wish to watch this someday - Aurora Borealis

Peepli Live

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.

I need a break, i guess, to clear my head off some lingering, unnecessary thoughts..maybe its time to backpack and go somewhere??

And Miles to go..

Sunrise @Kalavarahalli Betta - taken 2 years back.

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.

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!

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.

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!

Tips: If you are a sucker for winter sports(skiing, snowboarding, ice skating etc.), this place is highly recommended . The only drawback was the boating in Interlaken was closed and it was due to open in April. Make sure you do a prior hotel reservation as it can get very crowded leaving you with only options of the higher end hotels. We stayed at the Best western in Interlaken and it was very comfortable and convenient to walk around the town.

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!