Wordless Wednesday -- Both volumes of Sherlock Holmes completed - Finally!

Special 26 -- Movie Review

This movie released this year but since I spent most of the first part of the year travelling to and fro to Hyderabad, I had not caught it. So, when a colleague offered his copy (Thiruutu VCD / torrent file), I knew the weekend would slip past. However, it was many weekends later that I finally saw it. 

The movie stars Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpai, Jimmy Shergil, Divya Dutta, and a few other character artistes. The ensemble cast does not detract from the story. If I had to classify it, I will have to call it a thriller. However, it is first and foremost a good story and it has been told well. Most of the characters are well-fleshed out and support the story from the get-go. I thought Akshay would be the wrong choice considering his recent outings (Khiladi 786, Rowdy Rathore) but he was subtle and ably supported the script. Kajal Agarwal as the Khiladi Kumar's girl friend was a nice touch.

The story starts off with Akshay Kumar calling the local police station and asking for backup on a CBI raid. Jimmy and Divya Dutta are the backup police officers and they walk into a local politician's place and are part of the raid conducted by Akshay and team. As money is literally found in every beam, wall, ceiling, hidden cupboard, puja almirah etc. you are as awestruck as Jimmy and Divya. All the money bundles are moved to multiple government issue steel trunks. An official letter (essentially an inventory of the items) is typed up and shared with the politician and the CBI team leaves after informing the backup team to wait for further orders. 

Image Courtesy: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Reviews/Anupama-Chopra-s-review-Special-26/Article1-1008866.aspx

The politician is sitting with a towel on his head, his secretary and others are trying to make light of the matter while the backup team is re-living the amazing raid. After a long wait, the backup team calls the CBI office for information and realize that they have been conned. Both the backup officers are suspended but the politician refuses to file a complaint because of the embarrassment involved. Lucky strike for the fake CBI team is what you think when you realize that they have made a business out of this and this was nowhere their first or last strike.

Real CBI Officer played by Manoj Bajpai

The rest of the movie moves in an exciting manner and keeps you entertained. The suspended officers join forces with the CBI (real ones) to capture this gang. Manoj Bajpai as the main person in charge of catching the fake CBI gang is fantastic. His energy, love for his kid are small nuances which add life to the character. He does not seem like a person who will ever give up and because you were maha impressed with Akshay's plan, you are in a quandry as to whom to support. There is enough excitement and thrill towards the end as you wonder how the fake CBI team will attempt their final task and/or escape from the clutches of the CBI sleuths.  

Image Courtesy:http://www.glamsham.com/download/wallpaper/22212/special-26-wallpapers/46145.htm

Akshay is very well-dressed for the most part and travels only by air and comes across as a sauve gentleman. Anupam Kher has a surprisingly huge number of children and he explains it away that there was no television then. As he bids goodbye to his wife, you notice that she is expecting and you automatically gulp :) Akshay's love story, while believable, resulted in some song-dance stuff which diluted the proceedings somewhat. A nice movie- well-shot, well-edited, and was true to its storyline. If you have seen a number of English thrillers, you may not be too impressed but for a hindi movie, this was definitely a good watch. I was so glad this was not one of those blaaah movies - hindi films are known to be all hype, fluff, and no stuff. This was a nice change.  Thumbs Up!!

Writer's Block -- What, How, Why me??

I find it rather rather ironic that whenever I resolve to update my blog with new posts, I am often hit by writer's block. It is almost as if all interesting ideas that were sitting in my head, suddenly sprout wings and fly away. When I am in the middle of my work project, I will be bombarded with so many interesting ideas that there are times when I want to stop working and start writing - to hell with the consequences. Of course, being who I am, I do not really indulge in that. So, when I really want to  write - writer's block appears uninvited!

When that happens - I usually try to identify the one thing on my mind at the time of writing a post - it could be a book I read recently, it could be a game, it could be a family function that I am all excited about, something that is bugging me, something I want to share, a rant on the traffic condition in Bangalore, a wishlist, a new weight loss option, any one of these can be made into a post provided it is exciting enough to write about and I have something new to offer. A new perspective, an analogy, anything that makes the person who reads it connect to it.

I always remember my English classes at School, where many pleasant afternoons were spent writing an interesting one-page essay on any topic that the teacher chose for the day. I can still recall the groans from most of my class-mates while I was away in my dreamland coming up with yet another interesting tale to tell. I recall being told that I have a vivid imagination and interesting tales to share and that I ought to try my hand at writing. I felt the English class was the best thing to happen to me - the same cannot be said about the grammar classes :)

Of course, there are times when absolutely nothing suggests itself to me and I really have to let it go that day.

Those are the times I am really glad that I do not blog for a living! But, then I think, if I did, the idea would hit me a few minutes before the deadline. Sometimes the added pressure of a deadline, makes the brain work harder and Viola! the idea is here and now all you need now is a few minutes of uninterrupted time so you can express it all in a funny, interesting, wah wah way :)

So, how do you handle it?

Wordless Wednesdays -- Proud owner of a new red Nokia Lumia 520

Image Courtesy: http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3d-nokia-lumia-520-red/729386

Iron Man 3 (3D) -- Movie Review

The Arien has been wanting to watch this movie since it released but sadly something or the other ensured that he missed it. So, I was determined that he got a chance to watch it while he was in Bangalore, this week. We caught the movie on Saturday, at 10:15 am at PVR IMAX. The Taurean also joined us. After a hurried breakfast, we left to PVR in a hurry (as always). The tickets were available and we were one of the few folks watching the movie on a lazy Saturday morning.

Armed with a tub of popcorn, two cokes, and a small packet of Lays, the three of us settled down to watch the much-anticipated movie. This movie was not like the other Iron Man movies and both the Taurean and the Arien did not like it all that much. I liked it.

Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper) wears the Iron Man suit for the first time and also has a good stunt scene towards the end of the movie. Robert Downey Jr., is funny as always. Jes like in SkyFall, this movie showcases the inherent humanness or vulnerability of the superhero via his anxiety attacks. Ben Kingsley (Mandarin) as evil personified makes you wonder how Iron Man will deal with him. That is until the scene when Robert Downey Jr. confronts him. That twist was quite shocking and unexpected. There is a flashback sequence which sets the context for what happens later in the movie. The action sequences in 3D were good but not great. Some scenes remind you of Terminator (Judgement Day) but then re-generation forms the core theme and you cannot really surpass Terminator which was way ahead of its time. The destruction of the home of Tony Stark was a well-executed scene. The way Iron Man saves all the members thrown out of Air Force 1, was also a good action sequence.

Image Courtesy: http://hokahey-littleworlds.blogspot.in/2013/05/its-hard-knock-life-iron-man-3.html

Watching the movie at IMAX was worth the money. The 3D effect is hardly impressive at the other theatres.

Laser Tagging and Sahib Sindh Sultan -- Adrenalin Rush and Yumm

Thursday evening saw us at I am Game, Koramangala, waiting to check out Laser Tagging. Apparently, it is a big hit in the US but none of us had heard of it here. We were 9 of us and only the bride and the groom had played the game before. However, that was not a cause for concern, because the enthusiasm level of all 9 members was quite high. In few minutes, we figured out that Laser Tagging was more like Paint ball but with laser guns instead of paint guns. Obviously, chances of getting hurt were minimal as long as we followed the instructions.

The first step was collecting our tags and figuring out who was in which team. I knew I was more of a liability and told my team that I would go hide rather than hunt the opponents down. Everyone first groaned and then agreed! We were then asked to go upstairs to put on our jackets and arm ourselves with the laser gun. 

The moment we entered the room, we were overwhelmed by the strong smell of unwashed jackets. When we realized that we would be wearing the same jackets, the capri cousin mentioned committing suicide with his laser gun!! Anyway, we got past that because we really wanted to play the game. Because most of us had not played the game, the person-in-charge showed us a video of the game and explained the various instructions - including telling us that we could not commit suicide (i.e shoot ourselves with the laser gun), or hit the opponent with the wrong end of the laser gun, or generally harm the opponent. Also, after we were shot, the jacket vibrates and your jacket and gun deactivate for a short period of 5 seconds. He asked us to get moving as soon as that happens so the opponent does not shoot us again. The person-in-charge also mentioned that the place was built like a maze with pillars and if we bumped into the pillar, it was bound to hurt. He also showed us the 6 target areas that each jacket had, which could be shot at. There were 4 in front and 2 in the back. Also, each team had a base station that could be shot at for maximum points. The base station could also shoot back. After the instructions, the jackets and guns were activated and we entered the arena like gladiators (I can dream, can't I?). 

And before we knew it, all of us were running helter skelter, hiding, and shooting at each other crazily! We initially thought 10 minutes was a long time, but we never realized it as we ran around the maze and shooting at our opponents. When the time was up, we realized that most of us were sweating profusely from all the exertion. The others had settled themselves in front of the base station and shot at it continuously, gaining points. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the game.

We decided to visit Fun Games at Forum so my niece could have some additional fun. While the capri cousin was playing with his daughter, all of us sneaked off to have some snacks at the Transit Lounge. After the game, all of us were ravenous. No one overdid the snacks because we wanted to have a nice dinner as well. We decided to go to Sahib Sindh Sultan and had a yummy dinner. The bride wanted to be seated in the coach but it was full up and so we sat outside - another cousin joined us and we had a lot of fun teasing the bride and groom, sharing anecdotes of the past, and of course, eating. A nice evening - Good Times!

Soodhu Kavvum -- Tamizh Movie Review

After the wedding hungama, it was time to relax and wait for the bride and groom to visit our grandma and all of us before they left to the US. The capri cousin insisted that while we waited, we could catch a Tamizh movie which he mentioned was the talk of the town and made Maniratnam shiver in his boots. For the first time in the history of our family, twelve family members agreed to watch the movie and the evening saw us all at the cinema hall. Our family is not a big fan of watching movies in huge groups - in fact, the last movie we saw as a big group was "Willow" in Chennai and we were around 15 members. (Yaa.. that looong ago).

Kidnapping Basics as taught by Das and Shalu

The movie is a lot of things but it is primarily a laugh riot. None of the actors are heroes with an image etc, some are not even well-known but the simple story has so much to offer. Its not a spoof movie, it does not derive its laugh from slap stick type funny scenes, but is so focused on sharing the tale of the four guys that the laughs seem purely incidental. Except for one item number type song which I disliked - the rest of the movie was pure genius. I can understand why Maniratnam is shivering in his boots - with a non-existent budget, this movie strives for greatness and achieves it too.

Image Courtesy: http://www.indiaeveryday.in/gallery/

Every prop that directors employs to make their movie a hit are ignored: A star as the hero, heroine

Kesavan, Pagalavan, and Sekar

wearing water-proof Loreal makeup, picturesque locales, romantic songs about 5 in number to showcase the love between the hero and heroine, item numbers, mother-son sentimentu, action sequences where the hero looks at the villains and they go flying, etc etc. In fact, in this movie, script is king and the taut editing goes a long way in achieving that.

Image Courtesy: http://www.cinespot.net/

Arumai Pragasam in his item number avatar

If you have been bored with the kind of Tamizh movies that we are subjected to, on a regular basis, then watch this and you will change your mind. As mentioned earlier, there is an item song that I did not like as much but it does not distract from the story. There are a number of other songs - mostly played in the background , most notable one being "mama douser..". The movie is raw, and can be a bit unpalatable at times because of the rawness. But, thanks to the amazing editing work, you do not feel it all that much. There is some bad language, some have been blipped out while some remain. The story moves swiftly and it does not seem as if the director inserted the word for effect but more to portray the emotion felt by the actor.

Image Courtesy: http://www.galatta.com/index.html

The lead role is played by Vijay Sethupathy (Das).  He is one of the known actors, having acted in Pizza earlier. That is another movie I am yet to catch. Other actors are fairly unknown but have done a decent job.

Go watch while it is still playing on the big screen!

Wordless Wednesdays -- Simple Mehendi Design on my Palm

The Last Samurai -- Movie Review

Whenever this movie was screened on TV, I would invariably change the channel. Finally, on Sunday, after a massive cleaning session that gave us a pile of to-be-disposed clothes, the Taurean and I decided that we would watch this movie rather than one of the IPL matches. The senior Arien was not really happy about this decision but he decided not to voice his opinion and watched the movie with us.  

As always, I was watching the movie from the scene where Tom Cruise is taken prisoner by the Samurai. The year is ~1870 and Tom Cruise is kept prisoner at a home where he is taken care of by a lady having two young sons.

Image Courtesy: http://www.the-reel-mccoy.com/movies/2003/TheLastSamurai.html

When Tom Cruise has enough energy to move about he is taken to the chief, Katsumoto. Katsumoto seems eager to have a conversation in English with Algren (aka Tom Cruise) but does not part with more than basic information. Algren learns that he killed Hirotaro, who was the brother of Katsumoto and is being tended by Hirotaro's wife, Taka.

Image Courtesy: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-last-samurai/images/24584023/title/last-samurai-screencap

He spends the winter at the Samurai village, and observes everything in the village and soon sees everyone in a new light. His conversations with Katsumoto, his bonding with Taka's boys, his attraction towards Taka, his ability to learn sword fighting, all give him a new meaning for life. When he leaves for Tokyo in Spring, he is not too pleased.

The movie kept us all engrossed as we watched Tom Cruise become a Samurai. The scene when his colonel calls the Samurai savages, you are surprised that you are angry. When the top knot of a Samurai soldier is cut off by the Emperor's soldiers, you are shocked that they could do that to one of their own kind.

Image Courtesy: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-last-samurai/images/10720257/title/algren-nobutada-photo

You watch in shock as the young, inexperienced Emperor takes decisions that are detrimental to his own people.

The movie was good. It included all the elements that make a movie great: courage, emotional bonding, great story-line, taut editing, and it connected with all three of us. I cannot believe I changed the channel every time this movie was screened. Tom Cruise does a great job of disappearing into the role. The movie was actually released in 2003 but I was seeing it finally in 2013. Sometimes a movie that is great in 2003 can be boring in 2013 but that was not the case here. I enjoyed this movie a lot.

Breakfast at Chutneys -- Restaurant Review

This photo of St. Mary's Church is courtesy of TripAdvisor. 

Sunday morning had us (self, Arien and MIL) rushing to the famous St Mary's Basilica at Secunderabad. We were not too sure of the route but the Arien used google maps to the best possible advantage and though we left our home at 8:25 am, we were at the church at 9 am. After staying for the English mass which began at 9:30 am, the next most important item on everyone's mind was "BREAKFAST" (yes - in capital letters).

As we were driving back home, the Arien chanced upon Chutney's and we stopped right away. It was close to 11:15 when we walked in and asked to be escorted to a table for four. (Restaurants usually never have a table for three) Anyway, we were asked to go to the first floor- which we did. We ended up occupying a table for 8, because none of the other tables were empty.

The Arien was full of enthu. Lots of folks at his office had spoken of this place and he was waiting to try it. As soon as MIL had taken her medicines, we asked for the menu. Both the Arien and self wanted to eat Pongal but it was after 11 and so we were asked to choose something else. Both of us chose
Guntur Idly and ordered Steamed Dosa for MIL. I was not sure it would be sufficient and asked the Arien to order for an Upma as well. First, the famous chutneys arrived. There were 4 different types: Thengai (Coconut), Pottukadalai (RoastedGram),Varekadalai (Groundnut), and another chutney which I cannot recall. It looked yumm... and then the dishes arrived. Sambhar was served from glass dispensers into small Kinnams after which they left us to eat in peace.

The Guntur Idly was not as spicy as expected because it was coated with ghee. But, it was yummy all the same. To me, it was like eating idly, molagapodi and ghee. The Arien loved it. He was busy trying out the various chutneys. The Steamed dosa did not have a drop of oil and my MIL did not like it all that much. She likes a generous dose of oil in her dosa. She is not a beeg fan of chutneys either and so I don't think she liked it all that much. The upma was full of ghee as well. I liked the Sambhar though it was sweet. It tasted vaguely like north Karnataka sambhar which usually has sugar or jaggery. I wanted something spicy to finish it up but apart from some paneer dish (which we did not try) and Guntur Idly (which we tried and did not classify as spicy) - none of the items were actually spicy. Isn't that quite surprising to hear considering I was at Hyderabad known to be famous for its spicy food? Egzactly my thoughts! Anyway, the Arien and MIL finished up their late breakfast with a cup  of coffee (by two) which they were unable to finish. Coffee was good but the quantity was much more than expected.

The food reminded me vaguely of the food served at Adyar Ananda Bhavan. A2B also includes a lot of ghee and zero spice in all their dishes. Of course, A2B does not have the ambience or shtyle that Chutney's has.

Would I ask someone to try it? Yes, I will. It is a nice place and for people who are wary of eating spicy food or prefer to eat only at a vegetarian place - this is a great option. It is a bit on the pricey side. We paid more than 300/- for the dishes that we ordered. It was a nice experience.

Tamil Padam -- Movie Review after the II viewing

Happy Ugadi, you all. It was a holiday for me but the Arien was working.

Because the Arien's place has no cable yet, I decided to check his WD for some movies. MIL was also bored and so it was the funny Tamizh Padam that we opted to watch. I had seen it already but MIL had not and she wanted to see a comedy - having had enough of tear-jerkers and melodrama. 

Tamizh Padam is unique because it is the first spoof movie ever made, in Tamil. Considering tamizh sentimentu and emosun - I thought it was quite courageous of the director to shoot a spoof movie and hope for a HIT. It was a sooper (H)IT.

As in a spoof movie, this movie also lifts scenes from
various tamizh movies and adds a twist which makes you burst out in laughter. MIL was able to identify many movies.

The scene where Deva is offered the bill by the doctor and he says "Vendaam" - had me in splits. Another  scene where Shiva dances Bharathanatyam had us rolling in laughter and he completed the dance with - the picture of the ape on the right that was supposed to be the image of the heroine. There were so many scenes that had us laughing crazily - all through the movie.

The hero, Shiva, is a good fit and does his job perfectly. The other character actors do a good job as well.
Some of the movies that were parodied  (not in chronological order) are:

• Dalapathi
• Kanthaswamy 
• Boys 
• Kaadhalan
• Mouna Raagam
• Dhool

We spent the entire afternoon laughing away. One of the songs seemed absolutely meaningless and we were trying to figure out what the song meant when we realized that the song consisted of all fillers used in Tamizh songs in recent times such as "Randakka, Nakka Mukka, Asili Fisili, Rahatulla, Oh Maha Seeya, etc." Very creative! Absolutely Hilarious! If you have not caught the movie, watch it - if only to take a break from  reality :)

Hyderabad -- A new chapter

Did you wonder why I was blogging some abstract stuff 'bout change in my last post? Well, the Arien received a job offer. The offer was good but the catch was that he had to work out of Hyderabad. After talking, fighting, discussing, screaming, throwing things, yelling, and a few unnecessary threats - it was decided that the Arien would take the offer. After the decision was made, I thought the tension would ease but as things go - the tension grew worse as it neared his joining date. The action item list just grew and grew and grew and overwhelmed both of us and our families! With receipt of gyan from all sides, the Arien picked up a new habit of nodding away as if agreeing to all that was said instead of replying or disagreeing.

I have always loved moves. Dad was into bridge construction and so it was quite common in our household to be always on the move. Moves meant new places, new people, and it was more like embarking on a brand new adventure - I could never figure out why my mother was always grumpy whenever Dad announced a move. Now, I understand.

So, here I am at our new place in Hyderabad with most of the stuff from our house. No no - I have not relocated - yet. The Arien has been coming to Bangalore every weekend and I hope I can spend a week at Hyderabad every other month or so. A new chapter has begun. All the Best to us!

Need for Change?

Ever notice how the energy in a room changes when someone who never opens their mouth, shares their astute thoughts. It is electric! I really enjoy the energy that that brings. Firstly, everyone is thinking - "Wow! X speaks"; "What did X say?.. What did I miss?"; "Everyone is staring at X and X does not care - how can I divert attention back to myself?". And a few are thinking "Gee- I did not know X had such a clear head".  The same is true when Y, who is known to be very traditional, suddenly chops of their long pinnal and comes to work in a very smart and stylish haircut. The sudden outburst or unpredictable action gives life to the otherwise routine, drab, boring schedule, meeting, or get-together :) 

X may have wanted to share his thoughts for a while but it happened on that particular occasion, either out of sheer boredom or simply wanting to express oneself. Y may have always wanted to go in for short hair but could not because of some restrictions - familial or otherwise. But, she did it on that particular day.

Sometimes, change comes to us - we are not expecting it - and we may not like it - but it comes all the same.  Our entire life goes through the motions as we adjust to the changing scenario. And sometimes, we need to bring change to our lives. When we bring change into our lives, we always think that we control all the aspects. Actually, change is unpredictable as always - whether it comes to you or whether you bring it to your life. In fact, the unpredictability and the energy it brings is the best part about change. I am not saying its easy but you have to and so why not with a smile :)

On another note, I saw Mystic River, it had be bawling! Seriously! Great movie. Watch it when you have the time.