The kite flies high !!

I don't care who the lead actor or actress is. Just tell me who the cinematographer is. And who's the lyricist ? And who's composed the music ? Yeah ... this is the era of Kannada movies, and this is its present trend. Yograj Bhatt, a director who can cast a bunch of not-so-good-looking actors and actresses, a director who doesn't pay much attention to the story-line, yet captures the heart of the audience, simply with his astounding cinematography, location choice, heart rendering music and wonderful songs.

After reading a bad review of Gaalipata in Vijaya Karnataka, cousins and me went to the theater with a not-so-good feeling. We did not want a stupid movie to spoil our otherwise ecstatic mood. Lights off ... A/C on ... and the kite starts flying. 3 spoilt brats. Seems like Dil Chahta Hai. But its way different from it, although ideas seem to have been inspired from DCH. And there is also a lot of 'Mungaaru Male' touches to this movie.

Don't ask me what the story is. Anant Nag and Rangaayana Raghu are just way too awesome. Ganesh's dialogues are probably the best ... every college student would identify with what he says. Diganth ... well, not such a good actor, but he plays the clown's role well, and suits his character. Rajesh is fine, except for his not-needed beard. The actresses are ordinary, except Daisy. But Daisy too, you'll find, to be very reclined and silent. Probably the movie needed that.

But, the important thing is, none of this affects the movie. You'll be blown looking at the picturesque landscapes ... the hills ... the rain ... the mist ... the cliffs ... the mighty Cauvery Falls ... everything is shot to perfection. If Jog stunned you in Mungaaru Male, this probably is gonna give you a stroke. You think you are sitting one instant ... and the next ... you just feel weightless, floating amidst the clouds ... like a kite ...

Few actors ... but good actors ... witty lines ... excellent music by Harikrishna ... Sonu Nigam's voice ... it has it all ...

The movie lacks a story ... that's one area Yograj keeps failing ... yet he covers that up with stunning cinematography ... Baikal Fort, Kodachadri, Bluff (Gaganachukki & Barachukki falls) being the locations ... you can look at these places from such angles you never dreamt of !!

Yeah the wild-boar is way too artificial ... Yeah the movie lacks a story ... Yeah the actors ain't that good looking ... but so what ? If a movie is supposed to entertain you, if a movie is supposed to thrill you, if a movie is supposed to make you laugh, and if you think a movie is a good one if you emerge out of the theater with big smiles ... Gaalipata does fall into the category of a good movie. But if you want to believe the duffer who gave Gaalipata a bad review in Vijaya Karnataka, the very same writer who praised 'Sivaji' as though it was the best movie of the century ... you are losing out on one of a very good Yograj Bhatt product.

Our parents still talk of Rajkumar movies, calling it a golden era of our film industry. Then came a series of such atrocious movies, it was scary to even talk about our movies. This, i think, is yet again, one of those golden era that aged people keep talking about. This will be the era you are gonna mention to your kids and grandkids again and again. Watch Gaalipata ... and fall in love, all over again !!

All play and no work !!

Mom says i've got a job. But i still feel that i'm going to some one-month certificate course, at the end of which i'll be given a certificate, and a whole month's vacation. Of course, the transition from a college guy who went to classes when he was free, who arranged his own dates for internal exams, who regarded every visit to the canteen as a potential date opportunity, to someone working under the mercy of someone else, takes a lot of time.

I think i was on time to work, only first day. Ever since, things have gotten only worse. Of course, the register proudly displays a sincere 9-30am entry time everyday. The terms and guidelines of the company did not state which clock's time i'm supposed to follow. First thing i do as i check in is, throw smiles to my colleagues ... and then go on to explain why their life sucks. Then i grab onto some chai-biskoot.

One weird thing at work is, everyone's so involved in what they do. How can this be ? When we used to write records in college, we often gossiped so much ... about how Katrina looks stunning in a red outfit ... about why UN aid is making poor people lazy ... about Google services and their drawbacks - literally everything. But work was different. People just work. No small talk. Things had to change ... and to change a system, you need to change yourselves first. That, i did. Changed into this blabber-mouth, and kept everyone busy, talking. Perhaps my boss thinks i'm some cameo trying to mess up his employees' minds. But who cares ?

After all that, I work. Honestly. Until the clock comes to 12-55pm. No not lunch time yet, 1pm is supposed to be the official lunch-time. But i fly off home five minutes earlier. And i come back ten minutes late. As usual, the register entries are perfect. Out time - 1pm. In time - 2pm.

After some chatting again, i resume work. Then, i start falling asleep. There have been times when i have slumped over the computer ... and almost fell asleep. Of course, the coffee keeps me awake. And lots of biscuits to eat ... they come in plenty of varieties ... sometimes the manager blesses us with a couple of sweets too. As the clock strikes 5 (why the hell do they have clocks in offices ?) ... my frustration starts. I still have to put 90 minutes ... the clock stops after 5pm ... it gets horrible. I play Minesweeper, Solitaire and Hearts. There's also RoadRash, Commandos 2 and NFS 2 on my system, but i haven't played 'em yet. Internet's blocked, or else i'd have downloaded a couple of movies.

By the time its 6-30pm ... i would have lost weight. I look at the clock, the clock looks at me. And finally its 6-25pm. Yeah, i leave five minutes earlier. The register ... perfect ! Poor colleagues of mine still work, probably till 7pm ... to clear all their backlogs ... atleast i dont have to think about that this month. I have done much worse things. Saturday's a full day ... but i've taken special permission for half-a-day ... i waste toilet paper ... i've installed a few flash games on my comp ... i keep changing wallpapers everyday ... next month, i'm planning to work from home. If work was this fun, i wouldn't have bothered studying !!

Gaalipata

Gaalipata review coming soon !!
Watch this space........................

When the phone rang...

I was threatened to write this post. There is no iota of doubt in this ... I type on the keyboard with a Jerifo 941 F 9mm gun pressed against my temporal lobes. Writing this post meant, dusting off some of my old mischievous moments, and re-living those horrible experiences again.

This was in school ok, I was in 10th. We used to have trouble in gender-identification in our class, as most girls were too loud and tom-boyish. But of course, we found solace in the neighboring bunch of juniors ... the 9 'A' class ... they hosted some of the cutest girls of our school ... they were a complete package ... smart ... stunning to look ... and the next-door-girl feel. Stealing their phone numbers used to be our extra-curricular activity, and a lot of bribing, threatening, and peeping was involved in the process.

After some really hard work and smart-thinking ... my friends smuggled the number of a girl whom we shall call "A" ... since I was the only one who boasted of a phone which I could use to my wish and will (long phone bills not being such a major issue at home) ... the number was given to me ... to try my luck ... !!

There's this other girl ... you know, the kinda girl whom every guy at school wants to seduce ... she's on Orkut, and her name begins with "N" ... so you can still try your luck ... so, we had tried calling this girl too, but 10 out of 10 times, her mom picked up the call, and conversations went like this:

Me: Hello
N's mom: Hello
Me: May I speak to "N" ?
N's mom: Why ?
Me: Huh ?
N's mom: Why ?

That's it !! And i was pretty damn sure my conversation with "A" would just be the same. Or so I thought. I had to use a fake name ... obviously !! I made-do with "Rahul". Why Rahul ? That was a trendy name ... Rahul was there in Dil Toh Pagal Hai ... Rahul was there in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ... Rahul meant 'cool'. And surprise surprise, "A" fell for it. I asked whether she'd like to be friends, and she says "Yes". It felt for a moment, that someone punched me on my ears. Was this really happening ? Oh, yes it was. And there began our conversations ... talked about a whole lot of rubbish ... "A" began liking Rahul's character, but was she liking me ?

She realized that "Rahul" was a fake name ... who wouldn't ... especially after you call home, ask for Rahul, and you hear "Wrong Number". I knew my demise was nearing ... yet I tried to hang on ... and then came the fateful day ... Valentine's !! Valentine's Day would have been just any other day ... I would have had a bad-hair-day ... my shoes would become muddy for all the football i play ... i would forget to brush my teeth that evening, again ... Math would get more puzzling ... and I would sleep after I watch Dexter's Lab ... bottom-line, Valentine's involved nothing pertaining to what it was meant to be !! But this Valentine's was going to be different...

Got a call around 4 in the evening - sweet voice ... caller asks "Will you be my Valentine ?" Ok i'm used to getting calls from banks, from insurance companies, from friends who have a problem with Pythagoras theorem, but not this. I lived a very simple life, and this was not meant to happen. I borrowed some time to decide ... and kept the phone. 2 minutes later, another call ... another name ... same voice ... same question. And then, the phone kept ringing. Johnny Depp wouldn't have received as many calls as I did that day. Dad gave me such looks ... I was sure another call, and I'L have to sleep on the foot-path that night.

Sometime late evening, when I wasn't at home, this girl calls again. Talks to my mom, asks a few questions, confirms my identity ... and the game's over. I'm caught. I dunno what made "A" give my number to her classmates, I was pestered with phone calls that evening, but in the end ... my secret identity was exposed. "A" remained cool ... she wasn't going to the police station ... but that put an end to our phone-call business ... school was over ... I never saw her again ... "A" mails me once in a while ... i miss everything of school now ... i'm hoping "A" has forgiven me for that stupidity ... but i still feel ... if mom hadn't wrecked my carefully built sand castle ... "A" and me would have been married ... and she'd be giving birth to her 11th kid ... we'd have 5 sons and 6 daughters ... and i would name my last daughter in the memory of "N" ... the girl with whom my phone conversations never started !!

I'm guessing the gun's off my head now ... am glad its out of my system ... i wouldn't want "A" to bear this grudge over me about what I did ... and run me over with her Scooty Pep or whatever ... so Miss. "A" ... happy now ?

Men at work...

No praying to God ... no falling to parents' feet ... no vermilion on forehead ... I tried to look as handsome as possible (believe me, its very difficult) ... I walked to 'Cosmic Strands' ... my first day at work

Venue: Office; Status: Office closed. What the hell ? Have they shifted for the sole reason that I joined their group ? My colleagues slowly began coming, at around 9-30am. I casually walked inside ... tea was served ... I guess sugar is generally not used in offices ... i gulped down the hot water ... Oh i mean tea ... looked around ... saw 2 females ... Cynthia, the chubby girl, and Madhura, the one who was happy to know that I was a Kannadiga !! After a small chat with them, I was asked to move to the seminar hall. A lecture. Yawn !!!!

The director happened to be a good teacher. He made the talk as interesting as possible. The other people who were newbies consisted of a DehraDun girl, a certain Ritu and a certain Raj. Raj had the eyes of Sanjay Dutt ... so not wanting to take chances with him on the first day, I decided to talk to Ritu. Seeing Ritu and Raj talk to each other, I innocently asked "Do you people know each other?" "Yeah" Ritu replied, "Raj is my husband". End of chatting !!

If that wasn't enough ... I had to blabber again ... "Oh, when is this man sending us for lunch?" Ritu replied, with a smirk "That man, is my father". So, the daughter and son-in-law of the manager are here, with me, and I am supposed to learn with them. Great start Suhas, great start !!

I came home for lunch ... then back ... a little more lecture ... a CS Handbook was given ... the manager ... Ganesh Bhatt i think ... asks me to listen to songs when working, to reduce the work-pressure. I registered this in my mind ... tomorrow I carry 2 big speakers and a sub-woofer, and will blast a Dard-E-Disco song full volume !!

Work went on till 6-30pm ... was so hungry i could eat the manager's entire family ... rushed home ... end of work day 1 ... felt real tired ... but also felt like a grown up !! To all those girls who keep asking me to grow up ... how is it ?

Welcome to Welcome

What the hell made me watch this movie ? Free movie tickets, and pop-corn of course !! For the first time, I went to watch a movie without checking if I had any green bills left in my pocket. Its similar to how a girl goes to watch a movie ... put on some jeans, a touch-up of some fairness cream ... and she's ready ... she can go empty-handed, and yet come back with a heavy stomach. So, in that way, my sponsor Pavan, must have felt like repaying my kindness (as I let him free with all his so called girlfriends without becoming a kebab-mein-haddi).

And, for the first time, I never knew the cast of the movie. As I looked up at the poster, I was dumbstruck. Katrina and Mallika, with Malaika Arora in a guest-appearance. "Mom, all your daughter-in-laws are right here in this poster". Ok, lets talk about the movie.

Supposed to be a fun-riot ... the riot was there ... the fun, in bits and pieces. The first-half, I must say, was pretty good. Paresh Rawal continued to play the 'clown' to perfection. Nana Patekar, was at his usual best. Anil Kapoor was outstandingly stylish and flamboyant. Asrani kept making appearances now and then. Akshay was fun too ... but talk about Katrina ... she finished me off. One moment I was safe on the seat, enter Katrina, and I slumped to the floor; onlookers must have thought I suffered a stroke ... I might have ... my heart beat like our school band on Sports Day. Every time she smiled, I pictured myself doing a 'Dard-e-Disco' song with her. She looked so picture perfect ... I'm sure you'll find her pic beneath millions of pillows all around the world (not mine ... I dont have a pillow, I live in extreme penurious conditions ... please donate money).

The first half smoothly sailed by ... the girls bought us pop-corn ... and I munched greedily, lest they changed their mind, and took it back. The second half, was gone with the wind. The momentum was lost, and trying to find a story, would be like searching for an eye lens in KR Market. Mallika Sherawat badly over-acts ... and I am sure Johnny Lever is more sexier than her. She is an unwanted liability to every movie ... and needs to be dubbed as an outcast. But Katrina ... the only thing that stays put is her smile ... she smiles, and I am ready to bring a piece of the moon-rock for her. Akshay Kumar is pretty ok ... nothing extra-ordinary ... but he never over-acts in this movie ... thats cool. Oh I forgot the villain boss ... Feroz Khan ... typical villain ... white bald head ... he's ok, atleast he looks better than his son.

A time-pass movie ... watch it if you have fought with your wife, and looking for a cheap way to set things right ... take your girlfriend to the movie, and she'll forgive you for forgetting her birthday ... but don't look for sense in this movie ... it lacks it ... completely !!

My rating: * * 1/2