Personally, i felt a HUGE sense of loss after watching the film. I have missed out on something really important in life - my parents NEVER forced me to choose a stream of education, or anything else for that matter. Was i unduly lucky, or is the film an exagerration? Methinks its a bit of both.
First, the summary of the review - its a 2 out of 5 stars film. Am sorry, but the backsides of random college students, or multiple top shots on potty do not make good enough entertainment for me. Dropping pants might be part of saying Hi at the Imperial College, but am sure the director could have thot of another gesture without taking anything away from the film. Also, whats with the ridiculous delivery scene? I mean.. seriously!!!
The overall feel of the film is:
A. All Indian parents force their children to study engineering or medicine. thats not true. Not true at all. I mean, even Pia's sister is not a doc, for god's sake!
B. All student suicides are because of the "pressure from the system". The issue is a lot more complicated than that. Parents and "the system" are not the only , or even the main culprits. How come some children are able to cope and some others are not? There cannot be any one sided answer to these questions, and the film takes sides without even explaining the whole issue.
C. It is more important to enjoy your education. If you like what you do, you will automatically excel. Not true. The converse is also not true - just because you do something really well is not reason enough for you to want to do it. But the overall point is well taken.
D. The principal is a caricature. I do not know of any such principal, and can safely say that such principals, even though they might exist, are not the norm. It is not nice or kind to promote such a caricature, imho.
Basically, I am confused. Is the film about entertainment, or is it about a message? Or is it about plain nostalgia about college?
If it is about entertainment, i really did outgrow the chaddi based entertainment a long time ago and should be excused.
If it is about a message, the message can be argued really hard. Not enough time goes into exploring the various dimensions of the message.
If it is about pure nostalgia about college days, sure, that one is spot on. One did laugh a lot during the film, and, except for the parts about the Mona Singh delivery (am yet to get over that one) and the Sharman Joshi suicide attempt, the editing was pretty slick and kept u glued for what happens next.
The music, though a hit at the moment, is not exactly memorable and except for the "Give me some sunshine.." song, none of the other lyrics even register for a more than 4 week period recall.
Kareena has done much better work - this is not one of her benchmark performances, or even looks.
The lighting in the film is really weird - whats the point of that blue flicker in most shots of the film - i mean, why? Or maybe it was just our screen, but one came back with a solid headache from all that flickering.
And finally - Aamir, Madhavan, and Sharman. there is only one line to contribute - Sharman, as an actor, was severely under used in this film. This is a film for which his casting is perfect. And he has done his work really well.
Will i see it again? No. Is a one time watch recommended? Sure. Especially if you want to relive your college humour again.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
2 more logic puzzles
The first is a sitter. The second was slightly more difficult to make. Tell me what you think.
I: Neighborhood.
On Cobbler Street, 4 people live in different colored houses. Each of them has exactly one pet and exactly one car. From the clues given below, see if you can figure out what goes where.
1. Smith loves walking his pet dog every morning, and he stops by at Hannah's for a coffee afterwards.
2. The yellow house has a chevy in the garage and Charlie, the owner, often talks of selling it.
3. The owner of the Audi has a really tiny pet.
4. The red house has a ford in the garage.
5. The owner of the white house has a goldfish for a pet.
6. The cat is the most aggressive pet on the block, though she is pretty agreeable when Beth's rat stops by.
7. Smith drives a Ford to work, and his neighbor drives a Ferrari.
9 The owner of the brown house does not own a Ferrari.
II: Round Table Conference.
8 people have to be seated at a round banquet table. The seats are number 1-8. For this teaser, 5 is opposite 1, 6 is opposite 2 and so on. Likewise, "next to" means one of the neighboring seats only. i.e., 8 is next to 1 and 7.
A and H are the only French speaking people on the table. They need to be seated together.
B and F should sit opposite each other.
C, F, and G all know Russian, but don't necessarily need to sit next to each other. In fact, G wants to sit next to someone who knows French.
D is English and insists on sitting next to at least one other English speaking person, and pat opposite the good looking H.
E is the only other English speaker in the group, but he wants to sit next to someone who knows Russian.
G agrees to sit next to F only on condition that the other side must have a French speaker.
C does not sit next to either of them.
C however, agrees to sit next to B, who is the only Bavarian in the group.
A will not sit next to a Russian or an English speaker.
I: Neighborhood.
On Cobbler Street, 4 people live in different colored houses. Each of them has exactly one pet and exactly one car. From the clues given below, see if you can figure out what goes where.
1. Smith loves walking his pet dog every morning, and he stops by at Hannah's for a coffee afterwards.
2. The yellow house has a chevy in the garage and Charlie, the owner, often talks of selling it.
3. The owner of the Audi has a really tiny pet.
4. The red house has a ford in the garage.
5. The owner of the white house has a goldfish for a pet.
6. The cat is the most aggressive pet on the block, though she is pretty agreeable when Beth's rat stops by.
7. Smith drives a Ford to work, and his neighbor drives a Ferrari.
9 The owner of the brown house does not own a Ferrari.
II: Round Table Conference.
8 people have to be seated at a round banquet table. The seats are number 1-8. For this teaser, 5 is opposite 1, 6 is opposite 2 and so on. Likewise, "next to" means one of the neighboring seats only. i.e., 8 is next to 1 and 7.
A and H are the only French speaking people on the table. They need to be seated together.
B and F should sit opposite each other.
C, F, and G all know Russian, but don't necessarily need to sit next to each other. In fact, G wants to sit next to someone who knows French.
D is English and insists on sitting next to at least one other English speaking person, and pat opposite the good looking H.
E is the only other English speaker in the group, but he wants to sit next to someone who knows Russian.
G agrees to sit next to F only on condition that the other side must have a French speaker.
C does not sit next to either of them.
C however, agrees to sit next to B, who is the only Bavarian in the group.
A will not sit next to a Russian or an English speaker.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
If you have 5 minutes...
What does one do with an empty day? Thank God for the opportunity and sit back with Coke and some phenomenal reads. Here they are, each one of them worth a read, but if u have time for just one, it would be this one (don't miss it) :
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126258063197814415.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
Prof Madhukar Shukla on An Invisible Revolution in India.
Here are the others:
http://www.hrbartender.com/2010/employee/opinion-surveys/ - Super for its simple, brief and spot on presentation.
And i loved this article for its one liners. Samples below the link:
http://www.bretlsimmons.com/2009-08/engagement-soup/
"Want to know if a tree is healthy? Look at the leaves and the fruit. These are indicators of the health of the tree. Just because we give our tree lots of fertilizer, water, and sunlight does NOT mean it is healthy. These are all very smart things to do, but they do not guarantee health, and the only way to evaluate health is to examine the tree and not its environment."
" correlation is not the same as causality. " - aah, the no of times one has banged one's head on that one point.
Appy reading, while moi moves on to the next link...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126258063197814415.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
Prof Madhukar Shukla on An Invisible Revolution in India.
Here are the others:
http://www.hrbartender.com/2010/employee/opinion-surveys/ - Super for its simple, brief and spot on presentation.
And i loved this article for its one liners. Samples below the link:
http://www.bretlsimmons.com/2009-08/engagement-soup/
"Want to know if a tree is healthy? Look at the leaves and the fruit. These are indicators of the health of the tree. Just because we give our tree lots of fertilizer, water, and sunlight does NOT mean it is healthy. These are all very smart things to do, but they do not guarantee health, and the only way to evaluate health is to examine the tree and not its environment."
" correlation is not the same as causality. " - aah, the no of times one has banged one's head on that one point.
Appy reading, while moi moves on to the next link...
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Rocket Singh - A Film Review
This film review did not come sooner because one's thoughts at the end of the film were very personal. The review comes now because one read that not many people are getting into the theaters to see the film. Word of mouth is now necessary.
Films are about story telling. For people like me, the existence of a "story" is critical to the existence of a film. So when a film comes along that really has a story, and a gripping one at that, told well and crisply, with no added songs for masala and no cosmetic love interest with little to do (the love interest still looks super cute though), one is quite impressed.
Though Shimit Amin has done the hugely popular Chak De India, i m more impressed with this script, because it is not overly simplistic.
Ranbir Singh, oops Kapoor, gets into the role so completely that you forget the actor and remember only the character. Sure, the casting is right, but that's still no mean feat for an actor.
Notable Mention must be made of Prem Chopra. As Ranbir's grandfather, he has a screen presence that is impossible to miss. You come away thinking of his character as much as the lead actor's character. When one sees these superlative actors on screen, one realises the meaning of "well simmered. mellow yet strong." They are a treat.
I will not go into the story, because that will spoil the surprise for the average viewer. But if you have drudged to that SME office, day after day, if you remember your first job, and if you have gone to office parties, you will identify with the film at some level. You will want to relive all that through Rocket Singh (no, the character is not actually called Rocket Singh, nor is he a super salesman. Thats the surprise element of the film.)
The editing is relative. Most places, the tightness of the film delights, and at other times, one wishes the editor had prevailed a bit more on the director. But one thing on which the film has got it all right, is the Art Direction. Not one wrong set, not one wrong color.. if you have ever been in such an office, you will know the setting rightaway. The big offices, the small offices, the houses, the outdoor locations.. everything! It was a pleasure to see no more dream sequences. :-)
In short, go watch the film. In a theater. This film is sooo worth it.
Films are about story telling. For people like me, the existence of a "story" is critical to the existence of a film. So when a film comes along that really has a story, and a gripping one at that, told well and crisply, with no added songs for masala and no cosmetic love interest with little to do (the love interest still looks super cute though), one is quite impressed.
Though Shimit Amin has done the hugely popular Chak De India, i m more impressed with this script, because it is not overly simplistic.
Ranbir Singh, oops Kapoor, gets into the role so completely that you forget the actor and remember only the character. Sure, the casting is right, but that's still no mean feat for an actor.
Notable Mention must be made of Prem Chopra. As Ranbir's grandfather, he has a screen presence that is impossible to miss. You come away thinking of his character as much as the lead actor's character. When one sees these superlative actors on screen, one realises the meaning of "well simmered. mellow yet strong." They are a treat.
I will not go into the story, because that will spoil the surprise for the average viewer. But if you have drudged to that SME office, day after day, if you remember your first job, and if you have gone to office parties, you will identify with the film at some level. You will want to relive all that through Rocket Singh (no, the character is not actually called Rocket Singh, nor is he a super salesman. Thats the surprise element of the film.)
The editing is relative. Most places, the tightness of the film delights, and at other times, one wishes the editor had prevailed a bit more on the director. But one thing on which the film has got it all right, is the Art Direction. Not one wrong set, not one wrong color.. if you have ever been in such an office, you will know the setting rightaway. The big offices, the small offices, the houses, the outdoor locations.. everything! It was a pleasure to see no more dream sequences. :-)
In short, go watch the film. In a theater. This film is sooo worth it.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Your Favorite poems tag..
So, which are your favorite poems?
Asked this question to a friend in Truth , and here is her answer:
1. Where the mind is without fear... Rabindranath Tagore
2. Home they brought her warrior dead - Tennyson
3. Main Parauna from my blog..(blush blush)
....
What's ur answer???
Asked this question to a friend in Truth , and here is her answer:
1. Where the mind is without fear... Rabindranath Tagore
2. Home they brought her warrior dead - Tennyson
3. Main Parauna from my blog..(blush blush)
....
What's ur answer???
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
River, My Guru - Aripirla Viswam
I picked up this book, self published by the author, at Walden, Hyderabad, on 5th April, 1995.
The poems were too sad to be published, but i personally rate it as one of the best books i have ever read. Over the next few posts, i will be posting poetry from this book. Hope you like it..
The moment
man think
Of answers
He is caught
In the nest of conceit
Woven with the fabrics of ignorance.
The journey of life
Is from Question to Question
From agony to agony
From experience to experience
For all of them
Are the Jewels in the Crown of Quest.
- From the title poem "River, My guru"
**********************************
The poems were too sad to be published, but i personally rate it as one of the best books i have ever read. Over the next few posts, i will be posting poetry from this book. Hope you like it..
The moment
man think
Of answers
He is caught
In the nest of conceit
Woven with the fabrics of ignorance.
The journey of life
Is from Question to Question
From agony to agony
From experience to experience
For all of them
Are the Jewels in the Crown of Quest.
- From the title poem "River, My guru"
**********************************
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Bhopal, India - Dec 2, 1984
That was a dark year for India.. and i was so caught up with the riots, that the Bhopal Gas Tragedy did not register as strongly as it should have. Until i read this post - today, and realised the sheer criminal stupidity of what has happened, and has been allowed to be condoned.
In India, we believe in the Law of Karma. Stories like this explain why our bureaucrats and politicians are always rich, and never happy, or healthy..
http://www.anindianmuslim.com/2009/12/horrors-of-bhopal-gas-tragedy-1984.html
In India, we believe in the Law of Karma. Stories like this explain why our bureaucrats and politicians are always rich, and never happy, or healthy..
http://www.anindianmuslim.com/2009/12/horrors-of-bhopal-gas-tragedy-1984.html
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