Is IPL important than playing for the country......No WAY !!!

Today's big news for me was that Sehwag wont be available for the T20 World Cup.The first thought came to my mind was that, had Delhi reached the semis of the IPL,Sehwag would have definitely participated even while suffering from the injury.
This is very sad because it seems that more and more people are interested in playing in the IPL rather than representing the country :( With all the money and glamour attached to the IPL,i guess we will be soon seeing players who will play only IPL.The perfect example is Symonds.He didnt even care when he was dropped from the Australian team because he was well aware that he can earn more money by playing for just few weeks in the IPL.Same is the case for other players like Shane Bond and Adam Gilchrist.All the foreign players had some serious security problems to play in India when they were playing for their country.Surprisingly,even though there were couple of bomb blasts in Banglore,none of the players decided to boycott the games.I am pretty sure that had these bomb blasts taken place during a International game,we could have seen the match being called off :(
The more serious issue which will be seen in the future is more and more youngsters will aim for IPL rather than the test cap which is very unfortunate.We just cannot let the Test Cricket die.
Its high time the boards of all the countries along with the ICC take some steps to ensure that the IPL doesnt overshadow the international cricket :(
When some reporter quizzed Dhoni about the preparation for the T20 world cup,he said that the Indian team would have been in a great shape if we hadnt played in the IPL.Well,atleast he had the guts to say the truth....

Taare Zameen Par.......

When was the last time a Hindi movie made a huge impact on me ?? This was the question I was asking to myself after seeing the directorial debut of Amir Khan for the second time.......The answer to the question will be a list of hindi movies,which I am sure will not be very long :)

Watching Taare Zameen Par was a great experience as I was able to relate with each and every character of the movie.The movie starts with showcasing a typical Indian family with parents and their two kids.The older kid is brilliant in studies as well as in sports while the younger one is good only in Painting.......The younger kid portrayed by Darsheel Safary is living in his own world.The problem is he cant understand the words which is called as Dyslexia (I came to know about Dyslexia only after Amir Khan says so in the later part of the movie).The competition in today's world is so intense that its a sin to get less marks and Ishaan has to pay for this sin as his parents send him to a boarding school.Going to the boarding school makes the situation more worse for Ishaan and he just looses his self-confidence and is on the verge of losing his identity.........But in comes a new art teacher who changes Ishaan's perspective towards life and also the other Teacher's perspective towards Ishaan.The role of the teacher is portrayed by Amir Khan in his own style.....He doesnt become too preachy and yet conveys his thoughts to Ishaan.......Just watch the scenes where Amir talks to the kid's parents....These scenes are just too good........The climax with the Painting competition is just too good......

As such there are no negative points except that the kid hardly talks in the second half.....even though he doesnt talk much,he has got a very expressive face which does all the talking.
How many superstars of our Film industry would have dared to do such kind of movie ?? Atleast I cant think of any other name.This is what makes Amir Khan what he is.......Amir didnt take the focus away from the kid throughout the movie which is commendable.....The songs are just too good and go well with the situations......The lyrics by Prasoon Joshi are awesome.....The song dedicated to mother is simply great....and music is also very soothing.....The film will easily wipe out all the awards with the only competition being Chak De.......I hope Amir Khan makes movies in which the script is the king and not the so-called actors [I hope SRK and Salman are listening]
Take a bow Amir.....you ROCK !!!!

Rajkumar Santoshi

Today I decided to write on one of my favourite directors rather than writing a review of any film.
When it comes to any topic related to Movies,everybody has a opinion about the favourite actor,actress or a favourite movie,but I havent heard anyone talking about the Favourite Director or Cinematographer or Editor.So, I decided that I will say few words for one of my favourite director.
Rajkumar Santoshi is making films for more than a decade now.He is easily one of the best in the Bollywood,having made unforgettable movies like Ghayal,Damini,Ghatak,Andaz Apna Apna,Khakee to name a few.
I watch Ghayal each time it is shown on TV.Its just awesome.The story line is not different but the presentation is excellent.Add to it great performance by Sunny Deol and the film is a must watch .It is said that Rajkumar Santoshi was responsible for giving a shape to Sunny Deol's career because under him,Sunny Deol has given us films like Ghayal,Damini,Ghatak.All of these movies were blockbusters and the credit shuld go to Mr.Santoshi.Although he couldnt create the magic with Bobby Deol in Barsaat which was Bobby's first film.
I dont think there will be many people who have not seen Andaz Apna Apna.What a movie !!!
All the David Dhawan fans will be surprised to know that Rajkumar Santoshi gave us the classic Andaz Apna Apna long before David Dhawan' gave us his-kind-of movies.It is said that Andaz Apna Apna was ahead of its time.People are surprised to know that Andaz Apna Apna was actually a flop movie.Maybe because of this,Mr Santoshi has not given us any comedy film after this.I believe that Andaz Apna Apna was one of the best dont-apply-logic film.I believe that it was better than all the David Dhawan's films.Each and every character from this film is very unique.After seeing the movie for countless times, I still cant control laughing when I see it again.
Damini was excellent and Sunny Deol got a National Award for it as Best Supporting Actor.
Ghatak was also a Hit film.Although it was not as good as Ghatak,still it did make a impact.China Gate with the lead actors being all the oldies was better than Ghatak.Can any of the other established directors like Karan Johar,Aditya Chopra etc make a film with no hero ?? I am sure they cant even think of anything like this.China Gate was worth a watch and was critically acclaimed.
Khakee was just too good.Again,the story was not at all different but the presentation was just too good and we are involved in the film reght from the beginning till the end.Akshay Kumar was fantasic in this movie and so was Mr.Bachhan.But the real Hero was undoubtedly Mr Santoshi.The execution of some shots was just superb and it showed the Police Force in a right way (for a change).
For all the people who like to make women-centric movies,just go and watch Lajja.It shows the harsh reality about the ill-treatment given to women in the rural areas of India.

He did hit a rough patch sometimes with movies like Barsaat and Family,but he can be easily forgiven for it as he has delivered some gr8 movies.

He is all set with his latest movie called Halla Bol starring Ajay Devgan and Vidya Balan.As always I am really looking forward to this Rajkumar Santoshi film with great expectations.

"Ye Dhai Kilo ka Haath jab kisipe padta hain,to aadmi uthta nahin...uth jaata hain !! "
No prizes in guessing the name of the movie in which this dialogue is delivered by Sunny Deol :)

Jab We Met !!

It was a lazy saturday evening......I was surfing through the channels,hoping that there will be some interesting programme or a good movie on one of the channel......
The clock was ticking and the time was 8 pm.Just then one of friend called up saying that 'lets go for a movie'.Now this is my problem, if anyone asks me to come for a movie....I just cant say 'NO'.
Unfortunately(or fortunately) there were 2 movies released...'No Smoking' and 'Jab We Met'.
After a little discussion we decided to give a look to the Shahid-Kareena starrer(who knows whether we will see them together again :) :) )
Thanks to Bhool Bhulaiyaa, we got tickets to Jab We Met easily.Believe me we didnt had any expectations from this film as there wont be a single Kareena movie which I will like to see again.
But,to our surprise,the film had a fresh look and Kareena had a great screen presence.....
As the story began to unfold, I realised that the story is the one which we have seen in atleast 10 movies (DDLJ,Dhai Akshar Prem Ke,Kunwara to name a few).
Even though the story was not new, the presentation was too good and the sequences between the lead pair with a touch of humour did make a impact :)
Kareena was amazing in a happy-go-lucky kind of girl.Shahid Kapoor was also good as a looser.
The chemistry between the two was great which was missing in their earlier movies.
The first half was just too good and you expect similar impact in the second half.But the second half is pretty slow as compared to the first.
Full marks to the director Imtiaz Ali.His first movie was 'Socha Na Tha' with Abhay Deol and Ayesha Takia in the lead which was also a watchable movie.
But with Jab We Met, the director shows that he is a good story teller and should be given more chances.He has extracted gr8 performances from the lead pair and has presented the movie in a new fresh way :) There are many sequences in the film which brings a smile to your face effortlessly and the credit should go the captain of the ship.
The music is also good...ofcourse there are no chartbusters but still the songs go well with the situations.
The cinematography is amazing and you wonder why we are not planning to go to Manali for a vacation :)
Good performances from Shahid and Kareena , good presentaion from the Director makes this movie a must watch !!
We left the cinema hall with a smile and thought that the movie was worth a watch :)

Dukes Nose !!

Everyone likes to go for trekking in the monsoon season and I am no exception :) :)
There is one such trek which I cannot forget for the rest of my life and I am sure all my friends who were together for this trek also feel the same :) :)

The trek I am talking about is Dukes Nose !!
Last year in the monsoon season, all my friends from my company decided to go for the Dukes Nose as nobody from our group had been there before :) For a change all of us agreed to go to Dukes Nose........and we all started with the preparation for the weekend trek...
One of my childhood friend has been to many of these places many times, so I thought of asking him about Dukes Nose.He told me that we need to go to Khandala and wakl for 15-20 mins before the trek actually starts.....he also told that we can take help from some of the local boys to guide us.
All our preparation was done ans we all started on a wet Saturday morning......We reached Khandala on the expected time.We asked some local people abt how to go to Dukes Nose and everyone tried to show us the best possible way......
So we started climbing.......the mountain was too good and we were enjoying the nature's company......there was no crowd whatsoever....we didnt see anyone on the way to the top....
After couple of hours which included some breaks for snacks, we finally managed to reach the top and were very proud of our achievement !!
There were couple of villagers who were collecting some wood......we asked them where is the Dukes Nose ?? and the answer we got left us in a shock......
That person pointed to a mountain infront of us and told that "thats the Dukes Nose mountain"
we just didnt knew how to react !!! we had climbed the wrong mountain !!!!!
and there was no way we could climb the 'correct' mountain after this because we all were very tired and in no mood to climb another mountain :( :(
we climbed down the same mountain and decided to visit the Dam in lonavla :) :)
This adventure has become a laughter source for all of us.....whenever we remember this incident we just cant stop laughing !!!!!

Chak De !!

Saw the SRK Starrer Chak De for the sceond time yesterday :)
Let me make it very clear that I am not at all a fan of King Khan...but I do like some of his movies including Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa,DDLJ,Swades and now Chak De :) :)
Rest of his movies can be easily ignored :) :)
Coming back to Chak De........I loved that film !!! Hats Off to the director for executing the rare subject so nicely !! I am saying this because in the recent past many good stories were made into bad films :( :( Hats Off to Shimit Amin for extracting gr8 performances from each and everyone (including SRK) . I thought SRK was just too good in this movie !!
Handling the subject like the Women's Hockey would have been a real tough job but Shimit Amin has made a full justice to the storyline (which is non-existent in many movies).For a change Yash Raj Films produced a really fresh idea :) and the credit should go to Aditya Chopra :)
A gr8 story line, executed to the perfection by the director and awesome performances by each actor gives the film a gr8 look and the film touches the heart effortlessly.I dont think there are many movies where the public is clapping so much in a theatre :) :)
No unneccessary songs,no romantic angle,no glamour (except for SRK) and no overdose of patriotism( I hope J.P Dutta is listening) but still a Masterpiece !!!
Shimit Amin is the one who initially assisted Ram Gopal Verma and then went on to direct a film called Ab Tak Chhappan starring Nana Patekar(Which was also a watchable film)
I am really thankful to god that nowadays we are getting the opportunity to see a movies with some new ideas :) :)
I hope this trend continues and we keep on watching some really nice films :) :)