total timepass...

Sometime back, I came across this article about an MBA woman sarpanch of a village in India and was pleasantly surprised reading this. It made me happy to know that at least some educated youth of the country are actually doing what a lot of us just love to talk about.. Of actually making a difference to our people, and doing something concrete (even in their own small way) rather than just talking about it but then just expecting others to do something about it rather than themselves.. I have too at times thought of doing something like this, something at the grassroot level, but till now have never really done anything.. This story is definitely inspiring to people like me I guess!

Another in the series of foreign films, is this masterpiece, 'The Lives of Others', a German 2006 movie which details a period of the GDR's(the Communist East Germany's) history. When you see this movie, it affects you and leaves you moved. But when you later on think about the movie at leisure, you see so much more than you initially saw, so many more layers, layers after layer of human behavior portrayed in various states.. A truly touching and intelligent movie... I don't really know where to start, first the story. The background of the movie is the GDR, where the government had total control over the lives of the common man, with the Secret Police, Stasi keeping track of all their activities. The movie starts with a Stasi Captain, Weisler setting up a house surveillance on a writer assumed to be loyal to the Communist regime, Dreyman. Presumably, the surveillance is to discover any acts of treason Dreyman may be committing, but it turns out the real reason

Interesting take  on our prime minister... What all in entailed in a Prime Minister's job? Is being aware (and responsible) of what is happening in his government part of his job? Or not?

An interesting one... " One day you will ask me which is more important ? My life or yours? I will say mine and you will walk away, not knowing that you are my life......"                                                                 - Khalil Gibran Very very romantic and senti.. and a lot of sadness also espoused in these beautiful words...beautiful:). Khalil Gibran is apparently the third most selling poet in the world after Shakespeare and Lao Tzu. The flow in his writing is just brilliant.. And of course, he tends to give lot of quotable quotes..  'The Prophet', one of his English works talks about everything in life: love, friendship, death, religion, life, right and wrong.. everything that life can encompass.. and gives a very interesting take on each of these aspects.. a must-read...plus a lot of quotable quotes..

Entourage follows the life of four friends with the central character being of Vincent Chase, a rising movie star in Hollywood. He always hangs out with his friends, his "entourage" consisting of Eric: his manager and best childhood friend, a serious guy who gets involved in serious relationships (unlike the others!!), Johnny Drama: his brother and has been tv star, who is very volatile in his moods and a straight talking guy, and Turtle: the rolly polly friend always trying to do something with his life. The other cast of the series includes Ari Gold: Vinny's agent and a loud mouth, brash and aggressive person but with a clean heart, Lloyd: Ari's secretary and other host of smaller characters. There are regular guest appearances by movie celebrities on the show too. The series just follows the life of the four friends, who live a fun life, with lots of money (Vinny's) and just spend their time spending all the money on holidays, travel, girls and what not.

Frankly, I think our standards after watching Hindi movies fall so low, that even movies which you know are not good, you can enjoy! And that is true for me too! Patiala House falls in that category. Its a movie about Gattu, a NRI staying in Southall who wants to play cricket for England but is unable to, as is father, a Sikh is against all things 'gora'. His dreams shattered, Gattu lives a lustreless life, thereby affecting all around him. Until an opportunity comes to him to play for the English cricket team! Helped by Simran and his friends and family, he is able to realize his lifelong dream and win the a cup for the team. Of course the usual family drama happens, of how this truth is hidden from his father, and what happens when he finds out, etc etc. Am sure if you follow Hindi movies, you can figure it all out! Anyways, the story has tons of gaps. The acting is good. The music boring. Would give it just 2 stars, but as I said, I still could enjoy watching the movie

Vitus is a Swiss-German movie, and probably not one of the most watched movies in the English speaking world. Such movies motivate me to expand my horizon and watch other language films more than what I usually do. There is a huge treasure of such undiscovered and brilliant movies out there! Vitus is the story of Vitus, a boy genius who plays chess and the piano as a kid and is more intelligent than all around him. What does he go through when his parents put pressure on him to be what he is, an outlier and a genius. Does he like it or does he miss being 'normal'? How does he deal with his extraordinary qualities? He ends up going through the entire circle, enjoying it initially, then hating it and finally accepting himself for what he is. In his earlier years, Vitus finishes school classes much before his age, learns piano from the masters and generally is good at everything he does. But at some level he yearns to be normal and so pretends to be one after an accident appa

Based on the murder of Jessica Lal in 1999 (has it been THAT long ago!), NOKJ portrays the events of the case over the years, the murder, the trial, the bribings, the frustration, the hostile witnesses, the subjugation of justice by power and money, the acquittal and the ensuing media and common man uproar which finally led to justice (?). The story is a good mix of fact and fiction, and given the interest in the real-life events behind the movie, generates enough excitement and curiosity about what would happen next. The movie does manage to connect to the audience, convey the feeling of helplessness of the common man when fighting against power. It does make you wonder about the systems of our country, and what would you do if in the same situation. A brilliant attempt definitely. However, unlike most Hindi movies, though NOKJ scores well on the story, it loses out on the acting. The histrionics from Vidya Balan are just too unbelievable and over the top. She does better in the