total timepass...

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