And Stanley is a leftie!

How can a story be THIS beautiful, and be heart-warming and

heart-breaking all at the same time?

Oh Stanley and your elusive dabba. You had me, my soul, my all, from the opening credits itself. (Yes adorable mini cartoon, I'm talkin' abt you!)

Stanley ka dabba is one of those rare, Rare, Very rare movies where you get to see the child being-well, a child. I'd grown tired of all those hundreds of movies out there where kids behave prissy, with aggravating know-it-all teen sass. *Points accusing finger especially at the kid in Cheeni Kam who wanted to watch porn {granted she was terminal, but what's with the double-entendre laced inappropriate crushing on your sixty-plus neighbour? Weeeeeeeeird and uncomfortable.} and her ilk.
 On the other hand, the nicer ones include the friends in Paa, Taare Zameen Par and company. But yeah, TZP is practically an Amole Gupte product, so the normal children characters are expected.So, Stanley and his friends are such good hearted darlings like kids normally are, that it's a pure delight just to watch them interact on-screen.

Ooh, and for once, we get to see a deep-rooted stereotype squished. About time too. The rich, fat boy is actually nice and the kind who shares his tiffin!

And coming to the titular tiffin.. There's actually a parallel to Stanley's absent tiffin. Stanley meanie Hindi teacher, of the voracious apetite, Verma sir (Amole Gupte) who doesn't seem to have a tiffin either and shamelessly digs into everyone else's tiffins- students and teachers alike. Thumbs up for such a believable performance Amole Gupte! More so for the utter lack of vanity with which he essays the role. You'll totally want to pull out his hair out cos that's how believable he makes the character.

  

Coming to one of my personal favorite moments in the movie. Every frame of it is a personal favorite for me, but this one's all the more dear cos:
 How not to love the fact that Stanley is a leftie, with all the mundane leftie problems lefties face every day of our lives. Your left elbow constantly hitting your right handed neighbour's elbow just one of the many problems you face in a right-dominated, right-biased world. I'm so familiar with that happening like ALL the time at school. But what's more personal is how effectively the director captures each teacher's reaction to this problem. Must, must, MUST gush about how much I love him for including this detail into the story. So trivial,
and yet so true!
 My sister and myself have this fetish for finding out lefties among celebs. So when we do find one eventually, it's always a thrill and squee when you note a compatriot. "omg, i didn't realize he/she's one of us!!"

To say more would be to kill the fun for ya. But I must say, the first time around I sniffed like a little girl by the end of the movie. The second time round? I bawled my eyes out. Apart from the explicit storyline, Stanely ka Dabba mainly is concerning a universal problem. But i'd be a spoilsport if I were to spill more beans. Considering how this is the core of this heavenly fare.

Alright, happy movie watching everyone. Love you Stanley and all Stanley-friends!

Try to Remember

Even after hundreds of movies with pichle janam ka pyaar and the like, people never get bored of 'em, do we?

Maybe you do, but this movie in here is inspired from a historical artifact that was unearthed in South Korea, famously known as "Letter to Won's Father". Man, I don't know whether the movie will be great, but the trailer is fine, the music used in it is…just right, and most importantly? The crux of the movie, the letter itself. Just had to share it!

*

In 1998 a 16th-century mummy of Eung-tae, a member of Korea's ancient Goseong Yi clan was found in a construction site, as they unwrap the mummy a letter written by his wife was found laying on the chest of the mummy, below its translation of the letter.
*
To Won's Father
June 1, 1586
You always said, "Dear, let's live together until our hair turns gray and die on the same day. How could you pass away without me? Who should I and our little boy listen to and how should we live? How could you go ahead of me?
How did you bring your heart to me and how did I bring my heart to you? Whenever we lay down together you always told me, "Dear, do other people cherish and love each other like we do? Are they really like us?" How could you leave all that behind and go ahead of me?
I just cannot live without you. I just want to go to you. Please take me to where you are. My feelings toward you I cannot forget in this world and my sorrow knows no limit. Where would I put my heart in now and how can I live with the child missing you?
Please look at this letter and tell me in detail in my dreams. Because I want to listen to your saying in detail in my dreams I write this letter and put it in. Look closely and talk to me.
When I give birth to the child in me, who should it call father? Can anyone fathom how I feel? There is no tragedy like this under the sky.
You are just in another place, and not in such a deep grief as I am. There is no limit and end [to my sorrows] that I write roughly. Please look closely at this letter and come to me in my dreams and show yourself in detail and tell me. I believe I can see you in my dreams. Come to me secretly and show yourself. There is no limit to what I want to say and I stop here.
http://www.archaeology.org/1003/abstracts/images/korea1.gif
(Courtesy Andong National
University)
*

See? I knew it was worth posting! Makes even cold me melt. The protagonists meet, and the guy gets the déjà vu feeling that he might have met her somewhere before. As the movie progresses, they both see the news of the letter separately, and on a strange impulse go there and well, things start falling into place. =)

For some strange reason, I can't upload the trailer. So here's the link instead. Take care y'all.

Adorkabl-est movie of the year

Seriously, from my opinions about the movies whose teasers I reviewed in this post, I think only this movie has been true. Everything else was heart-breakingly pretentious and cheated on me. Yes, I'm talking to you- backstabber I Hate Luv Storys and Aisha. I don't think I can ever trust you with a movie again Imran. But then again, maybe I took this long to reach that conclusion only cos I didn't dare watch your dreck movies Luck and Kidnap.

**

Anyways, presenting to you Tere Bin Ladan, starring good ol' Ali Zafar, Pak pop singer. Sigh… I've missed you, boy. I fell in love with him years back after watching his music videos "Channo" and "Sunre Sajaniya". He was adorkable back then and still adorkable now. And this movie makes full use of his dorky-ness.

Though it's barely one and half hour long, it's not too overloaded with plots. There's one plot, and the movie does perfect justice to it. Btw, I had to clutch my sides and stuff my fist in my mouth to stop from laughing too hard. It's a riot.

Once more for emphasis: It is a R-I-O-T.

And lordy, I missed you so, so, so very, very much Shaleen meri Kaleen!! Great comeback, girl! [rememb the tomboy from JTYJN? she's in here! And I did see her in the trailer itself! {and I gotta stop being hyper. Control Raphe, control.}]

Movie makes fun of many things in a happy, whimsy, mischievous, playful manner. Like, the American paranoia about terrorists, the Asian dream of making it big in America, the futility of the War on Terror, among other things. One lovely thing you'd notice upon watching the movie is that, even though it's about a Pakistani's story set in Pakistan- you can totally relate with it. Entirely. I especially love how everyone talks in Punjabi. After all, Pakistanis and Indians were all one and the same until that bloody Partition came down on us and dragged everything along with it. You don't really even remember that the movie's supposedly Pakistani, until the characters mention it. Long-lost siblings we both, like I said.

The tone is hilarious, soft political satire, great cast, and a fast moving, tightly packaged script. Everyone already knows the premise of the story, so I won't repeat it. Zafar [gah, even thinking about him makes me want to swoooooon] is the slick guy who's got the gift of the gab and can totally convince anyone to join his wacky plan. Sigh, I loved every single character. I have got this massive crush on the whole movie, the story, the script, the direction, the cast [Qureishi!! Zoya! Lateef! Majeed! Gul! Usman! Ali! And of course, the real star- Noora! And the superstar- Sikander!!]

Confused? Don't worry, you'll find out once you watch the movie.

And why oh why did they ban this gem?

I fell all over in love again with that catchy "He's a good looking Ulloo da Pattha". Kudos to everyone's favorite trio Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy for the music.

My rating? 12 on 10. A must-must-MUST watch for the weekend. Go buy the CD already!

Oh, and one last thing to do before I wrap up the post:

*gets down on one knee, and;

"Tere Bin Ladan, will you marry me??"

Teaser reviewing

The best movie of the year 2008 for me was Rock On!!

And the best movie of the year 2009 for me was Wake Up Sid!

What's it gonna be like this year?

Teaser season's back on track!

Let's get down to business and get the dud potential movies outta the way. Even better, let's vote for which could be the dumbest movie and make a dartboard of it. Cheesy smiles all across the room. =D

Tight competition's on to make it to the potentially crappiest movie list. I'm not even sure which one's worse.

Kajra re- I thought everyone had at least a tiny brain to KNOW that Himesh Reshammiya ain't hot property. Hell, he isn't ANY sort of property. I used to love Pooja Bhatt. Not anymore, people. Love died the moment she signed that idiot. He can't act. He can't compose music. He can't even get a single tune straight to croon. And you make him lead actor? I wouldn't have given him the hopes to make it to back-up dancer status in my movie [if I ever get around to it, ever]. And deserts? Is that Udita Goswami trying to pretend to look all mysterious and princessy? Ugh!!

Krantiveer- Deshdrohi level I'm thinking.

Milenge Milenge- I was barely a teen when I first heard of this project. Now I'm nowhere near my late teens even and NOW they're promoting the movie?? WTH?

Ladies and Gentlemen: presenting to you the very worst project of the millennia. Concept lifted [as always] by The-Man-Who-Just-Doesn't-Get-The-Hints-When-To-Stop; Priyadarsan. Who else? He's here with two movies and I wish God would be ok if I'm having all these very angry emotions at him. He's lifted from one of Malayalam's classy comic movies of all times and made it into a laughable [and not in a positive way] affair called Khatta Meetha. And I can't think of enough mean things to call him. Help?

Then the *&%&(())@@#%^^ lifts THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, PURE MOVIE I've seen in quite some time- "Children of Heaven" and makes it into "Bum Bum Bole". I wanna throw really heavy things at a wall right now. I'm just so annoyed! Why doesn't anyone ban him from making more movies? He used to be so talented and creative a decade back? Why's he so desperately pressing onto the Self-Destruct button? Why, oh why??

Was that tiring or what?

Now let's get on to the good movies list.

I Hate Luv Storys. No need for words! I'm not usually the cutesy-movie lover, but once in a while, I let myself be so. And this one deserves all my love. Yay for Imran and Sonam!

Aisha- whoa, have I been waiting for this one to hit the screens or what. Ever since I heard that a project on Jane Austen's vivacious Emma was in the talks and that the father-daighter duo of Anil-Sonam Kapoor would be taking up the plum roles; I was all HUZZAH! No Anil Kapoor to be seen, but I'm still hyper excited after watching the teaser. There's the indie movie prince Abhay Deol [more Huzzah!], Sonam Kapoor lookin' all superbly single and you-can't-get-me hotness oozing, good soundtrack used for teaser, great teaser itself!

There's Udaan that seems interesting from the promos and Lamha from acclaimed director Dholakia to look forward to too.

Almost forgot Once Upon A Time In Mumbai. Is it good? Bad? Can't be sure from the teasers as yet. Music seems pretty good though!

Tere Bin Laden- . This one promises to be hilarious, and teaser itself put me in stitches Everyone listen up, presenting the BEST TEASER OF THE SEASON. Loved it to bits, shreds and every tiny-teensy-weensy pieces of it. Palindrome of a sentence eh? The concept had me at hello. It looks the kind of movie which would nicely fit into the shelf along with Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye and the likes. Only, this one seems a political satire, while the former was a social satire. And the first song Ulloo Da Pattha was veryy peppy. Visuals were fantastic and I give kudos to [was it?] Ali Zafar guy [is it?] for his honest-to-goodness Ulloo da Pattha portrayal. But the biggest cheer is reserved for the Osama Bin Laden doppelganger.

Cheers!!!

Oh Alice!

 I'd been waiting for the release of "Alice in Wonderland" by Tim Burton ever since that first trailer last year. Many reasons for the anticipation:

1. Directed by Tim Burton! 'nuf said.
2. If the trailer looks this amazing; how much more amazing will the movie be? Obvious answer!
3. Most important reason; Johnny Depp
4. The 'muchness' factor, of course!

Johnny Depp is hot in whatever avatar he takes on. How the hell was I to know I'd get a crazy, absurdly massive crush on Mad Hatter? of all characters in the whole story??!

I don't have to gush about Tim Burton's direction since it's a universally known fact that he is sui generis. And all the three movies of his that I've watched include Johnny Depp. Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and now Alice in Wonderland. Maybe I'm not the only one with infatuations…

Warning: Anyone who hasn't watched the movie, and thus detests spoilers ought to run now when there still is the opportunity. You stand warned: This post is spoiler-rich!

Synopsis: The movie deals with Alice post her trip to the what-she-calls "Wonderland". She's now all of 20 and about to be proposed by a lousy, spineless Lord. The girl has one, single recurring nightmare; she's falling down, and down and down a hole with no end…and the rest-as-you-know.

So was that trip to Wonderland just a dream? [or nightmare, if you please] Or reality? What if Alice returned to that place after a long time? As in, now?

General Gushing: The movie is story-telling at its best. Just anyone can re-tell a well known fairy-tale. But it takes a really good imagination to unravel the story's fabric and sew it in a new manner, starting from the basics. Lovely. If this movie were a human, I'd have proposed marriage to it by now. Of course, kidding. But just so that I can tell you how much I loved the movie in its entirety. The direction, script, cinematography, lighting, animation, casting…the Everythingness of it! Or should I say, the muchness!

Things I loved:

• So at long last we get it. A reluctant heroine! All the movies we have been through so far, have had reluctant men transforming into heroes. And here comes along imaginative, reluctant, "I'm-not-that-Alice!"-Alice who finally realizes that this isn't a dream after all.
• The reading in-between the lines done by the movie.
• There are quite a lot of parallels drawn across people in her "real world" and "that other world". I'm not even that mean as to chalk 'em all out and ruin the fun for ya. Watch the movie closely and discover for yourself. Mind you, you won't hate doing that.
• And you won't hate observing this movie closely because there are possibly hundreds of subtle hints, truths, facts strewn across it. The movie is wonderfully chiseled and very subtle in telling us things. Subtlety is one of its strong points.
• The innocent touch of humor in almost every frame. It's not slapstick, though some may argue about Mad Hatter being Mad Hatter being slapstick. And I say, Not!
• How could you not love the cast? From little Alice to the adult Alice, from Mad Hatter [miiiiiine!] to the Cheshire Cat, everyone's perfect for their role. Or maybe, that's because of the flexibility of all these actors. I didn't mention the Queens since they need separate gushing. Johnny Depp/ Mad Hatter would demand a whole post on my part; but I'll skip that.
• Helen Bonham Carter is so honest to her character that at times you forget that she's actually quite a good-looking actress and not bulbous-headed dictator of a Queen as she's portraying. She was so good as Bellatrix in HP5 that I couldn't help hating her with all my heart. She is that good. Here, the way she simpers at Knave and frequently yells "Off with her/his/their head/s!!!" in that characteristic style, just blows me. Every time she does it, it blows me.
• Anne Hathaway is the antithesis White Queen to her elder sister Red Queen Carter is just equally amazing. but while the Red Queen blows us with her freaky super ego and inferiority/ superiority complex, the White Queen makes us swoon with her sweetness, daintiness, innocence, goodness and a whole lot of positive  "–nesses". Even the way she walks. If it had been done by some one else, we had be saying "hypocrite". Here, you say, "awwwwww….she's so lovely and pure" Or maybe I'm just being partial to her because I was earlier on mind-blown by her acting prowess as displayed in the movie "Rachel Getting Married" [a must watch people].
• The Futterwack!
• Mad Hatter! Mad Hatter! Mad Hatter!! And on a different, less star-struck note, is Mad Hatter shown as a father-figure [but in reverse] to Alice as I think it is? I'll stick to this belief anyway. I don't need unnecessary competition from Alice!
• I dig the British accent. And when they talk, all I can say is "MOAR, gimme MOAR!"
• And how can I forget the scene where Hatter had to get all Captain Sparrrowesque and with just a little amount of smooth talk and swishing about, escapes execution by Red Queen, with Dormouse and all, very much unhurt. I couldn't help thinking- looks totally like a tribute to the loving memory of POTC!
• So much more things I love and things I must have missed out to mention here. Forgive me.

For now, fairfarren y'all. Love ye!

Back and it's trailer time!

did intend what I wrote in last post.>
Back from my long-period of enforced internet-abstinence. And it feels real good!

It was fun; and ironic to see that the 2 lines I typed in last, attracted 7 comments. That post must have been exceptionally good if it made Jindal-ji comment. He rarely ever does! Apart from that, new readers!! Warm, huuuuge welcome to Pan. I will take up your advice on shit-blogging. Thank you. Another unexpected comment was a bit of philosophy from some porn site. Whoa! Plus lots of love from my darling blogging-neighbors.

But the funniest thing of all was, none of you deduced my actual meaning behind the lines. I was in fact, talking about how I sometimes have to sit through lectures where everything they say is so obvious and the doubts my classmates ask is even more obvious-- so much that I never utter a word in some classes! Not because I'm a dunce [hardly that], but because I already can see 10 miles ahead of what is being taught. I'm not being self-flattering, but it feels weird when I have nothing to say because I have no doubts and everything is clear as crystal to me already. Sigh..

On the other side, let's get on to more pressing topics- Trailer reviews!!!
THE DUDS
Veer- From the first sight on my instincts told me this-is-so-going-to-crash-and-burn at the BO. I was right. And the heroine is major dud. The only scene where I thought her pretty was where she sheds a tear in the promo. Gah!
Dulha Mil Gaya- I definitely can't understand what's going on in this trailer, sorry.
Bolo Raam- The lead guy looks stoned through most of the trailer. But the concept seemed interesting..

THE SERIOUSLY-MIGHT-BE-DUD
Show Time [or whatever the name was]- Tacky movie name, scenes seem ripped straight from Matrix or Krrish even. Vivek Oberoi ain't a real asset nowadays. In fact, only plus point I see is that it's an Abbas-Mustan movie.
3 Patti- I thought the days where unnecessary item numbers ruled the screen were over. No????????????? I hate vulgarity of every kind. And this movie has me feeling sick.

LOOKING FORWARD TOs
My Name is Khan- obviously! Kajol looks Gorgeous with a capital G! Such pretty eyes! Sheesh, she will always remain my favorite actress.
Rann- Very timely and much debated topic- mainstream media and the way it keeps stooping to new lows in the name of TRPs. I just wish RGV could have added some light bulbs here and there. And Gul Panag would have made an amazing Alice Cullen with her pixie hair. =)
Karthik Calling Karthik- First, I'm interested. Then, not so much.. then, back to interested mode. I'm not yet sure if I really am interested in this movie or not. The music's real peppy [Uff Teri Ada], pepper-mint kind [Hey Na]. But the lead pair doesn't seem to have any chemistry going on between them. They seem real detached and awkward.. And for another thing, my interest in anything Deepika Padukone is at an all-time low. All her fault! The only reason I'm interested in this movie is 'cos of my faith in everything Farhan Akhtar. Hey, but idea seems cool. I'll give you that.
Rajneeti- At the moment, this is the movie I'm really looking forward to. Looks good, and my instincts tell me it's going to be worth watching out for.
Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge- My instincts tell me just one thing- Hilarious! Very Very interesting trailer. Tries to spook you before having you crash back down to earth. Unwelcome guests make for a good movie watch, the trailer has me believe. And I take the bait.
Ishqiya- Amazing music. Interesting storyline possibly. I'm in!
Striker- Because I've always liked Siddharth!

Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahaani- review and [warning!] spoilers

@ Bobby- buddy, I don't know if you will enjoy this movie here, but I'm working on a list of must-watch Indian movies. So watch this space!
First off, this movie is meant only for those who have a wholesome appetite for absurd comedy.

Moving on to more serious stuff; this movie is just so Ridiculously Cute!!
The cast itself is enough reason to watch the movie. Serious eye-candy. Everyone's [me included] sweetheart Katrina Kaif in a fitting role as an Anglo-Indian. Which means, you get to hear her great English instead of dubbed Hindi. And Ranbir Kapoor [squeeeeeeaaaaaaaal!!!!!!!] as Prem. I loved the actor who plays his father.

Honestly, the movie in itself is no good. Cliche story, mischief-maker boy, pretty-as-a-princess/ damsel-in-distress girl and all that. But what saves it is in part the cute cast, the fun elements and a crazy script. There are way too many loop-holes in the story than you had allow. The boy falls in love way too quickly. Mood of the movie shifts every now and then. But who the hell cares? Let's get jumping into the main plot!

A strange coincidence is how both Jenny and Prem stammer when they get upset.
Well, another coincidence would have been how both are vegetarians as well. If only his friends hadn't coaxed him into becoming a non-vegetarian to have something in common with her. How was he to know that she was a pure veg!

One big deal I noticed was that Jenny is a librarian! w00t!! Erm.. in case no one can understand why this is a big deal-- well, I'm studying for Master in Library and Information Science. Well! I think librarianship may just have got a brand ambassador! :P

I like the frankness with which he tells her that he sneaked into her room the previous night to place the thank-you bouquet, and that's how he came to realise she;s an orphan. Usually Bolly heroes tend to lie or at least leave such stuff un-said.

His heart is in bits, but plucky young Prem goes all-out to rescue Jenny from an unsavory-forced marriage with the weirdo Tony. This sequence involves a kidnapped train. What the...!!! No, no, I'm NOT complaining. I'm way too carried away with this movie to raise eye brows even if they planned to show Prem flying a-la-Mohabbat man.

The Underworld guys were cool. How come no other film director, or anyone for that matter, ever wondered how come the dons always seemed to have their phones perpetually recharged without actually doing that? That happens here. The Don is in a veryy awkward situation when he finds out his phone has run out of credit!! I'm clutching my tummy, shaking with laughter in pity for this predicament facing the don. May no filmy don have to face this situation. Amen. ;)

AND did anyone else feel the almost-"Mast" situation where he comes sneaky with Jenny as her beau Rahul disappeared at the last moment?

The final action scene is beyond words- [if u take me in the right sense!] Bubbles float around during the "tension packed" sequences where ransom is exchanged for Jenny. What could easily have become a worn-out emotional cliche scene becomes a fantastically corny-funny sequence:
Prem's dad comes out to fight the big-bad people.
Prem is surprised,
Dad responds with a melodramatic dialogue complete with sad violins playing in the background.
And Prem loves the line so much, he asks daddy to repeat it once more.
Dad complies with the exact same line, complete with the same melodrama and music!

6 stars out of 6!

And don't forget the Jesus-in-guise-of-theatre-actor-who-is-actually-Jesus-anyway. =)




PS- I know my review may be lacking, but I took sooo long to finish it, that the attempt became half hearted. :(

Posted-only-to-confess-my never-dying love-for-the-movie

There was music,
There was Magik,
and there was you...

One year and more of loving this amazing celluloid phenomenon. Probably the only movie that I fell in love with from the day its first promo rocked my tv screen.I loved everything about it,the cast, the story, the friendship, the music and the conversations it triggered among my friends and the way it entered relationships. Both on-screen and off-screen..

Loved it, still loves it, and always will love it!

Rock On for.ever!!!

Gandhiji has left the building

I had wanted to talk about yesterday actually;my birthday. That was my plan until I watched "Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara" today. [pure coincidence, in fact I didn't notice that we were happening to watch a movie related with Gandhiji until it kinda struck me in the face]
{by the way, Vaikhari is reading Tushar Gandhi's "Let's kill Gandhi", though I don't know if that's a coincidental occurring like my watching Jahnu Barua's amazing movie today itself without even realizing it}



On the surface, and for a huge part of the movie, the focus is on how dementia affects people, no matter how intelligent and even brilliant they used to be. And how Anupam Kher [OMG, what a talented actor he is! actually, everyone from a theater background is a natural at acting. anyways...] keeps insisting he didn't kill Gandhi. This guilt of his that he killed Gandhi has its roots from a childhood incident that subconsciously still was on his mind,after all these years.

But honestly, this movie is about how each of us have a share in the daily murdering of Gandhi. Almost everything we do is yet another knife into his ideas, his visions, him.
Like Anupam Kher's character says,

" Did he fight for freedom to see this? This situation of our country where he is remembered only on two situations. The day he was born, and the day he died."


That's exactly why I am not too high on celebrating any sort of special day. Even Independence day has a ring of hypocrisy and phony-ness to it. Everyone is all smiles and waving flags one day, and go back to India-bashing the next. Gandhi wasn't celebrating on August 14th,1947. Nay, he was trying to find a solution to the murderous communal riots and the problem of hunger in his country. What a man. Such honesty, sincerity and courage in such a simple man, the Father of the nation.

Like Einstein said,

"Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth"


True.

Here's to the endearing memory of Gandhi and to those who still follow his chosen path of life. May they increase in number. May we have the strength to be one of them.

I'm proud of what my country has come through,

ashamed of what it has come to.

[music coming to mind right now is- "Waiting on the world to change"-John Mayer. striking lyrics]

and thus the long awaited brother-sister road trip finally happened

Everything else took a back seat for these past 7 days.

Yes, all you jealous ppl, I had a fantastic brother-sister-road-trip-of-sorts. The destination wasn't fancy by any means, but there was a comfy house tucked away in a suburb of Tamil Nadu. my uncle's place. our favorite vacation retreat.

My favorite parts from the trip?
*EVERYTHING! EVERY SINGLE MOMENT!

*the lure of the train. [you know i love them!There's a gypsy in me that LOVES roads,wheels,winds,traveling and the whole package about road trips]

*my favorite cousin/brother for company.

*sharing the music [Than ta naaaa!!!!!!!!{kaminey} for one]

*Kite Runner. [my choice for on-the-move read. Bro had "The Broker"-John Grisham] i swear i almost cried thru several parts of it.

*making acquaintances on the train. i chose not to ask their names though, what's the fun if you can't add some imagination to all those friendships you made?!

*all those late-night movies and laughing at tacky old Tamil movies. [no offense meant!]and throw in the bits where we fought over the remote like we were kids.[never mind that we are both way past the age to fight like kids!!]

*and add to that the fact that we two bought a whole box of chocolates to go with the tv watching. munch,munch,munch.

*THE Shopping. ohhhhhhhh, the shop-all-day at Coimbatore!

*Uncle lent me a book of his, the one which he hadn't parted with in all of the 20 odd years of owning it, yet. And I'm the lucky girl who gets her hands on it. The book?
Between Ourselves: letters between mothers and daughters.
*Him saying that I was going to be his heiress. No, not money. But to his VAST collection of books. Think of every masterpiece, memorable books and all those good books- he's got 'em all in his shelves.
And I'm going to inherit them all!!!!!!!
-------------
I don't care if I don't actually get those books. Just the idea that he thought me important enough to leave his precious books with... that's the best part of it.

*The food. We dined out virtually every day. Went to many of the well known South Indian restaurants around there.And I have tasted some of the best veg food, plus discovered how spicy the "dragon chicken" dish was. Yum!

And the best-best part of all? That bonding time. With the best uncle in the world and my aunt and,most importantly-
with the best cousin in the whole wide world.

Beyond sharing music,books,movies,chocolates and some sizable portions of good television watching [which would include NDTV, Nat Geo as well-IF you're wondering what i meant by good television watching]
and some dumb fights,
and 'fessing up on past relationships [read-ruined relationships],
our shady records of shady vices,sins and our dealings with:
Stuff-considered-taboo-in-our-family;

i know I have a wonderful brother of a lifetime.
He's always been so good; despite me being one big jerk of a sister to him. :D





The part I didn't like-

*Eating prior to long journeys makes me queasy, for some mysterious reason. On the other hand, when I travel on an almost empty stomach, I'm so good!

Maybe I'm just being psycho.


-this shot taken from Flickr

Was it worth all that hype?

first off,
HURRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frankly,
I'm in high spirits since ARR won the Oscar and I'm a long time self-confessed ARRahmaniac. Plus the Oscar for Resul Pookutty was the icing on the cake. As he's just as much a Malayali as me.

But was Slumdog worth all that hype and Oscars?
I didn't think so. Not because they showed a poor India, but the story is just another typical bollywood trash. All that lost-and-found-and-lost again love story, rags-to-riches element... and there were glaring flaws too. i can't believe a quiz master could be so rude to a chai-walla on a TV show. That's sort of impossible.

like Vinaya said, "Bollywood story made by Hollywood".
Well put!

And music?
ARR has made music million times better than this soundtrack for sure.

Why didn't Rang De basanti get the oscars?story-wise, music-wise, directionwise and in every other sense that was such a perfect movie.

It deserved the golden statuette but doesn't get it 'cos it was not made by a Western guy?

But I gotta say that technically it was fantastic, even though there wasn't much logic in the whole movie, the cinematography was perfect.
Best Motion Picture Award?

Please.....

But like my friends said, the movie is not to be blamed, it's the jury that needs a spanking.

BUT FOR THE TIME BEING, I'M GONNA FORGET ALL THAT.

WHO CARES WHEN WE HAVE GOTTEN HOME THREE OSCARS!!

3 CHEERS FOR ARR AND RESUL POOKUTTY!

i had a hell lot more to say but i'm darned busy with exam preparations. catcha later!

and has anyone heard from Nishi? she seems to have disappeared- just.like.that.

Jaane tu...Ya Jaane Na for Z, Vi, Vai and N /WARNING:SPOILERS INCLUDED

Yup. Finally. After having to take refuge with a pirated online version. Z gets to go for the movie as on the Big Screen. She was just so damned obsessed with the movie that she actually didn't care that she had watched the movie already at home! Well, and Vi,Vai and Nare like,the sweetest friends in the whole world. They wouldn't have gone for "Jaane Tu..." if it hadn't been for Z talking about JTYJN from the moment the first promo was out. And Z has never gone for a movie from college. So,why not begin with a cute movie she's so hung up on?

For this reason, Vi and Vai are discussing the idea of calling Z a petty bourgeousie(hope i got the spelling right.) since Z came along for the movie only because of her selfish interest in the movie and not for sport sake.

So off the foursome leave today, freezing from the whipping winds and just begun monsoon that's out-and-about with a vengeance. It was cold! Teeth chattering cold!So cold that Z was hugging Vi for warmth. Bunked classes and a half-reluctant, conscience-pricked Vai was coaxed and it was chalo chalo!!

*Over to Z:
" Just 17 spectators man! This place has never had much taste. Anyway, we occupied the last seats, back-benchers attitude still on! One young couple, one retired-from-military looking dad and his two daughters, one family with a cute baby whom Vai tried to woo, three
vagrant kind of men who made us doubtful if we had reached the correct movie. And some more typical looking people. Well, who's complaining the lack of spectatorship? This meant we could stretch our legs and place them on the seats in front of us. AND we were the most responsive. Well, the ONLY who made any kind of response. The rest of them were sooooooo dead! We cheered, ooooooh-ed, laughed, muttered at the right places.
Too bad none of us knew wolf-whistling. =(
It would have come in handy.
The 2 daughters-duo DID respond too,now I remember. But we drowned out their dignified laughter I guess. And no one turned left,right or backwards. On this N and Vai later remarked, 'they must have said, "don't look behind you. There are some rowdy kind of people sitting there.'" ' (about us)
Some kind of behaviour we are putting up,huh?

The sad parts from the otherwise delightful movie(according to me):
* Vi,Vai and N were not AT ALL impressed by JTYJN. They think it is only a one-time watch. Not much standards either. Just an ok movie. Seeeeee?????? I need to team up with JTYJN fans and defend the movie!
*They don't find Imran Khan cute or even impressive! They didn't think his acting prowess (they don't even think he has a prowess) was much of a big deal.
*They didn't like Genelia much either. Her face ain't much,they say. They also say that no boy would go back for a second watch. Farzad, Nezer,Shabas, and all theguys I know who liked the movie, help me out! I need evidence and witnesses!
*All in all they don't think it's anything as wonderful as I'm making it seem. And that a hit campus movie of Kerala of ages ago ("Niram") was way much awesome.
Excuuuuuuse meh? That movie was just soo materialistic and shallow! Ugh!

The happy parts
*They loved the music. Obvious.
*We all loved and are still singing the old "jaane tu" song. Gala phaad ke. Like we naturally do.
*Everyone loved Shaleen best.
*And Jiggy.
*And the whole group.
*And liked the fact that it was a group movie. Everyone gets equal importance. Not just Jai (sigh!!) and Aditi.
*Vi was just as touched and felt-it-in-her-skin-too in the Kahin to scene where Jai gets shocked and gets the jolt of his life when Sushant kisses Aditi. Youch! Same same here!
*Jai's singing in the climax. W.O.W! So naturally disgustingly bad and shrill and tired out he sounds. Perfect for the scene!
*Vi and I agree that they could have elaborated on the Aditi-Amit relatioship. It had a lot more to it.
*Plus a zillion other cute things.

I personally think this movie is so cute-overload and so polished. But i admit that the movie looks as if it were made for 15 year olds. Where kisses are covered up by the girls' hair. To which Vai wondered out loud, "wonder what they had do if they were bald!"

I lurved the movie. totalllllllllyyyyyyy. completelyyyyy. every bit of it. every scene of it. so much that i know every dialogue by now.
ok.
Over and Out.
Over to Raphael who will probably publish an out and out gushing review on the movie. "

Back to me.
That's all for this post. Z has done almost a lot of gushings herself, so I'm not sure if I need to put in a review.

Rain-Bikes,Birthdays,Photo Sessions...and Aditi and Pappu

I'm talking about Wednesday first because that was the best day of the week. Hope you guys have the luck myself and Vrinda had!
good luck!
*Wednesday
The BEST DAY OF THE WEEK
I realise I'm quite broke in the evening and so had to take a lift from Vrinda. Had to take? Not exactly, cos I love bikes,I love bikes and I love Vrinda! She turns on the engine and we are ON! In between before we'd made a quarter of the ride, Vrinda made the first halt to take out her driving glasses to stop the dust from getting in the eyes.
I'm riding full-saddled. Hey, comfort first, maintaing feminine illusions is only next!
By the time we reach the Court areas, the climate had progressed to a full-fledged downpour. We giggle down to our second halt. I take out my umbrella and by then the rain is down to a minimum of a drizzle. On the bike again and off we start, this time with the umbrella as well. We wouldn't have bothered about an umbrella if it hadn't been for the fact that you can't drive smooth with rain blinding your eyes. But the strong winds keep trying to blow the umbrella out of my hands. And the place we were driving along was very close to the sea. So really,really strong gales. The umbrella finally breaks off the hold and__flies awayyyy! We were like, "oh shit!" and laughing our heads off. Vrinda halts for the third time in the ride and I step off to pick up the umbrella. All the while with my face and hers split into smiles and drenched to the bones. The umbrella wasn't helping much and the rain had come down. So we drove with the umbrella folded and put aside and enjoyed the rain. We still had to make a fourth halt when it got too heavy to see straight.
You can guess the scenario. No frustration. 2 girls laughing like mad,pointing at a broken umbrella (yes, it got twisted) and pointing at each other's wet clothes. We couldn't even wipe our glasses as there was no part of us which wasn't wet! Both couldn't stop saying over and over again, "This is the best ride I've ever had!"
Finally reached our places.
Drenched, cold and happy as a 'nything.

*Monday-
KS's 11th birthday. Happy birthday dahling!! I still can't believe the Kid Sis is growing up, and that too in such a short time!
At college, my pals and meself wolf down the biriyanis me and Vrinda brought in a matter of nano-seconds.
Somehow by 2.30pm all our buddies have left college. That is,except me,Namitha and Vrinda. We take out my camera, and it's clickety-click,snappity-snap-snap-snap!! Climbed broken walls and trees for cool poses. And since our college has a history of more than 200 years, there were millions of places to discover! After snapping each other in every thinkable place and pose, we used the auto-timer and laughed and giggled for the camera. Plus we went into a mini-jungle and climbed trees (trying to be oblivious to the presence of biting ants and worse biting insects). Obviously by the time we stepped out of there, the 3 of us were scratching arms and feet.
Babes in the woods, but not at all lost!

*Tuesday- Vinaya is mighty jealous that we held a photo-session when she wasn't around. Mind you, she's the first camera-obsessed among us. (I became camera-obsessed only after I owned one.) Morning onwards I'm all pepped up. But by 10am, Namitha,Vinaya,Vaikhari and Nimisha leave to watch that very-hyped "Dashavataram" of Kamal Hasan. Seriously, I'd have been suffocated to watch the same man 10 times over in the span of 3 and a half hours. Ragitha,Prajisha and myself stay back and do a photo session. Cute photos turn up. Noon and we did a house-hunting. Futile search,I may add. By then, our movie-going pals have returned and are speechless. Yes,they loved it and were mind-blown. To tell you more, they mark the movie as an "experience" in itself. What do I know? I'll just don the garb of Scroogie for now.
Bah, Humbug!
Vinaya is all-consuming jealous by now when she learns that we conducted yet another photo-session without her. Hey! Nimisha swept me off my feet literally and had the moment immortalised by Prajisha who handles the cam. I couldn't stop giggling! By this time, a misunderstanding has begun and a spat over between Offbeats and a friend. No one's too sure what triggered him to talk so.
Was he on dope? drunk? or in love???
Anyways, we clicked more photos.

*Thursday
At college,Vrinda has already dished out our adventure to all and we can barely stop laughing when we so much as look at each other. *Sigh!
The best ride on wheels yet!
Vaikhari has finally fallen in love with "Aditi", so has Namitha. Which means everyone is singing "aditi" all the time. Then it's "Pappu Can't Dance".
Photo sessions. Jumping from fences. "strangling" Namitha and Vinaya. But i notice that volunteers for "strangling" Namitha were much higher than for Vinaya.
!
Say what you want!
Just as I expected Namitha is highly jealous of our very cool bike adventure.
-------------------------------------------------
*Friday
A fight in which many of our friends get hurt. What was worse is that the whole "friction" began right from the place we were. Very ouch feeling for the rest of the day.
A movie star comes to college for some club inauguration.
On a happier note, Prajisha's birthday!!!!
Took videos of the whole thing. I'd taken along my pipe. nothing too excellent. in fact, it makes a very ugly noise when blown, which had everyone in splits!That's exactly why I bought it at the flea market. Plus it lengthens when you blow. Extra fun. The childishness of the whole thing had Prajisha and everyone else tiring themselves out laughing.

YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO READ THIS, IF YOU ARE AN A.R RAHMANIAC.
"HOW A.R.R COMPOSES A TUNE"
Amazing write up, Farzad! Kudos!

The year after the Beginning, and before the Ending

This one's a look-back at my past academic year. The fun year! This might be rather long, you are warned!

June- Second year begins, on a rather sullen note for me since I was still melancholic with my cousin's death. But my friends helped me recover soon. Vaikhari moved into Vinaya's home. My favorite surrogate brother calls! Admitted that I have more surrogate relationships than anyone else around me. But he's my blue-eyed boy! The felicitation thingy. Doesn't help much that our dept always bags ranks as a habit. And we have to always do speeches and organise events. Sound of Music rules. I share my S.o.M cd with friends and we're singing High on a hill was a lonely goatherd, Maria, the Farewell Song etc.. Last year's crush still flickerin' from somewhere within. New lecturers, we get prejudices against some, but that changes soon. Begin- the Cognitions workshop. Kinda ok with that since my pack always happen to be together in everything, adventure/misadventure. Got new friends bcos of those Communicative Skills classes. Me and Vinaya get seriously bitching abt irresponsibility of our dept with....our teachers Prof Babu&Efthikar! Actually we bitch abt everything with our teachers, they're all more informal than any other dept. I have the best deptmental family in here!! Books,books and more of 'em. New ma'am for journalism, she roxx! By now we bgin bunking Cognition classes.They were gettin too bawring. Singing songs all over the place, "like the gypsies", Anil sir quips! Some teachers are taking 3month leaves. So thoughtful of them..
27 June- Prajisha's b'day. Gift her bag, bookmark and card.

July-Novel summary assignment. These classes when Leena ma'am make us summarise novels is fun. We get to ask the person questions and make 'em sweat, (obviously they havent read the whole thing yaar!) Windsurfing on the buses to college and from college as always. Wimbledon matches. Federer equals Borg's record of 5 Wimbledon titles!!!!!Love ya Fed! Some Union workshop at college, since me and Vinaya are Joint Convenors we HAD to sit down for the revolutionary speeches(which were kind ok).Vaika joins in later, she too a joint convenor. We bgin talking thru paper chits and gestures.Starved thru the 3 hour long programme. The next week witnessed a fight at college. We watched it all! Rain hols declared. Interviews for admission begin. Lots of rain walks and runs!!! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.Me and Vaik deathly worried,"will JKR finish off Harry?" J class- me as Pratibha Patil,prez candidate in meet-the-press. Cool me fended off questions thrown esp by Nami and Vinaya.

August- Literary association of department inaugurated in style.And I'm chosen as Secretary!! Reaching college drenched is becoming a habit for us now.And in Kerala it's raining from June to December virtually! Lunch times are mostly turning into Mad-Hatter's tea-parties.Me and Nimisha arguing passionately(with witnesses-mostly threatened into saying so;)that Idiputtu and Idiyappam are 2 different food items. Others argue as heatedly that they 2 are one and the same.Onam. Welcome party for freshers. Soft-core ragging.Just silly kid stuff. Namitha's birthday-Aug15. Gift her watch and card. 18-Thanzeela's b'day. Riph sweet is back home!Both of us spend quality time together going for shopping and eating out.
Nimisha is all sweetness.For she's the only one who wants to listen me sing Avril,Linkin Park, and anything english. I enacted Iago in Shakespeare hour!!

September- Nami n me verbal duel.Well,all of us do! Began Orkut account! Wild singing sessions continue.We were born-entertainers who force our vocal skills on others, *chuckle! Everyone else begin Orkutting as well. Bunkings continue. Strikes n fights. Footloose,settle down near green-house. Vrinda and I race down to Portico.I win! But my footwear wears out=( // Sporty's damn cool-dumps boyfriend and still happy-no heart breaks and tears. Sooraj n Fenrir Greyback distribute toffees to celebrate T20WC Indian win. Bad communications day.Written words hurt deep. Soothing balm from N.But everything's sorta changed.I can forgive,but can't forget. But all's fine now.

October-My big day!!Thanks to Orkut I get my long-lost neighbours and school pals. I invent a story out of Nokia ringtones, Bollywood style!Everyone loved it! Vinaya and Vaikhari get a TV break to dance for their college.EID. Busy times, overloaded with assignments. Jashn-e-Debates season begins.A new dimension of me comes out bcos of this.

November-Debate season begins. finally the impossible has happened.I fall out of luv with the Union's attitude with the rest of my pack.But I still idealise them sort-of.Sajla (popular singer of Kerala, plus our friend,she's my class mate.), Vrinda,Nimisha and me go bag shopping for Sajla after classes.Fun.//22nd is a remarkably awesome day.We all set off for wedding gift shopping for Prajisha's big sis.Vaik was in foul mood from ruck with Achayan.To cheer her we go to a tourist spot near Sports Academy local branch.Vri's friends live there.Me,Nimisha and Namitha ended up fighting over umbrella instead. Off shopping for gift.But all do shopping for themselves, and now we're late.Uff! I bought a cool black bead bracelet.Finally we resolve and buy a pretty dress for her.Vaik-Nimisha fight.Foul moods again.
25th- Prajisha's sister's wedding.What's even more special is that I'm attending my very first Hindu wedding and I'm gonna eat my very first "Sadya" all veg and rice.Fun at wedding,witnessed "thalikkettu" and I made a dumbass of me trying to drink the "rasam" with my hand. Impossible!! After cool wedding, we skip off to Namitha's home.Fun time there too.She's got a parrot couple[Chinnu-Minnu] and a single parrot[Rooney, ya reference to Wayne Rooney!] plus a late dog[Jimmi]. Back home late evening,I'm dead tired. 4th b'day of Harmony!

December- I began "Pieces of Me"-my bloggie pet!! 7th-Ragi's b'day. Sajla buys a Scooty Pep. I learnt "Stone-Paper-Scissor" from my young cousin. Association Inauguration and Film Screening. Can you believe it?Instead of watching TZP with my school buddies Baju&Shamnas( yay, the 3Smashers rollicked all over town that day!), we get sorta trapped in the theatre and hadta watch a stupid B grade Malayalam slapstick comedy cos
TZP was over there.=( Nonetheless, enjoyd the time spent togetha and did laff at some one liners.. I did get to watch TZP later on though.

January 2008- . I can actually argue patiently and bring rivals down to their knees (as long as they aren't cheating, that is.) My first year's results came finally after 7 months. I met an Orkut friend. Attended class mate's wedding.A first!

February 2008- In semi-finals of debate, won against the odds, beat the Business dept! Are we dark-horse league or what?! GA fractures leg. Namitha and me are crazy abt debates as a whole now, actually hunted down the whole college for juniors' debate! Our winning streak didnt last long.Lost out in the finals, but we still feel something foul in the air.
College day-mega fun, but it ended with me getting a sore throat which later on developed into a full-fledged bad cold. Z is actually me. i crush'd.

March 2008- Vinaya sprains leg. Bunking spree is very much fun! Friends ho to mere friends jaisa honi chahiye. They motivate crushes and once it is achieved, they will pull u back bfore hings get too complicated!Luv u darlings! Power-packed singing session today.Max fun and croaky throats at the end.Back to back Bolly and spriklings of regional stuff and English.Totally.Rocked.The.Place. Shopping in town,myself bought a cute,chunky bag.=D Tug wars,tributes, crushes-here me and Nami are totally hopeless cases!Happy Feet last edition. Dusk begins blog. Fling and Flirt donno what to do with themselves,can't even call quits, grf!
Official last day of second academic year-Farewell party went smooth,no hitches and much fun. And on a happier note, smoke has died down!
Then the exams.
The End of a very happy year. happys ending!
--------------------------------------------------------
Books I read in the second academic year:
English,August-Upamanyu Chatterjee/ Goddess Abides-Pearl S.Buck/Writer's Diary-Virginia Woolf/Villette-Charlotte Bronte/The Bridge Across Forever-Richard Bach/Secret Garden-Frances Hodgson Burnett/Wuthering Heights-Emily Bronte/To Kill A Mocking Bird-Harper Lee/French Lieutenant's Woman-John Fowles/Harry Potter&the Deathly Hallows-JKR/Nanny-Charlotte Bingham/Jonathan Livingston Seagull-Bach/Prophet-Kahlil Gibran/Poems-Matthew Arnold/Rubaiyat-Omar Khaiyyam>Fitzgerald/Disgrace-JM Coetzee/Journey to Ithaca-Anita Desai/Istanbul'Memories of a city-Orhan Pamuk/Unbearable Lightness of Being-Milan Kundera/Clandestine in Chile-Gabriel Garcia Marquez/Persuasion-Jane Austen/Inheritance of Loss-Kiran Desai/Chetan Bhagat/Othello-Shakespeare/Collected Stories-GGM/Hundred Years of Solitude-GGM(man,u need some kind of tough stomach for this book.Weir.D!)/Interpreter of Maladies and other stories-Jhumpa Lahiri/Queen's Confession-Victoria Holt(again and again)

Movies I watched:
Salaam-e-Ishq/Don/Omkara/Khosla ka Ghosla/Bheja Fry/Shrek3/Metro/TaRa RumPum/Chak De!! India/Taare Zameen Par/Dil Hain Ke Maanta Nahi/Music and Lyrics/Pride&Prejudice and In Her Shoes for the Nth time/Om Shanti Om/Race/

Trailer reviewing (for a change)

Guess I will begin my Trailer-Review section from this post. I'll do one every fortnight, what say?

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na- Apart from the soft-satire in the first promo and the second song "Pappu", the movie seems like a very cute college romance. And the song "Aditi"? I'm head over heels in love with it! After all A.R.R is behind it nah? And when I heard the whole of it, its just so damn cute and the lyrics are so touching and consoling. Aditi will definitely be smiling by the end of it too! Debutant Imran Khan, or more famous as nephew of Amir Khan is very much a next-door-boy. And Genelia looks just cute, though I hated her prom dress and hair in the song "Pappu". This is one movie I'm hoping will do good in the box office.

Kismet Connection- Looks cute. But whenever I see this promo, na jaane kyon, I'm unconsciously thinking of Lindsay Lohan's "Just my Luck". Is it just me or is this movie related to that one?

Haal-e-Dil- Who gave all of them 3 the chance to work in movies?? Most probably star kids or something. Amrita Pathak, the debutant actress needs a lot of toning down. Fatty!
Music seems nice. But that doesn't stop me from switching channels. I prefer "Aditi" to the whole of Haal-e-Dil.

Love Story 2050- Yet another new face. But Harman Baweja looks and dances like Hrithik. Too bad. The first song out, Milo na milo? Catchy music, though something tells me I've heard something of the kind before. Futuristic, set in 2050, it could either be superb or fail disastrously. We'll see!

Mere Baap Pehle Aap- It's beyond even high time that someone banned Priyadarshan from copying stories from other people. This one already came out in Malayalam years ago. Son tries to get single dad married, blah blah. Genelia as the love interest (don't ask me whose, the film makers don't seem too sure either), apart from that the usual Priyadarshan favourites.

Hastey Hastey- Sick, plain sick. The girl (whoever she is) is looking her like some weird cat woman. This is 100% flop. Bleargh. I just hated the music as well.

Woodstock Villa- ahem- Can I say, "pass, next question?" Music ain't that bad. I actually kinda liked the "Kyon" song by Aryans. And another romantic song. The debutant is a star kid. And he looks wild, in the sense that he looks beastly.

Summer 2007- I think its about a bunch of young medical students. And the Woodstock Villa guy looks sudhra hua and nicer in this.

Aamir- starring debutant Rajeev Khandelwal. He definitely doesn't need an intro. Just ask any girl. He he! He's cute. And is running all through the promo. There's this nice, sufi sort of song called "Mehfuz". Hmmm.
[I heard he gave Aamna Sharrif a special screening. Just her. AND they still say they're just good friends? Whatever.]

Sarkar Raj- Since I haven't watched the first one, I can't really say much. Bacchan Senior, Bacchan Junior and Bacchan daughter-in-law. You figure out if it's nice or not. Like any other RGV movie, lots of darkness and silence. You will be stumbling across the theatre. Hah!

Khushboo- It's raining new faces cats and dogs. The 2 new ones in this movie are lookin so boringly um, boring! Boring music by Adnan Sami to complement the movie. Adnan? What's goin' on? Music is ur strong point. Not here though.
I especially hated the violet lipstick the heroine wears in one song. Urgh

Zindagi tere naam- Sorry, but I couldn't really make out if the actor and actress are newbies or not, 'cos they were all over each other all the time. The songs are pretty okay.

De Taali- Hi5 for this one. Hip, happy movie from the looks of it. All abt friendship I think. Vishal-Sekhar duo gives some good music. And hey! remember Raja the finalist from SaReGaMaPa 2007? He's singing a folk song in the movie!! Cheers!! But I liked Vishal-Sekhar's Tashan music tremendously over this one. Love you Ayesha, no matter how much Vinaya hates you. For one reason, you still have stood by your principle of not to shed clothes, which is very difficult in Bolly, where you see more skin than clothes.

Thoda pyaar, thoda magic- OBviously, it has a happy ending. Hm. Passably good music.

AND FOR THE REAL LOSERS
At third spot is Mission Istanbul. I hated the trailer. Stupid. Actors with women draping them in a stupid song. Thumbs down for this one.
Mehbooba- Outdated, old actors, boring music. Good combo for bad movie.
AND THE WINNER AMONG THE LOSERS IS..............
JIMMY- The director probably had lost a bet and had agreed to make this movie. I can't see any other reason how this waste of celluloid came into being. Outdated, with an actor whose face is enough to make people wanna go home. Naff. Why do they make movies which are sure not to have a chance to survive even the first hour of the first day first show????



My choice from the pop albums:
Strings any day. They are just making so cool music everytime. Rock like the Strings do. And I can never have enough of their earlier song, "Duur". Beautiful and striking.