Happy New Year (Movie)….. a review.

Happy new year………. it changes all your perceptions about movies. Firstly it is a slap on people who scream plagiarism because this movie is a collection of dialogues from movies starting from the 70’s to the current day. Plus it is Farah Khan’s attempt to make a movie using all her other movies and that of SRK’s. Gone are the days when women flaunt their bodies. These taboos are mercilessly broken by Farah. Happy New year celebrates the male bodies with their washboard abs and six and eight packs and Boman Irani’s no pack. Its an all male cast except for eye candy Deepika.

The script is not original at all and the editing is ridiculous…… anything anywhere….. The movie is a joke on Oceans 11 and on many other movies but surprisingly enough…… it works!!!! I laughed all through the movie. I don’t know whether it is the fact that 500 bucks down the drain or something else but I laughed….. and I laughed a lot!!! The story is about Charlie who is planning a heist to take revenge for the wrongful conviction and subsequent death of his father. He ropes in losers to help him achieve his goal. Well thats it!!! Thats all there is to it!!! The rest of the 2 or 3 hours (seemed much much more) is a ridiculous attempt to make you laugh.

The stunner in the whole movie is Abhishekh Bachchan….. He stunned me!!! Why did he do the movie? Unless he had some acute financial crisis which would render him homeless……. foodless…….. and clotheless (that would be something you don’t want to see…. the guy has put on oodles of weight) and the joke is actually on you because he is also playing a double role!!! Deepika is the only saving grace in the movie. SRK is lost….. I was awfully disappointed…. being a fan et al.

Watch the movie when it is aired on TV no point wasting time and money on it. And if you persist in watching it leave your brain at home….. it makes no sense!!!

Rating…… 3/10 (3 because I am an SRK fan and the fact that it made me laugh for more than 10 to 15 mins)

Private India…… a review

I received this book as part of the BlogAdda Book review program. This book is a culmination of two great minds. Our very own Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson of the Private series fame. It’s an absolute page turner thriller and promises to have you glued asking for more. The collaboration has the protagonists of both the authors coming together to solve this absolute interesting maze of events.

A series of serial killing rocks the city of Mumbai. The women murdered are strangulated with a yellow scarf. The  murdered victims are the movers and shakers of Mumbai. They belong to different walks of life ranging from a doctor, to a journalist, to a singer, a politician, a principal, a judge, an actress……. with nothing in common among them on the face of it. The only common factors are the yellow scarf used for killing the victims and a series of trinkets placed around them. What ensues is a chase with a body found at every corner.  The story is also of the troubled head of Private India, Santosh Wagh who lost his family in an accident. He is entrusted with the investigation of the serial murders. He and his team of investigators Nisha, Mubeen and Hari Padhi look for clues only to reach a dead-end at every corner. The entry of Jack Morgan fastens the pace of the investigation with all fingers pointing to the Attorney General who is embroiled in the killings at every stage.

Sanghi’s penchant for mythology comes through with the interesting trivia about the thuggee cult and the navratri festival, making Goddess Durga an important part of the story. Mumbai is the central theme where the book is based. So the author takes you everywhere from Malabar hill to cuffe parade to Mira Road. The book has a little of everything criminal in Mumbai…….. the nexus between the police officer Rupesh and the underworld don Munna and Godman Nimboo baba, the corruption between the politicians and the judiciary, the betting racket angle, the bollywood angle, the maimed child beggar angle, child abuse, prostitution and political nexus and of course the terrorism angle……. just about everything criminal in Mumbai.

The cover of the book has this lovely picture of the gateway and the Taj hotel together in one frame, taken in magic hour. I particularly loved that shot also the pic of the bandra sea link at night is beautiful and it does show the Indian connection to the Private series…… very apt.

What I loved about the book was the small chapters. It kept me glued without letting me lose focus of the plot. Also the pace at which the book moved was fast enough to not let me lose the plot. Mumbai being one of my favorite cities and having lived there for a decade, I identified with the plot and the investigators. The trivia about the thuggee cult was totally new to me. Also the trivia about the various sects in India who were listed by the British as the killers was something I had never heard of. Being a Bengali, Durga and navratri are my favorite festivals so the significance of the nine avatars of Durga used in the book in this manner was well imbibed and a revelation. This is the first time that i have read Hindu mythology being used in a thriller in this way.

What I didn’t think necessary in the book was the terrorism angle…….. the Indian Mujahideen angle and the Pakistan and ISI angle could have been avoided as it did not contribute to the main plot in any way. The Nimboo Baba character was also unnecessary. The book was long winding and some of the details regarding the Mumbai serial bomb blasts was totally unnecessary though I must say that it is the first time that the serial blasts in the Mumbai locals has been highlighted. Usually it is only the Taj attack that people talk about.

All in all the book is a great read and value for money.

I want to thank BlogAdda for the excellent read…… it was wonderful!!!

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Aiyyaaaaa

Somethings make a big time change in our lives. They could be real uninteresting paltry things which we would normally ignore yet they can do wonders. In my case a STUPID movie got me back to updating my blog after almost a year.

The movie is Aiyyya and  yes as my tweet said earlier:

 “It is the most torturous thing that has happened to any Indian since Jalianwala Baug”

If you think I am exaggerating I suggest you brave going and watching it in the theater. I consider myself really very brave. I can watch three Sunny Deol movies back to back without so much a complain and even make myself enjoy it. Not to mention Deepak Parasher and Jeetedra movies (dancing between pots) which I have seen with a smile…….. BUT AIYAAAAAA…….. I suddenly conformed…….. prayed to all the God’s…….. some I didn’t even know…… and prayed for deliverance from my sins. Just so I don’t have to watch anything like this in any part of the rest of my life. Like the precaution that they kept showing all thru the movie at regular intervals :

 “Statutory warning : Smoking is injurious to health”.

Similarly they should also put in a statutory warning saying:

“Watch Aiyyaaa at your own risk”.

Believe me if it hadn’t been so I wouldn’t have been blogging at 1230 in the night to get that disgusted thing out of my head.

The story is of Meenakshi who lives in a cluttered house by a dumpster and her life stinks as that of the dumpster. But she makes her life beautiful by dreaming of beautiful things like movies. It makes everything alright in her life. The only things that she wants in life is a nice smelling room and a book to read and peace. But she is surrounded by eccentric people. Her family members are eccentric. Dad smokes three cigarettes at one time (therefore the ciggy warning), Grandmother has a full set of gold teeth, Brother a crazy dog lover and mom just wants her daughter married hook or crook. Her co workers drink vodka from a water-bottle…… at work and dance to rowdy Bollywood numbers and swoon over John Abraham’s undies.

Her life changes with the entry of the sweet smelling Surya Iyer (Prithviraj)…… who she is enamored by. All this happens in the first 10 mins of the movie and the rest of the movie (ie 2 and half hours of freaking time) all she does is SNIFFS (yeah….. like a DOG) her way around the hero, who has no dialogues in the movie. The guy does not even lip-sync in the songs. You wait and wait and wait for him to say something but NAHHHHHHHH…… does he utter a word……….. No!!!!……… and he isn’t even challenged.

The subtle nuances of the main protagonist of living in chaos and a dumpster and settling for the sweet smelling but not stable hero over the organised and stable could-have-been life partner, are totally lost and not highlighted. I understand that in retrospective if they had handled the story literally it would have been a sad old Sulochana saga but what they actually made it to was ever more sadder………. very very very very very SAD!!!!!!!

After this movie Meenakshi can very easily get the job of a sniffer dog in the police dept. I hear the dogs there are over worked and are planning on retiring. Why would she do a movie like that???? I am still stunned by the audacity of the director to even release a movie like that. The hero, a well known name in South Indian movies, does nothing except walk through streets of Pune and dance to raunchy Hindi-Tamil numbers in Meenakshi’s dream sequences……. displaying his washboard abs and NOT LIP-SYNCING. What is that about???? As far as chemistry goes…….. all I can say is……… has this been part of Ekta Kapoor’s saas-bahu serials, Rani Mukherjee would definitely be playing the role of grandmother to Prithviraj. ( The Hero). Aiyaaaaaa is probably Rani Mukherjee’s Aiyyyooo to the world.

The movie is a fabulous example of execution of a decent plot……… going berserk. Maybe the plot itself was bad and I am trying to save face for the Rs 500 that I spent. All through the movie I kept looking for something nice but I FOUND NAUGHT. Even the popcorn tasted bad. Now I have to watch another movie to get over this one. Hoping this one will be better!!!! “Keeping my fingers crossed”