Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (RNBDJ) was among one of the most awaited movie of the year. It is a film by none other than the team of DDLJ, from the duo of Aditya Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan.

After coming out of the theatre, the first thought which came to my mind was now SRK is the strongest candidate to win the Best Actors Award, for his role of Surinder Sahni, Punjab Power, Lighting up your Life…

RNBDJ will definitely have mixed responses from the audiences. This movie might not have a straight reponse; but some people will definitely like the simpleness and lightness and others might figure out the flaws in the story / screenplay. According to me, the movie may do more business in single screen than multiplexes because of the plot itself. This movie definitely has the guts to become the biggest hit of the year…

Shah Rukh Khan plays the role of Surinder Sahni (Suri), a common man who works in an electric company. The character written beautifully and also played vibrantly. SRK does a fantastic job while potraying the character; the way he talks, walks, thinks, every action he does, justifies the simplicity and characterstization of the character, which the director would have wanted the audiences to see.

SRK also plays another character Raj, which is totally opposite to Surinder Sahni, but I think that SRK does an ok job there since this a character which he had been portraying since years. But one thing here is to appreciate that the both the characters were different and we really got to see 2 different people in the movie.

Anushka Sharma, the debutante actress looks confident, is a good dancer and does a good job considering the fact that this was her first movie. Initially when I saw her in the promos, I thought she is not so pretty as other new actresses these days are; but certainly after watching the movie I agree that she fits into the character well. She is both traditional as well as modern at the same time. Vinay Pathak aka Bobby Khosla, is also another character to look for in this movie…
I agree with some of the critiques that the writing department wasn’t upto the standards of Aditya Chopra. The story and dialogues were simple but by any chance you not comparable with the likes of DDLJ, and for that matter neither with Mohabbatein. The dialogues weren’t heavy but they were surely similar to what a common man like Mr. Sahni will use in his daily life. The screenplay was one area which really wanted some more polishing; the first half was good but I felt some scenes of the other half were long and bit monotonous.

The music by the duo of Salim-Suleiman is very soulful and catching up with the audiences well. Haule Haule had already become a hit while Tujh Mein Rab is out an out romantic song. Chance pe Dance is a song which has the capability to teach dance even to poor dancers like me; it can be used for dance teaching lessons in the future. These songs are liked by the listeners not only because of the music but also due to their lyrics. The lyricist Jaideep Sahni had written some very beautiful and touchy lines; he is equally responsible for making the music so wonderful. The choreographers Vaibhavi Merchant (Haule Haule) and Shiamak Davar (Dance pe Chance) had given their 100%, both were successful in bringing out the innocence of Suri and the studness of Raj.

According to me, RNBDJ, a movie with a simple story, light comedy and full of romanticism, is definitely worth watching…

I’ll give RNBDJ 4 out of 5 stars, where 1 extra star is only for Mr. Surinder Sahni…

Mumbai: The Battleground

After 24 hours of the ongoing War against Terrorism as I walk on the streets of Mumbai, the life here seemed to be somewhat normal. People were seen moving in and out of the bars & restaurant, enjoying the delicacies like vada pav & chat, youths roaming around; even the buses were running almost full. Nothing as such has changed except for the mental peace of the common man or the common Mumbaikar…

Last night, Terrorists attacked our Financial Capital, the city of Dreams – Mumbai at 10 different locations… But the attacks were different in terms of the modus operandi this time. Till now, bombs were placed secretly and terrorists never attacked from the front but this time they came out openly to spread the terror amongst the innocent citizens, using AK-47 guns and Grenades. They opened gun fires at many places. The second unique thing about these attacks were that the places like temples, trains, airport where common Mumbaikar would have been, weren’t targeted; but terrorists have chosen places which people might not have thought off, even in their nightmares. The terrorists attacked 5 star hotels – Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi Trident, Café Leopold and peace loving people living in Colaba, etc. The attacks in the hotels and café were done at the time when various foreign tourists would have come back to the hotels and while corporates were having seminars and meetings.

As of now, the death toll has risen to 155 including atleats 14 policemen, 2 NSG commandos and some foreigners, while approximately 327 people have been injured in these Terror attacks. The dead also include Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar. It’s a really sad day when so many people have lost their lives but our politicians are only making false claims or as usual playing the blame game. My heartfelt condolences to the family of the all the people who died in these attacks… And I would like to salute the NSG commandos, army men, navy men and policemen for fighting bravely, continuously for almost 2 days now.

The titles like “War on Mumbai” or “Warzone Mumbai” can easily be justified after viewing the various footages available on Internet / TV. It simply reminds me of the Kargil War that time infiltrators captured Tiger Hill and other points; while this time they captured Taj, Trident and Nariman House. The only differences between the two were that it was in J&K while this in Mumbai; in Kargil War the terrorist might have taken months to capture those points while this time it took only few minutes for them to enter the targeted places and make hostages. Only thing which have changed that the attacks now are more planned, organised intensified and more terrifying…

A lot have been spoken about the spirit of Mumbai and Mumbaikars, whenever any such calamity had happened, but I would like to ask that till when this spirit will continue? If the people of this city or may be our country have good fighting spirits, this doesn’t mean that they should suffer from such attacks, blasts, etc. The government or the authorities should not take as an excuse for treating such matters lightly. Let me warn the government that these spirits of Mumbai could dampen too, if something concrete is not done. And let me clarify that alongwith the spirits, the common man is full of anger against these terrorists, terror groups and also against the government.

Something more disappointing was to watch our politicians giving interviews about Islamic & Hindutava terror, their election meetings, vote banks, etc. They’re saying that we need Federal investigation agency and police reforms but why do we only realize these necessities after something of such a magnitude had already happened? Why can’t be more pro-active or be more prepared? Where was our Intelligence agency when the recent attacks were being planned or was it an Intelligence failure? Or are the govt and the agencies were more than happy after catching few terrorist from so called Indian Mujahedeen or Sadhvi???

I would also like to ask Mr. Raj Thackeray that these attacks are on Aamchi Mumbai and after almost 2 days of these attacks, we hadn't heard any statment from you, pacifying the Mumbaikars. And just for your information, the NSG commandos who have been fighting here with the terrorist, have come from North and all of them may not be Marathi’s. Shouldn't the principles of MNS for a common man in Mumbai, i.e. not allowing North Indians, should have also been applied on the NSG commandos? Sir, this is a time for our country when we should be unite to fight against these Terrorist groups and not against our own countrymen.

Honourable Mr. Prime Minister and the Cabinet Ministers, I think this is a high time to take some concrete steps and not just make speeches. They have entered almost everywhere in our country and it’s really difficult for an ordinary citizen to live peacefully in his / her own motherland.

(PS: The blog was originally written on 27/11/08 but was updated on 28/11/2008)

Dostana

Dostana - as the name suggests, is a film about friendship...

Some people might say that Dostana is only one time watch or may be not worth watching et al but one thing which I witnessed in the theatre was that audiences present there were laughing out loud... 

I too agree that the story in general is predictable and the weakest link of this movie but overall the plot of the movie is new for Bollywood... The screenplay and dialogues were the areas to look forward too...

People to look for in this movie are Priyanka Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan. Priyanka looks ravishing, even hotter than what she looked in Fashion and definitely deserves the introductory scene showing her sensuous lips and curvaceous body. She once again gave a solid performance... Abhishek was best among the male actors, his expressions as a Gay were mind blowing, especially in the scene where he narrates the incidence of first meeting with John Abraham... John and Bobby Deol did an ok job but definitely they could have been better... Definitely for girls, it would have been a retreat to watch John bare chest... Characters of Boman Irani, Kirron Kher and Sushmita Mukherjee are also worth watching and had good comic timing...

The music of Dostana is good but that not great like any other typical Karan Johar flick... Songs like "Maa Ka Ladla" and "Desi Girl" are foot tapping numbers while "Jaane Kyun", "Kuch Kam" and "Khabar Nahi" are soulful and romantic songs... You'll like the songs but may not remember them for long as we remember KKHH, K3G, KHNH songs... But as any other KJo movie, the cinematography and editing are awesome... It was a pleasure (and tonic for the eyes) to watch the Miami beaches...

Tarun Mansukhani, the debutante director overall does a good job... The chemistry between the 3 (Abhishek, John & Priyanka) of them is certainly a thing to look for... 

I'll give Dostana 3.5 out of 5 stars...

I've been Tagged...

Thanks to Narayanan for tagging me, actually this gave me a reason to Blog after few months...

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your first thought be?

- What happens; happens for good…

2. If you can have a dream coming true, what would it be?

- I’ve lot of dreams, so mentioning here about one and ignoring others would be   sort of injustice.

3. What is the one thing most hated by you?

- Hypocrites

4. What would you do with a billion dollar?

- Only a Billion Dollars, that’s it.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?

- Maybe, but only if the friend is a girl…

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

- Definitely, being loved by someone…

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?

- If I really love someone then I’m ready to wait for my entire life…

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?

- Look out for a better prospect… :D

9. If you like to act with someone, who will it be? Your gf/bf or an actress/actor?

- Dunno.

10. What takes you down the fastest?

- Attitude

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?

- To know the answers, you’ll have to wait till then…

12. What’s your fear?

- Losing my family & frndz…

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

- Narayanan: Smart, intelligent, techie and a friend…

14. Would you rather be single and rich, or married but poor?

- Neither.

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

- Want to sleep more…

16. Would you give all in a relationship?

- Can’t say since I’ve never been into it…

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?

- Both.

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?

- I believe in forgiving but not in forgetting…

19. If you get to go back in time and fall in love all over again, would it still be with the same person?

- May be Yes… May be No…

20. What will you do about climate crisis?

-  No idea.

 

Now I tag Anshul, Dheeraj, Niraj,  Rohit & Tammy !!!

ROCK ON !!

Sometime back I saw a promo saying, “From the makers of Dil Chahta Hai” and yeah after watching it, I can easily say that they haven’t lowered their standards and were also up to the expectations of their audience…

Rock On is a movie not only about a Rock Band but also about relationships and friendships…

Abhishek Kapoor, the director as well as the story & screenplay writer has done a fantastic job. The story is unusual but at the same time very realistic, to which people can easily relate to, all the characters of the story were well defined. First half of the movie consists of many transitions from present to past and vice-versa but well written screenplay and editing helps you in not realising the same. One thing which I feel about the story is that people from metros / bigger cities will easily relate with it while people from smaller towns may not bond with it so easily…

Through this blog, I would like to ask Farhan Akhtar a question “How can 1 person be so talented; an intelligent director, successful producer, brilliant actor and an amazing singer?” Farhan performs excellently in all his 3 roles, acting, singing and dialogue writing. Songs have already become chartbusters and guys believe me; he’ll definitely give a fight to Imran Khan for Best Male Debut Award…

All the other characters were equally important in the movie and they all too did full to their specific roles.

Rock On’s music is very refreshing, youthful, different (with a touch of Rock music) and already ruling the charts. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy once again proved that they are one of the best in the industry and especially when it comes to experimentation; who would have allowed a new singer like Farhan to sing 6 out of 9 tracks of the album. Generally our Bollywood actors sing 1 or at max 2 songs but in this case hats off to the combo of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Farhan Akhtar.

Javed Akhtar, as usual have written mind blowing lyrics; one may not understand them when listening for the first time but after watching the movie you’ll definitely like it.

Another thing which I also liked is the use of the song, “Tum Ho Toh”. This is a romantic song but in the movie it has been used as friendship song and the placement of the song is so perfect that it fits the situation…

Overall Rock On is a good movie to watch… I'll give this flick 4 out of 5 stars...

ROCK ON!! definitely rocks...

Bachna Ae Haseeno

I'll give Bachna Ae Haseeno, 3 out of 5 stars...

Jaane Tu... ya jaane na

Jaane Tu… ya jaane na is a fun-filled, youthful and entertaining movie…

What actually took me to the theatre to watch this flick was its refreshing look, soulful music and some expectations from an Aamir Khan Productions. And believe me I now have many more reasons to watch it for the second time…

Debutante director and well known writer and lyricist, Abbas Tyrewala has done a good job in all his three roles… Although the story isn’t very different from normal love stories, when I say this I mean don’t expect this one to be an out-and-out a different movie like DCH, etc. I won’t be disclosing the story here, since I always believe that Movie Reviews aren’t meant for it… Other aspects of writing i.e. Screenplay and Dialogues have also been handled extremely well and are among the main reasons why this movie is liked so much. The dialogues are funny and one can easily relate to them in their day to day lives. It’s a light comedy movie but not a slapstick one…

One thing, which I personally liked in the movie, was that it’s entirely shot in Mumbai, except for one song. No grandeur sets or exotic locations, no designer wears or unnecessary accessories. Movie showcases its characters wearing clothes which normal people like them wear in their daily lives.

Music by A. R. Rehman is youthful and at the same time soulful. The lyrics, by Tyrewala himself, are written beautifully. Tracks like “Kabhi Kabhi Aditi” and “Pappu Can’t Dance” had become hits, even before the movie released; other songs like “Kahin To Hogi Ho” and “Jaane Tu Meri Kya Hai” also sounds soulful to our eardrums.

Now comes the part, for which many of you may be waiting i.e. how the actors have performed, especially Imran Khan, nephew of Aamir Khan, the perfectionist. Before coming to any particular actor, let me tell you that all the characters in the movie were well defined and every artist played their part well.

Imraan Khan has done a good job and if you consider that this was his debut film, then he has done a fabulous job. People might comment that this was a tailor made role for him, although it wasn’ t but if it was then too what’s the harm in it. He suits to the character similarly as Aamir was to QSQT and Hrithik to KNPH; he’ll surely become the heartthrob of the nation in days to come…

Genelia D’Souza has done a fantastic job , even better than Imran. Only after seeing the promos, my friends told me that she already had done few movies; but now after this one she too will become a known actress. Her facial expression and dialogue delivery was perfect. The movie is equally dependent upon her as it’s on Imraan, for its success.

Overall, Jaane Tu… is a light romantic comedy, which may remind you about your own friend circle, you might be relating characters of the movie with your near and dear ones… I’ll give Jaane Tu… ya jaane na, 4 out of 5 stars…

MTV Roadies 5.0

MTV Roadies 5.0 concluded 2 weeks ago, with Ashutosh Koushik becoming the 5th Roadie…

This season of Roadies began in Goa with 13 aspirants from across the country. Getting selected in Roadies auditions, after handling the torture done by Raghu Ram and Nikhil Chinapa in itself is a big deal… Hence, these contestants (names are in alphabetical order) of MTV Roadies 5.0 deserve to have their names on my blog:

• Ankita
• Ankita (Simran)
• Anmol
• Ashutosh
• Ayaz
• Nihal
• Prabhjot
• Shambhavi
• Snehashish
• Sonel
• Varun
• Vibhor
• Vikrant

I’ve following last 3 season of Roadies i.e. Season 3, 4 & 5 and thought that I know the format/rules of the show pretty well since reality shows generally don’t change their rules frequently… But as far as MTV Roadies is concerned, I feel proud in saying that “I was wrong.” You guys might be thinking that why I’m feeling proud? The answer is simple, this is one of my favorite TV shows and I enjoyed the current season as much as I enjoyed the earlier ones, as everything was unpredictable…

The 1st episode saw two of the participants being voted out… To watch the “Vote-outs” is the real fun in the Roadies… The Pressure, the Action, the Drama all are part of this reality show… Each episode was different from the previous one in some or the other manner… In the 5th season, the best part was the International exposure but what I really didn’t liked was more emphasis on personal decision’s rather than some activity…

Unlike my expectations, the final episode was not that great; especially at the last when Sonel chose the winner of Roadies 5... Atleast the winner shouldn’t be decided that way, Nihal did a better competition than that…

Anyways, I’m eagerly waiting for the next season of MTV Roadies…

IPL: May the best team win !!!

Today is the IPL finals and I’m to D.Y Patil stadium to watch the match…

But the important question is, whom should I support in today’s match???

Actually in the first season of IPL, I’ve already supported 4 teams out of 8... From the beginning, I was cheering and supporting for Kolkata Knight Riders. Once they were out from the race of semis I started supporting Mumbai Indians, don’t forget Mumbai is my Karmabhumi… After this, it was the turn of Delhi Daredevils but unfortunately they too lost in the semis… Yesterday, in the 2nd semi-final, I supported Kings XI Punjab and my track record continued too; they too lost in the semis…

Now while writing this post, I’ve decided that today I’ll not support any particular team in today’s match and only enjoy the game with my gang…

And I’m praying that the match should be rocking, exciting and May the best team win !!!

Happy Birthday Mummy !!!

A Very Happy Birthday to you Mummy...

If you would not having been with me, with all your love & support; I wouldn't have been to do anything in my life... Thanks for everything...

Indian News Channels: Quantity over Quality

Who says Indian news broadcast channels are not mature as their International counterparts? Even Indian channels know how to do their business, how to increase their TRP’s and also how to woo the advertisers, etc. These Indian news channels are not only earning the bread and butter for their owners; but also attaining their break-even points much faster than it was in the past…

But if we talk in terms of the content or the social responsibilities, then I definitely agree that Indian news channels are not as mature as their International counterparts. In fact, the word “mature” isn’t made for Indian news channel.

Actually there are 2 types of news channel in India: First is the Hindi News Channel and Second is the English News Channel. I’ve considered both Hindi and English News Channels as different categories since the quality of the content differ…

Let’s suppose you want to know the news and switch on some Hindi News Channel: No points in guessing what you actually get to see, something which most of us actually don’t consider a news item like “swarg ki seedhiyan (Steps to Heaven)” or “Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ne rakha vrat (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan does fasting on the occasion of Hindu festival)”, etc. Let me also some of the headlines from various of these channels, “Dada pade Sachin bhaari (Sachin’s team defeats Saourav’s Team) ” , “Train ke neeche ke baad bhi Kutta jeevit bacha (Dog is still alive even after coming under the moving Train)”, etc… None of the Hindi news channel shows, a single news regarding more important news like measures which should be used to curb inflation, US Presidential elections, Global warming, etc…

Hindi news channel are also following a pattern these days; when I say “pattern”, I meant to make a point that all these channels show similar news which had a good TRP’s in the past. Like when the incident of Prince falling in a boring well happened, it was something which most of the people saw for the first time , hence everyone was curious about the child; and now after every few weeks we see one more child falling in such wells… If some channels show a program featuring a story related to Ramayan or Mahabharta, then all the other news channels will soon show some related story… I don’t know which and when, one of the news channel started showing the program like “Vaardat” or “Aaj Aapka Din (How your day will be today)” but now we can find such programs on every Hindi News Channel. And how can I forget mentioning about the programs which showcases the items of the Laughter Champions and also about the various reality shows like Indian Idol, Voice of India, etc. And also how can I forget mentioning about Khalli – The WWE Fighter, he is the favorite news item for many of these Hindi News Channels…

The English News Channels here are not better but definitely show better quality programs than their Hindi counterparts… They too some masala news but those are mostly related to Bollywood or Cricket… But the best part is that they try to cover most of the important news too…

People might be interested in knowing about Abh-Ash wedding but are they also interested in knowing whether Aishwarya is observing a fats or not? People wanted to know about the status of children falling in boring-wells but for how long, are we really interested in viewing the Live Telecast from the venue? I agree that IPL (Indian Premier League) has become a big thing in the world of cricket and also lot of moolah is involved in it but has it become bigger than news like inflation, caste reservations, economy, etc which are of national interests?

I agree that these news channels are also showing such programs and stories since people watch it but I still believe that if any channel is considering a “News Channel” then please show some relevant news or else start promoting yourself as a “Page3 Channel” or some “Lifestyle Channel.”

Sometimes I really feel that Doordarshan’s National News is still the best in the country since in its half-an-hour duration it tries to cover the maximum news across the globe and from all the fields…

Why can’t these Indian news channels think of programs like which is actually for the betterment of the country and its people...

Tashan

Tashan: another hyped movie from Yashraj Films was released on last Friday.

Just to inform my readers, due to some differences between the distributors and the exhibitors, this movie was only released in single screen theatres across Mumbai and not in the multiplexes…

Tashan, like many other movies, was not upto the expectations of the audiences; primarily due to its storyline. On the technical front, it’s a decent effort but lack of a good story and direction will definitely disappoint the audiences. I will not disclose the story here, since I always believe that Movie reviews are not meant to tell the story of the movie…

The acting of all the 4 leading actors is ok types… Anil Kapoor’s character is of a don but somewhat similar to the character of Javed Jaffrey of Salaam Namaste fame; where he tries to speak English on every occasion… Initially we laughed at his dialogues but as the film progressed it was a bit irritating too… Also it was unbelievable for me, that a modern day don will use a water canon or a fire pipe to defeat his enemies… Overall, Anil hadn’t been used to fullest of his abilities…

Saif Ali Khan does an average job, nothing extraordinary in his acting too…

Kareena Kapoor is looking gorgeous in her zero-size figure… And she looks extremely sexy in the parrot-green colored bikini, which she wore in one of the scenes; definitely it’s a treat for all the men watching the movie… She does a decent job but don’t compare this one with her performance in Jab We Met…

Akshay Kumar is as usual brilliant in this movie too… His comic timing, facial expressions and dialogue delivery are awesome. He is one actor to look for, in Tashan… Almost all the audiences present in the theatre clapped at his entry…

The music is average type but definitely not what is actually expected out of a Yashraj movie… Few of its songs have picked up slowly… Like all the Yashraj movies, the song-dance sequences and exotic locales are worth watching… Cinematography and background score are good. The film makers tried to make this as an action flick and were also a bit successful in doing that except for the final action sequence, which, in the present day scenario, seems to be more of a comedy rather than an action sequence…

Overall Tashan was a one-time watch movie and not that bad as most of the critics have rated it… According to me, only 2 things which may bring audience to the theatres are the hype associated with the movie and Akshay Kumar’s mind-blowing performance… And no doubt, that this time Yashraj made a big mistake by not releasing this movie in the multiplexes, since it would have brought more audiences to the theatres and hence lesser amount of loss to them…

The director of the movie, Vijay Krishna Acharya will have to think something better next time, in order to woo the critics as well as the audiences… If, I’ve to rate this movie, I’ll give 2.5 on a scale of 5 (1.5 for the movie and an additional 1 point for Akshay’s performance)…