Saturday, April 26, 2008

Blue Umbrella


Its actually been a while since i knew Blue Umbrella was out in theaters but for not knowing whats exactly in this movie, i did not go to theaters. Will resent again that i watched it online on bittorrent.com site. Lot of people recommended me watching this movie. Infact, one of my friends also told me to download this flick for her once i returned to India. Well, that never happened. I saw "Blue Umbrella" yesterday at home. It doesnt have a big star cast and appears to be a small budget film. The title, i must admit wasn't compelling me to see this film.
But after watching this film, i wish i had seen it earlier. A short story about a young village girl and her possessiveness of a Japaneses Blue Umbrella. Vishal Bhardwaj who incidentally started as a music director is now making rounds in his life as Film director. The director of earlier films like makdee, maqbool and omkara brings this next flick in a row. I have seen his omkara. Although it was not a hit, i liked the movie for its characters and fishy plot. Blue Umbrella on the other hand is a very simple story far away from thrills of major crime and bloodshed. Shot in beautiful location of Himachal Pradesh, the film captures the emotions of tinsel town citizens beautifully. Picture has a blue print which adds to its glamor and goes in line with the title. Superb acting by Pankaj Kapur and nonetheless, chid artist biniya (Shreya Sharma). Honestly, this feels like the best picture and acting i have ever seen of a veteran artist like Pankaj Kapur ji. He is just brilliant in the film and the protagonist (which i feel ) is biniya (Shreya sharma) so sweet and innocent who brings a big turmoil in NandKishore Khatri's (played by PK) life. The whole chaos is about owing an expensive umbrella gifted to biniya by Japaneses tourists. PK is jealous and steals her umbrella citing it as his own. Biniya is a clever and bold girl completely contrast to a typical gullible girl of a small village would be.
Excellent direction as well as brilliant cinematography by Sachin Kumar shooting the best snow covered locales of himachal pradesh. This is a must watch film for all of us, there are not many films like this that come on silverscreen often. Vishal just pulled it off with a magnificent cast. Go watch it ! I'll rate this file 4.5/5

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Getting Inebriated


I must admit that these days i have been drinking lot. I may attribute this to my last semester where there is hardly any work load on me and so here i am chilling most of the time. I have been drinking lot of beer, whiskey and vodka. Even as i wont expect, something or other event may come up causing me to drink with friends, pal or roommates. I don't drink usually that much but as of now my capacity has increased. And i get inebriated when i drink going to clubs or at home . It at times gets difficult to decide how much i drank when my hand banging but i regret it later. On Sean's birthday i think i drank more than 10 beers and 4 shots of Jack Daniels ! I was wasted later. His friends can sustain themselves much more than me and are couple of years younger than me studying in undergrad classes. Almost every day an intake of couple hundred calories in my body. I am sure i can drink much more than my elder brother now who probably on current stats would be drinking at the rate of once per 6 months or even more. As i mentioned am free most of the time, i also make sure i work out stressfully to balance !

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Born into Brothels


I love exploring things, the more if they are free. (hey dudes, i atleast admit it on my blog so go ahead and read what i have to say). So i was on this website bittorrent.com and found out that i could lot of movies for free "free movies" section. You guys can check that too. I came across this documentary feature "Born into Brothels". The title itself will intrigue you. But i do possess s fair amount of good knowledge about movies as i like them. I knew "Born into Brothels" was awarded an Oscar in 2004 but had never seen it. This was 4 years back. The director and producer got all their stuff done even back late and so now i assume the fate of those 9 targeted children may have changed a lot since then.

To put in my own words, i have to commend and appreciate the efforts of Directors "Zana Briski" and "Ross Kauffman" who have come out with such a brilliant masterpiece. I love watching documentaries, this interest got created few months back though. An excellent documentary, the best i have seen before about 9 kids living in Calcutta's (Metropolitan in India) Red Alert area. Born to prostitutes, these bold kids tell a story though every corner of their life.
You may forget your fears and apprehensions if you watch these kids who have come out in open and expressed themselves in the best possible manner. This wasn't easy coming out, to speak in front of the camera. All kids are contained in a bottle of emotions and these emotions coming out like bubbles. They live a life in pain, agony, frustration, anguish, poverty and broken fate. It almost impossible to change the destiny of these kids who already have compromised their life, whose bodies are traded for even before they come into this world.

I remember some of the words that came out from these kids mouth. Avijit says "We dont have money to live, let alone studies....". Avijit gets to goto Amsterdam for a photo competition. Manaki says "I worry i might be like them someday". For the bold Shanti "one has to accept life as being sad and beautiful". The shy Tapasi says "even if i was poor, i would have a happy life. I never really think about being rich".

So disheartning that these kids know a lot about physical lives even before you and me did. Some scenes are shocking and may bring down a tear down your cheeks. The theme of this feature isn't meant for that but will make you realize that today you are at a much better position than these kids are. Indians are talented and you can see that happening if you nurture a child right from beginning.

I am moved and touched by this documentary. Credit goes to all but not the least to kids Shanti Das, Avijit, Suchitra, Manik, Gour, Puja, Tapasi, Mamuni and Kochi. A must watch for every person living on this planet !

Watch it here ..... http://www.bittorrent.com/search?q=born+into+brothel&category=All

The Race


Anxious mind waiting for this flick to explode on cinema screens and there was i, watching the movie on my small laptop screen online ;) My saga with online films doesn't seem to end, i guess. so i watched the movie completely. I must say as their previous attempts, the Director Duo Abbas-Mastan have done a good job. The chronicle of incidents surprising you will captivate you till the end. Its a mind game movie and ultimately the better guy Saif wins the RACE. Good performances by all and excellent cinematography by Ravi Yadav (let me give him credit too) set in Cape town. The concept of every Abbas-Mastan ji movie is always new and fresh like their past movies. In this movie, there is betting on Horse racing and locales are beautiful. I cant say if Katrina acts well because her voice is always dubbed. Poor girl, she is still having trouble with my native language. Bipasha Basu is red hot in her steamy legs and short denims. I have always felt that Akshaye is a good actor but he tries too hard some times for anger scenes. Anil kapoor tries his hand again at comedy but this time little cheap. His best to what i remember was in "No Entry"

Overall, a timepass movie with all packed masala - It has speed, thrill, girls, game plan, betrayal, hunks, cool songs, beautiful locales, -- can be watched once and you may enjoy it too cuz its not boring....believe me!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Potpourri - Food party at # 344 (Mardi Grass Apartments)


I started this trend last Friday. That day, i was expecting 3 of my "Indian" friends to come over for food and drinks. I quote that because now i am mostly with my American friends. Everything was looking good except when these bunch of people call me in the morning and express their grief that they wont be able to make it. You cant expect much form these people, i knew this was going to happen. so like every day the sun set and i began to make food. My roommate Sean who is also very fond of Indian food asked me what i was up to. I told him my situation about my friends ot turning up. Honestly, i bought lot of beer, hard stuff and cocktails for my friends. Sean did not want to go to his Fraternity house and decided to stay with me. He mentioned there was stuff he had to cook before it went bad. We finally decided to have a food party. There were drinks and people Sean called over.



I prepared Punjabi Chole, Yellow Dal(Tadka Maarke.....You indians will understand what this means), roti and Basmati rice. Sean now can speak the word "Punjabi Chole" very fluently and loves it. Sean prepared some "mixed vegetables" with rice. God, this was awesome and heated his mom's "ham with beans soup". The whole potpourri was extravagant and amazing. They say practice makes a man perfect. Very true, i see day by day my food's taste bringing wider smile on my friends face. I and Sean like spicy food and make sure the food is pretty HOT. Meanwhile, Sean's friends came over. I had couple of beers and then 3 Bacardi rum shots with him. Others had "tanqueray gin". We also watched "Casino Royale" together on DVD.

I could have put more pictures but am sure you guys trust me as far as food is concerned. I look forward to next food party this Friday. You are cordially invited. Hope to see you soon !

Broken Finger

Its 3 weeks now almost to this incident but did i tell you i broke my finger while i was exercising in the gym. I clearly remember me doing bench press with dumbbells. As i went down to finish my last rep, i did not realize i had some other weights lying below the bench. My hand came down very swiftly and thats when my ring finger got smashed between 2 dumbbells. I cried in pain. When i saw my finger, it was upright and could not be straightened. I was immediately escorted to the hospital in emergency ward. I was there for 4 hrs and till then only my x-ray had been done but not examined. I was frustrated and came back home. As this hospital is university affiliated, i got the results next morning when i went to the local health center in campus. The results were faxed and confirmed a hair-line fracture. It hurt initially but now am used to wearing a support around the wounded finger. sometimes even forget to wear it. Since then, life hasn't changed at all. I have got used to the pain and still go to the gym for cardio and bench press !!!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

How bad are we?

The lame cut his hand
realising the one he loved would never stand
with a feeble rescue
but lot of words to serve as next cue
the fatalist wanders with pain
largely in his self domain

The next door turned a joker
for did he love a hooker
concealing deep emotions in his amusing acts
but love wouldnt come from any direction
a rare human connection
all came were streams of lust
causing this man to now dream in dust

The freshmen never made it to the next level
Jumping so high that he met God's level
nascent love that had started to bloom
but ended in a doom
future to forget this lad's name
but he was not the only one to blame

The savage became a saint
shades of saffron, the color of his new life's paint
he forgets the numerous battles he won
but remembers the single war he lost, undone
love wasnt in the destiny of strong hands
men swayed but not love under his command

The nomad left the country
someone he thought was his is now free
a base of permanency is a hard fate
he seeks ahead a new gate
showing him respite into novel life
cuz love sometimes strifes

The wise moved on
throwing away traces of black rose and cactus thorn
bringing his aberrant life on track
he doesnt want love to be his next attack
a broken passion tries to mend
in a glimpse of hopeful light, for a new friend...