Anti - Climax...

What's your Rashee? turned out to be a big big disappointment. It was one of my most awaited films of the year (others include Wake Up Sid and Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani ). I have never watched a movie on first day first show. I woke up early on Friday, checked out the listings for DT Cinemas and off I went feeling so excited. I came to know that the movie was 22o minutes and I was like 'not a problem as long as it is good, the more the better'. Little did I realize that watching the movie would be not less than a herculean task. The movie adapted from the novel Kimball Ravenswood based on a Gujarati boy Yogesh (Harman Baweja) who reluctantly agrees to marry in order to bail out his philandering brother's debts. He decides to meet 12 different girls each of a different rashi all played by Priyanka Chopra in the hope of finding true love. So each meeting is shown with Yogesh and the girl of a differnt rashi which falls into the same old cliched "what are your hobbies" and a song for each of the rashi. The movie is so long that it will surely put down even the most ardent Ashutosh fans (like me) to sleep. The ridiculous explanation for the same faces, the even more ridiculous ending, the useless subplots of the detective and Yogesh's Uncle's extramarital affair, and the really bad songs add to the boredom of the film. Priyanka might have gotten into a Guinness book, but none of the characters she plays are able to evoke an emotional connection except for Anjali (the first one, and that too very little). The fake accent of Sanjana and the stupidity of that Su chee girl (forgot her name) are irritating. Harman is like able but he doesn't have the commanding screen presence, which makes the viewer notice the faults of the film even more. This film could have bee so better had some proper editing been done and the screenplay made a bit logical. Though I liked the choreography of the song Manunga Manunga (irrespective of the fact that it reminded of that dud Love Story 2050), Aaja Lehrate (hip hop is fab) and also Chehre Jo dekhe Hain :)

I have loved Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar and Swades is my all time favourite movie ( still cry when I watch that scene where Mohan meets the poor family or the one where he sees the boy selling water for 25 p at the platform) but What's your Rashee? will be Ashutosh's blunder. I genuinely felt so bad for the film :( :( Hope his next turns out to be fabulous.

Cinema, Lies, Illusion..

I saw Dil Bole Hadippa today. The movie is just average, very predictable.By now everyone knows that Rani plays a cricket fanatic girl who is not allowed to play cricket so she disguises as a boy and joins the cricket team. Since it is a Yashraj film, you expect lush green fields of Punjab, colourful Bhangra dancers, lale di jaan speaking India Pakistan friends and ek onkar being played in the background and since it is a cricket film, so you obviously know that who is going to win at the end. There is nothing new in the film..we have all seen it Lagaan, Chak De, Veer Zaara and other countless Yashraj films. The song jhappiyon sa desh hai mera reminds of Aisa desh hai mera from Veer Zaara, Shahid as captain-cum-coach reminds of Kabir Khan of Chak de! There is no novelty factor that is why the film has been panned by the critics. But what does work is the delightful Rani Mukherjee as Veer. Rani is a veteran actress and there have been no doubts over her acting prowess,only her selection of films..Thoda Pyaar,Laga Chunri ..all did not work because they were bad films and never has a doubt been cast over her. Rani as Veera is very predictable but Rani as Veer is very good. I also really liked the choreography of the songs. I give **1/2, only for Rani :) Come back Rani, there is no need for you to wear those bikinis and short clothes..you are terrific :)

Movies like these have no depth..typical one time watch with no layers.. anyway while the movie was being played I kept on thinking are films like those made by Yashraj responsible for creating an illusion about always brimming-with-happiness Punjab? There is so much poverty in the interiors of Punjab but have we ever seen a film on Punjab's poverty? UP, Bihar, Vidarbha..we all know of the immense hardship faced by the people in these areas but Punjab also has some of the poorest farmers..the drought has affected the farmers in these areas the most.. and this illusion..do films like those of Yashraj banner are responsible? I just remembered this discussion on TV a few months back when a religious sect of the Sikhs was murdered in Vienna and then there was immense public anger especially by Dalit Sikhs. I didn't know that Sikhs also had Dalit, thought it was only Hinduism. The immensely knowledgable Shekhar Gupta of Indian Express made this point that there is simmering discontent in Punjab and all is not well. This bonhomie is a sham..I guess I am over reacting after all everyone knows this is not reality just a film but some times cinema does paint a false picture and creates an illusion of reality.. Remember the hue and cry over Slumdog Millionaire?

Anyway, I am so so eagerly waiting for What's Your Rashee? I am addicted to its song Chehre Jo Dekhe Hain...it is not a great song but somehow it is captivating to me..I have been listening to it continuously for the past few days..it has all the beats of the other 12 songs from the film.. I hope the film is excellent..fingers crossed :)

The Mind is Restless...

I just finished reading English, August. It has become one of my favourite books and Upamanyu Chatterjee one of the best writers. The book is about Agastya, an IAS officer who is posted in a remote Indian town called Madna. It is the story of his mental restlessness that he is facing whether he is actually fit for the job, what does he really want to be. It is one of the very few books that I have been able to relate with. Agastya's non pretentiousness and his behaviour mirror ours. Like when someone asks him whether he is married or not, he gives different answers to everyone as if the people really care :D The humour of the book like his comments on Vasant's cooking and Srivastava and many many more instances are simply superb. I found myself laughing so loud at some places. Bungaali Uncle has come! Pumbaali Kunkal has bum! The observations of the author are detailed, at one point he says that he felt like the smell of the new eraser in a geometry box, great! :-)

Anyway, I am posting some of my favourite lines and passages from the book.

• He realised obscurely that the sense of loneliness was too precious to be shared and finally incommunicable that men were ultimately islands, each had his own universe, immense only to himself, far beyond the grasp of the interest of others.

• The ecstasy of arrival never compensates for the emptiness of the departure.

• Perhaps he was merely longing for the past in an uncongenial present, forgetting its petty unhappiness, bewitched by it only because he was not its master.

• Remember, you're not James Bond..you only live once. (Brilliant line, referring to Bond's You Only Live twice)

• Today I have got myself out of all my perplexities, or rather I have got the perplexities out of myself, for they were not without but within, they lay in my own outlook.

• Movement without purpose, an endless ebb and flow, from one world to another, journeys and passages undertaken by cocoons for not for rest or solace but for ephemerals.

• He had first to banish all yearning and learn to accept the drift, perhaps it was true all was clouded by desire, a fire by smoke,or as a mirror by dust.

His references to Krishna and Arjuna about the mind being restless and Marcus Aurelius are so true of the facets that we wear daily. A great book to learn from...

Cowmputer :-D

Amit Varma, India's best known blogger, India Uncut fame, has now started tweeting here. This was one of his tweet on the Austerity Drive and the Twittergate controversy of Mr. Tharoor's cattle class remarks. Some of his other tweets read as:

What's the difference between Twitter and the Lok Sabha? Twitter allows 140 characters -- the LS allows 552.

In the land of the Cowma Sutra, how can anyone be lonely? ( Referring to the Newshour debate on Times Now where a Congress spokesperson said, those who tweet are lonely!!!!!)

I'm not lonely - I just like hanging out with cows and cattle!

There's a T-shirt slogan right there: I'm not lonely, I'm just on an austerity drive.

Look Mommy!!!

Some of the best pictures that I have seen in along long time...

Of Old History Books and Grey's Anatomy...

Mary Alice in Desperate Housewives at the end of each episode says some thought provoking sayings. I have posted them a few of my favourites here in one of my earlier posts. It was raining since the last few days and I have been watching the rain all morning and enjoying the nip in the air..so relaxing and the voice of Mary Alice pops into my head and makes me remember one of her sayings about human companionship. She says " Life is a journey that is much better travelled with a companion by our side of course that companion can be anyone..human beings are designed for many things but loneliness isn't one of them!"

For the last few days, I have been feeling lonely. And by lonely I don't mean totally alone. I have family and I have friends whom I can talk but it is not that. I didn't even call R on his birthday just messaged him so bad of me :..a lot of friends are online but I am mostly invisible..I have even stopped talking to myself which I used to = (don't call me mad! we all talk to ourselves mentally) but this feeling is a very creepy one. I am missing something..it is like a void. I need someone with whom I can discuss movies that I like and can watch..someone who could come to watch the film festival going on at IHC..somebody I could talk about the wonderful character of August of English August...yes, of course there are forums on the net but still it is not that..

Anyways, I am also reading my Class 9 History book also..about the Renaissance and Reformation, the American Revolution, the French Revolution..the Renaissance period is fascinating and that is why I have put some of the paintings of that era on my blog..I plan to buy Class 11 and 12 history books for some more details..I really liked NCERT books of Social Studies..I know it is weird being a science student, how can I read about history, guess in a way I am still not sure what I really want from life..if someone asks where will you be doing 2 years from now..I have no idea..

Also I again started watching Grey's Anatomy religiously :) I missed the complete 3 Season last year,so I read the episode guide of Season 3 on tv.com :D ( Yeah! call me whatever you want) and now I watch Season 4 every Sat & Sun on Star World :) the songs they play at the end of episode are so good.. every time I watch it, it makes me teary eyed..last week, Lexie (Meredith's half sister) tells Christina that 'she has no one' so Christina brings her over to Meredith's to party.. yesterday they showed an episode on faith healing- is it really possible? Izzie, George,Christina, Miranda,Meredith, Chief...all are my favourite characters..I never wanted to be a doctor but seeing them makes me really want to be one..

Movie Updates- Not many..just watched The Sound of Music and The Queen..liked them both.. waiting for Wake Up Sid and What's Your Rashee...

Practical Example...

In Class 11, there was a chapter in Physics called Fluid Dynamics. The chapter had properties of fluids- streamlined flow and turbulent flow. Streamlined flow is the flow of a fluid in an ordered manner where as turbulent flow is a fluid that flows erratically like sometimes very fast and sometimes very slow. But why the hell am I lecturing on a mundane physics lesson? The reason is that I still remember an incident on this topic. This happened when I was in class 11. There were 2 guys- Rajeev and Samant. A class had just got over and there was some other class. Samant and Rajeev had both gone to the loo and Rajeev came back but Samant took a few more minutes. When he came back, Rajeev asked Samant ," Tune itna time kyun lagaya? kya kar raha tha?" and then the witty Samant says, " Abey, mera flow stramlined hai, tum sabka turbulent hai isliye tu jaldi kar ke aa gaya..tabhi mujhe time laga!" OMG! I still remember every one's faces after he said this. Now that is called practical example ;-) Mr. Sibal need not worry about the learning. We students find our own way to understand things :D

Hawai Qila...

Of late, I have been thinking of some of the places I really really want to visit before I die..

1. The Khajuraho temples built by the Chandelas in the earlier centuries. I mean it is a shame that a country like ours that gave the world Kamasutra and such exquisite sculptures, sex is still taboo..anyway I so want to see the Khajuraho temples.
2. The Taj Mahal. Shame on me that I am an Indian and still haven't seen the magnificent wonder!
3. The Eiffel tower. And to also eat at the restaurant at top of the Eiffel tower...
4. The Mona Lisa at the Louvre. The enigmatic smile of the woman is bewildering...
5. The cities of Milan, Venice, Rome, Paris...Renaissance has a magical charm...
6. Watching a Wimbledon final live at the All England Tennis Championships..
7. The Pyramids of Egypt by the Nile..the song Suraj Hua Madham is beautifully shot there..
8. The Sydney Opera House..

Hmmmm so likh liya na..now start dreaming.. itne paise to hai nahi mere paas, sapno me hi dekh sakhta hun sob sob :