ROCK ON !!

Sometime back I saw a promo saying, “From the makers of Dil Chahta Hai” and yeah after watching it, I can easily say that they haven’t lowered their standards and were also up to the expectations of their audience…

Rock On is a movie not only about a Rock Band but also about relationships and friendships…

Abhishek Kapoor, the director as well as the story & screenplay writer has done a fantastic job. The story is unusual but at the same time very realistic, to which people can easily relate to, all the characters of the story were well defined. First half of the movie consists of many transitions from present to past and vice-versa but well written screenplay and editing helps you in not realising the same. One thing which I feel about the story is that people from metros / bigger cities will easily relate with it while people from smaller towns may not bond with it so easily…

Through this blog, I would like to ask Farhan Akhtar a question “How can 1 person be so talented; an intelligent director, successful producer, brilliant actor and an amazing singer?” Farhan performs excellently in all his 3 roles, acting, singing and dialogue writing. Songs have already become chartbusters and guys believe me; he’ll definitely give a fight to Imran Khan for Best Male Debut Award…

All the other characters were equally important in the movie and they all too did full to their specific roles.

Rock On’s music is very refreshing, youthful, different (with a touch of Rock music) and already ruling the charts. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy once again proved that they are one of the best in the industry and especially when it comes to experimentation; who would have allowed a new singer like Farhan to sing 6 out of 9 tracks of the album. Generally our Bollywood actors sing 1 or at max 2 songs but in this case hats off to the combo of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Farhan Akhtar.

Javed Akhtar, as usual have written mind blowing lyrics; one may not understand them when listening for the first time but after watching the movie you’ll definitely like it.

Another thing which I also liked is the use of the song, “Tum Ho Toh”. This is a romantic song but in the movie it has been used as friendship song and the placement of the song is so perfect that it fits the situation…

Overall Rock On is a good movie to watch… I'll give this flick 4 out of 5 stars...

ROCK ON!! definitely rocks...

Bachna Ae Haseeno

I'll give Bachna Ae Haseeno, 3 out of 5 stars...

Jaane Tu... ya jaane na

Jaane Tu… ya jaane na is a fun-filled, youthful and entertaining movie…

What actually took me to the theatre to watch this flick was its refreshing look, soulful music and some expectations from an Aamir Khan Productions. And believe me I now have many more reasons to watch it for the second time…

Debutante director and well known writer and lyricist, Abbas Tyrewala has done a good job in all his three roles… Although the story isn’t very different from normal love stories, when I say this I mean don’t expect this one to be an out-and-out a different movie like DCH, etc. I won’t be disclosing the story here, since I always believe that Movie Reviews aren’t meant for it… Other aspects of writing i.e. Screenplay and Dialogues have also been handled extremely well and are among the main reasons why this movie is liked so much. The dialogues are funny and one can easily relate to them in their day to day lives. It’s a light comedy movie but not a slapstick one…

One thing, which I personally liked in the movie, was that it’s entirely shot in Mumbai, except for one song. No grandeur sets or exotic locations, no designer wears or unnecessary accessories. Movie showcases its characters wearing clothes which normal people like them wear in their daily lives.

Music by A. R. Rehman is youthful and at the same time soulful. The lyrics, by Tyrewala himself, are written beautifully. Tracks like “Kabhi Kabhi Aditi” and “Pappu Can’t Dance” had become hits, even before the movie released; other songs like “Kahin To Hogi Ho” and “Jaane Tu Meri Kya Hai” also sounds soulful to our eardrums.

Now comes the part, for which many of you may be waiting i.e. how the actors have performed, especially Imran Khan, nephew of Aamir Khan, the perfectionist. Before coming to any particular actor, let me tell you that all the characters in the movie were well defined and every artist played their part well.

Imraan Khan has done a good job and if you consider that this was his debut film, then he has done a fabulous job. People might comment that this was a tailor made role for him, although it wasn’ t but if it was then too what’s the harm in it. He suits to the character similarly as Aamir was to QSQT and Hrithik to KNPH; he’ll surely become the heartthrob of the nation in days to come…

Genelia D’Souza has done a fantastic job , even better than Imran. Only after seeing the promos, my friends told me that she already had done few movies; but now after this one she too will become a known actress. Her facial expression and dialogue delivery was perfect. The movie is equally dependent upon her as it’s on Imraan, for its success.

Overall, Jaane Tu… is a light romantic comedy, which may remind you about your own friend circle, you might be relating characters of the movie with your near and dear ones… I’ll give Jaane Tu… ya jaane na, 4 out of 5 stars…

MTV Roadies 5.0

MTV Roadies 5.0 concluded 2 weeks ago, with Ashutosh Koushik becoming the 5th Roadie…

This season of Roadies began in Goa with 13 aspirants from across the country. Getting selected in Roadies auditions, after handling the torture done by Raghu Ram and Nikhil Chinapa in itself is a big deal… Hence, these contestants (names are in alphabetical order) of MTV Roadies 5.0 deserve to have their names on my blog:

• Ankita
• Ankita (Simran)
• Anmol
• Ashutosh
• Ayaz
• Nihal
• Prabhjot
• Shambhavi
• Snehashish
• Sonel
• Varun
• Vibhor
• Vikrant

I’ve following last 3 season of Roadies i.e. Season 3, 4 & 5 and thought that I know the format/rules of the show pretty well since reality shows generally don’t change their rules frequently… But as far as MTV Roadies is concerned, I feel proud in saying that “I was wrong.” You guys might be thinking that why I’m feeling proud? The answer is simple, this is one of my favorite TV shows and I enjoyed the current season as much as I enjoyed the earlier ones, as everything was unpredictable…

The 1st episode saw two of the participants being voted out… To watch the “Vote-outs” is the real fun in the Roadies… The Pressure, the Action, the Drama all are part of this reality show… Each episode was different from the previous one in some or the other manner… In the 5th season, the best part was the International exposure but what I really didn’t liked was more emphasis on personal decision’s rather than some activity…

Unlike my expectations, the final episode was not that great; especially at the last when Sonel chose the winner of Roadies 5... Atleast the winner shouldn’t be decided that way, Nihal did a better competition than that…

Anyways, I’m eagerly waiting for the next season of MTV Roadies…

IPL: May the best team win !!!

Today is the IPL finals and I’m to D.Y Patil stadium to watch the match…

But the important question is, whom should I support in today’s match???

Actually in the first season of IPL, I’ve already supported 4 teams out of 8... From the beginning, I was cheering and supporting for Kolkata Knight Riders. Once they were out from the race of semis I started supporting Mumbai Indians, don’t forget Mumbai is my Karmabhumi… After this, it was the turn of Delhi Daredevils but unfortunately they too lost in the semis… Yesterday, in the 2nd semi-final, I supported Kings XI Punjab and my track record continued too; they too lost in the semis…

Now while writing this post, I’ve decided that today I’ll not support any particular team in today’s match and only enjoy the game with my gang…

And I’m praying that the match should be rocking, exciting and May the best team win !!!

Happy Birthday Mummy !!!

A Very Happy Birthday to you Mummy...

If you would not having been with me, with all your love & support; I wouldn't have been to do anything in my life... Thanks for everything...

Indian News Channels: Quantity over Quality

Who says Indian news broadcast channels are not mature as their International counterparts? Even Indian channels know how to do their business, how to increase their TRP’s and also how to woo the advertisers, etc. These Indian news channels are not only earning the bread and butter for their owners; but also attaining their break-even points much faster than it was in the past…

But if we talk in terms of the content or the social responsibilities, then I definitely agree that Indian news channels are not as mature as their International counterparts. In fact, the word “mature” isn’t made for Indian news channel.

Actually there are 2 types of news channel in India: First is the Hindi News Channel and Second is the English News Channel. I’ve considered both Hindi and English News Channels as different categories since the quality of the content differ…

Let’s suppose you want to know the news and switch on some Hindi News Channel: No points in guessing what you actually get to see, something which most of us actually don’t consider a news item like “swarg ki seedhiyan (Steps to Heaven)” or “Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ne rakha vrat (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan does fasting on the occasion of Hindu festival)”, etc. Let me also some of the headlines from various of these channels, “Dada pade Sachin bhaari (Sachin’s team defeats Saourav’s Team) ” , “Train ke neeche ke baad bhi Kutta jeevit bacha (Dog is still alive even after coming under the moving Train)”, etc… None of the Hindi news channel shows, a single news regarding more important news like measures which should be used to curb inflation, US Presidential elections, Global warming, etc…

Hindi news channel are also following a pattern these days; when I say “pattern”, I meant to make a point that all these channels show similar news which had a good TRP’s in the past. Like when the incident of Prince falling in a boring well happened, it was something which most of the people saw for the first time , hence everyone was curious about the child; and now after every few weeks we see one more child falling in such wells… If some channels show a program featuring a story related to Ramayan or Mahabharta, then all the other news channels will soon show some related story… I don’t know which and when, one of the news channel started showing the program like “Vaardat” or “Aaj Aapka Din (How your day will be today)” but now we can find such programs on every Hindi News Channel. And how can I forget mentioning about the programs which showcases the items of the Laughter Champions and also about the various reality shows like Indian Idol, Voice of India, etc. And also how can I forget mentioning about Khalli – The WWE Fighter, he is the favorite news item for many of these Hindi News Channels…

The English News Channels here are not better but definitely show better quality programs than their Hindi counterparts… They too some masala news but those are mostly related to Bollywood or Cricket… But the best part is that they try to cover most of the important news too…

People might be interested in knowing about Abh-Ash wedding but are they also interested in knowing whether Aishwarya is observing a fats or not? People wanted to know about the status of children falling in boring-wells but for how long, are we really interested in viewing the Live Telecast from the venue? I agree that IPL (Indian Premier League) has become a big thing in the world of cricket and also lot of moolah is involved in it but has it become bigger than news like inflation, caste reservations, economy, etc which are of national interests?

I agree that these news channels are also showing such programs and stories since people watch it but I still believe that if any channel is considering a “News Channel” then please show some relevant news or else start promoting yourself as a “Page3 Channel” or some “Lifestyle Channel.”

Sometimes I really feel that Doordarshan’s National News is still the best in the country since in its half-an-hour duration it tries to cover the maximum news across the globe and from all the fields…

Why can’t these Indian news channels think of programs like which is actually for the betterment of the country and its people...

Tashan

Tashan: another hyped movie from Yashraj Films was released on last Friday.

Just to inform my readers, due to some differences between the distributors and the exhibitors, this movie was only released in single screen theatres across Mumbai and not in the multiplexes…

Tashan, like many other movies, was not upto the expectations of the audiences; primarily due to its storyline. On the technical front, it’s a decent effort but lack of a good story and direction will definitely disappoint the audiences. I will not disclose the story here, since I always believe that Movie reviews are not meant to tell the story of the movie…

The acting of all the 4 leading actors is ok types… Anil Kapoor’s character is of a don but somewhat similar to the character of Javed Jaffrey of Salaam Namaste fame; where he tries to speak English on every occasion… Initially we laughed at his dialogues but as the film progressed it was a bit irritating too… Also it was unbelievable for me, that a modern day don will use a water canon or a fire pipe to defeat his enemies… Overall, Anil hadn’t been used to fullest of his abilities…

Saif Ali Khan does an average job, nothing extraordinary in his acting too…

Kareena Kapoor is looking gorgeous in her zero-size figure… And she looks extremely sexy in the parrot-green colored bikini, which she wore in one of the scenes; definitely it’s a treat for all the men watching the movie… She does a decent job but don’t compare this one with her performance in Jab We Met…

Akshay Kumar is as usual brilliant in this movie too… His comic timing, facial expressions and dialogue delivery are awesome. He is one actor to look for, in Tashan… Almost all the audiences present in the theatre clapped at his entry…

The music is average type but definitely not what is actually expected out of a Yashraj movie… Few of its songs have picked up slowly… Like all the Yashraj movies, the song-dance sequences and exotic locales are worth watching… Cinematography and background score are good. The film makers tried to make this as an action flick and were also a bit successful in doing that except for the final action sequence, which, in the present day scenario, seems to be more of a comedy rather than an action sequence…

Overall Tashan was a one-time watch movie and not that bad as most of the critics have rated it… According to me, only 2 things which may bring audience to the theatres are the hype associated with the movie and Akshay Kumar’s mind-blowing performance… And no doubt, that this time Yashraj made a big mistake by not releasing this movie in the multiplexes, since it would have brought more audiences to the theatres and hence lesser amount of loss to them…

The director of the movie, Vijay Krishna Acharya will have to think something better next time, in order to woo the critics as well as the audiences… If, I’ve to rate this movie, I’ll give 2.5 on a scale of 5 (1.5 for the movie and an additional 1 point for Akshay’s performance)…

Qualified Politicians required...

Blogathon today’s topic “How do we change the focus of politics from caste/religion to grassroot issues?” is both provocative and controversial…

If you ask my opinion to the question mentioned above, my answer is very simple: there is no way to change the focus of our politicians, till they are ready to change themselves, their focus and way of thinking…

I might be sounding as a pessimist, although I’m not; but according to me, changing politics and the politicians is a difficult thing, especially in a country like India.

Recently, I was reading somewhere that according to the World Bank data, the condition of Primary Education is even worse than most of the African countries. Arjun Singh, Hon. HRD Minister, who should address the issues of primary education, etc in the country. But he had done nothing except for creating caste differences amongst the people by introducing the quota for OBC’s… I don’t know, why he can’t understand that if the children have proper education (both primary & secondary), most of them won’t require any sort of Quotas for getting into any college of higher education.

Although the conditions of these Politicians or Netas, as we call them in India are not good but then too we may try changing their focus from the caste and religion based issues (actually their vote bank politics since decades) to some other important ones… Few things which we may try doing are:-

· The most important thing for any citizen in India is to exercise our Voting Rights. Whenever election happens in our country, we always find that voting percentage in most of the constituencies is not more than 50%; this simply means that atleast 50% percent of us don’t vote. By voting, we may choose the right candidate, who may actually do something concrete for us.

· We should strictly avoid listening to and voting for Political Parties and Leaders who encourage or are involved in caste based or religion based politics. If we, the people of this country ignore them, then they will have to think on alternate issues for continuing their presence in politics…

· We must also introduce some guidelines to become a Politician such as minimum educational qualificatio background check, etc.

· According to me, more & more young and qualified people should be encouraged to come into politics. Young people will definitely think over issues related to our country and our people and not just about caste or religion vote banks. I also think a retirement age for them is also necessary, may not be 60 but it should be there. If our Constitution also allows young politician then why is it necessary for a person to have grey hairs before becoming a politician?

Why don’t these Politicians don’t understand that the most important need of the common people are proper education for their children, adequate healthcare facilities for their families at cheap rates, good infrastructure in the country, low inflation, food and items of daily usage at low rates etc and not the admission for some of the backward class people in some prestigious institutes…

It’s high time that we all should become more responsible towards our country and discourages these types of politicians, who have the history of taking advantage of common people on the basis of caste or religion… We are proud to be living in a Democratic country and let’s behave like that…

How can we improve the traffic condition in our city?

How can we improve the traffic condition in our city? It’s actually a million dollar question for the residents as well as the commuters in Mumbai…

Lets first discuss the situation of traffic in Mumbai, the Financial & Entertainment Capital of the country and also the city of dreams for many, including me… The traffic condition here in Mumbai is really pathetic and is getting worsened by every crossing day. Imagine the time one requires, to travel from Borivali to Bandra or Chembur to Goregaon and that too, if he/she is traveling in the peak hours then it will be like an added advantage disadvantage… State / Local Government may be trying to resole these problems, but having said that I would like to mention that till the time these solutions are in place, by then the condition will deteriorate more badly…

Lets analyze, why the traffic conditions are deteriorating, primarily because of our growing economy; as the economy grows, the citizens will become more rich thus buying more and more cars and two-wheelers… As the population of Mumbai is increasing, the government has to increase the number of buses, since BEST buses are one of the most used and preferred way of transport throughout the city and also the number of taxis and auto-rickshaws are increasing day by day, hence increasing the chaos in the city…

I lived in NCR for more than 4 years before moving to Mumbai; if we compare the traffic conditions of both these cities then NCR is far ahead in terms of having better traffic conditions than Mumbai… The conditions there are better, not because the people there have less number of vehicles or the people traveling from the buses are less… So what’s the reason behind the better conditions, the reason is simple: the government had managed the traffic good and also they had taken the necessary steps on time…

According to me, what exactly is needed in Mumbai to improve the traffic conditions are as follows:-

Ÿ Infrastructure is really the need of the hour… More flyovers, skywalks, dedicated bus lanes, Metro rail system, better local train systems, etc. I agree that government had already sanctioned 50 skywalks to be built in the city including in Thane and Kalyan, also the work for 2 Metro routes had already started but Mumbai doesn’t only need 2 Metro routes and 50 skywalks but lot more than that… Why can’t we think of building the Metro network across the city including the suburbs like Thane, Navi Mumbai, etc? If Delhi Metro is taking their routes to NOIDA and Ghaziabad, why can’t we replicate such a system in our city?

Ÿ The second step needed is better and timely execution of the ongoing projects. Projects should not cross their allotted deadlines. Project delays also cause lot of chaos and even till the time they keep going they worsen the traffic condition of the area. If people working in the private companies can match their deadlines, why can’t people working in these government project?

Ÿ More public-private partnerships are required in developing the necessary infrastructure. Private / Corporate involvement is necessary since those are the people, who know how to execute any project in a better way and in less time too.

More such steps could be taken, which may actually prove effective in improving the traffic condition of our beloved city - Mumbai.