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3 Cheers for 3 Idiots!
10
3 Idiots - A must watch!
Pants down and palms up! Give a high five! 3 Idiots is not a film, it’s one complete college life that goes whoooosh like a roller coaster before your eyes, guaranteeing tons and tons of rollicking laughter. A must-watch entertainer for all the campus students, 3 Idiots is a commendable tale of friends, and friendship that’ll last down your memory lane, for years to come. It is nonetheless like a kid that never tires of entertaining you.
Though an adaption of Chetan’s famous Five Point Someone, 3 Idiots has nothing much that could be related with it. Unlike Hello, the movie completely butchered Chetan’s work, this is just the opposite, probably even better. In fact it seems, in the case of 3 Idiots, the film makers have had a healthy competition with the author. With every passing sequence we see the efforts have gone higher and higher to make the film more interesting.
After the few initial sequences, the film is narrated in a non-linear pattern by Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan), the first idiot. He is brought together with the second idiot Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi) by Chatur Ramalingam, who apparently wants to clear the score with the three idiots. Thanks to Chatur Ramalingam’s obsession to prove that he is the winner, the two idiots reunite with the third one- Ranchoddas Laxmandas Chanchad (Aamir Khan).
The charm lies in it’s unconditional friendship and heart-touching songs with their beautiful lyrics. 3 Idiots is something that will get you crying and at the very same moment, making you laugh like anything. Salt water is a good conductor of electricity. Everyone’s read it, but Rancho (Aamir Khan) applied it on his ‘pissed-off’ senior to escape getting ragged on his very first day of the Imperial Engineering College. An Edison-in-the-making, he believes in striving for excellence rather than success, which, in fact, is the core message of the film. The song “Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh” is something that describes him the best. Infact the same was used as a background score throughout the movie, and it definitely was awesome! But my personal favorite is “Jaane Nahi Denge Tujhe”. The song plus it’s timing in the movie, leaves you with nothing but tears. It’s something just awesome! The types only one who lived/lives his life for friends would understand, feel and appreciate. Another one that gets you dissolved in it’s beauty is “Give Me Some Sunshine”. It comes on a tragic note though, but is something worth listening.
Despite the foibles, ‘3 Idiots’ makes for an enjoyable watch, thanks to the bonhomie cracked up on screen by Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman. Aamir’s Rancho is a bouncy, fidgety genius with a golden heart. The 44-year-old actor almost passes off as a 22-year-old collegian, bringing out in his character the juvenile buoyancy and vivacity few actors of his age can. Madhavan and Sharman give ample support from the flanks, but a word of praise needs to be reserved for Sharman who shines equally in dramatic as well as funny scenes. Kareena, sadly, has been relegated to a corner but makes her presence felt in a few well-enacted sequences, but it’s Boman Irani who comes up with the best performance in the ensemble with his brilliant portrayal of an eccentric professor. His jawline protruded, his brows pursed, his gait ungainly, his speech lisped, Irani is every bit the vile and virulent Virus he’s supposed to be.
Concluding, 3 Idiots has everything one could easily relate with his or her college life. Seniors, ragging, ugly professors, pissed off students, cool nicks, rum, rustications, suicides, love.. everlasting friends. It is a perfecto to watch with friends this Christmas. Aal izz well, Cheers!
Avatar-break the limits of your Imagination
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Avatar (2009)
When a film brashly asserts that it will change moviemaking forever, one feels the urge to either take its “king of the world” arrogance down a notch or hail it as the masterpiece it claims to be.
Hey friends, no I won’t be the one posting the review of Avatar today, we got a guest writer to share her thoughts and review. Please welcome my U-Dee 
After taking his audiences in a world oozing with water everywhere in Oscar winning movie Titanic, James Cameron has proved it yet another time that ‘Imagination has no limits’ and He could be called the King of Imagination. James Cameron’s 3-D “Avatar” has all the smack of a Film Not To Miss, a movie whose effects are clearly revolutionary, a spectacle that millions will find adventure in. But it nevertheless feels unsatisfying and somehow lacks the pulse of a truly alive film.
“Avatar” takes place in the year 2154 on the faraway moon of Pandora, where, befitting its mythological name, the ills of human life have been released. The Earth depleted, humans have arrived to mine an elusive mineral, wryly dubbed Unobtainium and they could go to any limits to achieve their aim, even if it is killing all the inhabitants of that planet. They develop ultra modern weapons, robots, explosives, spies and ‘Avatars’ for entering and destroying Pandora.
The Resources Developmental Administration, a kind of military contractor, is running the operation. At the top of the chain of command is the CEO-like Carter Selfridge, who’s hellbent on showing quarterly profits for shareholders. His muscle and head of security is the rock-jawed Col. Miles Quaritch, who curses Pandora’s inhabitants (the Navi) as savages and considers the place worse than hell.
In fact, it’s a paradise. In Pandora, Cameron has fashioned a sensual, neon-colored, dreamlike world of lush jungle, gargantuan trees and floating mountains. Its splendor is easily the most wondrous aspect of “Avatar.”
Cameron, like the deep sea diver that he is (his only films since 1997′s “Titanic” have been underwater documentaries), lets his camera peer with fascination at the glow-in-the-dark plant life, the six-legged horses and – especially beautiful, the nighttime frog-like creatures that, when touched, open a bright white sail and spiral into the air.
It’s this sense of discovery in Pandora, in the wizardry of the filmmaking, that makes “Avatar” often thrilling.
Our main character is Jake Sully, a brawny former Marine who lost the power of his legs in battle on Earth. His scientist twin brother has just died and Sully, having a matching genome, is invited to replace him in a mission to Pandora.
He joins a small group of scientists led by Dr. Grace Augustine who are attempting to learn more about the Na’vi by conducting field studies and doing a bit of undercover science. They’ve created avatars of themselves to go about Pandora as a living, breathing Navi, while their human bodies lie dormant in a sort of tanning bed (they return to them when their avatars sleep).
The Navi are a 10-foot-tall species with translucent, aqua-colored skin, 3-fingered hands and smooth, lean torsos. They have long, neat dreadlocks for hair and wide, feline foreheads. The smart freckles on their brow faintly light up like tiny constellations.
With beady headdresses and skimpy sashes, the Navi are clearly meant to evoke Native Americans, as well as similarly exploited tribes of South America and Africa. They pray over slain animals and feel at one with nature. Their tails (oh, yes, they also have tails) even connect like nature’s USB port to things like mystical willow branches, horse manes or the hair of pterodactyl-like birds.
It’s no coincidence that the Navi chief Eyukan is played by the Cherokee actor Wes Studi, whose credits include “Dances with Wolves,” perhaps the film most thematically akin to “Avatar.”
“Avatar”, which Cameron wrote as well as directed, is essentially a fairy tale that imagines a more favorable outcome for the oppressed fighting against the technology and might of Western Civilization. Sully, who quickly takes to life as a Navi, begins to feel his allegiances blurred.
Though he has promised Quaritch to spy on the Navi (their home lies atop an Unobtainium deposit), he begins to appreciate their ways. He also falls for Neytiri, the Navi princess and the one who introduces him to the tribe.
Many Navi are suspicious of Sully ”a demon in a fake body” but they eventually embrace him. They accept him as a leader, even though he occasionally goes limp and vacant when his human body isn’t connected.
The inevitable battle has overt shades of current wars. Quaritch, drinking coffee during a bombing with a cavalier callousness like Robert Duvall in “Apocalypse Now,” drops phrases like “pre-emptive strike,” “fight terror with terror” and even “shock and awe,” a term apparently destined to survive for centuries in the lexicon.
These historical and contemporary overtones bring the otherworldly “Avatar” down to Earth and down to cliche. The message of environmentalism and of (literal) tree-hugging resonates, but such a plainly just cause also saps “Avatar” of drama and complexity.
Avatar is a movie of coming generation.The director actually takes your breath away with the ultimate beauty of Pandora, surprisingly shown in flora and fauna.The landscapes,the flying mountains,the animals which are more dangerous than the Dinosaurs, the shining insects and plants, and every single thing that is shown in the movie is just amazing.This movie not only gives you a treat to watch all these out-of-the-world scenes, but,it even contains a meaningful and believable story within it which you can connect easily with. This movie also provides you with an idea that how developed our world would be in the coming years,where taking an X-Ray report would be a just-a-minute task.
Therefore, if you really want to visit that breathtaking world of Pandora and you are wanting a movie which is ‘zara hatke’, then Avatar is a movie for you.
Aladin : A quick review
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This is one such movie Indian cinema has never seen. A Clear winner of Aladin, is its SFX. Blood and sweat has been put over it and it really shows. Not at any point it looks overdone. What complements the movie more is its perfect casting and characterisation. Each and every actor is cast so well that you can never imagine anyone else playing any character. Ritesh is so perfect as a loser Aladin. While Jaquline is endearing as Jasmine. Amitabh Bachchan is extremely likeable and does not make you remind his similar role of Bhootnaath.
Sanju baba is clearly show stopper. As a bad guy, Ringmaster he is oh, so perfect. Cinematography is the thing to watch out for. Huge sets and excellent use of the fort city – Jaisalmer is eye pleasing. Sujoy’s direction is good, but at some points movie loses a little bit. Screenplay becomes less engaging. But given the novelty value, and at short running time of 132 minutes, the movie is full on joyride.
It takes out child from within you. Child who want to dance to peppy tunes of Vishal Shekhar. Music sounds better while watching it on screen. Cause all are situational songs.
All in all, its a must watch movie for some serious and honest effort of putting up age old fable on to the screen.
Rating: 3.5/5 for Aladin !!! Don’t Miss it!!
Music Review: Blue (2009)
1
4.0 stars out of 5
Music by AR Rahman
Lyrics by Abbas Tyrewala, Mayur Puri, Raqeeb Alam
So after Terabytes of reviews and thoughts about A R Rahman’s first post-Oscar soundtrack… [oops, did I forget to put TM in Oscar?? =P] I finally declare that I am liking the soundtrack of BLUE gradually. Yes it sounds little odd cause most of the reviews / thoughts I’ve read, are boasting about the music. But I was dizzy when the promos started to pour in. Music did not sound quite ‘Rahman’ish. But after getting the soundtrack on my Ipod, I am liking it with each listening.
Chiggy Wiggy : The song I was desperately waiting for. (I love Kylie Minogue hopelessly =P) So definitely this would be drooling experience to see her in a Hindi movie. First portion of track is obviously superb with silly silly words and singing of Kylie. But when I heard the Sonu part for the first time, I was annoyed! Maybe cause he disturbed me and distracted me from Kylie. And the typical words, Heeriye, Jaaniye, Soniye were let down. But after some more listening I actually loving the portion much more than Kylie’s portion. The way Sonu starts his ‘antara‘ is so so much fun. And the line ‘chiggy wiggy chiggy wiggy chig chig‘ got me stuck!!
Aaj Dil : What it reminds me of are two things : Daud and Baywatch! Baywatch just for the piano pieces mixed in compositions. And the singing is so much like ‘O bhaware‘ from Daud in First part of the song, which picks up immediately and whoa!! Shreya sprinkles her magical new voice. She overshadows Sukhvinder completely. Shreya here reminds me of Jism, when she stunned everyone who loved sweet singer of Devdas. In a same fashion of Jism, this song too ends up with giggles of Shreya. Love it!! Perfect for a beach outing.
Fiqrana: Rahman !! It has Rahman written all over it. Its a Yuva part 2 song. But a step ahead of it, just listen it LOUDER. Close your eyes and you can feel yourself standing at a cliff !! Or as @thebollywoodfan once tweeted, a perfect song to play in your car on a long ride at 2am !! The best part of the song is the techno portion – Hoon Junoon Sukooon Main Shararaaaa…. WOW!!! But still I want more from it. I wanted this song to be sung by A R Rahman himself. [and I think he will open up his next 'Jai Ho' concert with this song, Damn sure!!] [and thank God, Farhan Akhtar denied offer to sing this song] Also loved lyrics of the song.
Bhoola Tujhe [Mere Khuda] : My most favorite track !! A Guitar string track. And soothing voice of Rashid Ali. What else one need when Rahman composes a track for his beloved ‘Khuda‘!! Though the lyrics [by Rajat Arora] are tricky, I loved them. Such a soulful track.
Blue Theme : Punjabi??? Oh no not again….but hey its Rahman. So i must watch out for this. And man!! the song is Bombastic!! The sound ‘Ba–loooo‘ makes it simply unique.
Rehnuma : A let down track for me. It sound so so much identical to the Bond series songs. No doubt Shreya sings it like never before. And sound is so Mysterious [which I usually love, remember 'Aaj ki raat' from Don] But the song fails to hold my attention even after numerous listenings. Lets see how it comes up on screen [did anyone said 'Scorching Hotttt !! =P]
Yaar Mila Tha : Udit Narayan+Rahman. A combination which guarantee some refreshing and fun outing. This song features very limited sound of music. A funky tribal touch and Udit doing hip-hop’ish’ act with Madhushree… Fun.
Overall, its a highly commercialized Rahman this time. But even with that tag, he lives up to expectations. This album surely will not end up in his own league of Best soundtracks ever, but still BLUE is commercial at its best.
My Picks : Bhoola Tujhe, Chiggy Wiggy & Fiqrana .
3 Idiots – First Look
1It’s been a long wait and still it’s a long way ahead. Can’t wait to see Aamir’s ’3 Idiots’ based on Chetan Bhagat’s “Five Point Someone”. Here are some of the first looks :
No worries though, Aamir’s movies always release in that month (atleast the blockbusters do!).
Did you ‘Wake Up Sid’?
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Recall those years when partying hard was the only agenda on your list. Recall those years when staying awake at nights, chatting away with friends became a habit. Recall those years when bunking college and sneaking into movie halls was more exciting than books. Recall those years when you were completely clueless and aimless about the vocation you wanted to pursue once you graduated… That indecisive phase when you were hesitant to take that first big step in life can never be erased from your memory.
Wake Up Sid, directed by debutante Ayan Mukerji, is like revisiting those years that lay at some remote corner of your mind, after you moved on in life.
Actually, Wake Up Sid is a slice of life film. It’s not merely real in concept, but has also been told most realistically, so much so that you can’t help but draw parallels with your life or with someone you know. But what really makes Wake Up Sid most believable is Ranbir Kapoor, who’s mastered the craft at such a young age.
Verdict? Wake Up Sid mirrors those ears with flourish. This one’s a simple story that strikes a chord instantly. Strongly recommended!
Wake Up Sid tells the story of Siddharth aka Sid (Ranbir Kapoor), a lazy, unmotivated slacker from Mumbai whose life undergoes a series of changes after taking his final year college exams. Sid’s world is breezy, carefree and without any true responsibilities.
Sid thrives around his two best friends, Rishi (Namit Das) and Laxmi (Shikha Talsania), very rarely communicates with his mother Sarita (Supriya Pathak) and takes his father Ram Mehra (Anupam Kher) and all his hard-earned wealth for granted. Despite all these traits, Sid is an honest boy; sweet, funny and above all, a good friend.
Aisha Bannerjee (Konkona Sen Sharma), an aspiring writer from Kolkata, learns this soon enough when her path crosses with Sid’s on her first day in Mumbai. Ambitious, well-read and driven, Aisha has come to Mumbai to realize her dreams as a writer. Despite their contrasting personalities, Sid becomes Aisha’s first friend in the city.
As Aisha sets up her life in Mumbai, with the help of Sid and his gang, Sid allows for time to fly by over long drives, parties that stretch well into dawn, and endless hours doing absolutely nothing. But a series of circumstances and events compel him to take stock of his life and take a hard look at himself.
Let’s not compare Wake Up Sid with anything you’ve watched before. Not Dil Chahta Hai. Not Lakshya either. Debutante director Ayan Mukerji narrates a story that you can relate to instantly and treats it with utmost care. A few moments linger in your memory and evoke bitter-sweet memories.
The first hour, right till the intermission, sweeps you off your feet. You get drawn into Sid’s world instantaneously; you react to everything he does. But the post-interval portions slackens, courtesy the writing. The Rahul Khanna track, for instance, looks half-baked. Also, the story stagnates after a point and hence, the pacing gets very slow. It’s only towards the finale that things perk up. Ideally, the film could’ve done with some trimming in this hour.
Ayan Mukerji packs in a solid punch in most parts of the film. The emotional moments especially gets you all moist-eyed. The humour too is well integrated in the sequences. Even the confrontation between the father and son is superb. Prior to that Konkona’s birthday sequence is amongst the finest sequences of the film. Music (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) is melodious. Anil Mehta’s cinematography is top notch. Niranjan Iyengar’s dialogues are just right.
There’s no denying that Ranbir Kapoor is a supremely talented actor, but in WWake Up Sid, he proves that he’s amongst the best in the business today. No one could’ve portrayed Sid as effectively as Ranbir has enacted, that’s for sure. This is an award-worthy performance.
Konkona is natural to the core and the best part is, she’s so effortless. Here’s another winning performance from this incredible performer. Anupam Kher is wonderful. Ditto for Supriya Pathak. Both shine in their respective parts. Namit Das and Shikha Talsania are perfect. Rahul Khanna doesn’t get any scope.
On the whole, Wake Up Sid is a well-made film that should strike a chord with the youth mainly. A metro-centric film, the film should attract its target audience and should also prove to be the first choice of the elite/urban audience this Friday. Its distributors (UTV) have very rightly released the film at plexes of metros and mini-metros [instead of flooding the market with physical and digital prints], which in turn should only make this small film talked-about in days to come. Thumbs Up!
