Incredulous yet incredible!

Travelling four hours on a winter day just to watch a movie seems unbelievable. I actually thought which idiot will do that. Spending 500+ bucks in a day only for entertainment might seem normal to some, but for a college goer staying in hostel far away from home, it isn’t.

We planned to travel all the way to Kolkata just to watch a movie. Initially there were 6 of us, out of which one of them had cancelled his participation the previous night and we had to leave the other because he couldn’t get up.

I kept my alarm at 4.15am and finally after 2-3 snoozes woke up at 4.30. Quickly finishing off my daily chores, I got ready and went up to the hostel where the auto was called. We boarded the auto and went to pick up another guy who delayed our departure. Finally, after he made his way out of his room, we raced to the station. A college friend was already in queue for getting his ticket done; we paid him our share (Rs.73 each) and got our tickets without any hassle.

We got comfortable seats and as we journeyed along, we had interesting discussions, we slept and we ate.

The train finally reached Howrah and we quickly caught a pre-paid taxi (Rs.110) to the Forum at Elgin Road. After traversing through 4-5 escalators, INOX booking centre became visible and we ran to get the tickets(Rs.160 each). Now that our tension was over, we decided to eat. Two of my friends who visited Kolkata few days ago knew the place properly and suggested a south Indian eatery at chandni chowk. We had to catch a local bus from Elgin Road to Park Street from where we had to travel through India’s first metro to reach Chandni Chowk to finally arrive at a Madras Restaurant which was established in 1939 and provided authentic Chennai food (Rs.80 for sumptuous lunch). After hogging nicely, we checked our watches. Having very little time for metro+bus travel, we caught a taxi and reached the Forum.

The Movie was scheduled to start at 2.05. We reached before time. We bought some snacks (Rs.50 each) to eat inside. The movie ‘Sherlock Holmes’ (whose review is my next post) was a visual treat. Our return train was scheduled at 5.15 and our show got over by 4.15. We still had to get the general tickets, so we caught yet another yellow cab (Rs.120) to Howrah. We got the tickets, and the train arrived at the platform a few minutes after we reached there. People were putting whatever they had in their hands through the windows to secure their seats. We too ran from one bogie to another to find four continuous seats. We found them quite easily. As we journeyed back to Tatanagar, we had a storyboard discussion for our short film which we are planning to make this year, coming out with amusing and innovative ideas. Hope we shoot the film as planned.

This wonderful day got over by 11 as we reached out respective hostels.

Now, as I look back the last 17 hours, it was a roller coaster ride with few sights soothing to the eye and mind (; )) I mean people would laugh at you when you say to them that you are going to watch a movie in a city which is 4 hours away from college. Even I didn’t have the mood to go and i never believed that I would get into this, but once I was into it, this day turned out to be one exciting day worth the money spent and truly incredible.

Special Appreciation : Siddarth and Harish for bringing out such a wonderful idea and taking me along! Thanks a lot!

Review : 3 Idiots (2009)

From the creators of 'Munnabhai', comes yet another beautiful, comical, dramatic and inspiring movie. 3 Idiots is a visual treat, a laugh riot and also an eye-opener for many. The weak hearts might have to carry a full box of tissues because Rajkumar Hirani has carved out a stunner with more preference to his favourite genre - emotional drama.

3 Idiots is a must watch film for engineering students studying in hostels as well as their parents. Not necessary that only such people can watch but this movie might not amuse 'everyone' to that extent. The Story and Screenplay is just brilliant with ONLY an inspirational touch from Chetan Bhagat's 'Five Point Someone'. This is the way you make movies, read a book get inspired by the lives of engg students and create a story with your own imagination and not just rip-off the same dialogues and plot from the book bringing out something which the viewer had already seen.

The Casting is just brilliant with Aamir Khan at his incredible best. He understands and lives the character so well that he doesn't need to strain himself while acting it. Its just a child's play for him. Madhavan on the other hand looks too adult-ish for a college goer and his acting space is reserved to emotional and impressioned smiles. The third idiot, Sharman Joshi, is a budding actor and he has acted out his character brilliantly. Out of the 3 idiots, i don't think you can find faults with any and only that each of them is way beyond the comparison with others. Kareena Kapoor sheds her glamour image and fits the role perfectly. Last and certainly the best among the cast, Boman Irani, a gliterring gem which doesn't need any polish, has carved a niche for himself already with his awe-inspiring performances before and 3 Idiots is just a cake walk for him. He is a fine actor, finer than the big names in Bollywood. I'm sure he will win quite a few accolades for his 3 Idiots' performance.

Music by Shantanu Moitra is just scintillating. The songs had become chartbusters even before the movie got released. His background music is just wonderful and the bass pumps up the adrenaline in our system.

The other technical departments, Cinematography, make-up, dressing, sets, light, etc etc have done their parts exceptionally well making '3 Idiots' easily climb to the top spot in Bollywood's dry run of 2009.

Coming to the main hero of the film, the captain of the bandwagon, Mr.Rajkumar Hirani. I'm sure he doesn't need any introduction. His directional skill is top notch. Though the movie was pretty over-dramatic in places, it had its message conveyed with quite a fair amount of indefinite laughs throughout the film. Hope, he continues to give such comedy-cum-inspiring films.

I won't leak out the plot of the film because i want all of you to get to the theatres to watch it and I assure you that you are definitely in for a treat.

Rating : 3.5/5

Verdict : Though it is clichéd and has an overdose of drama, it is still a 'Masterpiece'!

Review : Vettaikaran (2009)

"Vijay is back with a bang!" , perhaps i could say this.....perhaps!!!

Anyways lets get to the reviewing....

The most awaited movie by all vijay fans 'Vettaikaran' is here. The whole of tinsel town and of course the rest of the world wondered 'Will this movie work for Vijay, atleast??' Well, all his movies work for him in terms of collections and grand openings but it doesn't seem to entertain everyone. Our Ilayathalapathy continued to sign commercial films one after another and never bothered about critics' comments on his movies. A new add to the same old stack is 'Vettaikaran' with much ado about nothing. I went into the cinema hall with least expectations because i knew that it is going to be the same old Vijay flick and fulfilling my preconception was the movie althought it did have a few changes. Is 'Vettaikaran' another 'Ghilli' or is it another 'Villu'? Has Vijay gained back his stardom on neutral viewers too? Read on to find out!!

Unlike his previous ventures, Vettaikaran opens up a step away, though its length is a few centimeters only. We are shown an IPS officer who is also an encounter specialist closing the doors for a famous goon. He is the one Ravi (Vijay) aspires to be like even though he's failed 4 times to surpass Class XII. We go on to discover that he is just following the footsteps of Devaraj IPS who had a similar school life as our very own protagonist or one might put it as Ravi is trying to emulate each and every step Devaraj took to become an IPS officer. The Plot of Vettaikaran is just a 'one-liner' , after all this worship and following, does Ravi become an IPS or not. Does he fulfill his dreams or not. For this, my review won't be a spoiler but you have to watch the movie to find out. Though the Real Digital eXperience of Sathyam Cinemas helped in entertaining me, I suggest a TC Rip from the internet might be good enough.

The Movie does have quite a number of flaws but there is no use in speaking about them. Let me first let you know that there are totally say 3-4 fight sequences ONLY for Vijay which is quite a change coz all other work is done by people standing behind his back or by just the press of a button. All this is quite normal for such commercial movies though.

Vettaikaran is a 100% entertainer until the 'Chinna Thaamarai' song after which the screenplay and story seem to go out of control. Mr.Babu Sivan (Story-Screenplay-Dialogue-Direction) has got his basics right. He doesn't seem amateurish at all. The logic part falls perfectly well and gels with the screenplay but a tissue paper (which is thinner than a wafer) thin storyline, poor background music and even poorer song picturisation are the main reasons why 'Vettaikaran' is not a movie which would make Vijay say ''I'm back" although he seems fresh and energetic in this movie.

'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay is the name which comes on the screen after the Sun Pictures bit which made the crowd jump from their seats. Such star power this man has and the way he puts in his 100% renders the flick as an out and out 'Vijay' flick and not some AVM or Sun Pictures flick.

Vijay has carried the film entirely on his back and it only because of him that you can sit through the entire movie. Be it his rib-tickling comic sense, his powerful (at places) punch dialogues, his breathtaking stunts, Vijay has proved that he is THE next superstar. His acting has improved to a great extent from the irritating last movie of his. (What was it....i forgot...oh yeah...Villu - awefullu).

Comedy has been given the top priority by the director and it is definitely better than having a special comedy track by some popular comedian. The Dialogues are very good and they evoke a bit of laughter as well as something to ponder upon. For this the debutante wielding the megaphone needs a pat on the back.

Stunt director 'Kanal' Kannan fails to deliver his potential. He is perhaps too inspired by the ropes. All the stunts seem to be hanging mid way in the air and although the stunts were better and done with expertise when compared to other Vijay flicks, it is not what one would expect out of the stunt master. The Scene where the protagonist jumps from the waterfall has been shot masterfully creating lesser doubts on the viewer's mind.

Songs by Vijay Antony were really peppy and foot tapping but the picturisation spoiled the whole build-up with 'Naan Adicha' song being an exception. Background music seems to be a rip off from Superstar's Sivaji with the same instruments and same sounds used. The only bit which would probably be liked by the fans would be that which goes like 'thalapathy.....thalapathy' in the first half. 'Naan Adicha' has cute casting of Sanjay (Vijay's son) who dances gracefully just like his dad. 'Puli Urumudhu' is sure to please all Vijay fans but has too much of Rajini feel to it infact the whole movie has Vijay with a 'Rajini' touch.

Casting of Anushka and Sanjitha Padukone were of minimal need and either someone else should have been cast or their screen space should have been increased. Anushka who actually looked ravishing in tollywood and otherwise looks pretty aweful with layers of make up clearly visible on her face.The bollywood baddie Saleem Ghose who dons the role of villain Vedanayagam in this movie has done an outstanding job both by acting wonderfully and by dubbing his own voice in a near-perfect tamil accent. Devaraj IPS's role was well portrayed by the actor with perfect muscle formation and moustache which suited the character.

Techinical departments need no special honor although the director of photography has provided notable, slick and clichéd action sequences. Editing was no good and so were the costumes, make up, etc etc.

Let me briefly ennumerate the + and - of this flick for those who don't like reading big reviews :

Minuses : Song picturisation (except for 'Naan Adicha' and to an extent 'Puli Urumuthu' , Anushka, Overdosed and clichéd violence, predictable plot, Vijay's getup in 'Chinna Thaamarai'.

Pluses : Vijay as 'comedian' (don't take it the other way, the movie seriously has good comedy) , Vijay fighting, Vijay walking, Vijay Talking, Vijay dancing to normal dance steps and ofcourse the villain Saleem Ghouse.

The Movie has a very entertaining first half and a huge letdown second half. It is a pure Vijay flick with nothing much different to offer. The 'adithadi' (violence) could have been minimal. The last dialogue of Vijay "Everyone should have a police in their self" is very inspiring. This dialogue which the directed wanted to convey could have been done differently rather than the way it was handled churning 'Vettaikaran' to be abysmal commercial flick not quite in accordance to the current political and cinema world scenario of the state.

Rating : 2/5

A little better and quite bearable than his previous flicks, Vettaikaran is almost 'Ota-autokaaran'!!

Let us just hope and keep on hoping and wait and watch if 'Sura' which is touted to be a comedy flick and which is also Vijay's 50th film has a different Vijay to offer.

Review : Avatar (2009)

James Cameron is back with a bang with Avatar, the biggest CGI,animation and graphical extravaganza of the year. In this beautiful movie, Sam Worthington plays a US mariner who is sent to a planet called pandora after his scientist twin brother dies. He goes on to replace him in this mission which focusses on a matrix type man-remote-controlling-another-living creatures called avatars. They are made taking the same DNA of its controller but look like the inhabitants of the planet. These avatars are sent for the expedition team to gather information about their race and also a desire to carve out a special mineral which might prove useful to them.

The Story is a fine blend of all the action/adventure hollywood movies in the past and is to some extent analogous to the Tamil commercial cinema with equal proportions of comedy, drama, actions, emotions and of course the romance too. One might hate the movie miserably if he/she doesn't get to watch it with good sound and picture clarity. Speaking of picture, Hollywood has kept up with the ever increasing zenith of CGI and animated magic. It is a wonderful piece of art and the whole visual effects team has to be lauded in a huge extent.

The Director,  the guy who brought us terminator series and also the disaster epic Titanic, needs no introduction. All his films have been trendsetters in hollywood. He has used the same visual effects as anyother in the cinema world but in an extent which is sure to captivate the sight of millions. I was just 'wow' over and over again for the visually soothing as well as rich imagery which was shown. His creatuvity has no match and will definitely win laurels for him.

Acting wise, Sam Worthington definitely needs a pat on the back and so does the whole visual effects team again because every pixel of emotion on the avatars' face was so real and beautiful that one has no words to describe.

The music (James Horner) and the special effects department have put in their best. You won't believe but the number of people who worked in the special effects department is more than all others put together. (Leaving the ones who were seen on the screen ofcourse)

All in all, this movie definitely gets a two thumbs up from me and it is my sincere request for everyone to watch this movie specially in the 3D version and not anywhere else because watching it elsewhere is sure to spoil the magic.

Rating : 3.5/5

Poetry! It is truly an intelligent, thrilling, emotional yet mesmerizing poetry!

Review : Paa (2009)

After a series of crappy movies in bollywood with just one exception in the middle (in the form of Wake Up Sid) , I sat down to watch another movie to find Director R.Balki delivering a suave entertainer called 'Paa'.

I heard that 'Paa' was a remake of the oscar nominee 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' , when the filming started but once the movie released and i saw it , i was pretty shocked not only by the fact that it was a beautiful adaptation of the disease Progeria but also that Amitabh Bachchan (AB) lived it like real.

The plot is about a boy who suffers from this rare disease which makes his body age faster and his incidents and also about a small emotional drama which i won't reveal.I mean , someone in bollywood attempting to portray such a character, is really innovative but one also has to live up to it and AB does it beautifully well.

The top technical posts of this movie were handled by acers in the field. P.C.Sreeram holding the camera and Ilayaraja composing the music. What else can a star ask for!

Cinematography was brilliant and so was the background music. Though, the music was a mix of classical music , it gelled properly with the scenes and shows that even though the music maestro has nothing new to deliver he does understand cinema better than anyone.

On the whole , i would say , the movie lacked something....something which would make me give it a maximum rating.It seemed amateurish and naive.....the screenplay , the story telling.

Hence i end up giving a ,

Rating : 3/5

with 2.5 dedicated to AB alone and the rest .5 for the other actors , camera and music.

Verdict :  AB is legen -wait for it - dary!

              

The Other Girl!

Here is my attempt to short story writing after my dad urged me to do so.
This is what i could come up with , Dad!

Disclaimer : This is a work of pure fiction and creativity , although it might be possible that such could happen in real life , it wasn't intended to harm anyone or induce any new thoughts into anyone.
This story contains some content for the 18+ categories and i hope the parents would understand that youth in the present age is aware of "EVERYTHING".

So here it goes ,



On a rainy evening , sitting beside the small portico which stood on 4 logs of wood and in the abyss of darkness , was an 18 year old girl , Akanksha her name. The only source of illumination was in the form of a candle. These frequent power cuts in her community was common , only that an hour of continuous electricity was seen as a gift which their god had given them after continuous goodwill. This was the scenario. Born in the village , her parents couldn’t provide her with the basic amenities , the reason , them being uneducated. But they did their best to send her to the city to make her study in an English medium school. She stuttered at start but she did cope up with the language and almost made it to the top 5 in her class , though never first. She was quite elder to her fellow classmates as she was joined to the school 2 years later than usual.
It was winter vacation for the 11th grade and of course the whole school in this small hill station called Darjeeling. Ever since her childhood , Akanksha used to spend her time gazing into the darkness dreaming about various things. The only time she used up in studying was during class hours and after school she used sit for hours together till the sun went down because after sunset , the whole village was in darkness.
One fine day, a team of teachers from Kolkata visited the school in search of budding talents , and they conducted tests and interviews out of which Akanksha was selected. The team visited her home the same evening asking her parents for their permission to allow her to study in Kolkata. Foreseeing the bright future shown to them, they agreed and she packed her bags and left after the usual emotional drama expected out of a normal Indian family.
St.Louis Convent Girl’s School, the board read atop the gate in front of which Akanksha stood pondering about what this has in store for her. Shy in nature, she never used to speak up herself unless questioned. Her luggage was safely kept in the hostel and she was introduced to her roommate.
Her roommate, Sophie, was the daughter of the rich NRI parents who strayed her into this school and went back to their foreign land. Both of them, who never used to talked to anyone properly, never had a relationship with anyone ,now gelled pretty well and became the best of friends. They went out together, studied together, etc, etc. It was time for the 11th grade annual exams or the board exams and studies started in full swing and the exams went by quite quickly.
Now that summer time arrived, the time for enjoyment in the hostel, no one desired to go home, not even akanksha who’d completely forgotten about her parents, who sacrificed so much to make her study , but they too didn’t bother much , thought not to disturb her studies.
So , one evening , as Sophie was browsing the internet in her laptop gifted by her parents , she stumbled upon something ,something that was different , never seen before , and she called upon her roomie to see it too. As they gazed on to the screen with total interest and without any clue on what it was, their hormones started generating fluids which induced extra “unexplainable” feelings and they shut the laptop unable to bear this sudden rift in their thought process and went to bed.
Both of them, as usual, started dreaming as to what it was, and made crazy assumptions. The next morning, they woke up and opened the laptop, the page was still there. They tried imitating the same thing and the feeling was ecstatic. They used their fingers to do marvels onto each other.
This legacy continued for subsequent nights and became a habit and a secret that they shared, what they didn’t know was that they were distinct from the usual people. Now that the vacation got over and the all important 12th grade started and even though their normal routine of studies continued, they still imbibed this into it. As they stepped out of their hostel every Saturday night , they moved together , went into bars and restaurants and behaved so closely that everyone had their eyes on them , and the pleasure that they derived from looking at these angels was something indescribable.
One day, two guys in a restaurant went up to them and started talking normally, they became friends and asked them whether they could drop them back at their hostels and since these girls were fresh and tender in meeting people, they quickly agreed thinking that these were nice people what they didn’t know was that they were falling into one terrible trap.
As the boys took them in their posh, stylish and effulgent SUV, they first went into their homes and the girls followed. They treated the girls with drinks and snacks and showed them the house. When they reached the bedroom, one of the guys locked the door from behind and pushed them onto the bed. The other said, “Now let’s see what you girls do every day!” Thinking that it was what normal people do, the girls did their normal and this time they were at their best. Seduced by just seeing this, the guys couldn’t bear and undressed themselves and went down on them. The girl felt pain at first but after that it was “ecstasy”. The guys had the whole thing recorded and their new video update for their site was done for the week.
One sudden day , in the newspaper , Akanksha read the headline “ Two guys found brutally murdered” with the photo of the guys whom they had met the other night. She showed it to Sophie and both of them gazed at each other’s face , not knowing what happened. Unlike Sophie , her roommate was in shock and the trepidation dehydrated her.
Sophie, on the other hand was browsing something important on her laptop , it was a stylish macbook , the computer everyone wants to possess. She comes across another new hangout opened in Kolkata and she takes Akanksha to the place to cool her off. This time, as they ate , a man came across their table and asked permission to dine with them , though Akanksha was in no mood to speak to another stranger , Sophie welcomed him onto the table. They had a nice chat and he offered to walk them to their hostel. In the interim, they found a park and they decided to have a stroll. As they reached the corner most place, where no movement was there, the man decides to force him into Sophie and unable neither to digest the news nor the beautiful Sophie in front of her , Akanksha decides to join the duo. After they were done, the girls returned back to their hostels. Two days later , Akanksha finds the photo of the same man they were with the other night all covered with blood in the newspaper. Now , that things started to get suspicious , Akanksha started doubting her roomie , as she is the only person to have known the people apart from her and it is always she who allowed others to mingle with them and she who took the first step.
So , one day when Sophie had gone out , Akanksha sneaked into her laptop to find all the plots and ways to kill people without fingerprints and all the other stuff. All this baffled Akanksha as her eyes popped out almost , she shut it down and went to the window sill , reminiscent of her childhood , pondering over why she was doing this.
One night , after their usual routine stuff , Sophie shares something that happened in her childhood and that added to already increasing worry stuff on Akanksha’s head. She was sexually abused by her father and his friends when she was young and her mother had died. Hence , her belief on all guys was lifted off. She went on to kill her dad in what seemed like a suicide and further went on to join this school after the pitiful sight seen by the headmistress.
But what had this got to do with , her killing of the people who provided her with pleasure. This was what Akanksha had wondered her whole sleepless night. She then decided to stop all this by killing Sophie , the next time they made out. And so , that is what happened , when Sophie seemed to enjoy her reaching the zenith , Akanksha quickly stabbed a knife in between her legs and after that , Sophie breathed her last.
The next morning , the headmistress found the dead Sophie in a red coloured mattress artistically painted with her blood and no clue of where Akanksha was.
But , there was this another girl , who was having her laugh , the murderer , the secret admirer of Akanksha , the one who was smitten by her looks , who couldn’t resist the seduction , it was she who killed the 3 guys where Sophie had nothing to do with it. As the search continued for the fled Akanksha, this girl knew exactly where she was going and wouldn’t mind being her next partner.

About Me!

On 28^th September , 1989 in the far reaches of Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) , a child was born to a wonderful couple but none of them would have , in their rarest of rare imaginations , predicted that boy to have become a lousy freak.

Hello to the very few “about me” readers , that boy is me , basically an introvert-trying-to-be-an-extro enjoying life to the “three-quarter”est and currently pursuing Civil Engineering (I myself don’t know why?) in a college nothing greater than a perfect example for a govt. Office.

I am a self-proclaimed genius-cum-lousy wanderer , with no clue of how my future is going to be though my every ‘next’ hour is well-planned (desired). I prefer to be lonely , so that i can do my stuff and that frequent friendly visits do amuse me.

I love watching movies and could comfortably boast about watching around 1000+ movies till date without even remembering the name,story,cast-crew of each one of them. Ain’t that an achievement!!

I dream of writing movie scripts myself but never narrated them to anyone except for a ‘personal’ few. My favourite hobbies include movie watching, movie reviewing and listening to background music of films and songs.

I’m NOT at all complex , i always wonder why people misuse this word explaining about their character , i mean everyone is unique in their own way and stating a person as complex means that he/she has some rare disease , atleast in my opinion.

I love imagining things , creating my own way of explaining the wonders of life and also at times the basic concepts of science though it may seem totally absurd.

And yeah , i’m pretty emotionally sensitive , any touching (i mean heart touching!) live scene or in the movies could make me cry , though not outwardly!

So , nothing more interesting in my life , if you people have some things to share , i’m always open , no matter whoever it is because i love meeting ‘other’ people in my life. So lets be friends and get to know more about each other....:))

Review : Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Tarantino's Greatest!

Rating : 4/5

Genre : Drama | War

From the director of classics such as “Reservoir Dogs” , “Pulp Fiction” , “Kill Bill” , etc etc comes yet another masterpiece far better than the previouses , “Inglourious Basterds” is legend Quentin Tarantino’s brilliant creation of WWII. It is a movie worth every penny of your ticket or every tick-tock of the clock taken for downloading this amusing flick.

The story is set in Nazi-occupied France during WWII where a group of Jewish-American soldiers called as “The Basterds” by the Germans go on a spree killing Nazi’s and executing a plot to kill the third reich.

Though all that which is shown is not true and only fiction , one might start to wonder if all this could be true and if it was , then the world which we are living might be completely different and might have been better.

Quentin Tarantino is known for his eccentric way of movie making , rather story telling , making the viewer feel like reading a book with chapters one after another. He does stick to that in this – his best film yet. Everything , be it the camera work , the background music , the stunts , the fires , the explosions , the expressions of the cast in the out-focus , Tarantino conquers it all and my personal feeling is that , there is no one born yet to surpass the amount of entertainment that he provides.

The most important spoiler is that Brad Pitt is NOT the hero of the movie , i mean he does have a major role to play , the genius of acting is seen in a guy named Christoph Waltz who plays the character of “The Jew Hunter” deserves an accolade or maybe an Oscar too.

So , please do watch this movie as it is one of Tarantino’s finest and most entertaining movies.

Quentin Tarantino – Legend - wait for it - dary!!