Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Life has its Hues


If you haven’t seen the movie and intend to, please do not read further.



When I saw the trailers of Rang de Basanti on tv, this particular scene appealed to me. Four men exuding so much freedom, running about like they give a damn to anybody else in the world. They looked free, they looked happy, they looked like they were filled with all the exhuberance of youth . They looked true. And I decided to watch the movie.
I wasn’t disappointed. The four friends were just what I thought they’d be – friends who lived for each other. Friends who died for each other. Friends who thought the world about each other. Friends who remained true not just to each other but to their dear pal who died fighting a lonely battle. I should actually be saying five friends as the four are joined by the person who probably ridiculed their friendship the most. But remained with them till the end.
Rang de Basanti is a beautiful movie. Beautiful from the start to the finish. The characters are convincing. Each one has celebrated life and patriotism in his own true way. Alice Patten as Sue touches your heart with her sincere desire to live her grandfather’s dream. Soha (Sonia) looks very endearing and innocent and is loved by all. Her friends dote on her. Kunal Kapoor as Aslam is more serious than the rest but believes in his share of fun despite protests from home. Athul Kulkarni is irreplaceable as Lakshman Pandey. Aamir Khan’s Dijje (as pronounced by mum Mitro) stands tall and true specially when he starts realising Sue’s dream and slowly falls in love with her. But the people who I found most endearing were Siddhart (Karan) and Sharmaan (Sukhi).
Sukhi is adorable. He’s like this joker of the group. He tries his best to make his friends laugh when they feel low. His famous last words that he’s still a virgin will surely make u smile despite yr moistened eyes.
Siddharth was fabulous. He looks like your boy next door and smiles at every joke with that coy boyish smile. But chances are, you will fall in love with Karan and adore him till the end.

Rang de Basanti has fun and seriousness beautifully superimposing each other. The boys are boys in their mirthful world- drinking, dancing and generally making merry- but mature convincingly into fuming, outraged patriots. And when they die, they are smiling, holding on to each other and being proud of what they did for their friend, their country. They become one in spirit with their martyrs who had gone to the grave not in silence, not screaming but with a proud and triumphant smile on their faces.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Pizza Treat

It had to happen. The Bihari cowboy from Melbourne has finally entered the ad world and is now endorsing the much sought after junk food brand. ‘Lights, Sax, Violins’, so he comically bellows, reminding us of the hilarious character he portrayed in Salaam Namaste with his atrocious English and his signature ‘Egjactly’. For me, however, the whole Pizza Hut ad is just a relief frm watching the sleazy Malaika who always makes me wonder whether she eats at all. ‘A treat you just can’t beat’ is also a better tagline than the erstwhile ‘Wanna get fresh?’ I just wanna go eat a pizza, as long as it’s fresh!
Javed or Malaika, a pizza does make my dil go ~~hmmm mmmm mmm ~~

Monday, January 23, 2006

Beach Blues


For all those who miss being thrashed by the whacking waves, here’s some news. B’lore has a beach!
Well, almost. Heard of Wonderla? They have this wave pool thing which simulates a beach for half an hour, every hour. Ofcourse, it’s nowhere close to the real thing. But what the heck. If u try convincing yrself that u have never smelt the mystifying sand on a beach and never enjoyed salt water caressing yr skin, u r surely gonna have a great time in the make-believe blue coloured beach.
I for one was thrilled to wade into the 2 feet deep pool which brought back memories of M’lore beaches. For someone whose feet were stroked by waves almost every weekend, the wave pool comes as a blessing!
There is this pool called lazy river. You just get into a life saver and laze arnd. Very few ppl come there. So we had the whole pool to ourselves. I guess ppl r not lazy these days..!
The other rides in Wonderla are also just as exciting. I'm not an adventurous person myself so I didn’t try the too-scary-looking rides :) but one ride I particularly liked was the‘dropzone’.
Wonderla gets a thumbs up frm me.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Fresh face



A couple of months ago, I watched the worst movie ever – Shaadi No. 1. Waste of (hubby’s) hard-earned 170 bucks, waste of three precious weekend hours (which usually make up a lazy afternoon) and generally, waste of space in the mind which cud have been used for inspirational thinking (duh?)
Anyway, the point is, when watching Shaadi no. 1, I was increasingly wondering what I’ve got myself into. Worse than the hackeyned story, the unimaginative jokes and the climax (if there ever was one) was the acting of almost all the heroes and heroines, except maybe Sharmaan Joshi who atleast brought a smile on my face a couple of times (I’m being liberal here). But amidst all this hodge podge, I cudn’t help noticing a pretty face, whose acting abilities I choose not to comment on. Soha Ali Khan. Her face has this freshness about it. It is not gorgeous. It is not exquisite. Nor is it exotic. But there is an element of innocence in her face that appealed to me. If there ever is an actor I forgive for the rubbish affair called Shaadi no. 1, it is Soha.
I do hope she works on her acting abilities and emulates her mother, the one and only beautiful Sharmila Tagore who has left an indelible mark in the chronicles of Bollywood. She and the rest of the actresses of that time had a distinctive charm about them which eludes the heroines of today. Let's hope their daughters cultivate this elegance.

Looking forward to Rang de Basanti. Watch this space.

Finally !!

I heard abt this blog thing abt 4 mnths ago. Happened to see a friend’s blog n all the good stuff he’d put on it. Was keen on creating one for myself n filling it with all kinda things that floated between my ears (gross?). Heard of procrastination? Well, I’m the Queen. And nope, Suhas is not the King. He is it’s sworn enemy!!!

Anyway, hope I can beat the P devil n jot down stuff on this one n only blog of mine. (Ok, I admit I created one a couple of months ago, but never bothered to remember the login name or password).

Cheers, readers! Wish u all a nice day and a nice read on mah blaag, henceforth.
Lotza best wishes,
Apy