Monday, December 29, 2008

Ghajini - An Honest Review

Why did they name the movie after the villain beats me. Especially a villain who is quite simply the regular ‘black’ bad character appearing in most Hindi films – if it was someone like Sir Anthony Hopkins in the ‘Silence of the Lambs’ I could have appreciated the reason for naming the film after someone so fascinatingly cruel that it boggles the mind for days afterwards.
Moving on to the protagonist, Aamir Khan is charming BUT that’s where it ends for me. His clothes in the songs make him look like someone who dances monkeys for a living. He wears a linen trouser with an open shirt to show off his six-pack, a dupatta wrapped around his neck – seriously, I would love to use the same dupatta to strangle the costume designer who even messed up the corporate look.
Bollywood, you have no clue about the corporate world or its culture and it really comes through. When Aamir is introduced as the CEO of Air Cell mobile company, he enters the frame wearing a short sleeve shirt rolled even shorter – making him look like an undertaker or a wrestler in his formal best. He always has 3 cars following him even as he wishes to take a leak. He sends his company’s top honchos to persuade a woman to place their company’s billboard on her rooftop – and guess what, at first, they don’t even bother to find out if it’s really her home or not (that part comes in later).
What CEO goes from place to place short listing sites for hoardings? It does show him as a proactive guy, but I’m guessing he should have much important matters to attend to and not waste his time on a recce. You have qualified people to handle your advertising space.
Then comes Aamir’s speech at the office – it’s a motivational speech with no clue as to what direction the company should take in terms of future growth. I’m not expecting a whole deep dive into telecommunications technology, but a few words here and there to make me feel that the director doesn’t feel his audience is stupid and he actually bothered to do additional research would have been really appreciated. All this really distracted me from buying into the story for believing in the story. No I didn’t 100% connect to it unlike RDB.
Aamir’s acting was undoubtedly very good. The action, his animal-like anger and his show of power were scenes to watch out for. Asin’s character too was sweet and believable. She was like a much needed breath of fresh air.
In the 2nd half, the film finally got rolling as we get to the 2nd part of his love story. It did have its moments there. But overall, not what I expected from a film that Amir Khan chose to act in. I have high expectations because he’s an intelligent actor, I hope he will choose films more cautiously in future.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

The Sex & The City Movie



I absolutely loved the movie! Sex and the city had something for any woman/girl at any stage of her life! Carrie Bradshaw - the ultimate brand diva looks great at 40 when she decides to get married to her long time beau John James Preston, also known as "Big" after a practical, unromatic discussion about living arrangements once they decide to move in together. What follows is an interesting cocktail (wackier than cosmos!) of heartbreaks, babies and bikini waxes. Samantha (the 50 year old self confessed sex addict) is adorable in the movie as she substitues food for the sex she's unable to get from her current boyfriend. The labels in the movie are just mind boggling as the 4 girls strut their stuff in the best names in the business. Watch this movie with your girlfriends for great laughs, some truths that hit home and loads of eye candy.




p.s. please leave your inhibitions and husbands/boyfriends who are too macho to admit they like the movie, at home!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Arushi Murder Case

Arushi Talwar was murdered in her bedroom on May 15th. Till date, nobody knows the true story. Her father has been arrested and still claims innocence. Her mother, Nupur Talwar broke her silence today, on Arushi's birthday, to tell the media that her husband is not a killer. Coincidentally, Dr. Durani, a "family friend" who shared a dental clinic with the Talwars also broke her silence today to clear her name from her alleged affair with Dr. Talwar and to pronounce him innocent in her eyes. Today, Dr. Talwar's lawyer has cited bail on grounds of ill-health.

What's funny is that all three things happened today - perhaps in a well-planned media attempt to have Dr. Talwar get bail by Monday, the weekend is the perfect time to get public sympathy. What's even stranger is NDTV's attempt since day 1 to showcase this case as an example of media's insensitivity in covering a sensational murder like this. Dr. Talwar was finally arrested and even then, NDTV continues to be sympathetic to the family. While the point they are trying to make re: the mis-handling of this case and harming the reputation of the family, is correct to an extent, but NDTV should also balance this view with some of the more glaring facts of this case.

When Nupur Talwar, Arushi's mother gave a "special appearance" for NDTV today, she was asked not one question pertaining to her daughter's murder - she was only called to garner public sympathy by saying things like, "my husband is not a murderer". Why could they have not asked her things like, "if the murder is still at large as you claim, then how is it that the murder locked the house from outside while leaving and left you the keys?" or that, "How come you and your husband's statements don't match re: how Arushi was found that morning?" or, "You say you woke up when the maid came in, but your husband was making phone calls since 6 am and there was a call made from the landline to Hemraj's mobile...were you sleeping through all this?", mrs. Talwar was already awake when the maid came and she threw the house keys from the balconey.

If the Talwar's driver Umesh was asked to keep Arushi's mattress on the terrace, then he should have been questioned more intensively by the police as to who asked him to do this. But, he still hasn't been questioned as was aired this evening on the news.

NDTV's involvement in helping the Talwar's since day one is also the result of a very high profile PR activity and the credibility of this channel in my view has gine down drastically given the unresolved questions in this case. Barkha Dutt who wanted to champion the cause of invading the privacy of a dead 14 year old forgets that if it wasn't for the snoopy news channels, this case would have been closed within a week.