New Books on my Shelf

Over the past few weeks I have bought some books. They are:

• Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
• Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
• Indian Thought edited by R. K. Narayan
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Currently I am reading the Indian Thoughts. It is a collection of short stories by various Indian writers. So keep watching this space. Reviews are on the way!

Picha vacha Naal

I heard a new Malayalam song very recently - "Picha Vacha Naal Muthal" from the movie Puthiya Mukham. A Prithiviraj, Meera Nandan starrer, the movie is directed by Deepan, and the music by Deepak Dev. Somehow I found the song to be an intriguing one. Finally today morning I had an opportunity to listen to the full song. It has that same pace throughout and you feel that you are at the beginning of the song all through the way.

The song sounds fresh and is capable of creating a mood. The lyrics by Kaithapuram are also good. Not to complex. You can easily grasp it if you listen once. I feel that this is one good malayalam movie song after a long time.
To download the song, visit CoolToad. But you need to create an account, if you already do not have one. It's free.

You can listen to and see the clipping here.

Thinking of yesterdays

Thoughts of my yesteryears, all that happened so fast. Now when I turn back, I see my sweetest memories, happiest moments - all floating just behind me. I stretch out my hand to catch hold of them and put them safe within me. But it slids quickly from my grasp and afloats. I stand with my hands outstretched and eyes wide open. All like a dream. It floats too far that I realize its too long since those moments are over. However hard I try, I am unable to reach it. Those moments will never come back in my life.

I let go all those emotions and attachments I had been holding tight in my hands all these years in hope that my happiness would come back. But its too late. Nothing will happen.

Hey, now I see the very present moments slipping out leaving trails behind. I try hard to catch up. Now I go hand in hand, living my life to fullest. If not so, atleast I try to. :-)

Sorry bhai!

The plot is a bit complex - guy falling in love with elder brother's fiancee. But it was well dealt with. May be it happens sometimes - we feel so after watching the movie :) Its not like after watching this movie we ll say that these wont happen in real life. But it may! The simplicity of the film makes us feel so.

All the characters are wonderful enough. Sadly Sanjay Suri didnt have much of a role. Rest all four - Boman Irani, Shabana Azmi, Sharman Joshi, and Chitrangadha Singh share the spot light equally. I loved each of the characters. Each of them were wonderfully unique. Shabana Azmi has come back with a strong comical role of a nagging yet loving mom, who comes reluctantly to Mauritius to see her elder daughter-in-law. But Chitrangadha goes back with them as the younger daughter-in-law. Chitrangadha looks awesome than she did in Hazarron... Sharman looks like an idiot in the first half but as the film progress he seems to improve. Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi make a loving old couple who find happiness together, in every petty thing they do.

The tracks are also a bit hatke. I especially loved Jalte hain and Pal. The movie as you all know is set in Mauritius and the locations are wonderful. The crew has tried to utilize the beauty and magic of white in majority of the scenes, which does give the complex plot of the movie a soothing effect.

One line: A good movie!

Fashion

Year: 2008

Genre: Drama

Direction: Madhur Bhandarkar

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Mugdha Godse

Rating: Okay

I had an opportunity to watch the movie, last week. As the name itself suggests the movie is about the Fashion Industry. Priyanka Chopra plays the character of a middle class girl with the determination to become a Super model.

We see the fashion industry through the story of Meghna Mathur (Priyanka). The plot was good but the presentation was not. Perhaps the director had lots of information gathered and wanted to push in everything. At places it was too dragging while at others, confusing. Probably the film meant to show the hardships and not-so glamorous activities in the glamour world. But her foray into the fashion industry didnt seem to difficult. Whatever hindrances came, it all went off the way soon, never giving her a chance to wander. The only time she is far from the industry is when she leaves everything behind and goes off to her parents. But even when she comes back after a gap of around an year, her entry is too smooth, except for the freezing on the ramp part.

The performance of Kangana was superb. She had given a good performance and perhaps her character was more believing. One more thing - the director gives us a notion that the industry is full of gays.

No offense meant to anyone, but seriously, I expected something more better!

Kidnap

Saw the movie two days backs. Hmmm… don’t know what exactly to say. Wouldn’t like to call it an entertainer.

The movie is just the old wine in a new bottle. I expected something more out of the movie. No action, mystery, thrill, or entertainment. The story is very plain. Kabir, an orphan kidnaps Sonia, the daughter of a billionaire, Vikrant Raina. To free his daughter Vikrant has to pick up the clues given by Kabir, solve them and reach till them. The clues are riddles like ‘akkad bakkad’ none of which Vikrant solves in the beginning. I had felt that there would be something interesting while he tries to solve the riddles. But though he doesn’t solve them, he is given the next clues. Finally somehow Vikrant manages to reach Kabir, or rather Kabir comes to Vikrant. The father is forced to commit crimes like stealing, freeing a culprit, and eventually a murder to free his daughter. All for what? Revenge! Kabir, as a boy was sent to jail for a crime which he didn’t do and the person who sent him behind the bars was Vikrant. So that’s the thread. Kabir makes Vikrant commit crimes and gives a vent to his revenge.

Coming to the cast, Imraan Khan is seen in an extreme opposite character to his debut. He has done well and has managed to maintain the serious look all through the movie. Perhaps he smiled only once or twice in the movie (not sure ;)). Minissha Lamba, as you all know has an entirely new look. Well she’s good but has nothing much to do apart from singing and dancing. Sanjay Dutt is good and so is Vidya Malvade, but its hard to believe that she is the mother of an 18-year old… :O

That’s all about Kidnap...
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Rock On!!!

I was quite eager to watch this movie. And I know I am quite late in making this post. Already reviews of Rock On have flooded the internet. I was excited by the publicity posters and music. Watching Farhan Akhtar acting in the movie was another added attraction.

To be honest, a simple movie with great music. I found it bearing striking resemblances with Dil Chahta Hai. Don’t know to what extent my observation is correct. But it was good to watch. The plot, as all of you know, is a story about four friends, who have formed a rock band and try to make a mark for their music. The four friends are portrayed by Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, and Luke. The story takes us through the good times they spend together, as well as their breaking apart, and finally their re-union. Based on the values of friendship, the story inspires us to do what we love rather than love what we do.

The music was strikingly different. I loved the tracks Socha Hai and Pichle Saat Dinon. There was a refreshingly new touch to the movie with the tracks, the new faces (not new, but they seemed so), and the story. I especially loved the hairdos and makeup of the band members. When the story ran 10 years ahead, each of them looked amazingly different.

One more aspect I loved about the movie was the style of narration. It was not a complete flash back. It was sort of to and fro style. The flash back kept coming in every now and then. This technique was good especially because otherwise some parts would have been monotonous, like the scenes between Farhan and his wife onscreen.

To conclude, a good movie… :)