My Rating : **

Directed by Karan Johar

Produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Gauri Khan

Written by
Story and Screenplay: Shibani Bathija

Dialogues:  Shibani Bathija,Niranjan Iyengar

Starring  : Shahrukh Khan, Kajol

Music by : Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Cinematography : Ravi K. Chandran

Editing by : Deepa Bhatia
Distributed by : Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release date(s) :  12 February 2010 (global)[1]
Running time : 161 minutes [1]

Review

Well watched My Name is Khan finally. Out of curiosity, I thought what it was that stirred so much interest and publicity to have such a ruckus.. Much Ado about nothing I would say.  But well lets admit, it generate the initial interest to go and watch the movie.. like it or not.

A few minutes into the movie and you cannot help up bring up comparison of great movies like Forrest Gump and then bits of Rain Man and then more of Forrest Gump and then so many more of Adam.

Trust Karan Johar to make a Kichdi of all of it and make a movie.. I mean I was laughing to myself.. and thinking, how easy it is to sometimes sell stuff…. but being inspired is fine as long as the inspiration gives of originality and not scene to scene takes from other movies.

As a whole, the movie had its moments and I am going to elaborate what touched me. But it could have been weaved better. Shahrukh Khan as an actor was trying to add texture to his characted and he succeeded to a certain extent but well only to a certain extent. Cannot blame him if Karan Johar had a certain bit on his mind and the film will shape as per the director’s ideas right.

What I liked in the movie.

Shahrukh’s interaction with Kajol. That was the best part.  The young Shahrukh also did touch my emotional sliders..

I think I also liked his interaction with the kid. It was quite touching. Some moments were painful but that was well played and it did reach me. But thats it.

I loved the music.

I appreciate SRK trying something new.. but work on the story first next time.. it would go a long way..

What spoiled the movie for me :

I did not get the hurricane in Wilhelmina and then the hero walking all over US being intact and clean shaven.

Did not get how a hurricane in Wilhelmina could show striped mattresses which you can get in the local shops. I have not seen them mattresses in the US.. hahahaha !! It was too silly and it took me off the moment.. LOL..

Anyway, all that was unecessary.

The whole political hullabaloo was not well stitched. It was kind of fragmented.. Did not enjoy it

Walking is fine but where was he walking to and from.. show a map or something.. suddenly you say I am here and I am going there.. I mean .. it did not work for me..probably because I was comparing… it just shows that he is walking and he is clean and well I have to assume that Shahrukh cannot grow a beard and do without make up even under trying circumstances.The only time when he was unclean was when he was repairing the car and that too the grease looked wiped on..

As a whole, there were many disjointed.. ends which kind of did not do the magic for me..

I would say, you will like it if you have not see any of the movies that it was inspired from. And if you did, please forget it and do not compare scenes and movies..

So well, that’s that.. I think we do have brains to do some original movies with some messages for us .. Aamir is doing it.. why cant others..

But then thats ME..

You go and watch it and you might enjoy it thoroughly.

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Ad Rant :

The Nirma Ad is something which is getting to me.. the women swishing the sarees, the girl dancing, all looked nice… but giving a lesson to the dirt puddle.. Downright silly.. GAHHHHHHHHH

Where has all the creativity gone ?

Angels and Demons ( The holiest event of our time. Perfect for their return.) **

Movie Details : Mystery, Drama, Thriller

Starring : Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor

Release Date : May 29, 2009

Writers : Dan Brown

Screenplay : David Koepp,  Akiva Goldsman

Producer : Brian Grazer
Music : Hans Zimmer
Cinematography : Salvatore Totino

Runtime : 138 minutes
Director : Ron Howard

Website: http://www.angelsanddemons.com/

Review

I liked the preceeding movie, Da Vinci Code and was actually looking forward to this movie.  I must admit that since I have watched the movies, I have not yet read the books for the very reason that books and movies are always far apart in terms of what actually the book showcases and what the movie wants to cash in.

So well, off we went to our old time theatre Rex in Bangalore and got stall tickets. Reminded me of the good old days. The acoustics of the hall were not all that great. So well I missed out on some of the important dialouges. I have to watch it again. But I did understand what was happenning and could follow it. However, I am a fact freak so was a bit miffed at not catching some important parts.

Well anyways, as far as the movie goes, I thought it had too many stories within stories and one had to follow what was being shown minutely. In some areas it was very predictable. In fact the whole climax was predictable right from 20 minutes into the movie or earlier. But the fun was to confirm the same. If one gets into the plot, its quite easy to get to the end without much dilly dallying but if you are watching it casually without much thought or logic then you might find the whole script pretty gripping.

One aspect which I found pretty irritating was that there were too many running around scenes. At a time it seemed that the eyes were just following the cast around in cars and in different churches without much of a goal. The suspense points were short and not very well utilised to give that air of waiting to the audience.

I lost interest in between until there was some script explaining the situation. And that too it was so fast and without much of a pause to assimilate the facts or the storyline around it.

So for me it went in a blur leaving me wanted for a more gripping storyline or a tighter editing.

After a while it also seemed like Discovery Travel and Living Channel showcasing Rome. LOL.

There were so many places where the movie could have used the suspense mode and explored it more to keep the audience at the edge of their seats.

Star Trek ( The future begins.) ****

Movie Details : Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Starring : Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood, Leonard Nimoy

Release Date : May 7, 2009

Producer : J. J. Abrams
Music :    Michael Giacchino
Cinematography : Daniel Mindel

Runtime : 127 min
Director: J. J. Abrams

Writers – Screenplay: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Characters: Gene Roddenberry

Website: http://www.startrekmovie.com/

Review

Needless to say, I loved the movie. We watched it in the newly refurbished theatre. One of our fav ones. Tickets were cheap as well.  I loved the visuals, the editing, and the innate ability to almost make the heart miss a beat. Even though you would know who would end, there was this knife of thrill just making you come forward and almost get into the story.

Having said that, I found Spock and Ahora romance to be something I could ignore. I was waiting to see what was happening next.

The TV series was alao well made. This movie has outdone itself. Loved the clean sequences of the characters and also the equal spacing of the characters in terms of role and delivery.

Or maybe I am just a abiased Star Trek Fan.

Well if you liked the series and have grown up with it like I did, you will love it. I dont know about the people who have been introduced to it for the first time.

Heck !  just go and watch it.

Till Later…. Ciao.. Looking forward to the movies that are coming up.

Movie Details Drama

Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Om Puri, Waheeda Rahman,  Rishi Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni
Divya Dutta, Deepak Dobriyal, Cyrus Sahukar

Release Date February 20, 2009

Screenwriter
Producer Ronnie Screwvala
Music A.R. Rahman
Cinematography Binod Pradhan

Runtime 138 minutes
Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Writers Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Prasoon Joshi, Kamlesh Pandey

Website http://www.delhi6.co.in/

Review

The first few minutes into the movie and I am thinking : PSYCHEDELIC

It takes you from normal to very high powered activity and then some dull moments and then a thoughtful climax.

I think people who are very close to Delhi and know Delhi very well will find a connection with the movie. But the social message with the inimitable brand of Indian humor will not go un-noticed.

You will be blasted with the musical and theatrical display of the characters, sometimes it would be too much. I liked it as I like musicals of any kind. But I could see that many did not.

So anyway,  the story could be woven from someone’s daily life and the first half of the story makes you think where is it leading upto ? Is it a la Nukkad ( an old TV serial ) or Ek Chaabi Hai Pados mein ( another TV serial on the same lines) but then as we move with the characters and the story, its like looking inside ourselves and that too not so comfortably.  I liked the way it went from silly to really serious. It was a magnified and a detructive form of Cinese Whisper game where religion, politics, superstitions and whole social framework gets exploited into this grizzly drama where no one is recognizable. Only our fear and guilt rules. But like the law of nature, the flip side of the coin also is shown where the result of this outburst also removes all layers and ilusions and forces us to face the fact that we could be led anywhere and its our choice as to what and where we want to be. Also the fact that we do not need to be outside the system to make the system work. We need to do it from inside and it starts from us individuals. I like the message that inspite of everything India Works !!!

So maybe the movie has too much of music. You might not have the patience for it if you do not enjoy plays or nautankis. But otherwise, its cool. I love all the songs. The Genda Phool song is stuck to my head.

Characters are very well placed. I liked the fact that each character has a story for you to weave. I love the sense of humor in very droll scenes.

Romance between Abhishek and Sonam : ZILCH

I don’t know if it was deliberate or the movie was trying to be subtle about the romantic angle. I thought it was too subtle and was invisible.

Anyway if you want to read about the music check this

I would also recommend this review. I liked the way it was written. I felt that she connected with the story well.

Valkyrie ** (Many saw evil. They dared to stop it.)

Movie Details Drama

Release date December 25, 2008 (US)

Starring Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Carice van Houten, Eddie Izzard
Terence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson
Music John Ottman
Cinematography Newton Thomas Sigel
Editing John Ottman
Distributed MGM

Running time 120 min
Director Bryan Singer
Writer Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander
Producer Christopher McQuarrie, Bryan Singer, Gilbert Adler

Review

Well, having seen some good true stories made like Schindler’s List and I did expect some good watch time.. but then this movie has been predictable and somewhat boring to the end.

It was as if you could walk through the script and even predict who will do what..

Mind you, I did not know the story of Stauffenberg in detail. However, I remember some mention of it in the mini series by Hitler.

I did think that the cinematography was good and the editing was also decent. But I would expect that the writer would keep you on the edge of the story given how explosive the plot was.

There were many scenes where the emotion and the suspense could have been explored further to keep the audience thrilled. But then it just did not work for me.

Maybe it will work for you. 

Pink Panther 2 ** ( Inspect the unexpected)

Movie Details Adventure | Comedy | Family | Mystery

Release date 6 February 2009 (USA)

Starring Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina, Emily Mortimer, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Andy García, Yuki Matsuzaki, Johnny Halliday

Running time 92 min

Producer Robert Simonds
Writer Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber

Director Harald Zwart

Review

This movie had a mixed reaction from me. Steve Martin is funny but not great. I did like the Pink Panther 1 better though. The entry of Ash just did not add that zing which you can feel when a slinky character comes in. Someone like Uma Thurman or like Catherine Zeta Zones. She only made the movie droller, if possible.

I still maintain that there are very few sequels that have held the same power as the main story. Like most sequels, it did fall flat.  There are moments of humor but then we have seen that before and it was no longer as funny as to have a good laugh.

Watch it in the DVD or watch the first one if you have not seen it already. You might enjoy that.

A very forgettable movie !

I think its safe to say that you will not miss something big if you do not watch this movie. It was totally weird movie. Felt like I was watching an amateur director doing a documentary or something.. I dont even know how to peg this.

The music is awesome though.. because I like Usha Uthup and well thats the only grace of that movie.

Did not like the voice overs of the cast. Jaya B was the only one who could bring out whatever little emotion that was needed. The rest of the cast was well.. just there..

I am sorry but this movie had a good story for it to weave itself into the audience’s heart if directed well.
But it just felt flat.. I might be wrong but when dealing with emotional topics, its very important to get the emotion right.. and the build up to the climax needs to be carefully worked on.

Well the less said about the movie the better..

On a different note :

Its been a while since I had some addictions… besides work. It feels good to do other tasks and projects.. which I had in my wish list. Impending New home is pushing me to get going with craft projects.. Pot painting, Stitching, etc.. its going slow since there are so many other things to do but I think its worth whatever little time I am spending on this..

Here is a peek at my latest project.. I love this woman looking outside. Its as if she is pausing for a breath contemplating her day before she steps outside.. it is like a moment captured.. before one gets drawn into all the cohesive chaos of obligations and perforation.

At present I love the freedom of online expression.. was really bugged with me being tracked by people around me and being judged for what I wrote.. Now well, after a hiatus, I really do not care.. its up and its my thoughts… I feel free and relieved.. I could almost think.. just like the old days.. when blogs were sacrosanct medium to express what we felt..

Have known and unknown lots of people.. and somewhere my blog became the bane of my existence and it took quite an effort to not write what I thought.. and today, though that aspect is still there, I do think that its important that I do not lose the “ME” warts and all. One cannot get along with the whole damn world. One has to live inspite of all that.

So displeasure and stalking aside.. I feel pretty confident in my space. Ha ha ha !!

So am holding on to that thought.. for today… and hoping for many new sunrises..

Love reading the new blogs that have come up. So many thoughts.. so many connections.. its just unbelievable.. Most of the old bloggers I liked have stopped but heck I am glad to be reading new ones..

Till next time, a prayer on a flute.. for your senses..