I want to see this!

A Dinsey adaptation, so its likely to be watered down, but the trailer looks pretty good.

In twos

Music. After a looooong time. Feels so good!

Muderous rage - couldn't resist posting this!

A bit embarrassing, but mindless fun nonetheless!

PS: Chances are that the protagonist is a 'soup boy' in the movie and the rich, convent educated heroine inevitably falls for him, which would explain the song! In real life, such a scenario would indeed inspire kolaveri!! Tamil movies haven't changed at all.

UPDATE - My brother says 'soup boy' is Chennai slang for a jilted lover.

About time!

I was quite pleased to hear Ministry of External Affairs suggest that a repeat of the Kalam incident will invite retaliatory actions from India. I just hope that India actually does that and its not just posturing. Is an apology enough, though? Apparently, this happened over a month ago, but lets ignore why this is happening with such a time lag, and just be happy that the Indian foreign affairs machine for once grew a spine!

Maybe I need to shut this blog down

Opened blogger today thinking I'd review the first Tamil movie I've seen in ages - 7am arivu. But the words just wont come. I just dont seem to have it in me anymore.

Awesome kids - The Mini Band

Lament

Over the last 2-3 years, life has become more and more mechanical - wake up, plan the day's food, go to work, work, come back, exercise/TV, sleep and up the next day. Weekends are mysteries that zip by before you can unravel them, and holidays zip by so fast. No time to do the things you love, and that includes blogging! Can't wait to retire!!

Yawn!

To be frank, I went into the screening of Dhobi Ghat mentally prepared to dislike the film given my growing discontent with Aamir's brand of cinema and his aggressive publicity seeking ways. Debutant director Kiran Rao did not give me any reason to feel otherwise. For a movie that is merely 90 minutes long, it sure felt like a never-ending tale. Sadly, Dhobi Ghat is everything I thought it would be - pretentious, over glossy and totally fake! At no point in time do you feel that anyone in this film (except Munna) is even close to being real. Characters never progress beyond their cliches - Aamir's moody artist is an example- and the director's self professed love for Mumbai is never palpable. I agree, Mumbai can be a tough city to like, but its just lazy to show the audience a series of picture perfect shots and assume that it is a glimpse of the city's pounding heart.

Prateik's Munna is the only good thing about the movie. Munna is at some level too urbane and classy, not to mention well-dressed, to be a rat-killing dhobi. But Prateik brings out Munna's desperation and vulnerability so well that it doesn't matter. Maybe acting can be passed on through DNA after all!

Verdict - give it a miss!

Feeling helpless

Slightly inconvenienced, with restricted mobility. Hate it, and bored out of my skull - its only been 2 days!

Song for the day

Roadtripper review

The hubbysaurus and I went on a road trip to the Himalayan country of Bhutan on a trip organised by Roadtripper, a start up. Bhutan is a lovely place, but this review is about the organisers, not the country. To begin with, Roadtripper is a friends and family trip - those of the organisers. So if you are expecting road trip enthusiasts or like-minded people, you need to rethink the idea.

The next important thing is the trip itself - this is supposed to be a driving trip, where you get to drive luxury cars and what not. On our trip, there were 7 cars, including the spare car with all the drivers. Of the other 6, one was driven by the local guide, while another 2 were driven, at all times, by one of the organizers who should have ideally stayed away from the wheel unless there weren't enough people who wanted to drive! The other 2 cars went to two families, of four each, so the rest of us had to take turns at driving the 1 remaining car. Whats more, the organisers kept the newer and better cars to themselves, while we drove the older, more battered cars.

The organisers had little or no clue about the place itself - we were told that the temperature would be warm ("shorts and sleeveless, light jacket if necessary"), and trust me Bhutan is COLD in most places! They also had no clue about the paper work and formalities - we climbed a few hundred feet to the famous Taktsang monastery, only to be refused entry because we didn't have a permit. Needless to say, the organisers didn't bother with the climb! At one point we camped in a dung filled field, and were told that the original plan of camping in scenic spot by the riverside had to be dropped because some construction work had started. They actually pointed out the spot when we drove by later, and this was a power project which looked liked it had been there for at least 6 months. So much for the 'research trip' that the organisers claimed to have undertaken a few months ago!

In short, plan a trip with Roadtripper only if you want to subsidize the organisers' vacations. Or if you are a family member, in which case some poor moron will subsidize yours! Thumbs down!

21k

I did it! I completed the Mumbai half marathon this Sunday. A whopping 21 kms, and I've never run before. Expected to run about 10km, but surprised myself running close to 13. The hubbysaur and his cousin did the full marathon - 42 kms!!! The Bandra-Worli sea link nearly derailed everyone though - there was no water along the 5.5km stretch and nearly half a km before and after - left a lot of runners dehydrated. In fact, most of the water and refreshments on the way were provided by well meaning Mumbaikars who thronged the street shouting out words of encouragement. Would be nice if some of them didn't stand in the middle of the route to do so, though. All in all, proud of myself, the hubbysaur and near & dear ones who ran yesterday. Cant wait to do it again!

This must be a joke!

Obama awarded Nobel for Peace! I guess the might of the US is all encompassing. Read this:

What's the authority of a prize that has been awarded to terrorists like Yasser Arafat or Marxist mythologists like Rigoberta Menchu Tum?

Again

A new job, and along with it come new expectations, pressures, people, practices, timings. It is always tough to move out of a comfort zone, but its never good to get too comfortable. Hopefully, things should work out well. As we all know, the world can be a different place in a few months.

Listening to Wake Up Sid!'s soundtrack - Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy have created a breezy, flirty soundtrack. Easy listening, but not in the league of say, Taare Zameen Par or Johnny Gaddar. Besides, it has this very 'inspired' feel to it that makes me go 'hmmm'.

Finally!

Picture courtesy the official website.

I am thinking about work, even though I am off all responsibilities for this week. If I persist in this vein, its going to lead to nowhere good.

On that note, let me talk about a movie that the hubbysaur and I thoroughly enjoyed watching - Kaminey. I can't remember the last movie I saw where my favourite (and possibly the best) scene in the movie had none of the lead actors in it. Two crazy guys encircle each other with guns in their hands, enacting an eerie mock shootout, but only one of them is truly crazy, the other is merely pretending to be- I was literally at the edge of my seat with my heart thudding!

The movie boasts several non-regulars - the hero (Shahid Kapoor as Guddu) is dressed up as a giant condom in his introductory sequence, the heroine is a manipulative woman (Priyanka Chopra as Sweety) who cons her boyfriend into marriage, and the other hero (Kapoor again as Charlie) is in a borderline-homoerotic relationship with his best friend!

The plot is fairly mainstream - politicos, drug kingpins, police, and other irregulars with the main leads caught in the crossfire. Vishal Bharadwaj (Maqbool, Omkara) dips liberally into Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino but adds a completely Bollywood flavour and sensibility to the plot. Shahid could have been better, but shows promise. Priyanka is great - as if she knows she's landed the role of a lifetime and has really sunk her teeth into it.

But what really makes this movie tick is the sheer brilliance of most of the supporting cast. Special mention goes to Mikhail (Chandan Roy Sanyal) , a guy so off his rocker that he's mesmerizing. Others, such as the hilarious Bengali brothers (Mikhail's actually) and Bhope Bhau (Sweety's brother) are wonderful as well. Everybody else (Bhope's goons, Tashi the drug trafficker, the crooked cops, the wily child) also adds on to make this movie a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Bharadwaj could have done away with the songs, though. Much as I like Dhan Te Nan, it does break the momentum of the movie!

Verdict - Finally, a movie that lives up to the reviews!