N - S

I am about a year late....and after the 3 Idiots fiasco, my "respect" for Chetan Bhagat has gone down several notches....but that doesnt change the fact that I liked 2 States...

All the cliche and north vs south brouhaha aside, 2 states is at its core a sweet love story (yes, big surprise...i am a hopeless romantic at heart...), one that conquers all odds, step by step, almost clinically and yet takes you along for a fun ride...What worked most for me was the girl Ananya's character - she's such a kick-ass, strong girl who believes in what she wants and does it without any apologies and reservations! Would love to meet her if she indeed exists! 

Although Five Point Someone remains the best Chetan Bhagat book yet, 2 States sort of gets him back into the game after a Bollywood-ish 3 Mistakes....Hope to see more slice of life stuff with fewer cliches and more Ananyas from Bhagat...

P.S. : Somewhere down the line, I had plans of penning down bits of my story....but alas, life has different plans for everyone....cant complain! :)

If you cant beat 'em, distract 'em!

N : Wow! Your handwriting is beautiful!

Me : Its a defense mechanism....like Chandler's....makes people momentarily forget that my solutions to some of those math problems are plain BS....

Forgotten dreams...

I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, typing this out, while not more than a few meters away, a bunch of youngsters strum away on their guitars, producing those utterly irresistible sounds that only a guitar can...I listen to the strumming, zoning out from the work I am supposed to be doing and contemplate how much I miss holding a six-string, struggling hard to make sense of the plucking...Its been more than 20 months since I stopped playing (not that I ever played very well, just about okay....but I miss trying hard to make the transition from just-about-okay to this-sounds-pretty-good) ...With time, your aspirations change, some things gain more priority over others, you move on in life....and yet some of these dreams linger...somewhere in the back of your mind...trying to find a way out and cease to be just dreams...trying to make a transition to reality...I just wonder where that passion, that desire, that hunger to try and master something totally unknown disappears in the need to find your own feet and stay true to your purported "potential"...

Recent top listens...

Taking a cue from Milliblog, and due to lack of time (and sometimes desire!) to write elaborate music reviews for every album, here's a quick list of top recent listens. The list is personal but the appeal of the music, I'm sure, is universal!

Hello Hello - Jhootha Hi Sahi : A R Rahman
Karthik sings this beautifully orchestrated track, which has traces of middle-eastern music, adding a nice touch to the otherwise Jaane Tu-ish album by ARR. Nice, different stuff. Much better than Raavan!

Kya - Crook : Pritam
Pritam is back with some vintage stuff in Crook, not least Kya sung oh-so-well by Neeraj Sridhar. Breezy and likable to the core, the laid-back rendition more than bowls you over. The rest of the album is pretty decent too. Emraan Hashmi continues his tryst with melodious and memorable music!

Hairat - Anjaana Anjaani : Vishal Shekhar
As stated here before, Hairat is a superb "comeback" for Lucky Ali, and may well end up being the song of the year. The amazing tune and arrangements elevate it to dizzying heights in an even-otherwise noteworthy album, choc-a-bloc with foot-tapping as well as melodious stuff.

Munni Badnaam and Tere Mast Mast Do Nain - Dabangg : Sajid-Wajid
Mamta Sharma does a fab job in Lalit's inspired composition Munni, which will probably earn her accolades as the year draws to an end, but really its Malaika and Sallu who have made this song so much fun! One of those rare gems which sounds so much different and better once you have seen it on screen! Tere Mast Mast, on the ohter hand, is slow poison, something Rahat Fateh Ali Khan keeps doing fairly regularly. Full marks, nonetheless!

Naina Miley - Robot : A R Rahman
Suzanne and ARR create a heady mix of electronika and vocals to serve a funky, catchy, foot-tapping number that refuses to leave ur sense inspite of some intermittent loony lyrics. Super stuff from ARR!

Rang Dalein - Lafangey Parindey : R Anandh
Suraj Jagan does a great job keeping the feel alive in this spirited number, which deserves reruns especially because of its music arrangements, not least the Corrs-inspired clip played intermittently.

Gal Mithi Mithi, Suno Aisha - Aisha : Amit Trivedi
Toshi rocks Gal Mithi Mithi with Amit Trivedi goin Punju, while Suno Aisha by Ash King and Trivedi himself is delectable and addictive to say the least. Gems in a studded album, probably the album of the year!

Till next time then! Ciao!

Your best friend is suing you...for 600 million dollars

I must admit....the first time I saw the trailer of The Social Network, I was skeptical. I couldnt understand why Hollywood had decided to screw up the story of the founding of one of the biggest phenomenon of our times. I was sure the movie would be over-simplified, over-dramatized, and basically moronic, and the understated promo did nothing to change that. Having dismissed the movie, I moved on with life, and it was only today, the day the movie premiers, that the media coverage caught my attention - for some reason, everyone was talking about the movie. And not just because its a movie about Facebook but because its a good, (according to some, great!) movie about Facebook! That was so unexpected and totally unforeseen and 12 hours later, I was at the cinemas, with a bunch of friends, waiting for the saga to unfold, curious about how interesting and binding a movie about coders could be. And boy! Was I wrong or what! The Social Network is probably the best movie out of Hollywood this year....and yes! This is indeed the year when soon-to-be cults like Inception, Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me have enchanted audiences worldwide!

Director David Fincher, whose last effort - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - was a cosmetic bore, has done a fabulous job by extracting some noteworthy performances from the entire cast, and that is no mean feat considering the cast comprises of Justin Timberlake! Jesse Eisenberg is brilliant as Mark Zuckerberg, resembling the youngest billionaire in the world in look and (reportedly) mannerisms perfectly. Andrew Garfield as Eduardo is excellent and lends a load of credibility to the frames he is present in. Armie Hammer packs a sucker punch in dual roles of the Winklevoss twins, while Justin Timberlake takes you by surprise completely with his flamboyant, genius-bordering-on-self-destruction portrayal of that shrewd wolf Sean Parker, who not only gave the world Napster and Plaxo, but was also instrumental in making Facebook the phenomenon that it is today. But the real star of the movie is undoubtedly screenplay writer Aaron Sorkin, who creates such a spellbinding script full of energetic and relatable dialogue, it elevates the movie to an altogether different level. The background score deserves special mention for lending a lot of emotion and feel to the proceedings.

The movie is a part-fiction, part-real portrayal of the rise of Facebook, and while which parts are more real than others is debatable, herein lies a tale that catalogs the conceptualization and implementation of one of the most influential ideas of our generation. More importantly, it is a study in human psyche and the fact that, while you cant stop admiring Zuck for his spirited and almost single-handed launch of Facebook, at the same time, you cannot forgive him for being so influenced by Parker and being unfair to his best friend and business partner Eduardo, shows how well the character has been etched. Above all, the movie is an inspiration and a warning for budding entrepreneurs, who have dreams of making it big but can oversee friendships in the process. Although the movie paints Zuck as an a-hole and shows how inept he is/was at social relationships (while ironically building a social networking website!) , I found something ultimately inspiring in the way he went about his business. True - his motive was wrong, his conduct too, his maturity was virtually non-existent and he didnt get chicks or entry to the elite clubs, but in the end, he succeeded in building his vision and preserving it without giving in to the demands of others.

There's something to learn and a lot to observe in The Social Network. All wannabe entrepreneurs, all CS people, all Facebook users and all movie lovers, go watch the movie...NOW!

P.S. : Oh! and Aaron Sorkin FTW \m/ If they dont give him the Best Adapted Screenplay this year, the Oscars will just become another Filmfare for me.

Shameless...err "fearless" entertainment!

First things first....On one hand, Dabangg is formulaic, doesnt even get the formula right, has a slow, almost boring, first half, has too many abrupt songs, is devoid of much substance and most of it does not make much sense. On the other hand, SALMAN KHAN!

After watching Dabangg, all I can say is there is NO other star (note, I didnt say actor!) who could have carried off something as ridiculously shameless and unabashedly unpretentious as Dabangg with such elan and made it so much fun as Salman has. That I am huge fan of his is no secret, but really take a moment and try to imagine if there is any other star, or even actor, who can ensure that people, some of them super-sophisticated, not just sit through but enjoy something like Dabangg to their heart's content. Nope, I cudnt think of anyone and if you can, plz lemme kno! Now to the movie...

As mentioned before, Dabangg is hardly path-breaking cinema. In fact, after a couple of remarkable opening scenes, it peters out to become quite tepid for another hour till the interval. And frankly, some part of it is plain boring. The abrupt placement of melodious songs doesnt help either, and inconsistent focus on multiple story lines makes the film quite incoherent. But, what it lacks in cinema, Dabangg makes up in charisma! And that's because unlike his usual style, this time Salman Khan bites into the character so hard, he makes you stand up and take notice of the fact that here's a maverick character written with him in mind, and while he may not possess great acting chops, he has enough charm and screen-presence to bring someone as asinine and insane as Chulbul Pandey to life and kick ass on screen! The movie ultimately is an ode to his star-power and while that was what Wanted was too, this character is much better fleshed out and played by the "actor" like he belongs!

Of the rest, Sonakshi looks kinda cute and does a commendable job whenever she's required to. Sonu Sood is really good and I wish there was more of him in the first half! Arbaaz Khan should have refrained from being in the movie. His character is perfunctory and his acting non-existent. Dimple Kapadia chooses to ham for some reason, while all others are pretty much sidelined. I liked the cameos by a couple of havaldars and the camera-guy tho. They were hilarious! Music is really good and sounds so much better on screen. Song picturization is an ace and pretty much makes up for their abrupt placement. Of course, Munni is the best of the lot and simply sets the screen on fire! Malaika, the foot-tapping beat, the wtf lyrics and Salman's antics make it a truly paisa-vasool number! Cinematography is brilliant and technically, the film has a lot of finesse. Dialogues are very well-written for the most part and Salman gets most of the good one-liners and does a mighty fine job!

Ultimately though, its just Salman Khan who saves this movie from being a complete mess. Take him out of the equation and what you have left is nothing but incoherent hoo-haa and unbelievable sequences. While the first half is pretty much saved by stylishly choreographed actionsequences and Salman-Sonakshi's innocent love story, the second half packs quite a punch with Salman and Sonu Sood's constant bickering and, along with Munni and the climax, ensures you leave the cinema hall satisfied and high on adrenaline!

So, is Dabangg a good film or bad? Well, who cares as long as you are hooting, whistling and cheering for 2.5 hrs in the theatre, for that's what no-holds-barred, all-stops-pulled-out entertainment is all about, aint it? :)

P.S. : The marketing team has done an amazing job of cutting solid promos which ensured tremendous buzz and enabled Dabangg to break 3 Idiots first day figures all across India. And while the movie may not match up in substance or even commercially in the long run to 3I, it is a fine marketing effort nevertheless!

Woah there!

When Sajid Nadiadwala declared Anjaana Anjaani as a musical, my reaction was "A peppy movie with Ranbir and Piggy Chops - romcom yes, but a *MUSICAL* romcom, uh I donno!" Trust Vishal Shekhar to prove the whole world wrong! After delivering crappium craptitude in the form of Aladin, they showed signs of a promising comeback with IHLS, which in itself was a pretty good album, but with AA, VS are truly back to where they belong! I know I said a few months back that I rarely do music reviews, but now that people like Amit Trivedi and VS have decided its a stupid rule, I cant help it can I! :)

Both the title tracks are as different as chalk and cheese, and yet they both have something in common - they are both  really really good! The softer version sung by Vishal and Shilpa Rao has a lilting tune and soft rock feel, which makes it saccharine sweet while the club number by noobs Nikil D' Souza and Monali is a true-blue foot-tapping, "oh-yeah" kinda song! Its difficult to miss their enthusiasm and when the singers have fun, so do we, the listeners! Simply rocking!

Lucky Ali is back and boy, did we miss him or what!!! Hairat is probably gonna be the song of the year when the sun sets on 2010 but lets hold our horses till we get there... To put it mildly, Hairat is one heck of a rollicking song - partly reminded me of Fakeera from Badmaash Company! With repeat hearings, this one grows on you like nobody's business! And once again, Lucky Ali FTW! \m/

Tumse Hi Tumse by Shekhar and Caralisa is refreshing albeit slightly been-there-done-that. The lead guitar sounds leading into the song make it totally delightful and inspite of the slightly 90-ish feel, its an amazing song that stays with you despite being part of such a rich album!

Tujhe Bhula Diya is a different take on sad songs and Shruti Pathak literally made me jump with her spirited Punju rendition that kick-starts the song...she's a delight! The qawalli-ese portions are good too, altho not very novel. Ultimately the ever-dependable Mohit Chauhan and Vishal ensure the song stays above the bar the other songs have set with their brilliant vocals! A beautiful number!

I Feel Good is good, in any other album it could have been one of the best numbers of that album, but simply because it stands amongst such celebrated tunes, it seems only above average! Not the songs' fault! Vishal sounds surprisingly like Shankar Mahadevan here tho, which is different - good or bad dunno, but I Feel (pretty) Good! :D

Aas Paas Khuda has melody and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan going for it, but it probably is the weakest link in the album. Not to say that it is a bad song, in fact far from that! Its one of the better Rahat songs of recent times but a feeling of deja vu lingers, and along with the banal "Tu na jane aas paas hai khuda" line, ensures the song doesnt rise above its merits...The unplugged version is much better IMO.

The promos did not get me as excited about this movie but now the music has. Read somewhere its partly inspired by Before Sunrise, and if this ones even 10% as good as that classic, we have a really good movie to look forward to this September! Well, even otherwise, we already have a great gift here from VS!

He punched the highlights out of her hair!

When you go into a movie with so-so expectations and get to see something like Scott Pilgrim vs The World, its akin to going on an blind date with someone you met online 3 days ago and then finding out she works as a body double for Angelina Jolie...AND Scarlett Johansson....AND she reads Michael Crichton...AND her favorite director is Tarantino....AND she was the Miss Teen USA 2 yrs ago....I kno the chances of tht happening are rare, but wat the heck "Scott Pilgrim" is a rare gem! As professed by the makers, it is indeed an epic of epic epicness!

It will be stupid of me to dissect the story here and plus, u shud really go see the movie for urself! Michael Cera turns in a goofy endearing performance as Scott...I simply loved Kieran Culkin who plays the part of his gay roomie, altho not the way he loves other guys :D He gets the best lines of the film and gets 1-UPs on all! Alison Pill as the ultra-rye Kim, Johnny Simmons as Young Neil and Mark Webber as Stephen crank it up several notches as members of their supposedly ultra-lame, but IMO super-awesome, band Sex Bob-ombs (one of numerous supercool video-game references in the movie)! Anna Kendrick is super-dry as Scott's irritating sibling...Ellen Wong is super-awwww as Knives...Mary Eliz Winstead looks supercute and acts supercool as Ramona Flowers....but the real deal is the League of Evil Exes! Chris Evans, Brandon Routh and Jason Schwartzman stand out prominently, more-so bcoz their characters are better written than others...

The movie is a medley of rocking music, crack-you-up lines, superawesome fight sequences and hilarious scenes, all peppered with ultracool video game references...and a lot of insanity and randomness, which makes it epic-er...This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Kill Bill of "our" generation!

Altho I dont wanna give any of the good stuff away, I have to admit I am madly in lesbians with this movie! I wish I was Scott, not bcz he is part of an awesome band, not bcz he has one awesome chick stalking him while another awesomer chick totally leads him on, not bcz he has nothing els to do in life but be himself; only bcz life with cool background music and video game references rocks!!

Summer movies....

Movies movies and more movies! This summer has been fab and I have a horde of movies tht I shud hv reviewed...Due to lack of time and energy, I have decided to just do a quick round-up :)

Raajneeti

Loved it! Probably best Hindi movie of this year yet! (Wait till Dabangg releases :D) Loved the Mahabharat and Godfather references! Nana Patekar and Ranbir Kapoor steal the show big time.

Man Som Hatar Kvinor

Visceral and brutally honest movie! Loved how human and lifelike the characters of Salander and Blomkvist are and how effectively they are portrayed  by the actors! Reading the sequel right now and enjoying it. Looking forward to more Swedish movies!

Toy Story 3

To borrow a line from one of my dear friends "Awwwwwww" :)

Raavan

WTF! Read this!

Knight and Day

Huh! Did I just get transported to the 90s when such movies were the order of the day and made money by the gallons? Its not too bad, but pretty banal stuff to be frank!

Despicable Me

Probably the BEST 3-D animation movie ever! So so so entertaining!! Double thumbs up!

Inception

Interesting concept and commendable execution. Wont gush about it as much as everyone else did, because I still think The Prestige and The Dark Knight are better works than this one...For some reason, I think Inception misses the emotional connect and gets too involved in its awesome concept. Nevertheless, its superbly directed and well enacted. Brilliant movie but IMDB All time # 3 above The Dark Knight? Nah!

Yet to watch Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, Aisha coming up this Friday, Dabangg looking HOT, Anjaana Anjaani another caper, Aakrosh looking interesting; lots to look forward to!

When life gives you lemons...

...they say, u make lemonade...But you know what? Sour lemons can only lead to sour lemonade, no matter how much sugar you put in...Adding other flavors doesn't help either...So what do you do then? Live with the fact that you got sour lemons? Make a yucky lemon pie? Say "lemon who"? Develop a liking for other, probably tastier, fruits?

Its one of the toughest conundrums in life. This might sound cliched, but how you react to the downsides in life defines how far you can go. It could be a personal issue, a professional setback, or even a psychological thing; how you face it and how quickly you can bounce back will more or less decide how quickly you can rise from the ashes. Alrit, enough of the Paulo Coelho-esque crap (If you are wondering whether I am a Coelho fan, lemme put it this way - I prefer a hamming Suneil Shetty to his books, that should put your doubts to rest...For those confused by the phrase "hamming Suneil Shetty", check this) ....Moving on to why I have been rambling about life, lemons and all kinds of random stuff...

People who have been dumped on e-mail, who have been stood up on their 4th date, who have been left at the altar, who have had to say goodbye to someone they have been with for more than half their lives, and who have seen the Mallika Sherawat, Rahul Bose starrer Pyaar Ke Side Effects, you all know what I'm talking about when I say "Break-up Ke Side Effects"...While the process by itself is painful, the aftermath may not be as bad as you may have imagined....

1. You suddenly have a lot of time on hand

Because something you thought about for 23 out of 24 hrs in the day till now is something you want to forget asap. So, suddenly you have time for all the things you had been postponing all these days for "lack of time" or some such weird reason. You can now register for that dance class you have been wanting to do for quite some time, play some sports, go talk to that pretty girl you have been wanting to talk to for a while but kept avoiding lest something serious come out of it....its time to start living for yourself for a change...

2. You are free to make your own decisions

Because that someone for whom you changed 11 out of 10 decisions no longer matters as much (not because you dont care any more, but because you have to make an effort to not care any more), you suddenly find yourself basing your decisions on what YOU want to do, rather than stuff like what will he/she feel, does he/she like it, will he/she have fun, does he/she dig it, yada yada...Its time to enjoy being in control of your life!

3. You can make friends with anyone!

Because you no longer have to worry about potentially inappropriate advances, inadvertent complications and jealous backlashes, you are free to meet new people, especially those belonging to the opposite sex, and try and strike a connect! Its time to forge new friendships, something you could do only to an extent till now because you had to devote so much time and energy to that special someone. Its time to get out on the dance floor of life and jive with new buddies!

4. You can reconnect with old friends like never before!

Because of 1, you have lots of spare air-time that can be put to good use by trying to rebuild relationships/friendships you could (unintentionally) give only so much time to, because that special someone demanded more of your attention! Its time to get back to pre-rel times and rock the floor, friendship-style!

5. You save A LOT!

Because you dont need to spend on gifts and on looking/being the way someone else wants you to look/be like, you can stop spending on relatively useless stuff and keep the money for stuff that really matters- good food and latest gadgets! This, friends, is a real saver and probably the biggest material side-effect, or should I say advantage!

6. You can go after your dreams!

Because the only person majorly affected in long-term by your decisions now is you, you can reopen that wish-list and finally try to make a serious effort towards making at least a couple of things written there true! Nobody/nothing stops you from going for what your heart wants, and has always wanted!

7. You can be genuinely happy!

Not that you weren't happy before! But you no longer need to suffer from an external focus of identity! Happiness can finally come from within, based only on how happy YOU are!

Pretty positive eh? Life post-breakup aint so bad! :) Its best to enjoy this phase before the next one beckons and history begins to repeat itself! :)