all khans' under fire

In a strange turn of events, all 4 Khans' of bollywood have come under fire from different quarters. While Shiv Sena took on 2 khans', Aamir and Shahrukh over the IPL issue, the other two were lambasted by different communities of Rajasthan for their irresponsible behavior.

Shiv Sena, in their mouthpiece 'Saamna', is outraged by SRK and Aamir statements over IPL. While Aamir bore the brunt because all he said was that merit should have taken precedence over nationality while selecting players for IPL, SRK went overboard in sympathising with Pakistan and said that he felt "humiliated" that no talent from Pak was picked. SRK made ridiculous excuses that he couldn't attend the auction of players. What an excuse! He is the brand ambassador of Nokia and Airtel, all he needed was to be in touch with his represntatives, but he chose not to. And now that his movie 'My Name Is Khan' is ready for release, he wants to win back his fans in Pak and Dubai. He is only serving his self-interest, as he is the co-producer of the movie and he wants to protect his fan-base in middle-east. That also serves the purpose of him dancing in lavish Dubai weddings. SRK's stand was purely a business-minded decision, and not an emotional one. The irony is that, these very people are gonna circulate the pirated cd/dvd of his movie. SRK was calling for trouble, when he went out of his way in support to Pak. Shiv Sena has called him a 'traitor' and torn down posters of his movie. I am sure they will cause problems during release of the movie too.

Now, coming to Saif Ali Khan, his involvement on 'black buck' hunting case has caused some discontent among sections of Rajasthanis who felt that he should not have been awarded the Padma Shri. Since he has not been proven innocent in the case yet, and he isn't the most deserving candidate for the award, his effigy was burnt.

Lastly, theatre screens acorss cities in Rajasthan were ransacked duty to wrong portrayal of the 'rajputana' clan in the movie 'Veer'. Hence, the mischief mongers smashed glass windows and tore down posters of Salman Khan.

south spice : 2010 calendar

Schedule : IPL-3

Date	Match Details	Time			Venue
		GMT	IST	Your Time	Ground	City
Mar 12 - Fri	Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders, 1st match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Brabourne Stadium	Mumbai
Mar 13 - Sat	Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals, 2nd match	9:30	15:00	15:00	Brabourne Stadium	Mumbai
Mar 13 - Sat	Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils, 3rd match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	Chandigarh
Mar 14 - Sun	Kolkata Knight Riders v Bangalore Royal Challengers, 4th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Eden Gardens	Kolkata
Mar 14 - Sun	Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers, 5th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	MA Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai
Mar 15 - Mon	Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils, 6th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Sawai Mansingh Stadium	Jaipur
Mar 16 - Tue	Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab, 7th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bengaluru
Mar 16 - Tue	Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings, 8th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Eden Gardens	Kolkata
Mar 17 - Wed	Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians, 9th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi
Mar 18 - Thu	Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals, 10th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bengaluru
Mar 19 - Fri	Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings, 11th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi
Mar 19 - Fri	Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab, 12th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	ACA-VDCA Stadium	Visakhapatnam
Mar 20 - Sat	Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders, 13th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium	Ahmedabad
Mar 20 - Sat	Mumbai Indians v Bangalore Royal Challengers, 14th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Brabourne Stadium	Mumbai
Mar 21 - Sun	Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils, 15th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	ACA-VDCA Stadium	Visakhapatnam
Mar 21 - Sun	Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab, 16th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	MA Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai
Mar 22 - Mon	Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders, 17th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Brabourne Stadium	Mumbai
Mar 23 - Tue	Bangalore Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings, 18th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bengaluru
Mar 24 - Wed	Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals, 19th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	Chandigarh
Mar 25 - Thu	Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings, 20th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Brabourne Stadium	Mumbai
Mar 26 - Fri	Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers, 21st match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Sardar Patel Stadium	Ahmedabad
Mar 27 - Sat	Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders, 22nd match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	Chandigarh
Mar 27 - Sat	Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils, 23rd match	14:30	20:00	20:00	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bengaluru
Mar 28 - Sun	Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings, 24th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Sardar Patel Stadium	Ahmedabad
Mar 28 - Sun	Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians, 25th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium	Hyderabad
Mar 29 - Mon	Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders, 26th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi
Mar 30 - Tue	Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab, 27th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Brabourne Stadium	Mumbai
Mar 31 - Wed	Chennai Super Kings v Bangalore Royal Challengers, 28th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	MA Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai
Mar 31 - Wed	Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals, 29th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi
Apr 01 - Thu	Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers, 30th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Eden Gardens	Kolkata
Apr 02 - Fri	Kings XI Punjab v Bangalore Royal Challengers, 31st match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	Chandigarh
Apr 03 - Sat	Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals, 32nd match	10:30	16:00	16:00	MA Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai
Apr 03 - Sat	Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers, 33rd match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground	Nagpur
Apr 04 - Sun	Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab, 34th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Eden Gardens	Kolkata
Apr 04 - Sun	Delhi Daredevils v Bangalore Royal Challengers, 35th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi
Apr 05 - Mon	Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals, 36th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium	Hyderabad
Apr 06 - Tue	Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians, 37th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	MA Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai
Apr 07 - Wed	Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab, 38th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Sardar Patel Stadium	Ahmedabad
Apr 07 - Wed	Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils, 39th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Eden Gardens	Kolkata
Apr 08 - Thu	Bangalore Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers, 40th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bengaluru
Apr 09 - Fri	Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians, 41st match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	Chandigarh
Apr 10 - Sat	Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings, 42nd match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium	Hyderabad
Apr 10 - Sat	Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kolkata Knight Riders, 43rd match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium	Hyderabad
Apr 11 - Sun	Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab, 44th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi
Apr 11 - Sun	Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians, 45th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi
Apr 12 - Mon	Deccan Chargers v Bangalore Royal Challengers, 46th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium	Hyderabad
Apr 13 - Tue	Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils, 47th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground	Nagpur
Apr 13 - Tue	Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders, 48th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	MA Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai
Apr 14 - Wed	Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers, 49th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium	Ahmedabad
Apr 15 - Thu	Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils, 50th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	MA Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai
Apr 16 - Fri	Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers, 51st match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium	Dharamsala
Apr 17 - Sat	Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians, 52nd match	10:30	16:00	16:00	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bengaluru
Apr 17 - Sat	Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals, 53rd match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Eden Gardens	Kolkata
Apr 18 - Sun	Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings, 54th match	10:30	16:00	16:00	Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium	Dharamsala
Apr 18 - Sun	Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers, 55th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi
Apr 19 - Mon	Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians, 56th match	14:30	20:00	20:00	Eden Gardens	Kolkata
Apr 21 - Wed	1st Semi-Final	14:30	20:00	20:00	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bengaluru
Apr 22 - Thu	2nd Semi-Final	14:30	20:00	20:00	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bengaluru
Apr 24 - Sat	3rd Place Play-off	14:30	20:00	20:00	Dr DY Patil Sports Academy	Mumbai
Apr 25 - Sun	Final	14:30	20:00	20:00	Dr DY Patil Sports Academy	Mumbai

chatur ramalingam : chamatkar ka balatkar

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km0Ogc1tMnM&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

The last time I came across such a hilarious piece formulated by word-swap was when a grade-5 kid had prepared an essay on 'My Best Friend', but the topic turned out to be 'My Father'. Well, the kid just replaced the word 'friend' with 'father' and this is what the essay looked like:

I have many fathers...but Nik is my best father...I have other fathers too...but they don't play with me or come home ...Nik comes home everyday and plays with me.....Mom loves Nik....Nik helps me with homwork....A father in need is a father in deed.

56th National Awards : Complete List

1. BEST FEATURE FILM - Antaheen (Bengali)

2. INDIRA GANDHI AWARD FOR BEST FIRST FILM OF A DIRECTOR - A Wednesday (Director : Neeraj Pandey)

3. BEST POPULAR FILM PROVIDING WHOLESOME ENTERTAINMENT - Oye Lucky ! Lucky Oye (Hindi)

4. NARGIS DUTT AWARD FILM ON NATIONAL INTEGRATION - Aai Kot Nai (Assamese)

5. BEST FILM ON FAMILY VALUES - Little Zizou (English,Gujarati)

6. BEST FILM ON SOCIAL ISSUES- Jogva (Marathi)

7. BEST FILM ON ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION/PRESERVATION - Jianta Bhoota (Oriya)

8. BEST CHILDREN’S FILM - Gubbachigalu (Kannada)

9. BEST ANIMATION FILM Roadside Romeo (Hindi)

10. BEST DIRECTION - Bala (Naan Kaduval - Tamil)

11. BEST ACTOR- Upendra Limaye (Jogva, Marathi)

12. BEST ACTRESS - Priyanka Chopra (Fashion, Hindi)

13. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Arjun Rampal (Rock On !!, Hindi)

14. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Kangana (Fashion, Hindi)

15. BEST CHILD ARTIST - Shams Patel (Thanks Maa, Hindi)

16. BEST MALE PLAYBACK SINGER - Hariharan (Jogva, Marathi)

17. BEST FEMALE PLAYBACK SINGER - Shreya Ghoshal(Antaheen, Bengali)

18. BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Avik Mukhopadhyay (Antaheen, Bengali)

19. BEST SCREENPLAY- Sachin Kundalkar (Gandha, Marathi)

20. BEST AUDIOGRAPHY- Pramod J. Thomas( Gandha, Marathi)

21. BEST EDITING- A. Sreekar Prasad (Firaaq, Hindi)

22. BEST ART DIRECTION- Gautam Sen (Firaaq, Hindi)

23. BEST COSTUME DESIGNER - Neeta Lulla (Jodha Akbar, Hindi)

24. BEST MAKE-UP ARTIST - Moorthy V. (Naan Kadauul, Tamil)

25. BEST MUSIC DIRECTION - Ajay and Atul (Jogva, Marathi)

26. BEST LYRICS - Anindya Bannerjee and Chandranil Bhattacharya (Antaheen, Bengali)

27. SPECIAL JURY AWARD - Bioscope (Malayalam)

28. BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS - Govardhan (Mumbai Meri Jaan, Hindi)

29 BEST CHOREOGRAPHY - Chinni Prakash & Rekha Prakash (Jodha Akbar, Hindi)

30. BEST FEATURE FILM IN EACH OF THE LANGUAGE SPECIFIED

a) Mon Jai - Assamese
b) Shob Charitro Kalponik - Bengali
c) Rock On - Hindi
D) Vimukthi - Kannada
E) Thirakkada - Malayalam
F) Harishcnadrachi Factory - Marathi
G) Vaarnam Aiyiram - Tamil
H) 1940 LO Oka Gramam - Telugu
I) Yarwng - Kokborok
J) Gaggara - Tulu

31. BEST BOOK ON CINEMA - Bollywood Melodies (English) Author: Ganesh Anantharaman

32. SPECIAL JURY MENTION - The Director’s Mind (English) Ujjal Chakraborty

33. BEST FILM CRITIC - Altaf Mazid and R.K. Bidur Singh

source : http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2010/jan/r2010012302.pdf

Chance Pe Dance : A Wasted Opportunity

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Lots of times a one line story idea sounds great, but when stretched into a movie format, it just doesn’t work. This movie turned out as one of those nice concepts which could not be put well on screen. And most of the blame for it must go to the screenplay and shoddy dialogues. The writer/director just knew where they wanted to go, but had no idea of how to get there. They had the start and finish lines ready, but the roadmap of the journey was clearly amiss.

I worked late till Friday evening and was really tired, hence movie viewing on Saturday was out of question. And why I wanted to watch the movie? Simply because I liked Shahid’s previous works, ‘Kaminey’ being the best of them. And also due to Shahid-Ken Ghosh association, this is the tird time they were coming together. The first time they worked together was in Ishq-Vishq, a nice breezy college romance. Their next movie was Fida, ripped-off from Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Following’. The movie was well made, but the love-angle was over-emphasised and that killed the drama. What started off as a romantic thriller, ended neither on a love note nor a action thrill drama. It was a bit of a let-down to kill Nolan’s storyline with so much suffocation of a love-story. It should have remained a thriller.

Anyways, this time I hoped that they would make an entertaining movie, given that dance was the theme. And with this hope I was standing at the counter window for tickets. I was at the theatre on Sunday by 4.30pm for a 7.45pm show, hoping that the tickets were not sold out. When I was handed the tickets I felt lucky. I mean, for a Shahid Kapoor movie that released two days back, to get balcony tickets on the first weekend without advance booking, was being plain lucky.

I returned to the theatre at 7.30pm for the show. Entered the auditorium and was pretty pleased to see quite a few rows of occupied seats. Yeah! more people like me, I thought! But my smile soon vanished when the movie started with a song that was forced into it. The credits were not rolling while the song was on. The song was pinned there for the heck of it. An unintroduced and over-enthusiastic Shahid and Genelia were tapping their foot to glory and there was no hint of beginning credits. After 3 full minutes the song ended and then the movie credits began which took another 7 minutes. That itself gave me a hint that the movie would turn out bad and I should have listened to the reviews.

Coming to the movie, the intent was there. There was a thought in process, of showing a middle-class guy who moves to Mumbai from Delhi much against his dad’s wish, to become an actor….NO… a dancer… NO… a star …. NO …. a hero. What??? I mean, what did Sameer want to become? Neither the director was clear on it, nor the screenwriters. I think the guy, Sameer, had a great sense of music, could shake his feet to rhythmic beats, and so he was labelled a good dancer. But in actuality, he wanted to achieve stardom and that would be possible only if he became a hero, not an actor but a hero. This is exactly where the movie messed up. If the guy wanted to become a hero, the director should have shown him accepting side characters or smaller roles of some kind. If the guy wanted to become a dancer, the director should have shown him as a support dancer in some dance troupe. But I think he wanted to become a star. So, why movie? Sameer even prays to Michael Jackson at the start of the movie. But MJ was no actor or hero, yet he was a star…superstar!

Moving on, I dropped the question and watched further in utter dismay. The non-existent romance between Genelia and Shahid, much as the director tried to convince us of the blossoming love, it was painful to watch. When Shahid uttered the three magical words to Genelia, in slow breath I uttered my own three magical words – WTF! There was no warmth, no magic, no feelings and definitely no chemistry.

If you thought that Shahid-Genelia romance was incredible, just wait to see the school boys lift the dance trophy. After being out-of-job and out-of-pay, Shahid takes up a job of being a dance teacher in Model High School. But the inane sequences that follow makes you sympathise with Shahid and how he was stuck in a film that had no script, just a few scenes stitched together in a rag-tag movie. The manner in which he encourages the students and teaches them to dance was another teeth-grinding experience.

The only believable bits of the movie was his interaction with Mohnish Behl as Rajiv Sharma, a director of repute who decides to launch Shahid after watching him dance in a club. But his verbal contract with Shahid was as beguiling as was his reality show for a talent hunt. The script was so half baked that the director did not even show a few genuine contenders in the reality show, it was Shahid all the way. Had this movie been a YRF production with UC as lead or Rakesh Roshan movie with Hrithik in the lead, everyone would have termed it as self-promotion. But since it was a Ken Ghosh movie, people will forgive and forget easily. The entire movie was laid out to portray Shahid and his dancing skills, nothing else. All scenes were built around to showcase Shahid. And frankly, he is no Amitabh Bachchan or Akshay Kumar or either of the Khans to carry a movie entirely on his shoulders. Shahid’s antics neither make you laugh nor excite you.

But the biggest letdown of the movie was its music. Some un-inspired music with some more un-inspired lyrics was a recipe for disaster. Adnan Sami should stick to melody, please ask him to compose few more tunes like ‘Tera Chehra’ and ‘Lucky’, and leave the hip-hop stuff to others like Pritam and SEL.Coming to the acting department, Shahid was good in bits. Genelia has a long way to go in acting. To start with, she must first improve on her accent and pronunciations; and then the tone of her voice. Her dialogue delivery was quite irritating, I had disliked her in JTYJN; but the screenplay of JTYJN was able to hide all her flaws. Mohnish Behl was clealry in a haste, I think being-busy could have been shown better. And his character was uni-dimensional, that could have been altered to the movie’s advantage. But then, as I earlier said, no thought has gone into the writing.

I call it a wasted opportunity because the movie could have been so much more. There was a perfect platform set for an expose of reality shows and talent hunts, but the writers did not explore that. The struggle could have been a little more realistic than living out of a suitcase or making a home out of a car or showering in a school washroom. And re-gaining lost glory by making the school students win the trophy could have been handled with more humanity and spirit than some cheeky comments like ‘girls love guys who dance’. The falling apart and coming together of father-son was again forced into the movie to show some bonding where it was not required. And the choregrapher and a struggler falling in love could have been handled with some subtlety and believable romance than a chance meetings time and again. Everything was cliched and predictable, from Shahid not getting to debut in the movie to him winning the contest. It was neither interesting nor entertaining.  Another failed attempt by Ken Ghosh.

After getting out of the theatre, the only thing I recalled was Shahid’s lungi ad. That was the only genuinely funny moment when they show a small memory-capsule, Shahid’s shooting for AirTime lungi with the tagline ‘easy flow’. How I wished the movie too had adopted the tagline of the ad, instead of making it such an excruciating watch!

This post was first published on PFC

aishwarya rai calendar for 2010

Aishwarya Rai Desktop Calendar December 2010

Winners Of Screen Awards 2010

Best Actor (Male)
Amitabh Bachchan - Paa

Best Actor (Female)
Vidya Balan - Paa

Best Actor in popular category (Male)
Shahid Kapoor - Kaminey

Best Actor in popular category (Female)
Kareena Kapoor - 3 Idiots

 

Best Film
3 Idiots

Best Director
Rajkumar Hirani - 3 Idiots

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)
Rishi Kapoor - Love Aaj Kal

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female)
Arundhati Naag - Paa

Best Actor in a Negative Role
Boman Irani - 3 Idiots

Best Actor in a Comic Role
Omi Vaidya - 3 Idiots

Best Music
A R Rahman - Delhi-6

Best Playback Singer (Male)
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Aaj Din Chadya - Love Aaj Kal

Best Playback Singer (Female)
Kavita Seth - Iktara - Wake Up Sid

Best Lyrics
Irshad Kamil - Chor Bazari - Love Aaj Kal

Best Story
Imtiaz Ali - Love Aaj Kal

Best Screenplay
Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra - 3 Idiots

Best Dialogue
Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani - 3 Idiots

Best Editing
Rajkumar Hirani - 3 Idiots

Best Special Effects
Charles Darby - Aladin

Best Cinematography
Rajeev Ravi - Dev D

Best Choreography
Bosco- Caesar - Zoobi Doobi - 3 Idiots

Best Action
Vijayan Master - Wanted

Most Promising Newcomer (Male)
Omi Vaidya - 3 Idiots

Most Promising Newcomer (Female)
Mahie Gill - Dev D

Most Promising Debut Director
Nandita Das - Firaaq

Entertainer of the year
Katrina Kaif

Star Plus Jodi Award
Amitabh Bachchan - Abhishek Bachchan

Lifetime Achievement Award
Javed Akhtar

Best Child Artiste
Pratik Katare - Paa

Best Ensemble Cast
Luck By Chance

stills from rgv's new movie 'rann'

Move On, Raat Gayi Baat Gayi

Raat Gayi Baat Gayi - and that's one of the things that none of the characters in the movie are able to do. All of them have memories of the small little incidents that happened at the party that they attended last night. A gala party hosted by the big-hearted Jolly, played superbly by Navnit Nishan and her book-writer hubby 'Jags' played by Dalip Tahil. While some of the attendees just can't forget what happened in the party, Rahul [Rajat Kapoor] just can't recall what happened after he gulped down 8 drinks.

The first promos of the movie sounded interesting and the movie even picked up the Best Film Award at SAIFF. The starcast was nice with proven performers like Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Dalip Tahil etc and the movie being directed by Saurabh Shukla; I had already made up my mind that I would definitely watch this movie. With great enthusiasm I booked the tickets online for 1st Jan in Innovative Multiplex. But as soon as I stepped into Gold Class of Innovative Multiplex, I was in for a shock. The movie was about to start in 5 mins, and there were just 4 of us in the auditorium. First day, second show at 7.45pm and just 4 people. Why? I was unable to understand. Was it bad publicity/promotion? Didn't people know of the movie being released on 1st Jan? Who was to blame, PNC or the distributors or the film-crew who did not go tom-toming about the movie.

On one hand you had '3 Idiots' hogging all the limelight on big-screen as well as the news channels of small-screen all through the weekend and on the other hand people were skipping a movie like this one. '3 Idiots' made 9 crores on paid-previews [100 crores in a week] and here you had no takers for this one. All shows of '3 Idiots' were sold-out although each ticket was priced at Rs.350/- in most multiplexes in Bangalore, and here the movie was devoid of audience although ticket prices started at Rs.150/- for Silver Class and Rs.180/- for Gold Class. I was left wondering when movie makers will realize the need for publicity and promotions. When will they learn how to create a buzz about certain movie releasing on so-and-so date? Movies cannot be sold hoping audience will come and watch it. They have to be more aggressive, pull in the crowd. All these thoughts were running in my mind, when few more people entered the auditorium. Finally we were 15 people in a gallery that can seat 200. Rather disappointing!

Anyways, I opened my eyes to reality, as did Rajat. After a drunken stupor, waking up with a hang-over and with his wife storming out of the house with the child, Rajat is left feeling guilty. He does remember going into the room with Neha Dhupia, sharing a drink; and then there is a memory fade-out. He can't even recall the hot-bod's name and he desperately wants to find out if anything happened between them. He rushes to Vinay Pathak who is busy handling a crisis himself as his wife Anu Menon throws him out of the house for surfing porn. So, now its upto the old couple Dalip and Navnit to try to unknot the various strands, and try to bring about a compromise/resolution. Can Dalip and Navnit help? Who was Neha Dhupia, from where did she come, when did she leave the party and with whom? How the pieces come together to solve the jigsaw and the various comical situations that the characters go through is very well done.

Dalip's guiding principles on marital bliss, Iravati's frustration of being an under-achiever, Rajat's desperation of reclaiming lost moral grounds and Jolly's good nature are some of the highlights of the movie. Especially funny, yet silly, is Vinay's fight for righteousness when he knows he is wrong; Jolly's tarot card reading and belief in vastu and the interaction in the club, the confusion at Neha's apartment were just hilarious.

Saurabh Shukla has done a great job with the direction. He has captured the essence of the urban class well, which includes things like "arrangements" as Dalip calls it, the daft book-writing abilities of his, and gyaan session from this pseudo-intellectual, Rajat's escapist fantasy of one-night-stand and final understanding that family support is what matters, and Vinay's understanding of what "hurt" means. Saurabh has extracted good performances from everyone.

Among the performances, apart from Navnit Nishan, Neha Dhupia was very well cast. She played the role of a silent seductress very well. After her initial failure in the industry, she is making all the correct moves to be counted as a good performer. Her brief cameos and small but significant roles in movies like Dasvidaniya, SiK, 1:40 Last Local etc is really building a nice body of work. Vinay Pathak was under-utilised. Although he was there in lot of scenes, he was just not able to leave a mark because of some mediocre writing and lack of a meaty role. I was pleasantly surprised to see Anu Menon [Lola Kutty of Channel V] as Vinay Pathak's wife. Theirs was the weakest sub-plot in the movie, humorous nevertheless. Iravati Harshe, the last time I recall seeing her was in daily soap Shanti, was a revelation. She played the complex character very well. No words for Dalip Tahil and Rajat, they were excellent.

I felt that the script had a lot of scope for some great comedy, but somehow the writers failed to capitalize on it. Some of the moments were very under-stated and the humor was wry and under-played. I think that worked against the movie since in Bheja Fry we had seen the same combo of Rajat-Vinay deliver a punch in every scene. Also, while previous movies in this genre had the middle-class as the center-piece; here the portrayal is of the urban and upper middle-class. Trying to make a comedy based on marital complications, fidelity issues and declining moral values may not appeal to the viewers. I wish there were more funny lines and the pace had been a little faster. Anyways, it was a nice watch. Let me get it out of my head now, raat gayi baat gayi !

This post was first published on PFC

rare childhood pics of deepika padukone

A.R.Rehman!!! Jai Ho!!

Today, 6th Jan, is AR Rahman's birthday!

I shall pick from where Ratnakar left off, in his fantastic tribute to AR Rahman. I had actually started writing this post much earlier, the day after the Oscar ceremony, but when I found that such a beautiful tribute was already adorned to the Mozart from Madras, I changed track and decided to write a sequel starting from post-2001 phase.

So, Lagaan was out and Rahman won the National Award for his mesmerizing music. He had rasied the bar for himself and he was no more competing with any body but himself. The year 2002 was a great mix of fantastic contemporary music as well as classical stuff from the master. For the younger generation there was Saathiya which had the wonderful vocals of Sonu Nigam in the title track, we had Adnan Sami crooning Aye Udi Udi, Sadhna Sargam sang the melodious haunting Chupke Se, while Rahman himself lent his voice to the Mera Yaar Mila De song; all songs written from the magical pen of Gulzar. Rahman was being played all over the place, songs like Humdum Suniyo Re and Chori Pe Chori were being aired repeatedely on radio. Then, there was The Legend Of Bhagat Singh which brought back old memories of freedom struggle. Its always tough to re-create music for songs that have been in public memory for ages, but Rahman was able to carve a niche of his own with his version of Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna and Mera Rang De Basanti Chola. Apart from the patriotic songs like Des Mere Des Mere and Pagdi Sambhal Jatta, there was the romantic touch with smooth numbers like Mahive Mahive and Jogiya Jogiya. While his songs were played with gusto in up-North, down-South was no different where he created a consternation with the music of Baba which sold a million copies off the shelf within a week due to the combo of Rajnikanth and music of Rahman; and his sensitive and touching music in Mani Ratnam’s heart-warming Kannathil Muthamittal for which he won another National Award was excellent.

Rahman was not quite himself in 2003, not many of his albums did well. Although he gave some very good music in movies like Boys and Tehzeeb, it did not live upto the expectations. Meherbaan was one of the songs from Tehzeeb that actually stayed on people’s mind for sometime, but rest of the songs were as forgetable as the movie itself. Even the movie Boys was quite a let down, not many people connected with the movie, the songs were scattered genius, but could not really take-off. The year also saw the release of Rahman’s first international album which was the soundtrack for a Chinese movie called Tian Di Ying Xiong, named Warriors Of Heaven And Earth. The movie had 16 tracks, in which the theme song Mirage was recorded in 3 languages…Mandarin, English and Hindi. After the release of the movie, the soundtrack was released in a separate album titled Between Heaven And Earth.

After 1994 wherein Rahman had 10 music releases, 2004 was his next busiest year with release of another 10 albums, the best one being Swades. The movie was brilliant and the soundtrack was an amazing mix of patriotism, romance, lullaby, dramatic stuff in the form of ram-leela. Ye Jo Des Hai Tera, wonderfully sung by Rahman, is one of the best songs that I have heard; it has pain, patriotism, emotions and the pangs of separation from motherland. The lorie Ahista Ahista starts off softly and beautifully and ends in a crescendo with Udit Narayan doing total justice to the lullaby. The ram-leela song Pal Pal Hai Bhari gives the feeling of a live drama and the lyrics complement it very well. Both the romantic songs, Saawariya and Dekho Na, had its heart in the right place. And Yuhi Chala Chal is a typical road-song which moves from preachy to passionate lyrics. All the songs were penned by Javed Akhtar who did a terrific job with the lyrics and the thought process behind them.

Yuva also released in the same year. The song Fanaa had a dizzying feel to it while Khuda Hafiz felt like a dip in the pool of music. Kabhi Neem Neem and Badal Jo Aye were soft and sweet numbers while Dhakka Laga Buka and Dol Dol were fast paced numbers. The beauty of Rahman’s albums is the mix that he comes up with, there is always something for everybody. While Yuva and Swades had some great songs, Meenaxi-A Tale of Three Cities and Lakeer-Forbidden Lines were just lack-lustre. Ye Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Chinnamma Chilakkamma was hummable but did not have the same Rahman feel to it. While the music of Lakeer and Dil Ne Kise Apna Kaha was indifferent. Rahman did a small guest number in Subhash Ghai’s Kisna and gave, the otherwise dull movie, one good song in the form of Hum Hain Iss Pal Yahan and a good theme music. Rahman also had a couple of Tamil releases, best of them being New. The film took a great opening, but ran into controvery in 2005, with the Madras High Court banning the movie on the grounds that it aroused sexual feelings in youngsters. Nevertheless, the music was a runaway success.

Then came the music of Mangal Pandey in 2005. I loved the music of the movie, I liked the movie too. Once again, there was a heady mix of patriotism, a ballad number, courtesan song and a Holi song. The title track sung by Kailash Kher had a nice ring to it and it went to the extent of becoming a trance, such was the magic of Rahman. Tumhari Adaon Pe Mai Vari Vari was too soft to be a courtesan number, but the way Rahman used the payal-jhankar worked for it. The Holi number Dekho Ayi Holi, which also featured Aamir Khan saying a few lines, is a much under estimated Holi song. It has all the touches of a Holi number, but could not quite get the recognition because of the movie’s short stay at theatres. The ballad number O Chhalia O Rasiya was nice too, a really good attempt in this genre.

The music of Water was also released the same year. The music did not work for a lot of people because it had a strong classical touch, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The sad and haunting tracks Naina Neer Bahaye and Piyo Ho are heart-wrenching and brings a lump in the throat. Vaishnavo Janto is beautifully re-created by Rahman; the only happy songs were Shyam Rang Bhar Do and Ayo Re Sakhi; but the movie had some great background instrumental tracks. It was a collector’s album and certainly not meant for the masses.

The music that the masses swoon for, came in 2006, in the form of Rang De Basanti. Another smashing hit from Rahman with a great title track sung by Daler Mehendi, and a fantastic collection of songs ranging from sufi based Khalbali to country music of Roobaroo, from the revolutionary Khoon Chala to the romantic Tu Bin Bataye, and from the melodic Luka Chhupi to rebellious Apni To Paathshala. It also had a bonus in the form of Aamir Khan mouthing Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna with the brilliant background chorus, really inspiring. The music took the movie to another level altogether, the lyrics by Prasoon Joshi reflected the mundane, preachy, patriotic and romance so well. Rahman’s touch was evident all through the album.

Rajnikanth’s much awaited Shankar directed movie Sivaji came with a bang in 2007. This was the third album for Rajni-Rahman combo, and the album was a huge hit. The song I am white, also called Style, was much appreciated by the masses for Rajnikanth’s make-up and the parrot colored hair dyes. Athiradee featured Rajni saving a girl from a gang-bang where he makes an appearance on a bike with a guitar, Rahman lent his own voice to this song. The song Vaaji had elaborate sets, a la Bhansali, where Rajni is treated like a king. The album also had a romantic song sung by Udit Narayan and Chinmayi called Sahana. Each and every song highlighted Rajni in a different manner and Rahman struck the right chords.

In the same year came Mani Ratnam’s movie Guru. The music of this movie was not a major hit unlike his other Mani Ratnam’s movies, but it was good nonetheless. Barso Re Megha showcased Shreya Ghosal’s learnings of classical music, and Aye Hairathe Aashiqui was soothing to the ears with the delicate voices of Hariharan and Alka Yagnik. But the toast of the album was Rahman’s vocals in Tere Bina, ably supported by Chinmayi. Maiyya Maiyya displayed Rahman’s talent with Persian music and the belly-dance rhythm and Jaage Hain was another masterpiece which had such inspirational lyrics, I only wished that it went on a little longer. In the same year came Rahman’s soundtrack and background score for Elizabeth-The Golden Age in association with Craig Armstrong.

But the most important year for Rahman’s career came in 2008, wherein he was heard in 5 different albums and each from a different genre. Jodha-Akbar was a periodical tale of the Mughal story, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na was for the youth of today who appreciate peppy numbers like Pappu Cant Dance Saala, then there was Ghajini which was a typical masala movie with songs like Guzarish and Behka Mai Behka. Subhash Ghai came out with his Yuvraaj, but the sound of this movie was a little off-track. The only songs that stayed with people was Tu Meri Dost Hai and Tu Muskura. People forgot the movie faster than they forgot the songs. And then came the music of Slumdog Millionaire which won him the BAFTA and Golden Globe. Although, he has given much better music than this, fate would have it otherwise. His soundtrack won him two Oscars as well, for Original Song and Original Score.

Rahman’s strength lies in his great understanding of music from different regions. The way he grasped the pahadi touch in Kariye Na in Taal, the punjabi flavour in title track of Rang De Basanti and Pagdi Sambhal Jatta, the Bengali influence in Kabhi Neem Neem, the Persian sounds in Maiyya Maiyya, its just incredible. Whether he is producing music for Water or for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, whether its Guru or Provoked, whether its Yuva or Swades, which are movies of different genre and different themes, but one thing that stands out is his great sense of music, his wonderful sense of rhythm and understanding the context of the movie.

I want to mention two other particular things about his music. Just listen to his Quawallis/Sufi music in Piya Haji Ali, Khwaja Mere Khwaja, Arziyan and Satrangi Re, Chhaiyya Chhaiyya and you can actually breathe the music. His deep understanding of the music for the soul is unbeatable. At the same time pick up his bhajans like O Palanhare or Eshwar Ya Allah Ye Pukar Sunle or Ek Onkar or Eshwar Allah Tere Jahan Mei or Man Mohana, and its soul-stirring. Rahman’s music is divine, a gift of God. No wonder that when he won the Ocsar he said “All my life I’ve had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I’m here. God bless"

This post was first published on PFC

4 idiots - hirani, vidhu chopra, aamir and chetan bhagat

By now all of us know what a raucous these 4 guys have created in the press conferences and news channels. The entire weekend was filled with their images on tv screen, no respite for the viewers at all. Each party has spoken at great length, thrown accusations, made casual remarks and shown us how stupidly these celebrated people can behave. More or less, they have de-sensitized me and I am not able to feel anything for anybody at all. Seems like an attention-seeking attempt and for publicity.

Anyways, without taking sides let me just state that both parties are right in their own way. CB is right on moral and ethical grounds while hirani-chopra-aamir are right on legal grounds. CB has no reason to complain because he sold the rights of the book to chopra for 9lacs. Now, hirani-chopra can do anything with the book, i.e., use 5% of the material or 95% of the material; but CB cannot raise any exception. Secondly, CB signed all the contracts which clearly stated that his name would appear in 'rolling credit's, which did. After how many names, at what time etc cannot be dictated. So, legally Hirani-Chopra have done everything right.

Aamir should never have gotten into this. It was an argument between the owners who purchased the rights and the one who sold it. Aamir, being the medium, should have remained so. But, so enthused he was by the response of the movie that he just could not stop himself from commenting on it. He got caught in the cross-fire.

Back to CB, let me romanticize it a bit. I think CB was expecting a very hollywoodish approach to this from makers of the movie. In his dreams, the beginning titles would flash "Based On A Novel By Chetan Bhagat' etc; and that did not happen. Moreover, after having sold the rights for 9lacs, he probably didn't see the movie earning 100+ crores. He is probably feeling stupid that he did not bargain for a bigger amount. Another factor that CB must be thinking about is the various awards that the movie may receive. So, if the movie gets nominated for Best-Story or gets the award, will his name feature in the nominations/awardees or not! Legally I don't think so because screen-writing, working on screenplay and dialogs is one thing; and just writing the novel and selling the rights is another. Now that the milk is spilt, what can CB do? Of course, try to gain some sympathy and publicity out of it.

But I believe that CB has come out looking stupid. An IIM-A grad who worked for CitiBank in Singapore office did not read the offer-document carefully and signed it in a hurry. All legal processes have been followed and he has nothing to squabble about. I think he should forgive and forget. He should actually be happy since latest stats say that sale of his book 'Five Point Someone' has gone up by 30%. Moreover, the movie has turned out good unlike the way his previous novel 'One Night @ The Call Center' turned out to be a disaster in the movie format. Smile CB, and write many more. But sell the rights smartly, next time!

3 idiots : 2010 calendar