Perspectives and perceptions

For the first time I had not read about this movie before going to see it, had not searched for it on google, no research on IMDB, nothing. I was as blank, as a canvas. And what a painting the movie left on me when it was over, literally and otherwise. Bombay, my city, my home, has never looked so intense and so deep before. There was the chaos that I've grown up with, but there was this depth that I have failed to appreciate and to recognize. Maybe one of the most beautiful things that has been said about this movie is said by its producer, and actor, Aamir Khan, "The movie is like an artistic painting on celluloid" And that's it. That is how beautiful this movie is. If you're someone who appreciates photography, who loves the play of colors, the confluence of ideas and poetry, this movie will touch you. It's almost like an art film yet not. It's a very different genre of film, and it got under my skin. I'll attempt to be less vague about it and give

First things first, I have read and re-read all the Harry Potter books ever since they were written and almost know them by-heart! :P I have seen only the first movie of the series and after being terribly disappointed didn't feel the need/urge to go for any other after... There. Now having said this, this movie was really good. So for starters, I had issues with the book. The 7th book was the most disappointing in which I felt like there was no reason or purpose behind all the killing. Yes, she did tie most (or actually all) loose ends, but it seemed like she did it because she didn't know what else to do. I read that book in about 3 hours and for me the book really needs to grip you, like you shouldn't want to put it down, it should engulf you... but the fact that the book didn't manage to grip me till the last chapter or so when the story actually begins to unravel is pathetic... anyways. The movie is based on the book (duh!) So I pretty much knew the story well so

Last night I was in a movie-watching mood. Having got many movies on my laptop which I've never seen before, I decided to take the plunge and watch this movie. My friend had titled it 'If Only - Revoltingly Romantic', obviously instead of that being a deterrent, it became a reason for me to see the movie. In the beginning I felt like the movie was going nowhere. But in the second half, as expected, I got terribly emotional and there was this huge void inside me, almost as though I'd lost someone I loved... The movie speaks about the million things that we experience in our lives everyday. Things we take for granted at times, and people whose love we don't appreciate. I know I'm being overtly simplistic in my perspective and biased because I liked the movie, but to me a movie is a message and that movie definitely conveyed a strong message to me. That of appreciation, acceptance and love. Throughout the movie in the first half, the girl is doing so many things to

Yes a lot of people told me not to go for this movie, but I decided to go anyways! :) So. The movie. The plot is basically laid out within the first five minutes. Two strangers coincidentally meet at the G.Washington bridge in NY because both of them are about to commit suicide. However, fate has something else in mind. So their repeated attempts to suicide keep failing. They then make a pact to die some 20 days later and during that time they want to fulfill their 'Do before I die list'. I'd say they could've done a LOT more even with this concept in mind. It didn't have to be so superficial and simplistic. He has severed ties with his family, friends and become business-minded. When he loses it all in the stock market crash, he has nothing left to live for and hence decides to die. She was in love with this person for years together, and when she finds out that he cheated on her, she's shattered and hence doesn't want to live. This was too silly for a plo

Huge amount of expectations from this movie after the amazing success from Step Up 1 and Step Up 2. Personally I enjoyed Step Up 2 more than anything because that whole emotional tension, and the discovering of so many underdogs, that journey was magical and meaningful. I say this because that's what's missing from this movie. A quick overview would be that even though the dancing is amazing (literally some of the moves are out of this world), the movie has no storyline so to speak off, the acting isn't there, the leads aren't strong enough, the movie lacked the punch that the first two movies delivered. It didn't have a soul. In the first two movies dancing was something that brought out a new character within the people which gave them respect, here, it was very superficial. The plot is quite simple. Two friends who're the core part of a crew, part ways because one of them throws the battle to pay off his gambling debt (kind of like match fixing!). That becom

I had downloaded this movie from a friend of mine, thinking it's the movie which I now is called 'A Lot Like Love'!! :) Anyways, I watched it... Very basic plot, lots of couples all over the place, primarily in England, but also in France and America. Hugh Grant is the Prime Minister of Britain, and weirdly has no backbone until someone tries to get fresh with one of his personal aides seemingly unaware of his presence! Liam Neeson is a step-dad grieving for the loss of his wife, but manages to strike a great rapport with his step-son, helping him to win over the love of his life (even though he's just 11!) And the other stories are just way too boring. The thing is, a movie should be an experience, it must take you through a journey... It cannot narrate something that you didn't want to watch, or didn't like watching, and expect you to come out of it smiling. Especially for something as romantic as a holiday love movie. It's precisely because of movies lik

Yes I finally did go and see the much talked about movie. And I didn't say a word. Not a single word during the entire movie, in spite of the fact that I had gone with three good friends of mine. I cringed, I moved, I expressed emotions on my face, but I didn't bat an eyelid! What a movie! What an idea, and what a depiction! Simply superb! I have never come out of a movie with a hangover of thoughts, I have never had a headache because I've thought and concentrated so much... There is imagination, and there's science. This was the actual depiction of scientific imagination. It was sculpted and timed to perfection and everything was in the perfect measures. Without divulging into details, I'm going to try and simplify the story to what it was. So you have a central character, Cobb played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is an extractor. Employed by huge corporates for the ultimate espionage, to steal ideas from the subconscious minds of people. He's given a chance to

So yesterday I went for the movie and my oh my was I surprised! :) To finally see a Hindi movie that's been directed so well, it was amazing! Ranbir Kapoor has done such a fantastic job that there are markings of Michael Corleone in his mannerisms. Similar to him, he's back from US for some time and has the innate ability and the acute mind to play the political games... The movie shocks you at times, and manages to make the entire story believable, to a point where I was praying that I never come across a cold-blooded strategist like him in my life! His expressions, his acting is so subtle and is bang on. Katrina wasn't bad herself, except her diction needs to be worked on, especially if she's going to deliver a speech! Unlike the hype, she's not the central character, rather Ranbir, Nana Patekar, Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpai form the main characters of the movie. Manoj Bajpai however disappointed me with his performance, I was expecting a lot from him, especially

Okay, so i was out on this awesome day + evening + night this sunday... and we had to catch a movie. Wanted to watch 'Date Night' but the timings just didn't work out, so there we were watching 'Bounty Hunter'... :) Jennifer Aniston in yet another movie proves that she's just not cut out for acting in movies, she was great in Friends, but has not been like that in anything else! Clearly, the director needs to be able to get her to act like the one in Friends did. I think what was missing was, her expressions, she's just too controlled, too straight-faced, and too just 'tight' in everything and you just can't feel for her. Gerard Butler is okay. Nothing great. He's not even half as good as he was in P.S. - I love you! The movie's nice. I mean it's not great. You wouldn't miss out on anything if you didn't see it, but it's not like you'll be terribly bored watching it either! There were some really funny moments, especia

Well... This movie was one of the most forgettable movies I've seen in the recent past! To begin with, the movie starts off like 300, with a narration that's supposed to set the pace and the base to the entire story. But they forget to use things like voice modulation, and most importantly a script?! The narrator mumbles something about the creation of the earth by the Gods, and talks about their love for man... and you just don't get the drift. Then you see a woman who places a kid inside a basket (kind of like Moses) into the sea along with a woman in the same basket. A family adopts the kid and he's raised. Cut to 18-20 years hence, the kid's grown, the family of four are sailing, trying to catch fish for their livelihood. Suddenly you hear the talk of an uprising, and men fighting with the Gods! It's so far-fetched that you just never understand or believe what's happening. So lightning strikes, the family's boat sinks, and as expected, everyone exce

There are some movies where you should just choose to leave your head behind and see only the movie. This movie, Hum Tum aur Ghost, is somewhat similar. The plot is fairly simple, you have Arshad Warsi, playing Armaan, a fashion photographer who's a heavy drinker, assisted by a gorgeous Sandhya Mridul, playing Mini, in love with Dia Mirza, playing Ghehna, who's supposed to be the editor of Cosmopolitan (and is not seen under pressure, is not hyper fashion conscious, or busy at all!). That said, you have an entire entourage of "ghosts" who are following Armaan, because he has the "gift" to see, and hear them. Similar to the Sixth Sense, each of them have died having something unfinished and need help from him to complete that deed so that they can move on to heaven... It's interspersed with some comic dialogues, and some great acting esp. by Boman Irani, and Sandhya Mridul. Arshad Warsi fails to evoke the right sentiment of pity, warmth, and affection in

Well, I reached late for this movie and did regret it because it took me the better part of 20 mins to figure out why the movie looked like it did. It's shocking, gruesome even at some points, daringly different, and just managed to make me squirm in my seat at points. Technically this film is very different because it's shot completely using weird camera angles... it's made primarily on a handycam, a CCTV camera footage, sting camera videos. It's actually uncomfortable to see the movie because of these angles, jerky hand movements, and brisk cuts. The film is basically an integration of 3 stories, one each on love, sex and betrayal (dhokha)... the characters are very real, very ordinary, daily life people whom you would meet anywhere. The dialogues are what you would actually hear people talking. The ease with which they abuse, they call names, everything is very realistic. If you're the types who leads a sheltered life in your comfort zone, this is a movie that do

After having been completely enamored and in love with the song "Uff Teri Adaa" I couldn't wait to watch the movie finally. The end emotion being, a decent watch, but could've been much better. The movie begins with a very stereotypical life of a guy (Farhaan) who's just not got anything going for him, from a landlord who's hounding him for money, to a boss who's blaming him for everything that goes wrong, to the hot co-worker (Deepika) who just doesn't know of his existence at all! The change that comes into his life, is a call, at 5 am each day, by a man who claims to be "Karthik" himself who guides him to becoming the man that he is. And voila, suddenly, the real "Karthik" begins to stand up for himself, asserts himself in front of his boss, and manages to strike conversation (a rather witty one) with Deepika too! Sitting in the audience, you literally feel like whistling and hooting when you see him walk down the corridor of his

For days i've been thinking about what i should blog on... and then my friend took me and some of my college friends for this movie at sterling (yes we paid rs. 150 per ticket, which reminds me i need to pay her back...) so anyways we go. after the awesome reviews given by ALL the people, expectations are running high... the story is quite simple, srk is autistic and was raised by a very sensible, level-headed mother, whose acting is amazing btw... being autistic did not in any way hamper his intelligence and thus, he grew up to be quite an intelligent guy, just different. in her efforts to appreciate his smaller victories, she ends up neglecting the younger son, (essayed by jimmy shergill) and he ends up feeling left out and resented. he grows up and goes to the US and then starts the process to invite her and srk to the US. just when they're weeks away from immigrating, she dies. thus srk flies alone to the US. joins his brother's company and starts working there. during

No this post is not a review on the book by Alvin Toffler, which I do want to read but haven't managed to so far... it's just that lately i've been dreaming and thinking about my future... personal yes, but professionally too. i'm doing a masters in advertising and marketing which has got me thinking about various careers that it can lead to. ad agencies, fmcg companies (fast moving consumer goods, like HUL and P&G), marketing companies, brand management, copywriting, account planning... there are a lot of options but i'm still searching. i wanted to do something with films and designs. i thought a career which required me to meet people, talk to them, understand their requirements, get it executed, imagine, design, etc. would be ideal. this sounds like the perfect job description for client servicing and account planning. but i don't know. i think i'll know only after i begin working in a company. then i also had these thoughts of working with a magazin

What a better way to begin your morning than to write about the movie, Wake Up, Sid! :) It's one of the most happy, feel-good rom-coms the Hindi film industry has produced in a long long time! There are a lot of things right with the movie, from the simple story, to the well etched characters, to some fantastic acting, seamlessly blended background songs, real locations, and good cinematography. For starters, I saw this movie almost immediately after I saw, "What's your raashee?" and so I was obviously highly impressed with the HUGE difference in the two... But even otherwise, this movie was a happy movie which left you with a smile on your face... A simple story about a rich father's son, Sid Mehra (Ranbir), whose only occupation is to spend his father's money on parties, time-pass, and clicking photos. He meets Aisha Banerjee (Konkana) who's just come to Bombay from Calcutta (using the old names purposely - the movie did too!) She's a mature, wanting

Well, this is going to be a short one! To begin with, I was expecting a movie worth the name it was carrying, "Ashutosh Gowariker" It did not. It failed miserably! For starters, 1. Harman Baweja - This guy is terrible. I haven't seen Love Story 2050, but I'm willing to bet, it wasn't good because of him. His acting is substandard, his expressions are non-existent and his entire screen presence is minimal. In a screen he shares with Darshan Jariwalla, one tends to notice the latter. He is also completely overshadowed by Priyanka in the movie, for starters, the movie revolves around him, but he's more like the frame in which Priyanka is set! 2. Poor screenplay - There's hardly any dialogue which evokes an emotion, no laughter, no humour, no emotional touchpoint either. I'm wondering what happened to the Ashutosh Gowariker we know! In the entire movie of 3 1/2 hours (sigh) I remember only one dialogue, where Darshan (Debu) says to these two men who're

Why is it that we only like or appreciate movies that tell a depressing tale or are extremely lively? We have begun to conform to some norms for films and we expect every film to be better than the last. Delhi-6, I felt was a beautifully made movie especially in terms of the rendition of some scenes and some shots. The story is quite simple with a lot of characters. Waheeda Rehman wants to back to her city, Delhi from New York to die peacefully. Her son refuses to come back, and hence her grandson, Abhishek Bachchan decides to bring her back and stay with her. Once here, he is immediately absorbed into the daily brouhaha (organised chaos) of a local city. Rishi Kapoor plays a character of Baig Uncle, Om Puri, Suchitra Phatak, and others are neighbours. Divya Dutta essayed her role of a sweeper very beautifully! The usual Hindu-Muslim angle is also brought in with seamless accuracy. Sonam Kapoor though a leading character doesn't have much of a role, her aim is to become an Indian I

A musical is like a breath of fresh air. For me, it's an outlet for a voice that's been away in hiding... I've always loved musicals, My Fair Lady and Sound of Music are movies that make me want to sit up, and sing! Sister Act (I and II) was fun too! We had heard a lot about Mamma Mia, but somehow we kept missing it at the theatre... Until finally my mom and I decided that today was it. We were just going to see it! And we did! To begin with we saw the movie at Gem which is just a tiny theatre with a capacity of 40 people. It was a late night Saturday show. Most people knew the songs of abba even before they walked in. The movie begins and there’s this cheerful girl who starts singing honey, honey and suddenly we realized that we are not the only ones humming the song. In fact people are singing the songs! The lyrics were being displayed on the screen and so we all started singing along with the movie and it turned out to be a sing-along mamma mia! Just like that! Without a

For a long time now, I've been in love with romantic comedies... I just can't seem to get enough of them. Today, I saw Notting Hill for the 'nth' time, although for some reason the movie completely eluded me... it was when I saw it that I remembered having seen it previously... Anyways, so I've finished watching this movie, and I know that the next time I read 'Notting Hill' in the schedule, I will sit to watch the movie like I would for 'You've got mail' and 'Sleepless in seattle' and the other million lovely romantic comedies... Until I asked myself why? What is it that makes me want to go back and watch these movies... the fact that love exists? the fact that you could have a day like that? the fact that these dreams are not unachievable? the fact that for once you want to feel like that? or what? Pondering, I am still thinking... Framing my thoughts while I pen this down... I dismiss my own theories because I know that I have felt thi