Roundup…. No Title

October 7, 2007 4 Comments

Haven’t been blogging for a while, as the seasonal lethargy takes over. I can’t really blame it on anything else. Anyway, just a roundup of things/people/songs of note –

1. Television – I am in love with the 2 singing competitions on telly these days, Zee Saregamapa 2007 Challenge – Sangeet ka Pratham Vishwayud and Amul Star Voice of India. SVOI is going through a dramatic phase with Gajendra Chauhan ( the pioneer of such singing talent hunt shows) getting confused with his self created frankenstein. However, the singers to watch out for are Toshi Sabri (brought back into SVOI by popular demand, after being ejected on the basis of public voting), Harshit (SVOI), Amaanat Ali (SRGMP, an amazing voice from Pakistan) and Raja Hassan(SRGMP). Raja has the rusticness and purity in his voice, Toshi is probably the best trained and a sufi-genre singer. Harshit will make an awesome playback singer while Amanat probably is the most versatile of the lot, and will surely make a great ghazal singer if given a chance. His rendition of “Tujhse Naaraz Nahi Zindagi” yesterday (6th Oct) was plain simple awesome. The idea behind this long para on these people is to remind you guys that for every Dhoni who came out of Jharkhand, there are several who join Tata Steel on a small stipend! Please support, encourage and look out for these raw talents in the years to come. You can see the videos online here – SRGMP, SVOI

2. Music – 1. Main Agar Kahoon (Om Shanti Om) – beautiful romantic song with a very simple melody and another proof of how good Sonu Nigam is. Especially, when it comes to romantic songs, there are few who are as good. His voice has a certain yearning that others don’t
b. Yoon Shabnami from Saawariya  sung by Parthiv Gohil. A lot of you won’t even know who Parthiv Gohil is. Parthiv is the lost find of 1998 Saregama MegaFinal (youtube videos) (the year Sonu was still hosting the show,  Sanjeevani – another finalist, got a few movies as playback singers (such as Kareeb), and there were some truly amazing singers like Mohd. Vakil, Bela, Mukund and Sudeshna). An year or two after 1998 Shreya Ghoshal became the winner of Saregama. Anyway, Paarthiv had a very strong classical learning background and his rendition of songs like Ketak Gulab Juhi, and Dhanyabhaag Seva ka Awsar Paaya back in 1998 were wonderful. So, Bhansali has given Parthiv a break, along with Monty (the music director, who played some part in the background score of Devdas)
c. Songs from Manorama – 6 feet under.  From a collection of 4 songs (excluding remixes and versions), 3 belong to the category of very good to excellent. Woh Bheege Pal, Dhundhla jo sama bandha, Tere Sawalon Ke.. Try them out.

3. Movie – Johnny Gaddar is definitely my pick from bollywood. Bourne Ultimatum would be the hollywood pick. Johnny G is a wonderful movie which takes you back to the 70s thrillers where things just kept happening all through the movie. Director’s tribute to Vijay Anand and James Hadley Chase is visible throughout the movie. The movie could have been shortened by 15 minutes or so. But, but… its a wonderful movie to see on a weekend.

4. Books – Reading “Of Love and Other Demons” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez right now. Seems good so far, while being standard Marquez narration. Will update later.

However, just in case you got a feeling that this is what is keeping me busy.. Naah!  How many of you out there have lived out of a suitcase to get a house renovated. Working your butt off five days a week to reach home on a weekend (travelling usually in the middle of night both ways) to deal with tiles, cement, paints, designs and woodwork! Ugh.. its not easy!

Btw.. quick emotional outburst – Raikonnen has taken the pole. Hamilton has to wait. Vettel seems a driver to keep an eye on. The last couple of races are going to be amazingly interesting! 😀

Filed under Bollywood, Book Review, Classical Music, Ghazal, Hollywood, Movie Review, Music, Television Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: Die Hard 4.0

July 8, 2007 3 Comments

Well.. so this Sunday morning was dedicated to Bruce Die Hard Willis. So what if this is the fourth time the DH camp has pulled off something which reminds me of what a classic action movie should be like.

After the first 5 mins, where a rugged and troubled Bruce Willis is trying to save his daughter from the clutches (literally) of her not-boyfriend, the movie gets into some real traditional way of fighting (so reminding me of our good ol Sunny Paaji) where a hero cannot be killed, come what may!

But in case I am sounding satirical or sarcastic, let me retract my tone. I loved every minute of the movie. Not the way I love a Gunda or a Sivaji. Not the way Jaspal Bhatti won an award for the best comic serial when he was trying to make a tragedy serial (in one of the episodes of flop show). DH4 is a perfect action movie, the way I love them.

What I fail to understand though is that a four-time Die-hard cop of NYPD (New York – The Big Apple? the land of dreams, a nation that believes in taking good care of its peepool) having a horrid time despite saving hudreds of people and the holy country amrika all the time.. No gratitude, eh?

Anyway, Bruce Willis is back. His witty cracks, crude action, blood and gore, against an all pervasive villain, a nation not able to think what to do, armed with a gun, a few cartridges, and a hacker who has all the right tricks up his sleeve. Perfect setting. I love such movies.

Oh, I am trying hard to think of something. But the fact is that I have nothing to say! Its a good action movie. You SHOULD watch it if you love action movies. Its a good rush of adrenaline!

Note : Can’t really say if things are improving with this version control thingy!
Die Hard (1) was Die Hard
Die Hard (2) was Die Hard with a vengeance
Die Hard (3) was Die Harder
Die Hard(4) is Die Hardest…
Source : http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Die+Hard

I wonder Die Hard (5) will be called. Die harder than the hardest? Die hardest with a vengeance? duh.. I give up! make it as nice, and I will go watch!

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Well.. I haven’t stopped watching movies, or plays…

June 4, 2007 Leave a comment

Well.. I haven’t stopped watching movies, or plays, or listening to music that I want to talk about, or books that I have read that I want to let you know about. and its not that I have been totally deprived of time either! Yes, life has been a bit of this and that, but I think its more of outright laziness lately that has stopped me from writing!

So… Wassup? Me? Watched Shrek3, Cheeni Kum, Shootout at Lokhandwala and n number of Naruto episodes lately. [ Remind me to start writing about animation series like Naruto and Avatar-The Last Airbender as well]

Shrek 3 was neat, not as neat as 1 or 2, but neat nevertheless! Time well spent. Watched it at Eros, Nariman Point. It was a pleasant change to watch a movie from balcony for 60 bucks, in a really downtown location (people tell me that it doesnt get more posh than that in mumbai – South mumbai is “the” place!). I guess one of these days I would stop watching movies so frequently because I don’t think a movie like Shootout deserves even 25 bucks, leave aside 250 bucks! The movie was pathetic, to say the list. Rediff was right in commenting about the idiots who fund such movies. Cheeni Kum would have been a perfect movie if the length was shortened and Paresh Raval muted a bit! Tabu and Amitabh are cool, and its surprising to notice that they had a pretty cool chemistry! Its a good movie to watch!

At one time I really wanted to blast movies like Tara Rum Pum having watched the early shows. But thats some less blood on my hands! 😉

Watched a play – “Flowers” at NCPA. Its a monologue enacted by Rajit Kapur (Of Byomkesh Bakshi fame). (Here is a review that I largely agree with) . Same problem as Cheeni Kum. The length, though short by the standards of usual plays (90 mins), could have been shortened further. More so, because there was no change in scene, no pause, no other character but the protagonist, and no movements. Its about a priest who’s torn between his duties as a priest, his love for his wife and his lust for a courtesan. Its a 90 minute narration where the priest walks through the course of events, his emotions, his agony and conflict, paints images using his words, and makes us all visualize the drama! Rajit Kapoor managed to be ok. But the play was just not my kind. I don’t want to take the credit away from Rajit, but c’mon – I have a low attention span. I can’t concentrate on something for 90 minutes on the trot! Not a lecture from the greatest of professors, not the same song even if I am in love with it, nothing!

My analytics blog is still waiting for the remaining articles and a response to Amit’s comment.

There is a blogger meet on 9th June in Mumbai. I am still debating within myself if I want to attend! Should be fun. Lets see!

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Movie Review : The Pursuit of Happyness

March 12, 2007 Leave a comment

I happened to watch “The Pursuit Of Happyness” over the weekend.

Based on the original story of Chris Gardner (the man behind Gardner-Rich brokerage firm), the screenplay and characterizations are just perfect. The movie ranges from tragic to funny to inspirational.

The title of the movie has Happiness misspelled as Happyness – in the memory of the day care where Christopher (Chris’s son) goes everyday.

Overall sentiment : Must watch.

Biggest draws – 1. The performances of Will and Jaden Smith 2. The Screenplay.

Biggest Flaw – Another story about the Great American Dream. While the story still inspires you, there is not much new in terms of the storyline

Will Smith in the lead role has pulled off another marvelous performance. As a struggling yet positive father whose only dream, probably, is to keep his son happy, Will packages poise, understated pain, downright humor in one nice packet. As most of the reviews point, Will Smith elevates the movie to a different level.

Jaden Smith, the little boy playing Christopher Gardner (Chris’s son) is equally amazing.

There are some amazing wisecracks, which I dont know if they are inspired by real life incidents that the real Chris Gardner lived through.

Reference to Thomas Jefferson’s declaration of independence and the right to “pursue happiness” keeps the theme moving. But the best is when the narrator says – probably he was right. we can only pursue happiness. We can never have it.

The wisecracks are good. (e.g. the brokerage firm interview of Chris Gardner – One of the men asks him “What would you say if I told you we once hired a man who came in without a shirt on?” Chris pauses then wittily replies “Those must have been some really nice pants.” )

There are those tragic moments as well – especially the shot where Chris and Christopher are spending the night in a rest room.

People may have different views about the movie but for me the endgame was Will Smith’s portrayal.

Some movies are not meant to be analyzed for “is it really possible?”. They are just feel-good movies (yeah! The great American dream.. hmph!). What makes such movies great are performances such as Will Smith’s.



Couple of first timers for me –
1. I watched a movie all alone, all by myself. And its a pretty good experience – if the movie is good, there is no disturbance whatsoever. If the movie is bad, you can just walk out without having to convince anyone else to walk out as well!
2. The first shot of the movie was the intermission break. Thats a neat one! The show was going to be an uniterrupted one – no intermissions later. I wonder if the popcorn and pepsi sales are higher for such uninterrupted shows (with people wondering what if I feel like having it later!)

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Couple of weeks of missed reviews!

March 7, 2007 2 Comments

Few snippets that’ve been lost in the sands of the last few (phew!) weeks –

1. Double deal – I decided to catch up with this fairly well known play. Experience – 4-5 out of 10.
Sandhya Mridul looks very beautiful. But Mahesh Manjrekar acted better. Even if I am the only person to think so – I always got a feeling that both the people are acting at 2 levels – 1. when they are trying to have this continuous conversation in English (I find it normal for Indians to intuitively think in their native tongue and then translate before conversing), and 2. The play itself.
It must be difficult to pull these multi-stor(e)y acts!
Also, its a one-act play split into 2 halves. 2 characters. Talking continuously.
Sense of humor – ok. Sense of drama – average. plot – good. Use of stage – minimal. Use of props – minimal. Characterization – could be better. Background music used- average.
Final comment – Its that one thing you dont want to do for fun when you want to do something for fun.
2. Ghostrider – Again.. Pathetic! Of all the comics turned movies, I have ended up liking X-men and Spiderman. Superman- the older ones. The recent one was not quite there.
Ghostrider is that Ajay Devgan action movie where even if he jumped from the 50th floor to land on 2 bicycles, there would be some B-grade movie watchers hooting for him. And the director would still say – my movie is different. It appeals to a different class of people.
Nicholas Cage, and Eva Mendes disappoint. Cage looks like a doped patient of running-stomach-syndrome. I want to go somewhere but I am too doped to understand where I want to go kinda looks! The devil is useless – does not evoke a laughter, definitely does not scare. Villains are more funny with their frozen white makeup!
Action sequences are basic, stuff that can be seen in every third movie.

High point of the movie – Emraan Hashmi, the serial kisser of Bollywood, was standing next to me in the washroom. And I realized that he is shorter than me (for those who havent seen me, someone has to be extremely extremely short to be shorter than me). God bless Indian Cinema!

3. Chennai – the city deserves a mention. I was in Chennai for 3-4 months in 2003. While talking to Bonnie and Tushar, we all agreed on two things –
a. Anyone who stays here for more than x months, should be a given a certificate of appreciation. X is a function of how far north of chennai the person is from.
b. If you see a beautiful girl in Chennai, then most probably she is a tourist. And its not about them not being good looking. They just dont have the attitude to look good.

In 2006, with probably 60% of educated families having one family member who is/has been abroad, the city is down in the pits with its conservative nature. The autowallahs havent changed in the last 40 years it seems. The roads continue to be messy (though definitely better than Mumbai roads). People on the street still cannot come out of the north-south divide and their biases. Extremely unfriendly. And any johnnie can become a hero down south!

4. Saving the best for the last – Prithvi Theater– Celebrating Poetry. I was there on a saturday when they were showcasing the emergence of progressive poetry. However, the story went back to as far as Bulle Shah, Kabirdas and covered Ghalib, Nirala, and contemporary Nida Fazli sahab as well. Beautiful collection of poetry. Couple of the actors could have done better by memorizing their lines completely.

Final suggestion – The Babbar family kids (Raj Babbar’s son and daughter) – they should stay away from theatre. Those who cannot act in movies, will never be able to act on a stage. and especially, if the stage is like Prithvi!

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