Saturday, August 12, 2006

Corporate - The world hidden within



Member's Rating of this Product: 4/5
Member's Recommendation of this Product: Yes
Plot: 4/5
Cast Performance: 4/5
Sound Track: 4/5
Cinematography: 3/5


Pros: Direction,screenplay
Cons: subtle similarities to the pepsi coke war ;o)


When a movie titled "Corporate", one that has been directed by Madhur Bhandarkar is released, all of us tend to wonder whats it gonna be this time, ’cos those who have seen Page-3 ,know that he is out to make a movie that will bring out the dirt,filth and all that is hidden deep within the glamorous high class world portrayed on the outside.Bhandarkar brings out to light the covert business tactics and strings that are pulled in this game between two industrialist who want nothing but to WIN and will stoop to no end to get there.

The Corporate world fascinates anybody &everybody, cos it is all about Fame, Fortune and it is not attainable by all .. Those who are completing theireducation aspire to work in a Corporate company and those who areworking there,are all set to learn, earn and get to the top..

Yes, the Corporate world does have its stinkers, but the other side of the coin is what makes MNC’s pop up around every nook and corner and what puts the bread on our table and dress on our backs. All i am trying to say is that although in this movie Bhandarkar has focussed on the UGLY side only, there is another side to this world. Its not all dirty and filth, there is good in this as well, you jus have to find it

This movie sure has a big star cast -

Bipasha Basu , the ravishing Executive at SGi - Nishigandha Dasgupta
Kay Kay, the struggling businessman,who makes it big at SGi thanks to Nishi - Ritesh
Minissha Lamba, the rookie who has joined SGi and idolises Nishi - Megha Apte
Rajat Kapoor, t he smart,suave,"i will get what i want" business king of SGi - Vinay Sehgal
Raj Babbar, the quiet yet aggressive competitor of Sehgal’s - Dharmesh Marwah

Two Giants; Two Industrialists, who are busy making sure they stay on Top and have contacts with Politicians make it seem like its a cat - mouse chase; and they use their employees as Pawns ,moving them as they wish make the movie interesting and almost realistic. Some scenes make you laugh, some make you want to scream, others make you tear up and empathise with the characters.

The attention to detail is what seperates Bhandarkar from the other directors- The peons gossiping(which we saw in Page-3 as well ) about the people working in the company makes you chuckle and think over in your head " do i do that","is that what the boys in my office think of me"; the manner in which Megha, a new employee is inducted and shown the ropes ; the scene where Nishi insists that Ritesh do the presentation and take credit for this project are some that make the movie what it is.

I am not going to narrate the story as i am sure you can get that by just browsing on the net or better yet, by picking up the DVD or going tothe Theater in your town. What i would like to share is my take on themovie and what it felt like watching it and knowing there are people inREAL who are Sehgal or Marwah and who wouldnt bat their eyes if theyneed to save their hide and image and there are people like Nishi, who would do anything for the sake of the company and entrust their lives in the hands of their BOSS and trust them completely and end up sacrificing their lives and happiness.

The morale of this tale is never take your job too seriously and never trust your Boss completely, but this is not how it is in all Corporates. So dont believe all you see on the screen and dont make judgements based on the same..

Take all you see with a Pinch of salt n if it bites ur throat, gulp a glass of water to get rid of that taste from your mouth ;o)

Aug 11, 2006 04:44 PM

Bringing the house down..literally!!:)

Bringing the house down..literally!!:)
By: aaroo4 | Aug 12, 2005 05:37 PM

Member's Rating of this Product:
Member's Recommendation of this Product: Yes
Plot:
Cast Performance:
Sound Track:
Cinematography:


Pros: Pitt and jolie
Cons: none

Mr & Mrs Smith, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is hmmm.....

It starts off after about five or six years of their being married (he says five, she says six) John and Jane Smith are nowhere close to what they call an ideal family life. As they confess to their shrink during the skillfully executed opening credits, things are not all that perfect between them.

Now,getting back to the main movie, things are just going on like clockwork,they both leave for work and back home in time for a Martini before dinner. All hell breaks lose when Jolie is on location, ready to take out her target, when a dune buggy bounces along her way. She fires at the interruption, and that's not a really good idea. Brad Pitt, wearing bermudas and carrying a hi fi binacular, thuds back with a glorious explosion. Soon, both wake up to the fact that the other is an assassin.

No, it's much worse: the other is also an assassin.Hmm,what happens next is they both decide to get home,knowing the truth about the other,and sit for dinner..

All the while thinking of what could be going on in the other's mind.Brad being very wary of the carving knife in Jolie's hand,and the drink she has poured him, and how tactfully she catches the wine bottle that he drops letting it fall. What follows cannot be put into words,is best felt when seen on big screen .

The amount of chemistry between the two, the way they try to beat the other,in the process burning down the house, guns and bullets flying in air, and the passion that ends it all.

A movie to watch if you wanna see some live action and comedy and just have a good time....

Saturday, August 05, 2006

It aint no joy ride...

Taxi Taxi - Hello Hello - Taxi
Taxi Taxi - Take me away
I'm ready to leave
The party's over
I'm due for a change
Waiting for transportation
Getting so bored
I need a ride
A new direction

Goes the song by Peter Baumannt.. This movie,Taxi 9211 is pretty much like the song.. It sends you on a ride on the streets of Mumbai and what a ride it was..

Raghav Shastri(Nana Patekar) is a very short tempered sarcastic skeptic person, and because of this, he has changed nearly 25jobs in about a decade or so and is now working as a cabbie, but to his wife and all others he is an Insurance salesman who has to repay pending bills of nealy Rs30000 and the other main character is our very own Jai Mittal(John Abraham) who is the lone heir to a rich father and has to prove his Rs300cr worth in court or else it all goes to his fathers' trusted employee .

Sameera Reddy plays Jai's girlfriend and who is with him all the way and is the one who reminds him of what he needs to do,where to go,etc..more like a loyal secretary i would say. Sonali kulkarni plays the sweet demure Raghav's wife who worries all the time about paying the bills,and her son's school fees on time, she is so besotted with Raghav that she is under the illusion that he is indeed an Insurance Salesman.

Where does Taxi9211 feature in all this i thought.. well, its the cabin which John takes a ride to get to the court and where all the dramaunravels .

Fate brings Raghav and Jai together, cos on that fateful day when Jai needs to get to court,he needs a ride for his car gets wrecked while trying to avoid a collision. So he is left standing on the road trying to hail a cab and lo behold, there comes Raghav in his Taxi, whose number plate is 9211 ... Jai needs to get to the vault to retrieve the papers before getting to court and a harried Raghav crashes into an oncoming car. This is the beginning of a wonderful chase, almost like that of Tom & Jerry. Jai goes in search of Raghav in jail,whereas Raghav has escaped from Police custody..

This goes on a for a while till they decide to work out a deal that would help them both and solve both their problems 1)getting Jai to court on time and 2) helping Raghav pay off all his debts. From here on , the story goes at a pace that kept me glued on my seat and enjoying every twist and turn wondering where it is going to end.

Does Jai get to court and does Raghav get his money?? am afraid to know the answers you gotta spend abt 2 1/2hrs and watch the movie.. ;o)

The script was really good and Millan Luthria's direction is up-to-the mark,gripping and well laid out. All in all, the cast, the plot and direction has done a good job and the movie is no wonder a Raging success... You can enjoy this movie with any kind of company- family,friends,spouse,kids,whoever you wanna drag along and they will have fun too..

Here's to more movies like Taxi9211...

Enjoy the ride... have fun.. and hold onto your seats..

Aug 5th

Watch who's at the door

The name of the movie is Being Cyrus, now this obviously makes one wonder what kind of a movie this is. Is it about Cyrus or is it about a guy who pretends to be Cyrus... I had these questions in my mind when i picked up the movie to watch and know for myself. The only thought on my mind was Saif Ali khan plays the lead role of Cyrus mistry in this movie, so obviously it has to be a good entertaining movie. I wasnt entirely right, but i wasnt completely wrong either.

The movie revolves around the Sethna family
.The older son, a retired sculptor -Dinshaw Sethna(Naseerudin Shah) and his wife Katy(Dimple kapadia) living in a rustic house in Panchgani and in Bombay,in a shack lives the old frail father,Fardoonjee Sethna (Honey Chhaya ) with his 2nd son and daughter in law ,Farokh Sethna(Boman Irani) and Tina(Simone Singh) . Where does Cyrus feature in this family? was my query . He is the one who acts as a missing link in the family but he is also someone who is liked by all.

The six characters in this movie play against each other in a bizarre manner. The tale revoles around the 2 Sethna families andbetween Panchgani and Bombay. As the movie proceeds it gains a psychological insight into the familyand reveals that everything is not all right with the Sethna family.Not just that, even Cyrus comes across as an odd ball character, he doesnt seem to fit . Whatis he doing here? why is he here in Panchgani? what is his connectionto the Sethna family? are all questions that will be answeredeventually .

Its only when Cyrus comes into the house and takes on the role of Dinshaw's apprentice that the various cracks and gaping craters in the family come out in the open . The movie did leave me confused in certain places and had me wondering if the Director was nuts, did he make this movie with some sort of a plot in mind or did he just cook it up as he walked along.... The crimes, the sweets, the love, the bloodshed all unravels towards the end, which is when the pieces of this puzzle beautifully created by TIna fall into place and you realise Who Cyrus is...

Amidst all this serious chaos, is the wacko character of Inspector Lovely(Manoj Pahwa) ,who is anything but a Cop and yet plays the role to the T . Everytime he shouts Arrey Tambey makes you laugh and when TIna tells him she has a waxing appointment, this silly Inspector tells her "madame, my daughter is also into candles" or something Duh like that.. but it gives a good breather from all those heavy scenes going on around and in the final scene, he sures rattles the living daylights out of Dimple.. ok, ok.. i shall not reveal anymore.. All i wanna say is watch the movie and figure out who Cyrus Mistry is..

Knock Knock!!

(psst..watch before opening the door and letting anyone into your home!!!)

Aug 02, 2006 04:01 PM

Twists and turns in Life...

Brokeback mountain - now who hadnt heard of this movie.. All the hype, the Oscars,not to mention Director-Ang Lee, yup, all these drew me to the movie as well.

A movie based on the short story by Annie Proulx
and about the forbidden love and the relationship between the 2cowboys and how they try to get on with life was all i knew of this epic till i saw for myself it was more than just that.

Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger),a ranch hand & Jack Twist( Jake Gyllenhaal) ,a rodeo cowboy meet while lining up for employment with local rancher Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid) and get hired to spend the summer sheepherding in the hills of Wyoming and as they make their way uphill, they have their life chalked out- work, earn some money, marry and settle down but fate has other things in store for these two boys

Its a movie about how two men, who bond and go beyond jus spending the summer at Broke back mountain.They turn towards each other as isolation surrounds them and one night to get away from the cold, they share a tent, and this is the beginning of a bond they knew not, but can no longer do without.

At the end of the Summer, they must come down and go their seperate ways. Ennis stays in Wyoming and gets married to his sweetheart Alma(Michelle Williams), has 2 daughters and tries to make ends meet and on the other hand, Jack marries Lureen (Anne Hathway) and settles down in Texas and has a Son and lands himself a good job with her Dad. After a couple of years, Ennis receives a postcard from Jack asking if they could meet up and thus begins the saga of two men, who feel so much for each other and yet must go on with their wives and families.

The way they react to each other, their trips to the Brokeback Mountain for a few days reserved just for them and their love, the battles that go on at home because of these escapades. Alma walks out of Ennis as she discovers this other side of him while Lureen turns the other way and goes on as if nothing is different . The raw passion between them, the way they keep their secret bond alive for over a decade has been beautifullly shown in the movie.

There are some scenes where you wonder how two people who are so different yet alike, get married and have a family and how at the end it all makes sense.. This movie is not just about two Gay men, it is a magical carpet of love, passion,commitments,society and the twists and turns life offers . The mountains, their beauty takes your breath away making you want to run about the terrains, the lakes, every inch of it is so serene and yet so full of life .

All i have to say is "Dont have any preconceived notions !! "

Watch it.. enjoy it...

Jul 28, 2006 11:40 AM

Go Sisters....

In Her shoes, a movie that has been made based on the book of the same name is a story about two sisters, who are so different from each other yet so close and so alike in a lot of ways..

The movie begins with Maggie( Cameron Diaz) in the elevator with a guy she knows nothing about and about how she cares about nothing but having a good time and having some cash in her bag , on the other hand, there is her sister Rose(Toni Colette) who works at a leading law firm,has a nice house and leads a normal life and who has a fettish for shoes, that she indulges in whenever she is depressed... They are sisters, and all they have in common are their parents, same shoe size and the fact that they are thick as thieves and share all that happens with each other..

This has all the must have components for any Movie- a little bit of romance, a pinch of love, a lot of babes(even though some are above 60) and ofcourse its share of Men.... THis is a movie that has combined all these key ingredients so well and stirred up quite a story, that has you enjoying it from the beginning to the end.... ok,. ok..wont go on and on about this..will just tell you my take on this..

Maggie, gets thrown out of her dad’s house(or rather the house her dad lives in with his 2nd wife aka step mom ), and where does she go, Roses’s placeofcourse.. Rose being the sweet sister, takes her in, even though sheis busy with a Jim(Richard Burgi) from work, in their bedroom..

Maggie goes over to her dad’s place where her step mom tells her that she is actuallly planning on redoing Maggie’s room into a nursery for a yet to be conceived baby that her My Masha is going to have....During this visit, Maggie,who has a nose for Money finds a couple of dollars here and there and accidently comes upon a bundle of letters with her and Rose’s name on them.. They are all cards with money in them that had been sent by their Gramma,but were kept hidden by their dad..

At Rose’s office, a case has come up and Jim is going and asks Rose to come along, but something comes up and he sends Simon (Mark Feuerstein) over (he is also besotted with Rose,but she doesnt have feelings for him) .. Once they return Rose lets Jim know how upset she was that he dint come and he dint bother to let her know of the same..To make up for this, Jim comes over to Roses’ house and meets the sister and later Rose finds them in bed together ... "This is it", She cant take anymore and so she throws Maggie out as well to fend for herself...

Maggie, being the smart cookie, lands up at her Grandmother’s place, a community for retired people,kinda like an old aged home.. This is where she learns a lot about her mom and what happened after her death and she becomes more responsible, gets a job at the community center, gets over her reading problem and realises there is more to life than money and sex...

Rose on the other hand, decides that she needs more out of life, and is not happy with the way things are, and so Quits her job, takes up Dog walking and meets SImon who fesses he likes her a lot... Things move along and they get engaged... Rose is happy but for the fact that she now has no idea where her sister is and she hasnt even told her she is Engaged....

Ella Hirsch(Shirley McLaine) keeps talking to Maggie about Rose and asks her to invite her over and finally snoops around finds her address and gets in touch with her.. Maggie has become the official Fashion expert for the people at the center and Ella gets herself a date with Philip(one of the other residents) ...

At a party, Rose runs into Jim and tells him about her sister and Simon watches this, and tells her "he wont marry her like this, she needs to open up and talk to him"... This is when she finds Ella’s letter and gets over to meet her, where she is surprised to see Maggie.. They spend the next couple of days at the center and she tells Maggie all about her fight with Simon and Maggie along with the other ladies decide to meddle....

What happens next, i shall not tell and spoil it for those of you who havent seen the movie yet.. But all i can say is "This movie is all about how sisters are the best of friends "always......

Go on.. grab your cd or if its out in the theaters, watch it and let me know what you think!!!! Am sure you’ll enjoy it....

Jul 20, 2006 02:47 PM

Wanna know a Rumor....!!

Rumor has it... what? you might ask.. All i can say is, wait for the story to unfold and you’l know.. :)

The title intrigued me and so i watched the movie that stars Jennifer Aniston,Kevin Costner, Shirley Mclaine,Mark Ruffalo and made by Rob Reiner

Sarah(Aniston),newly engaged,to Jeff, goes home(Pasadena) for her sister’s wedding(who’s played by Meena


Suvari,an overly emotional, high energy, tennis crazy girl ). Sarah has always had this nagging sensation that she is not part of this family, as she does not have anything in common with them ,She doesnt fit in with them- she is not crazy about tennis, does not have blonde hair and she then corners her Grandmother(Shirley mclaine, who hates to be called Gramma) to tell her more about her mother ......

Over the time that she stays there, she comes upon a rumor that there is a movie called "The Graduate"(also based on a book) which is a real life story of a family living in Pasadena and the fact that her Grandmother told her that her mom ran away a week before her wedding,sparks off a thought that maybe Sarah was fathered by another man, a high school fling maybe and this leads her to the adventure of finding her "real dad" as she calls him.. Now, the story starts to unravel itself...

WIth the supprort of Jeff, she flies off to San Fransico to meet Beau Burroughs(Played by Kevin Costner), and he tells her he did have a thing with her mother and had infact had an affair with her gramma as well, but he couldnt be her father cos he cant have kids,this is where things take a turn and after a couple of drinks ,Sarah finds herself in BB’s bedroom.. She is so besotted by him, that she almost pushes Jeff away , doesnt take his calls, and finally gets caught while Kissing BB at a Ball ..She then gets back home, to clear things out with her Gramma, and realises that her Dad is really her Father(even though she sticks out like a sore thumb in that family) .

The scene that follows at Jeff’s apartment, where Sarah fesses about her true feelings for him and the dialogue she says "I didn’t come here to tell you that I can’t live without you. I can live without you. I just don’t want to" makes you smile... and as she is about to leave, Jeff follows her to the elevator , and tells her " if we have a daughter, she will go nowhere near Beau Burroughs" and she sweetly replies" yes, BB ends with me" :)

A sweet movie is how i would call it. It does keep you going and at times you wish they would jus stop, cos there are soo many people, names and your mind is in a Daze.. at the end you come out with a smile on your face ....