OPT: Bhool Bulaiyya Movie Review

Oct 24, 2007.
Wednesday.

Perfect day to go on OPT. After all, its the 'official OPT Day - Wednesday'.

The timing was also perfect. To watch a horror movie, the best time of the day is close to midnight. Even the 12 km bike ride to the theater was nothing short of 'horror'. Zig zag, sharp overtaking, high speed chase....all this, when its drizzling.

Keeping the tradition, we did start at 9.45 from house for the 10PM show. And we reached almost on time. (Okay, in case Sand is reading, we reached 5 mins late) :-)

The theater was decently occupied. We contributed to a count of 8. I guess, there were some other ppl as well inside the theatre. I wonder why the theater was in such a state, though the reviews of the movie seemed very promising !

Geo and Sha got seated into the Gold Class. While Rat,Bin,Sow,Gas,Sand,Soo found the seats at the ground level (the silver class) reasonably comfortable.

The movie had already started. I tried my best, not to run this 'daemon' in my mind which constantly keeps comparing the original movie 'Manichithra-thaazhu' with this remade version. I believe it is upto the director to take into consideration, the majority of the population that might have already seen the movie, in one of the other languages - Malayalam, Kannada (aapta-mithra) or Tamil(Chandramukhi). Yes, he did make a lot of 'hindianised' changes to the movie. The story takes place in a big palace. And Shiney Ahuja is supposed to be a Raja (he is the hier of the Raja clan). The return of Shiney Ahuja to the palace, after a long time was supposed to keep everyone happy especially Amisha Patel - his childhood friend. Her hopes get shattered, when Shiney comes with Vidya Balan. But no worries, the new girl is welcome to the family. And after a 'rajaabhisheka' , they get into the 'forbidden' building of the palace.

For the initial 30 minutes of the movie, my effort was to try and find who is who (by comparing the Hindi verison with the original Malayalam version). Shiney Ahuja is Suresh Gopi, VidyaBalan is Shobhana, Amisha Patel is Vinaya Prasad, Paresh Rawal is Innocent and so on... The hero doesnt enter the scene till close to interval. And anyways, we all know Akshay Kumar plays the lead role of the psychirartist (played by veteran Mohanlal in Malayalam)

Some parts of the movie were scene-by-scene copy like the pseudo-auto-driving narration of Akshay Kumar, soon after landing into the palace. (BTW, he comes to the palace, not for sight seeing or to meet his old friend Shiney, but to cure a member of the family who has gone nuts)

But there are some changes as well. For instance, the 'kindi' in malayalam becomes 'gotti' in hindi. Both are used with derogatory implications..

What everyone would be interested in the movie, is to find how Vidya Balan has played her role. The part where she sways violently, and dances to the tunes of 'Manjulika' (it was Nagavalli in malayalam).I would say she has done it reasonably well. But the magic of Shobana was definitely missing. Shobana made us feel that she is being forced to stretch those arms, and to turn her head, all in an attempt to dance.. This was not to be seen in Hindi.

Also the sections which were shown in Eastman color(?) wherein the ghost hero and ghost heroine would dance in unison with perfection was shot trickily. Vineeth plays the ghost hero. We all know how good a classical dance her is. And after seeing the shots, we know that the director also knows this :-P

Wherever Vidya and Vineeth are dancing together, the camera tends to (deliberately?) focus onto Vineeth. Even the lights (deliberately??) focuses onto him. And when Vidya dances alone, the camera is placed behind the stair rails, rolling from one end to the other, or with a flower vase in the foreground...what all tricks :-D

Akshay Kumar... well, he does his part reasonably well (again, in comparison with Mohanlal). He gets to show off his acrobatics. And I very well liked it. One of them is during the song 'Alla Hafiz'. He actually jumps from one 'round-boat' to a closely placed another one. Risky, but impressive !

Another one was totally breath-taking. This is when Akshay comes to know that Shiney is being attempted to be killed by poisoning. And the poison is on its way to Shiney, in the form of a hot cup of tea. Luckily, this is one big house, and to get to the dining room from the kitchen, its a two and a half km stretch walk. To add to it, the kitchen is in some upper level. And there is no lift! By the time the tea reaches Shiney, Akshay managed to be in the visible vicinity of Shiney. But one floor above ! He jumps down. Yes, that was Akshay himself. I'm sure. No dupe. Phew! This is what I call dedication !

In total, the movie is an entertainer. Some more focus should have been given to the background score, to bring in more of suspense/horror effect. And the climax shots, where Akshay takes us through, how all this 'unexplained' things like the window pane breaking, the giant clock falling to its side etc should have been restricted to just audio description. Visuals gave a Tom & Jerry look to it !

Not much have been written here about the story. Coz all of us know it! And whoever doesnt know it, would prefer to know it from the movie, rather than thru a blog :-P

Rating: Average
(Must Watch/Average/Dont Go)

Tail:
1. The best joke was not on screen but from beside. Gasper replied to one of the nuisance maker mallus in the theatre with his unique straight-faced style "Mindaathiriyedaa pattee" (Shut up, you dog)
2. Another nuisance was the 'giggly'. This giggly laughs for anything and everything. If the hero jokes, he laughs. If the heroine jokes, he laughs. Well and good. But if the door opens, what is there to laugh? And if a car stops, do you need to laugh ? Perhaps, we need to re-think on this.. (to laugh or not to laugh!)
3. Got to see the trailer of 'Om Shanti Om' during the interval. I'm already disappointed at the music that has already come out. The trailer adds to the disappointment. To go or not to go, is another re-think topic!
4. During the interval, we wandered out, and happened to see a door left wide open. Chak De India was playing. We sneaked in and enjoyed the song 'Chak Deeeeeeeee.. Oh Chak De India'
:-D

Heyy Baby : Movie Review

Got a lot of time and money to waste ?
Feel like everything in life is joyous and interesting ?
Go watch this movie.

People get fooled by the catchy title song (which is made even more catchy with a lot of colors on screen) and by an appearance by Shahrukh Khan. (I was foooled by these 2). Add to it, the 'baby' factor.

Of the two (rather 3) above mentioned factors, only the first one was good. I still dont understand why SRK wasted his time and energy into this movie. He might have given a max of 2 mins in the movie. And he has got nothing to do in these 2 mins. Just sing 3 lines, make some stupid expressions on face, and quit. Thats all.

The baby - naturally cute, but the director and editor made sure that the clips of the baby - smiling, blabbering, crying - shown on screen are totally out of context and badly edited.

The plot, I guess is lifted from hollywood. There is a similar storyline in a Malayalam movie. But for a change, this version of the movie was a hit.

What went wrong in the movie ? The casting itself is not correct. Akshay Kumar seemed totaly out of place. Riteish (hope all the e's and i's are properly put) Desmukh is the only actor who seemed to be comfortable. Fardeen Khan - eeeeks !

Vidya Balan ? For half the time allocated to her, she is seen smiling. The second half - she gets a traditional_Indian-to-modern_NRI make-over and paints this 'i_wont_smile' image onto her face. What can she do! This is what the director Sajid Khan told her to do...

Dubbing is lacklustre.
And at every point of time, you get a feeling that you are watching a movie.
There is minimal involvement that the audience manage to get out of this movie.

Some totally unwanted vulgar moments in the movie:
1. The nappy which has the baby's "potty" flies out of Riteish's hands and lands onto Akshay's face. Looked totally animated
2. The baby is sick with pneumonia. A doll is placed inside ICU, the camera is on the other side of the transparent glass. The doctor punches a syringe (to mobilise the heart?) directly into the baby's chest. Well, is there no other non-violent way of showing this on-screen?
3. No on-screen-chemistry between the so-called best friends. Untimely dialogues, interrupting the completion of the other person's lines..

Verdict : Dont Go !
(Must Watch/Average/Dont Go)

Trapped!

I dont know since when, but 15 minutes back, the haunting truth hit me hard.. Real hard...

The Access Door is Not Working !!

The outcome of the above statement is very straightforward.
I'm TRAPPED inside the office !

The only way out is to call up the sec and cry out for help.
I did this already.. 10 mins back.. Well, I dont see any positive outcome.
Nobody has cared to take pains and climb up all the way to the 3rd floor.

A night out in office ?
That too empty stomach ?
Nayyy.. Gotta get out, even if it means breaking the door.
:-D

Its just 12.54AM, and let me sign off, for some other interesting activities..

(Where did i see that Fire extinguisher?!!)

World Food Day

Yesterday (October 17, 2007) was World Food Day.
And this is how we @office celebrated!

Err.. blogger is misbehaving.. not allowing me to upload any pics.
Rukaavat keliye khed hai
:-S

Bommarillu : Movie Review

Not many of you might have heard of this word "Bommarillu". Even I hadnt, till Basha said, "The hero in Bommarillu resembles you a lot". When I asked "why do you say so", I did not get any answer. A good movie marketing tactic ? ;-)

Bommarillu is a Telugu movie (Yes thats right)
And this is the first Telugu movie that I've watched.

This year has seen a lot of firsts (in terms of movies that i've watched from the "foreign" language category). The first among these firsts was 'Mungaaru Malhe'. Thats the first Kannada movie, I've ever watched.

Bommarillu is the story of an over-protected son (played by Boys fame Sidhartha). This son gets anything and everything in his life, thanks to his rich dad. But none of these makes him happy. Coz anything he gets is his dad's choice, and not his. He tries to be a good son, and doesnt want to hurt his loving dad (Prakash Raj). But he wants 2 things in his life, to be of his choice - his wedding and his career. But he is scared to talk about these to his dad. Such is the environment in the Bommarillu. Bommarillu, btw, means 'a house of toys', if I got the translation right.

Sidhu's marriage is fixed, again, as per his dad's wish. He is unhappy. He couldnt let it down, coz he has no good excuse to do so. The girl is beautiful, the family is good, and everything seems perfect. But Sidhu isnt happy. And thats when he meets this girl Hasini (Boys fame Genelia) in a temple. A lucky-go-getter girl, she lives life, in a different style. The kid who serves tea at Sultan's teashop, the road side ice-cream vendor Ganesh, and any passerby for that matter is her friend. Such is her cheerful jovial character. They fall in love, and how they take it forward is very nicely sketched in the movie. A nice entertainer.

With some good songs, and a short but very fundoo dance step too (In the song Appudo ippudo eppudo).

A good-watch movie.

Tail
1. My current favorite song is a Kannada song - Ninnindale from the movie 'Milana'. Sung by Sonu Nigam. Humming by Chitra, I guess..
2. At the end of the movie, I tried to figure out, why Basha said so. I guess, coz like for Sidhu, for me too, galz are dont cares. More on this topic here. But Sidhu finally falls into love. Mera kya hogaa !! :-P
3. Time to sleep! 12.15AM. ZZzzz.z...

OPT: Chak De India

Went to PVR on Oct3, for the 10PM show. As usual, everything got delayed, and we started for PVR at 9.50PM (the blame, unanimously comes to me). Reached by 10.10PM after a game of 'roadrash', and got the tickets. 130 Rs per ticket. It was the row 'J'. A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J... Is it the frontmost row in the theatre? Would we be blessed with a 'golden opportunity' to watch the movie 'first' (compared to the folks sitting behind us, who have shelled out the same amount of bucks for the movie?!). Well No. J was behind, and was a cozy seat. The front row had 2 galz and a guy. Our row had 2 couples sandwiching us from both sides. And we were 4 of us - Rat, Gas, Bin and Sow.

It was a good 2+ hrs of entertainment. Emotions were rightly packed. Songs were just at the right moment. And the movie was full of Josh. There were a remark or two (funny ones) on cricket. The game was mixed in right proportions with the rest of the movie. And SRK rocked! As always..

Preethi Sabrwal reminded me very much of Katrina Kaif. The other characters too left a lasting (even if its for short duration) impression onto the audience.

The 2 gals sitting in the front row were there as if they were watching a live match on ESPN. A good pass, a converted penalty corner, or a straight goal, and the duo would jump up and down clapping. The senior couple, sitting to our left too were on the higher end of josh-meter. The slightly side-ways grown madam had eatables in one hand, but managed to clap on her lap, at appropriate time slots..

The dicole "Ek Baat Kaan Kholkar Sunlo.. Tum sab khelte ho, to pehle apne mulk keliye, phir apne team keliye; aur agar thoda sa bhi jaan bachi hai, to...apne liye" was memorable.

There was one "not-so-okay" situation in the movie. Agreed, the women's hockey team is not given any due weightage. But to believe that the hockey federation would give the cap of the coach to a "so-called-traitor" is slightly on the fictional side. The media, that once tore him down into pieces kept quiet ? And the federation fellows, are they dumb,deaf and blind to give this offer to Kabir Khan ?

As is said "all characters and events depicted in this film are fictional", you ought to believe that, this fiction is also fictional.

All said and done, I still dont know the exact meaning of 'chak de'. When the movie "Hum Tum" hit the screens, the song 'Chak de Chak de Chak de... Chak de saare gum' was doing rounds all over. I tend to tell myself "Chak de" means "forget"

But Chak De India...
Forget India ?
Nayyyyyyyyyyyy

Tail:
1. To find the meaning of 'chak de', I have to seek the help of my friend sitting in the first floor. Thats one task for tomorrow.

What am I upto these days?

It has been a while..
26 plus years, to be precise.
It would be unfair to count the initial three quarters of it, but still..
I still dont sit comfortably behind the wheels !
I still cant drive a car - a real one, for that matter..
Driving porsche's has been a craze during my graduation period. But now EA sports has advanced a lot and have come up with NFS Carbon. I wonder how thy would name a car race game synonymous to an entry in the periodic table.

The focus is not on periodic table. The table will remain in tact, even if i do not worry for it.
The worry is driving! So finally I decided to get a pre owned car (what a fancy name) for myself. The local lingo would be "a second hand" car. Considering my prowess and skill at driving, and also considering the find-a-car-with-no-scratch scheme in Bangalore, a pre owned car seemed to be the best option. But even after 2 weeks into planning, nothing fruitful has come out. Yet to visit a shop, you see :-) The two weekend days, and the Oct2 holiday, was spent burning enumerous DVD's (its purely official - its our Kodai trip photos and videos)

This 'second hand' thing has got too much into my mind that, these days, any maruti zen passes by, i tend to ask the guy at the driving seat - Is this car for sale ?
:-S

Tail:
A good funny take on me, by lunch mates
1. "Rat is too much into the second hand business these days. He is looking for second hand car, second hand flat, second hand cloths... I wonder if he would be looking for a second hand bride too" :-D

2. "Yesterday, I saw Rat being kicked out of Foodworld. He had gone to the counter, and asked for second hand vegetables" :-S

Over for now... Time to sleep.. Its 11.31PM in the sys tray..
ZZzz...

Two interesting things

=> digression from broadband@home ...

1. Tested gmail's group chat option.
Wow, its kool! Dont know if the feature exists in gtalk chat client. My wild guess is, it should be available.. Now the only thing missing is 'stealth settings'. But I had read in one of the gmail blogs (loooooooooong back) "We dont have plan to introduce the 'im invisible' option, because, that defeats the purpose of the tool. If you have a friend added to your list, then he/she should see you and should be able to talk to you". Fair argument, isnt it ? :)
More on this, here

2. Monitor has regained RED !
This 'intelligent' LG 17" CRT monitor has an annoying bad habit. It starts off with no RED, and you tap and cajole it left and right for 30 minutes, and voila! here comes back the RED. A monitor with only the BLUE and GREEN guns functional is no fun. Agreed, its good enough to watch Sanjay Leela Bansali's Saawariya. But otherwise, it strains your eyes :D

Gandhi Jayanthi

Got a forwarded mail from a friend of mine..
Its in the form of an image file. Its given below:

Image obviously seems to be lifted from http://quoteswallpaper.blogspot.com/


The subject of the mail read "Happy Gandhi Jayanthi"

I went into an introspection mode (there was plenty of faaltu time with me, you see..)
And this is the reply that I cooked up...

// start of mail

I tend to ask a lot of questions (to myself) on this occassion..
1. How many of us know the year of birth of Gandhiji ?
2. What value does it bring in, if we just pass on these one liner wishes,
and dont follow his path.
3. If there wasnt a holiday given on this day, who would have remembered this day ?
(For that matter, when is Gandhi Samadhi day ?!)

I have seen Shivsena marches and violence outbreaks on Valentine's Day.
This is one way of destructive protest.
But is there anything done on a day like this, something constructive ?

Its time for us to think.. to act.. to come forward and stand on our toes..

Happy Gandhi Jayanthi !

Rat

PS: All my screws are in-tact

//end of mail