The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey

Ah, the anticipation takes form at last! We were finally in the theater at Prasad's iMax, nice and snug. 3D glasses - check. Popcorn & Cola - doublecheck. Excitement - "oh yeah!" check.

First things first, I've read The Hobbit - There and Back Again, so I know how it all ends. But it just made me all the more eager to watch it all on the big screen.

The story is one that is universally known - Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit from Bag End, is content with his peaceful life when one fine day the wizard Gandalf comes knocking at his door, and leads him into a fantastic adventure with 12 dwarves. The modest party of 14 crosses hell and high water to reach the lonely mountain and to defeat Smaug the dragon. A while later a terrific battle between 5 armies ensues, some good people are lost, many bad people are lost, and finally the book ends on a happy note.

This movie however, ends somewhere on the way between the path to the lonely mountain and Bilbo's home. It is just Part I of The Hobbit movie trilogy, after all. Peter Jackson needs to go as slow as possible to be able to fit that tiny book into three 3-hour movies. I was skeptical about how he would achieve that feat without expanding unimportant sub-plots, but he did it all beautifully. Granted, some scenes in the movie are absent from the book altogether, but hey, it's middle earth. I enjoyed my ears off :D

Oh, and yeah, our old friend Gollum makes a brief but terrifying appearance. In the span of a mere 5-10 minutes he made more of an impression on me than all the orcs, goblins, and wargs put together. Live long, Gollum! Also, this is where the infamous ring makes its first appearance - slipping from Gollum's fingers and ingratiating itself with Bilbo Baggins, paving the path for Sauron the Dark Lord to rise again.

Martin Freeman IS the Hobbit, and it is impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. Nothing to say about Gandalf, really. And the dwarves are exceptionally cast, with both their bravery and comic timing portrayed impeccably.

Overall, an amazing movie, and an absolute must-watch. As if it could be anything else :-)

And as a footnote, I cannot resist adding these immortal lines -

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

                                                      - From The Lord of The Rings

The Caffeinated Joys of Filter Coffee

Growing up in a Telugu household, this is only predictable. One develops a deep rooted love for filter coffee. One tends to get irritated if the early morning shout of, "Amma, coffee!" is not complied with alacrity. One might even say, one is addicted to it.

I got hooked on to coffee at a tender age of I-don't-remember-when. That occasional drop of decoction in my daily glass of milk was a reward - a reward for being a good kid, or perhaps for having completed the necessary homework without too much prodding. I don't recall the exact day when my big glass of milk laced with decoction was substituted for a steaming glass of filter coffee. I can only imagine it must've been a big deal for me. Almost like an acceptance into adult society, that one.

Pictured: Little glasses of heaven.

Tea for me was always the poor country cousin - only drunk under extreme circumstances (meaning, when coffee isn't available).

College was hard. I was in the heart of Orissa, no relatives for miles on end, and the few hotels that served coffee had only the Instant kind. Yuck. FYI, Instant Coffee isn't coffee. Just another hot beverage. After four years of making disgruntled faces at the chai-wallahs, my luck made this abrupt U-turn, kind of like what the auto-wallahs do when they see a potential customer.

I came to Hyderabad.

Life did a full circle when I camped at the same aunt's place with whom I grew up, and - surprise, surprise! - her entire family were coffee people, just like yours truly. Ah, those magical stainless steel filters, they should be a part of Hogwarts studies! Another stint of coffee drinking followed, which went unhampered for several years. I got completely hooked onto it - I woke up to the smell of coffee everyday; and when I came back from office a steaming glass of the magical brew would be waiting for me.

Fast forward to the present day - married to this great guy who loves black coffee, and what's more, even makes it for me every morning. I know, I know, black coffee is filter coffee too, and what if he makes it with brown sugar? Isn't it kinda like Irish Coffee, with just the cream and whiskey missing? I could live with that!

But that little imp in the back of my head nags at me, "Itsss not the same, preciousss!"

I've found a workaround though - weekdays are dedicated to my husband's recipe; and I make my beloved filter coffee on weekends. On the days when I visit my aunt, she looks at me with an unspoken understanding, and makes sure that I am plied with all the filter coffee I want. Hell, the tummy can take care of itself later.

Daruvu - Movie Review

I was fortunate enough to watch this insanely awesome movie this weekend.

Move over Bala Krishna, you with your almost impossible fight sequences, laughably silly dialogues, and improbably young heroines! Ravi Teja is here to make you quiver in your shoes and give you a run for your money.

So, we have Bullet Raja (played by Ravi Teja) who falls in love with a girl, Swetha (played by Taapsee). She is a dancer, and is learning her dance moves from her Guru, Vidya Balan. No, not Vidya Balan the actress, it is our very own king-of-comedy Brahmanandam. His name is Vidya Balan, and his male assistant is named Neetha Menon. Duh, not funny! Alright, it is a little bit.

Just look at those buffoons!

Long story short, Swetha cares tuppence about our Bullet Raja and loathes the very sight of him. One fine day - just about a week after he knows her, that is - they go to a club and some guy tries to manhandle Swetha. Bullet Raja leaps to the rescue and - we did not see this coming - Swetha falls for him immediately.

Where there's a hero there is a villian, and for Telugu heroes one villian is simply not enough, they get insulted and refuse to sign. The first villian of this lovely movie is this goonda who wants to marry Swetha (why, is a mystery to me). He descends on the hero with some hundred sidekicks, who turn to dust in Bullet Raja's hands. Finally, some serious shit happens and our hero falls off a cliff, and as if that wasn't enough this bigass SUV falls on him and explodes. The writers were adamant that even Rajnikanth couldn't survive this kind of shit and so the director reluctantly kills Bullet Raja off.

End of story.

Ha-ha, you wish! Bullet Raja goes straight to hell, where after a series of stupid scenes involving Lord Yama's son and Mr. Chitragupta he is sent back to earth into the Home Minister's body. Who also happens to be - surprise, surprise! - Ravi Teja. Now the second, third, and fourth villians make their entry and we are treated to a series of cringe-worthy incidents where they try to kill Ravindra (Bullet Raja's soul, Home Minister's body) and fail horribly.

For the epic final scene, all the four villians get together and plant a bomb under the stage where the CM, HM, and other big guns are giving speeches. The time bomb ticks closer to exploding and killing the hero a second time, when the Home Minister gives a moving speech and what the fck! All villians have a change of heart and become good citizens. They even run to the stage and warn everyone about the bomb and everything. Ravindra (formerly Bullet Raja) leaps off the stage, but not before clutching a small kid and saving him. Because you know, he is such a noble man.

The. End. Whew.

This was when the end credits started rolling, and my brother yelled loudly demanding a refund.

I've read a couple of reviews on the internet, and I have to say I was surprised to see them praise it. I know, Ravi Teja has got impeccable comic timing, but jesus! I am so sick of seeing the same comedy over and over and over again! He seriously needs to try something different. Then the whole shebang of Yamalok is also something we've seen countless times before - and nicely done, as well. In this movie it was plain creepy. God knows what Taapsee was doing in this movie - she seemed to be there just for the occasional navel glimpse and song sequences. She dances well, but looks yuck.

The only highlight of the movie was that "Dhinkachika" devotion move by fake Swami Pavitrananda, played superbly by actor Raghu Babu. That guy never fails to impress.

Bottom line, Daruvu has some laughs, but the sheer absurdness of the movie will leave you wincing. Watch it if you absolutely must; or wait for the DVD.

All India Silk Fair

I have this tendency to procrastinate almost everything - I really wanted to blog about the recent Hyderabad Book Fair that took place in December, but by the time I pulled up my socks and sat down to write, it was too late. For this one, I am on time.

Girls, moms, aunts, grans - this one is for you. The All India Silk Fair is on at Ameerpet, Hyderabad, and I had the good luck to visit it the other day. They have some impressive collections from all over the country - and boy oh boy, I had a hard time trying to keep my shopping instincts in check. I saw Pashmina saris for the first time, and was awed. Sambalpuri silks, beautiful patchworks and hand-embroidered silk saris that I've forgotten the real names of, real nice dupattas, stoles, and so much more.

Me and my aunt finally ended up with damages of 3.5K - two silk chudidar suits, and one pretty silk kalamkari sari. Beautiful stuff, folks. Quite affordable, too. Alright, enough praises sung.

The fair is on till 21st of January. In case anyone wants to go take a look, the address is - Kamma Sangham, Beside Chandana Brothers, Ameerpet. No way can you miss it.

Let me know if you buy anything. :-)