Luck By Chance

Just back from watching the Hindi movie "Luck By Chance" starring Farhan Akhtar, Konkana Sen Sharma and a great ensemble of other actors. The movie is an insider look into all that goes into making a movie in the "hindi film industry" and not "Bollywood" as Dimple Kapadia calls it. And it indeed was a really good look.

Enjoyable, witty, insightful, overload of maxims from everyone ranging from Farhan to Sharukh Khan(!) and at times boring this is a genuine multiplex movie. I would have loved to watched it at the PVR cinemas at The Forum, Bangalore.

Special Mentions:
For a debutant director, Zoya Akhtar: Great job.

Farhan Akhtar: Matching up to Konkana is an achievement in itself..Though I still think he was better in "Rock On"

Rishi Kapoor: Hilarious as Romi Rolly, the producer.

Isha Sharwani: CUTE CUTE CUTE

Hrithik, Dimple, Aamir, Sharukh, Abhishek etc: Thanks for your presence in the movie. No thanks to Kareen though. I hate her..!

Happy Birthday to Me..!

I recently celebrated my 27th birthday. It was a great day for me but not so good for the economy and the employees of the world. But that bloodbath has been happening for a long time now. So it did not deter me from celebrating my birthday.

I had three cakes to cut and eat at different places on the occasion of my birthday. I found it overwhelming and am very happy about it. Thanks to Denver, Zaheen, Salman, Uzaira, Raajit, Abha, Prathamesh, Juily, Harsh, Anoop, Satyu, Adhitya, Sekar and Shradha, Subashree and all my friends(esp the invisible colors) who made this birthday another memorable one.

Looking back at it all I realized that I spent my last five birthdays in five different cities. Cities which are miles apart(and even continents). With five different batches of friends in five different cities. One of them was at home back in AP after 7yrs. Life rocks dude..! I am truly blessed to have so many friends. I adore all my friends. Old and new, kind and cruel, all of them..!

To top it all one of my friends Ramana dedicated his new paiting to me. He is an amazing artist. I've seen his work first hand and you would be blown away by his work. Here is the link to the post about the painting.

I am indeed a very lucky person I tell you. I have such wonderful friends I sometimes envy myself. :D

All in all, I came out happier, thankfuller and fatter from this one..!

Dawson..Rose Dawson

I happened to watch the Titanic today again after almost 10 years. Not that I haven't had many chances to watch it. I just wanted to preserve the experience I had when I saw it the first couple of times.

So I was watching it and towards the end one of the stewards asks Kate Winslet her name for the survivors' list and even before she answers him I could recall her reply the exact same way she does. I had absolutely no clue how I did that. I didn't think I would remember Jack's last name from 10 years ago. But yet I could. To me this in fact proves how much a movie can impact someone. All that had happened earlier in the movie - the romance, the love, the grief, the tragedies everything rolled itself into one tiny little memory of a dialogue for me and it was this "Dawson..Rose Dawson".

I am sure there are many more influences as such stored away. Brad Pitt's "Tyler Durden" from the movie "Fight Club" is one I can recall from the top of my head.

The Khronicles of Kryptonia - T.K.O.K

I've been wanting to write about friends and some episodes of our lives over the years which influenced me and kinda lead to where we are now.

This is a placeholder for all those Khronicles of Krypotonia. (T.K.O.K)

Most of these had happened during college at BITS Pilani.. Best days of our lives.

Disclaimer: Though based on true events, all names have been changed to preserve the true identity of the characters. Treat everything as fiction. I mean no offense nor love nor hatred to anyone feeling those emotions. :-)

Here you go:
Khronicle- I
Khronicle - II
Khronicle - III

Khronicle - IV

Violet Hill by Coldplay

The first time I heard this song I was getting out of bed after long lazy sleep at Sirish's place over at Colorado last winter. I did not know what song it was. It just started over in Pandora.

It happened to be in winter with snow all around(window overlooked a sunny snowy day) and the song started of referring to December and all that mellow rock music combined with acoustic rhythms, it kinda gave a wonderful feeling to wake up on a holiday.

After that day I've listened to this song tons of times in the last one month. Definitely a beautiful song.

Marley & Me - Woof woof!

A must watch for dog-lovers. When I agreed to watch this film with one of my friends I thought I signed up for another typical chick flick. It turned to be more than a chick flick.

Marley & Me is the funny, sweet and touching story of a couple who move through different stages of marriage along with their dog Marley. The movie is funny when its funny and dramatic when it is dramatic. Owen and Jennifer had their chemistry playing the couple. I particularly liked the character played by Owen Wilson as the funny and patient husband cum dog-owner.

Watch it on DVD if do not want to dish out money at the theatre. If you are a dog-lover you will definitely love it.

As for me it re-iterated why I would not a get a pet whose life expectancy is less than that of humans..!

Vaseegara

Back in college this was one of those songs which made me want to fall in love. :)

This song by far is one of the best tunes I've ever listened to. Would mostly attribute that to "single" life, pleasant evening, happen to see my crush a while ago etc :)

I don't know why but I used to ask most for my female friends if they could sing this song. 3 of them did sing it for me at different times during my time at college(my girl-friend never sang it though which I now think is good in a way!). Thank you girls. You are the best.

An awesome song. Good memories.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Life's Precious!

I would love to say that this is another must-watch movie but it sure was long(wasn't expecting it) which kinda made it a drag towards the end. But that and only that is the single negative aspect of the movie.

Everything else is just great. The acting, the technical achievements, the story itself is so refreshingly "curious" that it makes you hang on to it until the last minute. The anticipation of how the passion between Benjamin Button and Daisy is going to unfold had me engrossed.

I never thought of Brad Pitt as a great actor(read Russel Crowe, Tom Hanks) but in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button he did a pretty good job.

Apart from the entertainment factor the movie subtly made me think about life in general. How valuable and terminal it is. How beautiful and painful it is to experience the full circle of love and life.

Every moment in your life is precious. Make the best of it.

Movies

Everyone who knows me know that I watch a lot a movies. I am totally sucker for any half-decent movie out there. From chick-flicks to horror movies, anything goes. Watching them back-to-back is one of my favorite past times. The more friends for company the more merrier it is.

Here are my reviews to date:

Gran Torino
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marley and Me
Luck By Chance - Hindi

Gran Torino - A Must Watch

A MUST watch movie. "Mr.Kowalski" played by Clint Eastwood is hilarious and serious at the same time. His ultra-racist and cocky attitude is offset by his righteousness.

Looking back at it I am surpsried how much I had laughed during the movie. I was expecting a serious typical Eastwood-directed movie(Million Dollar Baby) but there was dialogue which made my laugh my hearts out.

Go watch it today.

My Tunes

There is no life without music. Period. Often I wonder how mankind would survive without music. From Mozart to Metallica everyone has music which influences them in a multitude of ways. Music simple rocks..!!

There are often those songs which have a slightly greater influence on you. Songs which bring back memories - loving, happy, festive, bittersweet, sad, nostalgic and even headache-generating memories. Following are some of them from my life(not complete yet):

Traffic in the sky - English
Pull Me Under - English
Fear of the Dark - English
Kanulu Terichina - Telugu
Violet Hill - English
Vaseegara - Tamil
Tum Ho Toh - Hindi
Fast Car -English

Talk to the Hand !!

Here's a list of the best gadgets at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show(CES) according to CNN:

1. Touch Watch Phone: A watch you can talk to..!
2. iRiver Wave-Home networking device
3. Sony Vaio Lifestyle PC
4. Motorola Aura cell phone
5. Polaroid Instant Digital Camera
6. Livescribe Pulse smart pen
7. The Sharper Image's MP3 player keychain
8. Jensen JCR-290 alarm clock

Also check out the new Dell Adamo!!! which kicks some serious a$$.

Fantasies and Politics

Like most people living in the country I'm currently residing in, the fantasy bug had bitten me too and I have been on 4 Fantasy leagues for quite some time now - 2 NFL and 2 NBA.

Being relatively new to the world of football(read: American and two years) I got ruled over by veterans in the game. But, basketball, Oh yeah basketball baby..Been following the NBA(and of course playing) since high school. So despite being my first time I am kicking a$$ in my "fantasy" basketball league.

You know what would be cool and complicated,... "Fantasy politics"! Have a dream team of politicians in the country or across the world and give them points based what they achieve. How many bills they voted for and how effective those bills were. Have a panel of experts give scores. Things like How "green" is a senator?( I mean the environment-friendly green..!), How infamous one is based on scandals etc. Of course there is no entertainment value for this for most people and people younger than me(who are the majority of the ones whoe play fantasy games) would definitely hate it. But hey, this is my blog and my idea.. :P

Anyways enough rambling. Ciao.

Is it Love or Coffee??

"It can be hot..It can have an intensity like you've never felt before searing deep in to your flesh...your tender, vulnerable so easily-hurt flesh...

So be sure to ask for a protective sleeve when you pick up your coffee..may be ask another one to slip over your heart...!"

House of the Future

Highlights: Hit a button on your toothbrush and your health information is relayed onto your mirror.

Lowlights: A boring, I mean boooring anchor.

Video link: House of the Future
Also check out: Hotel of the Future which I think is cooler than the house(and a better anchor)