Tron Legacy: All that glitters is not gold

"I" have never used this proverb in a better way than today. Yes, Tron Legacy is not gold.

When Tron was made in 1982, the idea was so ahead its time, come 2010 the idea sounds so implausible. Logics aside, this movie is nothing but a disappointment.

Sam flynn, in quest of his lost father, enters a visually stunning world where Clue( his fathers creation) is ruling a crowd ( of programs) that is hostile to the users. And Sam must battle with these programs to survive. Sam then meets his father Kevin flynn, and together they embark on a journey to come out of the digital world.

First 30 mins into the movie and you think you are all set for an exciting ride. but alas.. rest 100 mins is anything but excitement. The performances are truly disappointing no body seems to be in character.

There only two good things about the movie, the visuals( at times they are stunning ) and the back ground score. If you were to watch this movie, come out of the theater once the Grid game ends ( which is the best part in the movie and probably the only reason why you should go and watch the movie).

Rain and Me

Rain drops on my windshield,
a look around and players on the football field.
an old song on my CD player,
mixed with sound made by my wiper.

Getting soaked in Rain, and breathing fresh air,
searching for a towel, to wipe wet hair.
feeling of nostalgia, and the Sound of the rain drops
a cup of hot tea in hand, and the time just stops.

Review: 127 Hours: Celebration of Life, Never ever ever Give up

Have you been thankful to every person around you? Have you been thankful to your parents? Have you been thankful for each sip of water you drink? Have you been thankful for every sun ray that falls on your body? Have you been thankful for the air that you breathe? If answer to "any" of the above questions is NO, go watch 127 hours and you might change your answer.

127 hours is about true story of Aaron Ralston, an avid mountaineer and hiker, and his survival and all the emotions he underwent facing this ordeal( Played Brilliantly, trust me when I say that, brilliantly by James Franco). Even though all of the movie is just about this one character, this movie never lets you down for a minute.

Danny Boyle brings you one of the greatest sagas of human spirit on screen and he executes it with such aplomb, that you will express all your emotions, like feeling sorry, feeling frustrated, closing your eyes with total disbelief, and sometimes laughing sarcastically . This film making is at par with any of the greatest film makings, albeit not "THE" greatest ( but I still can't figure out what he could have done better, may be the last 5 minutes of the movie).

The screenplay is so good and for most part is responsible for keeping you engrossed in the movie ( oh I loved the switching of camera angles from film style to "tourist" style). Full marks to Rehman for music score ( glimpses of Raavan). And yeah, don't forget to listen to Free Bloods song, "Never hear surf music again". There must be some fucking chemical, chemical in your brain,that makes us different from animals.

Important Note: Weakhearts PLEASE give a miss to the movie.

Can "NitishKumared" now be a verb?

So what does it take for a state infested with bugs of caste/religion/underdevelopment to get back on track? Nitish kumar was the answer. I have never been to Bihar to see the actually development in the state, but certainly when the reports showed the improved governance, and projected Bihar as the fastest growing state, I thought this man is some force to reckon with.

And todays election results prove that while chief ministers of other states where busy doing corruption, Nitish certainly took his state to a step ahead. No doubt Bihar has a long way to go, but lets give some credit to Nitish for getting development and a great governance to Bihar.

Now the question is, can Nitish Kumar be a hero in this darker times of corruption? Can "Nitishkumared" ( election of a honest chief minister for the development of state) be a verb?

The real world!

I remember a television serial that used to air when I was about 12 yrs old, it was called the "Manimal". The protagonist could turn himself into animal of his choice. For months after that, I kept looking at my palm and said to myself "I am turning into an eagle-I am turning into an eagle-I am turning into an eagle", I would stare for minutes, but nothing would happen. I was disappointed. But I consoled myself thinking, may be when I get older I would.

Nothing has changed, I mean, I still think of things that are impossible, not exactly like being an eagle but very close. I try to chase the impossible. I some times think, this has to do with the effect of idiot-box in my house. Normally children who watch lot of T.V get an eye-sight and wear glasses for life ( thats what my mom used to say to stop me from watching T.V). In my case, I don't wear glasses of sight, but I wear the Invisible-glasses-of-bollywood.

No doubt I have been hurt in past because of these glasses, so what would it take for me to take those glasses off and be in the real world. A world where I wouldn't see people as heros, actresses, villains, comedians, etc, but just as human beings with different DNA arrangement. No emotional connections at all. A plastic smile on my face and a "who cares" thought in my brain. Oh by the way heart doesn't do anything other than pumping blood. My teacher in school used to say, human emotions are always a sine- curve, the longer the period of happiness, the longer the period of sadness. I want a life that just has a period of happiness.

Wait do I? May be? May be not? When I look back, I like all the emotions that I went through, I liked me falling in love ( call it whatever, my bollywood lense says that was love) at the first sight of beautiful girls. I liked sharing emotional bond with my friends ( the song, "yeh dosti ..." starts in my head). I liked being a hero to my parents/siblings when I shared some instances in my life ( exaggerated as some of them might be).

But someday I would want to return to this real-world of genes colors races religions, but until then "Salaam-Bollywood".

Review:Golmaal 3

I was pumped up about watching 127 hours and was anxious all day, from finding someone who could watch that movie with me to expectations from Danny Boyle. After subjecting my mind with all that hype, I was disappointed to know that it was not releasing in all theaters on Nov 5.

Now back to the title of this blog. So I ended up watching Golmaal 3, just as a movie-buff, I was prepared to take all that torture ( just as suggested by some reviewers) at 12:00 AM in the night with my precious 9$ to spare. To my surprise I wasn't that disappointed, it really had some funny moments. Some cliched jokes, and some really "slow" fights that test your patience. But overall the movie is not "Bad" just watchable, to have some fun with friends. I would still say Golmaal 1 and All the Best were more funnier ( again in parts) than this.

Tushaar kapoor is by far the funniest character in the movie, although all other characters play their part well, they are funny in parts and embarrassing in parts. I liked that character that spells words incorrectly. Music, only one catchy song, the title song.

Watch that funny moment in the movie is when tushaar kapoor is trying to convey "kaash hamari Maa hoti" but Kunal Khemu translates it as "Kaash hamari bai hoti".

Development and India

Having heard enough about India and China being the so called economic power houses of the future, I was looking for some tangible signs. After living in US for a year, certainly my standards of judging were on different level. And no surprises that I was disappointed. The express way between Pune and Mumbai is great but what about the pain you have to go through till you get to the express way? The outer ring road in Hyderabad is 8 lanes but what about the "inner" roads where people actually travel more frequently? And then conscience-numb traffic police were omnipresent.

Just when I had given up, I had to travel to my village to see my ailing grandfather, and my moment of truth came in the train I was travelling. It was early morning and I woke up to a loud "chai-coffee" call from the window. Even though I was travelling in a reserved compartment, to my surprise, I saw a group of people ( obviously without reservations) occupying seats. All of them were regular commuters, whom the Ticket Collector knew and took no objections for traveling in a reserved compartment.

After cursing them for few minutes for making my "reserved" life little uncomfortable,I actually started enjoying their harmonic conversation. It was a group that probably worked at bank ( I could make out from their conversation), the group was interesting as there were as many Muslims as Hindus and was a good mixture of experience and youth. Any harmonic conversation between these two communities just seemed like a movie story, as I had seen enough of animosity between these two groups since the riots of '92. What was it like before, I had no idea because my innocence never allowed me to know. But people tell me, it was no different.

The moment of truth came, when they actually started discussing about the Babri Masjid Verdict and its impact on their daily life. They were discussing the topic with the same harmony and jolly mood as they were discussing other topics. I saw a sign, a sign that probably tells we are moving forward and moving forward at a faster pace. I hope my intuition is not wrong.

They went a step ahead and started discussing about Bal Thackery's dussera speech again with same humor, harmony and jolly mood. I got off the train with a smile on my face and a incident that I could narrate to my Indian friends in US.

Thou shalt rebel

Enemy of knowledge, Desire, that is.
Profuse desire begets remorse.
They say, Desire is insatiable,
Oh mighty soul, thou shalt rebel.

Destroyer of compassion, Anger, that is.
Anger causes irreversible damage.
They say, Anger is implacable,
Oh mighty soul, thou shalt rebel.

Impediment to creativity, Fear, that is.
Fear feeds on Confidence.
They say, Fear is invincible,
oh mighty soul, thou shalt rebel.

The Town

If you ask me, what would it take for a cliched story ( gangsters, irish neighbourhood, boston, a wicked chief, does it ring a bell?) to pull off,I would say the performances, but if you say its 2 hours and some mins long, I would probably say "nothing".

Its a story about the infamous charlestown neighborhood and how a young man, expert in meticulously planning the bank robberies, gets involved with a girl and wants to leave this crime infested neighborhood to start a new life.

Now if you have watched a lot of movies, there are certain points in the above paragraph that would really get you interested. Meticulous planning, Love, crime infested neighborhood, but alas none of these are given enough weight in the movie. Wait, but did I not say it was 2 hours long? yes it was, but the plot hops between one too many relationships, friendship, father-son, amorous love.

The positives, the performances are excellent, Ben Affleck as Doug MacRay, rebecca hall as Claire, do justice to their roles, but one person who stands out is Jeremy Renner as James coughlin.

Bottom line: Go watch this movie if are in a patient mood and ready to spare sometime for the watching the onscreen performances.

Resident Evil: After Life

I must admit, it was one stupid idea to go watch Zombies in 3D and it wasn't even scary.
I simply don't get the purpose for making a movie like this in 3D. I understand people want to stop piracy by releasing movie in 3D, but wait there are better ideas go consult Christopher Nolan or James Cameron. One might say, its not good to compare with such greats, I say why not? I am paying the same full amount to watch the movie and I will demand the same kind of entertainment.

So whats there in this movie to watch, action, insanely overdosed. Thats it, I can't think of anything else. There were only 7 alive people and 5 of them are for only 10 mins in the movie ( oh by the way, Alice did turn human in this movie, though you won't see any signs of that), so what am I going to talk about, Zombies? oh yeah, they did their part well. Cheap scare tactics used by director. Picture this, you were walking into your house and somebody shouts would you be scared, ofcourse. Same cheap thrills used in the movie.
Bottom Line: Go watch if you enjoy watching bullets flying, blood flowing.

Once upon a time in mumbaai

One thing you can't help but admire about this movie are the one liners. What we call a punch dialog, but one too many. Overdose of the "punches".

The plot of the movie is loosely based on the life of Haji Mastan and Dawood ibrahim. A kid from chennai making it big in smuggling industry (Haji Mastan) and getting overthrown by a son of constable who began his criminal life at a railway station ( Dawood Ibrahim kaskar). Ajay Devgan as Sultan Mirza excels, watch him in the scene where he remembers his past as a child working at a coal mine. The intensity in eyes is just unforgettable. Emran hashmi as shoaib does a good job, but I felt that character could have been more intense if a traditional gangster ( like sanju baba or for that matter randeep hooda himself). But the climax was lame. The train scene was just illogical.

All in all, its not a cult gangsta movie like Satya, but at the same time not as bad as D, or other such forgettable gangsta movies.

Inception

When was the last time I came out of the theater with a total disbelief and in total silence, and with a thought that I should book the next show ticket too, never before. 12:16 AM to 3:00 AM I was watching this movie without blinking my eye. If anybody had any doubts that Christopher Nolan was a genius in film making, those doubts will be put to rest. If you guys ever thought why Christopher Nolan was so highly rated, go watch this movie you will know.

The movie is about planting an idea in somebody's mind, by getting into their dream. A concept that seems so implausible, but the terms like the kick, the tudor, the limbo, are so real that you can relate all of your dreams to these. Di-Caprio again gets a role of life time and delivers it with a punch.

I saw some of the critics calling it slow( and trust me this comment just makes me laugh), as usual the Mob against the Genius( Nolan ) fight continues. I wouldn't be scared to rate this movie 10/10, and call it the movie of the millennium, the most complex, intriguing, movie ever made.

Twilight Eclipse

So I wanted to check out what makes ladies stand in line from 5 PM for a 12:01 AM movie show ( please note, i have not got the timing wrong, sorry for writing in double negation, but just too frustrated at this moment). And believe me, when somebody says its difficult to read a women's mind, the twilight eclipse just proves him genius.

Were the performances bad? well I got to say no, its just that there was nothing to perform. If there was anything good about the movie it was the end credits, when I finally thought the torture is over.

Review: Kites

Kites is all about two HOT bodies, and for all those who have seen the trailers and thinking that Hrithik would walk away with all the praise, hold your words till you see the movie, the dusky beauty Barbara is not giving up so easy ( damn she is HOT).

I must say, Hrithik scores in all the other departments though, acting, dancing.

Whenever Hrithik and Barbara are on screen ( which they are most of time), you feel the charm and the spark in their relationship. The chemistry clicks. What lacks is a good music score, I would have expected it to be more romantic, but the music just disappoints. There are some implausible scenes in the movie( the cop chase was ridiculous and I never knew that robbing a bank was so easy),but this is a bollywood movie you can take these.

Go watch it for Hrithik and Barbara, these two HOT bodies deserve to be seen on a bigger screen than at your home.

Fact: The scene where hrithik after his marriage with barbara shouts ( I am shitting in my pants) is copied from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Unconditional Love!!

As those tears came rolling down from her cheek, I decided it was the worst day of my life, reason for those tears, I refused to take pills for my illness. The whole night I was looking at one of Gods photo frames and kept begging for the pardon. Yes I had committed Sin.

She would get up at 5 o clock in the morning, to make our breakfast, take out our school dresses, heat water for everyone, comb our hair, pack our lunches and drop us at school. By the time we came back from school she would do the dishes, make dinner, check our homeworks, make bed for us and tell us a story to sleep. Yet I had the audacity to take her for granted, and over that she had such a huge heart that she granted pardon for my every Sin. Only you could do it Aai.

She did all this in every season, no matter how ill she was. If Dad taught me how to be tough, you taught me how to be compassionate. Only you could do it Aai.

Giving so much love without expecting anything, I could never do it. Salutations for showering so much of Unconditional love on me.

Review: Iron Man 2

For a moment in the movie I thought, Ivan Vanko had all the potential to take over the Heath ledgers version of Joker as the greatest villain of all time.It turned out to be a flash in the pan.

Iron Man 2 doesn't disappoint though, it delivers on its promise of lots of action. Robert Downey Jr, as an eccentric Tony Stark, delivers an excellent performance again. Watch him in that scene where he is celebrating his birthday (shooting champagne bottles with the Iron man suit on). The Monaco grand prix scene was visually stunning, so were some of the scenes from the malibu.

Some of the other characters worth mentioning are, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper potts is as sweet as she was, and Sam Rockwell (Justin Hammer) as a loosing rival.

But Micky Rourke stands out as Ivan Vanko, I wish he had more to do in the movie.

Trivia: The character "Happy" in the movie, is actually the director of the movie Jon Favreau.

My Dad celebrating his 59th b'day today......

There were moments when I was young and you slapped me, I was angry and didn't speak to you for few days. Each year that I grew older, I realized that each of those slaps were out of total selflessness and were only meant to be the steps for me to climb out of the less than ordinary life. Thanks for doing that.

You taught me how to take problems head on and not to run away from them. You taught me not to be afraid of my failures. You never expected success from me, but left no stone unturned in getting me the resources. With out your efforts I was, I am and I will be nothing. Thanks for doing that.

You taught me how to manage my finances. You taught me how to plan. I remember when I use to start for my college and you used to remind me of my purse, watch, bus-pass, pen. I also remember how you use to stop me from reading in the nights for my exams ( because I am sure I could not have got any better marks, you probably knew that). Thanks for doing that.

You taught me how to be modest in life. You taught me how to respect work. You taught me how to be practical ( I am yet to learn this..). You taught me how to respect and yet not to get over attached to friends. Without you I couldn't even fill my exam forms(and I am sure I cannot do that now too). Thanks for backing me in every fight that I had.

No matter where I go, How much I achieve, How much I earn, How much I Learn, all that will be nothing when compared to your knowledge, there is truly a "generation" gap, only that you are a generation ahead of me in thinking. The one and only measure of my success in this world is your satisfaction. There could be nothing that could induce more Joy in me than you being satisfied with me. Dad tussi great ho.... Happy Birthday Dad.

is marathi cinema coming of age?

Having been brought up in Hyderabad makes me a movie-buff by default. I mean I am used to watching movies in Rs.5. And being a marathi in Hyderabad makes me lucky ,as I get to see the best of the two varied cultures( infact loads of other cultures). I think I have been witness to the telugu film industry's rise and at the same time I have been witness to the fall of the marathi film industry as well, with critics cribbing for seeing something different ( with all due respect to Ashok saraf and Laxmikant berde they are fantastic actors).

I recently watched a marathi movie called Natarang, and I start to ponder, in the last couple of years there have been some fantastic movies in the marathi film industry. Shwas, checkmate, harischandrachi factory, tingya, gabharicha paus, to name some. Hope this continues and we get to see more such movies. Natarang is a must watch for Atul kulkarni, who, is said to have gained and lost 16 kgs with in a span of 42 days for this movie ( some web source).

By the way, eagerly waiting for "Leader"......

Being an Indian...

Its funny how people who have grown up and spent their 2o years in India, live here in US for 4-5 years and start calling people in India "poor and hungry". I can't explain them what has changed in the last 5 years in India.

It definitely hurts when your own people make a mockery of your country. But then, it now makes me laugh at their ignorance. I have seen poor and hungry people, studied their lives closely, and its not easy living their life.

I know that the sun rise is still far away, but i am not losing hope. The day the politicians will start being less corrupt ( and I do say less corrupt), India is not going to look back.