Pappu Can’t Dance Saala...then why watch him

Because Pappu here is Vinay Pathak.

He is back with same kind of role, same genre with same performance (again). This movie offers him the same ‘innocent-man-in-shit’ role (remember Chalo Dilli! read here). Moreover, this movie will be cited as an illustration when it comes to desperate naming of movies. Needless to say, the movie-owners named the movie on a famous Hindi song “Pappu Can’t Dance Saala” from “Jaaaaaane Tu....Ya Jaane Na”. Why? Desperate initial attraction (the side by release is Ranbir’s Rockstar).
Desperation unfortunately didn’t work. Pappu Can’t Dominate Saala – 2.25/5

Story –
UP sends bhola bhala Vidya (Vinay Pathak) to the fast forward Mumbai. He works as the marketing representative of a Pharmaceutical company (I can smell that). Apart from him, you are also introduced to Mehek (Neha Dupia). She too comes from a small town but has an opposite style of living life. Mehek and Vidya are neighbours and bingo! The chemistry of cations and anions begins. The first half is enjoyable and thought-provoking in some scenes. Watch out for Vinay Pathak’s acting skills, his acting totally transfers the frustration of this survival in some scenes (you will surely remember Rajat from Pyaar Ka Punchnama! A bit more mature Rajat that is).
The second half is boring and very monotonous. In it, Vidya and Mehek now start living peacefully. Mehek is offered a ‘bold’ music video and Vidya starts to help her and then eventually fall for her is the rest. Nothing new and very very standard.

Star Cast –
Vinay Pathak – loved his performance, but before the words of appreciation can I caution him for again doing the stereotype ‘goody-innocent’ roles. Consequently, I only liked him when he was acting his frustration part.
Neha Dhupia – not impressive in most of the movie. Good in some senti scenes. You can find better than her in Bollywood for sure.
Rajat Kapoor – looks like a Rockstar in the movie. Quite similar to Milind Soman in Bheja Fry. Awesome actor, awesome performance as usual.
Brijendra Kala – an effortless performance. Bollywood is anyday incomplete without these small performances.

The music is also standard. With the likes of Kailash Kher and Mohit Chauhan, the music ought to be better. But it isn’t. Lastly, to say the least the team of artists like Saurabh Shukla, Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Sanjay Mishra are expected to produce better films. Peace.

What works : Vinay Pathak’s acting (especially in parts where he shows his frustration)
What not: concept is repeated many times before, nothing new

SPEAKing PICtures’s verdict: why pay again to see the same.

"Jo banta hai! Wahi chalta hai"*

*Not applicable for this movie

Rockstar feat. Rocky Ranbir

Few years back in 2008, a movie by the name of ‘Rock On’ bought immense popularity of band music. What Chetan Bhagat did to English writing, Rock On leveraged the same feel in youth with its music (and especially lyrics). No matter whether you are good or bad, you are expressive for your emotions, the antidote to the monotonous work life which you do for money!

Some definitions. What do you understand by a ROCKSTAR?
A rockstar is anybody who overcomes his conscience to get his passion fulfilled and if his passion is true, we say it’s ROCKing.
Meanwhile this Rockstar deserves 4/5 rocking stars.

Story –
Janardhan Jakhad sings in Delhi University and at Delhi’s bus stops so that people don’t feel bored. Quite kiddish but yes! he is. So, when the canteen manager tells him to undergo pain to become like Jim Morisson, he takes it quite literally. He innocently flirts with a Kashmeri ballet beauty, Nargis Fakri (Heer). Post some attempts, the story goes into Jab We Met mode (travelling bindaas and then one of them falling in love with other). This is the forte of Imitiaz (director) and he is successful this time too. The story in second half reaches abroad in Prague, with Heer falling ill and JJ aka Jordan growing in music and violent clashes with media. Both meet & share some past moments but the love angle falls weak. When the movie ends, you feel the climax is not convincing (Imitiaz’s Love Aajkal!).

Star Cast –
Rockstar Ranbir – This is his best performance. With this movie, he has officially entered the league of extraordinary superstars who ride millions on their performance. Rockstar belongs to Ranbir in every true sense.
Nargis Fakri – satisfies the beauty quotient but fails in passing on her pain to the audience.
Piyush Mishra – can’t miss him to appreciate. Just look his facial expressions in the massage scene.
Kumud Mishra – plays the role of canteen manager. Impressive and believable.
Late Shree Shammi Kapoor – gracefully played the role of a famous Shenai-vaadak. Full of charm.

The music is awesome. AR Rehman along with the versatile voice of Mohit Chauhan has created the music journey quite successfully. The movie builds on music. From acoustic, to sufi, to romantic, to cross-cultural, to instrumental, to live college fest aggression, to a foreign concert performance.
Another point to appreciate is the dressing of Ranbir when he performs as Jordan. The modified redesigned Jawahar Topi rocks and reflects attitude.

Can we, the Indians can be a bit bolder?
Why do we see an unnecessary love angle in every movie? Why do you need heartbreak as a cause of pain? Why can’t Imitiaz Ali relate suffering to today’s youth frustration? Pain from multiple job rejections, failure to get admission, etc could have given a lot of pain for Ranbir to turn Jordan. Its high time quality Indian directors like Vishal Bharadwaj and upcoming ones like Imitiaz Ali take the route of quality over commercial. @Anurag Kashyup – take a lead.

What works: Ranbir, the music journey
What not: the pain punch in the script

SPEAKing PICtures verdict: 1.1.1 = 3 +1 = 4

ps: Tibet flags @ Sadda Haq song…touching

that night from Ghaziabad

Travelling in chilly cold night from Ghaziabad in an old jerking bus (route is named ALT; alternate in many ways), I am still thinking on why ‘WHY’ is bothering me again! Somewhat a strange gush is slowly coming in. “Mujhe aaj daar nazar aa raha hai” as I slowly silently fought the thought but such was the emotional push that it prevailed me to seep (yet again) into career planning.

Back in the afternoon, I along with few friends was discussing what is important to succeed. A night before, it got a different perception, that of a girl of my class which confirm my belief that ‘everybody is different’. Yep. God made everybody unique BUT circumstances make everybody different. Nice creative one liner but will I get an opportunity to use it? Is the liner that beneficial? Not that I am cribbing but the fear of controlling yourself amidst so many uncontrollable factors is indeed a fiery idea. What a waste of time it was! that to think.

Continuing the journey, while passing I saw an empty warehouse. Then the board read it was a mall (somebody tagged it WIP – work in progress; must be a MBA). Stalled work or may be intentionally delayed. It speaks for growth without conviction of total confidence. It seems to me that because builder needs to do construction, he is doing so. So many flats on sale, builder billboards – what’s the mood? Keeping guessing would be an obvious answer. Now I am pursing management. I will say good words in a confident tone. Hence I shall observe, analyse, estimate and then forecast. My heart had the answer ready already. What a waste of managing wealth for a degree! Anyways…

Sorry for playing ‘Inception’, but I need to go back to afternoon. Discussing with a friend pursing management in Finance, the concepts of ROI are a cause of concern. “Maths is a bastard, you see” – famous saying of a practical teacher. It teaches you objectivity. The whole ROI concept is 99% relevant but 1% fraudant. Learning is never featured into it. ROI takes care only of tangible parameters, not of non-tangibles. May be I am talking to0O much OB here! I obviously hate it – I am subjective, but I like objectiveness. Bank balances are objective. World sees objectivity! Subjectivity invites filtration…another one

Coming back, travelling in metro is always fascinating. Why? Randomness. Delhi Metro always surprises you with train sizes, timings, midway stops, women reserved coaches, escalator functioning. But still it seems planned, or is it jugaad. Jugaad, the faith bearer to remove fear (daar; previously mentioned). May be that will drive optimism; wait for the budget next year. The UPA govt. shall jugaadify something (next election bribe)!

Why am I going into politics, is it because I am coming from Ghaziabad? I am in Delhi now (@home); civilized thinking shall prevail. The conclusion - the mall shall be back, so will the jobs, so will the money, so will the peace of mind, so will the greed, so will the justified learning…so will the sleep?? Anytime any-posture any-lecture :P

“Razai garam ke saath hai safar
Shayad aaj sona vapaas aa jaaye”

ps: temperature outside 4 degrees only

Headlines - Pa.One Mauke pe Aaya 'RA.ONE'

So what it was finally released on a Pa.one day (Diwali), the destiny is stated sometimes. Destiny was stated for this movie also. It will work (even the real Raavan can guess that). But will it be appreciated and genuinely generate ‘Likes’ on facebook? Let’s assess this through a video game –

The Game –
SRK, our game developer develops a game in which villain is more powerful than the good hero. Why? To impress his kid who thinks his dad (SRK, curly baalo wala) is a dodo. The game characters are named quite smartly as Ra.one and G.one. Recall your childhood days where games used to have stages. Here, the virtual stage looks interesting but the next stage is played in reality, where Ra.One comes out of the game to kill our game developer. Now, G.One has to kill Ra.one.
SRK has the controls, he shall win.

Characters –
Ra.One (played by Ra.Jun RA.mpal! Arjun Rampal pronounced normally). He looks villainous and is a suitable cast for Ra.One.
G.One (played by Sa.Ra.ukh Khan). Firstly, why has he taken over my idiot box. It seems the code of the game has been miraculously shared among all the broadcasters in India. Man! Every second ad ends with a man depressing dressed in glittering blue-black suit and looking over the city (Batman stolen concept). It’s a norm that 80% of the ad space before any SRK movie will feature him. “Excess of co-marketing”, incase anybody is researching on this topic, you have a fabulous opportunity (courtesy: SRK). Phew! Don 2 is coming; I should start playing video games and not even look at my idiot box.
Coming back to movie, SRK puts in genuine effort and tries his best BUT cannot produce the quality of acting which could have justified his effort and hard-work. He is ok as G.One (much much better than his irritating South Indian avatar as the game developer). Even as G.One he does not look like a SuperHero (look at SRK's physique for answers). All major superhero have a face accessory/mask (guess! It was a missing here)
Sonia (played by Ka.Reena Ka.poor) looks gorgeous here (watch her in red colour sari).
Prateek (played by Armaan Verma) – he should acted after a hair-cut else acting was satisfactory.
Other non-routine side-kicks were Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rajini.

Music of the movie is awesome and is something different to hear. Chamak Chalo is addictive (Hindi song sung by an international pop singer). Akon, bhai you rock (dil se re).

Lines about the story -
Why do need presence of stars of likes of Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rajini. This tells us about the confidence in script. The biggest flaw of Ra.One is its script. It LACKS creativity, given the fact budget was huge, some sequences are played out so safe. With Rs. 150 Cr to dispose, script could have incorporated some never heard of action-sequences. Even the styling of G.One suit looks heavily inspired from Ironman.
Ra.One has technology but not class, which a movie like Swades had.

What works – hype (yes! SRK you are successful in it), technology in Bollywood movies, Music
What not – Script, Expectations

SPEAKing PICtures verdict – (quote borrowed from a friend) “Kuch bhi ho, dekh to aaye kya movie hai”.

Rating?
Ya! I usually give rating quite early in my reviews. Here, factors to analyse are many. SRK has put a lot of hard work, if not quality. The quantity will work for him again. He has released 5000 prints of Ra.One (70-80 in Russia), thus opening new avenues for Hindi movies. Only a few in Bollywood can do it, SRK has leveraged it to quite a level with immense hype.
Ra.One Ra.ting – 3/5 (generously rated)

ps: “log Raavan ko is liye baar baar maarte hain kyunki vo kabhi marta nahin hai” (you curse SRK as an irritating fellow because you know he will redo it – this is emotional translation)

pps: I still cannot believe the amount of co-marketing SRK has done for this movie. When I went to Google’s office in Gurgaon, I first saw SRK standee emerging out of YouTube and then Google’s logo. His modus operandi is superbly working (this will be covered sometime later)

Salman Khan: Bollywood ka "Bodyguard"

“mujhe par ek ehsaan karna ki mujh par koi ehsaan na karna” (favour me one thing that do not do any favour to me).

Cheesy masala chichoori one-liners. That is what we want and Salman Khan movies are providing that in (dangerously) higher frequencies. The first time I heard about Bodyguard, I was expecting something really macho and for-a-change a serious action movie (Salman Khan’s Garv). But the trailer while watching an even more item movie ‘Singham’ proved me wrong. Movie makers of Bollywood, after the grand successes of Wanted, Dabang, Ready, presents another ‘Salman Khan’ starrer – ‘Bodyguard’ with same style and show.
My past ratings for Dabang, Ready were around 3 but this has tested my patience and my precious dearest money. Rating hence given – 2/5

Story –
Let’s talk Salman as much as we can. So in Karan Arjun, he did a ‘i-am-all-yours’ act as a return favour. Here too is a similar set up.
Salman is named as Lovely Singh (sounded for Sunny Deol) in the movie. He becomes a bodyguard for Sartaj Rana (Raj Babbar) in return of previous gestures. As a bodyguard, his role is to protect Divya (Kareena), daughter of Rana sahib. As a bodyguard, he is professional and can go to any limits to protect her (even in ladies loo). Divya is naturally irritated with his over-protective working style and decides to fool him with the help of her friend Chaya (Rose Dawn). Element of confusion is created. Typical Hindi cinema takes over…She hates him, She loves him, He marries somebody…kuch kuch hota hai (but still Shahrukh, you are not missed).

Cast –
Salman Khan – as THE actor in demand you post him anywhere people will glance. Looks, acceptable acting and great body. All is there, everything is clicking. Can’t say much. If you have money or Salman owes you something, just cash in. Now is the time! He can’t be reviewed, he can’t be rated and as a MBA (finance) will say, he can’t be estimated also.
Kareena – ok, satisfactory…neutral stand (na main dost, na main dushman)
Rose Dawn – awesome looks. She is not meant for acting.
There is one character called Tsunami Singh. Do you really find the name funny? I can’t believe the story writer Siddique was one of writers for Hera Pheri, cult comedy by all standards.
Anyways, moving on to Music by Himesh and Pritam. Two songs stand out – title track and ‘I LOVE YOU’. The latter is a nice sweet addictive one, the one to expect from these huge blockbusters.

As a student of MBA (marketing) from one of the best institutes of management in India whose forte is marketing, I can forecast these trends through numerous bookish models. But somehow my movie watching experience says we will see either of the two ways – either Salman Khan will be stereotyped as Hindi movies ka Rajini or will fall like Akshay Kumar.

What works – Salman and front row whistling fans
What not – concept/script repeated, overdone comedy, a sense of fatigue

SPEAKing PICtures verdict – festival time release (Eid/Ganesh Puja), can go iff Salman Khan fan else no

ps: fantastic marketing techniques like co-marketing adopted by Bodyguard. Superb

Chala Mussaddi – Office Office (a nostalgia)

Chala Mussaddi – Office Office is quite literally adapted from idiot box counterpart - Office Office (popular TV show based on satires on corruption in different govt. offices). The TV show was a huge hit as viewers were able to relate their experiences in govt. offices. In addition, the show highlighted corrupt practises in a comic fashion, which lightened their sufferings.

The movie was no different but it came after the TV series. Henceforth, being rated at 2.5/5

Story –
Mussaddi, the common man from Office Office loses his wife (played by Fareeda Jala) due to doctors negligence and goes for chaar-dhaam pilgrimage along with his son – Bunty (played by Gaurav Kapoor). On return he finds that the pension department has declared him dead in his absence. Mussaddi contests through many proofs but TC (team corrupt comprising of Ushaji, Shuklaji, Pandeyji, Bhatiaji, Mishraji and other sarkari babujis) have a deaf ear. Mussaddi now takes the baton against the team TC and fights to ALIVE his identity.
The story is a simple case of declaring a living person dead. It lacks originality as this has been highlighted earlier. The story of the movie shouts its adaption from TV serial Office-Office.

Cast –
The movie has some great actors (not stars) and casting is without doubt, a forte here. So we have a Pankaj Kapoor (playing Mussaddi, the common man). No matter how many times he plays Mussaddi, he put in the same effort and is lovable to him. In some instances, you see yourself in him (the calls which he take – whether to question a particular officer or not, etc).
Asawari Joshi plays the character of Ushaji, the kaamchor ‘my-office-is-also-my-home’ lady officer who epitomises ‘feminist corruption (‘ek kaam kardo’). Sanjay Mishra, an ace in comic industry plays the character of Shukla, the dirt-spreader (quite literally). Deven Bhojani plays the ‘do-baatein’ Patel. Manoj Pahwa plays the role of Bhatia, the foodie who prefers eating over working. Hemant Pandey plays the Pandey (oops! Call him Pandeyji).

All of the above mentioned actors are proved performers and are safe bets for comedy anyday. However, the stereotyping works only to a point. A movie script needs more to capture the attention of audience throughout its run. Sadly, Chalo Mussaddi fails in that. Therefore, you only enjoy in parts.

What works: Cast & Current affairs
What not: lacks originality

SPEAKing PICtures verdict : watchable

ps: say No to corruption

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Long title but simple facts. What will prompt you to watch this movie especially when Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif, Kalki (recent addition) are all casted in a single movie. I guess casting itself is sufficient. With this kind of casting, the first impression is set. Rest of the week will depend on its quality and on what it delivers.
ZNMD speaks about life and makes you realize the fun if you really enjoy it. Rating – 3.75/5

Story –
When a person in construction business meets an interior designer, what happens? They make a pair. Similar is the setting between Kabir (Abhay Deol) and Natasha (Kalki). Once the engagement is forecasted, Kabir wants to cherish his last days of his bachelorhood and sets on a road trip (location: Spain) along with his friends – Arjun (HR) and Imran (Farhan). So we have three middle aged men go on a three week vacation to indulge in ‘self-selected’ adventures. Each of them has the liberty to select his dream adventure and the other two will have to do it (irrespective of their likings). In due adventurous course, they realize what is life’s another perspective.

Cast – With whom should I start?
Farhan Akhtar – and not Hrithik (atleast not in ZNMD). He has the best role in the movie that of a sponty copywriter. Effortless with great versatility. He enjoys his role (gets the best lines) and you enjoy that on screen.
Hrithik Roshan – is looking clean and cool especially after his last movie. HR plays a character in the movie which lives the hectic financial world. He touches the emotional cord more than any other character in the movie. Just a wish - he should danced more. Remember! he was in Spain.
Abhay Deol – free-flowing and bindaas.
Katrina Kaif – plays the role of Laila, scuba instructor. She is attractive (we all know) and charming (wonderfully done here). Her screen space is limited here but she does full justice.
Kalki – plays the role of Natasha. I would have preferred a fresh face for this role. That might have saved some money. Nothing related to Kalki’s performance though!
Zoya Akhtar - (director and screenplay) is again very impressive. Just recalled how her first movie “Luck By Chance” (read here) presented gratitude to the film fraternity in opening credits. Awesome.

This is an era of DK Bose where families might not feel comfortable to hear it (forget about seeing the movie). Don’t miss this especially with this is kind of K Jo’s casting. Also DO NOT compare with DCH (Dil Chahta Hai). To put it into a phrase – “DCH was more boyz, ZNMD is more mature”. DCH was cult, don’t think ZNMD will reach there. Why? B’coz ZNMD connects you with its idea but somehow you don’t feel that attachment. Subjective!
Movie has superbly advertised Spain as a clean fantasy dreamland. Expect more people to learn Spanish. Expect a rise in prices of air-tickets to Spain. And let’s wait till somebody does a ZNMD the Indian way!

What works: topic, theme, thrill of bachelors-trips
What not: songs (somehow they are chartbusters level), dance (Hrithik! Expectations were higher)

SPEAKing PICtures verdict: Dekh le. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

The theme of this movie has been a self-enlightening one. It has been repetitive and released in cinemas multiple times. I would like to end here with a cult dialogue from the cult movie (Anand) with which I started my Chalo Dilli review (another movie asking you to enjoy life) –

“Babumoshai, Zindagi Badi Honi Chahiye, Lambi Nahin”

ps: I expect viewers to enjoy the saawan-season whole heartedly after watching ZNMD.

21st June 2011 – Longest day of the year 2011

21st June is generally the longest day of the year (am sure you know this). Now, incidentally, this day was also marked the starting of the orientation week for PGDM batch (2011-2013) @ IMT-G. Nice to see that from the day one, we are witnessing full utilization of natural resources (days are bigger, so more interaction, hence more presentations can be covered).Fantastic time management and scheduling.

And it did turned out to be the longest. Not at all a surprise.

The day started with formal dressing and polishing the shoes. It is mandatory in B-school to be in formals on occasions like these. 9 am sharp, we entered the IMT library.The students of PGDM batch (2011-2013) were all dazzling and ready to listen and so were the speeches.

The director’s messageon ‘IMT Vision and Future Directions’ was superbly encouraging and the Nataraja‘s ‘creation by destruction’ analogy was philosophically refreshing. Before lunch sessions included addresses by Prof. Rajat Gera, Chairperson – PGDM (F/T), whose talk had enough subtle humour to tickle the audience. There were other talks also on various topics like Code of Conduct, etc.

Post lunch, we had sessions intro from all academic departments. Marketing was interactive, Finance had humour, HR had promising questions, IT looked familiar, ESS was new, while Operations was an engineer’s delight (caution: perception can go wrong).

The best was saved for last – Address by Chief Guest (Mr. Atul Karwal). He was the first IPS officer to climb Mt. Everest. His intro seemed to one of a of an adventure genius – sky-diving, scuba-diving, mountaineering, horse-riding, black-belt @ Martial Arts, etc. His presentation was simple, powerful, inspirational, moving in parts and literally had thatkhatra (fear) factor. His presentation included lots of self-taken pics and motivating videos of persons who successfully touched the summit @ Mt. Everest. Plus the insights he gave of the climb was very imaginative. Not to leave behind the learnings, which were most important.
Apart from his experience of Everest, he also mentioned some unique adventures of his daughters (snake catching and then lizard catching to feed those snakes).He deserved a standing ovation; he got twice.

Post dinner, various committees presented themselves. PLACECOM was most popular, ALCOM gave a comfy feel, MESSCOM generated humour, IRC was unique while SIFE was something very new.

Clock has touched 12. Next day, will be covered in next article.

best quote heard over the campus on 21st June 2011 -
“Let us not play a dot ball” ~ Dr. S.K.Batra [awesome reception to this]

Cheers
Ag

ps: 21st June being the longest day of the year, also means less hours allotted to night, which means less sleep.

Journey from home to hostel…first time travelling on this route

“We will become graduate one day, said a buddy engineer who surprising did what he said, he passed his graduation with flying rainbows”. After three long years of work-ex, he is again heading to college and this time as a hosteller to0O (May God Bless!)


One day before the travel –
Bags were being searched, things were being sorted and home food was being stuffed in regularly without considering the fact that it might alter the body-mass ratio (which is vital stat when you are heading to a college). “What to take” question was searched on Google and it gave all sorts of rubbish answers. For example, a link mentioned to take books and registers (how very silly).

An IMT senior posted a long list of physical entities which sounded like abbey ab ye kaha se laaoo (from where will I get this?). Silly silly things made you pensive - where do I get Nirmasuper!! Parents are always there to help and bingo! The graduate was equipped with all essential commodities which are needed to become the MBA.

Realizing the fact that body of MBA has to be sleep proof, I deliberately continued my late night online chat with a friend discussing and debating what would have been better for me – ‘Business Leader Vs Solutions Architect”. We started with domestic and went GLOBAL and then UNIVERSAL…the speed could have easily taken us to MILKYWAY but we were finally stopped by MTNL around 4 am.

6 am I was up and 7:30 I was leavinghome. On the way, I saw my MNC office and so very glad to miss it. After having a work life, one Do0O realize the importance of going back to college. Fun @ dreams, Fun @ college, Fun @ IMT.

I entered the campus, the guard spoke fluent English and it was my official sunrise. IMT @ third time, it was (previously during physical interview @ Indo-Pak match day and fee submission). A lot of curiosity was related to hostel room. Being a day scholar throughout my life, it was something obvious. Even a three-month onsite trip was no match in front of this. I did realize that I was one of first persons to enter IMT for enrolment today.
The Audiwas full empty and chilled. It was something meant for respected people – rightfully for parents (awesome thing done). Meanwhile, the freshers were to go to second floor. The person designated there greeted me with smile and said – “to aa hi gaye”(you have finally come, bliss). Roger that sir. Coming back to college life is like restarting life. Play it.

Around 9:30 am, the auspicious ritual of form-giving started. I was the first to collect those. 4 forms (one of them printed on two sides) – total of 5 A4 sheets. My graduation has prepared me very well for this activity of form filling. But engineers are lazy and I am no exception. I forgot my CAT scorecard and payslips, etc. But thankfully the Ground Floor’s Xerox cum Printout shop was there. After achieving the submission of all forms with essential docs, SAAC and PLACECOM were next. While PLACECOM didn’t saw much footfall, SAAC was parents’ favourite. Everyone wanted to know in which room their wards will go! Managing chaos was the learning here. Also it involved major streams of management – Operations, Organizational Behaviour and IT management (courtesy – Google Docs and MS Excel).

After a pause, I was finally allotted J Lobby (should I be happy?).The feel, as one fresher said “three idiots ki aa rahi hai” (feel is like it was in 3 idiots). Hope no one tries to light the bulb this time.

Bucket, Baggage, Bed and Bhoja (load) all were then moved successfully to my room. While on my way, I saw Beds, Buckets, Simcards, etc becoming fast moving consumer goods (FMCG right!). The whole supply chain management was worth appreciating. Expecting to interact with such high quality managers soon.

My room door is opened. Articles end here.

Cheers
AG

Dialogue of the day –
“padhai ek ko karni hai, aaya poora parvaar hai” ~ someone (reacting on seeing whole family coming to see-off a prospect MBA)

Ps: first article from my first hostel room

Movie Review: Bheja Cry 2

Bheja Fry when it came had the advantage of being new. People and intelligent people (critics) started the dialogue of having low-budget-high-quality movies. Bheja Fry grossed marvellously at box office. Since then, there have been many successful products Phaas Gaye Re Obama, Tere Bin Laden, etc.

However, this one (sequel to Bheja Fry) is not like its predecessor.
Rating - 2.25/5

Story -
The original idiot (Bharat Bhushan, played by Vinay Pathak) is back as a tax officer, who wins a TV show and is awarded a cruise ticket. How can just winning the show please him? He wants pleasure (love) too he likes Minissha Lamba (TV exec). Also on the cruise liner, along with them; we have a Ajit Talwar (played by KK). He is a big business bro but fears from tax people for obvious reasons. He wants everything girl to be near him and tax officer to be away from him. He plans to topple the taxman off the ship into the ocean. But eventually ends up with him on an island to meet another two characters Amole Gupte (R Burman! No not R.D. Burman) and Suresh Menon (strict taxman). Rest continues

Cast
Vinay Pathak as the fatso goody irritating tax officer is a pleasure to watch. Not much to speak, just that he is too adorable. But he has to do diverse roles now else he will surely be stereotyped. A word of caution for him has already been mentioned in Chalo Dilli review (here).
KK Menon seeing him after a long time. The class in him is of a certain quality but the lines given to him does not match with his calibre. Better dialogues could have brought him more accolades.
Minissha Lamba not worth a Bheja Fry brand.
Amol Gupte is ok. But watch out for Suresh Menon. Like we saw Sudesh Lehri in Salman Khan starrer READY, here we have Suresh Menon in Bheja Fry 2. He is witty enough and scenes having his presence are hilarious. Professional artists have a different tough!

Bheja Fry 2 should have been written better. Also there is lack of good effective punches in this edition. The Movie says in its trailers the original idiot is back. Its a lie. The camaraderie which we saw in Bheja Fry 1 involving Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Ranbir Shorey, etc is missing in the sequel. Infact, sequel of a movie like Bheja Fry should not have a new cast at its core.

What works: Comic scenes in parts, Glimpses of quality of the star cast
What no: weak story and dialogues

SPEAKing PICtures verdict : It's Bheja Cry instead of Bheja Fry. Miss it

My bags are packed, I am ready to go...

Away from the shor (noise) in the city, I will restart the race. God has created a highly competitive path for me, and I will walk it. There is a difference between knowing the path and walking it. Time has arrived to walk it and ace the race on the route.


Main udaan bhar hi lunga, Aasmaan chu hi lunga,
Mere ang khil gaye hai, Ho mujhe pankh mil gaye hai
Mujhe pankh mil gaye hai (x3)

Pawan sa udna hai, Baadal se judna hai,
Ho mujhe pankh mil gaye hai
Mujhe pankh mil gaye hai (x3)

(I will surely fly, I will surely touch the sky
My limbs have come out, I have got my wings…)

(Flow like wind, Get attach to clouds
I have got my wings…)

The TV commercial of Future group has motivated to the extent that I have started re-dreaming about restarting. It has given me that dope of optimism which burns my oxygen to the most optimal level.

My work life only gave me money (that too the least I presume), all along I was afraid to take risks. I was STAGNANT – not going anywhere. Stuck in the concrete; not in mud, not in quicksand. Now I have left work (temporarily), attempting to enjoy the life with loads of fun and studies (I doubt I will study!!).

In my past three years, I have seen many people – selfish, extraordinary, good, awesome, better than best, bastards, hilarious, boring, good genuine people and humans without heart. Analysis of this past says no growth in whatever manner you can think of, but some parts of my soul do like my past. I have figured out to let people go (when you can’t make them turn towards you). The knowledge gained of my failure has created that wisdom quotient for me. I have become wiser instead of successful. I have learnt more than what I have earned. By that definition in some stream of philosophy, I am somewhat successful. I should be happy! But I was not. Sitting in office was a pain, I have escaped now.

Failures were one thing in common. To escape from my first job, I tried running all the way. Gave 10 interviews, all rejected. Sometimes luck was against me, sometimes it was I myself. After a point, I took a stand not to switch from my first job (loyal anyone?). I decided to go ahead and study again.

A break from work. A break from monotonous life. A break from AC. A break from boss. A break from coding. A break from office tea. A break from stagnancy.

Work is not paid anymore; it is rather appreciated and respected. Life is not monotonous anymore, it is rocking now (and changing @ 25 hours per day). There is no AC in life, but I have managed to create some human fans of mine. I am my boss now (managing my own decisions). I don’t code lifeless programs, I create inspiring masterpieces. I don’t drink that fcuking stupid powdered tea of office, my thirst is satisfied by normal cold water. I am not feeling stagnant anymore. Today as I write from my hostel room, life’s quality has manifolded multiple times. It is rocking and depreived of sleep. I have entered into a B-school.

AG @ IMT-G (Mobile: 9717739518)
* - feel free to contact for all sorts of collaboration (research, consultancy, creativity, guidance, etc)

ps: SPEAKing PICtures takes you to college again :) Expect enjoyment here. CHEERS

EVERREADY - Charge yourself with Salman's Ready

Dhinka Chika Dhinka Chika Dhinka Chika Dhinka Chika Aey Aey Aey Aey! And here I am looking into my good English thesaurus to get the meaning of these so very filmy words. Obviously I cannot find them. They are meaningless, just like the movie BUT works for the Indian public. I do realize that a critical review will be of seldom use, therefore my wisdom says to judge by the fact whether it worked as an entertainer for me or not?

So did READY worked like an ‘EverREADY’ for me? Rating – 3.25/5 (Yes! Partially)

Story –
Story is simply senseless and mingling mindless. Sanjana (Asin) has to find a suitable shelter for a couple weeks and enters as a prospect bride in the Kapoor family. This Kapoor family like Bollywood Kapoor family is full of characters - a trio of Ram-Laxman-Bharat Kapoor (played by Mahesh Manjrekar, Manoj Pahwa and Manoj Joshi respectively) along with their jewellery infested wives. We also have Prem in it (Prem who? Hum Aapke Hain Kaun obviously!). The Salman Khan, son of Ram Kapoor in the movie. After the Kapoor family intro, the first half is about how Prem comes to know about Sanjana’s reality. The first half contains some mindless comic dialogues (thanks to Sudesh Lehri) and they superbly work for audience.
The second half is the time for Chaudhary family. Any bollywood actor would not like to marry a girl without her parivaar ki marzi (family consent). How can Salman be an exception? So now he will only marry Sanjana once her Don-Uncles are satisfied with the couple. The Don-Uncles are hairy, plotting and look rather comedians than villains. But again, it works (mentioning this phrase thrice now). Rest of the story is about how Prem (Salman) manages to get all things in place and also the Parivaar ki marzi from Sanjana’s Don-Family.

Star cast –
Salman Khan. Like I mentioned in my review for Dabang (read here), Salman has found that USP in him which will help him to retain the cult status – Body looks (takes off clothes in every movie) and being casually funny (a must for paisa-vasool entertainers). Nice and pleasing to see that works. He sells this movie to you. You go to this movie for him.
Asin is watchable to watch and has a chulbul (naughty) presence. Going by the fact that the makers of Ready was looking for an actresses which could bring resemblance to Ready (Tamil version) actresses Genelia D'Souza, Asin was an apt choice. She works. But her make-up disappoints.
Sudesh Lehri – he rocks. You can laugh at his professionalism everytime you see him on screen.
Paresh Rawal can be seen trying but his dialogues are a bit weak.
An initial shock was received by me when I saw Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Kangna Ranaut in the movie within first 5-10 minutes. Needless to say they were extras (special appearances).

Music of Ready is THE thing which makes you EVERREADY - Peppy, Tipsy, Chichoora (did I said Chichoora) and Lip-exercising. Songs like Dhinka Chika has pure shades of southern touch. Another song like Character Dheela is written for Salman. And what to say about lyrics –

“Ishak ke namm pe karte, sabhi ab raas leela hai
Main karoon toh saala, Character dheela hai”

Chichoora is the best adjective. Go to any disco in New Delhi and the posh people will be dancing on it.

Apart from the music, the situational comedy also works in places. And that is due to high quality of comical artists in Ready. However, the script sometimes tests your tolerance for absurdity and lets you disappoint. Writing scenes where climax has rose fighting, heroine hallucinating and thinking hero taking off his shirt, etc are just not needed.

What works – Salman, Sudesh Lehri, Songs
What not – absurd scenes forcibly put in the movie

Speaking Pictures's verdict – EverReady. Charge yourself now. Paisa Vasool Entertainer

ps: I watched this movie in Amritsar. The crowd loved the show. However, the trailer of Ghayal Returns (starring Sunny Deol) gathered maximum cheekhs (roars) and ceetties (whistles). They still love Sunny Paaji (dil se re). Waiting…