Midnight in Paris

This movie has definitely reinforced my love for Woody Allen movies. Such a beautiful movie, so wonderfully told. Each scene is like a beautiful poem and if you don't feel like visiting Paris at the end of it, something is terribly wrong somewhere!
Note- Just make sure you brush up your English literature before you watch the movie.. that should make it more enjoyable

Unfulfilled love..

Spoiler alert- the below post may give away the most important part of the movie "Ekk deewana tha". So if you haven't watched the movie and if you are planning to do so, please stop right here. Also, this is not a review of the movie.

Having watched "Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya" umpteen number of times for its simplicity in story-telling and also for its charm, i expected the same from its hindi counterpart "Ekk deewana tha". I was a tad disappointed and for a long time, i was wondering what went wrong(no, i am not talking about acting skills here!). The ending of the movie was revamped to "suit"  the Hindi audience. The lovers end up together which is a happy thing of course..only thing the impact seemed much less. Through the course of 2 and 1/2 hours, you are made to believe that they are never going to get together with all the differences in their attitude, religion,families etc. and when they finally make it, you are left to wonder what was the movie about..if the girl really ends up going against the family in the end, she might have as well done it before(could have saved a lot of time and patience!). I begin to understand why the tamil one was more successful. Apart from the realistic approach in the movie, it definitely strikes a chord in the end. You feel for the protagonist when his relationship fails, you feel his pain, you are angry with the girl for leaving him nowhere, you wonder why he still loves her. Well, sometimes(only sometimes) unfulfilled love gets more credit(lack of a better word!) than the successful ones. Take for instance, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Had they gotten together in the end, would they still be remembered today and referred in every other love story or even closer home, Devdas , the epitome of break-ups, i am sure his story would have been a normal one otherwise(only fictional stories please!). With that inference in mind, i think "Ekk deewana tha" failed for me not even 'Aaromale' could save it.. call me a sadist if you want to :)

flower power

I wish i were you

bright and chirpy

moist with dew,

swaying in the breeze

with the birds and the bees

and a smell so sweet

to beat this summer heat!! 

life like a browser..

wish life was as simple as a browser...
where a new tab means an alternative,
where an address changes by the minute,
where a single click clears your history,
and an incognito window maintains the mystery!

wish life was as simple as a browser...
where you bookmark your favorites
and call them when you like,
and when you are stuck up,
just press the Ctrl+ F4!

Those were the days...

...when 2 Doordarshan channels were all it took to keep us away from boredom,
...when a sand pit and gang of friends were considered the most awesome,
...when the tinkles and archies were preserved like the holy grail,
...and letters were the only form of mail!

These days...
...even a 100 channels wouldn't suffice,
...playing in a sand pit, i would think twice,
...a Kindle is held in a higher regard,
...and its been years since i even saw a postcard!!

None

Have you ever felt direction-less in life.. like your life is going nowhere and you are stuck in an infinite loop and it is beginning to look like repeat telecasts of a boring show? The television series "Friends" title track best describes this situation- "Its like you are always stuck in second gear..and it hasn't been your day, your month or even your year..". what do you do then?

Revolution 2020

finally took some time off to post my thoughts on the latest Chetan bhagat book..I bought it on the first day of its release!I hadn't even heard or read anything about this book as i just happened to see it in a bookstore that day.so i read it with the least amount of expectations i must say!
As all his books, this book too was a breeze to read..since the language he uses is so "common man" types. Usually, Chetan has a central theme in his books and this book's was broadly the educational system in India. He did a good take on this, initially, talking about all the coaching centres, competitive exams, pressure on the students etc. Setting the story in an environment like Varanasi ,i thought was good, as he rightfully portrayed the mindset of people from the small towns or villages where they would really do anything to ensure that their sons earn that "B.E" degree. But somewhere the whole point is lost as the focus shifts to love.After a point, it is more of a hapless maniac trying to gain attention from his ever-confused girlfriend. Talking about the girl, Aarthi, i have never seen Chetan characterize a girl so dumb like her before. She seems ever confused with what she wants from life or a partner. Sometimes, she just gets on your nerves. Some parts of the book sounded a little far fetched too. Raghav's portrayal was good but required more depth. The ending seemed a little lame and quite filmy(I have seen such stuff in probably 'n' bollywood movies).
Pros - Chetan's language, bringing out the educational system in India, showing how corruption has reached every walk of life, some parts/lines which make you think and go like 'that is so very true'. This happens with most of his books.