Very few films in Bollywood actually portray reality without mincing words. Likewise, 'Peepli live' takes a direct dig at politicians, media and in general, attitude of the people who turn a sensitive issue like a farmer's suicide into a huge circus!
The movie begins at a slow pace, setting the context in a poor farmers' family trying to make ends meet, with indian ocean crooning des mera rang rez in the background. The dialogues between the protagonist Nattha and his brother are hilarious so much so that the seriousness of nattha wanting to commit suicide gets diluted. The portrayal of media turning everything into breaking news is brilliant (especially the saif-kareena part!). The attitude of politicians has been well captured, quite bold too.(where one of them actually says 'you just need to make tall claims..you needn't actually implement the scheme!'). The movie begins to falter in the second half with some repetitive scenes. Throughout the film, acting was brilliant; they all seemed apt for their roles. Though the theme was sensitive, emotional quotient were really low. while watching the movie, i thought the end was very shallow. But thinking over it again, i couldn't think of a better ending..
Not a theatre watch! it can be watched in a DVD.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Raavanan
Not exactly a movie review!!
I was really excited to watch this movie ..mani ratnam-rahman combo and to top it, vikram! After hearing the initial reviews, i was midly disappointed so i went to watch it with least expectations and i am glad for that. There is nothing great about the plot-agreed..but just the way the whole movie is picturized is so beautiful, that all you can do is gape at the screen(full marks to santhosh sivan for that). The first half was slow with scenes which i felt a little repetitive but again the cinematography will keep you from straying away.Vikram just carried the film on his shoulders. I cant imagine anybody else doing his part. The way he has portrayed various shades in his character is mind-blowing(watch out for the scene when he sets off a series of bombs with prithiviraj staring at him in the background..just brilliant). If your definition of a hero is - good looks, well built, awesome acting and amazing screen presence, then vikram is your guy in this movie. Prithiviraj shines in his good-bad role too..tried to make most of it, i would say! Well, Aishwarya just about makes her presence felt on the screen. But definitely i would rate her much better here than her past movies.
I can totally understand why this movie has not been well-received by the hindi audience because they cannot relate to the entire concept\plot(the tribe, the way they live etc.). This concept has been taken up earlier in tamil cinema so its not really out of place here.
I haven't written about the story here for its up to you to go and enjoy it(not that its a great murder mystery or something)!
Rahman's music is marvellous! he never lets you down no matter what. The background score too matched the movie's pace.
Overall, i wouldnt mark this movie as a fantastic, mind-blowing movie but its definitely worth a watch. Not the usual mani ratnam ones which you can watch umpteen number of times.
I was really excited to watch this movie ..mani ratnam-rahman combo and to top it, vikram! After hearing the initial reviews, i was midly disappointed so i went to watch it with least expectations and i am glad for that. There is nothing great about the plot-agreed..but just the way the whole movie is picturized is so beautiful, that all you can do is gape at the screen(full marks to santhosh sivan for that). The first half was slow with scenes which i felt a little repetitive but again the cinematography will keep you from straying away.Vikram just carried the film on his shoulders. I cant imagine anybody else doing his part. The way he has portrayed various shades in his character is mind-blowing(watch out for the scene when he sets off a series of bombs with prithiviraj staring at him in the background..just brilliant). If your definition of a hero is - good looks, well built, awesome acting and amazing screen presence, then vikram is your guy in this movie. Prithiviraj shines in his good-bad role too..tried to make most of it, i would say! Well, Aishwarya just about makes her presence felt on the screen. But definitely i would rate her much better here than her past movies.
I can totally understand why this movie has not been well-received by the hindi audience because they cannot relate to the entire concept\plot(the tribe, the way they live etc.). This concept has been taken up earlier in tamil cinema so its not really out of place here.
I haven't written about the story here for its up to you to go and enjoy it(not that its a great murder mystery or something)!
Rahman's music is marvellous! he never lets you down no matter what. The background score too matched the movie's pace.
Overall, i wouldnt mark this movie as a fantastic, mind-blowing movie but its definitely worth a watch. Not the usual mani ratnam ones which you can watch umpteen number of times.
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Kite Runner
one of the best books i have ever read...brilliantly written. i can say the only book for which i cried! i dont even feel like writing a review for it. I strongly recommend that you guys read it!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Scintillating Switzerland
Finally...a place which i have only dreamt about, a place which i have seen only in romcom movies, a place which i couldn't go to 3 years back because i needed a separate visa. I am really glad i made this trip happen. we started planning 2-3 weeks before i even came to Germany. Only thing i did after coming here, was to go and book my train tickets. I was traveling long distance for the first time in Germany but the public transport system is so damn good here that you hardly have anything to complain about. Within 5 hrs, i was in Berne and from there, we took our train to Interlaken and switched to the mountain train. The route from Interlaken to Jungfraujoch is the most scenic ever i have seen! Alps, as expected, was covered with snow knee deep. People thought i was mad when i told them i am going to see Alps during peak winter :-). Surprisingly, it was bright and sunny giving a clear visibility.
Things you must take(for winter) - thick woollen clothing, snow boots/shoes with a good grip, gloves(a must!), a small backpack to ensure you travel light and a loaded camera of course!
For more details on the tickets, visit http://www.raileurope.com/activities/jungfraujoch/index.html. You dont really require prior train booking and the mountain trains are pretty frequent(i think it was every half an hour).
It took us close to 3 hrs to reach Jungfraujoch considering the slope and with multiple changes in between. Jungfraujoch is famously called as the top of Europe (the highest point reachable by man in Europe).
After a few hours and a zillion snaps , we headed back and went to the glacier cave which had ice sculptures. It was very tricky to walk in this place. I had a nice fall here(luckily no injuries :-)).we then took the train to head back to Grindelwald where there was a world snow festival. Many countries had displayed snow sculptures out of which i thought Russia was the best(posted below) .
After a nice walk around this place, we spent the night at Interlaken. I guess a lot of indians frequent switz very often as i was surprised to see peene ka pani written in hindi in the hotel room! The next morning, we had planned to go for boating in one of the lakes surrounding Interlaken but unfortunately it was closed due to end of season. Well then, we decided to try our luck at a different route in the Alps. We went to lauterbrunnen valley and from there took a cable car to Murren. Murren is a more beautiful place with lesser crowds than its more famous counterpart Jungfraujoch. The view of the valley is just gorgeous from here.
With snow on the roofs,smoke coming out of the chimney, cute little windows, tiny dolls in their balconies and beautiful arches in the pathway,the wooden houses look beautiful against the gorgeous backdrop of the Alps..very dream-like. After a heavy meal, we decided to walk down the valley. The path was filled with snow and was along the train line and at some points, was covered with a lot of snow. It was great fun. The walk was definitely one of the best things in the trip. It took us around 1 hr to reach Winteregg from where we had to take cable car back.
We got some amazing views from the cable car as we went downhill(you have to see them for yourself to believe it!). Some pictures below.
After this, we reached Interlaken and then boarded the train back to Berne from where i had to get back to Germany. Well, end of it all, i was still amazed at the beauty of swiss and definitely was lucky to have amazing weather just for the weekend. It is a skier's paradise, photographer's delight. Its almost like the mountains give beautiful poses wearing different dresses according to the seasons and you get so confused which angle and dress would suit her the best. Now i know why it is still the most preferred destination around the world. Totally worth every single penny i spent!
Things you must take(for winter) - thick woollen clothing, snow boots/shoes with a good grip, gloves(a must!), a small backpack to ensure you travel light and a loaded camera of course!
For more details on the tickets, visit http://www.raileurope.com/activities/jungfraujoch/index.html. You dont really require prior train booking and the mountain trains are pretty frequent(i think it was every half an hour).
PS:You are free to re-share/use these images for personal use but do drop in a mail to me or comment on this post. Thanks a bunch!
Monday, January 25, 2010
An evening to remember..
I love fridays...nothing like an enjoyable Friday to start the weekend.So when we decided to visit titanic museum in the local town(http://www.titanicausstellung.de/ ), i was curious and excited at the same time. It took us around 1 and 1/2 hours to complete the entire museum and the guided tour was pretty good, i must say.
They had around 150 artifacts to display- some of which belonged to the people who traveled in it and some from the ship itself. They had larger than life pictures to portray the magnitude of the ship and the disaster which occurred to it... The largest model of the ship ever built, largest model of the sunk titanic, a recreation of one of its propeller, the inside story of the life boats and stories of some of the people who perished and also who survived..the best part of all these was an iceberg of sorts which must have been around 8 ft wide and 4 ft tall..to give people a real experience of how cold it would been in the Atlantic, we were asked to touch the berg for about 2 minutes :-)
All along, i could only imagine Di caprio and Kate winslet...talk about the impact of the movie! I was only slightly disappointed when there was not much information on Captain Smith..apart from this was supposedly his last voyage after which he was to retire. At the end of it, i wished i was part of the ship just to experience the whole thing..and also not :-)
Well..that was that. after the museum, we rushed to see ballet in a closeby theater. It was already full and we just managed to get a place to stand. All along i thought it was the real performance and it actually turned out to be a rehearsal rather they were still learning/choreographing! I was little surprised to know that even a rehearsal attracted so much attention...soon, i knew the reason.
It started with the choreographer giving a small introduction to the theme which was a fairytale of sorts where the guy and girl, in love, are put into prison and somehow they manage to escape and get together...the girl, who was the prima ballerina, is one of the most beautiful girls i have ever seen i think. She was italian with very sharp features- olive green eyes, neat hair and a damn flexible body. she could touch her head with her feet! Her partner was American -slim and well built. Together they made a very beautiful couple. They danced,swayed and swirled so beautifully that i don't think i can capture it in words. Standing there, i was quite speechless at their performance and also their grasping power. Their master just told them once what they were supposed to do..he dint even dance and show...and there...a few minutes later, the couple danced exactly the way the master wanted..with beautiful expressions and elegance beyond par. The audience was enthralled for an hour and a half. The rehearsal ended with a standing ovation which lasted for about 5 minutes. Going back, i was happy and content with the way the evening ended. A perfect start for the adventurous weekend ahead!
They had around 150 artifacts to display- some of which belonged to the people who traveled in it and some from the ship itself. They had larger than life pictures to portray the magnitude of the ship and the disaster which occurred to it... The largest model of the ship ever built, largest model of the sunk titanic, a recreation of one of its propeller, the inside story of the life boats and stories of some of the people who perished and also who survived..the best part of all these was an iceberg of sorts which must have been around 8 ft wide and 4 ft tall..to give people a real experience of how cold it would been in the Atlantic, we were asked to touch the berg for about 2 minutes :-)
All along, i could only imagine Di caprio and Kate winslet...talk about the impact of the movie! I was only slightly disappointed when there was not much information on Captain Smith..apart from this was supposedly his last voyage after which he was to retire. At the end of it, i wished i was part of the ship just to experience the whole thing..and also not :-)
Well..that was that. after the museum, we rushed to see ballet in a closeby theater. It was already full and we just managed to get a place to stand. All along i thought it was the real performance and it actually turned out to be a rehearsal rather they were still learning/choreographing! I was little surprised to know that even a rehearsal attracted so much attention...soon, i knew the reason.
It started with the choreographer giving a small introduction to the theme which was a fairytale of sorts where the guy and girl, in love, are put into prison and somehow they manage to escape and get together...the girl, who was the prima ballerina, is one of the most beautiful girls i have ever seen i think. She was italian with very sharp features- olive green eyes, neat hair and a damn flexible body. she could touch her head with her feet! Her partner was American -slim and well built. Together they made a very beautiful couple. They danced,swayed and swirled so beautifully that i don't think i can capture it in words. Standing there, i was quite speechless at their performance and also their grasping power. Their master just told them once what they were supposed to do..he dint even dance and show...and there...a few minutes later, the couple danced exactly the way the master wanted..with beautiful expressions and elegance beyond par. The audience was enthralled for an hour and a half. The rehearsal ended with a standing ovation which lasted for about 5 minutes. Going back, i was happy and content with the way the evening ended. A perfect start for the adventurous weekend ahead!
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