Well done John Abraham! And of course the scriptwriter and the actors and the director. A really well done job! Taking a social (and taboo) issue, not really talked about otherwise and presenting it so well, definitely deserves some applause. The first half of the movie is funny. And with a good measure of Delhi and Delhiwallahs thrown in, with all their eccentricities, what  else do you need to have a good laugh? A very modern Punjabi grandmother with witty one-liners and modernistic comments thrown in here and there. A hassled Punjabi mom with her usual melodrama. The casual banter between the fish-people and the butter chicken people. A real light comedy to see. And the whole sequence of the Punjabi and Bengali wedding was just hilarious. Really laugh-out-loud funny! Dr. Chadda trying to woo the Punjabi boy, Vicky. What is there not to like in the movie? The issue of sperm donation has also been so sensitively and lightly handled, was really nice...

For the last year, most of my posts on this blog have not been about social/political events happening around me that make me want to express my reaction at their occurrence. They have all been on more neutral and easy topics: movie reviews. Maybe because I am staying in a country where the happenings around me don't affect me at an emotional level to make me want to comment on them? And my own country is too far away for me to be able to feel strong emotions for them? Questions I don't know the answers too.. But then events happen (thank Indian politicians for that!) when all those strong emotions are stirred up again..! And here I am, writing, trying to express my exasperation and the feeling of helplessness at Indian politics (this time in Bengal) .. Maya Diaries were the flavour for the last few years. And now that behenji is not on her throne for the moment, a new didi has taken her place; to give us stories of new heights of what (stupidities?!) a person in power i...

The Grand Indian Tamasha (IPL) is back again! A couple of months of total entertainment, that's what it is. Hate it or like it, its here to stay! And to enjoy:) I have been a follower of IPL almost since the time it started, more so since I was staying in Mumbai during that period. And when in des , its tough to not get involved in the whole hoopla. I have been a Delhi supporter since the beginning, because of staying in Delhi for a long time, plus being a Sehwag fan. Not because he is the best Indian batsman out there (he isn't) but just because there is no one like him out there. To be fair, Delhi did perform well in the first couple of seasons too. Never winning the trophy or getting close to it, but putting in a decent effort at least! And so was a lot more fun following the IPL. Last year was different though, they sucked thoroughly, and were at the bottom of the heap. And with it, went through the window, my interest in IPL too! It's tough to follow so many match...

Hunger Games has been getting so many good reviews recently, you couldn't really escape seeing it. But though most people I know have liked it, I just couldn't take to it. Its a well made movie, no doubt. Well directed, well acted, awesome cinematography, with it all seeming so real. There is no other area of the movie I found lacking other than its basic premise. For me, it was the basic context of the movie which I could just not take to. A future world where children are made to fight to death for survival? I think that's where my mind just stopped taking anything in. How is something like that possible, even to think? I wouldn't even want to imagine something like. No, I did not like the movie, would given it 3 stars still since I think it was well made.

21 Jump Street is a comedy movie based on two high school non-buddies becoming buddies while in police academy and being sent back to school in an undercover operation. One of the guys is a 'nerd', while the other is the 'cool kid'. But once back to school, the roles are reversed. The nerd now hangs out with the cool kids in the school while the cool guy becomes a nerd. Both of them bumble in their policework all the time and thats what this movie is all about. Its a good movie, with lots of laughs. You enjoy the ride. Wouldn't say that its great though. There are lot of loopholes in the story, and lot of things don't seem plausible. The tone of the movie also keeps changing all the time. From a light school comedy to murders all around. Found that little discomforting. But on the whole, a good movie for a fun evening. Would go with 3 stars on this one.

Kahaani.. that's a nice one (watch it!)! And I think I can easily say, what a good movie by Hindi movie standards!! After a long time, a Hindi movie which has a strong well thought out story, is slickly edited and keeps you gripped and interested all along! The positives are many. Its a completely different movie than most of the usual fare we see. It could even have been one of those very nice but low budget movies which are made but not seen by all. The presence of Vidya Balan however has made the movie a lot more noticeable. She has acted well again (and seems to be choosing her movies well lately, Jessica, Ishqiya, Dirty Picture, Kahaani etc).  Maybe another National Award? The whole cast is well suited for the roles they play, Rana as the well-meaning young cop helping out Bidya! He has acted brilliantly, with all his emotions and feelings very well conveyed and felt by the audience at all times. The assassin does what he is meant to so well, it actually scares you! An a...

The Book of Mormons is a hilarious musical running on Broadway currently. This play is already a hit, the ticket waitlist runs for months! Somehow we managed to get tickets for it, after standing in a queue for two hours, but it was definitely worth it! The play traces the adventures of two Mormons, Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, who are sent to Uganda to convert the locals to Mormonism. What ensues is a riot of events, ups and downs, like encounters with the military General and so on, leading on to Elder Cunningham teaching a modified version of Mormonism to the locals to get them to convert. The jokes are hilarious and sometimes downright slapstick. But nowhere do they cross the line. And the play does end with a positive note, a religion is what solves the people's problems and helps them keep the faith. That's what's most important... The acting was good. The dances and songs well crafted. The story and dialogues funny. A true and fun entertainer, a must-watch...

Agneepath.. Agneepath.. Agneepath! Vijay Dinanath Chauhan! We've heard these words before and now we hear them again! The new Agneepath got quite good reviews from most reviewers but people we know have not really liked the movie. We for one found it quite watcheable actually, more so maybe because I don't remember the original. So it was just like a new movie for me, nothing to compare with and so not that bad! Anyways the movie is quite ok in the first half, but the second half is just too much of senti with no real value. In terms of acting, Hritik was good, a very different Vijay from THE original Vijay. But doesn't matter, he was his own. Sanjay Dutt is scary like anything! He looks just what he is trying to portray. Rishi Kapoor was different. Priyanka Chopra was irritating and expendable. The best of course was Chikni Chameli, totally awesome! The plot of the movie had a BIG gaping hole though in my opinion. Half the movie shows Vijay's efforts to become po...

Sherlock Holmes Part 2 continues the saga of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock (or Shirley as he is surprisingly called by his brother in the movie!!!) as he finally meets and beats his nemesis, the Professor Moriarty (who was incidentally always just mentioned in the original series but never brought in as a character in the books). So now we see Holmes following the Professor across Europe when he sees the Professor's footprint in multiple events happening across Europe threatening peace on the continent. On the way, we see the gypsies and the German anarchists and an arms factory and a peace conference and so on.. From London to Paris to Berlin to Switzerland.. Sherlock and Watson (who was forcibly taken away from his honeymoon) follow his leads during their journey, going through many life-threatening incidents and coming out victorious. There is too much action in this part of the movie, as compared to the first. It's shot well, in typical Guy Ritchie style but it did get to...