rangoon the movie - bloody hell and kiddo that's a catch phrase used irritatingly throughout this flick. The movie is a tad too long , first half has good moments .. the second half never ends ..it has unnecessary songs, a Brit actor high on Hindi and it's pronunciation ( I so missed bob Christo here ) and there is a tip off to inglorious bastards for the story and Sholay for the fight sequence.. Saif throughout this movie calls Kangana "kiddo "for some strange reason .. guess he must be doing the same thing at home .. the movie ends with Saif doing a tight rope walk with a sword in his hand .. yeah that kind of movie and there are a lot of things you could do with that sword .. you might just walk out of the theatre muttering bloody hell .
Saturday, 25 February 2017
Friday, 17 February 2017
Ghazi Attack - the review
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting so says Sun Tzu in the Art of War. T
Ghazi Attack is a different movie not just for the approach it takes but for the first time in Hindi films a movie on military warfare is shot under water. The movie has a stellar and a very able star cast in Om Puri , Naseer ( albeit in a short but a " politically " motivated role ) Atul Kulkarni who literally speaks from the gut, the tall presence of Rana Duggapati and the smouldering intensity of Kay Kay Menon. This movie keeps you on the edge right from the start . You know you are in for a submarine ride through the choppy waters of the Bay of Bengal with very able Naval officers doing whatever they can to keep their nation's flag flying high at all costs. Drills have a new meaning in this flick and one particular scene about the egg and the water drives home the point that the deeper you go , the heavier you feel. I was never a fan of geometry but the way the scenes were shot around geometric lines and angles .. I would have fallen in love with it if given a chance again . Water here seems to add not just flavour but also becomes another character in this movie when it sees so much of action happening down under. The radio operators played by both the Indian and the pakistani counterparts don't just have an ear for detail but also have insightful eyes.This is a movie which deserves more eye balls as its a grim reminder of the heroes we have who lay down their lives without expecting anything in return . The film has been shot well , the jerky camera movements adding more than just a visual appeal in every scene . This movie talks about honour , ambition , valour in equal terms and the national anthem has never sounded so sweet even at 300 metres below sea level .
General Patton might just love this movie for the values it expounds
Friday, 10 February 2017
Jolly LLB -2 review
Courtroom dramas always have a sense of drama in them and this flick has quite a bit of it.Jolly LLB sets the premise straight with Jogeshwar Mishra a resident of Kanpur trying the odd even formula which would make a certain trigger happy leader in helping out students crack the English exam .Jolly is a 12th assistant to a leading lawyer and knows all the tricks in the books to get his work done . Akshay Kumar as Jolly is endearing , goofy ,winsome and quite a revelation as a lawyer who grows into the role which is not all black and white initially. This movie is all about a staged police encounter with justice being shown the door.Jolly is waiting for that one moment when he can land a fat case which is worth arguing for and ensure his family lives happily ever after. Due to an untimely death of a pregnant mother which leads to a precarious situation in the courtroom ...Jolly ends up fighting for what is right . The movie has its moments . The courtroom scenes between a top lawyer played by the man who is as animated in Antakshari as he is in the courtroom.. Annu Kapoor and Akshay kumar are whistle worthy . Umud Mishra plays the cop who orchestrates the entire fake encounter to land himself a promotion and his eyes talk more than his dialogues . The judge played by Saurabh Shukla does a mean Shandaar dance and makes his heavy presence felt standing out in one scene where there is a slap , gun shots and a hammer . Huma Quereshi as Jolly's wife knows how to gulp down a glass of whiskey in the neatest manner and that's about it and yes she likes her Gucci dress. This is an Akshay Kumar movie all the way . He wins you over with his sincerity, street smart cred and his ability for standing against a system. The movie has loopholes , a tad too long and the songs are unnecessary but the supporting cast does their job well. If you like Akshay and for the versatile choices he makes which is quite different from the rest.. you will like it .
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
Breakfast with champions - a review
The Caribbean flavour
By the end of this episode you might just end up humming the champion song which works at all levels because of its really simple singalong lyrics . Gaurav manages to remove the sheen from the cricketers and make them more humane like all of us . Bravo a teetotaller reveals during the freewheeling conversation that Cricket unites West Indies as against other sports . The breakfast is shudh Gujarati vegetarian fare and as expected Bravo is game enough to try a little bit of everything revealing a side of him which says it's better to try and fail rather than not try at all.
The Chandni Chowk connection
What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force .. Danny Morrison is in Chandni Chowk .Dan the man gets a crash course on the gastronomic history of the paratha Wali galli from Gaurav whilst walking through the crowded alleyways . An animated Danny shoots the breeze with Gaurav over puri aloo and a dry hair massage and answers some very interesting questions on his debut match and his desi connection with India
Master class with the tweaker
Bishen Singh Bedi - the man who could deceive you with his guile and loop as a bowler is an interviewers delight . He is frank , outspoken and calls a spade a spade . Gaurav - charming and easy going gets Bish to talk and one feels like a fly in that sprawling garden listening to his incredible stories . He speaks about the inspirational Tiger Pataudi, his moment with Sir Donald Brahman on integrity ,his fellow tweakers .. and that moment when Shane Warne sought his advice out before bowling to Sachin Tendulkar. There certainly was sukoon and junoon in this episode
The Rawalpindi express
Picture this .. Shoaib Akhtar running with a f-16 ... with the kind of speed he used to bowl its quite a possibility. In this episode you get to see a side of Shoaib Akhtar who is raw , impulsive , candid and hard working . Gaurav through the course of the conversation over croissants and waffles gets us to know what makes the Rawalpindi tick- that madness and that animalistic run .
The correct man
There is something about Ajinkya rahane .. the way he let's his bat do the talking and then digs into that big omelette of his giving a glimpse of his mindset whilst batting ,his take of what marriage is all about vis a vis the non striker in cricketing parlance and his immense respect for Rahul Dravid.
Bakbak with Zak
It's always tough for bowlers says Zaheer khan nonchalantly .. he with his left arm swing might give the impression that he means business from the word go but during this freewheeling conversation you get to see a side which is nostalgic and has come to terms with the fact that he was a part of a World Cup winning squad in 2011.. and he loves his cheese cake and ghee in no particular order.They say fast bowlers hunt in pairs .. but fast bowlers as next door neighbours ....Ajit Agarkar stays right next door and he makes an appearance in this episode talking about the size of bats and the Caribbean drawl of Michael Holding aka whispering death who just loves the IPL ( nudge nudge wink , wink ) and that line summarises this episode pretty well - the mind is writing cheques which the body can't encash anymore
By the end of this episode you might just end up humming the champion song which works at all levels because of its really simple singalong lyrics . Gaurav manages to remove the sheen from the cricketers and make them more humane like all of us . Bravo a teetotaller reveals during the freewheeling conversation that Cricket unites West Indies as against other sports . The breakfast is shudh Gujarati vegetarian fare and as expected Bravo is game enough to try a little bit of everything revealing a side of him which says it's better to try and fail rather than not try at all.
The Chandni Chowk connection
What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force .. Danny Morrison is in Chandni Chowk .Dan the man gets a crash course on the gastronomic history of the paratha Wali galli from Gaurav whilst walking through the crowded alleyways . An animated Danny shoots the breeze with Gaurav over puri aloo and a dry hair massage and answers some very interesting questions on his debut match and his desi connection with India
Master class with the tweaker
Bishen Singh Bedi - the man who could deceive you with his guile and loop as a bowler is an interviewers delight . He is frank , outspoken and calls a spade a spade . Gaurav - charming and easy going gets Bish to talk and one feels like a fly in that sprawling garden listening to his incredible stories . He speaks about the inspirational Tiger Pataudi, his moment with Sir Donald Brahman on integrity ,his fellow tweakers .. and that moment when Shane Warne sought his advice out before bowling to Sachin Tendulkar. There certainly was sukoon and junoon in this episode
The Rawalpindi express
Picture this .. Shoaib Akhtar running with a f-16 ... with the kind of speed he used to bowl its quite a possibility. In this episode you get to see a side of Shoaib Akhtar who is raw , impulsive , candid and hard working . Gaurav through the course of the conversation over croissants and waffles gets us to know what makes the Rawalpindi tick- that madness and that animalistic run .
The correct man
There is something about Ajinkya rahane .. the way he let's his bat do the talking and then digs into that big omelette of his giving a glimpse of his mindset whilst batting ,his take of what marriage is all about vis a vis the non striker in cricketing parlance and his immense respect for Rahul Dravid.
Bakbak with Zak
It's always tough for bowlers says Zaheer khan nonchalantly .. he with his left arm swing might give the impression that he means business from the word go but during this freewheeling conversation you get to see a side which is nostalgic and has come to terms with the fact that he was a part of a World Cup winning squad in 2011.. and he loves his cheese cake and ghee in no particular order.They say fast bowlers hunt in pairs .. but fast bowlers as next door neighbours ....Ajit Agarkar stays right next door and he makes an appearance in this episode talking about the size of bats and the Caribbean drawl of Michael Holding aka whispering death who just loves the IPL ( nudge nudge wink , wink ) and that line summarises this episode pretty well - the mind is writing cheques which the body can't encash anymore
Thursday, 2 February 2017
Spin , guile and English batsmen
A t20 game is not just slam bang stuff . There is so much more to it this encounter at the Chinnaswamy stadium between the home team and the t20 2016 World Cup finalist had all the makings of a classic and it didn't disappoint .
Top 10 moments in this game
1. The Virat Kohli run out right at the beginning of the Indian innings must have cockled the hearts of the English side but not for long
2. Raina is a flat track bully and if it's a t20 he suddenly becomes asterix with or without that magic potion . He was greeted by deodorant balls and he does what he does best , muscling the ball with his full follow through , his straight six was the stand out
3. KL Rahul hit one of the biggest sixes which was around 98 metres and over the roof top . Coming from a touch player like him .. He really upped the ante but then he paid a price for playing across the line a bit too often getting castled by a straight delivery
4. The English Bowlers tried bowling to a plan but the Suresh Raina and MSDcombine had other plans , navigating one particular miserly MoenAli over which was worth gold dust in this format
5. Raina made a quick fifty , Dhoni in this particular innings was playing straight racing to his first fifty in t20 giving Yuvraj time to settle in
6. Yuvraj Singh - when on song is an absolute pleasure to watch . He made love to the ball in the most left handed manner .He was playing like lord shiva on tandav . He made the most of the 18th over , taking 24 runs , losing his wicket in the process , but the damage had been done .india making a mammoth 202 runs which in hindsight is quite a challenging target in the beautiful Chinnaswamy stadium
7. The English batsmen were greeted with the wide grin of #nehraji and he bowled a superb first over ..not giving an inch away
8. It didn't take much time for the spinners to get into the contest ..the hard working Amit Mishra leading the way
9. T20 games are not always batsmen pulverising the ball , it gets interesting when there is an even contest between bat and ball . Morgan in one particular over of Suresh Raina took him to the cleaners , hitting him all around the park for 22 runs . The next over proved to be the game changer
10. Yazhuvendra chawal a RCBian knows the Chinnaswamy stadium like the back of his hand and he baffled the English batsmen with his vast repertoire of tricks who wanted to go back home in a hurry . Chawal took 6 wickets for 25 .
The Indian batsmen did set up the score but the bowlers were up to it baffling the English batsmen with pace , spin and guile making the victory even more sweeter.
Top 10 moments in this game
1. The Virat Kohli run out right at the beginning of the Indian innings must have cockled the hearts of the English side but not for long
2. Raina is a flat track bully and if it's a t20 he suddenly becomes asterix with or without that magic potion . He was greeted by deodorant balls and he does what he does best , muscling the ball with his full follow through , his straight six was the stand out
3. KL Rahul hit one of the biggest sixes which was around 98 metres and over the roof top . Coming from a touch player like him .. He really upped the ante but then he paid a price for playing across the line a bit too often getting castled by a straight delivery
4. The English Bowlers tried bowling to a plan but the Suresh Raina and MSDcombine had other plans , navigating one particular miserly MoenAli over which was worth gold dust in this format
5. Raina made a quick fifty , Dhoni in this particular innings was playing straight racing to his first fifty in t20 giving Yuvraj time to settle in
6. Yuvraj Singh - when on song is an absolute pleasure to watch . He made love to the ball in the most left handed manner .He was playing like lord shiva on tandav . He made the most of the 18th over , taking 24 runs , losing his wicket in the process , but the damage had been done .india making a mammoth 202 runs which in hindsight is quite a challenging target in the beautiful Chinnaswamy stadium
7. The English batsmen were greeted with the wide grin of #nehraji and he bowled a superb first over ..not giving an inch away
8. It didn't take much time for the spinners to get into the contest ..the hard working Amit Mishra leading the way
9. T20 games are not always batsmen pulverising the ball , it gets interesting when there is an even contest between bat and ball . Morgan in one particular over of Suresh Raina took him to the cleaners , hitting him all around the park for 22 runs . The next over proved to be the game changer
10. Yazhuvendra chawal a RCBian knows the Chinnaswamy stadium like the back of his hand and he baffled the English batsmen with his vast repertoire of tricks who wanted to go back home in a hurry . Chawal took 6 wickets for 25 .
The Indian batsmen did set up the score but the bowlers were up to it baffling the English batsmen with pace , spin and guile making the victory even more sweeter.
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