Tere Mujhse Hai Pehle Ya Naata Koi...

Yunhi Nahi Dil Lagata Joi...
Jaane Tu......... Ya Jaane Na.......

On popular demand, I'm going write a piece on another lively movie of recent times.... Jaane Yu.. Ya Jaane Na... In hind-sight, I'd planned to write it as I came home immediately after watching the movie, but there was a power cut that time... It just got side-lined after that...

The debut vehicle of famous nephew Imraan Khan (if u don't know whose nephew, pls feel free to Google...) and of director Abbas Tyrewala, who's in the past been the successful screenwriter behind such films like Main Hoon Naa and also written lyrics & dialogue for various films (Munnabhai, Salaam Namaste, Welcome... to name a few) is a refreshing 'feel good' story about a group of friends... The lead duo, Imraan & Genelia have put in gr8 performances & share an excellent on-screen chemistry... they play 2 best frnds who do not realise that they're MFEO...

The story goes on as other the frnds watch in despair since the 2 don't even take the hint about a possible spark... the performances of the frnds are also noteworthy as are those of the family... One to particularly watch out for is that of Rajat Kapur & Kitu Gidwani... Prateik Babbar is another surprise package (he's the son of Raj Babbar & the late Smita Patil).. I wont give away more of the story here since that'll just ruin it for most, but please do note the ending lines...

It's a must-watch....

Maane Tu..... Yaa Maane Naa....

And yes, MFEO = Made For Each Other....

Why ..... So ..... Serious ?

The most enduring image that leaves one when the movie (or should I say, Epic) gets over is that of 'The Joker' laughing cynically at his own defeat ... Yes, he does get defeated... It is a superhero movie after all... But I'm not going to give anything away b'coz I sincerely believe that every avid movie watcher should go & see this movie...

Chris Nolan is brilliant as usual & if I think about it, I can't remember a single movie of his which I have disliked (to be fair he has only directed 6 full-length movies, of which I've watched 5)...

As I said in the opening line, the movie is 'Epic' ... in its conception, production, direction & enaction... and every other '-tion' you could think of...

But back to the late Heath Ledger... He completely steals the show... A cousin who was staying in Chicago while the movie was filiming there was telling us about how Ledger would run around the city streets in full make-up & costume to get into the skin of his character completely... more reports of his 'preparation' are on Wikipedia. The hard work pays off in a portrayal of The Joker which is completely unlike Jack Nicholson's from the era of Tim Burton's Batman... This Joker carves a completely new identity for himself ...

This post goes out to Heath, & I'm sure he's up there looking down at the faces of fans going to watch the Dark Knight and saying - 'Let's Put a Smile on that Face'...

One weekend, Two movies...

It was a busy last week, wherein I've seen a total of 4 movies (including one repeated twice) over the past 8 days... The one I saw twice was "Get Smart"... (no, I'm not much smarter watching it the second time) ... One helluva movie... (a good review by my frnd on http://without-an-h.blogspot.com/)

The next was "Made of Honour"... there's not much in the story so I'll just give it away... it's 'My Best Friend's Wedding' with a different ending... no prizes for guessing wat the difference actually is... One might wonder that it doesn't boast of the most famous of starcasts & the story is used, so what is left in the movie... the answer is that despite this it manages to hold its own with over-all good performances & an intelligent screenplay...

The last was "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic" which is another sugar-coated Hindi movie (to quote a friend who hated it)... the story is predictable & performances are ordinary... though I did not get bored, I wouldn't say I'll watch it again even if I was paid to do so..... As Taran Adarsh puts it for many movies - "Average Fare"....

Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed...

These are the lines which keep repeating themselves during the movie 'Sarkar Raj' which I saw this morning... (for the few reading the blog who do not know what the title means, here's a helpful link... http://www.geocities.com/mahaabhaarat/glossary/page2n-z.htm)

The movie is interesting for the afficianados of the first 'Sarkar' who want to see the growth of Shankar Nagre (Abhishek Bachchan) from where he left off at the end of the first... that's exactly where this movie takes off from ... The plot is an intersting mix of the Dabhol project, the Thakerays & Shiv Sena, 'The Godfather' and many more twists in between a-la RGV... I wont give away too much for anyone who's intending to watch it...

Though the movie did get my attention for the entire length, I must say I was not too impressed... It's the same old story repackaged with one more Bachchan (Rai) but the numbers even up at the end....

Winner, Winner... Chicken Dinner...

21

I saw '21' last night and what can I say... it was one of the best movies I have seen recently... Iron Man was loads of fun, & Narnia was Narnia, but this was one excellent screenplay... Jim Sturgess, who has not done too much notable work till now, has put in one hell of a performance with a lot of help from Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth & Lawrence Fishburne...

This is one of those movies where everyone knows what the story is going to be, but you go to watch it anyways to see how it has been shown. I've seen a documentary on Discovery Channel about Jeff Ma & his friends from MIT who set out to beat the Vegas casinos by 'Card Counting' techniques... 21, however, uses the plot & twists it to make one helluva movie which keeps you gripped to the seats...

Next up, Sarkar Raj... whenever I get the time to see it...

Back after a hiatus....

Hello boys ... I'm baaackkkk !!! :-P.... (For the uninitiated, that was Randall Quaid's line from Independence Day.... I don't mean any gender discrimination...)

Its around 6 months since my last post, & I wonder what I have done in these past months ... For one, my laptop was stolen from my home, so I'm still kinda lost without it... Also, work's gotten pretty hectic, & I'm struggling to reach some kind of work-life balance, however cliched that may sound)...

But I'm happy to report that I've still been watching all the movies (though I've not seen Jodhaa Akbar yet)... The last I saw was Mithya... a brilliant movie in every sense ... Rajat Kapoor behind the camera & Ranbir Shourie in front of it... the movie is perhaps the best satire to come out of Indian cinema in a long time (the only reason I say 'long time' is that I have watched a certain movie called Jaane bhi Do Yaaro which is a class apart)...

Other than that, my DVD collection has built up considerably.... I watched Charlie Wilson's War yesterday, but was quite unimpressed... Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman & Julia Roberts starred in the movie, but the screenplay (by Aaron Sorkin) was not good enough...

Juno, on the other hand, was very good... Diablo Cody has written a witty story & has been supported in front of the camera by a brilliant performance from Ellen Page...

I'll get back with more reviews soon, & hope to be more regular...

Cheerio !!!

I'm Back ... & so is RGV...

After a 5-month long hiatus... I'm back !!!

I'm now working full time with Reliance Retail helping them set up their newly launched hypermarkets all over India... I just got back to Mumbai (my new home) after a month long stay in Ahmedabad where we launched Reliance Mart...

Well, thats enuff about my job... on to more exciting stuff

Though there r a lots of movies I've seen recently, there r none i'd particularly like 2 write about... Chakde was one of the best movies in recent times & Heyy Babyy was a wholesome entertainer... Ratatouille was amazing & Transformers was average... But what stole the show was RGV ki AAG... I don't remember seeing such a wholesome load of Crap in my life... For all those who thought Salaam-e-Ishq was the worst... we have a new contender in town !!!

I thought the movie was an utter insult to the original Sholay... if RGV wanted 2 spoof Sholay I think he should have just gone ahead & done so, rather than get caught in the dilemma of whether to spoof or to remake... even the Big B has embarrassed himself by becoming a mere caricature of Indian cinema's greatest villain...

I think that's sufficient bashing for now... I'll try 2 keep the blog up 2 date with the latest in my life...

Ciao for now...