total timepass...

After almost 7 years, I went into the Lords stadium recently. It is visible from our living room, so honestly its doesn't seem as exciting now. But still seeing India-England play gives it a certain sense of newness which I enjoyed... Thankfully, the match we saw was the only one in this Test Series which India won. So the whole experience turned out even better for us. Would have been terrible if we had got tickets for any of the ones after this one... Anyways couple of interesting observations based on my day out in the field: Watching a match at Lords feels a bit underwhelming. Its something about the crowd but its very formal and subdued. There are very few spectators holding posters, no Mexican waves, and no loud cheering. All the cheering is what you would call 'stiff British upper lip' type with the men in jackets standing and clapping, saying 'Well done boys, well done'! Its just not how I am used to seeing a cricket match and it just felt too boring...

There is one aspect of the Indian political and social systems which affects me everytime I read about it. Its how we forget our soldiers all the time. They are just there in the background, we remember them when there is a war, like the Kargil war but then they are forgotten and ignored again till the next time they are needed. Being from the defence background, it pains me more but even otherwise I think as a country its always important to remember those people who were willing to put down their life for as selfless a cause as their motherland... Related to this topic, there are a lot of articles being written currently, remembering the forgotten soldiers of the First World War. The thousands of Indian soldiers who fought miles away in foreign lands for a country which was their ruler. They did not fight for our country, but they fought as our countrymen. And we should remember them for their bravery and selfless acts, shouldn't we? One of the articles on these soldiers ...

The leader of the Congress party, Sonia Gandhi is an enigma. And not really by accident. That's a persona that has been created and propagated intentionally, to continue the fascination and patronising of the first family of Indian politics by the masses. It is also a master stroke, to have the President of the party as someone who rarely speaks and never really expresses her mind. The person who controlled the government for 10 years never took any sides. So she was never ever wrong, you could never ever find a fault with her. Isn't it the best? All the power without ever having to take any ownership of the acts when they go wrong. I often wondered about it, and then I read some articles related to this - ' The inside story of how Sonia's spin doctoring works '. Its a series of articles describing how very rarely Sonia's views are heard before any happenings. But if they go wrong, articles start appearing in the press on how Madam is unhappy with what happ...

A Salman Khan movie on Eid - take a guess on how it would do? Of course will do well, and it did...But how? Its been a couple of years since I saw a Salman Khan movie in the theatre. The reviews for Kick were surprisingly not too bad, so I thought of giving it a try and what a bad idea it was. Kick is a bad movie, seriously. Especially the first half. Its just so over the top, with random songs and sequences all over - after a very long time I was thinking of leaving a movie midway. Somehow I made it through, and to be honest the second half was a lot more bearable. So things did definitely get better. But how can such movies be made, and more importantly how can they be such big hits? I think these are questions no one can answer convincingly! Anyways back to the movie, I don't even want to get into the story as its not worth mentioning too. Jacqueline Fernandez looked pretty, though she can't act. Same for Salman Khan. The locations in the movie were pretty. And I gues...

Even though its a bit late, I think this movie deserves a review... Vidya Balan has created a place for herself in the industry - that is something no one can take away from her. I actually will go and watch a movie just because she is there. As some may say, she is the female Aamir Khan of Bollywood. And the reason for that is her attitude - I will do what suits me and what I want to do. The rest can go wherever they want to! Her last outing failed to impress - Shaadi ke side effects . But Bobby Jasoos didn't. A very different movie on a girl from a middle class family in Hyderabad with a junoon in her head to be a detective. After a tough time, she makes it big because of one of her clients who asks her to look for young people who vanish mysteriously after she does that successfully. Lot of things happen on the way, ending with her finding out the truth about the client. But the story in this movie is not the highlight though. Its a lot more about the journey of Bobby - ...

NDTV put up this video uncovered from some British archives, which was made in Bombay 80 years ago. Its an imperialist video which tries to show how the British have taken India out of its dark ages, but leaving that aspect aside, how charming does Bombay look? Uncrowded, smaller buildings, a hustle-bustle which is not crazy. Its worth a watch for whoever has stayed at the metropolis and feels something for it...

I am writing a movie review after a long time. The major reason for this is the lack of good Hindi releases recently. Anyways given this drought of watchable fare from Bollywood, we ended up going for Ek Villain without really checking out the reviews - how bad could it be? And honestly, I have come out confused. I don't really know how I feel about it. The story is about Guru (Siddharth Malhotra) - a gunda who converts to a honest and loving person when he comes in touch with Aisha (Shraddha Kapoor). But their happiness is short-lived as she is murdered, and Guru thereafter seeks revenge. The good - Its a different story, not really seen before in Hindi movies. And Siddharth Malhotra looks good, as well as does not over-act. He looks so effortless in his acting - a definite plus to the film. As was Riteish Deshmukh - as the bhola-bhala looking middle class telephone repairman, hen-pecked husband with an alternate story. He acts superbly and plays the character wel...