My journey with the No.1 Test Side

I was in 3rd yr engg...The college festival going on...
I asked Ashley.."wats the score Ash?"
Ashley was this Aussie brat...supporting them gungho right from the 1st test.
"India 128/8...laggayi tere India ki!"

Me Sid Nimit and Andy went about our usual college stuff, dissapointment in our eyes...
The next day, India improved marginally, following on and closing the day at 272/4. Just 20 runs ahead or something...
And then there was magic!

Laxman played the VERY VERY SPECIAL knock ably suppported by the WALL..and India batted the entire day 4 without losing a wicket.The next day...amidst the computer labs, we saw the live proceedings along with our professor as Bhajji got one to hit the pads of Mcgrath and the Indian umpire(I forgot his name) put his hand up even before the Indians went up to appeal.

That was one pivotal day for Indian cricket and her fans...

And since then my love for Test crcket has only grown...

Be it watching the West Indies series all through the night...
Andy Nimit and Sid , all of us were watching the Sabina Park match at my place , and at the same time were also playing our box cricket version at 2 am...

And then there was the India Australia series down under in '08
...during our Delhi trip with the Nitie junta...
we spent an entire morning in the Delhi hotel room watching the days play...
when we were supposed to go sightseeing...

Or simply waking up at 5 am...never ever in life will you see me so excited waking up before the sun...and switch on the TV...and then brush my teeth at the end of session 1, have breakfast during the tea session and finish off the day's play with lunch.

Or the conservative India England encounters...Dravid and Bangar batting with utmost care to reach 210/2 at the end of day 1 and Ganguly and Sachin running all over England on day 2 to post 628/8!

Sachin's huge six of Caddick, I think it was! and Ganguly taking care of Giles career.

The beauty is in watching the same 90 overs at different times of the day.
It gives a different feeling to the entire game.

The early mornings, is actually a torture to wake up...
while the late night matches used to give a chance to officially watch Fashion TV back then..

India had only 13 overseas wins between 1932 to 2000
This decade we have won 19 matches overseas.

Im glad I have witness almost all of them...
It used to be fun to bunk classes and catch a glimpse...
its fun doing the same at work too

Its a great feeling as a cricket fan!

Ajab Prem Ka Andaz Apna Apna: 4/5

The script of this movie must have been writing in the mid 90s. Raj Kumar Santoshi suddenly woke up one morning and realised that he had some story ready, but forgot that its almost 10 years old.

And that is what really makes the movie enjoyable. The movie is simple. Absolutely clean! No gay jokes, no double meaning and no sleaze. Simple humour, slapstick and foolish at most times, but with a heart.

Prem Kumar Sharma (Ranbir) is the 9th fail, useless kid of a dream town, whose job as President of happy Club is to help others along with his gang of guys. Together they waste a lot of audience time in the first 20 mins trying to mimic scenes taken from Indra Kumar kind of movie, or the bade-chote and bheegi billi jokes of NineX-m.

Enters Jenny (Katrina) and after a dose of emotional atyachaar, the movie settles down. From then on, its all about the usual rich girl - poor boy plot, with a third rich guy in the middle. How Prem Kumar wins his love is what the movie is all about.

But in between, there are enough moments which make you laugh...Be it the scene where Ranbir is dancing in the party, his stint as a shirt n tie clad laddoo maker, his antics with the goons or his day to day banter with his dad. Some scenes are so reminiscent to Andaz Apna Apna that it really looks like a tribute to the best comedy movie ever.

And the cinematography is commendable. Ooty and Goa never looked so good before. Also commendable is the song shot in Turkey.

Rajkumar Santoshi has come back to form...and with this movie, Ranbir is right there at the top.

****

Badbad badbad

My close buddy got married last week...and like a $%^& I coudnt attend his wedding...
Sorry Andy...
saala bhaut bura laga..suchhii

That reminds me I have to apologize almost everyone from Amrish-Swapna, Jay-Prachi, Arvind, Ramesh, Barkha...am I missing anyone here...

Not to forget there are a couple of marriages this month too! I will reserve the apologies for later.
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Work has occupied too much space in life currently. Now I understand why MBAs are paid so much...
Have been conducting some training for Bengal branch, its fun to catch my roommate and colleague Raghav whenever he is sleeping in a public forum.
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BTW a decent joke from Bade-Chote in NXM.

Bade: Yaar mujhe embassy jaana hai, visa ke liye
CHote: Kyu re
Bade: arre yaar US jaane ke liye visa lagta hai
Chote: yaar tu US september main jaa na.
Bade: Kyu
Chote: September main US jaane ke liye VISA nahi lagta
Bade: kya baat kar raha hai
Chote: Haan bhai...suchii
Bade: arre kyu
Chote: September main US Open hai
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Hooked on to the songs of Tum Mile...good job Pritamda...

Travel and Reading

Reading Shantaram lately...
Didnt know that small things in life can be explained so romantically.
Totally in love with the Karla chick...

Anyways the slow coach that I am...I think I will finish the book only by new years...and that too is an optimistic estimate.

Read a couple of books in the last quarter on Mahatma Gandhi.
Freedom at Midnight and "The Men who Killed Gandhi". Realised how the same person can be potrayed so differently by different authors based on their interpretation of history.
But Freedom at Midnight was a delightful read. The enigma of The Mahatma!, how he single handedly could change the course of the British establishment, or even bring calm to the rioting Hindu-Muslim mobs is an eye opener. Also, the entire set of events leading to the partition.

A must read for any person who liked the History subject back in school.

Took a car ride to the two bridges of Kolkata at midnight...
Although its no comparison to the drive past Marine Drive in Mumbai...but there is something about Kolkata which is enticing. The city came to life in the 4 days of Durga Pooja and subsequent Kali pooja. Stalls everywhere...pandals in the middle of mainroads and people all over the streets. If the people had been energetic all year long..Kolkata would give Mumbai a run for her money.

Next month is gonna be a month full of travel and touring...
Patna/Guwahati/Vizag...here I come. Its been a long time since the Bengal tours. Hope to have a good time exploring new places.

Pale Blue: 2.5/5

Diwali releases have always been the talking point throughout the year. It signals the clash of 2/3 big movies and controversies surround. Recent ones include Mohabbatein and Mission Kashmir (2000), Don and Jaane-mann(2006) , OSO and Saawaria(2007). This year, although the big guns Amir and SRK are not in the reckoning its a clash between an unusual collection of movies. Adventure attempted BLUE to the laugh if you can ALL D BEST and the romance quotient of KHANNA parivar.

I cant watch all 3 on Friday, so started with Blue. Primarily because of my friends... I wud have preferred a comic relief (esp. after Ajay DevGN mentioned in the TOI article that his dad was laughing throughout the movie). Ive laughed at that statement several times :D

So, to begin with Blue…
Plot 1 :

Akki is a rich businessman who signs (documents), sleeps and sails…and ya sings too! Sanjay Dutt (who knows the oceanwaters like the back of his hand!) works for him, but they share an unusual friendship. Lara Dutta wears hot bikinis and plays around with Sanju baba! While Zayed Khan (Sanjus young bro) is still reeling under the Main hoon Na hangover. He believes that Katrina is his girlfriend throughout the movie!! Imagine

Plot 2:
All of this camaraderie is simmering over the waters of the “Lady in Blue” -(a British ship carrying Indian treasure which sunk somewhere in the Bahamas way back in 1947).

Plot 3:
Baddie Rahul Dev has a screen name (Gulshan- cudnt have been worse)…is after Zayed’s life for repayment of $50 million.

All add 3 together and it becomes BLUE!

Upside:
The movie has loads of attitude! I think they took Himesh’s Radio song too seriously.
Amazing cinematography and camera work…The under water shoots are pretty well done for Bollywood standards.

Really liked the scene where Akki and Sanju are having daaru sitting on a plank with the ocean in full view and the entire shot is msytic black and white.

Flipside:
No emotions!
There are a lot of moments where a little bit of emotion would have uplifted the movie.
Music is a big let down. The entire bike sequence with the Bike on top of a train...and bike on the tracks!! Wat were they thinking! Also, there is a (husband wife conversation going on) during a so called serious shootout.

Performances:

Akki rocks…Sanju is a little distracted and looks 50+ for the first time, Lara sizzles while Zayed…should take lessons from Jiju soon.

Blue begins the Diwali weekend for me!

Iktaara nahi teenTaara

Sid is asked..."tumhaara future ka kya plans hai" (reference Lakshya)
Sid alongwith his friends at the farewell party (reference Dil Chahta Hai)
Sid patches up with bachpan ka dost after an arguement (again DCH)
Sid's argument with his Dad (Again Lakshya)
or his live-in with Konkana...a little bit of Luck by Chance.
So, whats new in Wake Up Sid!

It doesnt matter actually...coz the movie is about chote chote moments...
Like Sid telling his Mom not to speak in English...
Or his mom telling him..she speaks in english so that her son will consider her as his friend!
very touching!
Or the light hearted Bapat family..and the hot hot Sonia (kashmira Shah).

There is nothing over the top in the movie. Everything is in snyc with the script...the cinematography depicts the Mumbai we all know...(the nariman point, bandra worli sea link). I wish they wud have explored other aspects of Mumbai as well.

The music is typical Shankar Ehsaan Loy. The title track, Kya Kahoon both seem like a mix of DCH, Lakshaya and some of their old hits. However, the song that takes the cake is Iktaara (I think composed by Amit Trivedi, need to confirm this).
The cast: Anupam Kher and Supriya Pathak as the parents add valuable support to the youngsters in the movie. Sid's friends are pretty cool and eye-catching. Some good moments of the movie come in their presence, reminding about those college days.
Konkona Sen Sharma...is a bit bland. I felt the role would have been perfect for maybe...Chitrangada Singh or a younger Tabu :)
Ranbir is the hero...He is lively throughout the movie and speaks through his eyes. After Sawaria and bachna Aye haseeno, Ranvir has finally shown his full potential on the big screen.

Director Ayan Mukherji has rehashed a whole lot of Dil Chahta Hai/lakshya/Luck By Chance and this concoction is the final product of Wake Up Sid. But its still worth watching for the sheer emotional bonding between Sid and his parents.

A good bollywood movie is all about a little laughter, a little sadness, some nice songs, thoda emotions, thoda romance and thoda action.
This one has almost all of it in equal measure. I came out smiling after watching Wake UP Sid...I give it a Thumbs UP!

Kaminey: paifa wafool hai 3.5/5

"machli ke kaanto main magarmach fass gaye"
That line sums up the story of Kaminey...a gripping tale of one night in Mumbai where three average Mumbaikars are responsible for a shootout between a marathi politician, a drug mafia don, corrupt cops, some nigro peddlers and bangla bandhus with aamchi Mumbai police.

Twins Guddu and Charlie (Shahid), are like chalk and cheese. Guddu is the good, amibitious guy, some Aids activist engaged in increasing condom usage. Ironically, he and his girlfriend Sweety (Priyanka Chopra) failed to take relevant protection during their act. To avoid any repurcussions they get married raat ke dhaai baje...against the wishes of Sweeties powerful Marathi politician (Bhau).

Around the same time of the day, Charlie, is involved in a maara maari in a 5 star hotel, and in the skirmish that follows robs a police jeep and smashes the head of 2 cops (who apparently were transporting cocaine in a guitar hidden in the jeep).

As in the case of twin trouble, their enemies catch the wrong Shahid and thereby ensues the "catch me if you can" drama. The winner has to find the guitar which will win them Rs 10 crores.
I missed introducing the bengali brothers in the frenzie, who are maniacs speaking in Bengali which I could barely comprehend.

The plot thickens and gears up nicely for the fitting finale. However, the final shootout is a little too high on guns and bullets and goes a little overboard. But barring the little skid in the final minutes, the movie is gripping... real to the tee and takes you to the Mumbai we have seen before in the Ram Gopal Verma (of Satya fame) movies.

Now to the technical aspects...of watever I think I can understand...
terrific music...felt nice to hear Suresh Wadkar behind the mike,while the hige octane Dhan te Nan is electrifying... Dont remember much about the background music.

Busy camera work...moving from eccentric angles to extreme close up, moving left right up down and giving a fleeting view of the landscape to hide the proceedings from the viewers.
The local train sequence steals the show, while the hotel chase scene are also extremely well shot.

Performances:
The supporting cast is able and sound. Mikhail (Chandan Sanyal) , one of the bangla maniacs, is good in a few scenes but goes over the top. He seriously acts gay with Charlie. But its the wily Bhau (Amole Gupte) who rocks. A mix of Arun Gawli and Raj Thakre, he carries himself with amazing ease, a little doze of histrionics and eccentricity backed by detailed marathi touch.

Priyanka, marathi mulgi, aai shapat...ekdum item hai. I was really impressed by her marathi dialogues, she passes off as the typical marathi girl. But eventually, this movie is Shahid's vehicle.
He is totla, a hakla, gets to do some real action, maintains amazing intensity in some scenes and manages to go thru a movie without his forte- his dance.

Vishal Bharadwaj has bought a new whiff for Bollywood fans who are not used to the Quenton Tarantino kind of movies (me included).
With the exception of an overboard climax, the movie has everything to fulfil the expectations of a movie buff.

Love...Aaj Kal Aisi hi hoti hai: 3/5

After walking out of Kambakht Ishq and a passable New York, expections were sky high for Imtiaz Ali's fresh flick. Deepika looked hot in the Chor Bazaari number while Saif was cool in the Twist number.

The movie dwells upon the two theories of love. While Jai (Saif) represents the current generation and their pragmatic approach towards love, relationship, breakups, flings versus the veteran sardarji (Veer Singh) Rishi Kapoor, who has his own story typical of the eastman color movies we have forgotten ages ago. The two tales reach their happy ending, through the same old situations. A breakup, the meeting after ages, or the shaadi, running away from home, or the climax are all situations we have seen in almost every movie.

But that is where Imtiaz Ali (director) enters with the powerful punch. Each of these scenes have something fresh to offer.

The post breakup conversation between Jai and Meera (Deepika), or the trip to Delhi which consists of the beautifully picturised Chor Bazaari, and the typical shaadi scene are worth mentioning. The screenplay shines throughout these moments, very well captured by Imtiaz.
However, apart from some real good moments, the movie fails to carry the flow throughout the 150 minutes. However, you will nver feel too bored with the proceedings.

The music complements the screenplay with the exception of the san Fransisco number. I really felt like walking out and buying a samosa during that song, only to realise Samosa costed a bomb! The cinematography is a clear winner. The three cities Kolkata, London and San Francisco with their bridges, trams and the roads add to the storyline. The San Francisco setting reminded me of the sitcom Full House :)

Of the cast, Rishi Kapoor is a charmer throughout, while there is not much to do for the rest of the supporting cast. Deepika needs to go back to Farah Khan and get some lessons on dialog delivery. There doesnt seem to be a fullstop when she talks. Performance wise, she is strictly ok, but she looks damn hot. As far as Saif is concerned, this role is nothing but an extention to his Hum Tum role, nothing great again.

Imtiaz Ali has given us fresh takes on love through Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met.
Love Aaj Kal is not in that league, but still a decent effort.

Atlee Rating: ***

Surpise holiday

So, one reason to stay in Kolkata.
There is always a possibility of getting a surprise holiday due to bandhs/strikes.

We talk about the gimmicks political parties play, how it affects day to day life, how the common man suffers, how the economy suffers, and how strikes are not good for the economy.

But at the end of the day, do I really care.
I didnt make any effort to reach work...slept late, slept all day and basically
enjoyed my surprise holiday...

ZZZunday

Finally saw the most acclaimed/criticized/appluaded movie of the year - Slumdog Millionairre.
Thanks to the back to back to back airing by Sony Pix.

Really amazing work by the team in recreating the slums and the life of the slumdwellers. Especially, the yooung Salim and Jamal, the depiction of the riots and the crimeland through their eyes was very well shot.

Coming to the criticism the movie received... true, it is not a masterpiece of cinema. But, to all those people who felt ashamed of the way the world looked at Mumbai and its slums, please accept reality.

Otherwise, it was another lazy Sunday spent munching Lays Stax, badams, and home delivery from Jai Hind Dhaba. I have decided that next weekend will be much more eventful.
Things to do include:
1) A visit to Victoria Memorial
2) A ride in the vintage trams
3) A long drive to Diamond Harbour...(in the cab though)