Intense 'Game' of Profiling Minds / Crash-Course to clear the FBI Profiling Exam:-)
Snip-in:
The couple of DVD shops in the neighborhood had been closed for more than 2 months, since June 2010, which prompted me to opt for BigFlix. NetFlix experience I had in the US was just great and BigFlix barring a few exceptions, is pretty close to the same during last 6+ weeks. After watching a few movies, after a month, I ordered 'MindHunters' with recommendations from welcome movie buffs. It turned out be a great pick.
The story is about the group of FBI junior folks who are attempting a 'so called final examination' to be selected as 'Serial Killer Profilers'. The trainer is Jake (Val Kilmer) who is supposedly having a very distinct selection procedure. He sends the group of 8 odd junior folks and Captain Dave (LL Cool J) as 'External Observer' to an island for a weekend task. The completely deserted but fully functional town on the Island is used by the US Navy for certain trainings and Jake usually loans it from the Navy to carry out his discrete trainings. Over this weekend in a mock set-up these FBI folks are supposed to be creating and tracking a 'Serial Killer Profile'.
Being a suspense thriller no awards to guess that 1 amongst these 10 odd folks is the serial killer. And the suspense is very nicely built-up by showing how someone in the group cleverly uses the detailed psyche of each one of the 8 folks, how they think and respond to certain situations, how to instigate them to make mistakes and succumb to the death trap, that is laid out differently for each one of them. The plot is great but the key success of the movie (director) is keeping the suspense a mystery towards the very end.
Snip-out
Well the suspense is outstanding but the script is woven of situations and incidences which are super-coincidental and its a more than perfect plot. Profiling and riding on peoples psyche is fine, but even by FBI standards:-) making a group of 8 FBI students act/do what 1 person wants is actually unrealistic. But the same perfect plot is usually the core of any suspense thriller and one can definitely ignore that, considering the very edgy movie.
Snip-O-Meter
This is purely a directors movie, built on a very tight and fast paced script, which doesn't give viewers the time to think. Christian Slater is a nice surprise in a more than a cameo role - I guess we all have forgotten him. I almost have become his fan after watching his stunning performance in 'Broken Arrow', when he nearly outplayed John Travolta. Val Kilmer is Val Kilmer :-)! - You get to see it in the movie. LL Cool J is fine as well. Even though a bit violent can be watched in one of the Saturday afternoons, so as to relish on the plot for next 1.5 days ;)
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Snipper: Lucky # Slevin
As enthralling and enigmatic as the name Slevin! / Cult is the #Slevin
Snip-in:
I came across the promos / posters of this movie, when I was about to be returning back from Los Angeles/Pasadena around mid 2006. I almost have forgotten about the movie, but I could recently order the same due to strong recommendations by ornate movie fans and it being on top of my list, of must-watch movies. And…. it indeed came out as a super-chic flick. (Trivia - Well I watched this movie almost 3 weeks back and am writing most part of the review at the airport / in a flight on a Sunny Saturday.)
The story-line appears very simple and straight-forward till the 3/4th of the movie. The titles/credits are shown along side the 2 gun-firings taking place at 2 different locales, which gives a sufficient enough dash of bizarre and cult aspect of the movie. Well it doesn't talk about the 2 people shot-down in immediate sequences, but moves on with very distinct characters, the first one being Mr. Goodkat (Bruce 'the' Willis;)) who disappears after giving explanation (eye-popping? Naahhh- it's Neck-twisting!) about 'Kansas City Shuffle' in the opening sequence. The next one is the protagonist Slevin (Josh Hartnett) who's seen talking to his friend (Nick) on cell phone, taking a flight to NYC to meet him, with the ONLY intent to have a rendezvous with his luck which is long abandoned him. And then what happens has to be only watched on the screen. The last 30 minutes come across as huge twist in the story.
As it moves on, the 3 other important characters pop-in, played by Morgan Freeman (The Boss), Sir Ben Kinsley (The Rabbi) and Lucy Liu (Lindsey). And that's a more than perfect star cast and setting for the movie. And a cameo played by a Sidekick of 'The Boss' (Elvis - Dorian Missick?) is truly awesome - with a heavy New Yorker 'Tapori' and 'Dark Grey :-)' accent. The beauty of the movie is most of the characters are having varied degrees of negative shades, but ironically everyone's shown very calm, quite and chill, at least they do everything in that fashion.
Snip-Out:
I might have missed out an important link (I just watched it once, like most of the other movies), but I couldn't understand why the revenge is to be taken almost after 20 years? Also Mr. Goodkat merrily shuffling across 'The Boss' and 'The Rabbi's' 'Offices' (dens) also appears weird at times. Similar is the case with the mistaken identity of Slevin - it becomes little hard to digest that both the Dons and their sidekicks are so dumb who are chasing and picking the wrong Nick. It also has a downside of having a super perfect plot, which in real life actually may not work. The Rabbi's son falling for Slevin so quickly :-) also is a little hard to digest. But these are just small aspects and can be very easily ignored.
Snip-O-Meter:
It's a great dark movie with a pinch of comedy. Josh Hearnett almost outperforms all the biggies including Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis. He also looks stunning, gives a lot of required cult texture to the movie and must have become an instant heart-throb in the 'Global-neighborhood'. Ben Kingsley is the least impactful, as I guess he has 'overly underplayed' the character. Bruce is the second best (after Josh and above Morgan and Ben) playing the very mysterious Mr.Goodkat - he has struck the right balance of being subtle yet very impactful. Lucy Liu is in a welcome supporting role (it can feel to have someone like her in the 'local-neighborhood';)). She has not done any Kill-Bill stunts here, but comes wrapped in a nutty-naughty, and playful role.
Apart from the great characters and sets, the biggest plus of the movie is a water-tight script, driving in a fast lane - even though there are no car chases:-), nor the horrendous gun-fights, nor the action sequences filmed using the multi-camera array techniques (360 degree views as in 'Matrix'). And keeping the pace without having all this is really commendable - Hat's off to the directorial, writing, and editing efforts. It's an out and out cult movie and can be a personal collection, so as to always remind you, that there's nothing called as Luck (as incidentally Slevin doesn't exist as a number :-)). So if you 'gotta get what you wanna get' - you shouldn’t be waiting for any lucky charm to shower, but just create your own destiny. Is that a lot of preaching from a cult movie?- Now are you feeling lucky :-) - Well you should as long as you are not taking the 'Kansas City Shuffle' ;)
Snip-in:
I came across the promos / posters of this movie, when I was about to be returning back from Los Angeles/Pasadena around mid 2006. I almost have forgotten about the movie, but I could recently order the same due to strong recommendations by ornate movie fans and it being on top of my list, of must-watch movies. And…. it indeed came out as a super-chic flick. (Trivia - Well I watched this movie almost 3 weeks back and am writing most part of the review at the airport / in a flight on a Sunny Saturday.)
The story-line appears very simple and straight-forward till the 3/4th of the movie. The titles/credits are shown along side the 2 gun-firings taking place at 2 different locales, which gives a sufficient enough dash of bizarre and cult aspect of the movie. Well it doesn't talk about the 2 people shot-down in immediate sequences, but moves on with very distinct characters, the first one being Mr. Goodkat (Bruce 'the' Willis;)) who disappears after giving explanation (eye-popping? Naahhh- it's Neck-twisting!) about 'Kansas City Shuffle' in the opening sequence. The next one is the protagonist Slevin (Josh Hartnett) who's seen talking to his friend (Nick) on cell phone, taking a flight to NYC to meet him, with the ONLY intent to have a rendezvous with his luck which is long abandoned him. And then what happens has to be only watched on the screen. The last 30 minutes come across as huge twist in the story.
As it moves on, the 3 other important characters pop-in, played by Morgan Freeman (The Boss), Sir Ben Kinsley (The Rabbi) and Lucy Liu (Lindsey). And that's a more than perfect star cast and setting for the movie. And a cameo played by a Sidekick of 'The Boss' (Elvis - Dorian Missick?) is truly awesome - with a heavy New Yorker 'Tapori' and 'Dark Grey :-)' accent. The beauty of the movie is most of the characters are having varied degrees of negative shades, but ironically everyone's shown very calm, quite and chill, at least they do everything in that fashion.
Snip-Out:
I might have missed out an important link (I just watched it once, like most of the other movies), but I couldn't understand why the revenge is to be taken almost after 20 years? Also Mr. Goodkat merrily shuffling across 'The Boss' and 'The Rabbi's' 'Offices' (dens) also appears weird at times. Similar is the case with the mistaken identity of Slevin - it becomes little hard to digest that both the Dons and their sidekicks are so dumb who are chasing and picking the wrong Nick. It also has a downside of having a super perfect plot, which in real life actually may not work. The Rabbi's son falling for Slevin so quickly :-) also is a little hard to digest. But these are just small aspects and can be very easily ignored.
Snip-O-Meter:
It's a great dark movie with a pinch of comedy. Josh Hearnett almost outperforms all the biggies including Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis. He also looks stunning, gives a lot of required cult texture to the movie and must have become an instant heart-throb in the 'Global-neighborhood'. Ben Kingsley is the least impactful, as I guess he has 'overly underplayed' the character. Bruce is the second best (after Josh and above Morgan and Ben) playing the very mysterious Mr.Goodkat - he has struck the right balance of being subtle yet very impactful. Lucy Liu is in a welcome supporting role (it can feel to have someone like her in the 'local-neighborhood';)). She has not done any Kill-Bill stunts here, but comes wrapped in a nutty-naughty, and playful role.
Apart from the great characters and sets, the biggest plus of the movie is a water-tight script, driving in a fast lane - even though there are no car chases:-), nor the horrendous gun-fights, nor the action sequences filmed using the multi-camera array techniques (360 degree views as in 'Matrix'). And keeping the pace without having all this is really commendable - Hat's off to the directorial, writing, and editing efforts. It's an out and out cult movie and can be a personal collection, so as to always remind you, that there's nothing called as Luck (as incidentally Slevin doesn't exist as a number :-)). So if you 'gotta get what you wanna get' - you shouldn’t be waiting for any lucky charm to shower, but just create your own destiny. Is that a lot of preaching from a cult movie?- Now are you feeling lucky :-) - Well you should as long as you are not taking the 'Kansas City Shuffle' ;)
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Snipper: Inglorious B**tards
'Where Eagles Dare on a "Kill-Bill" Mission' ;)
Snip-in:
Couple of friends recommended this while exchanging views on recently watched movies. The Tarantino + Pitt combination appealed me a lot and hence I ordered the same on Bigflix. My lucky charm is still on with the Bigflix, as I have been getting the movies set in the queue ;). Well it's a signature Tarantino film, so do I need to say more?;). Well. Even if I've seen only a few movies of Tarantino, but what I like a lot is unique storey telling, crispy dialogues and fast paced action (with a lot of violence :(). I am sure remakes / dubbings of his movies would become super-duper hits in the South Indian languages because of the style and action (Rajnikanth / Kamala Hassan - anyone?).
Another thrilling aspect is Tarantino has coated the movie with a 'period' (I guess first period movie from him). It's drawn on the canvas of WWII. Even if it's a fiction, it invariably comes with unpleasantly true characteristics and events of the Nazi era. Like all Brit-American movies on this subject, they have literally beaten Hitler and Nazis to the death;). But at the same time many characters in the movie show an abundant and genetically induced intelligence of the 'Master (Aryan) Race'. It also is a remake of 1978 Italian film by the same name, if translated in English.
It's about the army? of handful notorious American soldiers lead by Lieutenant Aldo (Brad Pitt), who are awfully obsessed about the Nazis and Hitler. They are on just one mission - To destroy the Nazis (as Hitler was for Jews). On the Nazi side there is a detective - Colonel Hans (Christopher Waltz) who is equally infamous for his acts against the Jews. It's a feast to watch the intellect of the detectives and how they used to work with minimal / no gizmos! during the last World War around 6 decades back. The scenes depicting how these characters - the detectives of 40's used to perform their tasks is an interesting thing to watch almost across the length of the movie. One of the gun fights triggers at a local pub near Paris after an American soldier (b**tard) orders '3 glasses' of whisky. Well I (and I'm sure no one else watching the movie for umpteen times would ever get to know the reason) couldn’t understand the reason for the gun-fight, which Tarantino simplifies in the immediate sequence (for sake of the understanding of poor viewers) - The way the secret is revealed highlighting the analytical and sharp minds of the detectives in that era is simply remarkable. It has all the 'Masala' of 'violent' scenes and 'abusive' dialogues.
Snip-out
The music at many occasions doesn't commensurate with that of a Period movie. Especially when Shosanna was getting ready before the big massacre in her own cinema hall. Her make-up at that time is also not in-line with '40s. One Trivia I got to read, an interesting one- The opening sequence has a wide frame panning through the country-side and fields. According to the observation, the fields are farmed using mechanical equipments which is absolute no-no in the Nazi ruled France of that time :-).
Snip-O-Meter
Brad Pitt - His accent and mannerisms as Lt. Aldo are stealing, unbeatable. And even if his accent sounds a little odd for the period movie, he is awesome. But, but, but, the real brilliance comes across through Colonel Hans's character played by Chrisoph Waltz. This Austrian (most likely a stage actor) has rocked and moved the screen without doing any flamboyant stuff like 'Aldo'. In fact he has underplayed 'Hans' very commendably, and undoubtedly went on to win the OSCARs for the 'Best Supporting Actor' in 2010. Is that a signal to Tarantino for not having too much flamboyance in the movies - Or is it because amongst all the flamboyant stuff, the very composed 'Hans' gets superimposed on top of everything else?
Net-net it's a must watch and can get into merit of a personal DVD collection, however if you can manage to censor/mute/mask all the abusive words in the movie :-).
Snip-in:
Couple of friends recommended this while exchanging views on recently watched movies. The Tarantino + Pitt combination appealed me a lot and hence I ordered the same on Bigflix. My lucky charm is still on with the Bigflix, as I have been getting the movies set in the queue ;). Well it's a signature Tarantino film, so do I need to say more?;). Well. Even if I've seen only a few movies of Tarantino, but what I like a lot is unique storey telling, crispy dialogues and fast paced action (with a lot of violence :(). I am sure remakes / dubbings of his movies would become super-duper hits in the South Indian languages because of the style and action (Rajnikanth / Kamala Hassan - anyone?).
Another thrilling aspect is Tarantino has coated the movie with a 'period' (I guess first period movie from him). It's drawn on the canvas of WWII. Even if it's a fiction, it invariably comes with unpleasantly true characteristics and events of the Nazi era. Like all Brit-American movies on this subject, they have literally beaten Hitler and Nazis to the death;). But at the same time many characters in the movie show an abundant and genetically induced intelligence of the 'Master (Aryan) Race'. It also is a remake of 1978 Italian film by the same name, if translated in English.
It's about the army? of handful notorious American soldiers lead by Lieutenant Aldo (Brad Pitt), who are awfully obsessed about the Nazis and Hitler. They are on just one mission - To destroy the Nazis (as Hitler was for Jews). On the Nazi side there is a detective - Colonel Hans (Christopher Waltz) who is equally infamous for his acts against the Jews. It's a feast to watch the intellect of the detectives and how they used to work with minimal / no gizmos! during the last World War around 6 decades back. The scenes depicting how these characters - the detectives of 40's used to perform their tasks is an interesting thing to watch almost across the length of the movie. One of the gun fights triggers at a local pub near Paris after an American soldier (b**tard) orders '3 glasses' of whisky. Well I (and I'm sure no one else watching the movie for umpteen times would ever get to know the reason) couldn’t understand the reason for the gun-fight, which Tarantino simplifies in the immediate sequence (for sake of the understanding of poor viewers) - The way the secret is revealed highlighting the analytical and sharp minds of the detectives in that era is simply remarkable. It has all the 'Masala' of 'violent' scenes and 'abusive' dialogues.
Snip-out
The music at many occasions doesn't commensurate with that of a Period movie. Especially when Shosanna was getting ready before the big massacre in her own cinema hall. Her make-up at that time is also not in-line with '40s. One Trivia I got to read, an interesting one- The opening sequence has a wide frame panning through the country-side and fields. According to the observation, the fields are farmed using mechanical equipments which is absolute no-no in the Nazi ruled France of that time :-).
Snip-O-Meter
Brad Pitt - His accent and mannerisms as Lt. Aldo are stealing, unbeatable. And even if his accent sounds a little odd for the period movie, he is awesome. But, but, but, the real brilliance comes across through Colonel Hans's character played by Chrisoph Waltz. This Austrian (most likely a stage actor) has rocked and moved the screen without doing any flamboyant stuff like 'Aldo'. In fact he has underplayed 'Hans' very commendably, and undoubtedly went on to win the OSCARs for the 'Best Supporting Actor' in 2010. Is that a signal to Tarantino for not having too much flamboyance in the movies - Or is it because amongst all the flamboyant stuff, the very composed 'Hans' gets superimposed on top of everything else?
Net-net it's a must watch and can get into merit of a personal DVD collection, however if you can manage to censor/mute/mask all the abusive words in the movie :-).
Snipper: Shutter Island
Opening the new doors of psychological thrillers / Vortex of emotions
Snip-in:
A period movie, takes place in mid 1950s.It revolves around a mental asylum located in the East coast of the US (Boston).On the face of it hosts psychopaths who are dangerously and criminally insane. Whereas the undercurrents are, the hospital is 'ginny-pigging' the 'so called patients' to analyze the functions of human brains, develop medicines/therapies so as to create 'Humanoids' with specific mindsets. U.S. Marshal 'Ted' Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DeCaprio) hears about this undercurrent and was sent on an investigation mission to the 'Shutter Island' with a colleague of his. The story moves on revolving around his shrewd investigation techniques, his beliefs on his skills and dedication towards his job, his 'head-ons' with the Head Psychiatrist Dr. Crawly (Sir Ben Kingsley), love towards his dead wife and children, the never-say-die attitude till the very last frame of the movie.
The movie starts with a snow-whitish screen and a silhouette of something. That something starts appearing to be a big vessel emerging out of the dense fog as it comes closer to the camera. The movie takes the grip from the very first sequence and doesn't let you think about anything at least for next few days after watching it. It scores very high in all aspects of film-making and probably one of the greatest adoptions of a novel on the silver screen.
Snip-out
I simply couldn’t find any flipsides to the movie. However they could have done away from the violent scenes and could have made it just a psychological thriller. One thing which looks odd considering the very nature of Ted and his duties as US Marshall - a) At the start of the movie on the ship, he meets Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) as his colleague for the mission, wherein someone else was already identified and supposed to be joining him. b) In the subsequent shot, Ted is shown surprised when Chuck struggles to get his gun out of the holster while surrendering at the hospital / prison. The struggle is weird by the US Marshall standard. Even after coming across these 2 strange incidences about Chuck, Ted keeps faith on Chuck and shares all the secrets of his mission with him. Instead he could have shown as a little alerted / withdrawn / isolated from Chuck. The last one is about the gun that is used by Ted and Chuck, it's worth while validating the make to see whether it’s the same thing being used by US Marshalls during '50s. But again these need not be considered to be the Snip-outs.
Snip-O-Meter
Well a sure-winner for the Oscars (Academy awards 2011) in the below categories:
1. Best Movie: Apart from every thing else a great team of the Director-Actor duo one more time (The Aviator, The Departed)
2. Best Actor: Leonardo DeCaprio. He lived the 'Ted'. You can see the difference portrayed in his 2 characters- one as a WWII soldier and other as the U.S Marshall (The way he walks and carries as both these characters). But Ted as the Marshall is simply awesome. He has a wide scope of putting a number of emotions in the character and he has done that to more than perfection. Definitely the role of his life.
3. Best Director: Martin Scorsese. Should be his best work so far. Aviator was a great period movie as well and was nominated in number of categories.
4. Best Supporting Actor: Ben Kingsley may get nominated. However Mark Ruffalo has lots of chances to actually win this :-).
5. Best writing - Adapted Screenplay
6. And last but not the least, it can definitely be considered as one of the best DVD covers / Posters. And if a category exists for the same, it's a sure-shot winner, being a very captivating poster.
And well Big:-) thanks to the 'BigFlix' guy who recommended me this movie on a busy afternoon, and who was moreover kind enough to offer me this movie overruling the sequence of movies in my queue :-)
Snip-in:
A period movie, takes place in mid 1950s.It revolves around a mental asylum located in the East coast of the US (Boston).On the face of it hosts psychopaths who are dangerously and criminally insane. Whereas the undercurrents are, the hospital is 'ginny-pigging' the 'so called patients' to analyze the functions of human brains, develop medicines/therapies so as to create 'Humanoids' with specific mindsets. U.S. Marshal 'Ted' Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DeCaprio) hears about this undercurrent and was sent on an investigation mission to the 'Shutter Island' with a colleague of his. The story moves on revolving around his shrewd investigation techniques, his beliefs on his skills and dedication towards his job, his 'head-ons' with the Head Psychiatrist Dr. Crawly (Sir Ben Kingsley), love towards his dead wife and children, the never-say-die attitude till the very last frame of the movie.
The movie starts with a snow-whitish screen and a silhouette of something. That something starts appearing to be a big vessel emerging out of the dense fog as it comes closer to the camera. The movie takes the grip from the very first sequence and doesn't let you think about anything at least for next few days after watching it. It scores very high in all aspects of film-making and probably one of the greatest adoptions of a novel on the silver screen.
Snip-out
I simply couldn’t find any flipsides to the movie. However they could have done away from the violent scenes and could have made it just a psychological thriller. One thing which looks odd considering the very nature of Ted and his duties as US Marshall - a) At the start of the movie on the ship, he meets Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) as his colleague for the mission, wherein someone else was already identified and supposed to be joining him. b) In the subsequent shot, Ted is shown surprised when Chuck struggles to get his gun out of the holster while surrendering at the hospital / prison. The struggle is weird by the US Marshall standard. Even after coming across these 2 strange incidences about Chuck, Ted keeps faith on Chuck and shares all the secrets of his mission with him. Instead he could have shown as a little alerted / withdrawn / isolated from Chuck. The last one is about the gun that is used by Ted and Chuck, it's worth while validating the make to see whether it’s the same thing being used by US Marshalls during '50s. But again these need not be considered to be the Snip-outs.
Snip-O-Meter
Well a sure-winner for the Oscars (Academy awards 2011) in the below categories:
1. Best Movie: Apart from every thing else a great team of the Director-Actor duo one more time (The Aviator, The Departed)
2. Best Actor: Leonardo DeCaprio. He lived the 'Ted'. You can see the difference portrayed in his 2 characters- one as a WWII soldier and other as the U.S Marshall (The way he walks and carries as both these characters). But Ted as the Marshall is simply awesome. He has a wide scope of putting a number of emotions in the character and he has done that to more than perfection. Definitely the role of his life.
3. Best Director: Martin Scorsese. Should be his best work so far. Aviator was a great period movie as well and was nominated in number of categories.
4. Best Supporting Actor: Ben Kingsley may get nominated. However Mark Ruffalo has lots of chances to actually win this :-).
5. Best writing - Adapted Screenplay
6. And last but not the least, it can definitely be considered as one of the best DVD covers / Posters. And if a category exists for the same, it's a sure-shot winner, being a very captivating poster.
And well Big:-) thanks to the 'BigFlix' guy who recommended me this movie on a busy afternoon, and who was moreover kind enough to offer me this movie overruling the sequence of movies in my queue :-)
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Snipper: Dabangg
Snip-in: Dabangg: 'Dhan-Te-Nan, New-Tech remix of 80's Bollywood Movies! 'Chulbulhood - The saga begins': Part 1
I got to watch Dabangg promos a few times over last 3-4 weeks while I was visiting Hyderabad. And I was actually sold on the movie. I'm neither a great fan of Sallu, nor of the typical Masala Bollywood movies. The promos were revealing all the true aspects of the genre of the movie and not even the single thing in the promos (dialogues, songs, characters) was claiming it to be 'different' or 'hatke' movie;). So we booked almost the first day first show, a very rare privilege to a movie as far as I'm concerned;). And I'd say I was not disappointed.
It's a story which we have seen umpteen times in the movies of 70s and '80s. It's built on the same 'Bhai-Bhai' story-line which was conceived by Salim-Javed in Deewar and used (to death!) in other similar movies. But it has additional bottleful of flavors containing street smart comedy, new-age action, colloquial dialogues, and characters greatly appealing the masses.
Sajid-Wajid's music is going to be a big hit. (In fact it is already! I started writing the review on 10th September, and even though it took around an hour to write, i could comlpete it only on 18th). The Choreography is equally appealing as the music. 'Munni' as a song is a crowd puller and must be the #1 pick for the Ganapati Dance this year. One of the most appealing steps for Malaika is actually copied from Madhuri's all time great 'Ek-do-teen' (Tejab). 'Tere Mast Mast Do Nain' sounds to be based on 'Sufi' tunes, but actually a soft romantic number, and is a very good one.
Snip-out
Well you don’t see these movies for the perfection - do you? I was not following-it-to-the- point, as 'public' was enjoying every bit of it. However one thing just couldn't escape my eyes - In an extended climax sequence Salman blows a car to have it fly and crash into the villains den so as to trigger an explosion. However the den explodes into flames much before the car bangs into it. It doesn't require a third-umpire;) to give a verdict in this case. This made me recall a 'Z-grade' movie (Nine Deaths of Ninja? Not sure) watched in early 90s- It's Ashok Amritraj Production House in Hollywood - an Action movie, when a grenade is thrown into the cave, and while the grenade is still traversing towards them into the cave, you can see the soldiers die of explosions:-). And off-course about the self-proclaimed 'Robinhood' (more apt:Chulbulhood-the 'Ever-Green Prince' of Bollywood):He is a Robinhood for himself as in he robs the robbers and keeps the money at his home, to buy home appliances :-)(Generators, even the desi refrigerators like 'Matka' at an over-hyped rates, and 'Ray-Ban' goggles for him and his bro.)
Apart from that, considering his Mr. India image, model turned actor Sonu Sood has played 'Chhedi Singh' to a great accuracy. However it feels as if he actually doesn't want to portray a villain in big banner Bollywood movie. He probably doesn’t want fame /stature thru a negative role, but must have done a trade- off :( considering the $$ :-)
Snip-O-Meter
Abhinav Kashyap the director, a debutant though, has made sure that he is doing his job right (even after taking all the U-turns, Summersaults, going Southwards, but still doing in right :-)). He probably have mastered the art of direction much ahead of big-bro (Anurag) in the main-stream Bollywood movies. Sonu Sood looks great, but would need to move back to the 'Good-guy' roles. Sonakshi Sinha nowhere appears to be a debutant. She has carried herself very well, looks nice, and acted to a great extent as well. And somehow I was imagining Raj Babbar and Rakhi, in place of Vinod Khanna and Dimple :-). But why we are talking about all of them - It's Sallu's movie all the way. It's going to be Sallu's greatest hit yet, and whenever we remember him, this would top his list of movies. He has all the Aura to portray ' Chulbul Pande', right from the bizzare apparels, his mush (mustache), and a North Indian accent textured in thick desi-ghee:-). And I guess amongst 3 Khans born in '65, Sallu still looks younger (most eligible bachelor?) compared to Aamir and SRK. Do we blame it on his 'so-called-Unmarried' status;)?
But above all 200% credit goes to Arbaaz, the producer!(He has acted pretty good too). He seemed to be knowing what he is doing - He has ensured to have a great caste, a great North Indian back-drop to pull the masses, an awesome production design (including the title of the movie, designing the look of the movie, 'Matrix' style action sequences, Promos and Posters). He'll go a long way from here , I reckon Dabangg 2 is already on the anvil:-)
I got to watch Dabangg promos a few times over last 3-4 weeks while I was visiting Hyderabad. And I was actually sold on the movie. I'm neither a great fan of Sallu, nor of the typical Masala Bollywood movies. The promos were revealing all the true aspects of the genre of the movie and not even the single thing in the promos (dialogues, songs, characters) was claiming it to be 'different' or 'hatke' movie;). So we booked almost the first day first show, a very rare privilege to a movie as far as I'm concerned;). And I'd say I was not disappointed.
It's a story which we have seen umpteen times in the movies of 70s and '80s. It's built on the same 'Bhai-Bhai' story-line which was conceived by Salim-Javed in Deewar and used (to death!) in other similar movies. But it has additional bottleful of flavors containing street smart comedy, new-age action, colloquial dialogues, and characters greatly appealing the masses.
Sajid-Wajid's music is going to be a big hit. (In fact it is already! I started writing the review on 10th September, and even though it took around an hour to write, i could comlpete it only on 18th). The Choreography is equally appealing as the music. 'Munni' as a song is a crowd puller and must be the #1 pick for the Ganapati Dance this year. One of the most appealing steps for Malaika is actually copied from Madhuri's all time great 'Ek-do-teen' (Tejab). 'Tere Mast Mast Do Nain' sounds to be based on 'Sufi' tunes, but actually a soft romantic number, and is a very good one.
Snip-out
Well you don’t see these movies for the perfection - do you? I was not following-it-to-the- point, as 'public' was enjoying every bit of it. However one thing just couldn't escape my eyes - In an extended climax sequence Salman blows a car to have it fly and crash into the villains den so as to trigger an explosion. However the den explodes into flames much before the car bangs into it. It doesn't require a third-umpire;) to give a verdict in this case. This made me recall a 'Z-grade' movie (Nine Deaths of Ninja? Not sure) watched in early 90s- It's Ashok Amritraj Production House in Hollywood - an Action movie, when a grenade is thrown into the cave, and while the grenade is still traversing towards them into the cave, you can see the soldiers die of explosions:-). And off-course about the self-proclaimed 'Robinhood' (more apt:Chulbulhood-the 'Ever-Green Prince' of Bollywood):He is a Robinhood for himself as in he robs the robbers and keeps the money at his home, to buy home appliances :-)(Generators, even the desi refrigerators like 'Matka' at an over-hyped rates, and 'Ray-Ban' goggles for him and his bro.)
Apart from that, considering his Mr. India image, model turned actor Sonu Sood has played 'Chhedi Singh' to a great accuracy. However it feels as if he actually doesn't want to portray a villain in big banner Bollywood movie. He probably doesn’t want fame /stature thru a negative role, but must have done a trade- off :( considering the $$ :-)
Snip-O-Meter
Abhinav Kashyap the director, a debutant though, has made sure that he is doing his job right (even after taking all the U-turns, Summersaults, going Southwards, but still doing in right :-)). He probably have mastered the art of direction much ahead of big-bro (Anurag) in the main-stream Bollywood movies. Sonu Sood looks great, but would need to move back to the 'Good-guy' roles. Sonakshi Sinha nowhere appears to be a debutant. She has carried herself very well, looks nice, and acted to a great extent as well. And somehow I was imagining Raj Babbar and Rakhi, in place of Vinod Khanna and Dimple :-). But why we are talking about all of them - It's Sallu's movie all the way. It's going to be Sallu's greatest hit yet, and whenever we remember him, this would top his list of movies. He has all the Aura to portray ' Chulbul Pande', right from the bizzare apparels, his mush (mustache), and a North Indian accent textured in thick desi-ghee:-). And I guess amongst 3 Khans born in '65, Sallu still looks younger (most eligible bachelor?) compared to Aamir and SRK. Do we blame it on his 'so-called-Unmarried' status;)?
But above all 200% credit goes to Arbaaz, the producer!(He has acted pretty good too). He seemed to be knowing what he is doing - He has ensured to have a great caste, a great North Indian back-drop to pull the masses, an awesome production design (including the title of the movie, designing the look of the movie, 'Matrix' style action sequences, Promos and Posters). He'll go a long way from here , I reckon Dabangg 2 is already on the anvil:-)
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Snipper: Katraj-Sinhagadh Moonlight Trek
This is not a Snipper but actually a much longer version, but hope you guys would be able to experience the moments during the trek.
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Snip-in:
It’s a youthful dream. It’s also about visiting the most beloved places (by me) in the world, by taking an entirely different route. It’s a testimony of one’s tenacity, endurance and patience. It’s acclaimed as a prelude for the folks wanting to make it big in the Himalayas.
Guys I’m referring to one of the highly respected treks in Sahyadri’s, which is none other than the Katraj-Sinhagadh Trek. Sinhagadh is a place I can vouch for being one of the best places in the world - For it’s majestic and solid looks, the prominent historical importance in terms of Shivaji’s/Maratha Empire, the one fort that I used to see most of the times in younger days when Pune was still only the Manchester of West (And not the Silicon Valley or Detroit of the West – very low population and pollution!), and when the tallest buildings used to be only 3-4 storied, for the first fort I scaled at the age of 9, and the place probably visited most in my younger days- for some other! obvious ;) reasons. Well, even after visiting a few of the countries in the world, I can still fall in love with the fort every time I see / think of it in my mind. So getting an opportunity to scale it one more time and by following a route of historic importance, I was longing to do this trek.
To give the gist about the Trek – It starts at the Katraj tunnel on the old Mumbai-Bangalore highway (NH4), traverses through more than a dozen (15 odd) hills, covering a distance of 18-20 Kilometers usually in 7-8 hours (in the night, not too sure about the daytime! Just can not think of it!).
Thanks to the ‘Wanderers’ – The trekking enthusiast group of Pune and obviously Ajit and Shailesh for making it happen for me/us. I recently scaled ‘Dukes Nose’ with the same group and it was a very nice, professional yet informal experience for me. All the treks ((just a few) we did in the younger years were with the group of friends and now I realized how it’s always better to be doing these adventurous activities with the ‘Pros’ rather than doing with Amateurs.
So we got started from our residences at Chandani Chowk and few of us who are not accustomed to sitting in vehicles lesser than ‘Civics’ have actually reached the Katraj Snake Park (the starting / meeting point) on 6 sitters / 2 wheelers and what not! Myself and Shailesh actually started the trek on the Katraj Bypass, from the ‘Aditya Garden City’. The rickshwalas were scrapping us, as if we are asking them to drop us on Saturn or we are begging for a free ride. We kept on walking and Shailesh even tried some of the ‘girly’ acts of getting a lift, but he was no way close to it (he should rather act on perfecting his acting skills ). We must have covered at least 1+ kms from his residence with 6-7 Kgs on our backs in one of the hottest evenings in May ‘10, which the ‘Al Mighty’ must have watched from somewhere up. So finally a 6 Sitter stopped just before the Warje fly over and we could ‘Embark’ on it (it’s no lesser than a ‘Moon-Raker’/Howercraft). Being a Saturday night (and otherwise also ) it was as crowded as it can be – the driver was in 200% productive mood! There was ‘no room for room’ (Doesn’t it sound like Tata Indicas first tag line? ‘More car /car’ - I don’t know what Tata’s mean by that). The rick driver was obnoxious and was driving the vehicle crazily with his music player sending the sound waves to the Heavens and Hell. Though it appeared to be a Bollywood song, it was completely unheard of by all the passengers and everyone was cursing the driver, without he being caring about it even a bit. Shailesh as usual added a spice which is only missing part to this ride. He was frantically calling another Lead Trekker - Shraddha, anticipating to get out of the 6 Sitter to get a cozier ride in her car(at least a Honda City, if not Civic). Both of them were exchanging information about each others whereabouts on their cell phones (why don’t we still have GPS trackers in our cells yet? L) which is getting lost in the deafening music in the 6 Sitter and equally raucous traffic in which she is driving her vehicle. By Gods grace they were able to locate each other (6 Sitter and her vehicle) on the Katraj Bypass. Shailesh asked me to get down the 6 sitter and I was about to be paying the driver the ‘ransom’ for keeping us hostage for 10 minutes from Warje to new Shindewadi Bypass, but when I tried searching for ‘the car’ which Shailesh believed Shraddha would be driving in, to my surprise she was on an ‘Honda Activa’ and not an ‘Honda City’ J. Consequently we had to embark the same 6 sitter for yet another self-defying or hostage trip, which somehow ended near the Katraj Snake Park in another 15-20 minutes, after which everyone in the vehicle was searching for an ENT specialist.
We waited at the Snake Park entrance for 30-45 minutes for everyone to gather, had splurged on chat items, juices n what not at the local tapris. Well it was a good turn-out of around 47 folks of different shapes, sizes, age, motives, cultures, professions and walks of life J. The youngest I’d say is a 15 years old girl and the otherwise youngest I’d say, was her father who must be around late 40’s. Majority of the folks are from Software / IT industry, followed by a group of Doctors as a profession. Surprisingly (well should it be or not so?) the 40-45% of the crowd was of a ‘Fair gender’. There were 4 Sumos arranged to take us to the Katraj Tunnel. Again thanks to Ajit for his ever enthusiastic ownership and passion towards managing the trek – unfortunately the PMT Bus service was recently defunct, and he quickly arranged for the vehicles and made it sure that things are proceeding as planned and people are comfortably/timely reaching the start point of the trek- Katraj tunnel. It was 9.45 PM in the Mirchi clockJ. We got down on the other side of the tunnel and the first thing we could see was the very Bright and almost a Full Moon peeping out of the trees and shining in midst of clear skies. We were rest assured that at least the trek won’t be boring and would be a nice walk watching the nightly trail of the moon in the skies. We started the first climb - a short one, which takes us above the tunnel for the first quick halt at the Waghjai temple. We had a quick introduction and ‘Dos and Donts’ round at this point. It had a very nice view of the Pune city. In fact we got to know that the view is going to be there with us for next 8 hours while overlooking the Pune city from South-Easterly direction. We were told by Ajit about the 18 KM, 15 hills, around 9 hour journey. And also a warning of taking a U-Turn for those who won’t be able to make it, because of the fact that there is no EXIT in between and one has to cover the same distance to go forward OR backward to reach a tar road / any sort of habitat. Fortunately no one backed-off, as I heard of people in the past actually getting back to the Katraj Tunnel to take a ride (Toyotas, Truck, Tempo, Tanga, whichever mode of travel) and head back to their cozy homes instead of sweating it out for 9 hours.
The actual trek started from the Waghjai temple at @10.15 PM. All 47 were enough enthusiastic and determinant to move forward towards the Fort. The first 2 hills at the Katraj tunnel (Gokul and Vrindavan) out of 15 are the toughest ones is what was informed to us. However, what I realized was there were a couple in between and another couple towards the end of it are equally tough (making it 5-6 toughest hills) and steep having deep valleys to descend and ascend. The walk was nice in the moonlight and starry sky above, and an equally nice starry (lightning / Fireworks) view of Pune city below through-out the trek. We walked for almost 3.5 hrs with a few small breaks, consuming water very carefully even if most of us were carrying 3-4 liters of water, as there’s absolutely no habitat / shops within reach. There were 2 small trekker groups, took-over us in between. Both the groups were not having any presence of females / kids and thus were pretty quickly disappeared towards the valleys leading to the fort (No pun intended!). Around 1.15AM we stopped for Dinner/Breakfast ;).(I remembered the breakfast menu in most of the diners in the US starts at 12 midnight ;). I noticed that when we visited the Denny’s first time in Pasadena(CA) on Colorado Blvd late in the night, and when I had a big sumptuous omelet with potato fries, which was good enough to skip the next 2 meals.). Me and Parth had ‘Batatyachi bhaji and poli’, Shailesh had the ‘Pithale’, Sharddha had the omelet Sandwich, and couple other folks had readymade Shrikhand and Namkeen (being bachelors obviously) on the breakfast table (?). We had one of the most versatile menus followed by Chikki, Cream biscuits and Shrikhand as the desserts. Some of us were actually created their virtual bed besides the virtual breakfast table and almost on the verge of sleeping. But we were just half-way through. The TV towers on the fort are blinking making us realize that it’s a still a distant dream, if we become sluggish on the move. Ajit did the trick, he made movements in the group, altered the Leads from front to back and vice versa.
So we started on the remainder of the journey. Everyone now has begun with the count-downJ of the hills. And we were getting to know the exciting stories about the trek while marching ahead. The trek which we completed in close to 8.5-9 hrs, the trekkers during Enduro event have completed in 3.5 hrs. Also some of the folks do make it as a round-trip: Katraj-Sinhagadh-Katraj – Hats-off to them (18 odd hours of strenuous ascends and descends). A couple of guys, for them it was 35th time on the same trek. That actually made us being strong and focused to complete the trek an keep up with the pace. And what actually helped in the last couple of hours was the songs – Shailesh’s cell was on and it was playing Soft Western Pop /Rock. It was a divine experience while walking on the plateaus/ crossing the valleys looking over the Khadakwasla backwaters from a distance, and listening to the Bryan Adams / George Benson / Celine Dionne / Backstreet Boys, and other chart toppers of ‘80’s and 90’s and NOW’ (felt like listening to 104.3…or some other radio station and being in LA). Fully energized listening to the songs, I started walking a lot faster in a group of 3 of us. Shailesh was way behind and so is his cell, it’s absolutely silent where there is a deep bushy valley on one right and a rocky hill on the left, we heard an unfamiliar sound of an animal roaring. All 3 of us were stranded for a moment and then walked passed that region even faster. Once we felt out of danger, we tried identifying the animal based on the sound, which we couldn’t. But it was a real scary experience which we’ll remember for a long time.
Slowly, steadily and tiredly! we have come to the last pit stop from where the steel angles of the TV tower on the Sinhagadh fort have started becoming visible-well you can actually count those from here–some 2-3 KMs of ariel distance. It’s the ‘Lone Tree’ point which is the on a hill before the last valley in the trek. People have actually thrown them on the terrain to give a soothing feeling to their thighs, knees, ankles and feet and wishing it to be the actual final destination, unfortunately which was not the case. It was 5.15 in the morning and started dawning at this juncture while we were on the ‘Loan Tree’ point. We took a break for 15-20 minutes, to have everyone regroup before we start descending the last and deepest of valleys. In another 45 minutes we reached our final destination of the trek which is the Kondhanpur road junction on the Sinhagadh Ghat road. Unfortuantely there was a group of 5-6 people who had become very tired and walking at a very slow pace was behind by almost an 1-1.5 hrs. Ajit was making sure that they are able to make that final league with a full determination. Well for rest of us, 3 ‘Jeeps’ were waiting at the junction, which dropped us to the Sinhagadh base village of ‘Atkarwadi’. Everyone jumped on to the Pohe, biscuits and tea like have not seen those for ages J at one of the ‘Tapris’. We got onto the PMT bus at 8.30 AM, and reached Warje in 40 minutes. Again none of the ricks were willing to come to the ‘Aditya Garden City’ which must be 1.5KMs from there, and were asking for double the fare. Shailesh was bravely? thinking of walking the distance in broad Sunlight. But I was not J. Incidentally a 6 sitter came for the rescue, being early morning the driver was not running on any ‘steroids’ (music) to keep him alive (And everyone else dead). I reached home at around 10.00 while 1 liter of water is still unused (out of 4) in the sack.
Snip-Out:
Some distant and personal views which may or may not be correct - I was hopeful to reduce at least 1 Kg of weight because of the 8-9 hour trek. But Shailesh and Shraddha were telling me that after last couple of treks their body weight actually increased, to which I was not very convinced. But when I checked mine after coming back, I realized the same thing, the body weight was increased by around 1-1.5 Kgs. It must be because of the high calorie food which is eaten while walking J. It has an impact on the biological clock as well as me being very particular about following certain daily routine. Also the number of descends in the summer become very dangerous because of the loose gravel and one can hurt their legs. The last thing is about the fatigue – The legs were aching for almost next 6 days and I couldn’t get up early in the morning the whole of next week, missing my morning exercise completely. So net-net from fitness standpoint I’m not too sure how these treks would help, if someone is NOT doing those regularly.
Snip-O-Meter:
Thus I was able to pay the tribute to Sinhagadh and Maratha Empire one more time and in fact in a real ‘big and long way’. Like said earlier, this is a ‘must-have’ trek for everyone who wants to take an ‘Endurance Test’. It’s quite strenuous, not good for elderly because it puts a lot of pressure on the knees. It gives an opportunity to look at the Pune city, and Sinhagadh from a different angle-and it can specially be a delight during full-moon nights. It also gives everyone an immense confidence to scale bigger mountains not only in Sahyadri’s but elsewhere including at higher altitudes and varied terrains. Importantly it will always be very close to our hearts as we scaled it on 29th May, the same day when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the pinnacle of world-‘Mount Everest’ for the first time in the history. That made it more than an achievement for all of us.
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Snip-in:
It’s a youthful dream. It’s also about visiting the most beloved places (by me) in the world, by taking an entirely different route. It’s a testimony of one’s tenacity, endurance and patience. It’s acclaimed as a prelude for the folks wanting to make it big in the Himalayas.
Guys I’m referring to one of the highly respected treks in Sahyadri’s, which is none other than the Katraj-Sinhagadh Trek. Sinhagadh is a place I can vouch for being one of the best places in the world - For it’s majestic and solid looks, the prominent historical importance in terms of Shivaji’s/Maratha Empire, the one fort that I used to see most of the times in younger days when Pune was still only the Manchester of West (And not the Silicon Valley or Detroit of the West – very low population and pollution!), and when the tallest buildings used to be only 3-4 storied, for the first fort I scaled at the age of 9, and the place probably visited most in my younger days- for some other! obvious ;) reasons. Well, even after visiting a few of the countries in the world, I can still fall in love with the fort every time I see / think of it in my mind. So getting an opportunity to scale it one more time and by following a route of historic importance, I was longing to do this trek.
To give the gist about the Trek – It starts at the Katraj tunnel on the old Mumbai-Bangalore highway (NH4), traverses through more than a dozen (15 odd) hills, covering a distance of 18-20 Kilometers usually in 7-8 hours (in the night, not too sure about the daytime! Just can not think of it!).
Thanks to the ‘Wanderers’ – The trekking enthusiast group of Pune and obviously Ajit and Shailesh for making it happen for me/us. I recently scaled ‘Dukes Nose’ with the same group and it was a very nice, professional yet informal experience for me. All the treks ((just a few) we did in the younger years were with the group of friends and now I realized how it’s always better to be doing these adventurous activities with the ‘Pros’ rather than doing with Amateurs.
So we got started from our residences at Chandani Chowk and few of us who are not accustomed to sitting in vehicles lesser than ‘Civics’ have actually reached the Katraj Snake Park (the starting / meeting point) on 6 sitters / 2 wheelers and what not! Myself and Shailesh actually started the trek on the Katraj Bypass, from the ‘Aditya Garden City’. The rickshwalas were scrapping us, as if we are asking them to drop us on Saturn or we are begging for a free ride. We kept on walking and Shailesh even tried some of the ‘girly’ acts of getting a lift, but he was no way close to it (he should rather act on perfecting his acting skills ). We must have covered at least 1+ kms from his residence with 6-7 Kgs on our backs in one of the hottest evenings in May ‘10, which the ‘Al Mighty’ must have watched from somewhere up. So finally a 6 Sitter stopped just before the Warje fly over and we could ‘Embark’ on it (it’s no lesser than a ‘Moon-Raker’/Howercraft). Being a Saturday night (and otherwise also ) it was as crowded as it can be – the driver was in 200% productive mood! There was ‘no room for room’ (Doesn’t it sound like Tata Indicas first tag line? ‘More car /car’ - I don’t know what Tata’s mean by that). The rick driver was obnoxious and was driving the vehicle crazily with his music player sending the sound waves to the Heavens and Hell. Though it appeared to be a Bollywood song, it was completely unheard of by all the passengers and everyone was cursing the driver, without he being caring about it even a bit. Shailesh as usual added a spice which is only missing part to this ride. He was frantically calling another Lead Trekker - Shraddha, anticipating to get out of the 6 Sitter to get a cozier ride in her car(at least a Honda City, if not Civic). Both of them were exchanging information about each others whereabouts on their cell phones (why don’t we still have GPS trackers in our cells yet? L) which is getting lost in the deafening music in the 6 Sitter and equally raucous traffic in which she is driving her vehicle. By Gods grace they were able to locate each other (6 Sitter and her vehicle) on the Katraj Bypass. Shailesh asked me to get down the 6 sitter and I was about to be paying the driver the ‘ransom’ for keeping us hostage for 10 minutes from Warje to new Shindewadi Bypass, but when I tried searching for ‘the car’ which Shailesh believed Shraddha would be driving in, to my surprise she was on an ‘Honda Activa’ and not an ‘Honda City’ J. Consequently we had to embark the same 6 sitter for yet another self-defying or hostage trip, which somehow ended near the Katraj Snake Park in another 15-20 minutes, after which everyone in the vehicle was searching for an ENT specialist.
We waited at the Snake Park entrance for 30-45 minutes for everyone to gather, had splurged on chat items, juices n what not at the local tapris. Well it was a good turn-out of around 47 folks of different shapes, sizes, age, motives, cultures, professions and walks of life J. The youngest I’d say is a 15 years old girl and the otherwise youngest I’d say, was her father who must be around late 40’s. Majority of the folks are from Software / IT industry, followed by a group of Doctors as a profession. Surprisingly (well should it be or not so?) the 40-45% of the crowd was of a ‘Fair gender’. There were 4 Sumos arranged to take us to the Katraj Tunnel. Again thanks to Ajit for his ever enthusiastic ownership and passion towards managing the trek – unfortunately the PMT Bus service was recently defunct, and he quickly arranged for the vehicles and made it sure that things are proceeding as planned and people are comfortably/timely reaching the start point of the trek- Katraj tunnel. It was 9.45 PM in the Mirchi clockJ. We got down on the other side of the tunnel and the first thing we could see was the very Bright and almost a Full Moon peeping out of the trees and shining in midst of clear skies. We were rest assured that at least the trek won’t be boring and would be a nice walk watching the nightly trail of the moon in the skies. We started the first climb - a short one, which takes us above the tunnel for the first quick halt at the Waghjai temple. We had a quick introduction and ‘Dos and Donts’ round at this point. It had a very nice view of the Pune city. In fact we got to know that the view is going to be there with us for next 8 hours while overlooking the Pune city from South-Easterly direction. We were told by Ajit about the 18 KM, 15 hills, around 9 hour journey. And also a warning of taking a U-Turn for those who won’t be able to make it, because of the fact that there is no EXIT in between and one has to cover the same distance to go forward OR backward to reach a tar road / any sort of habitat. Fortunately no one backed-off, as I heard of people in the past actually getting back to the Katraj Tunnel to take a ride (Toyotas, Truck, Tempo, Tanga, whichever mode of travel) and head back to their cozy homes instead of sweating it out for 9 hours.
The actual trek started from the Waghjai temple at @10.15 PM. All 47 were enough enthusiastic and determinant to move forward towards the Fort. The first 2 hills at the Katraj tunnel (Gokul and Vrindavan) out of 15 are the toughest ones is what was informed to us. However, what I realized was there were a couple in between and another couple towards the end of it are equally tough (making it 5-6 toughest hills) and steep having deep valleys to descend and ascend. The walk was nice in the moonlight and starry sky above, and an equally nice starry (lightning / Fireworks) view of Pune city below through-out the trek. We walked for almost 3.5 hrs with a few small breaks, consuming water very carefully even if most of us were carrying 3-4 liters of water, as there’s absolutely no habitat / shops within reach. There were 2 small trekker groups, took-over us in between. Both the groups were not having any presence of females / kids and thus were pretty quickly disappeared towards the valleys leading to the fort (No pun intended!). Around 1.15AM we stopped for Dinner/Breakfast ;).(I remembered the breakfast menu in most of the diners in the US starts at 12 midnight ;). I noticed that when we visited the Denny’s first time in Pasadena(CA) on Colorado Blvd late in the night, and when I had a big sumptuous omelet with potato fries, which was good enough to skip the next 2 meals.). Me and Parth had ‘Batatyachi bhaji and poli’, Shailesh had the ‘Pithale’, Sharddha had the omelet Sandwich, and couple other folks had readymade Shrikhand and Namkeen (being bachelors obviously) on the breakfast table (?). We had one of the most versatile menus followed by Chikki, Cream biscuits and Shrikhand as the desserts. Some of us were actually created their virtual bed besides the virtual breakfast table and almost on the verge of sleeping. But we were just half-way through. The TV towers on the fort are blinking making us realize that it’s a still a distant dream, if we become sluggish on the move. Ajit did the trick, he made movements in the group, altered the Leads from front to back and vice versa.
So we started on the remainder of the journey. Everyone now has begun with the count-downJ of the hills. And we were getting to know the exciting stories about the trek while marching ahead. The trek which we completed in close to 8.5-9 hrs, the trekkers during Enduro event have completed in 3.5 hrs. Also some of the folks do make it as a round-trip: Katraj-Sinhagadh-Katraj – Hats-off to them (18 odd hours of strenuous ascends and descends). A couple of guys, for them it was 35th time on the same trek. That actually made us being strong and focused to complete the trek an keep up with the pace. And what actually helped in the last couple of hours was the songs – Shailesh’s cell was on and it was playing Soft Western Pop /Rock. It was a divine experience while walking on the plateaus/ crossing the valleys looking over the Khadakwasla backwaters from a distance, and listening to the Bryan Adams / George Benson / Celine Dionne / Backstreet Boys, and other chart toppers of ‘80’s and 90’s and NOW’ (felt like listening to 104.3…or some other radio station and being in LA). Fully energized listening to the songs, I started walking a lot faster in a group of 3 of us. Shailesh was way behind and so is his cell, it’s absolutely silent where there is a deep bushy valley on one right and a rocky hill on the left, we heard an unfamiliar sound of an animal roaring. All 3 of us were stranded for a moment and then walked passed that region even faster. Once we felt out of danger, we tried identifying the animal based on the sound, which we couldn’t. But it was a real scary experience which we’ll remember for a long time.
Slowly, steadily and tiredly! we have come to the last pit stop from where the steel angles of the TV tower on the Sinhagadh fort have started becoming visible-well you can actually count those from here–some 2-3 KMs of ariel distance. It’s the ‘Lone Tree’ point which is the on a hill before the last valley in the trek. People have actually thrown them on the terrain to give a soothing feeling to their thighs, knees, ankles and feet and wishing it to be the actual final destination, unfortunately which was not the case. It was 5.15 in the morning and started dawning at this juncture while we were on the ‘Loan Tree’ point. We took a break for 15-20 minutes, to have everyone regroup before we start descending the last and deepest of valleys. In another 45 minutes we reached our final destination of the trek which is the Kondhanpur road junction on the Sinhagadh Ghat road. Unfortuantely there was a group of 5-6 people who had become very tired and walking at a very slow pace was behind by almost an 1-1.5 hrs. Ajit was making sure that they are able to make that final league with a full determination. Well for rest of us, 3 ‘Jeeps’ were waiting at the junction, which dropped us to the Sinhagadh base village of ‘Atkarwadi’. Everyone jumped on to the Pohe, biscuits and tea like have not seen those for ages J at one of the ‘Tapris’. We got onto the PMT bus at 8.30 AM, and reached Warje in 40 minutes. Again none of the ricks were willing to come to the ‘Aditya Garden City’ which must be 1.5KMs from there, and were asking for double the fare. Shailesh was bravely? thinking of walking the distance in broad Sunlight. But I was not J. Incidentally a 6 sitter came for the rescue, being early morning the driver was not running on any ‘steroids’ (music) to keep him alive (And everyone else dead). I reached home at around 10.00 while 1 liter of water is still unused (out of 4) in the sack.
Snip-Out:
Some distant and personal views which may or may not be correct - I was hopeful to reduce at least 1 Kg of weight because of the 8-9 hour trek. But Shailesh and Shraddha were telling me that after last couple of treks their body weight actually increased, to which I was not very convinced. But when I checked mine after coming back, I realized the same thing, the body weight was increased by around 1-1.5 Kgs. It must be because of the high calorie food which is eaten while walking J. It has an impact on the biological clock as well as me being very particular about following certain daily routine. Also the number of descends in the summer become very dangerous because of the loose gravel and one can hurt their legs. The last thing is about the fatigue – The legs were aching for almost next 6 days and I couldn’t get up early in the morning the whole of next week, missing my morning exercise completely. So net-net from fitness standpoint I’m not too sure how these treks would help, if someone is NOT doing those regularly.
Snip-O-Meter:
Thus I was able to pay the tribute to Sinhagadh and Maratha Empire one more time and in fact in a real ‘big and long way’. Like said earlier, this is a ‘must-have’ trek for everyone who wants to take an ‘Endurance Test’. It’s quite strenuous, not good for elderly because it puts a lot of pressure on the knees. It gives an opportunity to look at the Pune city, and Sinhagadh from a different angle-and it can specially be a delight during full-moon nights. It also gives everyone an immense confidence to scale bigger mountains not only in Sahyadri’s but elsewhere including at higher altitudes and varied terrains. Importantly it will always be very close to our hearts as we scaled it on 29th May, the same day when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the pinnacle of world-‘Mount Everest’ for the first time in the history. That made it more than an achievement for all of us.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Snipper: Kites
Snip-in
This was touted to be the most awaited Bollywood movie of 2010, and why not, after all it’s the first big main-stream release for Hrithik after ‘Jodha Akbar’ in ‘08 (Luck by Chance (’09) was more of a new-age cinema than a Bollywood Block Buster). The Roshan’s (being producers;)) have already done all the ‘pepper’work ;), by creating more than enough anxiety in the audience through off-screen/real-life stories of Hrithik-Barabara (Make-Up); and Hrithik-Susaane (Break-up). And I’d say they are largely succeeded in pulling the people (at least some demographics) to the screen. Well at least for some of us, it was the first day some late evening show (out of zillion shows/day) to savor our urge to watch the movie and kill the anxiety J. This is one of those movies where they will have extreme opinions - either people will like it or hate it big time. I liked it a bit, while watching the first time, but when I re-winded it in my mind the second time, I actually felt that it’s definitely more than just a one-time watch.
Well in it’s core, is a conventional Bollywood Love Story with all usual (almost! with a few different ones) twists and turns. But what makes it different/interesting is the outfit – the presentation. Before I talk about the differences, lets quickly get a glimpse of what Kites is all about. Jay (Hrithik) is an Indian American, a small time Salsa dance teacher (or whatever!) who is staying in Las Vegas, living his dull and ordinary life, with the only intention to make it real big - by making quick bucks and is ready to adopt to whatever ways to make it happen. Apart from teaching dance, he is also in the ‘business’ of getting married (read - 11 times!;)) and helping the immigrant ‘Brides’ become US Citizens. En-routes he came across a Mexican girl (very Poor, off-course), Linda/Natasha (Barbara Mori). She marries him in the court just for the sake of becoming an US citizen, pays off the money to him outside the court and walks out of his life. Hrithik for the first time in life, does feel something abnormally intimate about this girl, but couldn’t get a chance to understand / say /express anything when she departs on the same day of their ‘Business Marriage’. Moving on with his obsession of becoming quickly rich, interestingly Jay gets a chance to make apt use of his Dance ‘teaching skills’ and traps daughter - Gina(Kangan Ranaut) of the top Casino honcho Bob (Kabir Bedi), in Las Vegas. He succeeds in getting into the life (well actually the $$$ ;)) of Gina, and gets the blessings of her parents, to be considered as their would be Son-In-Law. But more interestingly, the day he enters into the palatial residence of Gina he comes across Linda/Natasha, but ironically as his sister-in-law (Gina’s brother’s – Tony’s (Nicholas Brown) fiancé). There are almost no surprises in anticipating what happens next, but yes there are some, while seeing ‘how’ it happens - courtesy Anurag Basu!
Let’s talk about how it is different this time – I guess the first and foremost is the storyline which is very Bollywood, yet appealing for the global audience. Hat’s off to Rakesh Roshan and Anurag Basu to think, believe, and take this brave decision – of portraying a story about folks in the US, who incidentally speak Hindi J, but heavily English and Spanish as well throughout the movie. And then obviously the direction, for it’s very Anurag Basu touch. He made sure that the fresh and different treatment he wants to give, is not getting diluted under the huge FilmKraft banner (Credit goes to Rakesh Roshan as well - big time). The next comes the editing by Avik Ali – Nice work as the movie traverses through ‘fast-forward’ and ‘flashback’ mode many times, but without losing its essence. Action/Chases/Stunts are awesome and no less than any Hollywood flick. Locations are very new, add a great ‘touch and feel’ to the story, and the characters. The cinematography is good but the camera work never gets on top of the beauty of the serene locations and somehow it doesn’t get the prominence (visual treat wins over visual tricks). One of the scenes which has a longing impression towards the end, when Jay is firing crazily at Tony and his side-kicks in the foreground of heavy rains. This is again typical Anurag Basu (heavy rains seems to be his favorite and natural - set-ups/back-drops/foregrounds/characters!). Another such scene captivates the mind from sheer camera work perspective, and gives a very subtle treatment to the scene is when Jay sees Natasha at Gina’s residence. The soft lens in a slow-mo, following very cheerful and elegant Natasha, having the blue water and the colorful fishes floating in the fish-tank in the fore-ground to Natasha, is a visual treat. The special Director’s touch is the beginning and the end of the movie - The 2 colorful kites sailing high in the blue sky as if they are made for each other shown at the start, and the voice over for that scene, is very nicely tied to the ending sequence when Jay and Natasha become forever together in a blue, pink and fairy lagoon (sea!).
Songs and music are just ok, barring one song – ‘Tum Bhi Ho Wohi’. This song the way it blends with the story-line, accentuates the situation, and the way it is picturized stands-out big time. It is no less than a video of a Western Pop/Rock album which can chart #1 (Billboard / whatever) for months together. The song takes place amid, ‘romance and chemistry’ between Jay and Natasha, the fast paced car chases and topples, gun-firing, the blasts which take place in the background because of all these, and all this happens in the beautiful surroundings and on the freeways near Las Vegas? (New Mexico/ Southern USA!).
Hrithik is superb, at times I feel he is greater perfectionist than Amir in Bollywood. He exceeds not only in acting (well Amir definitely has an edge over Hrithik in acting) but dance and stunts equally well. His dance sequence at the start of the movie should be one of the best by a Bollywood Lead till date. Barbara is very nice in her first Bollywood attempt and this 22 year old has shown a tremendous confidence while acting (in a very different set-up), and not only while showing her off in bikinis. Only thing which bothers at times is her artificial / very crafted smile for this character. It could have been more natural. Kangana and Kabir Bedi are best fits for the role as well. Kangana has all the potential, however she’d need to abstain from showing the unwarranted psycho expression in every movie - she just can not make that as her USP. Anand Tiwari (Robin) as Jay’s friends does the trick and gives great justice to the character. Nicholas Brown has played the villain in a composed way, provides all the anguish, yet looks smart, rich, spoiled son of a billionaire, and 100% succeeds in making people hate him.
For some of us, I’m sure the movie can become close to our hearts for the ample exposure to Las Vegas. Especially the scenes in front of the Stratosphere and Fremont Street can make oneself nostalgic. The best part was the romantic scene where both Jay and Natasha reveal their love towards each other (Ironically Jay is supposed to be signing on their divorce then), while they were sitting in front of the Bellagio and overlooking it’s majestic and very beautiful fountains. The scene gets to a high, as even though both of them don’t understand each others language, still they beautifully convey the feelings for each other, while the fountains are doing a Salsa in the background.
Snip-out:
Apart from all the good things, it has various flip-sides. The movie is very slow (or lengthy, or both! L), even though it has a lot of action sequences. Also even if the editing is good, for some of the audiences, getting a grip on the present, future and past would be difficult as the movie gyrates through the time-machine very rapidly. The most important factor is songs and music (being Bollywood and Roshan’s), and it doesn’t do anything good on this front. Not a single song is good enough (from Bollywood chartbuster perspective) to make impressions in terms of visuals, words, music – very sad.
One of the scenes when Jay, Natasha and Robin are at the passport agent’s office in Mexico, Jay says something in Hindi/English, and Natasha translates that in Spanish for the local passport agent. Knowing she doesn’t know Hindi / English that’s really very funny.
Snip-O-Meter
I’m yet to come across a movie of a frontrunner Bollywood banner, which is entirely shot in the US, with no reference to ‘Des’ OR ‘Pardes’ J. Everyone in the movie is purely Desi, for them the ‘Des’ is the US and everyone worships $$$ ;). Rakesh Roshan has done a valiant task of keeping the ‘Pardesi’ aspect completely at bay! Also another welcome surprise being a Roshan’s film is not having any traditional emotional scenes, in fact there is no ‘Maa’ in the movie (barring just one subtle mention of it by Jay). For yet another Bollywood hero Hrithik has done a stunning job - who can do anything from flaunting the ripped 6 pack abs(Endorsing Calvin Klien in one of the ‘ripped’ scenes must have fetched him 5-7% of his movie salary;)), doing unbelievable stunts, portraying a perfect character, dancing skills close to Michael Jackson(No, not really L. The break dance is nice, but MJ? no way!) / Prabhu Deva. But still he has an edge over the others for his perfectionist attitude and would take over Amir Khan’s place in the industry (from this standpoint) sometime soon J. This movie may not be liked across the demography, however Roshan’s should fetch a lot of money from abroad, and multiplex in India, however they may lose upon the Indian rural and sub-urban markets in North /Eastern/Central India. (And again Rodhan’s must have made bucks showcasing ‘The Plaza’, Cadillacs, Fords, Mercs, Bentleys et al). Well, the ‘Kites’ looks to be a one-time watch, but can be watched more times, if we are able to appreciate various aspects of the movie in our minds, for being a) just movie freaks and / or b) being practical as we are /may be fed up of watching typical ‘Laila-Majnu’/’Romantic Comedy’ style of Bollywood movies. To sum it up in one-liner, it’s a story of a guy and a girl, and how love converts them from being ‘money-minded’ (any-minded!) individualists, to a duo who believes just in being together beyond eternity.
This was touted to be the most awaited Bollywood movie of 2010, and why not, after all it’s the first big main-stream release for Hrithik after ‘Jodha Akbar’ in ‘08 (Luck by Chance (’09) was more of a new-age cinema than a Bollywood Block Buster). The Roshan’s (being producers;)) have already done all the ‘pepper’work ;), by creating more than enough anxiety in the audience through off-screen/real-life stories of Hrithik-Barabara (Make-Up); and Hrithik-Susaane (Break-up). And I’d say they are largely succeeded in pulling the people (at least some demographics) to the screen. Well at least for some of us, it was the first day some late evening show (out of zillion shows/day) to savor our urge to watch the movie and kill the anxiety J. This is one of those movies where they will have extreme opinions - either people will like it or hate it big time. I liked it a bit, while watching the first time, but when I re-winded it in my mind the second time, I actually felt that it’s definitely more than just a one-time watch.
Well in it’s core, is a conventional Bollywood Love Story with all usual (almost! with a few different ones) twists and turns. But what makes it different/interesting is the outfit – the presentation. Before I talk about the differences, lets quickly get a glimpse of what Kites is all about. Jay (Hrithik) is an Indian American, a small time Salsa dance teacher (or whatever!) who is staying in Las Vegas, living his dull and ordinary life, with the only intention to make it real big - by making quick bucks and is ready to adopt to whatever ways to make it happen. Apart from teaching dance, he is also in the ‘business’ of getting married (read - 11 times!;)) and helping the immigrant ‘Brides’ become US Citizens. En-routes he came across a Mexican girl (very Poor, off-course), Linda/Natasha (Barbara Mori). She marries him in the court just for the sake of becoming an US citizen, pays off the money to him outside the court and walks out of his life. Hrithik for the first time in life, does feel something abnormally intimate about this girl, but couldn’t get a chance to understand / say /express anything when she departs on the same day of their ‘Business Marriage’. Moving on with his obsession of becoming quickly rich, interestingly Jay gets a chance to make apt use of his Dance ‘teaching skills’ and traps daughter - Gina(Kangan Ranaut) of the top Casino honcho Bob (Kabir Bedi), in Las Vegas. He succeeds in getting into the life (well actually the $$$ ;)) of Gina, and gets the blessings of her parents, to be considered as their would be Son-In-Law. But more interestingly, the day he enters into the palatial residence of Gina he comes across Linda/Natasha, but ironically as his sister-in-law (Gina’s brother’s – Tony’s (Nicholas Brown) fiancé). There are almost no surprises in anticipating what happens next, but yes there are some, while seeing ‘how’ it happens - courtesy Anurag Basu!
Let’s talk about how it is different this time – I guess the first and foremost is the storyline which is very Bollywood, yet appealing for the global audience. Hat’s off to Rakesh Roshan and Anurag Basu to think, believe, and take this brave decision – of portraying a story about folks in the US, who incidentally speak Hindi J, but heavily English and Spanish as well throughout the movie. And then obviously the direction, for it’s very Anurag Basu touch. He made sure that the fresh and different treatment he wants to give, is not getting diluted under the huge FilmKraft banner (Credit goes to Rakesh Roshan as well - big time). The next comes the editing by Avik Ali – Nice work as the movie traverses through ‘fast-forward’ and ‘flashback’ mode many times, but without losing its essence. Action/Chases/Stunts are awesome and no less than any Hollywood flick. Locations are very new, add a great ‘touch and feel’ to the story, and the characters. The cinematography is good but the camera work never gets on top of the beauty of the serene locations and somehow it doesn’t get the prominence (visual treat wins over visual tricks). One of the scenes which has a longing impression towards the end, when Jay is firing crazily at Tony and his side-kicks in the foreground of heavy rains. This is again typical Anurag Basu (heavy rains seems to be his favorite and natural - set-ups/back-drops/foregrounds/characters!). Another such scene captivates the mind from sheer camera work perspective, and gives a very subtle treatment to the scene is when Jay sees Natasha at Gina’s residence. The soft lens in a slow-mo, following very cheerful and elegant Natasha, having the blue water and the colorful fishes floating in the fish-tank in the fore-ground to Natasha, is a visual treat. The special Director’s touch is the beginning and the end of the movie - The 2 colorful kites sailing high in the blue sky as if they are made for each other shown at the start, and the voice over for that scene, is very nicely tied to the ending sequence when Jay and Natasha become forever together in a blue, pink and fairy lagoon (sea!).
Songs and music are just ok, barring one song – ‘Tum Bhi Ho Wohi’. This song the way it blends with the story-line, accentuates the situation, and the way it is picturized stands-out big time. It is no less than a video of a Western Pop/Rock album which can chart #1 (Billboard / whatever) for months together. The song takes place amid, ‘romance and chemistry’ between Jay and Natasha, the fast paced car chases and topples, gun-firing, the blasts which take place in the background because of all these, and all this happens in the beautiful surroundings and on the freeways near Las Vegas? (New Mexico/ Southern USA!).
Hrithik is superb, at times I feel he is greater perfectionist than Amir in Bollywood. He exceeds not only in acting (well Amir definitely has an edge over Hrithik in acting) but dance and stunts equally well. His dance sequence at the start of the movie should be one of the best by a Bollywood Lead till date. Barbara is very nice in her first Bollywood attempt and this 22 year old has shown a tremendous confidence while acting (in a very different set-up), and not only while showing her off in bikinis. Only thing which bothers at times is her artificial / very crafted smile for this character. It could have been more natural. Kangana and Kabir Bedi are best fits for the role as well. Kangana has all the potential, however she’d need to abstain from showing the unwarranted psycho expression in every movie - she just can not make that as her USP. Anand Tiwari (Robin) as Jay’s friends does the trick and gives great justice to the character. Nicholas Brown has played the villain in a composed way, provides all the anguish, yet looks smart, rich, spoiled son of a billionaire, and 100% succeeds in making people hate him.
For some of us, I’m sure the movie can become close to our hearts for the ample exposure to Las Vegas. Especially the scenes in front of the Stratosphere and Fremont Street can make oneself nostalgic. The best part was the romantic scene where both Jay and Natasha reveal their love towards each other (Ironically Jay is supposed to be signing on their divorce then), while they were sitting in front of the Bellagio and overlooking it’s majestic and very beautiful fountains. The scene gets to a high, as even though both of them don’t understand each others language, still they beautifully convey the feelings for each other, while the fountains are doing a Salsa in the background.
Snip-out:
Apart from all the good things, it has various flip-sides. The movie is very slow (or lengthy, or both! L), even though it has a lot of action sequences. Also even if the editing is good, for some of the audiences, getting a grip on the present, future and past would be difficult as the movie gyrates through the time-machine very rapidly. The most important factor is songs and music (being Bollywood and Roshan’s), and it doesn’t do anything good on this front. Not a single song is good enough (from Bollywood chartbuster perspective) to make impressions in terms of visuals, words, music – very sad.
One of the scenes when Jay, Natasha and Robin are at the passport agent’s office in Mexico, Jay says something in Hindi/English, and Natasha translates that in Spanish for the local passport agent. Knowing she doesn’t know Hindi / English that’s really very funny.
Snip-O-Meter
I’m yet to come across a movie of a frontrunner Bollywood banner, which is entirely shot in the US, with no reference to ‘Des’ OR ‘Pardes’ J. Everyone in the movie is purely Desi, for them the ‘Des’ is the US and everyone worships $$$ ;). Rakesh Roshan has done a valiant task of keeping the ‘Pardesi’ aspect completely at bay! Also another welcome surprise being a Roshan’s film is not having any traditional emotional scenes, in fact there is no ‘Maa’ in the movie (barring just one subtle mention of it by Jay). For yet another Bollywood hero Hrithik has done a stunning job - who can do anything from flaunting the ripped 6 pack abs(Endorsing Calvin Klien in one of the ‘ripped’ scenes must have fetched him 5-7% of his movie salary;)), doing unbelievable stunts, portraying a perfect character, dancing skills close to Michael Jackson(No, not really L. The break dance is nice, but MJ? no way!) / Prabhu Deva. But still he has an edge over the others for his perfectionist attitude and would take over Amir Khan’s place in the industry (from this standpoint) sometime soon J. This movie may not be liked across the demography, however Roshan’s should fetch a lot of money from abroad, and multiplex in India, however they may lose upon the Indian rural and sub-urban markets in North /Eastern/Central India. (And again Rodhan’s must have made bucks showcasing ‘The Plaza’, Cadillacs, Fords, Mercs, Bentleys et al). Well, the ‘Kites’ looks to be a one-time watch, but can be watched more times, if we are able to appreciate various aspects of the movie in our minds, for being a) just movie freaks and / or b) being practical as we are /may be fed up of watching typical ‘Laila-Majnu’/’Romantic Comedy’ style of Bollywood movies. To sum it up in one-liner, it’s a story of a guy and a girl, and how love converts them from being ‘money-minded’ (any-minded!) individualists, to a duo who believes just in being together beyond eternity.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Snipper_Notting Hill
Snip-in
I'm writing a movie review after exactly 3 months, 3-Idiots was written on 2-January-10. Ok, I did get time to watch only a few movies in-between and none of those were worth mentioning. 'Harishchandrachi Factory' had a lot of expectations, considering it to be the India's nomination for 2010 Oscars. Overall it was a nice movie but overhyped and somehow didn't succeed in putting a lasting image on the mind. I was waiting to write a review on the same, but I didn't feel like it after watching it. And recently while browsing the DVD rental, I came across 'Notting Hill' and picked it up for Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. I was not having any great expectations from the movie (no expectations actually help at times:-)), but chose just so that these two are there and being a romantic flick, I was looking forward towards it as just a good time-pass.
Well it's a typical Brit romantic comedy with a very nice 'Hollywood' (or Bollywood?) style plot. It's a story about two people, a very ordinary book-seller William (Hugh Grant) who is staying and having his own book-stall in Notting Hill London, and a very famous Hollywood film star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts). William's wife had left him and for several years he is staying single and moving on with life in a very uninteresting way. He is somehow managed to live in a closed circle of his friends, a sister and his roommate - Spike, with whom he is sharing his apartment. William's life has become very monotonous, his book-selling (sells only travelogues) business is also doing just ok, but he has made up his mind to live like that forever, enjoying a cup of coffee with his assistant in the shop every morning, or the very weird things which Spike is doing at their home. And one day a nice looking lady with big dark glasses to cover her face (read identity) (does she look like a vampire in those big glasses and black robe…? No way!) comes to his shop, and to William's surprise she's a famous and leading Star of Hollywood.
The movie gets into somewhat pulsating pace after their meeting (and because of the entry of electrifying Julia) at William's house, due to a small accident which takes place in front of William's shop, where he tumbles and spills the orange juice on Julia's dress and then offers her to come to his house for a change-over. And while leaving his house something happens which leads to Anna's emotional outburst. She, even if being a big Hollywood Star, falls in love with a small-time book shopper of Notting Hill. And then the movie goes through all the ups-and-downs like any other love story, with some subtle differences because of the somewhat unusual plot. The villain is obviously played by the situations and the huge public image that Anna carries globally. Her boyfriend (a very small cameo by Alec Baldwin) also pops-up from nowhere at a very 'crucial' time when William was visiting her room for a cup of coffee on a moonlighten night. Both had to then part their ways, only to come together in a press conference about Anna's new movie, where she makes William ask a question, and her responses resulting into another 'They happily lived ever after……...' kind of climax.
Well, the plot is not a lot unusual. But the movie has reached a great level and hats-off to the acting skills and sheer presence of Julia and Hugh. Hugh Grant has played the blue-eyed, girl charmer, chocolate-hero one more time, well almost stereo-typed in that role he is…... But still the best fit for the character, with his so-overwhelmingly perfect and dense Brit accent, to underline the whole ambience of 'Notting Hill'! Apart from the accent the way he has underplayed William - being consistently poker faced, is truly awesome. He has been doing that for some time but still is exceptional in giving very apt and convincing expressions.
Hugh's poker faced character of William actually goes super-well with Julia's very expressive portrayal of Anna Scott. I've been watching her movies for last 2 decades, and for the first time I've almost fallen in love with the character Julia has played. I liked it more than 'Pretty Woman (1990)' the first and ever lasting 'till date' (not anymore because of the 'Notting Hill'! :-)), and the 'Duplicity (2009). But 'Anna Scott' is been probably the best ever performance till date - her lively expressions, vibrant eyes, and of course the cozy smile makes her the confident Anna Scott the Star, as well as a very amicable friend of William. She has played that with ease - especially these 2 different shades of the character come across superbly when she invites William for the press interview the first time, a very confident Anna at the hotel room, and when she goes to William's friends place for his sister's birthday, a very amicable and the girl-next-door Anna. That's superb and unparallel.
One of the most impactful aspects in addition to both of them, is the Music / Songs. The songs are very sweet, and rhyming. I'm actually trying to get the audio CD of the same. The other aspect is Cinematography. I can recall two shots in the movie which are registered in the mind. The first one is literally 'above all' - Both Julia and Hugh are in the garden at night - and the crane mounted camera which shows the front view of both of them and then moves up in a swirling / rotating mode and gets converted into a top view / bird’s eye view, almost 40-50 feet high. Cinematographic excellence – Command over camera placement, movement and creativity is phenomenal. The other one is actually a song - 'Aint No Sunshine'. The short song (90 seconds?) is picturised on the same streets of the 'Notting Hill' where William walks across and passes through lanes and bi-lanes, and as he walks forward the season changes from Summer to Rain to Winter to Summer and so is the mood of William. The camera pans along with Hugh in a very subtle way where some of the shots are taken in slow-mo helps creating a delicate touch to the mood of the song. The song in the background accentuates the emotions and what's happening in William's life very effectively.
Snip-out
Only thing that looks odd is the ugly and weird character of Spike. He has played it well. But it looks very odd when two most wonderfully looking, nicely dressed, and almost perfect people and characters are in the same frame, and someone like Spike pops-in in a very bizarre attire (and traits) actually dilutes the mood of the audience, well I'm sure at least for some of them.
Snip-O-Meter
I was probably unfortunate till a few weeks back, or may be very fortunate to watch the movie in the March of 2010 at least 11 years after it's release in 1999. Julia must be 31 and Hugh must be 39 while filming this, but they look so young and share a great on-screen chemistry. As Anna Scott, Julia truly looks as if a Star, a girl of dreams, a poster girl - very far from the reality (like her movie advertisement painted on the sides of the double-decker bus in London). But as the movie progresses the same Anna slowly starts transpiring into the much realistic girl-next-door, and gets together with an ordinary book-seller in Notting Hill. It's all about the coincidences, believes, strong desires, people at different junctures in life and still having many similarities, excellent acting performances, songs and an intense Brit humor. This one has to be in the home collection. And this should NOT be saved only for a rainy day, or only for a lazy weekend afternoon screening. This is a true All-Time favorite and anytime watch.
I'm writing a movie review after exactly 3 months, 3-Idiots was written on 2-January-10. Ok, I did get time to watch only a few movies in-between and none of those were worth mentioning. 'Harishchandrachi Factory' had a lot of expectations, considering it to be the India's nomination for 2010 Oscars. Overall it was a nice movie but overhyped and somehow didn't succeed in putting a lasting image on the mind. I was waiting to write a review on the same, but I didn't feel like it after watching it. And recently while browsing the DVD rental, I came across 'Notting Hill' and picked it up for Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. I was not having any great expectations from the movie (no expectations actually help at times:-)), but chose just so that these two are there and being a romantic flick, I was looking forward towards it as just a good time-pass.
Well it's a typical Brit romantic comedy with a very nice 'Hollywood' (or Bollywood?) style plot. It's a story about two people, a very ordinary book-seller William (Hugh Grant) who is staying and having his own book-stall in Notting Hill London, and a very famous Hollywood film star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts). William's wife had left him and for several years he is staying single and moving on with life in a very uninteresting way. He is somehow managed to live in a closed circle of his friends, a sister and his roommate - Spike, with whom he is sharing his apartment. William's life has become very monotonous, his book-selling (sells only travelogues) business is also doing just ok, but he has made up his mind to live like that forever, enjoying a cup of coffee with his assistant in the shop every morning, or the very weird things which Spike is doing at their home. And one day a nice looking lady with big dark glasses to cover her face (read identity) (does she look like a vampire in those big glasses and black robe…? No way!) comes to his shop, and to William's surprise she's a famous and leading Star of Hollywood.
The movie gets into somewhat pulsating pace after their meeting (and because of the entry of electrifying Julia) at William's house, due to a small accident which takes place in front of William's shop, where he tumbles and spills the orange juice on Julia's dress and then offers her to come to his house for a change-over. And while leaving his house something happens which leads to Anna's emotional outburst. She, even if being a big Hollywood Star, falls in love with a small-time book shopper of Notting Hill. And then the movie goes through all the ups-and-downs like any other love story, with some subtle differences because of the somewhat unusual plot. The villain is obviously played by the situations and the huge public image that Anna carries globally. Her boyfriend (a very small cameo by Alec Baldwin) also pops-up from nowhere at a very 'crucial' time when William was visiting her room for a cup of coffee on a moonlighten night. Both had to then part their ways, only to come together in a press conference about Anna's new movie, where she makes William ask a question, and her responses resulting into another 'They happily lived ever after……...' kind of climax.
Well, the plot is not a lot unusual. But the movie has reached a great level and hats-off to the acting skills and sheer presence of Julia and Hugh. Hugh Grant has played the blue-eyed, girl charmer, chocolate-hero one more time, well almost stereo-typed in that role he is…... But still the best fit for the character, with his so-overwhelmingly perfect and dense Brit accent, to underline the whole ambience of 'Notting Hill'! Apart from the accent the way he has underplayed William - being consistently poker faced, is truly awesome. He has been doing that for some time but still is exceptional in giving very apt and convincing expressions.
Hugh's poker faced character of William actually goes super-well with Julia's very expressive portrayal of Anna Scott. I've been watching her movies for last 2 decades, and for the first time I've almost fallen in love with the character Julia has played. I liked it more than 'Pretty Woman (1990)' the first and ever lasting 'till date' (not anymore because of the 'Notting Hill'! :-)), and the 'Duplicity (2009). But 'Anna Scott' is been probably the best ever performance till date - her lively expressions, vibrant eyes, and of course the cozy smile makes her the confident Anna Scott the Star, as well as a very amicable friend of William. She has played that with ease - especially these 2 different shades of the character come across superbly when she invites William for the press interview the first time, a very confident Anna at the hotel room, and when she goes to William's friends place for his sister's birthday, a very amicable and the girl-next-door Anna. That's superb and unparallel.
One of the most impactful aspects in addition to both of them, is the Music / Songs. The songs are very sweet, and rhyming. I'm actually trying to get the audio CD of the same. The other aspect is Cinematography. I can recall two shots in the movie which are registered in the mind. The first one is literally 'above all' - Both Julia and Hugh are in the garden at night - and the crane mounted camera which shows the front view of both of them and then moves up in a swirling / rotating mode and gets converted into a top view / bird’s eye view, almost 40-50 feet high. Cinematographic excellence – Command over camera placement, movement and creativity is phenomenal. The other one is actually a song - 'Aint No Sunshine'. The short song (90 seconds?) is picturised on the same streets of the 'Notting Hill' where William walks across and passes through lanes and bi-lanes, and as he walks forward the season changes from Summer to Rain to Winter to Summer and so is the mood of William. The camera pans along with Hugh in a very subtle way where some of the shots are taken in slow-mo helps creating a delicate touch to the mood of the song. The song in the background accentuates the emotions and what's happening in William's life very effectively.
Snip-out
Only thing that looks odd is the ugly and weird character of Spike. He has played it well. But it looks very odd when two most wonderfully looking, nicely dressed, and almost perfect people and characters are in the same frame, and someone like Spike pops-in in a very bizarre attire (and traits) actually dilutes the mood of the audience, well I'm sure at least for some of them.
Snip-O-Meter
I was probably unfortunate till a few weeks back, or may be very fortunate to watch the movie in the March of 2010 at least 11 years after it's release in 1999. Julia must be 31 and Hugh must be 39 while filming this, but they look so young and share a great on-screen chemistry. As Anna Scott, Julia truly looks as if a Star, a girl of dreams, a poster girl - very far from the reality (like her movie advertisement painted on the sides of the double-decker bus in London). But as the movie progresses the same Anna slowly starts transpiring into the much realistic girl-next-door, and gets together with an ordinary book-seller in Notting Hill. It's all about the coincidences, believes, strong desires, people at different junctures in life and still having many similarities, excellent acting performances, songs and an intense Brit humor. This one has to be in the home collection. And this should NOT be saved only for a rainy day, or only for a lazy weekend afternoon screening. This is a true All-Time favorite and anytime watch.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Snipper: 3 Idiots
Snip-in
Most of us must have been following this movie for at least 1 year since it's announced sometime in 2008 - And for the sheer fact that it's based on one of the best seller novels in India:- '5 Point Someone'. The novel was really very captivating and was an instant hit typically in the youth and also from-the-not-so-young- to the-older-generation because they can still relate the incidences in the novel to some things, somewhere and sometime that must have taken place in their college / younger life. So do I - I have read the novel in 2007 and knew about the-movie-in-the-making since late 2008. The movie has been already making a lot of hype because of the star cast and being Rajkumar Hirani's next movie after 2 successful 'Munnaibhai' flicks. And for me :-) this is probably the fastest review written in less than 1.5 hrs, across 2 sittings (Friday 1st January afternoon after an heavy lunch, and then after the photo-filled walk ;) the subsequent morning) in midst of the company and chaos :-) of friends and kids at Panhala, Kolhapur.
Well the movie is really nice and full-fills the expectations of the viewers from multiple standpoints. And most of the credit goes to Rajkumar Hirani for the story, script and the direction. These 3 aspects are so tightly integrated in one, that it doesn't give the viewers time to think. Like the very Munnaibhai touch, it also makes you laugh most of the time, but at the same time touches you deep within, through 'Hirani- special' dialogues and scenes. Music by Shantanu Moitra is just ok, you probably wont fall in love with the music. Although 'Zoobi-Doobi' is a one of the nicest songs and stands out because of the cinematographic excellence, captured in big sets and in hues of black and white, and sepia with the choreography, costumes and makeovers picked up from the 60s. Swanand Kirkire has also done a decent job in terms of the lyrics.
The star cast is obviously great. One more time we get to see the trio of Amir, Madhavan and Sharman after 'Rang De Basanti'. Sharman has played the usual 'Poker-faced' young boy one more time, and with the same ease. Even if he has mastered the act of doing it, he is becoming monotonous, but still can make people laugh at the act. Madhavan the same thing - he is a nice actor but most of the times is not impactful. However for one more time, Boman Irani's character would be remembered for ages together. He is a thinking actor and definitely puts lot of variety and finer aspects while building any character. Chatur is also a great character nicely portrayed by Omi Vaidya. He is big-time successful in making the people hate him through-out the movie. Kareena has a very little role to play, but she is impactful in some of the scenes like- when she is delivering a dialogue when she is drunk, while sitting on the bed and with the helmet put on her head:-). But all the accolades go to Amir Khan, for the sheer reason that he has portrayed a character around 25 years younger to him, and still the viewers can accept him as the fresher in the engineering college for most of the scenes in the movie. In fact hats-off to him for his 20some character in '3 Idiots', as he has played the 25 year old in 'Rang De Basanti' when he was at least 5 years younger than today, and then in 2005 we thought how great Amir is, who can play such a variety of roles so convincingly! Another good thing about Amir is, he has changed the style / fit of his trousers almost after 20 yea rs, first time in 'Gazani' and is continued in '3 Idiots' as well. His earlier trouser fits were really never contemporary / appealing.
The volvo XC 90 in the movie would also be remembered for a very long time, for it's Bright and very different Red color (with a dash of white as against the black which is mostly widely used in the 'Red' color vehicles) and for its more-than-majestic-looks. It specially gives the opening sequence and the movie, a very nice trajectory, and a very soothing visual experience while the in-chopper-camera follows the Volvo, when it passes through the mountains and hilly roads of Ladakh in the backdrop of a well-synchronized slow/touching number 'Behti Hawa sa Tha Woh'.
Also the scene towards the end of the movie, when a small and obvious (read - 'in Black and White')suspense is being revealed, and where Amir and Kareena are about to be tying the heavenly knot, is very beautiful and picturesque, shot in Ladakh in the backdrop of the soft and white sand; glowing, bright, apparently untouched and inviting snow peaked mountains, and the blue and clean waters of the lake. That has already made a lasting impression on to my mind.
Snip-out
Even if the movie scores on number of aspects, it has many things which could have been avoided, and which could have made it a real-clean-family-movie. The scene at the hostel at Amir's entry, Chatur's speech at the college event, repetitive use of certain words, actions and scenes makes it very cheap. It appears to be a vague and unwarranted adaption of the 'American Pie' and the likes. I was wondering how come it can escape from the eyes and ears of the censor board. Bad job done there!
It's also a very liberal adaption of 5 Point Someone, I'd say just the theme is similar to the novel, but story line and the scenes are altogether different. And that makes it a lot disturbing for the hard-core Chetan Bhagat fans. The movie revolves mostly around Amir's character and which is what again is not in-line with the novel. In fact the more apt title could have been '4 Idiots and a Smarty' :-) (Sharman, Madhavan, Boman, Omi, and the Smarty - Amir).
BTW 8 pack abs are totally vanished, and I don’t think it’s because of the requirement of the story, which Amir is known to adapt to, across every single movie:-)! But I guess it must be courtesy Kiran Rao and her culinary skills :-)
Snip-O-Meter
Well overall the movie is pretty good, doesn't really makes you boring even if it's lengthy - almost 160 odd minutes. I'd still feel that Munnabhai 's (Especially Part 1) were better movies in terms of the originality and adherence to the themes. Hirani has taken too much of cinematic liberty which is appealing, but may be putting down the fans of the novel at many occasions. However for the masses and typically amongst the youth 'All is well' succeeds in creating equal vibes as the 'Jadu Ki Zappi'. It has to be watched at least once for the acting performances of stalwarts in Amir and Boman, and also for taking tons of positive energies out of the movie.
Most of us must have been following this movie for at least 1 year since it's announced sometime in 2008 - And for the sheer fact that it's based on one of the best seller novels in India:- '5 Point Someone'. The novel was really very captivating and was an instant hit typically in the youth and also from-the-not-so-young- to the-older-generation because they can still relate the incidences in the novel to some things, somewhere and sometime that must have taken place in their college / younger life. So do I - I have read the novel in 2007 and knew about the-movie-in-the-making since late 2008. The movie has been already making a lot of hype because of the star cast and being Rajkumar Hirani's next movie after 2 successful 'Munnaibhai' flicks. And for me :-) this is probably the fastest review written in less than 1.5 hrs, across 2 sittings (Friday 1st January afternoon after an heavy lunch, and then after the photo-filled walk ;) the subsequent morning) in midst of the company and chaos :-) of friends and kids at Panhala, Kolhapur.
Well the movie is really nice and full-fills the expectations of the viewers from multiple standpoints. And most of the credit goes to Rajkumar Hirani for the story, script and the direction. These 3 aspects are so tightly integrated in one, that it doesn't give the viewers time to think. Like the very Munnaibhai touch, it also makes you laugh most of the time, but at the same time touches you deep within, through 'Hirani- special' dialogues and scenes. Music by Shantanu Moitra is just ok, you probably wont fall in love with the music. Although 'Zoobi-Doobi' is a one of the nicest songs and stands out because of the cinematographic excellence, captured in big sets and in hues of black and white, and sepia with the choreography, costumes and makeovers picked up from the 60s. Swanand Kirkire has also done a decent job in terms of the lyrics.
The star cast is obviously great. One more time we get to see the trio of Amir, Madhavan and Sharman after 'Rang De Basanti'. Sharman has played the usual 'Poker-faced' young boy one more time, and with the same ease. Even if he has mastered the act of doing it, he is becoming monotonous, but still can make people laugh at the act. Madhavan the same thing - he is a nice actor but most of the times is not impactful. However for one more time, Boman Irani's character would be remembered for ages together. He is a thinking actor and definitely puts lot of variety and finer aspects while building any character. Chatur is also a great character nicely portrayed by Omi Vaidya. He is big-time successful in making the people hate him through-out the movie. Kareena has a very little role to play, but she is impactful in some of the scenes like- when she is delivering a dialogue when she is drunk, while sitting on the bed and with the helmet put on her head:-). But all the accolades go to Amir Khan, for the sheer reason that he has portrayed a character around 25 years younger to him, and still the viewers can accept him as the fresher in the engineering college for most of the scenes in the movie. In fact hats-off to him for his 20some character in '3 Idiots', as he has played the 25 year old in 'Rang De Basanti' when he was at least 5 years younger than today, and then in 2005 we thought how great Amir is, who can play such a variety of roles so convincingly! Another good thing about Amir is, he has changed the style / fit of his trousers almost after 20 yea rs, first time in 'Gazani' and is continued in '3 Idiots' as well. His earlier trouser fits were really never contemporary / appealing.
The volvo XC 90 in the movie would also be remembered for a very long time, for it's Bright and very different Red color (with a dash of white as against the black which is mostly widely used in the 'Red' color vehicles) and for its more-than-majestic-looks. It specially gives the opening sequence and the movie, a very nice trajectory, and a very soothing visual experience while the in-chopper-camera follows the Volvo, when it passes through the mountains and hilly roads of Ladakh in the backdrop of a well-synchronized slow/touching number 'Behti Hawa sa Tha Woh'.
Also the scene towards the end of the movie, when a small and obvious (read - 'in Black and White')suspense is being revealed, and where Amir and Kareena are about to be tying the heavenly knot, is very beautiful and picturesque, shot in Ladakh in the backdrop of the soft and white sand; glowing, bright, apparently untouched and inviting snow peaked mountains, and the blue and clean waters of the lake. That has already made a lasting impression on to my mind.
Snip-out
Even if the movie scores on number of aspects, it has many things which could have been avoided, and which could have made it a real-clean-family-movie. The scene at the hostel at Amir's entry, Chatur's speech at the college event, repetitive use of certain words, actions and scenes makes it very cheap. It appears to be a vague and unwarranted adaption of the 'American Pie' and the likes. I was wondering how come it can escape from the eyes and ears of the censor board. Bad job done there!
It's also a very liberal adaption of 5 Point Someone, I'd say just the theme is similar to the novel, but story line and the scenes are altogether different. And that makes it a lot disturbing for the hard-core Chetan Bhagat fans. The movie revolves mostly around Amir's character and which is what again is not in-line with the novel. In fact the more apt title could have been '4 Idiots and a Smarty' :-) (Sharman, Madhavan, Boman, Omi, and the Smarty - Amir).
BTW 8 pack abs are totally vanished, and I don’t think it’s because of the requirement of the story, which Amir is known to adapt to, across every single movie:-)! But I guess it must be courtesy Kiran Rao and her culinary skills :-)
Snip-O-Meter
Well overall the movie is pretty good, doesn't really makes you boring even if it's lengthy - almost 160 odd minutes. I'd still feel that Munnabhai 's (Especially Part 1) were better movies in terms of the originality and adherence to the themes. Hirani has taken too much of cinematic liberty which is appealing, but may be putting down the fans of the novel at many occasions. However for the masses and typically amongst the youth 'All is well' succeeds in creating equal vibes as the 'Jadu Ki Zappi'. It has to be watched at least once for the acting performances of stalwarts in Amir and Boman, and also for taking tons of positive energies out of the movie.
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