Thursday, February 26, 2009

Delhi 6 - Too much of Monkey Business


Raykesh Omprakash Mehra has a fetish for social messages and Hollywood inspired movies. Aks which was inspired from Face-Off and message he tried was to show victory of good over the evil. His second movie Rang de basanti‘ which was again inspired from the Hollywood movies like All my Sons and Jesus De Montreal focused on the awakening of the youth and raising their voice in protest. Now he came up with Delhi 6 which was on sightings of the monkey man in Delhi during 2001. I am not sure if there is some reference to any foreign film or not.

Yesterday I went to the movie with high expectations after the wonderful movie from him RDB. But I was more than disappointed to see such a movie from this guy. Delhi 6 however tries to deal with a lot of topics like untouchables, superstitious beliefs, communal harmony, middle class dreams, urban legends, lost love, sibling rivalry and finally the discovery of oneself. He tried to show lot of things while losing focus of the story he wanted to narrate.

Did not like:

- None of the songs were properly screened.
- Lead pair did not have the screen time.
- Too much of monkey business.
- Bad screenplay
- Dialogues failed to create any impact as it did in RDB
- Humor was too subtle.
- All the characters were loose
- No coherence in the story line
- The love scenes had no depth
- No sensible reasoning behind any of Abhishek's decisions
- What happened to Sonam Kapoor's Indian Idol dream?

Liked:

- Sonam Kapoor's fresh face.
- Parts of Ramayan being shown as reference to the story line. (Same as Bhagat Singh in RDB)
- Brillliantly shown the way people take advantage of a situation. (Communal groups and politicians)

This movie intends to hold a mirror to you and force you to get rid of the monkey in you and get on with life!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Cannot Concentrate

I am back to work after a long holiday. Its been more than 2 weeks that I was away from office and its very difficult to start off just like that once I step into the office. Even though I haven't done much today, I am not at all in a mood to do any work which would need some thinking and analyzing to it. Morning 7.30 I came home and by 9 I was in office. My trip to India for my marriage was very very hectic and did not have a proper sleep there. I will have to take a small break and sleep like a dog.

Slumdog has done it !!!

I was just going through the awards list and was expecting many awards for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and some awards for Slumdog Millionaire. When I opened the main page of IMDB, I was awestruck by seeing at the results. Slumdog has got 8 awards out of the 10 categories it was nominated for. Thats a splendid performance. There are some expected awards like Direction, Music and Cinematography. But others I seriously did not expect and best movie award is really a surprise.

Below are the awards:
Picture: Christian Colson
Director: Danny Boyle
Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy
Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
Film Editing: Chris Dickens
Music Score: A.R. Rahman
Song: "Jai Ho" (A.R. Rahman/Gulzar)
Sound Mixing: Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty

A R Rahman has done it! The music maestro has bagged two Oscars -- for Best Original Score as well as for Best Song (Jai Ho). A first for an Indian. Rahman, Such a down to earth humble man truly deserves this. His music truly deserves this appreciation from everyone in world. If Oscars would have considered Indian films then he would have won the award almost every year.

Finally I would like to say that it is a great movie to watch.

Friday, February 06, 2009

The time has come

Finally the time has come. Tonight I will be leaving to Hyderabad for my marriage. I will have just 4 days to give away cards, to do the shopping and to meet some of my friends. It would be a very busy schedule till 22nd Feb.

Yesterday I went to Malaysia to do some shopping. (Bachpan mein suna tha movie actors videsh jaathe hain shopping ke liye ;)). It was my friend Srinivas who wanted to go shopping to KL and I also joined him so that I can also take my chance.

I am not sure if I will be able to blog anymore till 22nd. So till my next post take care and Good Luck..

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Conversation with CC Agent

This was the conversation shared by my cousin which her friend had with a credit card agent. Today one of my colleague got a call from such an agent and hence remembered the conversation. As usual the credit card agents are girls to talk as sweetly as possible and lure the customers. I have some friends who have actually made some good friends with these agents. Anyways I am deviating from the topic. Here it goes.

Credit Card Agent Girl: CCAG
My Cousin's Friend: MCF

Phone ringing ... Tring Tring ... sorry not sure of the ring tone ;)

MCF: Hello
CCAG: Hello Sir Good Morning, I am calling from ICICI Bank.

MCF: This is regarding?
CCAG: We are offering a credit card with 0% annual fee.

MCF: Thanks but I am not interested.
CCAG: No sir please listen to this and then you can decide.

MCF: First of all how did you get my number.
CCAG: We have a database sir from where we dial some random numbers.

MCF: (Reluctantly) yeah tell me.
CCAG: This card is blah blah blah ...

(After 5 minutes of explaining about the card)

CCAG: So Sir you just need to give your pay slip and 2 photos and fill a form. So what do you do sir?

MCF: Nothing I just sit at home watching TV.
CCAG: So are you a student sir?

MCF: No I just sit at home doing nothing.
CCAG: (Confused) oh ok ... hmmm

CCAG: What does your father do sir?
MCF: Nothing he sits besides me and watches TV.

CCAG: (Understood what he was referfing to and fumingly) What sir you are joking ... are you not interested in the card.
MCF: That is what I have said in the first place.

Angrily the girl kept down the phone.

I have shared this story with many people and they have also used the conversation to avoid such calls.

150 Things To Do Before You Turn Thirty

I have seen this tag on so many blogs and why not, it's a wonderful tag! The name is '150 Things To Do Before You Turn Thirty'. The rules are,
1. The things you have already done - make them bold.
2. Italics is for things that you are dying to do!

Here I go!!

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with dolphins (That would be so freakin cool!!)

03. Climbed a mountain

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone (Hmm.... ;)

08. Said “I love you” and meant it

09. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

14. Seen the Northern Lights

15. Gone to a huge sports game

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

22. Watched a meteor shower

23. Gotten drunk on champagne

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

27. Had a food fight

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger (Kaash itne guts hote! Hehe!)

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

32. Held a lamb (They are so cute!!)

33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster (Feels amazingly scary :)

35. Hit a home run

36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment

39. Had two hard drives for your computer (Why this question is here in this list?! So what if I had two hard drives?)

40. Visited all 50 states

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk

42. Had amazing friends

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

44. Watched whales

45. Stolen a sign

46. Backpacked in Europe (Euro-trip baby!)

47. Taken a road-trip

48. Gone rock climbing (This will happen very soon)

49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving (This will happen very soon)

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (Yeah... :(

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan

55. Milked a cow

56. Alphabetized your CDs

57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day

60. Played touch football

61. Gone scuba diving

62. Kissed in the rain

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theatre

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

69. Toured ancient sites (Saw Angkor Wat Temple)

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight

72. Gotten married

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced

76. Gone without food for 5 days

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice

80. Gotten a tattoo

81. Rafted the Snake River

82. Been on a television news program as an “expert”

83. Gotten flowers for no reason

84. Performed on stage

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark

88. Kissed on the first date

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house

91. Been in a combat zone (at Runway 9 :))

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship (Cruise to No Where)

94. Spoken more than one language fluently (No problem for us Indians: D)

95. Performed in Rocky Horror

96. Raised children

97. Followed your favourite band/singer on tour

98. Passed out cold

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived (Twice)

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds (At least 20 Pounds)

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Touched a stingray

110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a TV game show

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery

120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat (Now why would I do that?)

127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

132. Touched a cockroach

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Again, WTH??)

137. Skipped all your school reunions

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair (Done in School)

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head

149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone’s life

Tag open to anybody who wants to take up! :)

Monday, February 02, 2009

My Wedding Invitation