Sunday, July 27, 2008

[Theater] Love in a Tub

My high school friend V called me fri night asking if i wanted to come for a play[Supper theater, yes, you read it right, they give you a performance and feed you afterwards...], it was one of their client's who was organising it.. asked her for the time, since on sat i had a meeting from 3pm... she said "its called Love in a tub, directed by Aamir Raza Husain & Virat Husain, and is only at 7.30, at Park Sheraton, shall sms the details".. i said "vokay, cool... i'll be there"...

Sat dawned, i was a bit nervous about the meeting, but must say it went off quite well! was interesting to see big wigs discuss issues, and how the meeting went!! We wound up around 6.30, and since i was in Adyar, made my way to Anokhi (a lovely quaint place, perfect for a quiet cuppa).. reviewed the notes i had taken during the meeting, sipped on a glass of cold coffee and spent a bit of time by myself!! Around 7.10, got out, made my way towards Park sheraton, which was just a hop skip jump away, and waited for S and V...


Though the play which was to start at 7.30, began only around 8.20.. There were plenty of cocktails, juices, and bites to grab before the show.. we chit chatted, while scanning through the room for familar faces.. i did catch a few, went and said hi... :)

Finally, we were shown to the hall [Mowbray's] where the play happened and must say, it was one hellova stress buster.. had quite a few laughs, it was one of those plays where you dont look for logic, just enjoy it for what it is....

Here is a summary of the play....

Its all about a couple Mr Richard Willey n his wife Pamela Willey[Virat Husain], who book into a room at the Westminister Hotel... Caught in the scam is Richard's colleague/secretary/or whatever they are called in the Brit Parliament, George aka Pigeon[ played superbly by Aamir Raza husain] !!! The plot is all about Richard wanting to meet with Jennifer Brissto for a secret rendezvous, and what happens after wards... How George becomes Dr Santa Christmas and Richard is Sir Charles Easter/Dickie/ and what not... hehehe... one of those mindless comedies, the play had us all in splits everytime there was a goof up.... not to forget the antics of the wacko Japanese waiter who keeps bringing in 6pots of coffee everytime someone orders 1 pot of coffee..
A whole bunch of people, zillions of names, crazy wacko stuff had us going ballistic through the evening....

The surprising thing about this group is that they dont play their stuff to the general public, most of it is for the corporates, their clients and if you know someone in that loop, you get to watch it, like i did!! Aparently they are in town for 5days, a show on each day!!!

After the play, dinner buffet opened.. and the entire 10000 people [okay, i'll admit, am exaggerating, it was probably 100...but sure seemed like a zillion people]... made our way through the queue... ate a bit and wound up for the evening!! :)

Now, am looking fwd to The Hindu Metro Plus Theater Fest beginning Aug 1st!!

Sunday, July 06, 2008

[Movie] Mere Baap Pehle Aap

My Friend,S and i decided to go check out Blind date movie, which is a concept at Satyam theaters, where we dont know what the movie is.. It could be a new release or it could be a movie dubbed in Tamil.. i've not been to one, so we went to the theater assuming we'd get tickets.. alas, it wasnt so... anyways decided to catch a movie and this was one running at the 7pm slot... Mere Baap pehle Aap.. smilesmile

S had seen it, but said she dint mind watching it again.smile.. so got tickets and must say, its one movie where i laughed like crazysmile....


The movie is all about Janardhan Rane smile(Paresh Rawal, at his peak..hehehe ), who has two son (Akshaye Khanna) and Chirag (Manoj Joshi). Gaurav, now grown up, takes care of his father, like a father!! i mean literally, he shouts, screams, orders and even threatens his baap but all cos he loves his dad too much.. The father and son duo manage the business as well as the household chores, dad is the cook!! Janardhan's chaddi dost, Madhav (Om Puri), is desperate to get married, but Gaurav is dead against their friendship.


Because, Madhav is forever on look out for a bride and almost always land himself and Janardan into trouble,couple of times at the Police Stationsmilesmile(Archana puran singh as the Inspector..), and it is upto Gaurav has to bail them out and face the embarrassment. And this happens not once or twice, but way too many times!!

One day, Gaurav stars receiving crank calls from a girl calling herself Rose, who claims to be his classmate. Rose is in fact Shikha (Genelia) who's playing a prank with Gaurav.. After a while, zillion phone calls to his store and to their home, seductive talk to his dad about how she has a child with Akshaye, etc etc... Shikha accepts the prank and they become friends. Shikha lives with Teacher Anuradha (Shobhana) n her friend.

When the dad is busy looking for a girl for his son, in comes Anu(the teacher), upon seeing whom Janardhan is lost.. it takes a whole bunch of intervention from the kids to figure out the truth and what happens next is the entire story.....smile

Genelia is adorable...razz never seen her this cute in any movie.. and she has also acted well..
The wacko scenes with Rajpal yadav and Akshay was hilarious.... laugh till your tummy hurts!!

There are some parts which i dint quite get:--

Anu suddenly says ok to marrying Janardhan
The 1st daughter inlaw who is against her FIL, Janardhan remarrying agrees to it and is all smiles at the wedding... did just a slap do the trick?? hmmm..

Disclaimer-leave your brains at home and go enjoy the movie...

[Movie] The Holiday

A movie i've seen earlier, but that had me glued last night to the TV.razzrazz. The Holiday...

A simple story, about two gals who are heart broken and looking to get away from their routine life., go somewhere and try getting over the men they were in love withbiggrin.. The interesting part about the movie is how they end up in each other's homes for 2weeks, and find men who they care about and fall for pretty hard...biggrinbiggrin


Cameroon Diaz (Amanda Woods), and Kate Winslet(Iris Simpikins),biggrin the main leading ladies, accompanied by Jude law(Graham) and Jack Black(Miles) make this movie fun, sweet, romantic, mushy mushy and adorable..razz Oh, not to forget the sweet 90year old Eli Wallach as Arthur Abbott, a famous screenwriter of yesteryears...

Iris, a British social columnist who continues to love a man she can't have, but who tries to make sure to be in touch with her, inspite of him being engaged to other woman and Amanda, a L.A. film trailer producer, who simply cannot cry, and has not since she was 15, when her parents split up... Though Iris and Amanda live thousands of miles apart, they are in exactly the same place: Just before Christmas, Iris and Amanda decide to take a needed break from the men in their lives (played by Edward Burns and Rufus Sewell) ... While looking for a holiday destination, Amanda stumbles upon Iris's cottage home, but on the condition that its up only for home exchange[meaning they swap homes] ... razzrazz

how their lives change.... How instead of getting over the men, they fall for new men... and the sweet journey from London to LA....

the cutest scene acc to me is when Amanda gets ready to head back to LA, and on the doorstep tells Graham .. Am gonna kiss you for the millionth time and tell you 'be seeing you".... brought tears!! and the Doggie is adorableeeeeeeeeeee.... biggrin

Ohh... oh.... not gonna spoik it in case you havent seen it~~ pick up the DVD and watch itrazz

Saturday, July 05, 2008

RENT- The musical play/Movie


525,600 minutes,
525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes -
how do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?

How about love?
Measure in love.
Seasons of love.....
goes the song...

This is how the Movie by Chris Columbus (director of the famous Mrs Doubtfire) opens. 8 people standing on a stage singing this song. Gave me goose pimples when I heard this, don't ask me why, but I guess it touched a chord somewhere in me.
I had heard about this movie and had listened to one track "Take me or leave me" that made me pick up the DVD and watch it.

Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning rock opera is what this movie is based on, it tell the story of what happens in the life of a group of Bohemians over a year in modern day East Village New York. How they struggle to pay their rent and their lives, which are all so different but yet so close knit and so similar. Its not just a musical where you have people singing songs and going about the movie, but this is a movie where there are scenes, silences that make you think and feel; the songs that are smoothly brought in between dialogues makes us want to reach out to those on screen and cry with them when they are sad and smile when they succeed.

The main characters of RENT are this group of 8people - Mark (Anthony Rapp) and Roger (Adam Pascal), the former an aspiring moviemaker and jilted lover, while later is a ex-druggie who loves to sing and play his guitar.

Then, there is the vivacious Mimi (Rosario Dawson) who lives in an apartment beneath their, also a druggie who falls in love with Roger and her ex-boyfriend is Benny (Taye Diggs), who was a former member of this group, but got married and is now their landlord. Oh, and there is the ever flirting, ex-girlfriend of Mark's Maureen Johnson (Idina Menzel) who left him for not another man, but Joanna (Traci Thomas) ;o). Also part of this group is Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin) and his new found friend cum lover Angel (Wilson Jermain Heredia), who is also HIV positive.

Over the year that follows, the group deals with love, drug addiction, break-ups, reconciliation, eviction, death, and even success at last. The songs that feature in this movie are full of life and every word has a meaning so deep, it leaves us wanting more and wishing that it dint end so soon...




It Just goes to show how much can change or happen in a Year, which is what 525,600 minutes is equal to.

For those, who are not used to musicals, this is a good movie to start with for it has dialogues as well, and the songs are all simple, rock numbers, which are so enthralling.

The Tagline of this awesome wholesome movie is NO DAY BUT TODAY. So live each day as it were the last, enjoy every moment, speak your feelings, and enjoy LIFE…

Every single song in this movie is good.. be it.
  • No Day but today
  • Light my candle
  • One song glory
  • Over the Moon
  • La Vie Bohemie
but the song that stands out and stays in our mind is "Season of love"...

Saw this movie ages ago[think it was 2006], but thought i shall repost this review....