Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Our posts selected by Hindustan Times and Blog Adda

Hi!!!
There was a time when we made this blog, and deleted it in 3 days, because of various reasons.
But one fine day, both of us decided to re-open the blog, and we posted two articles on the same day itself!
After that, we never looked back!

We're happy to inform you two things.
First, our posts "Ambitions. Or The Lack of it. " Part 1 and Part 2 have been selected for this week's Tangy Tuesday posts by Blog Adda (i.e.-- top 5 blog posts of the week)
Check it out here-
http://blog.blogadda.com/2009/08/18/blogaddas-tangy-tuesday-picks-aug-18-09

Second,
We submitted our review of Kaminey to Hindustan Times online, and they selected our review in their TOP 5 reviews!
And it is featured on their website now!!
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News/cinema/Surfer-review-Kaminey/Article1-444879.aspx
This feels like a great achievement for us! Both of us are happy, and motivated to come up with good stuff in future as well!!
Not sounding like any oscar speech, we'd just like to thank all of you out there, who encouraged us by following the blog, or posting comments, or even visiting it!!
Please keep visiting the blog, and commenting on our posts. Tell us, whether you like it, or you don’t? Also, your opinions about the things we discuss here.
Thanks again people!!
:)

Friday, August 14, 2009

Kaminey

There are directors. And there is Vishal Bhardwaj. Few directors in Bollywood can claim to match Vishal Bhardwaj’s insight of human psyche. Every film of his explores a singular emotion in a gamut of situations. While Makdee explored Fear.. Omkara was an abstraction on jealousy, Blue Umbrella- innocence and so on. Kaminey, Vishal’s latest direction, is a film on meanness. It takes a nosedive into the deepest, darkest crevices of the human brain-where no bad is bad enough.. Where relationships have lost their significance..where social give-and-take is a transaction…

Kaminey is essentially a film about twin brothers Guddu and Charlie. One stammers, the other lisps. Guddu is the honest fellow. He has a job, a girlfriend, middle class dreams. All well. Charlie is a small time crook who indulges in small crimes like fixing races, petty thievery etc. But he dreams big. Both lead individual lives, separated by a childhood tragedy. Their lives come together when Charlie catches hold of a guitar hiding drugs worth millions. Here, the comedy of errors begins.. the brothers being confused for each other and all. Add to it- a pregnant girlfriend, a Bal Thackeray spoof politician, a race fixing company, drug mafia, corrupt policemen. Since the plot is so convoluted, it is difficult to put it further in text.



Kaminey strikes the right note on all aspects. The plot is intriguing.. It takes you to the thick of the action without wasting much time. Before interval, the screen time is spent introducing parallel characters (The number of characters is mindboggling). The plot thickens post interval. As more and more parallel stories come into the picture, the film moves at a breakneck speed. It is a part satire, as it makes a mockery out of the Maharashtra-UP issue...and how our politicians use issues like these for personal vendetta. The cinematographer too succeeds in laying the dark underbelly of Mumbai bare in front of the audience.

But the life of the film lies in its characters. Each one of them is.. needless to say.. one big Kamina. Shahid effortlessly portrays the dual roles, proving all his detractors wrong who say that he is not mature enough to play the single lead. Priyanka, as the firebrand Sweety is the girl next door with loads of tadka ! She plays the role with such conviction that it is difficult to imagine someone else playing it. Watch her in that scene where she comes out and shouts..”Toh kya rape kiya hai maine tumhara ?” That one scene singularly brings out Priyanka’s prowess as an actress. The film crackles with her presence. The way she has enthused life in her character is outstanding. Amol Gupte, as the too-big-for-his-shoes local politician is funnily menacing. A special word of mention for Chandan Sanyal, the guy who plays Mikhail. He brings that sexy edge-that tashan to his character. And it rocks!

In the age of reality television, where ‘mean’ had taken a different meaning altogether..Kaminey brings a fresh connotation to it,one that hits closer home. The music is great and used at just the right places. All in all.. it is a must watch for all those who think they have fed enough on mindless flicks to watch some real cinema. This one will bring your faith back!

A word of caution- The plot is a little confusing, with many characters.Make sure you carry your brains with you. This one makes you think!

Rating- 4/5

Friday, August 7, 2009

Ambitions. Or the lack of it.

I had a fight with my mother today. Nothing new about it… Except that this one had me thinking. We fought over same old shit.. She thinks I have no aim in life, that I waste my time loitering around on the net.. that I am not at all ambitious.. and blah-blah and blah. She generally raises this issue once in a week. And gets invariably the same reaction from me everytime .. That don’t worry, I will figure out soon what I really want to do. Not this time.. This time.. I conceded that she is actually right. That I really have no idea what I wanna do with my life. I have agreed to prepare for CAT.. But deep inside I know the sound of MBA pisses me off. Well not just because I think it’s the most clichéd thing in the world to do.. But also because.. well.. it doesn’t sound like my cup of tea.

I tried to convince her that I could drop a year.. and prepare for more than one thing.. Like I believe it is wokable if I prepare for CAT and Mass Comm simultaneously (after dropping a year, that is. I can never.. like NEVER give up that faint little hope of becoming a journo some day.) My mother blew me up on this. Her argument: 1.) Why on earth do you keep insisting on dropping a year when everybody else is doing it without dropping a year. [Breaking News: I am not everybody.] 2.) CAT and Mass Comm ! How the hell can you do two things together ? You need to focus on one thing to excel in it ! [Maa.. I am dropping a year, I am goin to have relatively more time at my disposal.]
3.) Why do you want to do Mass Comm in the first place ?!? [As if you haven’t known this all along.. As if you are stranger to the fact that one must do what he/she loves doing.. and not necessarily that which fetches more money]

Its true I am yet to decide what I have to do with my life.. Kill me for it ?? My own life is one big mess.. My decisions leave me flustered, red faced with embarrassment. I always end up leaving the more important things on others to do.. Because I fear I might not do it right. And I should do an MBA ? Manage things, make decisions for others.. when my own life is controlled by external forces ?!?

A lot of times I am asked.. How do you see yourself 5 years down the line ? I tell myself.. Regretful. Inspite of everything.. I kinda know I will be doing an MBA or its financially prosperous equivalent. I spent my summers teaching kids.. and I confess I loved every bit of it. I realized I had a flair for teaching.. It came as naturally to me as talking to myself. And the response was great. The kids were equally receptive. My ultimate fantasy also happens to be among adorable 2 years olds.. and watch them grow. Does that mean I want to be a Primary school Teacher ? Hell, yes ! Even as I write this, I can feel the pangs of guilt biting into my conscience. My mother.. will nothing short of explode on hearing this. “Are you out of your mind ? Who becomes a Primary School Teacher for god’s sake ?” [ I do. You have a problem ? Too bad.]

I plan to start my MBA preparation is January 2010. And I promise Maa.. that I will give it my best shot. Certainly, wont let you down there. But what I cant promise.. is whether I will be happy doing it. Not that it matters, anyway.

---

S

Monday, August 3, 2009

The Hangover


The Hangover is a story of four guys who head to LA for a drugs-sex-rock n roll romp a day before one of the friends is getting married. They wake up the next morning to find a Tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet.. one of the friends has a missing tooth and the groom-to-be is nowhere to be found ! Needless to say.. none of the guys has an inkling to what transpired the night before. With a handful of clues.. they set out to put together the events of a night that never seem to have happened !!


The best part about The Hangover is it is so effortless. The actors fit into their roles seamlessly. The characters are so well etched that you can instantly relate to them. The jokes are smart.. not the ones that leave you looking for meaning but the ones that make you go ohh-shit-why-didn’t-i-think-of-it ! The comedy is on a roll ! There isn’t a single scene which doesn’t leave you smirking atleast. It gets a little drudged in bits.. but because the pace is so quick, it leaves you with no time to get bored. All in all.. The IDEAL weekend flick to watch with a couple of buddies.

It is little gems like these that make me say Bollywood needs to upgrade BIG TIME ! And not until we see such films do we realize what we are missing on.. Pure Unadulterated Fun- minus the rona dhona and love angles. (Unnecessary to say the least !)

The film also boasts of little scenes which are nothing short of Priceless ! Like the Wedding scene. It is absolutely hilarious. Or the one in which Mr Chow comes out of the car trunk and starts beating the friends. A special mention for Ken Jeong who plays Mr. Chow. You are unlikely to come across a funnier Chinese Gay Don. He is A D O R A B L E.

The Hangover is THE coolest flick this season. Miss it at your own risk..

Rating- 3.5 / 5

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Love Aaj Kal

Starring- Deepika Padukone, Saif Ali Khan, Rishi Kapoor.

Love Aaj Kal is a self proclaimed modern take on love, commitment and relationships. It tries to mirror the dilemmas faced by today’s young couples who are caught at crossroads trying to figure out what comes first- Love or Career.

Saif Ali Khan is Jai , the uber-cool guy who has his heart set on the Golden Gate job which will take him to the US of A. While Deepika plays Meera.. a smart,independent chic who’s into designing frescoes. (No offence but whatever that means ?!?) They share a relationship of comfort.. One that involves loads of sex and unabashed kissing at public places. So much so .. That when the time comes for them to split, they have a break up party ! Enter.. Rishi Kapoor- The oldie with a golden heart. He tells Jai about his own love story which becomes Jai’s Bible. And he embarks on a journey to get back Meera into his life.

Love Aaj Kal fails to deliver because it tries too hard.There is such a desperate attempt to make the protagonist couple look real that it leaves them devoid of any emotions. The chemistry between Deepika and Saif is so thanda that you can almost feel the temperature drop a degree or two. Also there is no coherence in the screenplay. Scenes float in and out of view, without making sense. You almost feel like telling Imtiaz.. Dude stop being Anuraag Kashyap ! The only bright spot is the parallel plot involving Veer Singh and Harleen Kaur. It is delightful.. their old world charm brings a smile on your face. Though, the young Harleen Kaur looks so feeble that you want to stand from your seat and shake her up ! Where is the effervescence of Jab We Met’s Geet ??

Somepeople who have been thru similar relationships might identify with it. But give me Jab We Met’s simplicity and beauty anyday.

The film is disappointing from the word go. Nothing is right about it. Watch it for some pleasant landscaping and a few light scenes here and there.

That is, if you must.


Rating- 2/5

First Day, First Show

Hi.. This is S writing. The idea to start a blog together struck me sometime ago when R started a blog of his own. In an instant, it was the what-he-has-a-blog-!!-i-got-to-have-mine feeling. But what i also knew was that I cudnt possibly carry one on my own. I lacked the motivation to keep it going.. Yet I wanted to have one (blog) all the same. That is when I thought of the two of us writing it together.. And why not ? After all, we are best friends, we have a lot of time to waste.. And we are suckers for attention ! The next step was to decide what all do we write about.. N both of us had the answer ready- MOVIES ! Okay we love movies.. We could spend our lives discussing whether a particular movie deserves 3 stars or 4, shredding it into pieces in the process..

And the fact that we watched 7 (!!) movies in July alone provided us with further momentum. So here we go. I guess we will also be writing about general stuff like TV.. R,btw,happens to be an avid TV watcher. So do I.. Though my interest these days is limited to THE Swayamwar. We might also end up writing about our respective private lives.. My boyfriend.. and his now-on-now-off affair with T. T, btw, is the third in our group. R loves T... Though he will never.. Like NEVER admit it. But you should see the look on his face when he sees T indulging with other guys.. (AND T does a lot of it ! ;) ). I am in a steady relationship.. Though everybody around me refuses to believe that. But thats alright.. considering I am going to have the Final Laugh. That is one aspect of my life I could go on writing about.... Because it is so full of ups and downs.

I jus smirked at the thought of mentioning all that.. Suddenly I feel like writing a lot more about myself. Will have to work that out with R though. He is so used to being the Show Stealer that it is going to be difficult asking him for a little extra screen time. Lol..

Anyway, coming back to doing what we love doing the most.. We caught up on love aaj kal yesterday.. And here's our review for the same.