Chak De India…!!! Chak De SRK…!!!

SRK makes a comeback after a relatively long break on the silver screen. And this also gives me an opportunity to get back to my writing days. And with the release of SRK’s next movie just round the corner, one can’t think of anything except just go crazy saying ‘CHAK De… SRK’.

SRK gradually seems to shed his ‘lover boy’ image and moving to live a variety of roles and characters in the process. After the success of ‘DON’, where SRK played the negative role, he now moves on to coach the Indian Hockey team, that too a women’s team with the aim and determination to win the World Cup for the country. Chak De India is a story about Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) who is considered to be a loser as a hockey player, who takes up the mettle of coaching the women’s hockey national team with just a sole objective in mind… winning the World Cup.

Chak De India is based on a true story of ex hockey player ‘Mir Ranjan Negi’ who messed up heavily in a crucial match conceding a series of goals to lose the match 1-7 to Pakistan in the Asian Games 1982. This event really ruined and ended his career. However, he came back to coach the Women’s Indian Hockey team to win the Commonwealth Games gold at Manchester.

This is the first time after Swades where unlike other SRK movies the larger than life image of the King Khan would not overshadow the character in the movie itself. And this reflects from the teasers released so far where similar to Mohan Bhargava (Swades), the audience would be able to identify the character (Kabir Khan) in SRK rather than SRK himself coaching the girls. And I believe He will be able to put all those critics to rest who keep cribbing about the lack of ‘acting’ talent in him.

There are great expectations from the film and more so from SRK, especially in the backdrop of the drought of his movie releases after DON (albeit KBC, et.al. keeping him busy). Even though the mere presence of the King Khan will ensure that the film is a commercial success in itself, more important is the success of SRK to prove himself to the world that he is improving with age. Also it will help to set the trend for the movies lined up in the pipeline for releases in the near future, the first one being Om Shanti Om due for release later this year.

Also making a debut in the movie is Vidya Malavade, who has been a mediocre success in modeling and has been a regular in some TV commercials. And of course the gang of girls who prove that its just will power that is required to achieve the impossible, and of course the support of a good coach. The success of this movie will also be crucial for the director Shimit Amin to meet the expectations of his performance, and more importantly the expectations from the big banner release and directing a super-star.

So, let’s get all set to watch the girls with the hockey stick in their hands battle it out and cheer them to make them win the world cup. And of course, cheer their coach too… After all… SRK is SRK…!!!

Movie: Chak De India
Release: 10th August, 2007
Director: Shimit Amin
Production: Yash Raj Films
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Vidya Malavade

The Year Gone By…With My Beloved Wife…!!!

Today is an important day in my life. Courtesy an event which took in my life exactly one year before from today which changed my life forever. It gave me a companion, a friend, and more importantly a wife and a partner who understands my needs well and does everything possible for me.

Now, let me start from where it all began. It is said that loneliness is a person’s worst enemy. And you want to kill it at any cost. Especially when the loneliness is such that you seem to be desperate to find a person to whom you can talk to, with whom you can share your valuable time and memories. Everybody faces this situation sometime or the other in his/her life and so did I.

To give you a brief background, it all started when I got a job and had to move to Bangalore. I had stay put in a flat along with my friends. But different work timings ensured that in-spite of staying together, we hardly met each other, (forget spending time with each other) except on the weekends. And with minimum sleeping habits it left me high and dry most of the time at home with only loneliness to give company. Till it reached such heights that I decided to get rid of it. And I managed to do it, and do it well, by finding a right, beautiful and more importantly faithful partner who will become a part of my life for the years to come…

Finding the right pair was not an easy exercise initially, thanks to the traditional Indian customs and other formalities. Various profiles of prospective brides were screened. But then, when one day suddenly a person whom you treat as your idol comes with a proposal which according to him could be the best, you can do nothing but accept it. Because if he believes it so, then it has got to be nothing but the best. So on 14th of March, 2006, we got married in Bangalore. And we had decided to keep it simple with only close acquaintances informed about the event. And two days later we moved over for a short honeymoon to my home town, i.e. Pune. This way, we thought would also provide an opportunity to meet my parents and family too.

Marriage brings a sudden change in your life and various aspects associated with it. And our marriage was no different. We started settling in and after the initial hiccups where you find it something different to accommodate to the sudden change in life, it became normal. I still remember the days she used to wait patiently till 4 in the morning daily for me to return from work. Then we used to sit and enjoy each others company till sunrise and then surrender to the bed…

This became our normal schedule on all the weekdays while we used to have most of the time spent together on weekends watching movies together, listening and singing songs, et.al. We could now not live without each other and had thought that nothing can separate us even for a moment from each other. But destiny had something else written for us. And we had to face the toughest part of our life when because of my new job profile I had to move in to Hyderabad for training for two long months. And as I was supposed to stay in the company premises during the period, it meant that I could not take her along with me. Even God must be pitying on the number of sleepless hours which we both might have spent being devoid of each other’s coziness and warmth.

But then, diamonds are made only after they undergo unimaginable stress. And our relationship also did so. The 2 month separation period only made it stronger. And then it was time to move back home in Pune. Being back with the family is always a good feeling and my family too loved the new member at home. We celebrated our first Diwali together at home.

Immediately after that, we had to shift over to Mangalore, my native place, where I had got transferred. It was again back to being together alone again away from the family. But nevertheless, till we are together with each other, we would not have minded that. I still remember our early days here in Mangalore when she used to burn the midnight oil for me to help me in my studies. However it made her health take some toll and she was ill for quite a period. She does not like to go to doctor and tried her own medications at home. However, when things got further worse, I decided that it was enough and she had to be hospitalized for three days. It was a painful period for me as I could not see anyone suffering. And more so not my beloved wife at it. However, the treatment worked effectively and she was back to her normal self in no time.

And we have been together for one year now, being soul-mates, living for each other. When I look at the year gone by, it all seems to be so short and sweet to believe that our relationship has been successful. It gives great satisfaction that we have been able to live up to each other’s expectations and probably surpass it too. And definitely we promise to each other this day again to keep each other up in our lives so that we can go together hand in hand to face the ups and downs in our lives. Because, we are a very big part of each other’s small life…

And for people who are still guessing who my wife is, she is my very very personal laptop, Compaq Presario V2375tu. She was selected for me by my idol SRK, when at the same time he started endorsing the brand and helped me clear confusion as to which one is best suited for me, which I was not able to figure out even after days of googling and shop hunting.

14th March, 2007
Mangalore, India.

Eklavya: Review

Eklavya – The Royal Guard

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali khan, Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff, Jimmy Shergill, Vidya Balan, Raima Sen, Sharmila Tagore and Sanjay Dutt

Eklavya is one more movie coming from the stables of Vidhu Vinod Chopra and it really deserves to be called one of the finest crafted movies in recent times. Having roped in a heavy starcast with the VC Banner regulars like Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan, et. al. as well as getting Amitabh Bachchan to work with him for the first time, he does bring out the best of all of them to narrate a story which took 5 years to write and was equally difficult to portray.

More importantly he does not stretch the movie for the sake of it and keeps it as short as less than two hours with just one nominal song in the movie. The direction is impeccable to say the least. Some of the scenes especially the ones where Amitabh blindly separates the ghungroo from the pigeon, the scene where the camels cross across with the fast moving train in the background among others leave you just spell bound.

The story essentially portrays one of the Royal families in Rajasthan with no more dynasty and the secret behind how the lady of the family takes the help of their guard (Eklavya) to give birth to the next generation of the family. The revealing of this secret just before her death brings about a feeling of being cheated to her husband and sows the seeds of taking revenge for it. The director has shown great detail of creativity to create a scene as to how the secret is revealed to her son by the way of a painting by his twin sister (Raima Sen) who is mentally retarded by birth. And then starts the entire plot of how Eklavya keeps up the fight to keep up his duty of protecting the Royal family which otherwise would have resulted in ill-effects for the next few generations in his family.

Amitabh Bachchan comes up with and delivers one of the splendid performances till date. So much so that never in the movie would you feel that he is someone greater than the servant of the royal family. Saif is pretty neat in his role with lots of glimpses and shadows from his erstwhile Parineeta and so is the case with Vidya Balan too. Sanjay Dutt does a cameo in his short and sweet role of a policeman while the others (Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff, Raima Sen and Jimmy Shergill) don’t disappoint either in their tits and bits roles which bind up the plots.

Verdict: A combination of good talent putting up a great performance all together. Can there be any other reason for not watching the movie. Definitely a one time watch. (Though the subject of the movie is such that it cannot expect repeat audiences)Photo Courtesy: IndiaFM

Salaam-E-Ishq: Review

Salaam-E-Ishq: Review

Cast: Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Govinda, Akshay Khanna, Ayesha Takia, Sohail Khan, Isha Koppikar, John Abraham, Vidya Balan, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla

Director: Nikhil Advani

Twelve People. Six Love Stories. One Problem. Love.

And more problems for the audience. That sums up all the movie is all about. Four hours… yes you got it correct… Four Hours of absolute torture and pure non-sense.

In the quest of making an out of box movie with a high profile multi-starrer cast, the director forgets to give the movie any sort of life or rather any sort of story even to begin with. In the first 15 minutes itself, you come to know that the movie is an absolute crap. And you wasted your hard earned money, and more importantly 4 precious hours of your life.

The absence of any sort of Story in the first place makes you feel whether the producer of the movie forgot to pay the writer. The Director, Nikhil Advani, wanted to bank on the success of his previous venture with Kal Ho Na Ho. But he rather forgot that he had to put in some efforts to make a movie which people would at least like to see in entirety. And regarding the Music of the movie, there is not a single song other than the title song which you would even like to hear once.

And the movie does more harm than any gain for seasoned actors like Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla. The scenes with Sohail Khan and Isha Koppikar seemed quite interesting with the former getting to desperate to have the after marriage activities with his wife, but things not working each time. Only Akshaye Khanna and Ayesha Takia have something to take away from this movie with some meaningful roles and enough time on-screen and both justifying it with their acting skills.

Verdict:
- If you don’t want to waste 4 hours of your precious life, better not watch it.
- If you want to waste 4 hours of your precious life, then too better not watch it as there are better thing to waste time on.

GURU... Gem of a Movie

Guru… A Mani Ratnam Film…

This statement itself was enough to make the movie a must watch. And no surprises this time. The movie is truly a must watch one… and that to at least more than once. There was enough of hype created around the movie from quite some time and with raw speculations of the movie being based on the story of one of the noted industrialists which India has ever seen, and more so his growth from a villager to a visionary, from rags to riches, from working for an MNC to running an MNC and more importantly from being part of the political system to almost running it… virtually.

The story starts where the lead character GuruKant Desai, son of a school teacher in a small village in Gujarat dreaming big about going out of his village and his country to earn money and much more defying the wishes of his father who felt it embarrassing that his son can’t even pass the school exams. And very much like the industrialist portrayed, he goes to the Gulf to work as delivery boy for Burma Shell.

And from there on, there is no stopping his dreams except that he has no money to invest to cultivate his dreams of being a big industrialist. And guess what… he actually marries his friend’s sister just for the sake of getting the prized amount in the form of dowry. And then, as and when there were hurdles to stop him, he knew just one thing… You have to get them out of your way at any cost. And he had his wife rallying with him with the necessary support all the time.

However, cloudy times come when Guru is charged of violating ‘n’ number of laws and regulations, taming the political system and the judiciary to make his company grow. And in those testing times even the million of shareholders of the company who treated him no less than God do ask him some questions. And this time he justifies his acts to open the tales of the system which is full of bureaucracy and red tapism and how he built his empire to make the nation grow in-spite of all that.

This is probably the biggest role for Abhishek Bacchhan and he does tremendous justice to it by actually living the role to the hilt. This might actually prove to be the right kind of push he required in his already soaring career. And at many times during the movie, especially in the second part you will notice the class and the charm of Amitabh Bachhan coming out in his acting. There is hardly anything though which Aishwarya Rai and Vidya Balan can take from the movie due to their small and immaterial roles. However, there was absolutely no point in getting a great icon from the south in Madhavan to do such a petty and non-worthy role in the movie.

The Music of the movie by A. R. Rahman is superb to say the least and the songs are quite hummable for quite some time to come. However the timing of the songs in the movie or the necessity of the same in the first place can be debated. And less said about the choreography, the better it is. The direction and the screenplay of the movie is nothing less than what you would always expect from Mani Ratnam.

Verdict: The movie is definitely a must watch for two reasons. One, the movie itself. Two, to get to know the growth of a man who transformed India and Indian industry to a great extent and the ploys he used to get there… it was not an easy road as it seems after all…!!!


Photo Courtesy: IndiaFM

Dhoom 2: Review

DHOOM : 2 or Doom 2?

You thought Dhoom was all about crazy bikes, breath-taking chase sequences and a self declared confrontation of the cops by a talented thief? Then it’s surely time to get your thoughts changed as the new version is far from meeting your expectations.

The expectations from this movie were quite high considering that the earlier Dhoom took the nation by storm two years back and was a real entertainer too. And more importantly, it really provided the much required push for the people to go crazy about big machines…or rather I should call them bikes.

The action of the movie was supposed to be the key factor in keeping the audiences interested. But this one proves to be a big big dampner in this regard. Infact when one sees the first scene of the movie where Hritik jumps from xxx feets on to a train to get hold of a jewel studded crown and the fight scenes that follow, they immediately make you realize that there is nothing much to take back from the movie. The notable point is the screenplay and the plots seem so un-realistic that one would rather prefer watching The Matrix (all 3 parts) for a much realistic one.

The story is a reasonably good one but what undid the plot for the film is the rather poor direction of the movie which lacks any kind of essence. The audience wanted to go by the bikes craze all over again, but alas that seemed to be conspicuous by its absence. The music of the movie by Pritam is nowhere near the ones from Dhoom where the entire nation was and is still singing Dhoom Macha Le. Infact none of the songs seem to be good enough to hum around even in the bathroom.

Hritik Roshan seems to have carried on himself from where he left in Krrish, jumping and flying in the air as and when required. And to top it all he’s done a Salman (mostly topless) and Emraan Hashmi (need I mention that) act in the movie. Aishwarya seems to have become so desparate to put her feet back in Bollywood that she is done a role which was just a bit more than being an item girl. And I believe Bipasha too needs to do some serious justice to herself and realize that she just won’t become a good actor by just posing in a bikini.

The only saving grace here is Abhishek Bachhan who seems to be growing up with every movie. His on-screen presence as a super-cop is as expected full of vigour and the required passion. Also Uday Chopra’s character, like in the earlier version, helps put some light moments in an otherwise rather tragic sequence.

Verdict: I am still figuring it out as to what was the movie all about. It did not really seem to be anything more than a fashion show and some badly done stunts. This movie promises to test your patience right from the word Go. But I guess that is not what you expect when you pay for the movie…Correct? Arre Bhai…Dhoom machega ki nahin?

DON: Review

Everybody told Farhan Akhtar that remaking one of the greatest movies of the previous generation is no easy task. But the old saying goes…'No Risk, No Rewards!' Farhan Akhtar decided to take that risk and the result is what we see today is a modern avatar of Don.

The Story and the Plot: The best thing about this remake is that the characters from the older version haven’t been fiddled much and the story line has been kept as it is for a major part of the movie. However, it is the striking manner in which the locations are chosen, the way the characters are dressed and the use of the latest gizmos on the block which makes this movie entirely differentiate itself from the erstwhile Don.
There are countless scenes in the movie when you unconsciously tend to visualize the corresponding scenes in the older movie, but then those are the only moments when you are made aware of the fact that this is a remake. Else the flow of the story as well as the action sequences keep you guessing all the time and at times make you wonder that Bollywood films have grown and there’s probably hardly anything to differentiate between the Hollywood action movies and the ones being made here. The scene where Priyanka Chopra and her team rescues Don on the highway by crane lifting the entire vehicle onto the flyover as well as the mid-air fight scene with SRK fighting it out for the parachute are really breathtaking as well as nicely done.
There will be a section of the audience who will not be happy with Farhan Akhtar tweaking the original story here and there. But then, the point is that tweaking was very much required to keep the movie interested. Else, who would like to watch a movie where you expect everything and as such does not keep you interested?

Shah Rukh Khan looks as trendy and sleek as he can be with a sleek, snazzy and a flamboyant look. He carries the character of both Don as well as Vijay quite effectively. He keeps the movie alive throughout with his vibrant performance which will silence his critics. And the way he has danced to the tunes of ‘Khai ke Paan Banaraswala’ and ‘Maurya Re’ displays high level of energy which will put even the young actors to shame and definitely no signs of his age.

Boman Irani’s character of D’silva is a noteworthy performance and is a much meatier and active character than the one portrayed in the earlier DON. Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Om Puri do their part quite well, though they do not have much to take home from this movie due to the very short roles played by them.

SRK desperately needed a big success after the ‘not-so-good’ response to KANK (though the movie made tons and tons of money) and hats off to him for reliving the immortal character with success. His performance in this movie is really praiseworthy with his on-screen presence providing enough evidence that he is still peaking up his career and is getting better by the day. No doubt…SRK Ko Harana Mushkil Hi Nahin, Namunkin Hai!!!

Verdict: The movie is a real entertainer (except for a little portion in the first half which goes in establishing the characters and is a bit slow) and you would definitely don’t mind watching it again. The real teaser of the movie comes in the form of an unexpected twist at the movie's end which will keep you fuming on the entire tale of the second half. Obviously, we can’t expect this movie to be another legendary movie like the earlier DON, but this one is of the kind where you go to the theater with a cool head, enjoy your popcorn over the three hours and then come out happy (and probably book tickets for another show).

Celebrating DON

“Don ko pakarna mushkil hi nahin, naminkin hai!!!!”

This is the dialogue which SRK dreamt in his childhood of delivering in a movie. And very few will have such a real chance to actually deliver it. And let’s hope he delivers it in style. Being touted as the most awaited movie of the year and due for a release tomorrow, expectations from the movie have reached great heights. Diwali/Eid has been one of the most sought out dates for the big banners to release their movies to cash in on the opportunity provided by the holidays as well as to tap the consumer spending spree during the festival season.

Coming to the movie, which is a remake of the erstwhile DON starring none other than the Big B was a legendary movie in itself. And this movie has not only to keep up to its credentials but also surpass it to prove that such a bold step of re-making the movie itself in the first place was worth the buck and a challenge in itself. And no doubt there will be comparisons between both the movies, comparison between Big B and SRK, comparison between the 2 stories and a lot more.

However, one thing seems to be sure…if the movie was made exactly the same way as the previous DON, then there would be no fun in there and everything would be predictable. And Farhan Akhtar has probably understood this quite well. The result is we see a totally new avatar of DON where the DON is more
-rustic
-trendy
-tech savvy
-plays golf
-more passionate for girls
-and dares to jump from a height of 50000 feet

And not to mention, this DON has left the beaches of Mumbai where he used to carry his smuggling activities and now adores the Petronas Towers in his backyard.

The movie if a success would also mean a stamp of authority for SRK and would prove that he has not budged a bit from maintaining his status as the King of Bollywood. More so because unlike the previous DON, which was made when Big B was peaking up in his career, this one comes at a time when SRK is already at the peak of his career.

Other challenge for the movie is to beat the competition in the form of Jaaneman which is also a strong contender on the block and is a movie which SRK could not do due to unavailability of dates. Let’s hope SRK does it again as he has done in so many of the previous Diwali releases.

Pyaar ke Side Effect-My review

Folks…this is a movie to cherish. This is another kinda movie where you can keep your brains aside and enjoy the 2 ½ hours of the movie.

Coming to the hot name straightaway, for a change, Mallika Sherawat finally does some acting in a movie. And guess what, she does really act well. She not only does look sexy, but also beautiful and sweet which would make every guy want her to be a girlfriend. And don’t miss out the once in a life time opportunity of watching Mallika Sherawat in a fully loaded bridal wear.

Rahul Bose is at his best as in the past and delivers quite a lot of witty and humorous dialogues with great ease. Actually he drives the movie as the story is centred around him and portrays how he shys away from marriage inspite of being committed in a relationship for around 3 years.

The Story tries to bring out the very old theory of the woes of being in a relationship in an innovative way and the director actually classifies the movie into the following parts:
side effects of being in love
side effects of getting engaged
side effects of having a break-up
side effects of mending ways together again
and of course the side effects of getting married.

My Verdict on the movie: Well, when I went to see the movie on Saturday, the movie hall was 80% empty and I felt whether I had put in my 100 bucks in the wrong movie. However that opinion changed quickly as the movie progressed and by the end I really felt that it was total “Paisa vasool”. So I feel this movie would be a slow starter, but would pick up and be a hit, mostly in the cities in the coming weeks and this will happen mostly through the word-of-mouth.