Archive for category Movies
Movie Review: Welcome to Sajjanpur [Sucks]
I do not know why stereotype directors go out of their way and produce crappy movies which are completly out of their league. And I do not understand how great actors consent to such roles.
I was too excited to watch this movie partly because the music is really nice and because it’s a Shyam Benegal’s movie. However, it turned out to be complete torture. It had absolutely no storyline till the interval after which it was a little watchable.
For the first half, random characters were coming on screen and doing random stuff. To make matters worse, they threw in some songs which really weren’t necessary. Furthermore, no one probably watched the movie after the production was over, otherwise, they would have noticed that KK’s voice does not suit on the bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan.
The fact that an excruciating street play about the Singur problem was deliberately inserted in the movie proves that directors take their movies as their playground and do not even think about viewers’ reaction.
Benegal wanted to make a comedy movie. Then why on earth did he try to insert public service messages in favor of eunuchs (like he hasn’t already) and against stupid superstitions (Marrying a girl with a dog to remove some kind of astrology issue)? They were really irritating and the message got out all wrong. Also, it was a movie for villagers and illitrate people with really good songs (thanks to Shantanu Moitra). Maybe he should have made a documentary.
Stay away from this movie.
A Wednesday Movie Review
There is nothing much to say here about the movie as most reviewers and critics have already spoken very high of the movie. The movie is simply superb. The best Bollywood movie I have seen till date. I wasn’t expecting this movie to be this good. To be frank, I wasn’t even planning on going to watch it. However, as I liked the trailer and the fact that there was no other movie worth watching the day it was released, compelled me to go for this one. And it was one of those best decisions I usually make ;).
All the actors in the movie are superb. This is a no frills movie sans any nonsense and stupid comedy. The director was so keen on keeping the movie confined to the context that he didn’t even allow any songs in the movie. And that’s probably a good approach for such movies as there is usually no requirement of songs in thriller movies.
Speaking of the director, this is Neeraj Pandey’s first try at direction. And I must say, a superb one. Hats off to the new guy who blew the old players away.
The screenplay is awesome. You might guess the ending halfway through the movie, but still, the movie will keep you gripped to the screenplay. The thrill will pump your adrenaline to the levels of Speed 1 and the likes.
This is a must watch for everyone. Watch it in a theater.
Wall – E in India
Wall – E was released in India yesterday on 29 August 2008. Owing to the high IMDB rating and a lot of mention in my favorite tech blogs, I went to watch the first show. Here is some bit of my experience.
Since this proved to be one hell of a movie in the US, I was expecting a lot of people to come and watch it. But I was surprised to see 90% of the hall to be empty! Then I guessed the reason behind the same as lack of hype and publicity and release of the much awaited Farhan Akhtar’s movie "Rock On!".
None the less, the movie is superb. It truly deserves its rank in IMDB top 250. The graphics are mind blowing. And the story is also good. Combining a romantic story with environmental issues proved out to be a great idea :). I loved the way they portrayed the human life outside earth. No wonder the movie broke so many records.
All in all, it’s a must watch for everyone here in India. Children, adults and senior citizens. We all need to be aware of the consequences of our carelessness towards the environment and we all need to watch movie masterpieces like these :).
However, the movie needs to be publicized better in India. What I see is that people don’t even know that such a movie has been released. They also need to create some hype. Although no point now that the movie has already been released. Another way is to release this movie in IMAX theaters in India. Currently, it’s being shown only in one IMAX theater in Mumbai. That too only 2 shows. I recommend this movie to everyone out there.
I was also able to get a photo clicked with the wall e model in Spice cinemas, Noida :). Check it out:
woikr – Because we can
Excerpt from "The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization " – The Big Bang Theory, Episode 9 :
Leonard (to Penny): Hang on, hang on. Do you not realize what we just did?
Penny : Yeah, you turned your stereo down with your laptop.
Leonard : No, we turned our stereo down, by sending a signal around the world via the Internet.
Penny : Oh. You know you can get one of those universal remotes from Radioshack? They’re really cheap.
Leonard : No, you don’t get it. Howard, Enable public access.
Howard : Public access enabled.
Penny (after a few seconds of nothing happens) : Boy, that’s terrific. I’ll see ya.
Leonard : No hang on, hang on… (The lights in the apartment star blinking) See?
Penny : No.
Leonard : Someone in Sichuan province, China, is using his computer to turn our lights on and off.
Penny (kinda frustrated) : Oh, that’s handy. Here’s a question… Why?
Leonard, Sheldon, Howard and Koothrappali (all together ) : Because we can .
With a plethora of technology blogs around, does anybody actually need another one? Maybe not.
So why woikr ?
Well, because we can 
woikr team:
Anshuman Johri – A photography enthusiast, who aspires to be a world-traveler from Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Chirag Gupta – a geek, suffers from “never-ending-gadget-lust” disease and loves movies from Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Setu Garg – another geek, an audiophile to be precise from Noida, UP, India.
Swaroop T G – an avid gamer, reads too much about technology than he needs to from Hyderabad, AP, India.
We launched woikr.com at 00:00 hrs on 15th Aug 2008 – The Indian Independence Day.
Happy Reading !
Krrish
I always cribbed about the special effects being used in Bollywood movies. I mean whatever they did just didn’t even came close to the special effects in the Hollywood movies. But my perception is changing now.
Recently I watched Krrish. Its a sequel to Koi… Mil Gaya. Both directed by Rakesh Roshan and starring his son Hrithik Roshan in the lead role.
I must say that this is the first Bolywood movie I have seen with special effects comparable to Hollywood movies. The effects are mastered so neatly that you do not notice any flaw in them. Ofcourse the logic behind any hero’s powers in Indian movies is usually hard to digest, but usually the movies used to lack that perfection in the special effects which makes the viewers Wow. This one doesn’t.
The only point is that you must watch it with an open mind. I do not know why people can watch Keanu Reaves, Superman, Spiderman and above all X-Men doing the same kind of things and terming them as Superheroes, and at the same time not even care to watch an effort by a Bollywood director. The problem is that they are rigid. They underestimate everyone including their own country. Why can’t Bollywood do it? I mean is it really hard to believe that given the funds, a Bollywood director capable of making such a movie can, and definitly will make it.
I must say that the movie rocks. I mean the kind of effort put in is awesome and it shows. The songs are great (kudos to Rajsh Roshan) and the special effects are mind blowing.
I recommend this movie to everyone out there.
Frequency
Just finished watching Frequency. It was released in 2000. I liked the movie.
The whole thing goes really slow but is some thriller. Till the end you’d bite up your nails to find out what happens next. The direction is superb. If we discard the bugs on imdb, its all in all a great movie.
The idea being the main character being able to talk to his dad 30 years in the past. He saves him from different deaths he might have had! Sounds really interesting. Its visually interesting too! Trust me, for any technical person (who has studied quantum computing), its really exciting to see a concept in action. The sequence of events is well thought of and keeps you glued to the movie till the end.
I recommend this movie to all the geeks out there.
The third dimension
Recently I watched Space Station 3D at IMAX, Ghaziabad. And it was an awesome experience!
Although the movie is quite old (2002), but it was still able to generate the type of revenues to the multiplex owners as they might have thought while conceiving the theatre.
The movie starts with photogenic scenes of earth being viewed from the Space Station in 3D! Believe me, the view is unparallel. You cannot have any better experience of space whilst sitting here on earth until and unless you are a Trainee astronaut being trained at NASA in their virtual space stations.
The movie has been shot by astronauts only. And that is really appreciable and I must say that the cinematography has been well taken care off. The camera positions are such that you get the best view of the scene.
The movie is all about how different countries are involved in construction of the Space Station 250 miles above us. The conditions in which they build the thing, the challenges they have to face etc. Movie also shows a typical astronaut’s life in the Space station.
The 3D effects in the movie are just awesome. Being projected on an IMAX screen makes it an unparallel audio and visual experience. I am badly waiting for the next movie (Walking on the Moon 3D) to be projected at the IMAX Ghaziabad theatre. Also, there was a trailer of the movie T-Rex which was just WOW. The trailer shows life size dinosaurs roaring right in front of you! They are so close that you can count their teeth! The kids in the theatre went crazy after seeing that trailer.
All in all, IMAX 3D is an experience worth undergoing again and again. I have already seen the movie twice and am planning for the third trip. I am eagerly waiting for the next change in the theatre.
I reccommend this movie to every geek out there (but watch it only in IMAX 3D).
Rang de basanti
Last week I watched Rang de basanti. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the tickets on 26th of Jan (Yup, the movie was released on Thursday, the 26th of Jan 2006). Well, that’s no surprise as its really a tedious task to get tickets here in Bangalore.
Anyways, after watching some of the disasters like Zinda, Shikhar etc. (which were expected to be hits owing to great directors who directed them), I was skeptical about watching any bollywood movie. Seriously speaking, I had lost the hope of watching a good bollywood movie.
The only thing that forced me to watch this movie was Aamir Khan.
Well, as expected, he did it. Aamir was excellent in the movie. And the movie was perfectly perfect! Everything was so perfectly woven together that the audience were wowed. The first half was full of humour and reminded me of my college days. The second half ignited a feel of patriotism in me (and everybody else for that matter).
There are two things I noticed while watching the movie. Firstly, the writer had this perfect sequence in his mind while writing the script. There was nothing jumbled up. Every scene, every dialog was perfectly in place and complementing the previous one.
Secondly, the director knew what he had to do. I mean, he knew from where a certain scene should be shot to get it best on the screen, where to place the camera, how to move the camera etc.
All of this complemented by the legend’s music. Yes, AR Rehman did it again. With “Pathshaala”, he reawakened the college youth in us and with “Lukka Chhuppi”, took us deep into an emotional dive. Hail AR Rehman!
Many viewers did not like the end. But I guess, the movie wouldn’t have been powerful enough to create an impact, had the end been a typical bollywood end.
I recommend this movie to everyone out there.