A very interesting short film on boy-meets-girl, love and bicycles:

Reminds me of the time when I learned how to cycle without supporting wheels. Ritesh (Ratan’s son in Dubai) simply instilled confidence in me, told me to sit on the bike and push it twice with one foot and then simply pedal. He seemed so confident that I had no fear when I tried it myself. It just worked!! Those were the days.

I was talking to Jayanth at work, and asking him what he thought were must watch movies. Interestingly, very few turned out to be English, much less American.

I hope to finish them by the end of the year.. lets see how far I get!

1. Ashes of Time – Wong Kar Wai
2. In The Mood For Love – Wong Kar Wai
3. Chungking Express – Wong kar Wai
4. Raise the Red Lantern – Zhang Yimou
5. Farewell My Concubine – don’t know who
6. The Scent of the papaya tree – don’t know who
7. 2046 – Wong Kar Wai
8. Fallen Angels – Wong Kar Wai
9. Days of Being Wild – Wong Kar Wai
10. Happy Together – Wong Kar Wai
11. Joint Security Area – Chan Wook park
12. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance – Chan Wook Park
13. Peppermint Candy – don’t know who
14. Attack The Gas Station – don’t know who
15. Silmido – don’t know who
16. Infernal Affairs – don’t know who
17. The Curse of the Golden Flower – Zhang Yimou
18. Pan’s Labyrinth
19. 3 Iron – Kim Ki Duk
20. Happy Times
21. Red Sorghum – Zhang Yimou
22. To Live – Zhang Yimou
23. The Road Home – Zhang Yimou
24. Hable Con Ella – Pedro Almodovar
25. La Mala educacion – PEdro Almodovar
26. 21 Grams – Alejandro Gonzalez Inaritu
27. Amores Perros – Inaritu
28. Babel – Inaritu
29. The Salton Sea – DJ Caruso
30. Battle Royale
31. Ichi the Killer
32. Audition – Takashi Miike
33. La Femme Nikita – Luc Besson
34. 400 Blows
35. Breathless(A bout du souffle)
36. Tam Po Po
37. The Seventh Seal
38. Wild Strawberries
39. Let the Right One In
40. Noi the Albino
41. Shiri
42. A Tale of Two Sisters
43. Taegukgi
44. How Green Was My Valley
45. Nochnoy Dozor
46. Breaking The Waves
47. Matando Cabos
48. Layer Cake
49. Death At A Funeral(The British version)
50. El Secreto de sus Ojos
51. Where the Wild Things Are

Udaan is a work of art. It is realistic, down to earth, poetic, poignant yet inspiring.

The script may have been better, but the acting simply couldn’t. Ronit Roy as the abusive and headstrong father to new comer Rajat Barmecha is so convincing that you’d come out hating very evil things onto him. Rajat as the 17 year old protagonist is hard to ignore as well. The poetry and prose may not be his own, but through skillful acting and emoting, he totally owns the screen.

What I loved was the use of hand-held cameras for most scenes. It gave life to the shots, and brought out a realism which is missing from the so called ‘tight’ cinematography employed these days.

The editing could have been better (the film could have been a bit shorter) but I’m not complaining.

Coming to the poetry and prose, the less said the better. What I mean is, it is to be heard to be believed. There are some real gems in there.. and I’d rather you go to the cinema hall and experience them for yourselves. There is no missing this one.

This one, like Rocket Singh, belongs in your movie collection.

Rating: 4.5/5

To see, or not the see.. that is the kostein (question as pronounce by a professor of mine).

I was planning on going to see Tere Bin Laden but Udaan‘s review and premise caught our attention. Shruti reviewed both trailers and decided that we should check out Udaan.

Movies in India are funny enough, the movie going experience more so:

1. There is a vast difference in the cost of movies if seen in the morning, afternoon and evening in India. The cost differential between the morning and evening shows can be as high as 1:5. We have decided to just see them in the morning, else get them from ‘other’ sources as paying 5 times the cheapest cost is not worth the money.
2. The food at the theaters, substandard. The food right outside the theaters, equally substandard. Oh the dilemma when spoiled for choices.
3. There is always a baby of crying age at the theater. If your bad luck is kharab (bad in hindi, fucked in daily speak), there will be more than one. And as Murphy’s lawe states, what can cry at the movies, will cry at the movies.
4. “You’re cutting the line” is a dialogue me and Manish always crack up at [inside joke, bite me]. But jokes apart, at the Indian theaters, you really would prefer a decent line. Especially when you book tickets online and need to collect them. Especially when the said movie started, like, 5 minutes ago. Unfortunately, there are always a bunch of asses who cut the line, and make life hell.

Enough on that already. Enjoy the Udaan trailer. I’ll post a review once I get back tomorrow.

Ranbir Kapoor and gang come of age in this movie about honest entrepreneurship! It has it’s light moments, and elements that even I could relate to as a working professional. The movie touches upon entrepreneurship, work ethics, and people-oriented vs. numbers-oriented business.

The story is that of Harpreet Singh Bedi, a simple guy with average results who wants to be a successful salesman Multiple applications later he ends up as a PC salesman at At Your Service (AYS) Computers. He is honest and believes he can truly make a difference.

Sooner than later, he realises that sales is not about honesty and belief in good product. Rather, it’s about lies and grabbing clients at any cost. Harpreet decides to keep his honesty and do the right thing. He starts an honest to customer company that provides cheap PCs with exceptional service, and calls the company Rocket Sales.

The only problem is he does this while working at AYS. The rest, as they say, is history. The movie truly touches a few chords, and then some. Ranbir Kapoor has come of age…

I don’t want to give much of the movie away, but it’s definitely worth a watch, or two. It’s also making it into my personal library for reruns and as a collectible.

Khuda Ke Liye has been one hell of an eye opener. It provides us an unbiased view into the minds of Muslims, both extremists and the common progressive man.

The movie has various threads running, showcase different aspects of Muslim life. I was shocked by the treatment meted out to a Pakistani Muslim in the US, where he is tortured without proof! On the other hand, I was also shocked by a Muslim father who willingly forces his daughter to marry her own first cousin in the name of religion and his pride.

The music from the movie is haunting, and the acting is fairly good all around. The director, story writer and the cast of the movie make a strong case for better interpretation of Islam and banning those who provide an extremist interpretation in the name of Religion.

Worth a watch!

A thoroughly watchable kaleidoscope of hovering-at-the-poverty-line bunch of Mumbai-ites who decide to snatch what they cannot seem to get by sheer hard work.

Towards this goal they decide (albeit by chance) to kidnap average Joes and demand ransom from their families. The ensemble of characters is that of a driver (Naseeruddin), a Though a highly predictable thoroughfare, the movie does have its share of laughs and twists. The run time of about 1.5 hours also helps in keeping the movie just long enough to be interesting.

Hats of to the director and the actors for pulling this off.. it’s more of a tragi-com than a plain comedy. Do watch it

The title track blows you away. I mean, really. The best title track I’ve heard in a while. Do NOT miss it.

As for the movie, it’s quite good. I wasn’t expecting anything more than some crappy acting and a chocolate boy image from Ranbir. But the guy delivers. Minisha Lamba sucked royally, as did Deepika. Bips is another story though

The movie is quite straightforward, with a no brainer story line. It’s the corny jokes and slang that really make the movie fun.

“Killer” (da man, the hero, the invicible dude) is probably the most overused word in the film, but it had be laughing/smirking with every utterance. Both Ranbir and his sidekick play their parts with ease and drop this one helluva all over the place. That and “lasoon” (moron, loser, etc etvc) stole the show for me.

All in all, a very well packaged movie with some good laughs, just a bit of emotional rona-dhona, and some good chicks. Hmmm. I’d say it’s a clear winner

Don’t go by the sad reviews it’s gotten from some camps, watch it for it’s freshness and overall fun theme.

When I say Bling, you say King, Bling is King, Bling is King

Okay I just made that up using a line sung by Hard Kaur in Singh is Kinng‘s big-ass hit, Bas Ek Kinng.

The songs for the movie have made me want to go in to see the movie on the first day first show basis. Ofcourse, I cannot really do that as it’s a working day and I’m not crazy enough to go for the first show @ 8:30 AM!

All said and done, this weekend I definitely intend to watch the movie.

I saw Dark Knight recently, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was brilliance personified. Heath Ledger was fantastic (may he rest in peace), and the other cast too held their own. All in all a good fantasy movie.

On a more personal front, things are going great. I am currently trying to find my wife a job, which is proving to be more difficult that I thought. Lets see how things roll.

This weekend I’m planning to take her to Lonavala for a day outing, just so as to enjoy the drive and maybe some good food there (they have awesome Thali joints that serve ixed wholesome meals and don’t go by a menu).

My recent US trip was also quite good, and got some good work done. On the professional front things seem to be at a standstill. My appraisal didn’t go too well, due to various factors which I’ll keep off the blog, but I intend to do something about it soon.

I was having this discussion with a friend of mine, who was currently evaluating Grad School programs in my area of expertise, and was really stuck between a rock and a hard place by her own will. I told her, that sometimes it is best to just pick randomly, and that it will mostly turn out for the better. Sometimes a raondom choice might lead you down a path you may never have chosen otherwise, and might be a really good experience.

All said and done, I think I’m ready to make some random choices too.

One of the better short films I’ve seen.. quite simply made yet moving..