Shikkar on Friday followed by Elsamma enna Aankutty on Saturday. Should have watched the movies other way around. Shikkar would have seemed much better.
Shikkar had a below average first half and an outstanding last one hour. Mohanlal is still the king! Telugu portions with Samudrakani and Lakshmi Gopalaswami were exceptional.
Rating: 6/10.
Elsamma enna Aankutty: Frankly, I dont get the good ratings at all. There is no story. Decent performances. A below average script. Visually pleasing shots. Definitely missing the Lal Jose touch. Really happy that we didn't dunk our money at PVR and decided to watch at Sangeeth instead.
Rating: 4.5/10
Also caught up with two Padmarajan movies. Namukku Paarkkaan Munthirithoppukal and Aparan. Why don't they make movies like this anymore? Natual dialogues. Characters speak like normal people do. Simple, yet thought provoking subjects. Hats off to the legend.
I hope Pranchiyettan and the saint releases next week. It would be criminal to leave that out. Also, hope that I can convince somebody to come with me for Dabaang during the week day. Looks like the perfect masala film!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Vacation blues...
Whoosh! And the week has gone! A week spent idling around. No eminent threat of a document gone awry. No issues to break head over. Pure bliss of idleness. Just like Onam or Christmas vacation in school minus cricket and other games! I wanted to go on a trip by myself. Thanks to the alarming state of my bank account and even more alarmed parents I had to come home. Good thing in the end though. I really needed a break from taxing myself mentally. Even if I had gone for a trip it would have been a strain. There is still time. After all, that's why flexible time off exists!
Only gripe was home renovation which meant I had to spent a week confined to a couple of rooms. No TV. Laptop had to be kept on lap to use. No books to read. All my books are safely kept in a big sack and kept on a top shelf. Have to get that down when I come back home for Onam.
Managed to catch up 3 movies this time. Two best Malayalam movies in recent times- Apoorvaragam and Malarvadi Arts Club, and the Tamil Comedy Spoof- Irumbu Kottai MurattuSingam. All three were well worth the money and more! Got hold of Benyamin's Aadu Jeevitham. I wanted to read it after all the rave reviews. A good break from norm to say the least! 2 hours left to go. Gotta pack.
Ciao!
Only gripe was home renovation which meant I had to spent a week confined to a couple of rooms. No TV. Laptop had to be kept on lap to use. No books to read. All my books are safely kept in a big sack and kept on a top shelf. Have to get that down when I come back home for Onam.
Managed to catch up 3 movies this time. Two best Malayalam movies in recent times- Apoorvaragam and Malarvadi Arts Club, and the Tamil Comedy Spoof- Irumbu Kottai MurattuSingam. All three were well worth the money and more! Got hold of Benyamin's Aadu Jeevitham. I wanted to read it after all the rave reviews. A good break from norm to say the least! 2 hours left to go. Gotta pack.
Ciao!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Conception of Inception
Ha! I knew it! It was too good to be true. Christopher Nolan, the genius! Inception, the marvel of our time. All this while I was left to lament about the fact that I thought of the idea first and Nolan stole it from my dream! Apparently it was not Nolan who stole the idea from me! It was some unknown guy working in Disney! This fiend used a time machine to travel in the future to 2006 and stole the idea from my dream to make this graphic novel! Nolan read this comic and made himself believe that he got the idea when he was a high school punk. A case of inception perhaps?
Hollywood is up to no good. They made it clear with Avatar. A copy of Vietnam Colony.
Evil corporation? Check. Disgruntled but naive natives? Check. A reluctant hero forced onto the job due to circumstances? Check. Hero mingling with natives and turning his back? Check. Redemption? Check. What is the world coming to?
Didn't understand Inception? May be even the characters didn't!
Hollywood is up to no good. They made it clear with Avatar. A copy of Vietnam Colony.
Evil corporation? Check. Disgruntled but naive natives? Check. A reluctant hero forced onto the job due to circumstances? Check. Hero mingling with natives and turning his back? Check. Redemption? Check. What is the world coming to?
Didn't understand Inception? May be even the characters didn't!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Cycle Tales-1
I love cycling. The last cycle I owned was stolen nearly 8 years back. For that matter, I had 3 of my cycles stolen. Those stories will have to wait. The only time I had a substantial time cycling after than was at Ooty during college tour in 2004.
Fast forward.
Hedonistic lifestyle that includes lots of beef and beer. Work that chains me to a chair for most part of the day and parts of the night. Leisure that means sitting on a chair at the computer or lying on the bed reading. End result: Adequate adipose deposit in the middle. In plain words, starting to get a noticeable paunch. Paunch and noticeable paunch are different. Paunch becomes noticeable once you cannot hold it in! Jogging is not my cup of tea. Swimming is something I don't know. After start-stop jogging I decided to buy a cycle and do something that I truly love.
After due research in cycling forums, I decided to buy a Hercules Ryder 110plus. Cost a pretty penny. Over half of what I had to put in for the car. On Saturday, the only trip I took has from the shop at Ulsoor to my home at Indira Nagar. I reached a good 15 minutes before my friends who left around the same time in our car. The bike rode like a dream. Only issue I faced was in shifting gears. I had never owned a geared bicycle and this one had 24 gears with trigger shift.
On Sunday, Kattabuji insisted on going for Paintball. I was game. We managed to force everyone else. Now the issue was that the 6 of us won't fit in the car. Not to mention the fact that all of us are "healthy" like our moms would say! Hogan and Kattabuji insisted on taking the bicycles. Neo already had a Hero Hawk which he repaired once I took my bike. Since the place sounded very near to Koramangala, we supposed it would be alright. We couldn't be more wrong.
We kept on calling the guy who runs the place and he would take farther from Koramangala each time. Eventually, we reached the place which was near Sarjapur. Nearly 15 KM from home. Hogan and Kattabuji declined our offer to take the car back and swap places. After some quality time playing paintball in heavy rain, and getting sore (I never knew paintball could hurt!), we decided to head back. This time me and Neo decided to take the cycles. The road was very wet with lot of mud. We had never quite gone through this area.
Exhilarating and adrenaline pumping experience. Riding through the slippery Outer Ring Road. On one side deep open drains and on the other side screaming SUVs and buses. We were confused at some turns, but never tired. Eventually, we reached Koramangala and decided to have a cup of coffee from the shop next to Barista, mostly due to the gnawing hunger thanks to a skipped lunch.
By this time our friends had reached home. They told us to join them at Stones for some cold ones. Stones would mean another 1.5KM ahead of our home. It was getting quite dark. I had left the detachable headlamp at home. But both of us had the red rear light which became truly priceless in this trip. We had to go through inner ring road where cars and bike fly on the roads.
Riding through inner ring road at night was a total joy. It is probably the only road in Bangalore connecting two lavish commercial areas but totally barren all through the way. The red led backlights probably saved us from being hit by fast cars and BMTC buses. When we reached Domlur flyover we were forced to have a halt to cross the impossibly vehicle infested roads to reach 100ft road.
100 ft road was even more dangerous than the ring roads. Extremely slippery mud with jam packed traffic. One slip and you would probably go under a bus or a car. I rode the pavements when it was devoid of people and boy was it great! Constant and smooth ups and down. Only problem was that there was a chance of hitting the road too hard when you got off the pavement. I reached CMH signal first and took a breather while waiting for Neo. Stones was a stones throw away and both of us were quite elated. Respite from pedalling for close to an hour and the thought of a cold mug of draught.
Fast forward.
Hedonistic lifestyle that includes lots of beef and beer. Work that chains me to a chair for most part of the day and parts of the night. Leisure that means sitting on a chair at the computer or lying on the bed reading. End result: Adequate adipose deposit in the middle. In plain words, starting to get a noticeable paunch. Paunch and noticeable paunch are different. Paunch becomes noticeable once you cannot hold it in! Jogging is not my cup of tea. Swimming is something I don't know. After start-stop jogging I decided to buy a cycle and do something that I truly love.
After due research in cycling forums, I decided to buy a Hercules Ryder 110plus. Cost a pretty penny. Over half of what I had to put in for the car. On Saturday, the only trip I took has from the shop at Ulsoor to my home at Indira Nagar. I reached a good 15 minutes before my friends who left around the same time in our car. The bike rode like a dream. Only issue I faced was in shifting gears. I had never owned a geared bicycle and this one had 24 gears with trigger shift.
On Sunday, Kattabuji insisted on going for Paintball. I was game. We managed to force everyone else. Now the issue was that the 6 of us won't fit in the car. Not to mention the fact that all of us are "healthy" like our moms would say! Hogan and Kattabuji insisted on taking the bicycles. Neo already had a Hero Hawk which he repaired once I took my bike. Since the place sounded very near to Koramangala, we supposed it would be alright. We couldn't be more wrong.
We kept on calling the guy who runs the place and he would take farther from Koramangala each time. Eventually, we reached the place which was near Sarjapur. Nearly 15 KM from home. Hogan and Kattabuji declined our offer to take the car back and swap places. After some quality time playing paintball in heavy rain, and getting sore (I never knew paintball could hurt!), we decided to head back. This time me and Neo decided to take the cycles. The road was very wet with lot of mud. We had never quite gone through this area.
Exhilarating and adrenaline pumping experience. Riding through the slippery Outer Ring Road. On one side deep open drains and on the other side screaming SUVs and buses. We were confused at some turns, but never tired. Eventually, we reached Koramangala and decided to have a cup of coffee from the shop next to Barista, mostly due to the gnawing hunger thanks to a skipped lunch.
By this time our friends had reached home. They told us to join them at Stones for some cold ones. Stones would mean another 1.5KM ahead of our home. It was getting quite dark. I had left the detachable headlamp at home. But both of us had the red rear light which became truly priceless in this trip. We had to go through inner ring road where cars and bike fly on the roads.
Riding through inner ring road at night was a total joy. It is probably the only road in Bangalore connecting two lavish commercial areas but totally barren all through the way. The red led backlights probably saved us from being hit by fast cars and BMTC buses. When we reached Domlur flyover we were forced to have a halt to cross the impossibly vehicle infested roads to reach 100ft road.
100 ft road was even more dangerous than the ring roads. Extremely slippery mud with jam packed traffic. One slip and you would probably go under a bus or a car. I rode the pavements when it was devoid of people and boy was it great! Constant and smooth ups and down. Only problem was that there was a chance of hitting the road too hard when you got off the pavement. I reached CMH signal first and took a breather while waiting for Neo. Stones was a stones throw away and both of us were quite elated. Respite from pedalling for close to an hour and the thought of a cold mug of draught.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Waving Flag
One of the most passionate songs I have ever heard. Hats off to K'naan. Wonderful lyrics that goes far beyond the realms of the football world cup. Enjoy!
P.S: Go Brazil!
Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
But Violent prone, poor people zone
But it’s my home, all I have known
Where I got grown, streets we would roam
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest
Among the hardest survival
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak
Except no defeat, surrender retreat
But Violent prone, poor people zone
But it’s my home, all I have known
Where I got grown, streets we would roam
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest
Among the hardest survival
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak
Except no defeat, surrender retreat
So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we’ll be free
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day
It’s not far away, so for now we say
We wondering when we’ll be free
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day
It’s not far away, so for now we say
P.S: Go Brazil!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
IPL musings
Harmeet Singh
This is not the guy we are talking about. Ran a Google search and got this picture. Harmeet Singh must be feeling as smug as this guy now!
Lalit Modi vs Shashi Tharoor
Aah. The controversy! It seems our nation thrives on masala to live out its existence. It was Sania/Shoaib/Ayesha aka Maha Apa last week and this week its Tharoor vs Modi coupled with Shashi-Sunanda love story. Too many reports to digest, conflicting view points. The latest was Tharoor's eloquent (as always), passionate interview with The Barkha Dutt last night. Prior to that Sunanda Pushkar's kickass press release followed by denial by KKR with regard to approaching her for services. Prem Panicker has been blogging about the issue with neat summary posts. Must read.
I believe this issue will not snowball further. Corruption is deep-rooted in BCCI with most board members having stakes in franchises. Too many skeletons to expose. Powar will clamp things down before it gets out of hand. It will be surprising if he doesn't manage to get everybody off the hook.
Crass commercialisation
Modi has managed to introduce advertisement for the full length of a game. MRF blimp, Karbon Kamaal catches, and DLF maximums have not only shoved down the viewer's throat but also slammed shut with a sledge hammer. I did not see an MRF blimp hovering over Chinnaswamy anytime during the Deccan vs Bangalore match. Show some class, show some subtlety Mr. Modi. You say you are competing with EPL. Have you ever seen an EPL match which grosses out a person due to non-footballing reasons?
By the way, its a fucking balloon. Not a blimp. I get an irresistable urge to demolish my TV when I see this thing on screen with the commentators screaming MRF Blimp + Dennis Lillee/MRF Foundation/Sreesanth-Pathan-Zaheer (choose any one option). May be Modi has deals with TV makers to sell n number of TV sets owing to televisions being destroyed across the nation.
Pragyan Ojha
The dude is giving fingers left and right to the selectors for leaving him out of the T20 squad. He did everything they asked him for. Bowl in ODIs - check, bowl in test matches - check, bowl in bowlers graveyards - double check. He did reasonably well too. I rate him as a better bowler than Amit Mishra or Piyush Chawla. He is better Harby when the latter is not on a song, which is norm than the exception these days. Ojha is not afraid of tossing the ball up even after getting hit. Tries to bowl to his field with reasonable success. Refreshing to see after watching Harby play darts on the cricket pitch.
ROI and minor things like that
$300+ million spend for ten years on an IPL team. The minimum cost incurred for the two new franchises could be around $500 million. How are they going to churn out a profit from this endeavor? May be they are treading on new paths of business and economics that mere mortals like us cannot fathom. Did any of us ever envision an MRF blimp and a Karbon Kamaal catch? We are talking about trailblazers here.
On a serious note, there should be a lot of money laundering happening in the background. A far more serious thing (which I hope is not involved) would be match fixing and other underworld connotations.
The real Harmeet spotting his warcry!
The lad does well whenever I deride and ridicule him. I am a believer. He could have won us that match vs Rajasthan Royals which we royally fucked up. Yes. I am a Deccan supporter. Will be a Kochi supporter next year, provided the team comes into existence.Lalit Modi vs Shashi Tharoor
Aah. The controversy! It seems our nation thrives on masala to live out its existence. It was Sania/Shoaib/Ayesha aka Maha Apa last week and this week its Tharoor vs Modi coupled with Shashi-Sunanda love story. Too many reports to digest, conflicting view points. The latest was Tharoor's eloquent (as always), passionate interview with The Barkha Dutt last night. Prior to that Sunanda Pushkar's kickass press release followed by denial by KKR with regard to approaching her for services. Prem Panicker has been blogging about the issue with neat summary posts. Must read.
I believe this issue will not snowball further. Corruption is deep-rooted in BCCI with most board members having stakes in franchises. Too many skeletons to expose. Powar will clamp things down before it gets out of hand. It will be surprising if he doesn't manage to get everybody off the hook.
Crass commercialisation
Modi has managed to introduce advertisement for the full length of a game. MRF blimp, Karbon Kamaal catches, and DLF maximums have not only shoved down the viewer's throat but also slammed shut with a sledge hammer. I did not see an MRF blimp hovering over Chinnaswamy anytime during the Deccan vs Bangalore match. Show some class, show some subtlety Mr. Modi. You say you are competing with EPL. Have you ever seen an EPL match which grosses out a person due to non-footballing reasons?
By the way, its a fucking balloon. Not a blimp. I get an irresistable urge to demolish my TV when I see this thing on screen with the commentators screaming MRF Blimp + Dennis Lillee/MRF Foundation/Sreesanth-Pathan-Zaheer (choose any one option). May be Modi has deals with TV makers to sell n number of TV sets owing to televisions being destroyed across the nation.
Pragyan Ojha
The dude is giving fingers left and right to the selectors for leaving him out of the T20 squad. He did everything they asked him for. Bowl in ODIs - check, bowl in test matches - check, bowl in bowlers graveyards - double check. He did reasonably well too. I rate him as a better bowler than Amit Mishra or Piyush Chawla. He is better Harby when the latter is not on a song, which is norm than the exception these days. Ojha is not afraid of tossing the ball up even after getting hit. Tries to bowl to his field with reasonable success. Refreshing to see after watching Harby play darts on the cricket pitch.
Ojha cleverly showing bats instead of fingers.
ROI and minor things like that
$300+ million spend for ten years on an IPL team. The minimum cost incurred for the two new franchises could be around $500 million. How are they going to churn out a profit from this endeavor? May be they are treading on new paths of business and economics that mere mortals like us cannot fathom. Did any of us ever envision an MRF blimp and a Karbon Kamaal catch? We are talking about trailblazers here.
On a serious note, there should be a lot of money laundering happening in the background. A far more serious thing (which I hope is not involved) would be match fixing and other underworld connotations.
Lalit Modi musing about the moolah to be raked which we cannot muse.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Dhoni and the red light area
Freudian slip Mr. Dhoni? Watch from 3:18. Double click to watch the video.
Dhoni: When I used to stop my bike my redlight areas, they would come up to me and speak to me Tamil.
Dhoni stops his Hayabusa in a red light district. Sees women clad in overtly bright sarees and heads looking like flower pots. They smile at him coyly. A shady man licks his lips in anticipation and approaches Dhoni.
Shady Man: Enna saar? Ungalukku venama?
Dhoni:Kya?
Shady Man: Evalavu size le kaa venam? Ellaame irikku saar.
Women approach swinging their hips and braid with beaming smiles.
Dhoni senses danger and scampers away like he is running for the danger end.
Shady Man: Ada paavi! Nee appadiye escape aayacha!
Probably Dhoni meant the red light at traffic signal. It was a nice comic touch to end the match which was like watching and entertaining, commercial pot boiler. The match yesterday was a happy IPL day for me. Chennai blasts Kolkata out of the park. Dodo had to rue the blast he gave to his team mates, which was a little harsh imo. Harsha didn't let him brush that under the carpet. Vijay and Ashwin and got well deserved accolades. SRK is left licking his wounds yet again.
Dhoni: When I used to stop my bike my redlight areas, they would come up to me and speak to me Tamil.
Dhoni stops his Hayabusa in a red light district. Sees women clad in overtly bright sarees and heads looking like flower pots. They smile at him coyly. A shady man licks his lips in anticipation and approaches Dhoni.
Shady Man: Enna saar? Ungalukku venama?
Dhoni:Kya?
Shady Man: Evalavu size le kaa venam? Ellaame irikku saar.
Women approach swinging their hips and braid with beaming smiles.
Dhoni senses danger and scampers away like he is running for the danger end.
Shady Man: Ada paavi! Nee appadiye escape aayacha!
Probably Dhoni meant the red light at traffic signal. It was a nice comic touch to end the match which was like watching and entertaining, commercial pot boiler. The match yesterday was a happy IPL day for me. Chennai blasts Kolkata out of the park. Dodo had to rue the blast he gave to his team mates, which was a little harsh imo. Harsha didn't let him brush that under the carpet. Vijay and Ashwin and got well deserved accolades. SRK is left licking his wounds yet again.
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