The curious case of watching three movies ...

It started with 'Che Part One' ,a movie that tells the amazing story of the revolutionary Che Guevara and of his friend Fidel Castro. How the revolution was carried out in Cuba and the US supported dictator Batista was thrown out through an armed revolution under the banner of 26th of July Movement.Che was an Argentine by birth, but found his true calling in bringing the revolution in Cuba.He was a confidant of Fidel Castro and held the post of Industry Minister of Cuba.But such persons cannot be tied down for long and he left Cuba to organise leftist revolution in other parts of Latin America and was finally killed in Bolivia.When facing his executioner ,Che Guevara shouted, "I know you've come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man." Che Part One covers Guevara's revolutionary journey from the time he meets up with Castro in Mexico and comes to Cuba to carry the revolution and ends with his march to Havana.
The second movie i got to see was 'IGOR' ,an animation with a rather strange plot.The movie is about the Kingdom of Malaria (yes that is the name of the place) where being 'evil' is the in thing.The main character is an hunch backed character 'Igor' who dreams of being an evil scientist and his two friends.One of the friend is a rabbit with a suicidal streak.The rabbit keeps trying to kill himself but fails everytime and the other is a 'brain' without any trace of intelligence.The movie is watchable and has this sweet message that it is better to be a 'good nobody' than a 'evil somebody'.
The third movie (if anyone is still reading ) was The curious case of Benjamin Button.A good movie which is in the race of oscars and might win a few. The movie tells the story of Benjamin who is born old and grows young.We all after a certain age don't feel good about getting on in age ,but the film shows that growing old has its own good points.

Yes Man ....

On the final sunday of the year,the plan was to watch the Aamir Khan starrer Ghazini with a friend of mine,but all the shows were sold out.I was approached by a shady character outside the Satyam multiplex(Nehru Place) who made me an offer I had to refuse(shelling Rs.300 for Ghazini ticket which otherwise costs Rs.180 was definitely not my idea of having a good time).I refused or should i say he refused to bargain and i took a long walk back to my car.I caught hold of my Army friend near Ansal Plaza and we decided to watch Jim Carrey's Yes Man instead, at PVR Saket.The movie started and i found myself staring straight at the pagri of one Sardarji sitting in front of me.I tried to move my head little to the left and right but it was no use ,his headgear kept blocking one-tenth of the screen approximately.When Jim Carey speaks Korean in the movie i had to do a lot of head exercise in order to read the subtitles as the sardarji in front didn't budge.Anyway the movie was a treat to watch and a laugh riot and to top it all, had a sweet message.Say yes to people,opportunities,requests,orders,ideas etc etc for a change.Just go with the flow for once and see if it brings any change to the routine life.It definitely does so in the movie for Jim Carrey's character(the cute actress by the way is Zooey Deschanel).This movie is based on a true story and book of the same name by British humorist Danny Wallace who has also a fleeting role in the movie.But the point being made, and rightly so,is that by all means say yes but only because you want to and not just because you have to.

Tu Meri Zindagi Hai ...

The mind-blowing song from the movie 'Aashiqui' that created box-office history solely on the basis of super-duper hit music.Not one song but almost all the songs of the movie make ones heart beat even after so many years.
Can anyone forget these songs :
1. Ek sanam chahiey aashiqui kay liye
2. Main duniya bhula doonga
3. Dheeray dheeray say meri zindagi main aana
4. Ab tere bin jee lenge hum
5. Dil ka aalam main kya bataun tujhey
6. Tu meri zindagi hai
7. Nazar kay saamne jigar kay paas

The movie released in the year 1991 and it changed the fortunes of T-series,Kumar Shaanu ,Anuradha Paudwal and Nadeem-Shravan.

While searching Youtube i came across the Pakistani version of "Tu Meri Zindagi Hai" from where it seems the super-hit track was lifted with some modifications and cosmetic changes. Here are the songs ,you decide which is better .....

Mumbai Meri Jaan !!!

This movie deserves to be seen at least once by anyone who resides in a metro city ,as it holds a mirror to the metro life.Though the movie showcases Mumbai and its spirit,i could relate to movie as a Delhiite as well.The movie showcases the 'rich brat' syndrome, communal stereotyping,insensitive media, policemen and their compulsions etc.And all of this is shown without being preachy at any point .The movie leaves one with hope that all is not lost and if all of us make a small effort to understand 'the other' maybe the difference of opinions can be sorted out without any recourse to violent means.Media guys will do well to watch this movie and just for once introspect that what the public supposedly is interested in may not be in 'public interest'.

So What ???

I was wanting to watch the Madhur Bhandarkar movie "Fashion" for quite some time as generally his movies are quite realistic and not the typical formula based movies for which Bollywood is famous.On 20th November ,I along-with two of my friends went to Satyam Multiplex(Nehru Place) to know about the fashion industry from up-close.After buying the tickets and going through the security check(a complete misnomer as i have serious doubts about the training these security people have received) we made ourselves comfortable in our respective seats.Just before the movie was to begin, a middle-aged couple came and sat just next to my right.The movie began and with it began the spontaneous remarks of the 'uncleji' sitting to my right.To every dramatic dialogue in the film (and there were quite a few of those),he was ever ready with his comments like "so what","why not" etc etc.In fact some of his remarks were quite inappropriate for his age.We could barely control our laughter and it had absolutely no effect on uncleji and he went on and on.Uncleji was quite impressed with the movie and told auntyji that they must see the other films by this director.Personally,I found the movie to be watchable but definitely not in the same league as some of Bhandarkar's earlier flicks like 'Chandni Bar','Corporate','Traffic Signal' etc.The movie gives a snapshot of the fashion industry and somehow reinforces the stereotype that if you are a male and a designer then even if you are not happy you would always be 'gay' ;).I heard 'Kangana Ranaut looks very cute'from a fellow film-watcher every time Kangana made an appearance in the film and by the time movie ended i had developed a liking for Ms Ranaut.
After the movie i received a 'jor ka jhatka' when i failed to locate the parking slip which i remembered as having kept in my shirt pocket.As i was wearing a half sweater,i tried to locate the front pocket of my shirt and realised that this particular shirt i was wearing had no front pocket.Then we tried to reason with
the parking attendant who promptly showed us a notice pasted on the wall "Rs 50 fine if parking slip lost" plus the regular parking amount.After looking everywhere (but in the right place) we paid the requisite amount and drove off.A little later my friend said something which made me realise that maybe i had put the parking slip inside my sweater thinking that the shirt has a pocket and as i found out it was lodged between my shirt and the sweater.So the moral of the story is always keep the parking slip in the car itself and never wear a shirt with no front pocket !

Dasvidaniya !

I was looking forward to watching this movie for quite some time and yesterday in the company of two of my friends (who are now officially a couple)got to see this gem of a movie in select city walk at saket.I know people are going ga-ga over a movie like Dostana but Dasvidania is the movie that one should really be watching .The film tugs at your heartstrings and at the same time makes you smile.Everyone in the cast has played their role to perfection and what can one say about the versatile Vinay Pathak.The musical score by Kailash Kher matches so well with the movie and the song that Vinay Pathak sings for his mother touches the heart and when the poor guy realises that his hard of hearing mom has not heard his song(half of it),it also makes you smile.The scene where Vinay Pathak expresses his love to Neha Dhupia has been conceptualised so well that its a definite tear-jerker.My friend (who specifically asked me not to mention about it) was so overcome with emotions that she cried (i also felt a lump in my throat and so would anybody who has his heart in the right place) and i would suggest anybody going to watch Dasvidaniya to keep a tissue paper in close vicinity.The movie was so good that i would like to forgive select city walk (like the guy in Bajaj Avenger advertisement who forgives all and sundry)for grossly over-charging right from ticket price to popcorns.Live Life !!!!

Post script : This post is especially for my school friend (since class6,though we really became friends in class7)Tala and a very sweet girl whose name rhymes with the first half of capital of Burkina Faso :)

Quantum of Solace ???

So yesterday, I along with a friend of mine (Rohan) went to see the latest Bond flick. I was hoping that the film would live upto its name and 007 lineage, but it was a disappointment. Thankfully before watching the movie,we had taken some mild intoxicants and that made the movie bearable. Daniel Craig is a more physical James Bond compared to the previous James Bonds who used to rely more on unbelievable gizmos rather than just on physical prowess.Daniel Craig on the other hands bashes up all and sundry without resorting to use of any over the top innovations.The film is fast paced and storyline difficult to comprehend unless you remember what had transpired in Casino Royale.Anyway a James Bond movie is never too bad to watch at least once.Though,it did not provide me the little bit of solace that i was looking for and left me shaken but not stirred.