Watch ‘Kites’ just for Barbara!

Kites Official Poster Watch Kites just for Barbara!Kites was Anurag Basu-Rakesh Roshan team’s miserable attempt to make a highly melodramatic Hindi movie into something that resembled a Hollywood movie.

The movie is only worth the scenes where they show Barbara Mori and her tantalizing curves and smiles. Its sort of a disappointer if you’re a Hrithik Roshan fan. Remember Dhoom 2 and how Hrithik got the whole audience spell bound with his amazing moves and ‘acting’. This movie promises nothing. The only fast paced song in the movie looks like Saroj Khan’s version of B-boying gone horribly wrong!

So then one would wonder why it has got 86% ‘fresh’ rating at Rotten Tomatoes and the fact that almost all the critics have gone at length to praise this film bar a few. Did i write something just now that makes me look like a complete mental? I didn’t check my cynicism at the door when i went for the movie. In fact i never really had any. But i left the movie with two bags full!

The storyline for the movie, is one that has been written, re-written, taken and re-taken many times in Bollywood. Tweak the characters a bit here and there, redefine who is going to play the villain this time and rewrite the ending to be a bit too dramatic and we have a new Hindi movie.

The hero, J (god knows what his name in full is.might be Jackass) is a dance teacher and marries immigrant women to get them green cards (ya like officers in the US are dumb enough not to spot that). When the rich daughter of the villain falls for J, he decides to marry her for the money. But he then discovers that the lady who is marrying his brother-in-law was one of the ladies he had married for the green card thingie. Enter the heroin Natasha a.k.a Linda. Rest is predictable movie stuff. Chases, explosions that are very typical to Bollywood films, gun fires, a badly taken Mexican Stand-off, love scenes, sacrifices etc. etc.

I’m not saying that similar storyline has not been copied elsewhere. It has been. But they all try to add a little something that makes the movie worth watching. Road Trip and Euro Trip both revolve round the same story line. But the story develops in its own unique way in both the movies. Kites simply fail to do so.

Wait a second, on second thought, i really understand why Kites did well in the overseas market and not in India.

Imagine that you have been having dosas all through your life. You have had masala dosa, pain dosa, ghee dosa, egg dosa, plain dosa, paper dosa, ragi dosa, set dosa and even something called as the freaking American chopsuey dosa. To get rid of this, you decide to travel to the US to try new food items. Then one fine day your friend tells you that he has found out an excellent place where you get amazing lip-smacking food. You are elated and you cant wait to eat something else. You dream of all the new variety of food that you are about to taste. But much to your dismay your friend takes you to Dosa Plaza! How about that uhh? Now thats exactly how i felt when i saw the movie.

Now if you were originally from the US and had no idea how dosas taste like, you will for sure enjoy the dosa. If even you ordered a Mexican Roast Dosa (WTF!!!)

The only thing that the movie offers the audience is the perfect figure of Barbara Mori. (she has one of the best figures in the industry) and the enviable chemistry between her and Hrithik. As my wife put it as we left the theater, “what an amazing lust between the actors…”

For Barbara, who felt bad as the movie did bad in India, lets watch the movie….

For Barbara!

Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen

TF2SteelPoster Transformers : Revenge of the FallenThere haven’t been many a times that i, after watching a movie, was so lost thinking about the movie itself. I just walked out of the theater and just hoped that i had Bumble Bee or at least my 150 cc 2005 model Pulasr DTSi was a transformer. I would then run over all the cabs and BMTC buses shouting, ‘Decepticons moooveee!!!‘.

Here is a movie that is entertaining from the point the first star of Paramount Picture swivels in, till the end-credits start rolling up. The movie is so much action packed, that i didn’t even get a good look at Meagn Fox. Damn!

Everyone told me that its a great movie. So did people tell me about Delhi 6. Obviously there is not comparison between the chick and the transvestite. The point was, too many characters to fit it. And when i knew that there are hell lot of transformers (Autobots and Decepticons alike) to be followed, i doubted the entertainment ability of the script and movie. What kept my hopes alive was the fact that its a Michael Bay movie. No really, look at the cast. The credits even show a dog being credited (Mikaela’s dog).

Got in for the movie at 10AM on a Saturday. The hall was virtually empty, hardly 10 people for the show. Found a nice and cozy place for myself and settled down. I just didn’t realize how 2hrs whizzed past me. Have to say one of the best entertaining movies.

So all you puny ass punks out there who think, ‘Naah! i’ll wait for the DVD to come out’, you all rot in hell!. This is one movie that deserves to be seen in a theater.

Caution : Just as i was about to hit submit for this post, i went to IMDB and read the trivia and the goofs. Please dont ever ever do that. It kills the fun.

EeePc Initial Reactions

Last Friday i bought an EeePc for my brother. I have heard a lot about this little master, or rather monster, but i had to see it for myself, what it could really do?logo EeePc Initial Reactions

Got it home and the first thing i do, hook it on to the wifi – a plus over there. Then it was time for some serious browsing. Did that and the only thing that i found a bit difficult was typing. C’mon the entire keypad fits in my palm and how am i supposed to type. But still again a plus. One of the things that i need to do from a usability point of view, for any Linux box, is to play movies. Plugged in my thumb-drive and double clicked a movie. Cool! just played it just like that, without any problem.

So far EeePc has impressed me in more ways than most girls have ever done. But word of caution, if u r a linux junkie who likes to get your hands dirty by doing – ./configure; make; make install- then EeePc is not the one for you. Coz it has everything that you need for a, err say and over sized mobile with out the calling facility. (one of the reasons why i goes to my brother icon smile EeePc Initial Reactions )

My initial reactions with EeePc has been captured with the inbuilt cam like this -

image 00000 300x225 EeePc Initial Reactionsimage 00001 300x225 EeePc Initial Reactionsimage 00002 300x225 EeePc Initial Reactionsimage 00003 300x225 EeePc Initial Reactions

Here are somethings that i have tried out on EeePc -

  1. Locate the Terminal (this is fun, coz u really need to know linux like your backyard to locate this)
  2. Write a “Hello WorldPython program (this was written at Barcamp Bangalore 8 )

icon wink EeePc Initial Reactions

 EeePc Initial Reactions

Google Chrome – First Impressions

chrome 205 noshadow Google Chrome   First Impressions

What should i comment on this browser. First thing that caught my attention was the cool technology that went into this beautiful little app. Remember the days when we used IE, then Fx came along and just tripped and toppled our whole browsing experience. Fx came up with the idea of tabs, imporved browsing experience, plugins etc. etc. You name it they had it, or rather they were ready to include that in their next realease.

I feel the same when i see Chrome or Google Chrome. Its the coolest idea that we can have for a browser at this point. A browser that doesnt crash or rather does a good crash. It never affects any of your other open sessions.

(Read the Chrome story)

The best fact – its open source. That means that even my granny can get the source code and help Google imporve it or can come out with her own Hare-Rama-Rahe-Krishna Browser for the religious kind.

After the initial interations with other users over twitter. I found that people have some common issues, worries, concerns etc etc and not to mention a funny stuff too.

Prasanth a fellow Mutineer, found the shift to Chrome taking a toll on his mental heath, it was too mentally tiring for him.

Sivaprasad was able to download the online installer, but as he was sitting behing a proxy and had to authenticate the installer didnt finish what it had started. He was kind enough to send in the fix for the problem which he found here.

For all those who need a complete offline installer, i have uploaded the same in my site and is awailable for download at this link – Chrome Download. This was Allajunaki‘s idea

Interestingly Kiruba reported and error thrown by Chrome that read - “Google Chrome has encountered a problem and needs to close. Please tell Microsoft about it”. icon biggrin Google Chrome   First Impressions

Waiting for more reactions…

(first post on/using/with Chrome)

Chrome Offline installer Download

Singh is the Kinng! – An Entertainer

200px Singhisking Singh is the Kinng!   An EntertainerA friend of mine once said, when you are watching the movie ‘Partner’, leave your logic at home and the movie is entertaining. So it follows that, at times when my friends invite me to watch a Hindi movie, i just pack-off my logic to a holiday at the Bahamas. It applies to all mindless comedies that have come out in the name of entertainment. Some makes it through, but some just fail.

Of late Akshay has had a string of comedy movies under his belt and most of them were with the gorgeous Katrina Kaif. Singh is Kinng is no different, but there is something fresh about the comedy and it really makes sense.

Lets just say that the movie does justice to itself. Its a very simple story of Happy Singh (Akshay Kumar), who would just do anything to help you out.Happy is there to help you if you need it or not. But there is a problem, he has got a negative ‘Midas touche’. He leaves a trail of destruction when he sets out to help someone. Its his golden heart that wins him other’s hearts. Rangeela (Om Puri) and the rest of the villagers like Happy, but Happy’s helping hand is now everyone’s headache.

Then there is Lucky Singh(Sonu Sood) a.k.a King, who is a Don in Australia. King has had many close calls on his life. One fine day when King’s dad fall sick, Rangeela makes a plan to get rid of Happy by sending him to Australia to get King, but finds himself having to join Happy. With some sudden turn of events Happy and Rangeela find themselves in Egypt, where he meets Sonia (Katrina Kaif).

What follows is some nicely scripted comedy and the events that make Happy to be the new King! Nothing more to add to the spoilers, so guys enjoy Happy’s journey to Australia. It will sure tickle you to the bones.

Things to watch out for (or rather not to watch) :

Uff!!!! Katrina, she is gorgeous, she is damn sexy, but she is there just to fit in the role of a heroine. Neha Dupia still gets a fair amount of scenes and dialogues. Katrina’s dialogue is still half-Hindi and half-British and never runs more than half-a-page, even if every line was put together. Even after so many movies, her expressions remind me of the Hollywood actor Steven Segal. With Steven Segal you cant make out what his expression is – he kills, shoots, kisses, cries – all with the same constipated look. With Katrina, oh god, its always the Vogue-cover-model look. Damn it even when she is crying, its the same!

The fun part of the movie is, most of the actors who has been the regular villains and the serious characters, playing a comical role. Ranvir Shorey still pays the unfortunate lover. The song with Snoop Dogg would have been better if the Hindi rap part was done by, say Hard Kaur or Bombay Rockers or somebody else.

Highlights of the Movie :

  • Katrina’s gorgeous looks (again and again and again)
  • The opening scene of Akshay
  • Neha Dupia – all sizzling
  • The Hindi version of ‘corn-flakes’ – LOL
  • The scene where all of them get to discuss on Happy and Sonia – ROTFLOL
  • Javed Jaffery

Pritam has come up with some real good songs that have been packed really well, just like the icing on top of the cake. The title track has already made a mark.

ENOUGH! – i wont misguide you any more or get you misguided by the high minded critics in town who fail to appreciate simple things in life and movies, who look for reasons under the earth and beyond the sky to say bad things about any and every movie ever made unless they are paid well enough to say otherwise OR unless they are member of the ‘Bollywood’s Mutual Admiration Society’ or ‘Star Power Sucker’s Club’, and before you fall victim of the vicious process of letting someone else decide what film you should and shouldn’t watch…let me tell you, – Watch the movie without fail! Full Paisa Vasool!

Singh is Kinng!!!

(Cross-posted here)