GoldRush In Mumbai

Genre: Current Affairs

Ssshh... this is a well guarded secret and should not be revealed. The BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation) has probably found out that there is hundreds of tonnes of Gold buried below Mumbai's roads. And they are not going to let this jackpot go waste. See....












Ok you dont believe me? Then tell me what else can explain the logic of BMC of carrying out such a massive excavation drive all over Mumbai city with monsoon just a fortnight away?

Mumbai.. Be Afraid.. Be Very Afraid.. The BMC has set up a Survival Challenge for you! Dare to step out this monsoon and survive these monsters! Good Luck!

Summer Time = Movie Time

Genre: Blabber

Note: This is not a static post, it is dynamic in the sense that as I see more and more movies through the course of the vacation, more reviews will keep on adding to the list!

Here comes a first-hand account of movies that I had to bear so far this summer-

SPIDERMAN 3

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Superhero gets emotional, sentimental, frustrated, vulnerable and as expected overcomes all this to emerge victorious! A visual delight with some of the best special effects that I have encountered so far. But it ends at that. The story (was there any?) sucks and Spidey blabbers too much throughout the movie rather than showing off his skills. And yes, he gets a much needed new set of clothes- not red and blue but black for a change! All in all, this one just makes it to "worth your money" category.
PS: I still think I should have gone for the Bhojpuri version.

Rating: * * *
Laboratory: Fame Adlabs
Investment: Rs. 170 (Although, I got for free!)

LIFE IN A METRO

Ambitions.. Loneliness.. Desperation.. Life In a Metro where everyone wants to reach the top and some would not mind going any distance. A completely contemparory topic dealt gracefully and without unnecessary fuss, this is one hard hitting movie. And when you have a starcast like Irrfan Khan, Konkona SenSharma and KayKay Menon, its cinema at its best! And the best part about this movie is the way in which all locations only within Mumbai city has been used creativiely to create all different kinds of moods. This one was worth the money, though I would have loved if the irritating trio of some unknown band wouldnt keep poking their nose by appearing in every song!

Rating: * * * *
Laboratory: Starcity
Investment: Rs. 40



TARA RUM PUM

No. This has got nothing to do with any kind of liquor as the title may suggest. This one is all about fast cars, adrenaline filled races, and being a Hindi movie, liberal dose of sentimental stuff thrown in. NASCAR Championships.. New York Speedway circuit.. Manhattan.. the desi Schumacher is here in the form of Saif Ali Khan! And as always, Rani is hot, adorable and sweet at the same time! The showstealer- Javed Jaffery as a Gujju taxi driver cum race team manager! (yeah.. unbelievable, but then this is a YashRaj film!). Not bad at all I must say. And if you cant sit through 3 hours of high speed races, pack up in Interval. The first half rocks while second one is just OK anyways!

Rating: * * *
Laboratory: StarCity
Investment: Rs. 100

EK CHALIS KI LAST LOCAL

Heights of fooling the crowd with misleading titles. Lets get the facts straight- this movie has no connection to 1.40 Last Local or any local or train or railways for that matter. A typical forgettable B grade goons n police story with nothing to write home about. And just to justify the title, two minutes of a fake railway station and fake train with fake sounding announcements are added at the begining and end of the movie! Go see this only if you miss the 1.40 Last local and have nothing to do for the next 3 hours!


Rating: *
Laboratory: 24Karat
Investment: Rs. 70

SHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA

"Ae Ganpat.. chal daru laa!" was my first reaction coming out of the theatre! You really need to de-stress yourself after 90 minutes of hard hitting gory violence thrown in your face. A very true depiction of the gangster menace that had Mumbai in its holds in the early 90s, this is probably the first neutral movie I have seen in years- a movie wherein you cannot decide whether the gangsters were bad or the police, or both. Though some scenes are directly lifted from famous Hollywood blockbusters and two songs are completely useless but overall a well made movie with power packed performance from Sanjay Dutt. And yea, Vivek Oberoi as the dreaded Maya Dolas was amazing! Just one hitch though- why was Dawood (referred to as only 'Bhai' through the movie) so confused looking?!? This one is worth a watch but ofcourse not the movie if you are taking your girlfriend for a date!


Rating: ***
Laboratory: MovieStar
Investment: Rs. 80

CHEENI KUM

India's probably first mainstream mature comdey, with brilliant performances by Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu, this one has some really uhilarious spicy moments like the one where AB goes to a chemist asking for condoms and the shopkeeper refers him as "chacha" or the phone talk between AB and his toddler neighbour. Though for the first time Paresh Rawal fails to make his impact but his void is superbly filled with Zohra Sehgal as the 93 year old granny who loves seeing Sex And The City and ofcourse how can I forget the most amazing surprise package- the 6 year old neighbour of AB who is,for some strange reason, named 'Sexy'(..lol) who delivers some of the best parts of the movie! This one is definitely worth a one time watch and the first half can be preserved on dvd for repeat viewings!

Rating: ***
Laboratory: Eros
Investment: Rs. 60

For Sale

"Would you like to have it for Fourty Five?"

"Sorry. I am not interested. And anyways, Fourty Five is too high a rate for that."

"We can negotiate on that."

"No thanks."

After a week,

"Sir, we can give you that for Thrity-Five"

"Sorry. I already got one. I do not need yours anymore."

"But sir, this one is better. And seeing your past record, we can even give it to you for Twenty-Five."

"I said NO. I am NOT Interested. Thank you."

If you thought this was a conversation at your local vegetable market, sorry! Think Again! This was a so-called 'Career Counseller' trying to sell me a seat of Electronics Engineering course in AA College owned by none other than our Honourable Deputy Chief Minister Mr CB.

This is a regular feature every year after the results of Engineering/ Medical Entrance exams are out. These fly-by-night engineering colleges, most of them owned by our Monkeys-in-Power or their wives, brothers, sisters, buffaloes, etc. literally come out with a Menu Card of courses with fixed 'donation' rates according to the demand of a particular seat that year. And the criteria for admission- only one- Show Me The Money!

If that was shocking, sample this- a certain RR Medical College on the outskirts of the city is giving admissions to any student who is willing to pay 11 lakh rupees in cash. And wait, this is today, when the Entrance Exams results are not yet out! Wait! Forget the results, the damn exam itself is scheduled for next Sunday! So all you guys and girls who are preparing for the test, you know how 'bright' chances you have of admission!

The seats that are going for 1.1 million bucks apiece are from the hordes of vacancies that remain every year in the SC/ST/OBC category seats, reserved to achieve 'Social Equality', which make up a mammoth 50% of the total seats with hardly any takers! And before you jump on me saying that there are many SC/ST?OBC students who also study, well my dear friend, these hard working 'reserved' students eat into the General category seats (alas! thats the 'rule') leaving all the reserved seats to the college trust to make big big bucks! Whoever said "Education cannot be sold" probably never saw this day!

Yes sir, this is present-day India, a country where, under the name of 'Social Equality', everything is up For Sale, even Your Future! So What's your rate, mate?

Its An Ad-Mad World

Genre : Humour

Presenting a list of some television commercials from the last year that left an impact on my mind for various reasons. Some were genuinely good, some irritating, some humorous while some outrightly bizzare...

MOST IRRITATING AD OF THE YEAR

AirTel : 'Apne Baap ko Rulaega Kya?'

Here, there is simply no competiton. This ad with a youngster going to his village to meet his grandpa and connecting his AirTel to his dad back in the city to let the grandpa talk was supposed to touch emotional chords. But, for some reason, the grandpa getting sentimental and telling his son "Apne Baap ko Rulaega Kya?" misfired completely and this ended up being the most irritating ad, especially when aired after every alternate over throughout the World Cup.

And yeah, the AirTel ad previous to this one, with that middle aged man bringing his cellphone into a couple's car to record "Julieee" for his wife also comes pretty close in winning this 'honour'.

MOST UN-BELIEVABLE AD OF THE YEAR

' UP me hai dum, kyunki yahaan zurm hai kam!'

Oh really? Who are you kidding, boss? is the question I feel like asking everytime Big B comes up on the idiot box walking along the shore of Ganga, promoting Uttar Pradesh for his 'bhaiya' Amr Singhji. This one is taking friendship a bit too far!

MOST CREATIVE AD OF THE YEAR

Pepsi: 'Mera Naam Sourav Ganguly hai...'

This one certainly takes the cake when it comes to originality of idea. After all, come on, how many times have we seen an international sportsman cribbing about his career on national television? Every time I see this one, I feel like telling the poor guy- Come on dude.. get a life! Go get out, take a bat and a ball and get onto the streets of Kolkata, smash some window panes of those pre-historic trams with your shots, run up and down the Howrah Bridge, stay fit and you will be back in the team. Dont waste your time crying here and drinking that black drink. And yes, Get off that stupid roller that you sitting on!

Click Here for Video of this Ad


MOST ADORABLE AD OF THE YEAR

Hutch: 'Mere paas ek doggy hai.. uska naam Tommy hai...'

This one is as sweet as ads can get! The three cute little girls, describing their pet dogs with different levels of precision is just too cute! Especially worth recalling is the third girl's statements "...vo pooch bhi hilaa sakta hai... vo ud bhi sakta hai..." So innocent! Awww!!

Click Here For Video of this Ad

MOST TOUCHING AD OF THE YEAR

AirTel: 'The Power Of Human Expression'

"Two Words.. Can Bring Down An Empire...
One Raised Finger... Can break A Billion Hearts... ...
One Act Of Defiance.. can Spark A Revolution..
One Hundred Thousand Candles Can End A War.
This Is The Power Of Human Expression. "

I am sure this one will remain a favourite of lot of people for years to come. A true masterpiece, this one touched my heart the first time I saw it, and continues to do so even now every time I see it. Truely, my AD OF THE YEAR.

Click Here For Video of this Ad.

PS: If you are wondering that while generally all "XYZ Of The Year" lists come out in late December/ January, why this comes in the middle of May, it is because the only calender I follow is my college's academic time table, and according to that logic, its 'Year Ending' for me right now.