[movie] Taare Zameen Par :)

I saw this poster about a month ago when i had gone for another movie, and knew i wanted to watch it.. not only cos Aamir was in it, but it looked adorable, like a cute movie.. and i was damn right...

time flew by.. and it was Dec 21st.. the day when Taare Zameen pe was due to be released... i had not seen a single trailor or ad for the movie on Tv or theaters... but was hoping to watch it sometime, little did i know i would watch it on the very 1st day..wowwwowww...~!! there were just 2tickets, and i booked em..yipeee.. it was for Dec 21st, fri @ 6.30pm show.. All geared up, headed to the theater and waited with bated breath for the movie to start...

The titles were all made of clay like fish, octopus, rockets, and other figures flitting about... each one transporting us into a child's world... from the beginning till the last scene, the movie is beautiful..

Aamir's debut venture, a sensitive issue of a child suffering from Dyslexia, and a family that fails to understand the boy, but finally manage to come around... the boy,Ishaan awasthi, played by Dharsheel Safary, has done a mind blowing job.. he looks so innocent and fits the role to the T. His brother,Yohaan is adorable.. so caring and sweet.. you just want to hug him... the mom and dad are like any parents, except the dad is much more focussed on getting his kids to ace in everything and come out winners.. i guess this is waht happens when in a house there are 2 kids, and each one is at an extreme. Yohaan is first in everything while Ishaan does not even pass his tests, he has repeated class III twice, and the 2nd time is when his dad threatens to put him in boarding school and succeeds in doing so.

Ishaan is a cute little boy, all of 8yrs old, who has problems figuring out letters, alphabets and says they dance.. numbers dance around confusing him.. his hand writing is bad, he writes letters in reverse... the only thing he loves is to paint, and his room is proof of his passion. the walls are adorned with beautiful enigmatic fishes, starts, UFO's and what not.. its a sight to be seen to understand... every morning he is woken up, and sent to school to be ridiculed by his class mates and punished by teachers, each being a blow on his self confidence.. and so when he goess to boarding school, he withdraws into the shell knowing what is in store for him.. the friend he makes there, Rajan(who relies on crutches to move around) is a sweet kid, who helps Ishaan with studies and they are a sweet twosome...

It is only when the substitute art teacherr makes the entry that Ishaan's world changes.. Aamir, playing the role of Ram Shankar Nikhumbh(who works at the Tulip school for mentally challenged kids) makes a cool entry looking like a clown singing songs in gibberish that appeals to all ages(and he looks hotter than ever. with a cool Mohawk hairstyle).. he gives the children full freedom to draw what they want, when he notices Ishaan's paper blank. he then digs in, understands the situation, and goes to Ishaan's home to talk to the parents.. it is then that he takes it upon himself to help the boy go through something that bogged him as well. the flip book Ishaan's made when his dad decides to send him away is "Wow", dont have words to describe it...

The scene where kids are asked to go out in the open and create something is beautiful.. Ishaan sits in a corner making a makeshift boat and lets it float in the water, and it actually moves,with the help of a propeller he has made with wood and leaves...

Knowing that Ishaan loves painting.. he organizes a painting mela for the entire New era school. that breaks barriers, brings teachers and students closer,... Ishaan walks in late, but steals the day, winning the 1st prize... and when he sees what his favorite sir(aamir) has drawn he is stumped.. Aamir has done a painting of Ishaan laughing... the whole mela is so much fun, kids making fun of their serious teachers, each one chiding the other and having fun... and the moment when Ishaan is given the prize brought tears to my eyes... and the way he runs and hugs Aamir is so touching...

Till the end, when finally Ishaan;'s parents understand and come to terms with their boy's special needs and their visit to the boarding school, and surprise on seeing Ishaan's progress has been well shot..

A movie that is so different from the rest..
A movie that will leave you thinking
A movie that makes you appreciate and love your child more
A movie that tells you " its ok, if ur kid is not a whiz in studies, motivate them in what they are interested in and be there for them"
A movie that is so simple and beautiful
A movie that touches our soul, deep deep inside...
A movie that has you so involved that you are yearning to reach out and tell Ishaan "its ok" or give him a hug..
A movie for every person... to watch, to learn, and to carry with them through their life...

Hats off to Aamir for taking on such a project..he is the only one who could have made it so perfect....
The songs blend in with the movie and its storyline.
Not a scene is out of place or odd.
it is a heart warming movie... worth watching over and over again....

here is the movie site for more -http://www.taarezameenpar.com/

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written by "A very touched and smiling Aaarti.... " :)

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[Movies] Broken Flowers

"Broken Flowers" stars Bill Murray as Don Johnston(who's almost like Don juan), a man who made his money in computers and now doesn't even own one. a movie that i picked up from my DVD rental place thinking this might be a fun movie... only to realise it is a sober serious one... and well, after seeing it, i really dont know if i liked it, thot it was wierd but it is off beat and interesting...

Don, would not do anything that would have him move from his sofa, where he is almost stuck. His latest girlfriend (Julie Delpy) has decided to move out, and after she leaves, he remains on the sofa, listening to music or surfing thru tv channels.. you almost hold your breath waiting for him to make the next move..hehe... He even reaches for the glass of wine, changes his mind, lets it be..

The only time he gets out is to go to his neighbor Winston (Jeffrey Wright)'s house. that man, i tell u is amazing... his mind is working all the time.. go-getter,african, who supports a wife and five kids with about 3-4 jobs, and beyond that has time to surf the net as an amateur detective. In the mail, Don receives a pink envelope with a letter saying that about 20 years ago he fathered a son, and that a 19yr old boy might come looking for him.

Don couldnt care two hoots, but Winston is all excited, he devices a plan thru which Don can make a list of all the women he was with around that time and they can track who it is..and then he says Don shd visit all the ladies, see if they have a son, or a typewriter cos Winston is convinced the letter was done on a typewriter and if the lady has a love for PINK color.. he gives DON a file with dates, itinerary, flight tickets,maps, addresses, hotel room bookings, car rental info, and everything.. all don has to do is pay for the tickets and make his way to meet the women...

"The letter is on pink stationery," Winston says. "Give them pink flowers and watch their reaction." Don nods, barely, and embarks on his journey... At one point he phones Winston from the road, complaining that he has a weird car that doesn't suit his personality... Why couldn't he have a Porsche? "I'm a stalker in a Taurus" he says... ;)

First stop, Laura (Sharon Stone), who says she works helping people organise their cupboards.... Her husband was a NASCAR champion, but "died in a wall of flame." Her daughter (Alexis Dziena), who is named Lolita, offers Don her Popsicle and, unmistakably, herself. A strange mom daughter duo, they just seem to get by everyday the same way, with no fixed agenda... Don ends up spending the night with Laura but next morning gets into his car and leaves...

Second stop is at Dora's (Frances Conroy) who with hubby Ron (Christopher McDonald) is a into real estate. Don stays for dinner there, but gets into a kinda spat with Ron and so departs from there...

Third woman, Dr. Carmen (Jessica Lange), who is protected by her assistant... Carmen is an "animal communicator," who talks to people's animals, and conveys the msg to their owners... The best part is when a cat strolls in thru the window, sits next to her and purrs something.. Don looks at Carmen asking, "Is he saying something?" and Carmen replies "He says you have a hidden agenda." whoa.. talk about psychic thinking... :P .. he tries to get her to have lunch or coffee and she says she doesn't eat or drink.. yea,go figure.. is not married and loves her job.. she goes back to her clinic n Don has no choice but to move on..

The fourth woman, Penny (Tilda Swinton) lives in a dump, where Don sees many motorcycles, and two men giving him "the killer looks"... this is where he sees pink slippers n a pink typewriter.. which prompts him to ask her "do you have any children" when she loses her temper... those mean guys come over n give Don a punch or two leaving him out in the car in the field.. oh,well..

There was a fifth lady, but she has passed away, nevertheless Don picks up beautiful pink flowers and visits her grave site... and finally returns home... where he sees a boy lurking about on the bus station and again on the street while he was having coffee .. "could that be his son?", he goes after the boy, and gives him something to eat and drink.. before he can talk..the boy runs away....

the movie leaves you wondering if that was his son... what was happening.. how did Don have so many girlfriends, all of whom were happy to see him except the last one... Bill Murray is simply amazing... from doing nothing to meeting his ex girlfriends, to spending time with their husbands, getting hit by a girl''s friends... he is perfect for the role..

:) happy watching... watch it to see how different the movie is...

Kannamoochi Enada - hide n seek.. duh~!!

Director - Priya V
Producer - UTV, Radaan, Pyramid
Music - Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cast - Satyaraj, Radhika, Pritviraj, Sandhya n trillion otherzzzzz

The story is nothing new.. nothing fancy... the same ol.. but done by couple of new faces... its all about what happens when Deva (Sandhya) brings home her new "boy" friend Harish ( by Prithviraj, he's super cute) to meet her parents and try getting their approval... duh... can you get more original???

her father Arumugam,a cop (sathyaraj in his full form) has made up his mind that Harish is a criminal who's tricked his daughter....

Now, what followed was what baffled me the most.. why on earth would i spend a load of bucks to watch a movie that rips off scenes from Hollywood flicks?? instead they might as well make a movie that says -scene1 , scene 2, and so on.. u get my drift right??? this movie has swiped scenes from "Guess who", infact they might as well have dubbed that movie in tamil, for all i care... movie makers think audiences are STUPID.. they pay hundreds of rupees, 3hours of their precious time for wat????

Grrrr... just seeing the scenes had me pissed off n wanting to get out of the theater n demand a refund... why on earth do they make such movies.. hype it so much... and then dampen our spirits.... grrrrr all over again... :)

Here's how this movie unfolded...
The film opens in Malaysia where the two, shifts to Chennai, and then moves to Ooty n then a bit in pollachi(i know all this cos i saw Coffee wiht anu where the team shared their experiences..lolz) .

Trying to be a comic entertainer, there are loads of slapstick comedy and some over-the-top performances by Satyaraj and Prithviraj with their buffoonery, they look more like clowns in a gone wrong kinda circus.

Radha ravi and his "god knows who she is" wife are the family that Prithviraj has, since his folks passed away.. and they are full of "we are brahmins", wont talk to others, kinda crap.. puhleasee... not today..... people have moved on... so,anyways, when they come to know of his lve with Sandhya, who is "not a brahmin" , they threaten to disown him.. and he walks outta home,takes his friends help to travel with sandhya to india.. and then suddenly somewhere down the movie, Radharavi n wifey are back in india, and ready to welcome him back into their family... all this after he tries to sabotage Prithivraj- sandhya relationship by telling tales to satyaraj... Duh.. are we like stupid to buy this sudden change of mind? where? how? what happened that radha ravi changed his mind???? phew....

Prithviraj is stereotyped and repetitive in his actions, somebody give him a role other than being a chocolate lover boy.... and getting him to speak the Brahmin lingo is putting a bit too much of a strain on him. Sandhya, i liked, but again she had traces of other actresses like Jyo.. a 1st movie of hers i am watching, so she was good... getting down to our famous "Sripriya" (she plays Satyaraj's twin sister) n screams, squeaks and some more.. ufff..

A bit of sensible acting comes from Radhika(she looks gorgeous) as Satyaraj's wife. she has come out well in the scene where, under the influence of a drug(that satyaraj uses to try to get Prithviraj to spill his brains out), she blurts out some home truths to the consternation of her husband. oh,well, all in all, a movie that you are not likely to miss too much if you dint watch... :)

Priya's debut 'Kanda Naal Mudhal' was a fun, classy, sensibly made film. 'Kannamoochi yenada' is a bit of a downer...think she tried to experiment with something new, but dint really understand it or couldnt express it as well....

oh,well, if you still wanna go watch it.. to quench your curiosity.. go ahead... but you owe me a treat afterwards ;)

November fest... Take 4.. grand finale

Sunday was the last concert in the november fest, and we were all looking fwd to it.. that afternoon we had a readmeet(where people who enjoy reading,writing meet up and exchange ideas,works,etc etc).. when i mentioned i was going for the Take 4 concert, most were stumped, they were all amazed that i got tickets...

anyways... got back home around 5... changed, got ready, and dad said he will drop us at Music academy.. sis tagged along...
we reached the venue at 6.30, saw a long queue, the longest we have seen so far... and we sat in the downstairs area , at a higher priced seating(this was only bcos i coudnt get the 100Rs tickets, and i so wished i was sitting upstairs....) saw a couple of familiar faces... n finally it was 7.10... waiting with bated breath... curtains went up and all one could hear was the audience clapping...

on stage were Trilok Gurtu and Selvaganesh... they rocked the stage for a while. later on joined by Prasanna who played a composition.. and then finally Vikku vinayakram came .... man, it sure was the best concert ever.. altho Prasanna's guitar dint quite gel with the others n he had too many issues regarding the sound system... uff.. had us all frustrated....

But Trilok n selva had the audience rocking, clapping, singing, going wiht the beat... it was sheer adrenalin rush for the 3hrs... yep, the concert was extra long... and finally, wen i was time for curtains to come down.. we got another surprise,.. Sivamani who'd been in the audience went up to felicitate the players... following this, we all wanted an encore... and asked sivamani to play too. for which Trilok came up with a retort "did u guys pay for us to play or siva to perform" and all of us were like "for all of you".... :)


and they obliged n played a piece.. wat an evening it was... awesome~~~ now,waiting for Feb, for the Shakti foundation concert...

here is more abt the trooop --http://www.thehindu.com/novemberfest/takefour.htm

the review in today's Hindu - http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/11/20/stories/2007112050190500.htm

November fest... The Forest- Lim

When we were sitting for mrigya concert, mom saw the paper with info abt all bands n said the korean one looks interesting.. so went n picked up tickets.. it was for the `17th November~~

The day was like every other day.. worked a bit during the day.. extra diff was went out to have lunch with friend... got back home.. and headed for Music academy... once again we got our front row seats... saw a lot of familiar faces.. a good sign ;)

and finally The Forest came on stage... again on time... wowwieeee~!!!

To be called 'contemporary' and 'traditional' in the same breath seems a contradiction of sorts. But when the crossover happens effortlessly, the effect is magical! Founded in 2001, ‘The Lim’ or ‘The Forest’ became the first Korean band to skilfully merge the harmonies of traditional Korean music with the more eclectic sounds of contemporary rhythms.

Calling themselves a ‘traditional crossover band’, ‘The Forest’ presents music that is refreshingly original. The natural howl of the traditional wooden instruments mask the more metallic sounds of modern electronic instruments, which in turn, lend power to the traditional lyrical instruments.

The Forests' music is beautiful... soothing.. reflective....and harmonic, light and tripping and dynamic and powerfully layered. There are pieces like ‘Way Home’ and ‘Rain Runs’ that make one feel as if one was deep inside a forest while ‘Pan Project 2’ and ‘Prism’ has the feel of listening to a full orchestra... the kind of sounds that resonate from their simple wooden instruments is stunning. their 2nd song was Spring dance which was played wiht a difference.. the guy on drums, disappeared n suddenly we heard the sound of a diff kind of drum from somewhere in the auditorium, dint know where.. and then saw him strutting down with this big drum between his legs.. he then got on the stage n had the audience clapping to his beats...sensational...

The Forest consists of == acoustic guitar; the bass guitar, the piano, the synthesiser, an accordion(played by the girl who had us enchanted with the piano); ; traditional Korean wind instruments such as the Sogeum, Danso, Daegeum, Taepyungso(kinds of flutes) and the trumpet(all played by one guy..he was simply out of the world) ; the two-string fiddle or the Haegeum(something that was so small created quite a bit of music, and played by a petit girl); and the 12-string zither or Gayageum(this was sensational..kinda like a harp lying down, and played so gently by another lady... the way her fingers danced on the strings was a sight worth watching).

the music was so pleasant and transported us to the forest, calm waters and made us visualise the morning sun... absolutely wonderful and i was so glad i went... :)

For more indepth info about the group - http://www.thehindu.com/novemberfest/korean.htm

For info abt traditional korean instruments -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sogeum

their review in today's hindu - http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/11/19/stories/2007111951250800.htm
:)

November Fest.. Mrigya

There was news of the November fest in the papers about a month ago and i wanted to go for a couple of them concerts ....

And finally decided to check out 2 that i knew were good.. infact for One i got rave reviews from a friend i the USA, who was going to be in India in nov and was like "i think i'll book tickets for Mrigya, i shall come down for it, they are awesome".. he was ready to come down just for Mrigya concert.. whoa, they must be good, i thot to myself.. :).... the other one i had decided on was Take 4 which was to be on 18th Nov, the last day... :)

time went by, and then came,16th November and i was excited as i was going for a concert after a long time... went with mom, we reached the venue around 6.45, show was at 7.15.. exchanged my print out for tickets and got into our seats... managed to find front row seats in the upstairs hall, cos this way i get enuf leg room..else will have to get squished n that is not fun,esp spending 2hrs like that.. no sire.. no thank you :)

anyways... clock was ticking.. and on the dot at 7.14 the MC came onto the stage and gave a mini speech, welcomed the band and left the stage.. wow, a concert..starting on time..awesomee.... :)

The band was on stage... about 6 of them, with just one lady.... i was impressed~~ she was the vocalist

They started off with a melodius number, think it was called Ganga, and then went on to play nearly 10-12 songs... each of them was a new experience... there was a sufi singer, who also belted out an amazing Qawali that has us all in splits... finally it was 9.15 and they wrapped it up with one of their Rock-carnatic fusion numbers called Catch theone which was mind blowing....

For a band to have played their instruments continuously for nearly 10mins was something that one needs to witnesss and hear to feel it.. they just rocked the whole auditorium... we couldnt stop tapping our feet, or clapping our hands...

and then finally, the time came to say bye.. but we all requested for one more track.. and they sweetly obliged, and played our infamous number "Mast kalander" which wrapped up the adrelin pumped lively exciting nite... and we got back home.. Gosh, what an evening it was... now i shall make sure to chk out their songs, and maybe pick up the cd..

A bit about Mrigya,--- a unique fusion band from Delhi which presents a rich blend of blues, funk, latino and Indian Classical music. Mrigya stretches the boundaries of music with a sound that unites the world as one family, a philosophy which is demonstrated in the term “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam”. Mrigya became the first Indian band to get a 4 star rating with the Scotsman at the 2001 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This is an experience not to be missed!

Looking fwd to tomorrow - The forest, a korean band and day after is the grand finale wiht Take 4 - Trilok Gurtu, vikku vinayakram,Prasanna, and Selvaganesh – Indian Fusion ...

You can listen to some of Mrigya's stuff on youtube, here is one....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7AhdcM529I&feature=related

:) Aaarti - A very happy music lover...

Dhamaal.. a barrel of laughs :)

Are you having a tiring day? stressed out? wanna scream or just shove it all?? well, here is the perfect medicine.. go watch Dhamaal.. i am not kidding you, no way sireeey... this a movie that will make you forget you had worries... you wil be laughing your brains out.. yep,literallly.... i havent laughed this much in a Longggggggggg longggggggg time.... absolute wacko no brainer movie..... :)

Dhamaal, as the name suggests, is a fun filled caper about four friends - Detective Roy as he calls himself (Riteish Deshmukh), who believes that he was born to be the best detective in the world; Manav (Javed Jafferey), who is adorable as an idiot , but is blissfully unaware about it and his older bro, Adi(Arshad Warsi), whose half baked knowledge about everything only adds to more fun ;and finally Mr. Scared of everything,esp his dad Boman (Aashish Chowdhury), who's dad is Nari Contractor (Asrani).......super duper troooop they are... :D

These four lovable idiots live work together . Their idea of work?nma, they dont have corporate jobs... they are only into con jobs!;o) The thought of earning an honest living has never even crossed their minds. So one day while they get mistaken for being murderers and then are discovered to being innocent.. they come across a dying man, a man who talks n talks n talks some more making you wonder if he is ever gonna DIE... hehehe .. that is Bose (Prem Chopra), who gives them what they want... the route map to zilllion $$$$$$$ . He tells them about hidden millions as he takes his last breath.

Here begins their misfortunes! Police Inspector, Kabir Nayak (Sanjay Dutt) has been chasing Bose for the last ten years. He finally finds him. but, alas he is dead! Desperate for his promotion and seeing the 4 stooges he takes them in and tries to get them to spit out watever Boss might have told em.... more drama.. natak.. lying..hehehe.. cute stuff... One misadventure follows after another. All five are thrown into hilarious life threatening situations that has us going crazy with laughter and guessing - Is there really any hidden money? Who will get it first? where is that BIG W????? loads of laughter,.. chaos.... mess ups.. goof ups... and finally we reached the end of the movie....

well,this was a bit of a damper, they could have ended it better... it got all serious, mushy mushy and ended in a good samaritan kinda note.... :) But the movie sure is worth a watch... been talking abt it with all i see and recollecting some of the scenes and laughing over n over.... sometimes to myself ;o)

Enjoy maadiiiiiiiiiiiii.... ~!!!

Remy the little chef ... Ratatouille

I had heard it, had even seen it, but not really enjoyed it... Am talking about Ratatouille(to be pronounced as Rat-a-too-eeeeee).. the movie that was released here in chennai couple of weeks back.. wanted so bad to watch it , and well, the day did come, or rather it came and went.. me and friend decided to go for the noon show at Inox and she sweetly blocked tickets on sms, oh,yes,you can do that , dont have to pay or stand in long queues, punch of buttons and voila you have your tickets, but make sure to reach the theater half hour before the show or they'll sell it to the next sweet person in line...

anyways, this happened, got excited, but then realised that i would rather spend time wiht friends who'd come outta town than watch this movie, which i could do at a later day as well. so we cancelled the movie plans and i had a jolly good time with these friends of mine... :)

Days passed.. so did weeks.. and it was nearly a month , i had been working my a$$ off and wanted a break.. away from the computer... away from usual stuff, so just logged onto satyam website and saw that ticktes to the movie were available.. called my sis, asked her if she wanna come along, and she said Aye AYe,i do.. booked two tickets, took the print out and was all set for the evening.... 7pm show at 6 degrees was what i had booked for.... :) went home, picked up my sis and reached satyam around 6.52, just in time... phew, movie hadnt begun yet.. i hate walking into theaters where movie's already begun, unless its a movie i've seen before... :D So,here is what the menu for the evening for....

The main course of Ratatouille involves a French rat named Remy (Patton Oswalt is the voice) who dreams of being a chef at an elegant five star restaurant ever since he saw Chef Gusteau cook up a storm on tv and through his book "Anyone can cook" . Remy is blessed—or cursed some might say—with an exquisite sense of smell and taste. But the rat pack he hangs with has no interest in fine dining or good food... his nose comes in handy in spotting the rat poison.... the scene where he and his brother go looking for that perfect spice into a lady's kitchen(the forbidden room for rats) and remy's hunts for a bottle of Saffron is adorableeeee....absolutely cuteeeeeeeeeeeeee Fate lands Remy in Paris where the spirit of the late great French chef Gusteau (Brad Garrett is the voice ) guides him to Gusteau’s former restaurant.

But the restaurant, under the rule of Skinner (Ian Holm), has lost a couple of its stars and is about to be shut down. Arriving at the restaurant at the same time as Remy is Linguini (Lou Romano) who’s desperate for any kind of work.... he is a redheaded klutz who can't cook, gets the job of the garbage cleaner and one day while cleaning, being his usual sloppy self, an accident with the sup pot prompts him to add a couple of ingredients which totally messes its taste and luckily Remy comes by from above, literally, and goes abt making the soup the piece de resistance....This leads to Linguini being hired at the restaurant and forced to prove himself. Of course he has no clue what to do in the kitchen but Remy does so the two form an odd partnership that brings Gusteau’s restaurant renewed fame. they actually live together, and Remy makes Linguini breakfast collecting herbs et all from neighbors garden. makes you go awwwww...choo chweet


the scenes are amazing fun- watching Remy pull and prod Linguini to look for the right ingredients has us all in splits.... :) The cooking sequences are a barrel of fun. And in Ratatouille, Remy tugs on some pretty painful strings. Haha haha :) [see it to believe it] The characters go through the motions in all earnestness, and attention to detail is mind boggling, everything from layers of muslin to the thin slices of cucumber seem so real... And the characters, the rats are all so adorable in a warm-fuzzy way, the chefs in the kitchen prim and proper... the scenes where romance blossoms between Linguini and Colette is adorable..

and ofcourse there is the evil stark character of Anton Ego, uber-snobbish restaurant critic who is sardonic right down to his bony ankles, he sits in a study shaped like a coffin and hammers out ruthless reviews on a typewriter.. the His words reach magnificent peak in the articulate beginnings of his all-important review, as he talks about the irrelevance of critics. It starts off completely self-deprecatory ('The work of a critic is easy') yet goes on to soberingly explain that the critic has a valiant need, when he does risk his neck striving for 'the discovery and defense of the new. the scene where he tastes Remy's Ratatouille and has a sense of deja vu is possibly the bestttt scene in the movie... simply superb.... the way the emotions have been played and scenes created leaves us in awee.....



A movie that leaves us hungry... for more.. and for some good food is what Ratatouille is all about.. watch it and enjoy..... :)

Hockey rules.. Chak de...

I had been talking to a friend of mine about this movie and we wanted to go for the 1st day 1st show, and then forgot about it till Aug 10th , wen this friend's mom, also a good friend of mine said that she is trying for tickets for the next day and i jumped and said i wanna come too.. crossed all fingers and toes hoping for ticket, and got it..yipeee.. we were to go on sat, Aug 11th for the 10pm show.. told her i'll stay over at her place and get back home sunday morn..

The day wore on and it was time to leave for the theater... was excited, not cos i am a major SRK fan but jus the fact that i was gonna watch this movie, with friends.... movie started late, we were the 1st few to enter the theater, this friend Preethy stood right outside the door and got in first, hehehe,, she is a crazy SRK fan.... :)
Oh,and then the movie dint begin right away.. there was a surprise for us , the screen lit up, and the words "will everyone pls stand up" popped on, and we were wondering what was going on.. then came the medley of singers singing Jana Gana mana... we all promptly stood up in respect.... and then once that was over, it was straight on to the movie...

Chak De.... directed by Shimit Amin was the director's second venture after Ab Tak Chhappan which was produced by Ram Gopal Varma.

This movie is said to be kinda ased on true story of Indian Hockey player Mir Ranjan Negi. Negi was the unfortunate goalkeeper of the Indian Hockey Team which lost 7-1 to Pakistan in Asian Games Hockey Final, back in 1982. For no fault of his, he was said to be the sole reason for the team's lose... This movie has SRK, who plays the role of Kabir Khan, a hockey player who quits cos he was blamed and called a TRAITOR shaking hands with a Paki player after losing the match... and how he makes a come back after 7yrs and takes on the National Womens hockey team ....

The women players,chosen from states all over India, are a fun lot, including a tomboy (Chitrashi Rawat) whose father fears she will never marry who places the bundle given by her mom as a way of reserving the bed, and has a temper to match; a forward Preeti Sabarwal(Sagarika Ghatge) who reaches late for the 1st day and finally manages to hold her place in the team, whose boyfriend, a cricket superstar, wants her to quit the team and live in his shadow; a newlywed goalie and captain of the team Vidya Sharma (Vidya Malavade) whose in-laws expect her to stay at home; and a haughty, seasoned player Bindia (Shilpa Shukla) who needles the coach and tries getting her own way till she realises SRK is not so bad after all. Not to forget the Punju girl who has a mean temper, picks a fight with everyone and steals the movie, Balbir Kaur (Tanya Abrol) ..

From the minute the girls meet SRK till the last goal, the movie is gripping and its almost like watching a live FIFA world cup match live.. The thrill and nail biting finish, to the unpredictable moves is amazing... Having realised that his team does not need hockey skills, but team spirit SRK goes about getting them to act as a team and the absolutely wonderfully directed scene is the one at McDonalds, the lunch hosted by SRK the day he quits the team cos the girls dont like him. When leering boys at a McDonald’s harass the girls, a girls-against-boys melee erupts, but SRK doesn’t interfere, knowing the team will prevail — and find its spirit. From there, it’s on to the women’s hockey championships in Australia winning over trillion battles, getting over personal differences and coming together as one... :)

The best part about the movie was it was off beat, different from the usual mushy romantic love story, no masala, no fights, no silly side track comedy scenes that make you want to scream.. the Soundtrack is pretty decent, ofcourse the title track by Sukwinder singh has us all tapping our feet, the way the song has been featured is brilliant... a very patriotic movie, that is all about INDIA, togetherness and about how anything can be accomplished if we come together.. this movie is a must watch for all..

So, go on.. have a good time... am sure you will walk out humming Chak de..... chak de india....

Shootout at Lokhandwala.. what a movie it was...

Director : Apoorva Lakhia

Starring : Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Arbaaz Khan, Viveik Oberoi, Tusshar Kapoor, Rohit Roy, Shabbir Aluwalia, Aditya Lakhia, Amrita Singh, Diya Mirza, Neha Dhupia and Abhishek Bachchan (as far as I could remember)

A movie I had been wanting to watch for a really long time, almost 2months finally happened today.. I had picked up the dvd from my library and decided to see it today.. had seen and heard the songs before, love the Ganpat song a lot..

A real life incident made into a movie called ‘Shootout At Lokhandwala’ has a huge starcast and is a thriller from the minute it starts to the last scene… Has you totally involved and watching every scene without blinking your eyes.. It’s a re-creation of the Lokhandwala shootout of 1991, in which underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s henchmen were killed by cops.

The first scene is in an old tattered apartment building where we see brooms and buckets of water used in cleaning dried blood and bullets in Lokhandwala . News reporter Meeta (Diya Mirza) reports that some 3000 rounds of ammunition were discharged by a large police squad at a previously peaceful residential locality.

The film then moves to the office of former chief justice turned private prosecutor Dhingra (Amitabh Bachchan) where he interviews the three leading members of the Police ATS, Inspector General Shamsher Khan (Sanjay Dutt), Inspector Kaviraj Patil (Suneil Shetty) and Javed Sheikh (Arbaaz Khan). The entire movie is kinda like a flashback of what really happened being narrated by the Cops part of the ATS team, who were involved in the shootout.Starts with how Inspector Abhishek (played by yours truly Abhishek bachchan) was killed by the underworld and goes on till the chase is complete and Mumbai is rid of the biggest gang ever....

The story is of the seasoned dedicated driven Khan, who with this team of handpicked cops like Inspector Kaviraj and Javed engaged in bringing down the gangsters in a residential locality of Mumbai and says they have made Mumbai a better city to live in. The gangsters being Maya (Absolutely phenomenal performance by Vivek oberoi), and his highly skilled partner, Buva (Tusshar kapoor who’s fitted into this character very well) who are cold-blooded killers, who wouldn’t give up without a fight and the only person they answer to this Bhai who controls their activities from Dubai, who towards the end is the reason for their death.

Thus begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse game where neither side shows any overt aggression but tries to disable the adversary by tactical maneuver. Khan launches "visits" to the criminals' families to try and "persuade" them to counsel the criminals to surrender. In turn, Maya and his men return the "visit" by approaching the cops at social situations. Maya visits Khan at a restaurant where Khan is having a eat out with his family. Maya quietly tells Khan: "This is between your men and mine. Leave the families out of it."

The constantly-charged adrenaline-driven narrative moves across gullies and roads with a ricocheting effect. The ear-splitting soundtrack reverberates with sounds of guns and ganas. The item songs in the beer bar are a rude reminder of how much the original true-life material needed to be re-worked for it to be audience-friendly.

Interesting aspect of this movie is how much attention has been paid to recreating the city as it was back then, detailing of the period…the phone booths, the crumbling buildings, the smoky skyline …all reminding us that the more things change, the more they are the same.

I could go on and on about each scene, but I would be spoiling it for you if you read this before watching the movie.. so go on, pick up the dvd or vcd , if ur really lucky and its still running in theaters, go run for it.. watch it.. savor every scene… get lost in lokhandwala and come out a changed person.. Mind blowing, I can only imagine what it was like in real..

Sivaji- The Boss .. is finally here…

Director Shankar, who has made it a point to highlight social issues in his films like Gentleman, Mudhalvan, and Anniyan, has done it yet again with Sivaji, except that I think he has taken it a bit far in this venture.. watch it and you will know what I am talking about… here is a little bit from my experience… :)

We had been wanting to see the movie but were waiting for my uncle’s to land from various parts of the world and then well, we couldn’t get tickets.. wedding happened and then yippee, we got tickets.. booked em online @ Satyam and made our way to the theater that rainy evening.. it was a night show, so not much of traffic and luckily we got to park right in front of the theater.. Crawled inside and got into the theater to discover our seats were abt 5rows from the screen, Oh,well, cant complain.. we atleast had loads of leg space… lol..

Because of rains and some last min hitches, movie started only around 10.45 as against the scheduled time of 10.15.. And from then on till the final titles it was fun, some scenes were really cool(oh,that’s THE WORD in the movie btw) and some were like “Oh,Gosh,why oh why do Indian movie makers do this copy paste”…. But the sets, costumes, special effects had us all in awe, gaping at the screen… Looks like 85cr really did go into making the movie…

In this movie, Sankar, he highlights the perils of black money and corruption.Rajni on his part has done a good job and no matter what, you will be awestruck by the sheer lavishness in the movie…

A rich NRI from America, Sivaji(Rajnikant) lands in India with a mission to accomplish. He wants to do something good for the downtrodden and the poor. His dream projects: a university and a hospital to benefit the poor, free service for all . Principle partner in the venture is his own uncle (Vivek at his all time best, his role is almost on par with Rajni). Of course, the project has the blessings of Sivaji’s parents, played by Manivannan and Vadivukkarasi.

In comes the villain, Adiseshan (Suman),who pulls out all the stops to ruin Sivaji’s plans. In desperation, Sivaji goes to the extent of selling his property so he can pay the bribes demanded by all just to realise his projects. But Adiseshan succeeds in making Sivaji a pauper. So powerful is he that he even changes the Government to stop Sivaji(unbelievable scenes). The defining moment of the film is the scene where Adi tosses a one-rupee coin to Sivaji and asks him to beg on the streets and how Rajni uses that coin to turn the table about.(This scene is not to be missed )

In between all this,Sivaji falls in love with Tamilselvi( demure Shriya) They get married ignoring the prediction by the astrologer than harm would come to Sivaji if Selvi marries him. The way Sivaji goes abt to get the consent of Tamilselvi’s parents is filled with humour and imagination. And their neighbour who keeps coming forth saying “if not here,then come to my house, I have 2daughters, mingle with them, if you don’t like them,we can remain friends”.. hilarious… J

First half of the movie Adi manages to keep pace with the larger-than-life screen persona of Rajni but in the second half, Rajni dominates. Then, it is Rajnikant all the way, right down to plotting his own death to being reborn…

Music by A R Rahman, as always grows on you… The introductory song in Rajni movie always is the most peppy and lively number, here too the song “Ballelakka”, sung by SP Balasubramaniam and Rahman’s sister Raihana has us tapping our feet and enjoying the beats…The other numbers are not so bad, keep listening to em and you’ll enjoy em eventually…

The movie finally ended around 1.30, we got back home, did a bit of hashing of the movie and then called it a night..

A movie so grand and flamboyant that it gets us thinking “is this a tamil movie”… Watch it and freak out…

Bheja Fry -- Idiots dinner... :)

I knew this movie was a remake or atleast based on the French movie called Le Dîner de cons (French: The Idiots' Dinner ; English title : The Dinner Game), but had no clues what the story was... Just knew that i wanted to watch it for it had Vinay pathak and Ranvir of Channel [V] fame... i decided to wait awhile cos i thought tickets wont be available, it had been released here on 5th may and luckily when i called on 5th evening, was told that tickets are easily available.. Satyam, the best theater in town was out of question for the show timing was 10pm, so i resigned to watching it in Ega, which was showing this 4shows... :)

It was a hot saturday afternoon,managed to convince mom to come along and we made our way to the theater, and i bought two tickets.. it was 3.45 and we were let into the theater.. found our seats and got comfy,waiting for the movie to begin....

This is a debut movie for Director Sagar Bellary

The Cast include : Sarika (Sheetal Thadani ), Rajat Kapoor (Ranjeet Thandani, Vinay Pathak (Bharat Bhushan,the wannabe singer ), Ranvir Shorey (Asif,the income tax-inspector), Milind Soman (Anant Ghoshal) and Bhairavi Goswami (Suman Rao).. Except for Rajat , Vinay,and in some scenes Milind, the rest are almost like guest appearances... they come and go... :)

The movie begins on the bus, where Vinay entertains his next seat neibor with his singing and his popular precious preserved scrap book.. Its so cute,the way he pulls out the cover from his briefcase, unwraps it, pulls out the scrap book and shows it off to all and sundry..the Pride and joy on his face is awesome, and he repeats this every now and then thru the movie...

Its the story of a couple of high-society men, who host dinners every Friday night for a new talent, but this talent search is different... They find a talent,invite them to dinner and make fun of them. And the one who find the maximum number of talents wins!!

Well, Ranjeet Thandani, owner of a music company,married to Sheetal (a singer) is always on search for this type of talent and while talking to his car dealer friend, he comes across Bharat Bhushan,who works at the Tax office and is a singer(or so he thinks he is one). Bhushan, who eats drinks and breathes music, cherishes the invite. And thus begins the chaos.... Ranjeet hurts his back in the previous scene while at the pool with his friend,and loses his phone in that incident..it goes kaput,falling into the pool....

Sheetal, Ranjeet's wife detests his ways of making fun of innocent people and storms out of the house,but not before calling the doctor over to check his back out..All this happens minutes before Bhushan makes his entrance into the Thadani household.. Since his back is beyond sore, Ranjeet tells Bhushan he might have to come back next friday since he is not upto dinner.. And as Bhushan tries to be helpful, things take a turn for the worst, Ranjeet's back giving away, his wife Sheetal calling to say she is never coming back....

Time to grab a couple of tissues, as you are going to be laughing your heart out and go crazy over Bhushan's innocence and actions... ... and every now and then talking about his wife who ran away with some remix musicwala... :) phenomenal guy....

The scene where instead of calling Dr Shepherd, he calls Suman rao,a girlfriend/nymphomaniac and then how he fumbles to tell her she neednt come over, or how he mistakes Sheetal for Suman and sends her away gets you laughing so much, you wonder if there are people like him in real.... Every call he makes is followed by another one cos he forgets the purpose in the 1st one...he'd get engrossed in it forgetting the main purpose behind the call, and asking for 1 last chance and redialling the number... :)

The film belongs to Vinay Pathak's character – Bharat Bhushan. Every scene, every setting and every dialogue has you cracking up with his presence. Even though his presence in Ranjeet's house is a bit absurd, the character is stretched till the very last scene, and mind you, he keeps coming up with brilliant ideas that keeps the story going...

Vinay has completely seeped into his character's skin and makes you laugh for no reason. Everything about him is perfect – his 'champi' looks, his loud attitude, his laughing style, the way he answers the phone, the "redial, its ringing" and his putting on an accent while talking to Ananth,pretending to be a Bhojpuri movie director,Madan Mohan.. Brilliance is how i would term his acting.... His comic timing is flawless and he is truly an idiot personified! :)

Ranvir Shorey,as Asif doesn't have much of a presence but has done his job well.How he gets Ranjeet to make him dinner, for he will be missing dinner at home 'cos they get him to go to office to bring Kunal Grover's number, to his reaction when he discovers his wife is sleeping around and how calmly he speaks to her knowing she is with another man, has us in splits..dont know if we should sorry for him or applaud at how cool n calm he sounds... Sarika too, doesn't have much of a role, but what little she has, she does a good job of it.. Rajat Kapoor is brilliant as ever and has portrayed the role of a desperate husband well.. Compared to Dil Chahta hai, i would say he has gotten much better...

It's all about a no-sense script! And that's what makes it worth-watch...

Dont think about logic,actually dont think.. just watch and enjoyyyyyyyyyyyyy ...

Women, Widows and Water ….

I had read the book couple of months back and have shared with all the experience I had gone through upon reading it. I also knew that Deepa Mehta had gotten into a lot of trouble while trying to shoot this movie but then dint know that it was made in Sri lanka and was released in USA..

All hopes that it would be released here in India and that too in Chennai was slashed cos I knew people here would JUST not accept something like this, more so cos it is the closest they would get to reality.. Lo behold, the movie did get released, probably cos it went to the Oscars and people thought, “Since it’s a movie made in India about women and widows here, so we might as well screen it to them ”

Went for the movie with a friend at Satyam, 1.30show, yes, in the afternoon. Got into the theater, found our seats and waited for the movie to begin, saw a couple of Trailers and then suddenly saw Amitabh bachchan in full form on screen, shrugged it off saying “probably just another trailer” but then couple of mins passed and the titles came on the screen. This was it, we were ready to lose it, caused a ruckus and I promptly called the theater and spoke to a lady who had NO clues that the wrong movie was being screened, but then she did promise to rectify things.

Took a couple of minutes for things to settle down and then finally Phew, Water… J

This movie is not your typical run of the mill, running around trees, singing duets, wearing lavish clothes, masala filled one, but it is a simple story of how widows lived back in 30’s and how difficult it was for them… But then its not a documentary but follows the story of a young girl who becomes a widow and how her life changes as she adjusts to this new life and the turmoils within every widow at the ashram.

The story centers on a group of widows living in an ashram in the holy city of Varanasi and is told through the eyes of its newest addition; the eight-year-old Chuyia. The death of her elderly husband has left her a widow, torn from her already poor family to live in this ashram. Chuyia struggles in her own childish way to understand and overcome her new role as widow. Chuyia’s mischievous ways make the older inhabitants love her and care about her, she gets very close to the one widow, Kalyani, who keeps away from all others, lives separately

Lisa ray has done full justice to this role of Kalyani, the delicate, sweet, good-looking widow who is used by the head widow to earn money so she can live off it.

A new hope comes into Kalyani’s life after her meeting with Narayan, played by John Abraham, an intellectual, Gandhian nationalist. Narayan falls in love with Kalyani and she also feels the same for him. He wants to marry her, despite an obvious opposition from his Brahmin parents.

The way she falls in love, and then gives up her life when she realizes the man she loves is the son of the man she has slept with… As she is going to her future in laws place, the varied emotions on her face are so sweet until she realizes she can go no further cos of her past and who his father is, and how poised she is when she asks the boat to return knowing she cant go back to the Ashram as Madhumati has thrown her out for going against her orders…

Seema biswas, she steals the show playing the character of Shakuntala with her strong personality and sweet demeanor, believes that widows too have the right to live, love and laugh… Within Shakuntala is a conflict between her faith and her inability to accept her fate. She is sincere in her devotional practice but she also questions the scriptures. The last scene is so touching shows us how much she cares about Chuyia and wants to get away from all that she has been through.

AR Rehman’s music is so subtle and perfect, very apt for the storyline and not overbearing..

All in all, this was a movie worth a watch and made me go through so many emotions- empathy, sadness, smiles, anger and some more. I don’t know if all that is shown in the movie really happened or not but I am sure atleast some of it is real, has to have been… The plot of ‘Water’ wends through some expected and unexpected twists and the story concludes on a hopeful note. And one of the important subplots in the movie is the effect that Chuyia and Kalyani have on Shakuntala.

So, don’t miss it.. If it is running in your city, do watch it… J