Producti-vetti

Contentment

2010-03-15T02:51:00.001-07:00

More often than not,
a work of art,
just is.

Expecting of it,
to deliver explicit,
meaning or message,
consolation or solution,
is just not,
justice.

"Der Himmel Uber Berlin" aka Wings of Desire

2007-08-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

Hollywood takes the best and converts it into a mash so even the mentally challenged can enjoy it. A noble act of social service. Having watched the rather standard mushy remake "City of Angels", watching Wings of Desire was truly an uplifting experience. It is poetic. Slow and meandering. A patient walk through emotions.

The movie seems to start in black and white. Only later do we realize that this is the angel's perception of the world. Colourless. Also lacking the ability to enjoy any sensory pleasures. The angels are invisible, only silent observers to the world. They move around humans listening to thoughts and watching human drama unfold. Once in a while they 'touch' a human, comforting it.

We follow two angels (Damiel and Cassily). Wise and mature. Reflecting on the world. On the past. One falling in love with a trapeze artist and wanting to be human. The other emotionless but we can sense its hidden frustration. And interspersed with all of this are thoughts, of an old man recalling the holocaust, a young man contemplating suicide and others. Amongst all the beautiful imagery, there is poetry. The subtitles in English can move you, so I can only imagine that the original lines in German would have been special.

"When the child was a child, it was the time of these questions. Why am I me, and why not you? Why am I here, and why not there? When did time begin, and where does space end? Isn't life under the sun just a dream? Isn't what I see, hear, and smell just the mirage of a world before the world? Does evil actually exist, and are there people who are really evil? How can it be that I, who am I, wasn't before I was, and that sometime I, the one I am, no longer will be the one I am? "

The movie is special. A take on war. On boundaries. And even if the movie teaches nothing, it is truly a creative spectacle of image, poetry and sound.

Rating - 8/10

Aerosmith Live in Bangalore, 2nd June, 2007 AD.

2007-06-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

I had not planned to go to this concert; it was a spur of the moment thing. I called up some friends on Friday morning – S p a c e Reddy, Ozzy and Prathap. All of them had some or the other reason for not being able to make it. So I thought I should call my friend Antony_Mallu_Kutty_Boob_Marley_Francis (also known as ‘abuse or be abused’ Anto) as well, and see if he was up for it. It was a slim chance, but I thought I should try anyway. So I called him, and surprisingly he said yes. I bought the tickets on Friday evening on the way back home from work. We decided to go for the 1800 Rupees one, rather than the 1200 one.

On Saturday evening I reached the venue (Palace Grounds, of course) at about five fifteen, which was fifteen minutes before the gates were scheduled to open. Anto showed up ten minutes later. There was a pretty big crowd outside the entrance, we decided not to join the queue, and sat on the grass nearby, waiting for the crowd to clear. Anto was bringing me up to speed on the scene in Bangalore, telling me about what’s been happening. It seems the two hottest activities here these days are killing mosquitoes with those ultracool high tension electrocution racquets, and going to Reliance Fresh to shop for groceries and getting ripped off in the process. I took his word for it. We also discussed other things like work, life and everything, and we both agreed that our lives were headed nowhere, and that we both went to work each day for the pocket money. And of course there was the cribbing from me, and the abusing from Anto’s side. It was just like old times.

The crowd had, in the mean while, cleared to some extent. We decided to go in. This involved getting frisked by some dude who had no better thing to do that evening. The security was pretty lax, the aforementioned dude asked me what’s in my pockets, I told him I had my cellphone and my wallet. He asked me how come I did not bring ‘anything’, with a wink. After that we had to walk through a metal detector. It was very crowded; there were a lot of people walking through the detector. If it beeped when any one person passed through, the third guy after him was caught.

So we were in. The first thing I noticed after entering was that there was no carpeting on the ground. There usually is carpeting at all big (international) concerts – it was there at the Maiden as well as the Roger Waters concerts. That was quite surprising and disappointing. Because the crowd can kick up a lot of dirt while jumping up and down. It is quite irritating. Surprisingly though, nothing of that sort happened – there was very little dust kicked up during the concert. Anto and I moved towards the stage. It was high as usual, must have been 10 feet or so in height. This stage had a runway extending into the crowd, which was good. Anto got really excited upon seeing the stage, because we were very close to it. It was not that crowded inside at this point of time, which was why we were able to get so close to the stage. We decided to move back, however, for better visibility. We took a spot towards the right of the runway (viewed from our side), and a little farther away. We must have been twenty or so meters away from the end of the runway. There was a camera and a couple of microphones mounted on the edge of the runway, the mics were pointing in the direction of the crowd. I suspect they were recording this show with the intention of making a live album or something. There was a large screen at the back of the stage, and this was not a projected one as usual, it was made of LEDs, which were very bright, and had pretty good clarity. The images were not that sharp, it did not have good enough resolution. But even so, it was great. This was a first for me – I had not seen this before. As usual there were two projected screens on either side of the stage.

It was still very bright, and there was a long time to go… so we waited. It gradually got more and more crowded, more and more people started taking places ahead of us, and we got pushed back a little. One very good thing here was that there was no opening act, only Aerosmith were to perform

We waited for a really long time, from about six to past eight. Their last-minute checks seemed to go on for ever. But finally, the lights dimmed, the screens came alive with images of the band from the past years, and then when all of a sudden the lights came back on, the band was on stage. Steve Tyler was instantly recognizable, with his hair and the mic stand with scarves tied to it… as usual. Joe Perry was with a fender Stratocaster, the opening song was taste of India. At first, the bass was not that impressive, only the mid and the high frequencies were loud. The second song was Falling in Love (Is too hard on your knees). It was when this song was in progress that the bass speakers (subwoofers) were turned on, and the effect was awesome. The guys are great performers given their age, they still have a lot of energy on stage.

The fact that we were close to the end of the runway meant that we could see Steve Tyler from up close – even Joe Perry, when he came down the runway for the guitar solos. It’s only when you see these guys from so close that you realize why they still have long hair – even after thirty plus years of rocking – it is to cover their wrinkles. Seriously, these guys are probably grandfathers by now… it shows when you look closely enough. Steve Tyler is a good showman, and Aerosmith has great stage presence (big surprise).

Joe Perry and Steve performed one acoustic number, where Joe used a black twelve string guitar. For this song, they sat on chairs placed at the end of the runway and the two of them were almost in the middle of the crowd. It was a great performance. Over the course of the concert, Joe used many different guitars; among them were the fender Stratocaster, the fender Telecaster and the Gibson Les Paul. He also used an Epiphone guitar and one with a transparent body – dunno which one that was. The guitar sounds were very easily distinguished from one another, with the telecaster sounding especially crisp and clean. The Gibson Les Paul had a fatter (thicker) tone, with unbelievable sustain. As a band, Aerosmith uses a lot of base guitar on their songs, with the base guitar work not always simple, it takes some doing. The base guitarist was good, it was a treat to hear the base guitar work.

Steven Tyler’s voice was as distinguished and beautiful as ever, but age is starting to catch up with him, it becomes apparent when he tries to hit the really high notes (like when he screams). And in a concert setting, the sound is not optimized for best voice performance, and so it was hard sometimes to hear his voice with full clarity. Even so, his voice was as striking as ever.

The lighting was pretty good, and the sound was also good. Nothing, however, still comes close to the sound and especially the lighting in the Roger Waters concert in Bombay. That’s not surprising though, because Floyd is famous for their concerts being an experience, more than just the sum of the parts. All individual aspects of the (Waters) concert (like the sound, the lighting, and the visuals that were projected on the screen on stage) were excellent by themselves, but all of them together made up one unforgettable experience.

The crowd was very posh, all the chicks were hotly dressed. All of them. Not one exception. The chicks were very hot. Really. Hotness was all around. Anto remarked that this was a pretty good crowd if you were desperate. (You’ll have to ask him exactly what that means.) I was just wondering why we don’t see such a crowd normally in Bangalore. But then later I realized that majority of them were from Bombay, come here just to see the concert.

And yes… I almost forgot… there were so many posers there … it was hilarious to hear what they were saying. Here are a few samples:

“kyon be, tum headbanging karte ho kya?”

“yeh Steven Taylor aadmi kaun hai?”

“they are not going to play ‘jenny has got the gun’ kya?” – This was when they overheard some others wondering why the band had not yet played ‘jamie’s got a gun’.

“we paid eighteen hundred bucks to stand here for five hours”

“yeh concerts hamesha raat ko hi kyon hote hain?”

“in logo ne ek hi jagah pe itne saare chootiyon ko khada kiya hai…” (referring to the crowd)

“yeh log acche kapde pehen nahin sakte kya?” (yeh log = the band members)

About half of the people were there just because it was cool, or because there was someone they knew who was going to go and they didn’t want remain uncool. They all had that familiar look-at-me-I’m-so-cool-I’m-at-an-aerosmith-concert look on their faces, not knowing anything about the band. But here there was also that look-at-my-girlfriend/boyfriend-she/he-is-so-hot-aren’t-you-surprised-how-she/he-landed-up-with-me look.

Anto dropped one of his pearls of wisdom here, he said that most of the women were insecure, and that they would rather show up here and be seen with an ugly dude, than be seen alone. So I think that would answer the age-old mystery “how did this dumb guy end up that hot chick?”

After the concert we waited outside for a while, waiting for the traffic jam to clear. We were just sitting outside the concert area, watching the babes walking by, not quite believing our eyes. Then we said our goodbyes and left. There was a little bit of traffic at the junction just outside the entrance, but after that the roads were clear. It was a great ride home. I enjoyed that almost as much as I enjoyed the concert itself.

Kondey returns

2007-05-16T19:05:00.001-07:00

1.Movie 1: Taxi Driver

I haven't watch many Martin Scorsese movies before,in fact the only one I saw was"The Aviator",which I felt was well researched but not quite a classic.Leonardo De Caprio came nowhere close to the actual Howard Hughes,whom I got to see in History channel.Since then my curiosity in Scorsese receded gradually. But then yesterday I saw "Taxi Driver"(1976) starring Robert Deniro and Jodie Foster,and since then my respect for Scorsese has increased considerably.The movie plot is basically about a Vietnam-veteran turned taxi driver in Manhattan,New York,Travis(Robert Deniro),who undergoes a series of experiences(chronicled in his diary) ,which turn him into a would be assassinator.The beauty of the movie was in its narration and screenplay.The way in which all the thoughts-facial expressions were shown was simply mind boggling(especially the rear-view mirror shot of Deniro).

From the first frame to last frame ,the movie was gripping enough.I think the ending is debatable,I guess it depends on how the viewer comprehends it,and I think it was sarcastic joke on the American media by the story writer .Performance wise,Its Deniro at his best,what awesome voice,especially the dialogues -"Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man." and "You're only as healthy as you feel." are memorable.The lady who played Betsy ,the spokesperson for a Presidential candidate was good.She looked attractive and adventurous,and the way her eyes expressed her ego was pretty good.A young Jodie Foster as Iris ,comes only the latter part of the movie,as a teenage prostitute.Much to Travis' shock she enjoys her profession and Travis takes upon himself to set her on the right path.The climax,however,takes a violent turn(can be described as extremely gory by certain audience).The reason for Travis turning violent is kinda still unclear to me,maybe its go to do with his loneliness or sheer desire to add some adventure in his life or the realization that he had achieved zilch in his short life,I am yet to to understand.Overall,I would definitely recommend this movie to those who can with stand lotsa bloodshed,swearing (i have added a few to my dictionary) and dark side of the society.Its definitely not for faint hearted,who enjoy romantic comedies and all that.

Spolier: following Taxi Driver,I also saw "the Departed",though I liked that movie too, I was disappointed to see similar scenes as to that of Taxi Driver.There seems to be a trend in characterization in most Scorsese movies-Roman Catholicism(being the religion followed by the any of the leading characters),Women almost having negative(weak) role and killing a character suddenly.This trend is sometimes predictable .The beauty however is in the ending He gives.

Movie 2 : Clockwork Orange

This movie was something I wanted to see since long time.I had no clue on what the movie was all about,but just had curiosity in it.It did pop sometimes in Dumb Charades/Pot Pourri competitions during the fests (didnt it?) during my undergrad years.But it was only today that I finally got to see it.Boy! was I in for a surprise.The movie had all the ingredients of a cult movie.Like Taxi Driver,the lead character is fascinated with evil.I am not qualified enough to critic the movie.Man! the sets were so out of the world type,especially the room of th lead Character Alex and that of one of his victims .They were truly ahead of the movie's time.I thoroughly enjoyed the background music in this movie.Though it was mostly western classical, with psychedelic stuff in between,they brilliantly gelled with the scenes on screen.

The story is about a 14 year-old Alex who loves committing crimes(read beating up the helpless and raping the vulnerable) and is addicted to Beethoven's music.Alex is the leader of a gang of thugs ,who prowl on the city's streets during night and commit these crimes.His image back home is however that of poor old weakling who is used to giving excuses to avoid school. It is during one of those nefarious pursuits,that he mistakenly kills a woman ,much to his shock his gang members ditch him and he is caught by the police.Alex is sentenced to 14 years in prison,much to the dismay of his Parents.The movie then shows how Alex is forced by the government to reform,so that he can be set free sooner than sentenced period.One of the techniques involves the utilization of Ludovico technique,in which the patient undergoes violent and macabrely treatment.The result of the treatment leaves Alex unresponsive to violence and sex.Though the government goes boisterous over its achievements,Poor Alex's life becomes pitiable.The events which follow after his release from the prison leave him aimless and homeless.I am sorry but I can not reveal the ending, though its something worth watching again and again.

No wonder that Stanley Kubrick has got such a cult following.The weird sets,the still camera visuals ,and the way he focuses in and out of a small object and the object's pertinence to the whole scene is so mesmerizing .However,his stress in depicting hardcore reality scenes,especially the ones involving rape and beating can make many go - "Shiva Shivaa' and do the 3 bandars of Gandhiji [;P].SO anyone watching beware of nudity and mental torture,can leave some nauseated(nope it didnt leave me bcoz I am a complan boy :p) .

So,overall its been an eventful week :P

Iron Maiden in namma palace maidhana

2007-04-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

“Its f****** crowded dude. Better be here fast” shouted an over-enthusiastic Ketan, over the phone.
This pretty much summed up the scene at Palace grounds.

There was news about people, those who had come from neighboring countries just for the show, and those who had traveled across the span of the country coming from distant states in rented buses and vans who had supposedly camped outside the venue from early hours of the day. We guys had decided to go around 15:30 so that we could escape the initial tide of eager juntha trying to barge into the venue at the very sight of the gates being opened around 15:00.

Some of us were skeptical about watching the opening acts but were worried about landing up in a place too far from the stage if we were to go just for the main show. We finally reached the venue around 16:00. The vibe and buzz was omnipresent right from the gates. The atmosphere seemed festive, almost like a miniature replica of the Woodstock or Ozzfest. The area was swarmed by people clad in printed black Tee and jeans. Petty shops, darshinis, juice shops, booze shops, pubs, bars, restaurants, virtually every place in a 1km radius around the venue, was packed with the black T army.

After, what seemed to me a pretty lenient, check and frisk, we were finally inside the venue. The area right in front of the stage was already packed and we decided to settle down about 50mts from the stage where we found enough place to sit down. Just five minutes of sitting and the heat and dust already got into action, and we knew we had a long sultry wait ahead of us.

The event was a get-together of sorts. Schoolmates, collegemates, old-apartment pals, old-house-gully buddies, office colleagues, friends’ friends, cousins, cousins’ cousins, distant relatives… and then… meeting, greeting, hugs, high fives, hand shakes, abuses…. there was as much nostalgia in the air as was the dust. Black T seemed to be the dress code for the day with prints ranging from maiden, Sabbath, megadeth to linkin park, limp bizkit and cockroach…err sorry paparoach.

The stage, perched at a good height from the ground level, looked plain and simple upfront. On a closer look, some parts could be seen hidden behind drapes (after all it was a maiden concert and there had to be props and effigies decorating the stage). At regular intervals, people could be seen standing up and walking towards the stage assuming it was Maiden’s entry, but it would turn out to be one of the technicians adjusting the sound system or making some alterations to the light settings! The buzz would then settle down in disappointment and the wait would be on again!

It was around 6:00, when the show finally kicked off and by then the venue was almost full. The opening acts included Indian bands FTN and Parikrama and Lauren Harris.
FTN, who started off the proceedings, were supposedly the winners of Campus Rock Idols, but their performance turned out to be a super blooper! They committed the sin of dishing out lifeless, dirt-level, new-age stuff that put off the eager crowd completely, who successfully managed to boo the sinners off stage in just about 15 mins. Possibly the worst beginning the evening could have had, it was surely one big blunder by the organizers.

With the audience in a state of utter disappointment and anger, seemingly unforgiving, it was Parikrama’s turn next. The message was clear, play good music or face the music! And fortunately for the organizers, Parikrama came up with an excellent, face-saving performance. They played an all-original set of songs and managed to set the crowd back in full enthusiasm and life. The jubilant crowd even sang along some of the already popular songs. Worth making a special note is the violinist who stole the show with his impeccable control over speed and alaaps (modulations). Some sections of the crowd were already getting wild, pushing each other, causing disharmony that could have triggered off a catastrophe in a stampede or alike. “People please do not do crazy things like these. We all have come here this evening for one thing and that is to see maiden performing live. Please stay calm or the whole f***** show will be called off. Please enjoy the music peacefully” pleaded the vocalist trying to bring in some order.

Up next was Lauren Harris, about whom most of us had no idea. There were two big hoardings containing a silhouette of a shapely female holding up a microphone, which made way to the stage. (To me it appeared like one of those things that are generally seen at a Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears’ show!) A sense of suspense spread across the audience, who remained patient as loads of time was burnt making modifications to the stage set up.
(There were a few folks who had a big doubt on who this mysterious “Laurel and Hardy” were!!!) After a long boring wait, the band showed up on stage, which comprised of a lady guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. But who the hell is Lauren Harris here? The question still remained. An announcement was made “Presenting Steve Harris’s daughter… Lauren Harris”. (Ah…. A legendary rocker’s daughter! Curiosity increased further!) Suddenly, out came running, a young teenage girl (clad in tight leather pants and a navel revealing top) and grasping the mike and screaming “Hello Bangalore”. Phew phew…. whistles went up in the air from a bunch of overjoyed guys. Mobile phone cameras and digi-cams zoomed in to their max limits to get a close up view of the lass. And then tragedy struck for the show no more was a rock show. The band along with this lil girl trying to sing rock songs was just a farce; reminded me of the saddest shows on TV, American Idol. It will go down in history, as one of the deadliest curse of one of the Gods of metal on his disciples. But Lauren was not spared either. The crowd openly expressed their hopelessness and irritation. It went up in unison singing “F*** you” during one of the songs which had a very similar sounding chorus!!! (Mr. Harris… you thought we would spare your daughter…. Ha ha ;-) never) The booing was almost non-stop, but the band kept going on and on and finally the thundering chant of “Maiden… Maiden” managed to put on the brakes and the show stopped! (A loud round of applause went off at the sight of the band leaving the stage!)

So, after almost two and half hours of a little pleasure and immense pain, the much awaited moment arrived. Lights on the stage were turned off and Maiden’s platform was made ready for the launch. Energy levels in the crowd reached the zenith and the roaring ‘maiden’ chant became the perfect BGM for the situation. Everybody seemed to be moving forward, trying to reach as close as possible to the stage, wanting to catch the first glimpse of the gods when they appeared.

About 15 mins through the high tension period, the speakers blasted “Doctor doctor”…. as the spot lights on stage glowed, revealing Eddie and the band members. Time paused in Bangalore. Ears turned deaf in the screams. The night was lit in the flash lights of the cameras and cigarette lighters. The crowd went bizerk. The backdrop was elaborate with props and settings running on the “a matter of life and death” album theme.
The band straight away started off with a song from the same album, no intros … no talking. Dickenson gasped for breath as the first song ended and the crowd resumed the chant. It was only then that the greeting happened and Bruce surely seemed to be over whelmed by the sight. The next one hour was of pure musical ecstasy and high voltage electricity. The backdrop kept changing as the show proceeded and the crowd went up in a big ‘waaaaoooo’ every time the change happened.

The play list, there were about four songs from the new album and then the classics, fear of the dark, run to the hills, iron maiden, hallowed be thy name, wrathchild, number of the beast, trooper, and some more. There were people whole sang along every song, every single line (and those who had come along with lyrics printed out, which they tried to follow with the light from their mobiles!!!)

Needless to mention Maiden’s performance, a great show as usual, with awesome inputs from the every member of the band.
Overall… a high quality music display from one of the best metal bands.
Technically the show was pretty decent, a pat on the back for the organizers for the sound quality and light effects. The stage settings, although kinda gimmicky, was well organized.

And then there was the dirtier and darker part of the show. Security checks not matching international standards (not even up to those of Strawberry fields and some other local shows), dope was in free flow, cigarettes almost in every other lips. Let go the effects of passive smoking, the amount of passive doping that any guy would have done that evening would be alarmingly high. So many were so engrossed in rolling the joints, almost for the whole duration of the show, that it made me wonder whether they even bothered of the bands presence on stage!
Other glitches included congestion at the narrow exit at the time of coming out, (some ‘very sober’ junta trying to break down the barricades in impatience) and non availability of drinking water.

As we squeezed our way out and hunted down the bikes, my legs were almost on the verge of giving up. Thirsty tongues craved for water, exhausted bodies yearned for rest…. but in the mind kept echoing Bruce’s voice…

“Scream for me Bangalore….. Scream for me Bangalore”.

as the BIG moment arrives...

2007-03-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

first came the rumours... then followed some genuine news... then arrived the official confirmation... from then on it has just been ecstasy, excitement and anxiety.

"IRON MAIDEN - LIVE IN BENGALOORU, 17 Mar, PALACE GROUNDS"
this headline has injected a fresh dose of life into all the craving souls.

for all the rock fans (add in the 'yo-yo cool dude'...the 'u-have-a-fag? rock chik'... the heavy-pocketed, lancer-driving, pill-popping high school kid) the mantra has been one 'have you got the maiden passes?'

there are several reasons for the true music lovers to be awestruck...maiden will be first international 'heavy-metal' band to perform in India.india has had a taste of soft-rock(bryan adams), classic rock(deep purple, scorpions, roger waters, jethro tull), jazz, pop,etc, but never has it had any of the 'heavy' bands performing here. this would be the biggest reason for jubiliation for all head bangers.

the rock music scene in india is nothing to be proud about. the quality of music played by just a handfull of bands could be considered as average/moderately good and as for the rest it is just dearth level, a sad and naked truth. even basic elements of live music performance, like pitch, scale, tune or timing are seldom met in many of these concerts. rarely are there good original songs composed and performed, for most of our local rock shows feature just loud music, without any musical substance, heard on big,black boxes labelled 'RAM LAKSHMAN SOUND', where a little music could somewhere be heard in between the feedback and jarring noises(save a few gigs like strawberry fields). this has left us all in a state of yearning, that for good live rock music and who better than Maiden can we get to quench this thrist!

another fact with maiden is that their live performances have always been electrifying and at the same time maintain good musical standards. bands like megadeth, slayer, RHCP come with high voltage, high intensity concerts but if you actually observe some elements, especially the vocals, it can be clearly seen that it is never as good as whats on the album (basic reason being that guys like mustaine and araya are not naturally good singers). But with maiden, Bruce's stage singing has been on par in quality with that recorded on the
albums, reason again being the natural singing talent of guys like bruce or freddie(queen) that just takes their vocals to a different level during live performances.

less than 23 hours to go for Maiden's maiden Indian slaughter.... be there... and do bring your daughter!!!

just 16, i pick up a truck,
out of money, out of luck...
i've got no place to call my own,
hit the gas here i goooooooooooooo!!!!

Dhoom 2 fails to create a dhoom..its just dhussss...

2006-12-21T06:29:00.000-08:00

First, make a movie with a senseless script, morbid music, and manage to get the movie to be a superhit. So what to do next? Obviously, follow the beaten Hollywood track and make the sequel, and boom..you have Dhoom (2).
Dhoom 2 takes the tradition of bad movie making to the next lower levels of mediocrity. While the prequel was remotely tolerable, no. 2 is grossly intolerable and a complete 'pakaau'.

Abhishek Bachchan is the cop, trying hard to catch Hrithik Roshan, the thief who fashions himself as 'A'. And he makes brilliant thefts, right under the nose of the cops. Suddenly out of nowhere, Aishwarya Rai just pops out. So 'A' joins hands with Aishwarya, and they plan to steal together. Eventually it turns out the Aishwarya is working for the police helping them nab 'A'. Smart 'A' realises Aishwarya's true colours and busts her. He doesnt kill her, and wins her loyalties. They fall in love with one another and start stealing together. After several intermediate events(which are not worth recalling or mentioning here), the cop almost nabs them and decides to let them go, because 'yeh pyaar ka maamla hai'. So they lived happily ever after.
Am I forgetting something? Oh yes, Bipasha Basu is also a cop in the first half, and she seems to play a serious role. However, in the second half she plays a new character who just flaunts around her body in a bikini.

Every bit of the movie feels far-fetched and unrealistic. Granted that Hindi masala movies have always assumed the license to be unrealistic, to defy the laws of physics. But unrealism of this magnitude? Sample this. Hrithik Roshan makes the grandiose entry jumping from the sky with a parachute, and lands with pinpoint accuracy on a tiny moving train on a desert which streches for miles. Or this, Hrithik Roshan emerges out of a drain super clean(not smeared with dirt, shit) in a jet of clean water. More to digest, Abhishek Bachchan defies all laws of buoyancy and manages to submerge his water scooter deep within the water, and vroom, throttle and he launches from the water ten feet into air and kills the villain. And again, the Hero is the Supreme, the Invincible, all bullets just seem to bounce off him. For every 100 bullets fired by the villain, one bullet might just scrape the hero.

Aishwarya Rai is at her irritable best. She looks anything but hot, more like a malnutritioned child from Somalia. Her acting reaches a real low when she makes a feeble attempt at swearing(as if she were hoping nobody would hear her). Abhishek Bachchan has all the makings of an obese 60's actor.

The movie has this pre-defined formula. An actor makes this entry, and has a song dedicated to him. So come the positively repulsive numbers.

After all the lambasting, a positive point. The movie has very good special effects and action sequences. Quite pioneering for an Indian flick.

Overall, the movie is miserable. The movie, thus should ideally be titled 'Doom', for the movie watcher its real dooms day.

WAS DAS BUMSEN???!!!

2006-11-24T21:47:00.000-08:00

How do u turn a much awaited weekend into a total shit weekend???

well.... you could either stand in line the whole saturday and then feel elated in succeeding to get a ticket to himmesh reshamiyya's concert....then on sunday, go to the concert and participate in the constipation-cum-sexual-agony relieving working through some mass-moaning!

the 2nd route is which(unfortunately) i took... watch simbu's vallavan on saturday and then chiru's stallin on sunday...

simbu... offspring of mr. motormouth kardi TRR, is no less than his father when it comes to talking in interviews. in one of the diwali special program on sun tv, lil motormouth spoke about his movie vallavan, for which he has the credits for story, screenplay and direction.
the interview was filled with punch-dialogs and was fully about statement making.
among the countless ones he made, the few ones i remember are:

1.reema sen will be spoken after the movie as one of the best modern day actress as it was the "role of her life"

2. santhanam will be called the next vivek.

3.simbu will be not only seen as a class-hero or a mass-hero, but as someone who can do both

And now vallavan, the movie:

simbu falls madly in love with the obese, cleavage showing, lecturer nayantara at the very first sight and accidently even places kunkum on her forehead!... no... i actually wont tell the story, because its so worthless typing it.

simbu punches out dialog after dialog, and it is his same old repetetive junk aimed to take on dhanush. and there's so much of this that i felt like pelting stones at the screen. was das bumsen???

then there's the obese nayantara. supposed to be a lecturer, but will not spare a thought on her cleavage exposing Tee's and other glam-filled costumes. was das bumsen???!!!

reema sen... roll of her life... wait a minute... clear your ears... get this right...
she is a school girl studying in the 9th or 10th!!! and she comes in uniform and black shoes and trust me, it looks like some kind of fansy dress competetion at an old age home. and she is suposedly possessed with simbu's love and is a kind of love-psycho!!! was das bumsen??!!

santhanam's job, if i remember correctly, was to bring out some laughter...and where's the humour man.... yeah... next vivek eh? ... doubtey illa.... was das bumsen???!!!

this is the best of them all...nayantara tells him that there's nobody home one night, so simbu and nayan screw. the next day morning she starts crying telling that she has made a mistake. she then asks him if he'll marry her for which simbu jonkingly replies that he just acted as if he liked her so that he could taste her one night. shocked, her wailing increases and she even starts abusing her. then he becomes "serious" and tells her in a "serious tone"(and it comes in english too) ... "We dint have sex yesterday.... we made love"!....Hello????!!!! we also know "littul englis" boss.... synonyms class eh???!!! was das bumsen???!!!

and if you thought mr.serial kisser him-ran hush-me dint have any serious competetion... you are wrong... dont look too far... our very own simbu is turning out to be a super kisser and that too an innovtive one too... here he even has a dance step which involves only smooching... confused?... its a series of contact-break-contact between the lips of this stick and that drum!!!

And now... Stallin

this one is a perfect formula-movie... and it does justice to the genre with scenes occuring in almost shceduler-arranged timing...

10 mins of fight, then 10 mins of social service, followed by 10 mins of gyration with skimpily-clad-trisha, followed by 10 mins of mother-sister sentiment, then 10 mins of "message", then back to the fight... repeat this cycle of events three or four times and you have 3 hours of stallin!!!

it was a torture sitting through the movie... it had soooo much masala... that it was like overcooked hyderabadi biryani!!!

the best part of the movie is a scene where kushbu is explaining trisha as to why chiru has left the army and returned home(previously trisha makes fun of chiru's telling that he has run back home from the army because he was scared)
kushbu explains her how chiru was one of the most respected, brave, responsible military officer who had put his life on the line and defeated pakistan single-handedly. she says chiru had bullets gutted into his body and that one bullet could not be removed as it was 'very close' to the heart. the doctor has advised chiru to quit the army as if he continued the bullet would move forward thereby killing him!!! ROTFL!!!!
and whats the next scene???? trisha falls madly in love with chiru and dreams of a duet with him in firang-land!!!! the spontaenity with which these two scenes occur one after the other was simply superb!!! was das bumsen???!!!

And to give a fitting finale to this post, i'll finish it off in the trademark TRR shtyle(for those of you who have no idea of who this guy is, he is a rhyme machine who belts out punch-rhymes!!!) here we go:

Dey simbu
you are one big dumbu!
if you brag about your movie once more
you will be in vambu(trouble)!

you are not a mass hero
you are not a class hero
you are simply a loose hero!

listening to your dialogs
in my ears there is formation of puss,
this movie of yours
is like kaal dhoos(dust on one's foot)

next time you talk
keep your head and shoulder on the same level,
else to dig your own grave
we'll give you one big shovel!!!

WAS DAS BUMSEN???!!!

And if you are wondering what that meant... its the german transalation for
WHAT THE FUCK???!!!

Rang de basanti....under de lens...too late....but still....

2006-04-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

First of all...if v r goin to compare this movie n value it based on its peer-movies....v better not....reasons....there's no point in comparin anythin with somethin supremely inferior in quality to show how good it is....its better to hold it up againts some quality stuffs n then c if it does belong to the same class....

the director deserves applause for giving us an entertainin movie, which v can definitely watch with our minds in the right place than leavin it behind in the closet...at no point in the movie do v actaully get bored....

casting - grt work done here....roles are assigned aptly to actors selected from many languages....n character of each person is etched carefully....minute details about the characters can be seen taken care in detail in many scenes....the most impressive being sidhaarth's....notice his reactions n expressions during every small casual conversation, in all the scenes wher he's not the lead....perfectly potrayed is his role of a rich, no-nonsense guy who actually is very sentimental on the inside....
say for ex: his reaction in the scene where all the guys r making fun of madhavan n soha....
his behaviour in the runnin race which comes during one of the songs wher he jus casually continues walkin not being bothered about anyone or anythin....

the usage of songs in the movie is very good....the situations where the songs r placed r perfect....esp the song roobaroo.... n the songs jus being used in the background n not the actual audio-video-song pattern is a definite relief....

ARR's music suits the movie very well....songs are in a wide variety of genres ranging from melody to rap to kahwali to soft rock....all of them are very refreshing n come wit a feel-good factor...my pick is khoon chala....beautiful, dilicate melody...superb singin n violins....this is the song which kept lingerin in my mind for almos a week after the movie watchin n stil keeps me singin the lines "zameen se lipatkar...."
the background score for the movie is good, except for a few small blunders(like playin a techno-kinda beat for a scene on the independance struggle)....but predominantly the BGM is very supportive to the visual...the use of elec guitar wit distortion at some scenes have a great impact n enhances the impact of the visual....

the performance by every actor is good....the movie can never be called an aamir-movie...its got equal,important inputs from all the lead characters...even secondary characters lik cyrus, amir's mom, sid's dad, the long hair guy's(imran i think) family, etc have exhibited precise good actin...

the movie sucessfully manages to question and arouse some re-thinking on some social n political issues like the mig-mania and religion based fundamentalist groups like vhp, muslim league,...
well....give it a pat on the back for all this...

Wat the movie aims to do is to provide solutions to problems like the above...basically counter-corruption moves....here it fails badly and converges again to the same old solution of killing as the only answer...this is a non-relistic filmi impractical solution....n how many movies have v seen aleady which have all said the same...indian,anniyan,samurai,ramana....jus to name a few....n the way soha says "MAAR DALO" n our boys go out n execute the order with ease....bravery huh???give us a break!!!

One more scene(its a very small one though)which i think is completely out of sync with the movie is the scene towards the end where the firang lady comes in search of the missing aamir,to his house n finds that his mom is completely unaware tat her son is missing(mom jus thinks tat the son is out with his friends even though he hasn returned for 2 days)....at the end of this scene the sacred thread around mom's finger snaps n she gets worried about her son... n it follows tat amir is indeed in deep trouble....now...wat the movie shows throughout is that some old systems and beliefs have to be re-thought and changed...its true that some old religious beliefs r scientifically correct...but many of them are superstitious and things like these do not support the idea of revamping n changing some old systems....n this scene(or incident)is one such one which totally opposes the thinking-pattern of the movie...

if the movie could have come up with a better conclusion then i would have given it a bow in praise....but now it gets a hit on the head for screwing up wat could have been a completely mind blowing movie....

Rating:****

last reason why u have to watch the movie(in case if it did not arouse any intrst in u n there r no other of ur fav movies runnin):THERE'S NO HIMMESH!!!SO THERE R NO HIGH-DECIBEL NASAL MOANINGS!!!

Tatwa 2006- report and review

2006-04-09T13:20:00.000-07:00

Tatwa 2006- a report and a review

Part-I

Tatwa- the two day play fest culminated today at the Jnana Jyothi auditorium. The event for which Harish, Abhijith and troupe had been toiling so hard(and for which the placement office computers contributed so much of their precious computing power) has been a success.

The word ‘tatwa’ in Sanskrit means summary or gist or the essence of something. Even though this word has no relevance in the context of a play fest, the word is short and catchy, hence acceptable as the name of a play fest.

The concept of a play fest is definitely a new idea for UVCE. The organizers deserve the credit for taking the initiative and organizing the event when support and acceptance may not have come very easily from the college. The organizers managed to get good sponsors- Radio Mirchi, The Hindu etc., a superb venue- the Jnana Jyothi auditorium and sufficient number of participating teams.

The event started of yesterday (April 8^th) at around 11 clock. The chief guest for the inauguration was Chandrashekhar Tejaswi, a local theatre personality. The event began with a one minute video showcasing the pioneers of drama. While the video showed photos of Girish Karnad, Arjun Sajnani etc it never mentioned T P Kailasam, much to my disappointment. However the idea of screening a video was good.

The inauguration formalities were the usual. Something worth mentioning here is that the chief guest in his speech expressed his irritation about the two bags which were strewn on the stage and also about people walking around the stage. Which is bad, I agree unanimously. But engineering college fests always have an atmosphere of informality about them.

The jury consisted of 3 members whose names I don’t remember. The first team to start was the team from BHS(whatever it stands for). After making the audience wait for a long time, the team started of.

The following teams participated in the event.

Day one:

1) BHS performing ‘Kaakana Kote’

2) 24 Rajput rifles

3) the man upstairs

4) UVCE performing ‘bandwaalavilladha badai’

Day two

5) UVCE performing ‘…’(missed this one)

6) Hittina Hanju

7) ___ cut ( don’t remember the name)

8) Brahmi from KSIT

9) Pishachi ___ Pishachi

10) BMS

11) ‘Cheque please’ from NLS

Having just been introduced to watching theatre, I am not sufficiently qualified to comment about the nuances of acting, theatre production etc. But some teams and some individuals always stand out and leave an impression. Here are my comments about every team…

1) Kaakana Kote

Superb presentation. Lot of hard work is visible here. Perfect timing. The stage was

Never left empty. Transition from scene to scene was always done with music and
diversions of dance etc. while the stage was prepared for the next scene.

Actors who stood out were those playing the protagonist’s side kick, Moni, Molii and the
Heggade. The actor playing the protagonist did an average job in my opinion.

2) 24 Rajput rifle

An original script. Definitely not worth the hype(as claimed as the winner of the VTU
fest).

3) The man upstairs

Or the woman upstairs? Was very dull and mediocre.

4) UVCE ..’bandvaalavilladha badaayi’

Written by T P Kailasam. Superb acting by the person playing the male lead. The play
was hilarious. The actors brilliantly covered a contingency situation when the seat they
were sitting on collapsed and integrated that into the scene seamlessly.

5) UVCE’s second team

Missed watching this unfortunately.

6) Hittina Hanju

Watched from the middle. Initially everything just flew over the head…the play
proved too difficult to understand. However as it progressed, I understood things a little.
The female protagonist was brilliant. However the male protagonist, being a
professional theatre person, didn’t live up to the expectations.

7) __ cut

Never understood why the team chose such a script.

8) Brahmi from KSIT

Superb special effects with the lighting and the sound. ‘ranganna’ was brilliant. The
story in my opinion was not all that great.

9) Pishachi__Pishachi

Didn’t watch the whole play. Just saw the start which seemed okay dokey.

10) BMS

The story was original and simple. Would have been mediocre and negligible had it
not been for the performance of the female lead who was brilliant. She showed the
most believable realistic expressions and body language.

11) Cheque please from NLS

Superb script. Probably the best script in the lot. Good dialogues coupled with good
performance by one and all left all of us laughing.

End of Part-I
To be contd.

Review 1 :Happy(telugu)

2006-04-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

HAPPY: ***

Tagline :2 and half hours entertainment
Can U go with family: Yup , no vulgarity ,no blood shed
Review
Happy comes as fresh breather to tollywood ..which off late has been bombarded by 'formula'type movies ..i.e 2 fights ,3senti scenes ,1 melody song,1 mass song and a romantic backdrop ..saying that it does have its share of 'the same old thing scenes'too ..
Director karunakaran (works like Tholi prema, Vaasu,Balu etc)this time comes up with a urban story ..aimed mostly towards the youth(though general audience can also watch).

Compared to the recent Youth movies ..the story of "Happy ' is slightly different ...Karunakaran has played with the his main characters pretty well..Bunny(Allu arjun) is happy go lucky orphan ..who works as a pizza delivery guy in daytime (goes for mba classes in the evening..GAWD only knows where that happens)..Madhmathi (Genelia) is a daughter of Local Politician who is hell bent on casteism ..coz that fuels his political ambitions.she pursues MBBS studies much to the disliking of her father who intends use her as a bait for his political career ..Bunny and madhumathi meet under strange situations and due to unforseen circumstances get married ..the rest of the story is how this couple which never had any love for eachother ..find soulmates in each other ...

Performance ..this happens to be Allu arjuns's best performance yet ..he carries the story on his shoulders with great enthu and maturity ..be it the Comedy scenes (where his natural personality helps),Fights or the last senti scene ..he has shown good capabiltiy ..Special mention must be made about his dancing capabiltites ..performing much to the liking of 'mass' as well as 'class' .Genelia's performance may find her new admirers among the 'class' audience .this probably is the first role where she had some scope of performing and she has fared pretty well.
Manoj bajpai proves why he is one of the better character artists in the country..his role of DCP Aravind has been well characterized ..and Manoj just seems to be the rite choice ..the rest of the cast ha s performed to the expection tho the guy who palys ACP ratnam shows great energy on screen

Technically ..the movie is a camera work reviwers delight ..Cinematography by rajshekhar is first rate ..this film shud mark the return of karunakaran ..he has shown good creativity ..be it the hyderabadi song (which has been picturized all over HYD)be it the scene where madhu asks Bunny for lift and Bunny's reaction to it or the fights between Bunny and madhu ..they entertain the audience across all Classes ..Editing by Antony is slick and trendy ..the sets for songs are also creative ..Choreagraphy is also good .

The USP of happy is its music by yuvan shankar raja ..the hyderabadi song and egire mabulona song are to heard all over ..

Over all.."happy'' fits the bill of going to a movie in the weekend with your family ..coz u dont haave to think too much neither shed any tears ..pakka entertainment

can I watch the movie twice : you can ...if u are totally jobless (atleast for thesongs and alluarjun's acting )