Kung fu Panda Redux

Glossing over the events which have happened over the last 20 days, I am reminded of that beautiful line from Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda.

"One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it."

Rajnath Jee listens

finally. Remember this guy from good, old doordarshan?

Get your own Sehwag

Says Harsha Bhogle, in his usual style.

Finally Aamir apologises

Isn't this google ad priceless?

Where have all the speakers gone?

It's funny right! For the last five years we have had a spineless PM and a spineless govt.

• A PM who needs 'permission' even to go to the loo. A PM who slept while 'Indians' were getting killed in blasts and 'could not sleep' when Dr Haneef was in an australian jail.
• A home minister who spent more time putting gel in his hair than running the ministry.
• An external affairs minster who was incomprehensible and un-understandable, in either English or Hindi.
• And lastly, a heir-apparent, indulging in poverty tourism and dalit-house-hunting, which seems to me racism of the worst kind and also tells me he was born even further away from his mother's birthplace Italy.
  

In view of the above, I thought the BJP had it on a platter. But they are fumbling. There was a time they had the best speakers(Sushma, Mahajan, Jaitley and the best of all Vajpayee). And look at them now. Last saturday I was watching 'The Big Fight' and the topic was Hate Politics. Balbir Punj of the BJP, whilst facing NDTV Aunty Brinda Karat and Mani Shankar Aiyar, was not only fumbling, mumbling and doing a Sonia i.e. reading out from his notes in a live debate, his debating skills left much to desire. The media as such does not give them any leverage, we know that. Add to this, some stupid statements here and there. And some stupid actions, too.

If the BJP wants to, or should I say, needs to improve its image in the minds of first time voters, they 'have to' get some new anchors fast which means, simply, add some new products to its portfolio. They might be a little foolish like Manish Tewari of the Italian National Congress but they have to be fluent, presentable and debatable.

Rajnath Jee, are you listening?

P.S. - Where the hell is Arun Jaitley? I know he is strategizing, but we need to see him on NDTV, Times NOW and CNN IBN day after day everyday taking on the likes of Sibal and Brinda.

The story of my life

I understand that there's some problems
And I'm not too blind to know
All the pain you kept inside you
Even though you might not show
If I can't apologize for being wrong
Then it's just a shame on me
I'd be the reason for your pain
And you can put the blame on me

By Akon

My Review - Love Actually

You must be wondering - a rom com, with nine different stories and starring Hugh Grant?!! Is it me or something has changed? Well actually after watching the extremely witty Notting Hill I wanted to check out 'any other great works' of the said writer(Richard Kurtis) and Love Actually was the only unseen one on the list. (other ones being the Bridget Jones series). Incidentally, this is one of Grant's and Curtis' highest grossing films worldwide.

So what did I think of it? Better than Notting Hill. No. Wittier than Notting Hill. At some places.

The best stories are the ones with the aging rockstar(Bill Nighy) and his manager, the boss(Alan Rickman, the baddie from Die Hard) and the secretary and the stand-in body doubles. The story about the Prime Minister(brilliantly played by Hugh Grant) and Sarah(played by Laura Linney), who likes a fellow colleague at her office, have a good start but are not developed quite as well.

A highlight of the film is this scene where the PM addressess the media alongwith the President of the US. And for this reason alone I give this film 3 stars.



Needless to say the Bollywood copy of this film was the very boring Salaam-E-Ishq!

I wanna be the PM tooo

Dear readers and countrymen, here are the possible candidates for leading our great country into the 21st century.

1. L.K.Advani
If Manmohan Singh can work as the (remote)PM and do a great job, why the hell can't I?
Claim to fame
Currently is on the 'I love Jinnah' & 'I did know Jaswant had a ticket' communities on Orkut.

2. Mayawati
If I can be number one in corruption, why can't i get the number one job in the country?
Claim to fame

1. Statues
2. Corruption
3. More statues
4. More Corruption

3. Sharad Pawar
We need a Maharashtrian PM especially since we have such a dynamic maharashtrian President.
Claim to fame
He is a Maharashtrian(Didn't I say that earlier?)

4. Jyoti Basu
The time has come to rectify the historic blunder.
Claim to fame
His leadership. His vision. His age. His walk. His talk. His coverage on NDTV.

My Review - There Will be Blood

There will be blood is about the struggle and rise of Daniel Plainview(Daniel Day Lewis), a manipulative and eccentric oilman during the oil boom of the late 19th century in the US. In his pursuit of oil and wealth, he comes into regular conflict with Eli Sunday(Paul Dano, the elder brother from Little Miss Sunshine), a young preacher who is himself looking to make some easy money from the same boom.

Like all of Paul Thomas Anderson's previous movies(Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia), the narrative of the movie is slow. But that does not bother you because of the wonderful cinematography and some equally wonderful acting.

Somehow I felt that the film was more about Plainview's rags to riches story and subsequent loneliness than the fight between him the young preacher as suggested by reviewers.

Daniel Day Lewis, who won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe for this one, gives a powerful performance as the eccentric Plainview.

Definitely a one time watch for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

My Review - Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder starts with a promo of Scorcher, an action film starring Tugg Speedman(Ben Stiller), ready with a gun and a baby(?!!!) to save the world. Then come the promos of Scorcher II, III, IV and V. In this hilarious satire-action-comedy partly written and wholly directed by Stiller himself, three actors from different genres come together to make a war movie. So Stiller plays Speedman(modelled on Stallone), Downey, Jr. is Kirk Lazarus, an australian actor(loosely modelled on Russell Crowe) who goes great depths to 'get into' the character and Jack Black is Jeff Portnoy, an actor who has done films like The Fatties(a take on Eddie Murphy) and is addicted to drugs. Speedman is desperate for a hit, Lazarus is desperate to be in character even between shots and Portnoy is desperate for cocaine.

The story is simple, the screenplay is apt and the satire is immensely enjoyable. Watch out for the scene where Lazarus(Downey) advises Speedman(Stiller) never to go full retard while playing a mentally retarded character. There are cameos by almost half of Hollywood including the much appreciated cameo of Tom Cruise as Less Grossman, the producer of the film.

I give it four stars and put it on my must see list.

Also See

Roger Ebert's Review of Tropic Thunder

I love the Third Front

The third front has been (re)launched with a new vigour and a new avataar, which will be pro-minority, pro-dalit, pro-OBC, pro-farmer and pro-poor(whatever that means).
What this means that some unemployed politicians dying to get some votes(and ministries thereafter) and prove their SECULARISM will get together at Deve Gowda's residence and watch him sleep. BTW, our former PM also has the ability to sleep with his eyes wide open. Don't believe me, check him out yourself.

P.S. - What the hell is A B Bardhan doing?

What I learnt from Kung Fu Panda!

This very cute and very very inspiring film does not need a review. It is a must see film and a must have DVD. I don't know if its just the state I am in where the lessons from the film seem to be very apt and bang-on-target. While Rashmi Bansal and some other bloggers have come out with their own Management Lessons from Kung Fu Panda, here is what I learnt from this very 'awsome' movie.

1. There are no accidents... : What is is meant to be and how it was destined to be. Do not regret.
2. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present : Learn from the past. Do plan for the future but live in the present. I loved this line. Absolutely!!!
3. No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach : If a young boy is destined to be a scriptwriter/storyteller/director he will be one. He can't become a doctor. On a different note, if a young boy is meant to redefine music through algorithms, then no point forcing him to go to Indian Idol.
4. There is no secret ingredient in the secret ingredient soup : To make something special, you just have to believe it's special. Love this thought! Totally!
5. Hollywood not only makes great movies, they make the movies with the best messages too : The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, A Beautiful Mind, Rocky, Little Miss Sunshine, Crash, Spiderman 1 & 2. Need I say more.

The only film which I give 5 stars. Highly recommended!!!

My Review - You don't mess with the Zohan

Adult humour is okay, but this movie about an ex-Mossad agent(played by Sandler) coming to New York and wanting to be a hairstylist is crass, crude and downright vulgar. Adam Sandler seems to be taking a lot of liberties first with Click and now with Zohan. The only bearable part of this very stupid film is the beautiful Emmanuelle Chriqui and the funny Israeli-Arab accent spoken by almost the entire cast.

For hardcore Adam Sandler fans only!

My Review - Scarface

I remember the first time I saw Agneepath. I remember the last time I saw it. I remember the dialogues. I know the scenes which I really like. I remember "Apun ka naam Vijay Dinanath Chavan, poora naam, maa ka naam Suhasini Chavan, gaon Mandwa".

Now that I have seen Scarface, I feel let down. Cause Agneepath is a copy, certainly not a scene-by-scene DVD copy like Zinda, but the concept, styling and character detailing has been lifted straightawayfrom the 1983 Brian De Palma crime drama about a cuban refugee's rise to the top of the Miami underworld.

Watching Scarface is a treat cause you get to see Al Pacino in full form; his volatile character being one of the highlights for this film. One also gets to see the 1980s Miami and a very young Michelle Pfeiffer.

Highly Recommended!

I am back

Tired, lazy and groggy as one can be from a Goa trip which got extended because of reasons beyond control. Will get back to regular blogging soon.

P.S. - Meanwhile on the way to Goa and back I have discovered one of the greatest music albums ever made by a Bollywood composer. Yes!!! Dev D is the best (original)music to come out of Bollywood in a decade. Check it out, if you still haven't.

My Review - Notting Hill

This is such a funny thing. Just day before yesterday, my wife was telling me all about Notting Hill, how it's the most wonderful(est) romantic comedy ever made and how she remembers each and every line of it and how blah blah blah...by the time she had completed, I was off to sleep.

Coincidentally, it was playing today on HBO and I managed to catch it along with sandwiches and tea. An engaging first half , an innovative ending(though not an airport one), a little boring in the second half is how the movie sums up. The writing in some scenes is pretty amazing especially the 'apricot and honey' bit. Hugh Grant is cute as usual and carries the same expression throughout(Britain's Shahrukh, anyone..eh?). Julia Roberts is... well Julia Roberts.

Total ChickFlick. One time watch!!!

P.S. - An interesting fact is the this $40 Million movie made almost $350 Million dollars in total. That is almost an I, Robot. Also, this is Hugh Grant's biggest hit.

My Review - Rainman

My first introduction to Tom Cruise was in late 1990(I was 13) when I saw his poster at a friend's house. This girl was crazy about Tom Cruise. It was Cruise, cruise and cruise everywhere for her. And I thought huh, yeah he's good looking so what? As my passion for movies grew over the years, I consistently avoided Cruise's films based on this presumption alone. Not that I heard much about Rainman, Born on the fourth of July, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Color of Money etc but I did check out the Mission Impossible series but then that is more of Manmohan Desai kind of cinema. The only Tom Cruise movie I had heard about a lot was Jerry Maguire. So on a relatively sunny day of the cold Delhi winter season in 2003, I saw Jerry Maguire. And INSTANTLY became a Tom Cruise fan.

This little piece of history is important not because I am his die-hard-will-watch-his-movie-first-day-first-show fan but because Cruise has always been a fantastic actor.

In Rainman he plays Charlie Babbit, a car dealer who is in a bit of trouble and requires a substantial sum of money to clear his dues. Somewhere at the same time, he gets to know that his estranged father, with whom he never ever got along, has died. Expecting to gain something from this father's will, he is surprised to learn that he has just left him an old car and donated his entire wealth($3 Million) to the mental institution where his autistic brother(Raymond/Dustin Hoffman) lives. Charlie kidnaps his brother and take him along with himself to meet his lawyers. Since Raymond is afraid of flying, they go by road from Cincinnati to Los Angeles. What happens eventually forms the crux of the movie. Although Dustin Hoffman is perfect(He won an Oscar for this one) as the autistic Raymond, it is Tom Cruise who shines as the icy cold Charlie Babbitt. His journey from being frustrated and irritated at Raymond's actions to a caring and protective brother is touching. The plot is simple and the storytelling is brilliant.

Highly Recommended!!!

Also Read
Roger Ebert's Review

Dev D - First Reviews

Anurag Kashyap gets an average of 2.9 i.e. 3 stars.

Rediff - Raja Sen Review - 3.5 stars
Rajeev Masand - CNN IBN Review - 2 stars
Taran Adarsh - IndiaFM Review - 1 star
Anupama Chopra's Review - 3 stars
Nikhat Kazmi - TOI Review - 5 stars(huh??!!!)

Disclaimer : These are the reviews which I follow. The rest do not matter. Taran Adarsh's review is just for cosmetic purposes.

My Review - Sex and the City

Caught Sex and the City(SATC) on DVD. The TV series ended on a very happy note with Carrie back with Big, Miranda settled with Steve, Samantha confessing(shockingly) to Smith and Charlotte getting a baby through adoption. My only intention was to see where would Michael Patrick King take the story next. Unfortunately, King fumbles and so do the girls(you can't really blame them, they are just following the script). Although die hard fans of SATC would love to see the girls doing their usual routine in New York, the plot is twisted and turned in the worst possible way to make it look like another chapter in their lives.

Dissapointing. Some things should just be left untouched.

My Review - Luck by Chance

After the dissapointments which came last year in the form of a Hancock or a Hulk, a Ghajini or a Rab ne(and please don't even get me started on the Tashans, Singh is Kings and suchlike), I was really looking forward to watching Luck By Chance(LBC).

In his review Rajeev Masand spoke about the opening credits sequence and indeed it is mindblowing especially the shot where Zoya's name comes. LBC is a part-serious part-hilarious look at the hindi fIlm industry. A place which is full of punjabi producers, kanpuria strugglers, overprotective divas, dumb stardaughters, selfish friends and manipulating magazine editors. Zoya Akhtar, having seen most of the behind-the-scenes action herself, narrates the story of Vikram Jai Singh(Farhan) and Sona Mishra(Konkona) beautifully. So you have Zafar Khan(Hrithik), reigning superstar walking out of a producer's film to play second lead in a Karan Johar movie, the flop actor(Sanjay Kapoor) of a big producer turning director, a yesteryear's actress(Dimple) scripting every move of her daughter(Isha Sharwani) to make her entry into Bollywood easier and the saddest but the funniest of the lot, producer Romi Rolly(Rishi Kapoor) who is trying to manage everybody.

There are cameos by almost half the fillum industry(Aamir, SRK, Abhishek, Vivek, Ranbir, Dia, Akshaye Khanna, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Manish Malhotra) including a brilliant two scene cameo of Anurag Kashyap as a (DVD copycat) writer. The pace is somewhat slow but the gags and punches keep you in the loop. The entire cast plays their part to a T but the highlight is Rishi Kapoor as producer Romi Rolly. He is funny, cunning and emotional at the same time. The only weak link I found in the film is Farhan(who is unconvincing in some scenes) and the music.

Luck by Chance is an exciting debut by Zoya Akhtar. Not to be missed.

Also Read

Anupama Chopra's Review

IndiaFM - Taran Adarsh Review

Nikhat Kazmi - TOI Review