Hi folks!
It's that time of the year to wish you all a happy and prosperous new year.
It's that time of the year when all the news channels fire a quick barrage of all the visuals telling you that they have been the defining moments of the year.
It's that time of the year when all the newspapers print snippets of the events that hogged the limelight in the past twelve months.
It's that time of the year when the three main passions of Indian public viz., Politics, Cricket and bollywood or kollywood (depending on the part of India you hail from) are revisited and relived over and over again.
Over the years all of us would have realised, that no matter how well and genuine the intended new year wishes had been, they have not been so happy and prosperous after all. The prices of all essential commodities have risen. Land rates have reached sky high. Add to these, recession and terrorism have made our lives more disdainful. Apart from these trivial matters, there are more important issues that concern us. We have aged by one more year, popping up of more gray hair or hair loss, no appraisal, no increment, increasing expenses, unending wait for a good match, monotony of our jobs etc,. So it seems that we neither felt happy nor prospered during the year 2009. Despite all of these if we are getting ready to shower new year wishes means that we are either unaffected by the difficulties of we must be insanely insane.
This spirit of leaving behind the sadness and hoping for a better future is what in my opinion is the defining factor of human beings. If you had a good year, that's well and good. But if you haven't then just get over it and hope for better things and further strive towards achieving it. I'll definitely try and for you, all that I can offer is my "HAPPY and PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR" wishes.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
"3i"
Well, let me talk about 3i today. Hold on. Before you start to imagine this as another product from Apple, then you can not be any farther from the truth. 3i stands for "3 Idiots" a Hindi movie.
There are few movies which give you a genuine reason to watch them in a theatre. They need not necessarily be high budget movies with cutting edge CGI technology and big stars. They can also be simple, song and dance movies with predictable plots and a bit of melodrama. If Avatar took me to a different world, then 3i took me into the movie itself. I literally lived this movie for its entire duration. If memories of my polytechnic days came flooding into my brain by watching the drama, then the emotions depicted in the movie brought back the feelings of warmth to my heart. Hence I would say that this movie has been a satisfying experience both intellectually and emotionally.
Earlier I said I watched this movie, which I think is an understatement. I actually conversed with this movie which seemed to have acquired a life of its own. There are lot of moments in the movie which made say 'yes', 'Oh no' and 'oh my God' as if talking to another person. From the audience reaction I conclude that they have also been acknowledging and talking to this movie just I had been doing. In the end when the credits start rolling I felt like I had a great one to one talk with a good friend. I guess most of you are bound to feel the same way.
At the beginning when Boman Irani who is the head of the engineering college gives a lecture with a lisp, I immediately related that character to a lecturer in my polytechnic. When he chides Aamir khan in front of the entire class, I recollected how that lecturer did "saamohik balaatkaar" of me in one of the classes.(You have to watch the movie to understand & appreciate this statement :-)).
When one idiot is shown as wearing rings in his hand, each one for a specific purpose, one to get a good job, one for his father to heal, one for his mother to be relieved of her stress, one for his sister to get a good match, I recollected a colleague of mine in my previous company who had three rings in his left hand, each one for a specific purpose.
In the climax I am damn sure that the movie made everybody to get lost in that sweet sensation that's felt during the first kiss of their lives. For those who haven't experienced their first kiss, it would still have made them to get lost in a sweet sensation that's felt at least in anticipation of it :-).
Enough of all the above and still there are these things in this movie to which the entire audience related themselves to and they are, the helplessness one feels during failure, lack of courage to pursue what one actually wants and reluctance to prioritise one's needs and goals. Here it seems that this movie drew something from another movie "Taare zameen par" and implied it to the current context of the travails of the college going students.
All the above factors give you a reason to watch a movie in a theatre as i had mentioned earlier.
There are few melodramatic scenes which could have gone awry, but for the exceptional deftness the way they were given an end.
Like all other movies, Aamir khan's movies too have songs, that too good ones. But the similarity ends there. In his movies, almost all the songs are played in the background, Situation demanding a song instead of a song demanding a situation and more importantly never hindering the story flow. Further the songs boost the narration and creates a pleasant impact.
If i have said so much about this movie, should I tell anything more about the performances of the cast, without which the movie could have breathed life? I don't think so. You have to watch it for yourself!!!!
Verdict: A genuine reason to watch a movie and that too in a theatre near you.
There are few movies which give you a genuine reason to watch them in a theatre. They need not necessarily be high budget movies with cutting edge CGI technology and big stars. They can also be simple, song and dance movies with predictable plots and a bit of melodrama. If Avatar took me to a different world, then 3i took me into the movie itself. I literally lived this movie for its entire duration. If memories of my polytechnic days came flooding into my brain by watching the drama, then the emotions depicted in the movie brought back the feelings of warmth to my heart. Hence I would say that this movie has been a satisfying experience both intellectually and emotionally.
Earlier I said I watched this movie, which I think is an understatement. I actually conversed with this movie which seemed to have acquired a life of its own. There are lot of moments in the movie which made say 'yes', 'Oh no' and 'oh my God' as if talking to another person. From the audience reaction I conclude that they have also been acknowledging and talking to this movie just I had been doing. In the end when the credits start rolling I felt like I had a great one to one talk with a good friend. I guess most of you are bound to feel the same way.
At the beginning when Boman Irani who is the head of the engineering college gives a lecture with a lisp, I immediately related that character to a lecturer in my polytechnic. When he chides Aamir khan in front of the entire class, I recollected how that lecturer did "saamohik balaatkaar" of me in one of the classes.(You have to watch the movie to understand & appreciate this statement :-)).
When one idiot is shown as wearing rings in his hand, each one for a specific purpose, one to get a good job, one for his father to heal, one for his mother to be relieved of her stress, one for his sister to get a good match, I recollected a colleague of mine in my previous company who had three rings in his left hand, each one for a specific purpose.
In the climax I am damn sure that the movie made everybody to get lost in that sweet sensation that's felt during the first kiss of their lives. For those who haven't experienced their first kiss, it would still have made them to get lost in a sweet sensation that's felt at least in anticipation of it :-).
Enough of all the above and still there are these things in this movie to which the entire audience related themselves to and they are, the helplessness one feels during failure, lack of courage to pursue what one actually wants and reluctance to prioritise one's needs and goals. Here it seems that this movie drew something from another movie "Taare zameen par" and implied it to the current context of the travails of the college going students.
All the above factors give you a reason to watch a movie in a theatre as i had mentioned earlier.
There are few melodramatic scenes which could have gone awry, but for the exceptional deftness the way they were given an end.
Like all other movies, Aamir khan's movies too have songs, that too good ones. But the similarity ends there. In his movies, almost all the songs are played in the background, Situation demanding a song instead of a song demanding a situation and more importantly never hindering the story flow. Further the songs boost the narration and creates a pleasant impact.
If i have said so much about this movie, should I tell anything more about the performances of the cast, without which the movie could have breathed life? I don't think so. You have to watch it for yourself!!!!
Verdict: A genuine reason to watch a movie and that too in a theatre near you.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
AVATAR
Last week when I told my sister that I wanted to watch two movies "Avatar" and "3Idiots", she thought that the former to be an Indian movie and the later to be an English movie. I don't blame her for this confusion, simply becuase the titles make anyone to think on those lines.
Yesterday I got a chance to watch the movie "Avatar" in 3D. The word Avatar which means "Incarnation" in Sanskrit is specifically used when the benign creator takes a physical form for the sole purpose of destroying evil and restoring peace and happiness in the world. As per this definition the title of this movie is anachronistic. I'll tell you why. Here the entity that takes this avatar is not God. It's a human. The world in which this happens is not our earth but an imaginative moon (Pandora) to an imaginative planet and last but not the least the avatar doesn't destroy any evil but delivers punitive kick ass treatment to human beings.
Interestingly the name Pandora is lifted from Greek mythology. I am impressed by the imagination of James cameron for combining Hindu and Greek mythologies for just the premise of the story. In "Gladiator" russel crowe utters a great line which goes like "On my signal, unleash hell". James unleashes something far more appealing and far more engaging, his "imagination" upon us. The voice over at the beginning of the movie sets the tone for the things that would follow.
In my opinion there are two kinds of movies, one that touches an emotional chord in the heart and another that excites the gray matter in the brain. This movie though comes under the later it still has got some moments that really make us cringe with emotion towards the plight of the naavi population. Never in my life was I in direct confrontation with the interests of humans. I vouched for the indigenous population just like the protagonist and not for the humans. I wanted to be in that green world till eternity and never to return to planet earth which was referred to as dying planet in the movie. On the whole the movie embarassed me for being a human being. This is the intention of the movie I guess, and I give two thumbs up for hitting the nail on the head.
This movie has shattered many stereotypes of all the previous sci-fi movies. Here we are the aliens, we are aggressors, we are the cruel beings, we are the manipulators,we are anything and everything except that is good.
If you say that all the above lines are just my assumptions, exaggerations of just a movie and wish to avoid it then you can do so if not for one defining factor; it brings out the kid within you, who with his mouth agape, wonder in his eyes wants to get lost in an imaginative world despite the fact that it's fictional. I believe that all of us want to experience that feeling. I want to and this movie gives you that experience in a more palpable way.
Verdict: Grab it!!!
Yesterday I got a chance to watch the movie "Avatar" in 3D. The word Avatar which means "Incarnation" in Sanskrit is specifically used when the benign creator takes a physical form for the sole purpose of destroying evil and restoring peace and happiness in the world. As per this definition the title of this movie is anachronistic. I'll tell you why. Here the entity that takes this avatar is not God. It's a human. The world in which this happens is not our earth but an imaginative moon (Pandora) to an imaginative planet and last but not the least the avatar doesn't destroy any evil but delivers punitive kick ass treatment to human beings.
Interestingly the name Pandora is lifted from Greek mythology. I am impressed by the imagination of James cameron for combining Hindu and Greek mythologies for just the premise of the story. In "Gladiator" russel crowe utters a great line which goes like "On my signal, unleash hell". James unleashes something far more appealing and far more engaging, his "imagination" upon us. The voice over at the beginning of the movie sets the tone for the things that would follow.
In my opinion there are two kinds of movies, one that touches an emotional chord in the heart and another that excites the gray matter in the brain. This movie though comes under the later it still has got some moments that really make us cringe with emotion towards the plight of the naavi population. Never in my life was I in direct confrontation with the interests of humans. I vouched for the indigenous population just like the protagonist and not for the humans. I wanted to be in that green world till eternity and never to return to planet earth which was referred to as dying planet in the movie. On the whole the movie embarassed me for being a human being. This is the intention of the movie I guess, and I give two thumbs up for hitting the nail on the head.
This movie has shattered many stereotypes of all the previous sci-fi movies. Here we are the aliens, we are aggressors, we are the cruel beings, we are the manipulators,we are anything and everything except that is good.
If you say that all the above lines are just my assumptions, exaggerations of just a movie and wish to avoid it then you can do so if not for one defining factor; it brings out the kid within you, who with his mouth agape, wonder in his eyes wants to get lost in an imaginative world despite the fact that it's fictional. I believe that all of us want to experience that feeling. I want to and this movie gives you that experience in a more palpable way.
Verdict: Grab it!!!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Gender Wars
I was reading an article in a newspaper in which the writer had written about the recent disgrace meted out to Tiger Woods. I was quite struck by one sentence in the article which ran like this and I quote "I want to meet the one man who can swear that he wouldn't ever naughty text, flirt, or even indulge in an affair with women throwing themselves at him". It's clearly evident from this line, that the writer is a woman. So I thought let's be naughty and peek into Tiger wood's mind. Following is his side of the story and I am producing it on his behalf. He couldn't do it himself because he is busy relocating himself to some undisclosed location in France (I guess).
Dear writer,
I am innocent; as innocent as any man could be. I was just doing my job that involves hitting a golf ball into a hole. I never thought that I would find myself in a deep hole as I find it today. I was thinking that how the situation could have developed if I am not as successful as I am today (at least professionally). I doubt whether this much brouhaha could have resulted if I had been a commoner. I doubt not. It's very unfair of you to expect a guy to be calm and composed and be rigid like a rock when a beautiful, attractive, sexy girl is swooning over you, starts flirting with you. I am also a man with my own share of pheromones. What do you expect me to to do in a situation like that? If a girl targets a successful guy, then nothing stops her from making that guy to get attracted to her, not even the fact that he is married. Once a man gets attracted to a girl, then nothing stops him from trying to get involved in an affair with that girl. That's how I ended up in this mess, not with one, not two, not three but with four girls. It includes a sexy tv presenter,a porn star, club girls etc. The irony is that I have been made to look like a sex pervert as if those girls are all earthly incarnations of virgin Mary. Enough is enough. Now I am off to France. (I heard that French women are more beautiful and liberal). Oops!!!
Dear writer,
I am innocent; as innocent as any man could be. I was just doing my job that involves hitting a golf ball into a hole. I never thought that I would find myself in a deep hole as I find it today. I was thinking that how the situation could have developed if I am not as successful as I am today (at least professionally). I doubt whether this much brouhaha could have resulted if I had been a commoner. I doubt not. It's very unfair of you to expect a guy to be calm and composed and be rigid like a rock when a beautiful, attractive, sexy girl is swooning over you, starts flirting with you. I am also a man with my own share of pheromones. What do you expect me to to do in a situation like that? If a girl targets a successful guy, then nothing stops her from making that guy to get attracted to her, not even the fact that he is married. Once a man gets attracted to a girl, then nothing stops him from trying to get involved in an affair with that girl. That's how I ended up in this mess, not with one, not two, not three but with four girls. It includes a sexy tv presenter,a porn star, club girls etc. The irony is that I have been made to look like a sex pervert as if those girls are all earthly incarnations of virgin Mary. Enough is enough. Now I am off to France. (I heard that French women are more beautiful and liberal). Oops!!!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Hi all,
One has to get used to the new tools and applications that are constantly creeping into our consciousness. At this rate it seems that one doesn't even have enough time left to be just aware of all these new things let alone mastering them. Well for me blogging is one of the new entities that I am trying to get involved. This is my introductory post. Let's see how it goes.
What you can expect in my blog:
1. My opinions on the current state of affairs.
2. Movie reviews.
3. Anything interesting under the Sun.
So watch out folks!!!!!
One has to get used to the new tools and applications that are constantly creeping into our consciousness. At this rate it seems that one doesn't even have enough time left to be just aware of all these new things let alone mastering them. Well for me blogging is one of the new entities that I am trying to get involved. This is my introductory post. Let's see how it goes.
What you can expect in my blog:
1. My opinions on the current state of affairs.
2. Movie reviews.
3. Anything interesting under the Sun.
So watch out folks!!!!!
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