Wow.

I haven't written anything in a while, have I?

Couple of things to share:

Finals weeks have been upon me for quite a while, hence the radio silence. I'm done with 3 group papers and 4 group presentations; only 2 individual papers and 1 final exam to go. And then 5 weeks of bone-chillingly cold Winter break which I'm spending.. right here. Woohoo.

I fell up the stairs a few days ago. How does one fall up? Well, I was running up the stairs, and because of my socks, I slipped, missed a step, and slammed face forward into the stairs. Badly bruised my right hand middle finger, so now.. I can't flick anyone. I also slammed the left side of my face into a stair, but sadly the shiner isn't big and black and blue. Hmpft. All that pain, and nothing cool to gain from it. Puh.

Slumdog Millionaire was quite good. Gory, but gripping. Go see it.

I love Chuck. No, seriously. Possibly the best show on TV right now.

And finally, I'm suffering from a strange form of adult acne, or as I like to call it, Pimple Whac-a-mole. Yup, as soon as I get one zit to simmer down, another one explodes. Looks like someone has given me the evil eye and cursed me with bad skin, or maybe it's just part of this crapola year.. which is coming to an end soon, woohoo! Let's hope it really all was just the curse of 2008, and that everything changes on January 1st. *fingers crossed*

What's up with y'all?

Month #9

It's September 1st. That means it's the 4 year anniversary of the xinugeist. Happy birthday, dear blog. You've been a great friend all through your 475 posts (although the number could have been higher if I hadn't ignored you for all of 2005... sorry about that). But here's to many more years of ranting, raving, whining, and despairing of this thing we call life.

Also, Ramadan kicks off today. Woohoo. Looking forward to a month of fasting, praying, sin-purging, and (lets face it) lots of samosas. Mmmm. I will miss my music - I borrow from Lent and give up music while fasting because it distracts me so much from holy thoughts and activity - but I think my soul could do with some internal re-focusing and maintenance, don't you? (umm, rhetorical question, don't bothering answering that one).

So, you'd think that Ramadan would bring out the best in people given that Grand Ol' Lucifer is locked up in Hell, right? Nope. It seems that his minions are completely capable of keeping the sleaze alive without his help.

Earlier today evening, I sent about 40 'Ramadan Mubarak' text messages to all close friends and family - it's an annual tradition with me, I always send them for Ramadan and Eid. But apparently I had one of my friend's numbers saved incorrectly because the message went to someone else, someone I don't know at all. It was an innocent enough mistake, a numerical mix-up, but it got creepy pretty quick.

This is how the text message conversation went:

Me: Ramadan Mubarak! May your fasts be rewarded and your prayers be answered in this blessed month! Zeenat.
Response: and eid mubarak 2 u 2. but are you family, friend, or foe? Zia
Me: Sorry isnt this Shahid?
Response: not even close. sorry.
Me: Sorry!
Response: sorry is not going to cut it. you owe me a choc blast for the mental anguish you have caused me.

Seriously? Ew. Is this what the world has come to? Anonymous text flirting on the pretext of a religious greeting? Whoever this Zia creep is, someone needs to tell him that (a) Ramadan should never be used as part of a pick up line, and (b) you can't demand ice cream from a complete stranger. I know people who will disagree with me on (b) but no, the line has to be drawn somewhere. Ugh. So creepy. I think I need a shower.

In other news, I'm still trying to get over this disease that progressed from head cold, to stomach flu, to throat infection. O bug, whatever you are, please kick in properly and then get the hell out of my system? It's just not working out. We need to go our separate ways. Please don't feel bad.. it's not you, it's me.. blah blah blah.

Also, I'm sick to death of apartment hunting. We have been scouring Internet listings for weeks, and spent the last two full days checking out places in every neighborhood on the Red Line, and came up with naught. Why are there no decent places available for October leases? At this rate I'm going to end up being stuck in bloody Waltham until the day I die (which might be soon enough if this flu doesn't go away.. in which case, I'd die in Ramadan and go straight to heaven.. hmm.. I have to re-think this whole disease thing).

The good news, however, is that I've got my fall semester schedule and I have no class on Mondays. Woohoo, 3 day weekend. However, I also got some of my text books off Half.com and, umm, this stuff seems hard. And here I thought I'd be coasting my way over the 22 year olds. Durn. Still, I'm looking forward to orientation this week. Classes start next Tuesday, the 9th.

Also, I'm happy to report that I've been zooming through my Netflix queue recently, and watched some really enjoyable movies - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (utterly brilliant), The Darjeeling Limited (depressingly addictive), Juno (fun, but sort of overrated), Amelie (impishly adorable), The Last King of Scotland (marry me, James McAvoy?), and Death at a Funeral (hilariously dark).

Up next: The Fountain, which I've been dying to see for ages (Hugh Jackman + fantasy theme.. what more do you need?) and Hamlet, starring my favorite Shakespearean actor, Kenneth Branagh. Yes, I know, I know.. I'm getting a little Hamlet-obsessed, but have you ever known me to do things by halves?

All in all, the movie-watching spree has reminded me why I was a Film major at all. Cinema rocks.

Alright, time for bed. Must be up early and my throat/chest is on fire, so I should get some rest. I'll probably be hitting a metaphorical snooze button on the blog for the next few weeks due to Ramadan and school starting and apartment moving, but I'll try to keep up. Wake me up when September ends!

Across the Universe

A completely mind-blowing film. Beautifully envisioned and executed cinematography/choreography of all the Beatles songs. And really excellent performances from the cast.

It's about 20-30 minutes too long, but overall, the film touches your heart, amazes all your senses, and leaves you feeling incredibly happy and sad at the same time.

The image below is a painting created by the film's main character, Jude (naturally, from Hey Jude) when girl he loves, Lucy (naturally, from Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) hurts him deeply.

Something about the image pierces my heart each time I look at it. Desperate love and, also, desperate loss.

Yep, that basically wraps it up.

Onced

"I watched Once this past weekend. Worth it? Most definitely. Would I watch it again? Not for a long while. I don’t know why, maybe it hit a hidden button on me, but I found it to be a downer, which ironically I don’t think the movie is meant to be. I guess it’s the fact that it revolves around two people who belong together, but pitfalls of a previous commitment hinder any possible future.

I am hooked on the soundtrack though. The music in the movie was absolutely perfect, I fell in love with every song right away, that’s tough to do, on the first listen anyway. Also, the songs are quite uplifting, but the lyrics are dejecting. The contrast kills me, my heart doesn’t know which way to turn. I guess it’s akin to an addiction, you know it’s bad for you, but you want it anyway."

Love In The Time of a Heatwave

Dil ke badle mein dil de
Tu sauda humse karle
But I just wanna be your lover-girl..

Is that really what love is? A sauda? Merely a transaction?

"Here you go luv, all my hopes and dreams and desires, and as a special bonus - my heart and my soul - just like you ordered, all yours for the cost of a burrito lunch and some yellow tulips."

Hmm. I probably shouldn't be taking my cues from Alisha Chinai, but blame the E-volver comments section for reminding me about cheesy 90's pop music and sending me down this train of thought in the first place.

In other news, it's bloody hot. We finally made it to Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square yesterday, and while the deep-friend cupcake was really quite amazing, it was too hot to enjoy it when I was feeling so damned deep-fried myself. There was no wind, no air, it literally felt like a sauna. And the heat wasn't helping my feet either; I have penny-sized wounds at the backs of my feet because of wearing bad shoes on Thursday when it was all humid and rainy (yes they've got band-aids on them, but I have to change them frequently because of all the oozy stuff they're oozing.. v. painful and gross.. damn summer shoes) and the heat made them ITCH.

Later in the afternoon, we checked out the Coolidge Corner Arts Festival, and while the raspberry fruittata from J.P. Licks did help, the mercury hit 90F and I went from fried to boiled. But I did enjoy the Arts Festival; it reminded me of our neighborhood Bucktown Arts Festival in Chicago. There was lots of wonderful hand-crafted jewelry, hand-painted silk scarves, beautiful photography and also, interestingly, sock monkeys (yeah, toy monkeys made of socks).

Two artists stuck out of the crowd for me: there was an Israeli lady named Tami Rodrig, who made the cutest silver jewelry and accessories out of bottle-caps. She told us how she went to India and collected so many of her bottle-caps there because the refrigerators have bottle-openers attached to the door handles and they collect caps in a tube at the bottom, so she was like a kid in a candy store.

And then there was this photographer called David Stern who had shot the most breathtaking pictures of Italy, and then printed them, in gorgeous and stunning resolution, on ceramic tile so you could hang the pieces in your kitchen or living room. Simply amazing stuff. There were sunflowers, and rivers, and crumbling Italian houses decorated in flowers and vines, and boats, and sacks of chillies and red peppers... it was so beautiful, I was literally left salivating. I need to go to Italy. NOW.

And then I finally got around to watching Atonement, which is quite possibly one of the saddest movies I've ever seen. It's about (what else?) true love, although love that is only experienced for a few, brief, stolen moments before being snatched away because of misunderstandings and confusions. The kind of love that is enough to sustain years of separation and, eventually, depressingly, death.

The eternal love story - isn't that what we're all striving for and dreaming of? The kind of love that isn't a transaction, isn't a negotiation, isn't a calculated risk.. but is mad, desperate, all-encompassing, ever-lasting, flawed, painful, insatiable..

Can it be real? Or is the dream all we will ever really have?

I am a dreamer
And when I wake
You can't break my spirit
It's my dreams you take..

Blockbusters Begin

Now I feel like the summer blockbuster season has begun.

I had watched Harold & Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay last week and was sort of disappointed. It definitely was funny (NPH was great!) but it didn't surpass the original by any means. There was just too much unnecessary nudity (male, female, full frontal - all of it) and that sort of killed the humor for me.

But last night I watched Iron Man and OMFG!! It totally ROCKED! It's been a while since I enjoyed a superhero movie this much. Fantastic plot, brilliantly acted and executed, phenomenal special effects and an awesome climax. Big thanks to my brother-in-law who insisted I watch this movie since he's a complete comic book freak. I didn't know anything about Iron Man, so I went in with zero expectations - but came out totally blown away. I haven't watched every superhero movie in the last few years - I gladly skipped Fantastic Four, Hulk and Hellboy - and maybe it was not as good as Batman Begins (I'm just partial to the Bat) but it's definitely up there in the list of 'can be watched over and over on cable' movies. Robert Downey Jr. has definitely joined my list of great Hollywood actors (the list currently includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Adrien Brody, Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale.) Can't wait for the sequel in 2010.

So I'm optimistic that it's gonna be a great summer, which we desperately need since it's been a shitty 2008 so far. Currently on the must-watch list:

May
5/16: The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian
5/23: Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

June
6/13: The Incredible Hulk
6/20: Get Smart
6/27: WALL.E

July
7/18: The Dark Knight
7/25: Untitled X-Files Movie (geez.. you've had 6 years to work on this movie and still don't have a name for it??)

August
8/1: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
8/8: Pineapple Express
8/15: Tropic Thunder

Hmm 10 movies in four months. I can do that. I guess being unemployed has its perks :)

Music & Lyrics

There are romantic comedies and chick flicks.. but this movie was a little bit different. Caught it on cable after a friend - a guy in his mid-thirties with three kids no less! - recommended it
and it was actually a really sweet film.

Hugh Grant plays an '80s has-been pop-star/musician, and Drew Barrymore is a budding lyricist with a family-run weight loss business and some emotional baggage. The movie revolves around how they come to know each other, compose a song together for a Britney-esque pop star named Cora, and, of course, fall in love.

Surprisingly, their on-screen chemistry is great and neither is as annoying or grating as we have come to expect. In fact, their relationship brought back memories of songs that were composed by the indomitable V&Z duo (remember Vish?)... although we did all our composing, err, over the Internet.

Anyway, the song is really sweet.. it's called "Way Back Into Love" - watch the video below to hear the final version that is performed at the end of the movie by Hugh Grant and Haley Bennett who plays Cora. Enjoy :)

A Disaster of Mughal Proportions

Jodhaa-Akbar. Three and half hours of my life I'll never get back.

Where do I begin? This movie was disappointing from its opening scene to the eventually desperately-awaited final credits. I had little expectations of this film to begin with, but even those were blown to pieces.

In summary, Jodhaa-Akbar was tediously slow, poorly written and directed, and badly performed.

Not to mention, the music was totally horrendous - what the hell was that Khawaja song supposed to be? If was the most un-Sufi song I've ever heard and the lyrics were terrible. Does no one know that Sufis spend less time glorifying the pirs and focus more on glorifying Allah (swt) by expressing their deep love and devotion to Him? This song was a complete joke. "Khawaja mere Khawaja, dil mein samaja"? I almost yelled out "Issay forward karo!".

Seriously, we spent half the movie laughing at the supposedly deep and serious scenes because it was all so campy. The Khawaja song in point - I've never seen such fake entranced whirling dervishes in my life. Sadly, except for Jashn-e-Bahara, the songs were painful to endure.

Anyway, back to the film. Frankly, Ashutosh Gowariker hasn't been able to deliver anything the size of Lagaan despite multiple attempts and I think he should just stop trying. He was clearly trying to make a Mughal-e-Azam style epic, but seems to have forgotten that the original took 10 years to make, was poetry personified, and had some of the finest actors of our time in it - not popcorn heroes and heroines who think they're deep and can speak Urdu because they can pronounce the Qaaf and pretend-sword-fight badly.

The film wandered aimlessly for two hours, unable to decide if it was a war movie/historical epic, or romantic love story. Gowariker eventually decided to cram 7 different and extremely slow-moving plot lines into two hours, throw in an intermission at a completely uninteresting point, and then resolve them in a rapid and confusing manner during the last 1.5 hours. The film feels like it was written by multiple people who couldn't decide the focus for the narrative. It could easily have been streamlined and made at least an hour shorter.

The battle scenes were exhausting and unnecessary. One got the sense that Gowariker wanted everything to look dramatic, imposing, heart-stopping. But you just couldn't feel the love. Maybe its all been done before, or maybe it just wasn't done well enough. The plot and characters were just not captivating enough for you to care about the outcome of the bloodshed. Because essentially everyone already knows what's going to happen (of course Akbar survives all these hamlay in his youth; we know he doesn't die until he's in his 60s), Gowariker needed to put all the more effort into crucial scenes to make us care about the character, to make us desperately want him to defeat enemies - but he failed to create any sense of empathy or any emotional connection.

The acting was also sub-par. Hrithik has talent but he just cannot connect to any director other than his dad. He's worked with Subhash Ghai, Karan Johar, Farhan Akhtar and Suraj Barjatya and he still doesn't hit the level of performance delivered in KNPH, Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish. It's disappointing, but a truly good actor makes any film and any director work for him, and I just don't think he's that good of an actor anymore. I appreciated his effort with Urdu pronunciation (very clear Qaafs) but he just didn't bring any definition to the character. As it we are working with pre-conceived notions of Akbar as Prithviraj Kapoor here. Those are big shoes to fill. But Hrithik neither does it the PRK way, nor does he create a unique Akbar of his own that's worth remembering. He just didn't internalize the character and the resulting performance was quite unremarkable.

Aishwarya made little impression, as usual. Her style is really getting old. She looked pretty but the costumes, while stunning, failed to captivate ones heart. 

Usually in films like this, the supporting cast at least makes up for lack of anything else. But even here J&A disappoints. Suhasini Mulay (Aamir's mother in Lagaan) was totally wasted, she had two lines to speak. As was Khulbushan Kharbanda. A lot of no names made up the supporting young Mughals in Akbar's family and court, but there was no one to write home about. Only two actors delivered remotely interesting performances: Ila Arun as Maham Anga, and Rajesh Vivek as Chugtai Khan. But their roles were superfluous and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, so you never really felt their impact in the overall narrative.

Overall, it was disappointing. Lagaan had set high expectations - you were hooked to the story, caught up in the lives of all the idiosyncratic characters of a small village, engrossed in an entire cricket match, and actually so involved that you didn't want it to end after 4 hours. Jodhaa-Akbar was, unfortunately, exactly the opposite ; I wanted to leave about 15 minutes into it and despite giving it a chance and suffering through the entire saga, I was bored and frustrated. A sad show for Gowariker.

Film Review: Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

Keeping with tradition, I watched the latest Harry Potter film installment last night, on the first day of its release. And, keeping with tradition, I came away somewhat disappointed, with much of the same concerns: too much of the plot was left out, the climax was rushed, and if you hadn't read the book you had no interest in the story (as proven by my husband who fell asleep in the middle).

Basically, as usual, the director chose to keep those parts of the book which would be visually dramatic and entertaining, while sacrificing the few moments it would take to include those parts of the narrative that make the story truly compelling and link one film to the next.

Not only did no one mention the words "12 Grimmauld Place" (except once, when Dumbledore sent the people in some paintings looking for the Order after Arthur Weasley had been attacked), legions of characters and plot-lines were left untouched and unexplored: Tonks, Mundungus, Kreacher, the entire Ron-Hermione snogging drama, the entire Harry-Cho drama, St. Mungo's, Ginny telling Harry that she's the only one who's ever been controlled by Voldemort so he should ask her if he is turning into him... and so much more.

Some stuff was conveniently changed, as usual: Cho was the person who gave up the secret location of the D.A. to Umbridge and the Longbottoms were said to have been killed off by Bellatrix Lestrange to avoid including St. Mungo's in the plot.

Still, what was most shocking is what they did to the climax: there was no Kreacher betrayal of Sirius, no uber-mysterious Department of Mysteries, and after Sirius died, there was some sense of Harry panicking but afterwards, once he got back to Hogwarts, he showed none of the destructive rage or towering guilt and sadness he feels in the book, in order to drive home that Sirius was dead. He's not just gone, he's DEAD and this is BIG. But somehow, the importance of this was lost in the film entirely.

The fighting sequence at the Department of Mysteries was well choreographed, but they made a huge deal out of the 1 minute (in the book) when Voldemort posessess Harry and asks Dumbledore to kill him. It went on for ages, with Dumbledore just sitting there looking dumb and helpless. Pretty pointless, really.

When it's all over, about 10 seconds were spent talking about the prophecy, with no reference to Harry being marked as his equal by Voldemort himself, or how it could have been Neville instead.

It was definitely a disappointing end to a movie that, even if it wasn't entirely comprehensive, at least kept up a better pace than its predecessors, and even worse because #5 was the first book in the series to be really dark and gripping, with a phenomenally emotional ending. The longest book was turned into the shortest movie.

The only redeeming factors were Harry's performance - Daniel Radcliffe has finally learned to act, and he was actually extraordinarily good.. I finally believed that he was Harry Potter; Imelda Staunton as Umbridge - although she was far too pleasant looking for me, she got the syrupy, evil cat-lover role down brilliantly; and the girl who played Luna Lovegood - she was perfectly dotty and serene, just as she should be.

Hermione and Ron, for the 10 minutes that they were on-screen, were pretty awful - someone really needs to teach them diction and how to speak slowly and emphatically, without rolling their eyes all the time.

Dumbledore was alright - I don't like this one, he's too agile and fiery for me. I like my Dumbledore's calm and wise, with a twinkle in their eye, thank you very much.

And finally, I have a beef with the costume people for Harry Potter: the books clearly refer to the students always being in robes and having their hats on.. yet we never see this in the films. Isn't the whole point that we are meant to be brought and immersed into this magical, wizarding world.. not that we change the aesthetics to make it more palatable to the ordinary viewer?

Overall review is same as the others: forget the movie, head straight for the book as I am doing right now!

A Disappointing Start to the Summer

Ta Ra Rum Pum: nauseatingly hideous from start to finish. Avoid at all costs.

Spiderman 3: too many characters leading to a confused narrative that doesn't keep you as hooked as the first two. Blah de blah.

Shrek 3: again, too many characters and not enough funnies. It all seems rather unnecessary.

Oh well, there are still MANY other movies coming out this summer that might redeem the year...

May 25: Pirates of the Caribbean 3
June 8: Ocean's Thirteen
June 22: Evan Almighty, A Mighty Heart
June 27: Live Free Or Die Hard
June 29: Ratatouille
July 4: Transformers
July 13: Harry Potter 5
July 27: The Simpsons Movie
Aug 03: Bourne Ultimatum
Aug 10: Rush Hour 3

Hmm.. might make sense to get an AMC card or something and save some $$$.

A Weekend of Themes

Friday: Disappointment Night

~ Dinner at a much-hyped Thai restaurant called Erawan of Siam. Started off well - the decor was wonderful, appetizer was great. And then dinner arrived. My Jumbo Rainbow, ordered because of the temptation to try chilli plum sauce, was nothing but steamed veggies with no trace of sauce. Thai Iced Tea left a strange taste in my throat. Sarwar's dish was unnecessarily spicy with no other flavor. Overall - highly disappointing.

~ Watched The Namesake. Decent performances all around, but not a very gripping or well-directed film, which is unsurprising since the book wasn't gripping either (I found Jhumpa Lahiri's entire treatise on the Indian immigrant experience very hypothesized and stylized, as if this is how she "thinks" it would be like to be an immigrant, rather than the story being born of any personal experience or any credible, nuanced insight into the experience) and Mira Nair has never directed a "Inspired by the Book" movie before so one can't expect it to be good. The film was definitely more bearable than the book because the anguish was very diluted and Tabu is always a pleasure to watch, but overall - very easily missable.

Saturday: Do-Something-New Day

~Finally overcame my fear and drove into Boston. Was quite exciting to be behind the wheel again after so many weeks, and actually parked 3 or 4 times without a problem :D

~Wandered around Brookline, stopped for long periods in good bookstores and snacked on a Dulce De Leche crepe at Paris Creperie :D

~Sarwar was feeling creative and decided to bake a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Eventually became a joint effort in the interest of time, but all kudos goes to him :D







~ Watched The Departed. What a fantastic film, classic Scorsese! Though it's fairly bloody and violent, the drama unfolds beautifully and each character is so well-portrayed. The ending, especially, is just phenomenal. Highly recommended.

Sunday: Other People Day

~Had brunch with some friends, tea with more friends - both long and noisy affairs.

~Watched two new episodes of Planet Earth on Discovery HD. This stuff is amazing. It's not just a documentary, these cameras go into the hidden corners of the earth and show you worlds never encountered and things never recorded or seen by the human eye. The shots are magnificently breathtaking, the story-telling compelling without being intrusive, and just the HD... this series alone is worth buying an HD TV for. Highly recommended.

Overall, a good and busy weekend! :)

Recent Cultural Consumptions

Haven't updated the blog in a while. Here's a quick update on a few recent consumptions:


Salt and Saffron, by Kamila Shamsie: B
Though slow and somewhat childish at first (informal conversations between various young cousins are really quite annoying) this story actually picks up very well about 40 pages into it and left me very curious and emotionally invested by the end. Through the lens of a story about five generations of a dramatic and mysterious family with lots of secrets, the author provides an interesting perspective on the political history of India/Pakistan, the mixed feelings of families that went across the border during Partition, and the resulting tensions between the strata of Pakistani society. By the end, you have a fairly good idea of all the missing pieces to the puzzle, but Shamsie doesn't actually put them together for you.. so there is that sense of not being completely satisfied by the ending. Overall, an interesting concept that keeps you hooked and thinking about it long afterwards.


The Squid and The Whale: Avoid! Highly disturbing drama about how two adolescent brothers in 1980's Brooklyn deal with their parents' divorce. Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels are great actors and they were great in this movie too (it won many awards as weird indie films do) but I was still left rather traumatized by it, so avoid it while you can!





The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: B
An amusing movie based on the true story of a housewife in the 60's whose husband spent all his money on booze, so she ran a household of 12 (10 kids!) with money and things won in write-in competitions for jingles and limericks. A great tribute to the strength and patience of women! Julianne Moore did a decent job as the struggling mother - though she really isn't very convincing as a housewife, she just seems too modern!


Eklavya: B
Definitely a refreshing change from the general brand of movies today. Very Shakespearean-tragedy in nature, this film told the tale of a Royal Guard (Amitabh) who protects a royal family physically and also guards their biggest secrets.

Ironically, the family is disintegrated, and in today's day and age entirely ineffectual, but Eklavya continues to be as loyal as ever. A tragic turn of events results in a myriad of murderous plot twists that boldly question righteousness, duty, social inequity and the fine line between homicide and self-defence (to speak in Law & Order terms!). The film was almost Omkara-like in its fateful irony.. and had traces of Being Cyrus in it with its 'whodunnit' plot, though it thankfully had a less bloody and more concilliatory ending.

As usual, Amitabh and Saif were flawless, and the supporting cast was excellent as well (Vidya Balan, Sharmila Tagore, Jimmy Shergill, Jackie Shroff, Boman Irani). I didn't think Raima Sen's performance was particularly bad, but a gora friend we were watching it with said afterwards, "I don't think mentally challenged people really behave like that". Who knows - they do in Hindi movies anyway!

However, I have to admit that it was too slow and rather repetitive, not just in terms of script/plot, but also camera angles. The first time a poignant scene ended with the sound of ominous mantras and a long and lingering zoom out shot it was nice - but then Vidhu Vinod Chopra kept doing it again and again until it got boring and frustrating. We get it, it's a sad moment - let's move on! It felt like he was beating us over the head with a stick with those long drawn out shots. They added about 15mins to the film and lost appeal by the second time we saw them.

Also the constant repetition of the concept of dharma, and what it meant to Eklavya and Harsh, and what it meant to go against it.. over and over. Yes - we get it! Get a move on!

But overall, a good watch. Highly recommended.

Guru or Amateur?

As with all Mani Ratnam movies, I was not impressed with the recent Aby-Ash flick, Guru.

It was a good concept - as all of his films are - but poorly followed through, as usual.

Abhishek did a wonderful job based on the script he was given (he's a complete gem, no doubt gonna make daddy proud), and Aishwarya gave perhaps the best performance of her life. There was real chemistry between the two in the married couple scenes, which were all very enjoyable. But it disappointed as an epic character story, possibly because Mani couldn't decide whether to make it a love story or not.

The dialogues really lacked punch - I kept expecting great dialogues that would allow Abhishek to bring back the Amitabh splendor and show real depth or development of character. I really wanted to love and understand Guru, and see how his character evolved - but the whole experience was so hollow. I really found it hard to see why Guru became who he did, what his motivations and intentions and feelings may have been. Yes, we get he doesn't hear the word 'no' and he's very driven. Uskay aagay??? There was so much potential to link the character's growth to the birth and growth of India as a nation, yet half the time I was trying to understand how many years had passed and where we were in the timeline. Did his hair turn grey early or did he really have his kids in his 40s? I think I spent the whole movie trying to figure out what year it was.

Not to mention that the songs were dismally placed and a total ear-sore (what are A R Rahman and Gulzar smoking?) and the background music was exaggerated, unnecessary and, like a bad 80s movie, went from soft flute to catastrophic orchestra and back to soft flute in crazy turns. Plus the slow motion effects in the courtroom scene (a la the climax of Saathiya) were excruiciatingly annoying and ruined the entire effect of the gravitas Abhishek was trying to bring to that (supposedly) electric courtroom.

The tagline for the movie is 'Villager. Visionary. Winner.' While the first two may be appropriate, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around Winner. Guru indulged in corruption and bribery and broke the law quite brazenly, and we're supposed to root for him because it's the classic poor man-rich man fight? Yeah. Not so much. This is the 21st century after all. If this had been a story about a man who actually beat the system and reached success, it would actually be far more inspiring and noteworthy.

Lets not even go to the bizarre Madhavan-Vidya Balan subplot (though they were both good and Madhavan looks so much nicer now that he's lost weight).

And I never thought I'd say this, but I really liked Mithun! Very nicely done there.

All in all, I really am going to think twice before going to watch a Mani Ratman movie again - I'm beginning to think he's all hype and nothing else.

Cultural Consumptions

So, here's my follow up to a previous post, with ratings on what I'm calling "Cultural Consumptions" in recent weeks:

'Blood Diamond': A+
Gory, in-your-face and bluntly violent but extremely well-made and well-directed. This story about mid-1990's Sierra Leone and the vicious civil war, funded by the sale of conflict diamonds, that ripped it apart is gruesome but so tightly made that you can't help but hang on to every scene like your life depends on it. Leonardo DiCaprio is phenomenal as a South African smuggler with a complicated moral compass, warped by years of suffering the many of the inequities and contradictions of life in Africa.

At its very core this film is about nationalism - it manifests itself in vicious jungle warfare and genocide, but also in a fierce love for country and kin and a dream for a more peacful tomorrow. But this hope is meek, fragile and fleeting. There is a vast emptiness - not only in the homes and bellies of these people, and not only in the sprawling heat-soaked savannah - but in their eyes as they witness merciless brutality and wonder if they will even survive to see tomorrow. And then there is the very obvious contradiction about the diamonds themselves. Standing in Tiffany's surrounded by shimmering rocks in glass cases, it's easy to forget the amount of blood that was spent and the suffering people had to endure to tweeze up scraps of carbon and watch it being snatched away from them.

Watch this movie - you'll come out shaken, but your perspective will be radically altered. After I saw it, I felt like selling all the diamonds I own and donating the money to people in Africa. But then I can only be selfless for so long. Still, I hope one day I can do something to make a difference.

'The Good Shepherd': C
Despite a good cast (Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert DeNiro), this 'the CIA is ruthless in the 1960's' movie was desperately slow and didn't do a very good job of making you feel connected to the characters or even caring about their fate. Angelina Jolie had about 15 mins of screen time but was actually pretty decent. Matt Damon was in every frame and tried to create a character that doesn't talk much yet feels a great deal, but the end result was a little too deadpan for me. If you don't see it, you haven't missed much.

'The 40 Year Old Virgin': B-
The concept was a little kitsch, the story was very predictable and the language was a little *too* over the edge for me, although Steve Carrell was hilarious. It was on HBO and I can't imagine it ever on basic cable without tonnes of bleeps or voiceovers or censored scenes. Okay for a one time watch, but nowhere close to Dude, Where's My Car, Road Trip, Harold & Kumar and other classic stoner movies.

'Night at the Museum': B
The reviews mocked it, but I actually liked this movie! Your typical Ben Stiller fare, this movie is going to be on TBS all the time in about 5 years. Definitely family-friendly, and laugh out loud funny if you're looking for some mindless entertainment.

'Abraham' by Bruce Feiler: A-
FYI, it's about the prophet, not Lincoln :)

This book is very interesting study on Prophet Ibrahim (as we Muslims refer to him) - who he was, what he did, and how/why all three of the world's monotheistic religions claim that he was the forefather of each one. Feiler tends to focus more on the Jewish and Christian interpretation of him, and in some cases seems rather blasphemous when he begins to assume why God may have said or done things (c'mon you can't put words in His mouth!) but once you begin reading this book you realize how little you really know about this man, and how much actually there is in common between all three religions. In fact, the book has spawned thousands interfaith discussions in the U.S. and around the world because Abraham *is* such a common figure that he helps bring opposing factions together to acknowledge his greatness, and the true meaning of his mission. A must-read.

'The Time-Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger: A+
Props to Rumaisa for recommending this book! A fantastic concept and beautifully written, gut-wrenching love story that, I must admit, had me crying at many points through the book.

This is the story about Henry, a man who has a genetic defect that makes him travels to the past and future on a regular basis. Henry meets, falls in love with, marries a girl called Clare, only because of his time traveling, he meets her at different ages and throughout time. Clare's life, however, is running on a sequential basis. So when they meet in their 20's, she's actually already met him because he came to her when she was 6 and he was 40, but he hasn't met her yet because he's only 28 and not 40. Wait. This is confusing to explain. Read it yourself and you'll understand - and you'll definitely cry so keep a box of tissues handy!

'The Phantom of the Opera' on Broadway: A+
A visual and audio delight! Two thumbs way up. The music is phenomenal, plus we were sitting in the second row and it was a great feeling to be so close to the stage when the Phantom takes Christine away to his lair on the rowboat. And the chandelier fell on our heads too :D Overall, extremely enjoyable and engrossing, wonderful music (especially the title track) and very well put together!

So, that's my take. Looking forward to everyone's comments :)

Bekaar Ki Dhoom Machgayi

Currently repeating on iTunes:
Don't Touch Me Soniya - Dhoom: 2

This song is to DIE for!

How do I know this? Because we watched the movie this weekend - and here's the kicker - because it was the husband's idea! I guess there are levels even he's willing to fall to to see Ash 20 lbs lighter :D

So here's my two word review: EYE CANDY. And errm nothing else.

Except the "Touch Me" song. I mean the song, not the context in which its sung, 'cos that's kinda disgusting. Married men should not be shaking it with Bips. And while I love this song, I'm realistic. Let's see how long it takes Pritam to be outed and when we find out which obscure track this song is lifted from.

But Hrithik. Hrithik is to DIE for! *drool* What? I can't drool in public? If hubby can keep saying "God, Ash is in good shape" over and over, certainly I can drool.

And why is India suddenly going all prudish with the much hyped Hrithik-Aishwarya kiss? The way the aunties are exploding, I was expecting something really wild, tongue and all. It was so tame! Nothing worse than what Emraan Hashmi delivers in every film of his. Why don't all the aunties object to that?

Not to mention, divorcee, and should-be social outcast, Aamir Khan has kissed the heroine in every movie of his, from Pooja Bedi in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander to Alice Patten in Rang De Basanti. I know this because I've watched out for it since the beginning of time. (I think the only movie he may have not kissed a girl in was Lagaan.) Still, I don't see the decency board breaking down Aamir's door with a lawsuit?

How come no one sued Amitabh for chasing a wet and near-naked Zeenat Aman in the "Samundar mein nahaake" song? Come to think of it, how come no one just lynched Zeenat Aman in general?

The country has the 2nd highest population in the world and is home to the Kamasutra - so I'm sure plenty of kissing goes on behind closed doors. Bollywood realized this and gave up the kiss behind the lowered umbrella gimick a long time ago people. Get used to it!

I would rather object to the amount of fake tanning lotion Ash slapped onto herself and how silly Hrithik looked singing Dhoom Again in English. (Silly, but hot.)

Ok, back to my song! *shakes her booty around empty apartment*

Countdown: 98 days.

I finally finished watching the 2nd season of the West Wing today. It was brilliant. I've now seen the complete 1st and 2nd seasons, a little of the 3rd, and almost all of the 4th and 5th. I can't think of any television show that has hooked me on so completely, that is so consistently well-written and well-performed. Hats off to Aaron Sorkin!

I also watched a Hindi movie - 'Lakshya' (Goal), by Farhan Akhtar of 'Dil Chahta Hai' fame. Unsurprisingly, this is a war movie (are there any kind being made nowadays?). It is based on the events of Kargil but (supposedly) focused mostly on the protagonist (Hritik Roshan) who is an aimless college student (college buffoon, rather) who decides to join the Army, for lack of anything to do and to avoid the dictates of his controlling father. It is the story of how he learns to take responsibility, become a man of courage and strong moral fibre, and a proud soldier in the Army. Well, at least it's supposed to be.

The actual end-result is a weak, hollow execution of a potentially gripping plot. Hrithik (playing Karan Shergill) is annoying as his college self - he acts more like the mentally crippled child of 'Koi Mil Gaya' rather than a confused 20-something. His potrayal of an Army jawan is also stereotypical, and a repeat of his performance from 'Fiza' and 'Mission Kashmir'. Priety Zinta is useless as his khadi-bag toting journalist love-interest with multiple wigs. Amitabh Bachhan is terrible in his 5 onscreen minutes. The music leaves tonnes to be desired and overall, the direction is sloppy, the dialogues (shockingly written by maestro Javed Akhtar) are awful and pedantic. Worse yet, the film manages to lose all dignity by joining the ranks of decadent Indian films that potray the Pakistanis as evil, illiterate types who wear shalwar kameezes and coats, even on the war front (as opposed to our jawans in smart uniforms and very gay looking berets).

I expected much more from Farhan Akhtar and am very disappointed with this limp excuse for a 3 hour war epic. The plot moves extremely slowly and while he seems to be aiming for serenity and depth of emotion, he achieves a dead silence. It is always uncertain where the plot is headed and the character development for Hrithik is stunted and minimal. With a powerful script and a more tightly-woven story, his metamorphosis could have been shown really well. But alas, we see almost none of the experiences that mould Karan into what he finally becomes; we're just expected to assume the harrowing days of war chiseled him into a great hero.

Farhan Akhtar's debut film seems to be the genre he can work best with - contemporary stories with modern characters, talking about what Indians know best - love. Unfortunately, his second film, has not lived up to its and his potential, and like its protagonist, fails miserably with no Lakshya in sight.