Life Etc Etc

It's time to delve into the memory lane and remember a time when yours truly was a college fresher in his teens. It was a lazy weekday afternoon and I had no choice but to look forward to the Physics class which was up next on the schedule. Just when the class was about to begin my good friend Vikram burst in. " JJ come, we gotta participate in What's the Good Word Contest " " Vik What? What in the royal hell is What's the Good Word Contest? " " I don't know but we will know everything once we get there. " Although I wasn't in love with Physics I found no fun in flexing my brain muscles at some random contest either. But when you have a friend who is almost 4 inches taller than you are and broader in every sense of the word you don't have much of a say. Before I could say ' No ', Vikram had already dragged me out of the class. On my way out I muttered a feeble excuse to my Physics professor who glared at me as thou...

The Plot Aakash Oberoi ( Amit Sadh ) founder of the Pro Takedown MMA league is desperate to pump some life into his floundering promotion which is on the verge of closing down due to poor viewership. Aakash's father (veteran Parikshit Sahni ) cites the lack of homegrown talent as a reason for the league's failure ( Valid Point! ) and recommends Aakash to bring in Sultan ( Salman Khan ) a former world champion wrestler, to boost audience interest. ( Why not bring in a native MMA fighter instead of a wrestler? ) Aakash traces out Sultan only to find out that Sultan is  a shell of his former self and  is eking out a meager existence. Sultan summarily turns Aakash's offer down. Not one to give up Aakash approaches Sultan's best friend Govind ( Anant Vidhaat Sharma )  who lets him know of Sultan's past. ( Flashback Begins ) Sultan, a carefree bachelor ( Super Stars never age! ) falls madly in love with Aarfa ( Anushka Sharma ) an aspiring wrestler. Sultan immediatel...

" Jerry Burton arrives in Lymstock along with his sister to recover from a bad crash. The peaceful country side, the fresh air and the benevolent families of the village immediately take the brother-sister duo in. Everything seems rather idyllic and rather perfect until an anonymous letter arrives with a spiteful message. The nasty letter is quickly forgotten as a mischievous prank until Jerry discovers that people across the village have been receiving such slanderous letters. The anonymous letters soon become the talk of the town leaving everyone in a tailspin as to who this sick mind could be. Just when the letters are about to be dismissed as nothing more than a prank, the first victim falls. Before the community recovers another one goes down. As the body count rises, everyone's a suspect and anyone could be the next victim. It's a race against time for Jerry to stop the culprit as the next one to fall might well be his own. " The Moving Finger Now that...

Independence Day 2: Redundance. No, I didn't get the name wrong, the title exactly describes my opinion of this movie. I didn't want to follow my review of Te3n  with another movie review but I had to pen this entry after watching this ' 20 years in the making '  sequel of ' Independence Day '. 'Independence Day' was one of the favorite movies of my childhood. It was a throwback to the disaster movies of the 70s and was punctuated by fast paced action, colorful characters and a slick screenplay. The icing on the cake was an unbeatable antagonist who always seemed to be one step ahead of the heroes. Independence Day: Resurgence lacks the punch <Courtesy: 20th Century Studios > Twenty years on the machismo doesn't look as cool, the tempo doesn't rally and the bravado doesn't impress. A major reason for this is, you have already seen everything showcased in this movie a zillion times before and the movie reeks of cinematic redundance . ...

I always felt the movies which I watched with the least expectations were the ones I liked the most. Te3n once again confirmed my theory. The story of an old man hunting for the individual who cost his granddaughter's life could have been woefully depressing boring us (the audience) with its unending melancholy (Read Talaash ).  But fortunately Te3n's deft screenplay ensures the movie rumbles along at a brisk pace. So here are three things which make Te3n an engaging watch apart from the screenplay (read on there are no spoilers ahead): Te3n The Performances: Amitabh Bachchan , Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vidya Balan breathe life into their characters. Amitabh plays a feeble old man run down by the scars of time and punctuates his role with a steely resolve. Nawazuddin Siddiqui turns in a restrained performance as a cop turned priest while Vidya oozes toughness as a no non-sense police woman. They say great actors convey emotions through their eyes. Amitabh, Nawazu...

Wednesday, May 13th, 2015 started off like any other day. I was getting ready for the office when my phone rang. I picked up the phone to hear my good friend Raghu's voice. Raghu immediately announced " Buddy we have a meeting with Dr. Abdul Kalam today at 10 PM, in Raj Bhavan . You have to be there. " It took me more than a minute to assimilate everything that Raghu had just said. Somewhere something didn't seem right, how can two ordinary people meet up with The   Former   President of India just like that. I was instantly worried that this was a practical joke that somebody decided to play on both of us. Raghu for his part reassured me that this was a real invite  and urged me to not miss out on this date with destiny .  A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the legend <Courtesy: Dhristiias > The rest of the day passed away in a blur. I didn't let any one except my family members know about this chance meeting because I myself hadn't come to terms with what ...

Last Friday I finally got to watch the much hyped  Batman v Superman . As a long time follower of both Batman and Superman series of films, I was looking forward to a pulse pounding action adventure which would culminate with a once in a life time battle between two of the most (arguably) endearing protagonists of all time.  Instead I was treated to an insipid tale reeking of melancholy which dragged on for the better part of 3 hours. Now this is not a typical movie review, I wanted to write this piece up from a fan's perspective to address some of the maladies which seem to plague not only this movie but also practically every superhero movie that's coming out these days. So watch out spoilers ahead.   Batman vs Superman: A battle without the fizz <Courtesy: Yulia Matvienko > The first problem with this movie is its title. Yes you heard it right, the title which conjures up images of gigantic confrontations between its two lead players just doesn't live...