I told my officemate about my blog today. He was very amused to learn that mostly my postings are concerened with movies, cricket and little else. He seemed to think that some thoughts about science will be in order. hmmm... so... I dont know what to think about science. :) lets think about a scientist then. aaj hi net par kuchh to Einstein ke baare mein dekh raha tha and I came across this site about Mileva. Nice little details about Einstein's wife (and more importantly his love :) ). Look it up.

So much about science ( i know i know there was zilch about science in that... still.. :) ). Lets come back to the usual movies gossip. I saw four good movies last week.. "Kill Bill-2", "Annie Hall", "Farewell My Concubine" and "Paths of Glory"..

Annie Hall was very funny. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes witty dialogue and "hatke" comedy. Its a Woody Allen movie by the way. I didnt know he makes such funny movies! Maybe this is his only good romantic comedy. But its really good. watch it!

Farewell My Concubine is a chinese film. Lavish in scale and hardhitting in impact, it will simply blow you away. It was pretty slow to start with but picked up pace (or maybe you just start caring for the characters and dont mind the slowness of the narrative any longer... I guess thats the case... it draws you in.. ). And ended superbly! The last 40-45 minutes are simply mindblowing! Those scenes themselves are worth more than the price of the rental, many times over.

Paths of Glory is a Stanley Kubrick movie. My fifth to date. (since you ask, the other four are: "Dr. Strangelove", "The Shining", "2001: A Space Oddyssey" and "A Clockwork Orange"). It was good too. Though probably its effect was somewhat dulled because I saw "Farewell My Concubine" after it. Watch it if you like war dramas. Though its more drama than war.

YOOHOO!!!! ab mai bhi geek!!! :))

thanx to Vivek, I found out that I only needed to log into my blog account to get an invite for gmail!!! :) I guess the happiness is not about getting a gmail account. Its more about getting an invitation to be a Beta tester.. :)))

As I said in previous post, I saw "Kill Bill - 2" yesterday. here follows a concise review.

Vol 2 isn't quite like Vol 1. While Vol 1 was complete style and absolutely no story, driven primarily by stunning action, soundtrack and cinematography, vol 2 is almost completely dialogue and character driven. the whole of vol 2 doesnt have half as much violence as the bride vs crazy 88 sequence in vol 1. So, even though Vol 1 was more exciting, vol 2 isn't any less satisfying. Though it took some time to build up some speed in the narrative, once it does it becomes thoroughly enjoyable. Tarantino's writing is probably the single most outstanding feature of vol 2 as it was of Pulp Fiction. In that sense vol 2 is closer in genre to Pulp Fiction than Vol 1.

Uma Thurman gets more to do here than she did in vol 1. and she does it extremely well. her vengeful bride is as convincing as the pretty bride-to-be at the wedding chapel as also the doting "mommy" at the end. David Carradine was superb! His Bill was just the right mix of big-boss intimidation and villainous charm.

As for other things, the soundtrack isnt quite as over the top (and hence as exciting) as vol 1. But as I alluded to earlier, the enjoyable dialogue makes sure you'll love this part as well!!

Most of my friends are either busy with their studies or are just plain not interested in talking to me. :( so, as it always happens with me, all the time that I have on my hands is getting devoted to watching more and more movies.. :) I saw "Solyaris", "Once upon a time in the west", "Raging Bull", and "Mystic River" recently.. not to forget "Kill Bill - 2" that I saw yesterday. I also began reading "Atlas Shrugged". Though I dont think I'll be able to finish it anytime soon. Its difficult to find time to read anything. lets see..

three major things happened this weekend. India played an incredible match against Pakistan and Yuva/Ayidha Ezhuthu's music released... and Vivek cleared civil services' mains!! :))

First about the match. As I said, it was incredible. Incredible in the sense that almost 700 runs were scored in a ODI!! a decade ago this would've been unthinkable. In fact, in all fairness, this was unthinkable even three days ago. But going by the recent trend of extremely high scores being chased down with relative ease, it probably should've been expected. It had to happen, though probably not as soon as it did. Pitches are getting flatter than ever. Bowling all over the world is probably at its worst ever. And batsmen are scoring more heavily (and faster) by the day (either just because of the flatter wickets/bad bowling or maybe factors intrinsic to batsmen like improved fitness, more aggressive attitude etc). Its getting ridiculous even. I mean how many of us actually enjoyed this match in its entirety? Maybe just the last 10 overs. But then any match where the chasing team comes withing 5 runs of the target will have exciting last half an hour or so. The target itself is irrelevant for that. I would choose a match in England or New Zealand over such matches anyday (ok, maybe not on the sort of pitches that NZ dished out the last time we toured there.. but more typical pitches there). Its started to become a lottery now. The only thing that seems to matter is which team has more sloggers in the line up and which team's sloggers end up connecting more that the other. That said, it was a delight to watch Dravid play in this match as it has been for last 2 years or so. He came out and suddenly the quality of shots increased manyfold. Not to say that Sehwag wasn't playing exciting cricket but a silken cover drive is always preferable over a bludgeoned slap over the bowlers head. (maybe because its more likely to be reproducible against better bowling and on better pitches).

Sachin is still playing ugly. Its a pity to see him go after the bowling and missing as many as he did. Though, its amazing how he is able to maintain a great average even when he isn't quite at his best. Its his genius that allows him to do that. He might win a MoS playing the way he did yesterday, but I wont be happy. I am praying to see him get his touch back.

As for Ayidha Ezhuthu, its music was supposed to release today (March 15), and I woke up to find that the songs as already online. Though I am yet to find the hindi version online, but I guess it doesnt matter that much. listening to the songs now. They sound "arbit". very different, and hence interesting. But I am not sure different means interesting for the masses too. More so in hindi than in Tamil. I am not very sure that Yuva's music is going to do too well. definitely not as well as Dil Se. But, as always, this is just a first hearing impression. And in Rahman's case that doesnt mean anything. already one of the songs has started the secong time and I am liking it 10 times more than the first time!!! :) I guess I spoke too soon.. :) Hey Goodbye Nanba!!!! :)

Now comes the biggest news! Apne Vivek Kumar "jaanu" ab Vivek Kumar "jaanu" IAS banne waale hain.. bas interview bacha hai.. :)) abhi tak congrats bhi kar paaya kyounki mila naheen vo.. :) Congrats Vivek!!! :) TREAT!!!! :))) aur interview ke liye ATB... :)

two nice links...

Image doctoring

funny olympics

I dont know what to do. Sachin seems to be going through the sort of bad patch that seemed impossible some years ago. and Rahman seems to be coming up with a GRREAT album every other week. Only Sachin's form is keeping me from dying due to too much excitement. Boys, Ennaku 20 Unakku 18, Kangalal Kaithu Sei, Tehzeeb, Lakeer, Meenaxi and now Yuva/Ayitha Ezhuthu and Naani/New releasing within 5 days of each other!!! These two are two of the most highly anticipated albums of this year. It would be a pity if one of them doesnt get enough attention because of the other.

Yuva trailers are already out!!! and they are impressive! Abhishek Bachchan looks impressive for the first time in his career. The trailers are very well done. one 20 second promo tells you a lot about one of the main characters. Even the color in which the movies title is shown at the end is related to the character. Its bloody red for Abhishek Bachchan, vivacious blue for Vivek Oberoi, and inspirational green for Ajay Devgan. Rani and Kareena are looking good. And the background score/songs sound vibrant.

Raam raam junta...

I am back. :) after sooo many days. Meanwhile, LOTR did a clean sweep at the oscars. 11 out of 11 is incredible!!

Also, I saw a lot of movies during last 10 days. "Kill Bill Vol 1", "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", "Road to Perdition", "Fellini's 8 and half" (though couldn't finish this one), "Kal ho naa ho" (still to see the latter half), "Taxi Driver", "Pulp Fiction", and "The Last Samurai". Most of them were very good (except, of course, KHNH whose first half was enough irritating though Preity's presence makes it bearable... specially one song - "Kuchh to huaa hai, kuchh ho gaya hai" was nicely done).

Bill was an interesting movie. "Interesting" because my roomy wasnt very impressed with the movie though I myself was. I had seen "Pulp Fiction" before this and REALLY enjoyed every bit of it. And both "Reservoir Dogs" and "Jackie Brown" were pretty watchable in parts and were partially very good. So, I had very high expectations from Bill when it released. However, for some reason, I didnt get to see it then.. By the time I got a chance to see it, my enthu had been dented somewhat mainly because of less than enthusiastic response the movie generated from Neelaabh (my roomy). I thought - oh, well maybe Quentin Tarantino failed for once. However, the reviews varied from good to great with only a very small number giving it thumbs down. This, along with the fact that Vivek seemed to REALLY like the movie made sure that I was still pretty interested in the movie. So, I went to see it when it was shown in our univ. And man! was I impressed?

Neelaabh said that the movie showed that the director has mastered some elements that make movies interesting but on the whole the movie didnt impress him much. He seemed to think that the movie was too violent and that the director was continuously trying to shock the audience with gore. This didnt go down well with him. I, however, thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Its amazing that I am reluctant to call Bill a violent movie even though its a movie with much blood and violence. Everything is just so obviously over the top that its impossible to take anything seriously. In fact Quentin said that anyone who thinks that its likely that any of this could happen to anyone like a real person has to be crazy. I agree with him. :) Maybe thats why I enjoyed it so much. If someone asks me why exactly I liked the movie, I dont think I can put finger on anything very specific. The story is not the reason. It cannot be. Because it almost doesn't exist. A lot of critics have really appreciated the various hidden (and not-so-hidden) tributes that Q has included in the movie (in fact not just included.. based the movie on) but in my case that isnt the reason either. It cannot be. Because I havent seen all these classic B-movies. But, I see what they mean. Just that I dont really relate the their feeling of "this is godgiri" at watching this brilliant tribute.

So, what is it that made me enjoy this movie so much? Probably the single biggest factor is the soundtrack. Its brilliant. Its more than brilliant. Its ABSOLUTELY GODGIRI for lack of a better term. you see the first scene (which was one of the only two scenes that shocked me... and considering that anyone even remotely interested in the movie knew much before the movie released what they should expect from the first scene its amazing that the scene was still as shocking as it was) and then a slow song with probably the most appropriate lyrics ever written starts as the credits are shown. It was SUPERB!! if this isn't a perfect beginning to a movie, I dont know what is. the song "Bang Bang" by Nancy Sinatra cant probably be appreciated out of this context. I'll never know that what I would've thought of the song had I not heard it for the first time while watching the movie. Maybe I would've liked it even then, but I am sure the impact it would've made in the movie then wouldn't be as much as now. it simply blew me away. And even before the credits finished, I had begun to think that maybe Quentin hasn't failed after all.. :) This was just the beginning though. The soundtrack throughout the movie was just as good as the perfect beginning. Over the years I have come to realize that I am biased towards movies with a good soundtrack/BGM. So, its possible that a movie that has as good a soundtrack as Bill can impress me a lot even though I probably wouldn't have liked it at all with a lesser soundtrack. But I doubt it. There are other things in the movie that one cant help but enjoy. Though there aren't as many witty dialogue moments as in Pulp Fiction, but there are some moments (like the O-Ren Ishii monologue after she becomes the leader of Tokyo underworld) that are hilarious and remind one of Pulp Fiction.

But I dont think these reasons still add up to quite as much as I like the movie. thats what I meant when I said its difficult to put a finger on exactly why I enjoyed it so much. This is where reading reviews help. There are times when you have a feeling which you cant really put in words and then you read a particular part of a review and you know that this is EXACTLY how you feel. some people are way better at putting their feelings in words than I am. :) So some of the following words aren't original. But the feeling they convey is EXACTLY what I felt when I watched the movie.

I think the pleasure of watching this movie comes more from knowing that in the final analysis its just a movie. A movie like LOTR would've been a failure if it wouldn't have made us feel for its characters. If we would've still been aware of the taste of our popcorn when Frodo stumbles over the edge inside Mount Doom then Peter Jackson would've failed in what he had set out to achieve. Quentin however, very obviously, didnt want this. Bill is the ultimate "popcorn movie". You wonder at the amazing action choreography but you know its not real - you marvel more at how something is being shown than what is being shown itself. you actually love the hilarious inconsistencies because you know that the guy who made the movie did all of this on purpose. As a reviewer said its like watching a master chef making a fast-food-chain hamburger for once. Its still a hamburger, but you marvel at the way in which the taste still tells you that its different.. that its a master-chef hamburger. Another reviewer said something which was even more akin to what I thought. Its so obvious in every frame of the movie that the guy is so much in love with the various elements of movie making that he doesnt care two hoots whether anyone likes what he is doing or not. or whether it confirms to anything that it is supposed to confirm to. Its like letting a child loose inside a toy-shop and just watching him do his thing. There's a joy in watching him play with 3 toys together, or try and fiddle with some new toys he comes across. Heck! its fun even to see him break some of the toys apart! :)

posting after a long time. That too just because I want to do a b'day post. :) Even though its not yet 18 here in US, its already my bday in India.

What else? Oscars are coming close. And its becoming likelier by the day that King will get both the big awards.

Saw two movies and a documentary since last post. Khakee was ok-ish. definitely watchable due to a good first half but the second half sort of pulls it down. Amitabh was exceptionally good IMO. And Akshay's character had some good lines to speak. But the overall impact is dented seriously by some cliched dialogue, Ajay Devgan's cliched to the extent of being stupid character, Tusshar's inability to show any semblance of acting, and the three badly placed songs. I was surprised to see Prakashraj in such an inconsequential role. But then maybe he has done infinite other roles like this. My high opinion of him is mainly based on Iruvar. Someone who played Karunanidhi as incredibly convincingly as he did just doesn't look the part in a movie like Khakee. Same is the case with Atul Kulkarni. His character in Khakee just doesnt do justice to his immense talent.

Ek Haseena Thi was the other movie I saw, and it definitely was better than Khakee IMO. More gripping, less cliched, better performances overall and no stupid songs coming in the way of the narrative. Urmila was very good. She normally errs on the side of overacting but here she is near perfect. Though her character was a bit too naive to be entirely beleivable, she played it well enough. Saif did well too, specially as his was a character one doesnt expect to see him portraying.

I'm busy. That in itself is new to me but the incredible fact is that I'm not hating it. In fact I'm working reasonably hard. No real deadline to push me this hard. No nothing. And yet I'm working harder than I've ever thought possible. And I must say working hard has turned out not to be as hard as it sounds. :) Anyway, knowing myself I'm sure this wont last. In fact I'd be surprised if it lasts even a week more.

I have been so busy that I've heard "meenaxi" no more than 10-12 times since it released about a week ago. that is a ridiculously small number. Specially considering that its a superb album. If this album had released 2-3 weeks before it did I'd have completed 10-12 hearings in a single day, two at most.

Meenaxi. What can I say? Rahman is GOD. Tehzeeb was too experimental, Lakeer is a reasonably good score in what seems to be a crappy movie. I know "Rozana" will most likely not be in my favorite songs' list two years from now. Its too "noisy" for lack of a better word. But I guess I just dont like cheerleader songs. I wonder if anyone anywhere likes them. Take out the screechy cheering parts from the song and its pretty enjoyable. "Shehzaade" is similar. Take away the "bang-bang" part and it becomes a good youthful song. I wonder why Rahman has started this rap thing in his songs of late. Except for "Dating" it has never really sounded good. Also maybe in "kama kama". But it really ruined "Chori pe Chori". And now "Shehzaade". It seems its supposed to gel well with the picturization. I hope it does. "Sadiyaan" is really good though. As are "Nachley" and "Paighaam" but their originals were way better. I didnt like "offo jalta hai" one bit even though "Aiyyo Pathikitchu" was a favorite for some time.

Anyway, what started as a meenaxi rave in last paragraph turned into a Lakeer rant. :) so.. meenaxi... its absolutely fabulous!! Best of Rahman's hindi albums since "The Legend of Bhagat Singh" (exluding Saathiya most of whose songs were Alaipayuthey remakes). But even TLOBS wasn't quite as multifarious as Meenaxi. In fact it had one somewhat weak song in "pagdi sambhaal jatta". Meenaxi doesnt have ANY weak composition. Each and every song is a gem. And what's more, they are very catchy from the first hearing which is atypical of Rahman songs.

I had written the previous four paragraphs about a week ago, but didnt get time to complete the post since then. Meanwhile I have been able to hear Meenaxi many times (and not just mp3s - my CD has also arrived!! :) ), and I have no doubt that this album is one of Rahman's best original hindi albums. out of his 17 original hindi albums, I would put Dil Se, Taal, Rangeela, 1947-Earth, Vande Mataram and Meenaxi in the A+ catagory. Yes, Meenaxi is SOO good. Its a pity that it might have to go 1947-Earth way - a fabulous score in an artsy movie that not many people will watch, which means even the songs wont be famous.

I dont think I can pick my favorite song from this album as is true of all the A+ albums I mentioned above. Specially because it varies a lot over time. As of today I would give 10 points to "Rang Hai" and "Potter's Village". 9.75 to "Ye Rishta". 9.5 to "Dhuaan Dhuaan". 9 to "Do Kadam" and "Chinnamma Chilakkamma"and 8 to "Noor un Ala" and "Cyclist's Rhythm".

The Album starts with "Ye Rishta kya kehlaata hai". The song has a dream-like feel to it. Sung very well by Reena Bhardwaj, its a slowish song on the whole but the percussion makes it somewhat pacy. Its one of those songs that sound pretty ordinary the first time, so that you wonder why this song is being shown in the trailors and why is it the first song in the album, but it grows in some hearings so much that it all seems justified. Thats the reason for 9.75. By the way, it seems Rahman recorded the scratch version of this song in his kitchen in london!! Great song, good lyrics by Rahat Indori.

"Chinnamma Chilakkamma" is NOT a tamil/telugu song. Its a fusion of Sukhwindar Singh's high-pitch Chhaiyya-style northy singing and female chorus' telugu lines (I guess it must be telugu as one of the three cities the movie is based on happens to be Hyderabad). The song starts with the telugu lines and they are pretty catchy. Sukhwindar starts with his "Titli Daboch li maine" after some time and the song suddenly shifts to "Rut Aa gaee re" mode from something like "Jiya Jale" mode. On the whole the song is a light and catchy number, the sort that normally becomes famous with junta.

Though I would be disappointed if people remember this album by this song and not by Rang Hai. By the way Sukhwinder has written the lyrics himself and I have no idea what they mean. But then, I havent really thought about the lyrics yet. Maybe they are good.

"Do kadam aur sahi" would actually have been the title song had Husain not changed the title to Meenaxi. A soft (actually verrrry soft) song sung very well by Sonu Nigam. The song doesnt have any percussion and the main instrument is violin and that also leads to the "soft" and soothing feeling of the song besides Sonu's singing. Indori has done a very good job here.

"Badan Dhuaan Dhuaan" is the second song that I had heard from this movie. And it had raised my expectations manyfold. an extremely catchy song which reminds one of "Hai Rama" because of the genre and the percussion in the mukhda. but the antaras are more like "Rang De" as I mentioned in a previous post. Asha Bhosle has done a good job as always, but the star here (besides Rahman, that is) is Sivamani. He has outdone himseld in this song. Great song, though I must say that it has faded somewhat in later hearings but that might just be because of "Rang Hai" that has grown soooo much with each hearing.

"Rang Hai", as must be clear by now, is my favorite song of the album. There's a story behind this one too. it seems Tabu wasn't fit when she had to shoot for this song, but she went ahead and did it. Later she said "Its the music of the movie, its magical. It does something to me". I think I know what she meant. This song really is magical. I dont know what adjective to use except maybe "colorful". and not just because of the lyrics. its one of those songs that fill your heart with happiness for no real reason at all. Its just the way its sung (Alka Yagnik at her very best), its just the instruments, the composition, the lyrics.. its everything actually.. Listen to this song, and give it 2-3 hearings before saying "whats so special about this? its just your average hindi movie song"... beleive me, its worth it!!

"Noor Un Ala" is a qawwali penned by Husain himself. And I guess he sacrificed undestandability of lyrics in the process. I mean, you get the drift of the lyrics, but one has to look in online urdu dictionaries to really understand most words. As for the qawwali itself, its decent. Or maybe its good but hasnt grown on me yet. As of now I feel "Piya Haji Ali" and "wedding qawwali" were much better than this.

I dont think I can write much about "Cyclist's Rhythm" as I am yet to give it a good hearing and its not the sort of piece that captures you even though you aren't paying attention to it. Unlike the other instrumental piece, "Potter's Village" which is extremely good. Not among Rahman's all time best theme music pieces but superb nevertheless.

So, bottomline is, if you are reading this review, and if you aren't named Rahul Tyagi, and if you haven't yet listened to Meenaxi (I know this makes the second condition redundant) then go and do it rightaway... give it some time to sink in, and I assure you, you'll not regret you listened to my advice.