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

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.

Agent "The Dud" Vinod

::Warning - Contains spoilers::

The entire family was in town, and Agent Vinod seemed to be the only option available (we had already watched Kahaani, and somehow we decided to skip Paan Singh Tomar. Bad decision, dammit!)

I must admit we went to the movie with very low expectations. Agent Vinod surpassed all of them in the worst way possible.

The story starts with Vinod in a prison from where he makes his daring escape, James Bond style. Imagine this - he is fleeing terrorists blazing their guns from all sides, in the middle of the desert, when suddenly he notices a gunny bag wriggling around. He cuts it open, and lo and behold! Just like a fairy tale, out pops a maiden, sexy dress and all, makeup intact, and whatnot. Score one for heights of improbability!

This is what BORING looks like.

Quite some bullshittery later we reach the main plot which revolves around the number 242. Many crime overlords are using this number in their secret conversations, and the task obviously falls to Agent Vinod to check the whole damn thing out. Vinod goes to one country after another in pursuit of the truth, gets caught by the bad guys a zillion times like the perfect nincompoop he is, and escapes an equal number of times like the James Bond he is.

Kareena Kapoor somehow enters the whole shebang as a certain Dr. Irum Bilal, actually a good guy but masquerading as a bad guy. Agent Vinod tags her along for the adventure, GOD knows why. He could simply have left her behind to live her life in peace, hell, she isn't even a goddamn agent, she's a doctor, and she even tells him all she wants is a clinic and some patients. Unfortunately, the director had other plans for her.

Yet another thing that hits you is the way Agent Vinod lets the masterminds go scot-free. He has no compulsions killing scores of nameless goondas who are the extras, but where it really matters, the big guys, he lets go. In the first scene he lets the Pakistani police officer go; the same thing happens with Prem Chopra, though the Colonel finishes the job for him; and then when the main baddie, the Colonel, is helpless before him, he just... lets him go! Of course, this comes back and bites him in the ass, since the Colonel promptly repays him for this act of kindness a few scenes later by shooting Kareena Kapoor. Even that scene is handled like shit -

Vinod: Hello Irum, is everything okay?
Irum: Hii Vinod, wassup, no ya, that bastard shot me! Two times in the liver! I am not gonna make it!
<dies>

Sriram Raghavan ji, what were you thinking?!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Movie)

What a movie! One of the finest espionage thrillers I have seen in a long time.

The story starts with Mr. Smiley (Gary Oldman), a retired intelligence officer being assigned to find a mole in the British Intelligence Agency, a mole who is right at the top of the ladder, supplying information under the table to the Soviets. The movie features a perfect cast - apart from my personal dislike of the actor Ciaran Hinds, that is. I just don't like that guy, somehow!


There are no car chasing scenes in the movie, guns blazing, or any other James Bond-esque shenanigans. The story brings a simple point home - you don't really need all those theatrics to have a nail biting thriller on your hands. Yes, that means Gary Oldman doesn't pout his lips either. Take the hint, Daniel Craig. You might get nominated for an Oscar too, if you stopped that awful pout.

This is one sepia-tinted thriller that is a must watch.

Dhobi Ghat Movie Review

There is no place for middle ground here - you either love Dhobi Ghat, or you hate it. Either way, you can't really ignore it.

I loved it, people. Hindi cinema is finally growing up. What's interesting is this movie isn't just about Aamir Khan, the superstar. The movie follows the lives of four people - Arun, Munna, Shai, and Yasmin.

The Cast

Arun is a reclusive painter, played to the hilt by Aamir. He gobbled up the part, easing into character like he were living it his entire life. Be it the careless way he makes his scrambled eggs, or the giddy happiness he feels when he looks at his work of art, Aamir is the master.

Munna is the dhobi, played by Prateik Babbar. The son of legendary actress Smita Patil, he does his mom proud. Endearing at times, curiously grown-up and matter-of-fact at others, Prateik is inching his way into Bollywood. He showed you don't need to bare your teeth to prove you are angry, or shed copious tears to prove you are sad. With a subtlety that most mainstream actors of today cannot dream of, Munna's role overshadows everyone else's.

Shai and Yasmin have been played by Monica Dogra and Kriti Malhotra respectively; Monica is like a breath of fresh air, and Kriti is, well, the lovely girl next door who no one can do without.

The Story

Unfortunately, I cannot write about the story without inadvertently spouting some spoilers - suffice it to say that Dhobi Ghat is the story of these four people, the story of a brief period in all of their lives. A brief period when their lives are entangled. Do they become better people afterwards? You are the judge. Do their lives change? Yes sir, very much.

The movie is completely based in Mumbai, doesn't have a single song, doesn't have a break, and wraps up in less than 100 minutes. Chew on that, Karan Johar and Bhansali.

I said the same thing about Inception, and I will say the same of Dhobi Ghat - don't miss it.

Inception Review

Reviewing Inception is sure going to be difficult.

Am no stranger to Christopher Nolan - I've seen The Prestige and cried for Hugh Jackman; and I've lost count of how many umpteen times I watched The Dark Knight, each time with the same fascination. So, ahem, my expectations of Inception were huge. I hoped fervently that it wouldn't be an Avatar repeat.

The movie starts out innocently enough; slowly, with each passing frame, it starts sucking you in. What Nolan did was let his imagination run rampant, no bars whatsoever, and then strived to mold that imagination into reality. The end result is nothing short of amazing.

Dom Cobb can extract a person's thoughts from his subconscious. He can enter a person's dream and steal his innermost secrets. He faces the challenge of his life when, instead of extraction, he is required to plant an idea in a person's mind. Inception. A team of expert extractors have to travel therefore, into the subconscious of the subject - go through multiple layers of dreams so they can plant that single thread of thought flawlessly. What follows is a masterpiece of creativity, stunning visuals, and multi-dimensional complexity, the core of which is so simple, it boggles the mind.

I saw Ellen Page for the first time after Juno, and was struck by how young she really is. Cillian Murphy, I've had a mild crush on him since his Red Eye days, and he didn't disappoint. Di Caprio is a master, though I wish he had more of that boyish look from Titanic.

People do not really make what this movie really is; it probably wouldn't have mattered if Nolan cast a bunch of unknown faces - the movie would still be awe-inspiring. It's the kind of psychological thriller that will make you question reality, and re-play scenes of the movie in your mind long after you step out of the theater.

Summing up - edge of the seat narrative, nail-biting pace, and a gripping plot - I can say I got my money's worth, and then some. Go watch it, people.

Wake Up Sid

I cannot think of any reason why I put off seeing this movie for so long! I also cannot imagine why I steadfastly refused to watch a Ranbir Kapoor movie. Maybe the long line of flop star sons we have been forced to endure freaked me out; I didn't want to take the risk of watching yet another Uday Chopra go, "Kya Mummy!" Folks, I'm happy that I was wrong about Ranbir Kapoor - he is genuine, offbeat and a natural.

Coming to the story, Sid Mehra is the spoiled son of a rich business magnate (aren't they all!) who doesn't care what might happen tomorrow. He is happy to let Daddy foot the bills, while he is carousing with his friends till the wee hours. On his farewell party (he's an engineering student) he meets a girl about 7 years his senior, and they hit it off. The girl is Aisha Banerjee, a creative writer. The character is played by Konkana Sen Sharma to the hilt; she outruns the other, so-called sexy actresses by a huge margin. Anyway, Sid and Aisha become platonic friends, and one fine day after having royally flunked his exams and kicked out of the house by his Dad, Sid lands up at Aisha's place.

Live-in relationship doesn't quite define it, since their friendship was strictly platonic. What I liked was the way the movie portrayed their neighbourhood accepting it, and Sid's mom accepting it. It showed that society these days has loosened up quite a bit, become more liberal in it's thinking. Also, the gradual change in Sid - from a prodigal son to a responsible person who finally learns how to cook an omelette and clean up after himself - is done so very subtly, that in every frame you see something changing in him. Just a little bit, but a little bit nevertheless.

However, the movie is not all about Sid; it is equally about Aisha, and I loved her role, more so cos I could relate to her completely. Hell, tons of girls must relate to her! A single girl, away from her hometown, seeking independence, seeking an identity - yep, I love her! The way she takes Sid under her wing, patiently tolerating his nonsense, while at the same time trying to make her mark - I cannot think of another actress who can fit the bill better than Konkona Sen Sharma.

When finally Sid makes his career as a photographer, and patches things back with Dad, Aisha realizes she is in love with him - and she has no idea if he feels the same about her. Sid is back at his place, it's raining, and he reads her article on Mumbai Beat. How she came to Mumbai with high hopes, how she fell in love with the city. It's not just about the city, she writes, she fell in love with the city due to one person, that one person who was able to show her how special it all was. It's not hard to guess how the movie ends. It is, after all, a romantic comedy.

I am sure everyone out there has already seen this movie - if you haven't, run, run like the wind! To your DVD store, your laptop, wherever. For a full list of the characters, and other trivia on the movie, go to IMDB.

Avatar Blues

Everyone said it was the best movie they had ever seen. Everyone said, they were surely going to watch it a second, third time. Everyone said if you haven't seen Avatar yet, you haven't lived.

I finally decided to see what the fuss was all about. Or rather, I finally got a chance to see what the fuss was all about when my friend got hold of three tickets at the famed IMAX 3D Screen at Prasad's.



The movie in a nutshell - Bad guys target good guys. One bad guy turns into good guy. Finds true love.  Defeats bad guys. End of movie. Throw in tons and tons of special effects, cheesy lines, lots of bluish, creepy looking things, and you've got Avatar. I'm sorry guys, I know you loved the movie, but I just don't see what made the movie so lovable.

Frankly, I developed a migraine about 30 minutes into the movie; whether it was due to the movie itself, the sweltering Hyderabad heat, or the uncomfortable oversized 3D glasses, we'll never know. But yeah, I'm inclined to blame the movie :D We waited in vain for some awesome scene that would make us go WOW!!!, but that never happened.

Pandora was full of neon lighting, huge tails, as-ugly-as-you-can-make-em monsters and birds, and what not. I mean, how creepy were those earthworm-like wiggly things in the Na'vi braids?! And how many of you felt the Na'vis - with their bows and arrows slung on their backs - resembled the Hindu Gods?

What I do acknowledge, is the hardwork put in by hundreds of behind-the-scenes crew; Apparently, each frame (1/24 of a second) of the CGI scenes took an average of 47 man-hours to complete (Source: IMDB).

That certainly is impressive, and while I'm in awe of it, I did not really enjoy it.

Oscar Fever 2010!

The Oscars are back - and I guess with quite some surprises, for me, at least.

The Hurt Locker grabbed the spotlight this year with an incredible six wins, including the Best Picture and Best Direction; Kathryn Bigelow created history by becoming the first woman to win an Oscar in the Best Direction category.



This one is even more memorable for her considering the fact that James Cameron, her ex-husband was also in the race for the same award - with a movie that's already been over-hyped and over-praised around the world. Good for you, Kathryn! ;-)

Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for Best Actress - am I happy for her! I've always admired her, from Speed to Miss Congeniality to Two Weeks Notice. Avatar hogged three Oscars - I'm darn happy it didn't go on to win the Best Picture award  - I somehow felt the movie was grossly overrated.

The win that excited me the most was for the animated movie, Up - I watched this movie a few days ago, and it really pierced my heart.  That it also won an Oscar for Best Music is not surprising, too; it's soundtrack moved me to tears.

So, fellows, these are the wins that were of interest to me - for a full list of Oscar 2010 winners, go here.

Karthik Calling Karthik

Will you hang up that phone already?!

This is one movie which tested my patience beyond recognition, making me feel like screaming. I always thought Farhan Akhtar was into offbeat, and fresh themes; what made him choose this one, I'll never know. Tried and tested and failed at least half a dozen times, the plot is so glaringly obvious that about 15 minutes into the movie we predicted how the plot would turn out to be, and also how the climax would unfold. Bingo! No surprises there!

Karthik is a mouse and a doormat who gets trampled on by everyone, and is literally invisible. One day it crosses the line, with him getting fired and everything, and he loses it completely. Lo and behold, he starts getting calls everyday at 5AM on the dot, from - no surprises here, either - Karthik  himself! Soon, his life starts taking an upward turn, he gets the girl of his dreams, blah blah. Sooner said than done, trouble starts brewing when Karthik and Karthik have  a brief altercation and life turns upside down for the real Karthik.

Lots of potholes in the movie, Deepika Padukone looks and acts like an amateur. Even the way she smokes a cigarette is so very put-on! Ugh! And Farhan, what the heck happened dude?! Why?! This is the one question I've been asking myself ever since. Apart from a couple of scenes that interested us, not a single frame could grab our attention. The songs are okay, hummable for a few days but nothing noteworthy.

Suffice to say that you can give this one a miss. Go watch some other movie. Or better still, stay at home and rent some classic from your nearby DVD store.

At the very least, you'll save yourself a headache from going out in the sun.

8*10 Tasveer Review

This was one movie which I really looked forward to, partly due to the fact that it was a suspense thriller, and partly because it was directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. I was not named Late Kate for nothing. I reached the theater late, and we missed the first 10 minutes of the movie. I could hear my friends cussing under their breath. Aww hell, God, let em please understand the movie! I prayed under my breath.

All my prayers were needless though, cos Akshay seemed to know what we missed, and he obligingly went back to the past and showed us every scene. Yeah! He can concentrate really hard on a pic (yup, 8*10 dimensional pic!) and go back to that exact scene, and replay the events in his head. Ahh well. He spends the entire 2 hours trying to solve his Dad's murder mystery. OK, so we figure the suspense out like in about 10 minutes, but it seems like the characters are hell bent upon making Akshay use his damn gift. Sort of like, when we were kids, and used to do our homework; everyone knew 2 plus 2 equals four, but forced us to use our brains nevertheless.

For starters, guys, Akshay's Dad instead of blurting the killer's name, blubbers about Tasveer and all kindsa shit. Same goes with Momma; when she's conveniently stabbed, she could've just spelled out the name and saved us from the misery. Instead, she leads him on a whole lot of puzzles, asks him to go to the attic, and what not. Yup! This and more is in store for you if you are that gullible and watch this movie.

Man Oh man! Listening to Javed Jaffrey's broken Hyderabadi Hindi was a torture to Hyderabadi ears. His fake accent, fake acting, fake hair style, yup, I guess Ayesha Takia was as fed up with him as we were, and when she couldn't take it anymore she just used the axe on him out of sheer desperation. We're not complaining, Ayesha!

OK, this is not a spoiler, but lemme tell you guys this - If only Akshay had spared just one minute to peek into Ayesha-goody-goody-smile-Takia's past, we would've been spared all this unnecessary torture. The movie would've wrapped up within 10 minutes.

The Pink Panther 2 Review

Guest Review written by my good friend Mayank :-)

I mean the movie is funny but the jokes which I cracked between the scenes were even better and that’s what my friend told me including the people in the rows below and above me, heh. Getting serious, I thought the movie was good just in parts.

Nothing too spectacular but ya if you are one of those who go to a movie just to have fun leaving your brain behind (the same clichéd stuff), you are not too keen on the logic and if you really like our desi movie Golmaal , this is the movie to watch out for. Honestly, I really don’t know , do I ridicule it that its full of those old school jokes and totally illogical, or appreciate the feel good factor and the good acting + enactment???

But whatever it is, I would say you will be the best one to decide that you like it or not as I did………. Or did I ??? So check it out yourself and let me know. About the story its that same one like the first one. The same silly case and the dream team trying to crack it as it does the best .

CLOUSEAU – the smartass tries to make the most serious situation funny. But you know what he gets the PINK PANTHER – the diamond (Wanted to ask why "pink panther" ….. I also don’t know…. I am sure there is no logic behind it … can bet on it.) Music is just ok … May be I feel this as I was watching it at cinemax…. (The audio sucks there ya)

PS - For all the jokers who are about to waste money for the married Aishwarya…. Its really not worth it. Only reason you should do it is to get the film industry to rise up from recession.

Dev D Review

A botched up attempt to remake the classic, Anurag Kashyap went overboard with this one. In wanting to project Devdas with a contemporary twist, all he's succeeded in projecting are cartons of booze, instructions as to how to do drugs, where exactly to pick up whores, et al. I went to the movie with great expectations; Pop! went the bubble, and even before it was intermission, I was raring to go back home.

Due kudos to the actors though; Mahi Gill deserves applause, I just loved her in the film. With unconventional looks, and an immensely expressive face, she just about steals the show from Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin. They are not far behind; Kalki was amazing as the girl-woman Chanda, and as for Abhay Deol, he was so convincing as the egotistic spoilt brat that I actually wanted to slap him hard, heh.

Anurag Kashyap was projecting new age Devdas; here, he forgot one vital point; today's youth is highly outspoken; sulking and pining away in private just dont happen anymore, atleast not for a guy who's just come in from London! Added to the fact that he and Paro were in constant touch through messenger and whatnot, it's highly impossible that he would be content to booze his heart out in the sanctity of his room while his childhood sweetheart tied the knot with someone just below his balcony. Tell me, what are the odds of that happening?

A couple of scenes had me in knots, though; like the scene where Dev rejects Paro, and she, devastated, stares mutely into her mirror to see if what he said was true. That was a truly poignant moment, and Mahi Gill does it so well, you can actually see the hurt and grief etched in her face. Sigh! Ah well, a couple of scenes do not redeem the entire movie, though; every movie would be a hit if it were the case.

Not at all a movie you can watch with your family, but if you are that adamant, go alone. No point in wasting someone else's time along with yours, is there?

Dostana Review

A very poor imitation of "I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry", Dostana did not deliver the goods the trailer promised. Added to the fact that I saw the English version a few days ago, Dostana came across as a damp squib. Yeah, John Abraham is an amazing piece of work, but girls, got to face the truth; he can't act. His face is expressionless, and his dialogue delivery was pathetic. The only scenes where he looked bearable was when he was not present. Abhishek was average, and the scenes where he acts like a transvestite brought an unpleasant feeling in my gut, rather than laughter. Priyanka, a pretty lass, she should have stuck to modeling. Kirron Kher, all I can say about you is, puhleease!!! Spare us the agony of seeing you act on screen! I felt like screaming, "Can someone take this bozo off the set, please! I feel like I'm in the middle of a nightmare with a harridan!" Ohh yes, Boman Irani was nice, looked convincing in the role of the gay boss. Who knows, maybe he was just being himself, heh.

Coming to the story, it starts off with John showing oodles of skin, and for a moment I was afraid he would bare it all. The storyline was not convincing in the least, for, cmon, think practically, who would agree to be gay, just for the sake of a nice apartment?! Even more sillier was the fact that Priyanka never doubted them for a moment, even though she was practically living with them. What was she, blind??? The director had no idea how to prolong the story to fit the Indian cinema mould, so he resorted to some useless gaana bajaana, with the two duds (read John and Abhi) trying to woo our too-dusky-for-her-own-good beauty (read Priyanka). Amidst all this confusion, and torture, the director had to introduce my all time favorite horror hero - Bobby Deol. God knows what the heck he did in the movie, apart from following all that the two duds told him to, like a mental retard. Cmon, didn't he have his identity? Which sane woman likes to see her man dressed as a clown, for chrissakes?! Yuck!

Boring music, boring acting, boring faces. To top it all, this film isn't even an original. They had something to measure up to, couldn't they come up with something better than this pathetic tub of lard? I feel sad, the way Bollywood lets us down every time.

1920 - A Review

A 100 times better than Phoonk, 1920 evokes fear in you, and much more than that, keeps its element of suspense throughout. As the name suggests, the film is set in the year 1920, and starts off to a mysterious death in a spooky castle, which makes you sit on edge from the start. It then takes a detour, and we get to see the love angle in the story for quite some time. Ofcourse, the hero and heroine get married, and end up at the same castle as above, to finish what no one has been able to so far - raze the castle to the ground and build a grand hotel in its place.

Strange things begin to happen, and the girl, Lisa, starts experiencing out of the ordinary incidents, which she confides to a priest of the church. Seizing an opportune moment, the ghost in the castle possesses Lisa, and issues an ultimatum that she's going to die within four days, and he wants her soul to be his for eternity. Arjun, her husband, goes exploring all he can about what happened to the castle, and how it got to be a haunted one. He learns all he can, the ghost is a traitor soldier, who betrays his country and fellow men, and takes refuge in the castle under false pretences. The then owner of the castle, Rani Gayatri, does what she can while she secretly sends for troops, and the soldier is killed by her troops. A ghost seeking revenge. Arjun decides the only way to save his girl is to trust God; he holds Lisa tight and recites the Hanuman Chalisa; the mantra is all powerful, and the ghost is destroyed forever, and all is well. Turns out that Lisa is Rani Gayatri re-born(yea, we expected something like this, after all, its a Bollywood movie) and the film comes to an end.

The filming, screenplay, and dialogues are nice; though the castle doesnt look like Indian in the least. It has a distinct Victorian style about it, and the locales, the hills, the meadows, show that it is not India. The protagonists acted well, much, much better than the lead actors in Phoonk. Adah Sharma as Lisa did a good job, her acting looked convincing. Did you know that the castle where the shooting for the film took place is one of the 10 most haunted castles in England? It seems the actors were as afraid when shooting the film as we were while watching the film. Must have been a first for any horror movie. hehe.

Kung Fu Panda Review

Kung Fu Panda is like a whiff of cool air after all those action flicks, Wanted, The Dark Knight, and Hancock. Chock full of humor, the film portrays the dreams and aspirations of an overweight, lovable panda, Po. Po wants to be a Kung Fu warrior, but feels thats an impossible feat, partly due to his weight, and partly due to his responsibilities towards his Dad's noodle restaurant. Po's fortune changes when an announcement is made regarding a search for the Dragon Warrior, and Po decides to try his luck. Needless to say, our hero gets selected as the Chosen One, and embarks on his adventures. How he realizes his dream, and proves that he is, indeed, the Dragon Warrior, forms the crux of the story. The film has been made with a liberal dash of humor, but it has its serious elements as well. The animation is excellent, and so are the graphics. The film can be seen by all age groups, since it has a subtle message which says, "Dont judge yourself too hastily, dude, success lies in your hands, entirely!!! No secret ingredient!!!" So all you young uns out there, who were hoping to pass your examinations without studying, take care! You might not be as fortunate as me! Heh.

Phoonk Review

Deccan Chronicle sums up Phoonk in just one sentence - "Phoonk fails to scare!" Yea, I expected to shiver, and planned on viewing the entire movie through slits in my fingers, but found out that there was absolutely no need to do so. The only way Phoonk scares the audience is through its blaring sound effects. The sounds are deafening, and are a torture on the eardrums. The lead actor is way below average, tries too hard to be the tough guy. The vamp in the film acted horribly, laughing like a cackling rooster, and screaming as if she had sat down on a ton of red hot bricks. She leaves the audience grimacing at her expressions. There is no story at all till the interval; we spent the entire time waiting for something, anything, to scare us; the movie was finished before you could say "Boo!" and the entire theater was in splits, which made us wonder whether Ram Gopal Varma had in fact misled the audience when he said its a horror movie, finally revealing that he had made a comedy, instead.

The film is a poor copy of the box office hit The Exorcist, and even then the likeness was utterly dissatisfactory. The only scenes which have some element of horror in them are not even real, they are just dreams. The one where the hero dreams of prowling through his house, and the one where the maid dreams about the mother-in-law. The actual scenes featuring the girl fail to impress. The Baba is spooky, and looks like a bhoot himself. He overacted like there was no tomorrow, twittering his eyes in a ridiculous manner, and looking like he might drop dead any moment. The only thing his rasping voice did was grate on the audience's nerves. The end is quite sudden, and if you turned for a moment to have some popcorn, or sip some pepsi, blimey! You'll have missed it, and wonder what could possibly have happened within such a short time.

I would rate Phoonk a 1 on a scale of 5, and would ask you not to waste valuable bucks watching it in a theater. If you love Ramu too much, and feel like watching it nevertheless, get a CD or a DVD. You'll not be missing anything.

My Weekend Bash - The Dark Knight!

Weekends mean party time for all Hyderabadis, and we were not surprised, therefore, when we encountered SOLD stamped against every show in PVR Cinemas, Sunday evening. We loitered at the ticket counter for over an hour, hoping that a couple of cancellation tickets would pop up. Whether it was our persistence that paid off, or whether the guy at the counter was sick and tired of our droopy faces, we'll never know. The light flashed available for Batman, we raced like mad to the counter, outran everyone else, and before we knew it, we were marching triumphantly to the theater, tickets, pepsi and popcorn all in place.

I looked forward to a good deal of excitement from the film, and, it didnt disappoint me. The Dark Knight is a Batman film, but we cannot term it as a superhero film in the strictest sense of the word; Our Batman is not a typical superhero, he cannot fly on his own, he doesnt have a readymade web springing from his wrist with a single flick of his fingers; nor does he have the uncanny ability to know what's happening in every nook and corner of the world. He is more of a masked James Bond, a techie, who relies entirely on his hi-fi technical equipment to defeat his enemies. The enemy, in this case, being our Joker. Heath Ledger portrayed himself as the Joker to the hilt, so much so, you find it difficult to associate that this amiable, handsome young man played one of the most gruesome villians with panache and style. The character of the Joker is malicious, cunning, and heartless; he knows how to play around with people's minds, influence them, provoke them to his benefit.

Other characters in the movie include Harvey Dent, the District Attorney; Harvey is ambitious, and nurtures hopes for a city free from crime; he wants to make it happen, and soon. So much that, he risks his life, his career, to catch The Joker. Harvey is in love with his attractive assistant, Rachel, and is full of optimism about his life. Fate has other plans in store for him. Lieutanant Gordon is Batman's trusted ally, and the backbone of Gotham's legal department. All in all, the film was awe-inspiring, though I could'nt help feeling for Heath Ledger, the actor. If you havent watched it yet, then please do. Its an experience in itself.