DID - Dhona India Dhona

Dance India Dance is back! This time with precocious little kids who are encouraged to behave even more precociously. Before I start my all-out b***ing, I will admit one thing. Those kids can surely shake a leg. Right, now that being nice is out of the way, I'll go back to being me. 

First and foremost, it is disgusting to see some of the kids gyrating their hips to raunchy item numbers. I don't understand how their parents allow it. Worse, the parents are backstage praying to God that their kid gets selected. Second, offer to give kisses in return for selection. I guess I get scandalized easily but it is supremely irritating to see kids begging to be allowed to participate in DID. Either they plead to be taken in, or offer "kisses" in return. I mean, who teaches them such things! Third, and the worst, the incessant flood of tears. From kids, to parents to the judges themselves! Throw in a devout granny and you have the best soap opera in the world. I suggest DID should tie up with Nirma to sponsor the phrase Rona-dhona.

The previous para is a bit back dated as it applies to auditions. Now the competition has begun and there is thankfully less rona dhona. I just had to get that out of my system though. Most of the antics on stage do elicit a laugh I am wary to admit. I just wish the kids learn to enjoy the competition instead of constantly feeling pressurized to not get eliminated.

Which one are you?

Some claw their way towards perceived happiness,

Others perceive happiness within their confines..

Which one are you?

Badmaash Company - movie review

FR: Too long! 

I don't know if this movie was poorly edited or I'm just used to short song-less English films. Either ways, like I told Manna, it was more of an educational film than an entertaining one, at least for me. I learnt that in 1994, Manmohan Singh reduced import duty on imported goods from 120% to 20%. And sundry such small interesting details. Moving on to the plot..

Karan (Shahid Kapoor), Bulbul (Anushka Sharma), Chang and Vir Das (Damn I don't remember their screen names :P) are thrilled to go to Bangkok for an all-expense paid trip. In return, they have to buy foreign goods for their mentor Archibhai. The movie is set in 1994 when the Indian Government was still levying heavy taxes on imported goods. Archibhai has moles in the customs department which allow him to bring in imported goods and evade import duty. Karan loves the luxurious life of easy money and soon hatches a scheme which will get the "Friends and Company" greater profits.

When the import duty is reduced from 120% to 20%, Karan and his friends find that they are unable to go on using evasion on import duty as a lucrative option. Soon, Karan uses his ingenuity to hatch another money-making scheme which just borders on being illegal. As happens with every hero doing anything slightly wrong, Karan too has to face the music for what he has done. Kya Karan apni bhool ko sudhar payega? Ya apne saare paise jue mein haar jayega? Interesting questions all. But it takes too long to answer them.

Vir Das turned out to be a nice little surprise package with his puppy dog looks and superb acting. Shahid was predictably decent and I felt his mean act was so good that this movie should have been called Kamine (Notice the missing y ;)). Anushka Sharma cuts ice with her tough girl act, but doesn't have much to do in the second half. Chang was disappointing. The only time he evokes any reaction is when he is the butt of a joke (Bewde Chini :D). One dose of acting classes here please. The cinematography is excellent and I would say Bangkok is looking more appealing than the US.

Although the movie seems a bit too long, I won't say that it ever gets dull. The camaraderie between the lead actors is good and their dialogues and costumes evoke laughter. The climax is super lame and the audience unanimously burst out into laughter when Karan announces his ultimately-for-the-ultimate-good-scheme. The feeling I got from this movie is, it has been made by an innocent child. Too many things have been assumed and that's what always makes me go "they had to prove that it is a BOLLYWOOD film". Nevertheless, definitely worth a watch once for A-Y-A-S-H-I on the Bangkok beaches ;)

Image source: http://www.songgy.net/

Indian Idol is back!

Its that time of the year again. My mom will constantly check her watch to ensure that we reach home just in time. Manna will abandon facebook and sit in front of the tv (I cannot emphasize enough on what a rare occurrence that is!) and I will keep rolling my eyes heavenwards in great exasperation while I can picture my Dad closing his eyes and covering his ears to escape the agony. Indian Idol is here! 

To be very honest, I don't care much for reality singing contests. I mean dance, give me dance any day. And while we're at it, specifically, So You Think You Can Dance, the dance competition on AXN. Indian reality shows are full of people crying for some or the other stupid reason. While Ishant "ke sapne chur chur ho gaye", Mallika "ko apni maa yaad aa gayee". When any contestant is eliminated, Indian shows will pan over to the whole bloody studio crying. It is so annoying and fake! In contrast, I don't remember a single tear being shed in SYTYCD. In fact when anyone is eliminated, there is a huge round of applause and a celebration. They're just happy that they came so far. Whatever emotions they have are thankfully relegated to behind the scenes or off camera.

Taking Indian reality shows to the next level of melodrama is our very own Indian Idol in its 5th installment. One thing that bothers me is, when people don't get selected, they come out and say that Anu Malik steals tunes, he doesn't know how to sing. I say, then why do you go to get yourself judged by a person like that! Moreover, the judges leave no stone unturned to make fun of people who can't sing properly. The whole exercise just seems very cruel. Apart from that, there are some jokers who come just to get publicity. From dancing in front of the judges, lighting themselves on fire, tearing up clothes, crying and begging while lying prostrate on the floor, asking their parents to vouch for them!, the list is endless. Each new episode showcases some new level of stupidity. I simple can't stand it! Dad, I am just like you, closing my eyes and covering my ears. It is embarrassing to even watch it!

The worst part is, I think Indian Idol is going to be aired every day. When will this misery end? *Sigh*

Adrift...

From the comfort of her home,
She spied a shiny object,
Curious and excited,
She stepped out to discover,

On reaching the spot,
To her dismay,
It wasn't a shiny pearl,
But a pebble reflecting the moon,

As she looked up,
She saw another shiny object,
That one must be a diamond!
She set forth to discover again,

Just as before,
It wasn't a pearl,
But a pretty sea shell,
Reflecting the moon,

At another distance,
She spied a colorful sparkling object,
Thus she took another step,
Towards another discovery,

Not realizing with every step she took,
Her perspective changed,
She walked farther away from home,
Chasing glittering worthless gold,

And so far she reached,
In her pursuit of shiny objects,
She could not find her way back,
To the comfort of her home,

Now she wanders alone,
Shiny things no longer bedazzle her,
Her biggest loss is,
Home and comfort do not befall her...

How to train your dragon - movie review

FR: Sooo cute! I want a pet dragon too!! :D

We have cockroaches and mice for pests. The Vikings however, have fire-breathing dragons! They come in all shapes and sizes, steal food, tear down buildings and generally wreak havoc. Ordinary people like us would quail in terror and hide till the dragons pass by but not the brave Vikings! Brute force is their forte and they find great satisfaction in beating and killing dragons. Enter Hiccup, a puny little boy who is the son of the strong and brave Viking leader. Desperately in love with the fierce dragon fighter Astrid, Hiccup wants to kill just one dragon to make her aware of his existence. Every time Hiccup tries to kill a dragon though, something goes wrong and as a result, he is forbidden from even trying.

Relegated to the background amidst the worst dragon attack, Hiccup builds a machine which will help him capture a dragon. As the whole town is busy fighting and killing dragons, Hiccup races atop a hill and puts his contraption to use. He astonishingly manages to strike down the most dangerous dragon, Nightfury, which can never be seen but only heard by its whistling sound. Finding the dragon tied down by the ropes thrown up from his contraption, Hiccup raises his dagger to kill the dragon and finally make an impression on Astrid and the whole village. However, he does something better. 

After the mad scientist hero in Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs, I've fallen in love with the super-sarcastic Hiccup who never fails to make fun of either himself or the situation. The animation is superb and watching it in 3D was an added treat. Especially endearing are the scenes where the dragon is "trained" by Hiccup. Go watch this one for fiesty dialogue, super fast action and ultimately the cute dragon! 

p.s. If I still haven't been able to convince you, do watch this trailer and see if you've changed your mind :D

Where does the buck stop?

I had a good laugh reading today's newspaper. Reason being, the gross misuse of the phrase "the buck stops here". This phrase indicates that the responsibility for any mistake or wrong doing, is being accepted by the person who is stating this phrase. Hence, when Union Home Minister P Chidambaram used the phrase to criticize W. Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee about his inability to deal with the Naxal attack, he said the buck stops at the Chief Minister's desk. At this time Buddhadeb had strongly condemned P Chidambaram about the type of language he used saying "the word buck is used in gambling, I say mind your language". Talk about focusing on the wrong issue! Later when the terrible Dantewada massacre took place in which 75 CRPF personnel were killed by Maoists, P Chidambaram accepted full responsibility saying the buck stops at my desk and offered to resign.

I guess the phrase has caught on because Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule said the following sentence in this article with regards to her role in the IPL controversy:

"I say with full conviction that my husband (Sadanand Sule) or family has nothing to do with any of these issues. We always stay miles away from it. Yes, we are avid cricket watchers, my husband, my kids, my family all and that's where the buck stops," Sule, a Member of Parliament, told reporters here.

I mean, does she even understand the meaning of the phrase? People like Buddhadeb and her should at least look up the meaning and the context of the phrase before lambasting the speaker or using it arbitrarily as they please. Murder of the English language, I say! 

Update: This pest control site has the caption "the bug stops here!" Hilarious!