Kurbaan

To start off, this is a first in some aspect. Me watching and reviewing a Dharma (Karan Johar) production movie, thats quite a feat in itself (atleast in my eyes). Anyway, so I entered the theatre with extreme reluctance. Kurbaan started off with a typical Karan Johar method, with Saif Ali Khan using banal pick up lines to get Kareena (hate that face). At that point, I was bracing myself and a couple of spikes of "i should not be here" entered my mind. However, the movie gripped and turned around pretty quick (à la Shane Warne) after the couple move to US. Beyond that the plot and the direction kept one interested till the climax. Quite a revelation actually! I think the movie scored good marks with respect to speed and editing. Like many hindi movies, the obvious was not always said 100 times. Music was a bonus (Shukran Allah is excellent) and did not disrupt any of the flow either. The climax could have been shortened some (especially the 3 min long kareena-saif crying scene at the end). As of the movie story, it had substance to an extent of a good masala movie but the topics of "views about islam in western world" and "US sponsored attacks on Afghanistan based on oil needs" were very superficially touched. If the story writer had to bring those things up, a matured treatment would have been appreciated. But, thats not a surprise especially after knowing who the story writer was. From acting standpoint, Saif Ali Khan as expected gave his best along with Om Puri. Vivek Oberoi was alright (read didnt overact much). Kareena did okay but any actress would have faired the same.
All in all, I would say, Kurbaan is a decent watch and you probably wont regret spending money for it. Oh and please dont clap, after the movie is over like some goofballs did in the theatre I watched in!!

So its Yankees vs. Phillies this year. Can Phillies do a 2 in row! Just for Ryan Howard, I am going to cheer for Phillies. A-Rod's going to flop big time in World Series!!
Anyway, moving on from Baseball...
For once, I was thinking about art as in music, dance, photography, painting etc. And while thinking, very quickly I found out that, I am not remotely good at any of these. I mean-Music, I listen to a lot of it....but I cant sing for a penny's worth. Same with dance--well, I might get a few bucks thrown at me, for my non-rhythmic chaotic bodily movements. As of photography, I can take pictures...but dont know much about the science, the art behind it. Never got into shutter speed, exposure and all that stuff (though it sounds interesting). And Painting--lets not even go there. So, I have realized that in 27 (close to 28) years of existence, amongst many other things, I have not been able to motivate myself to learn any of these arts!
Am I going to do anything about----yes I am going to join all these classes and workshops (NOT)
:-)

Its quite strange that as you grow from being a kid to a teenager then into the twenties, you learn a lot of things through your experiences, your mistakes, your failures, and your successes. We try to build on these experiences a behavioral structure that will help us lead a happy, successful life. Sometimes, however as much as you try to do a certain thing or not to behave in a certain way, you can never really stay away from that. We know that we could get into trouble, we know that this probably is not the right thing to do, but we still want to do it. Its quite strange that irrespective of how old you get, this still keeps on happening.

Chacha!

Yeahhhhhh! 29th of July has assumed great importance in my life!! I am a Chacha (Uncle) now!!
Here's welcoming the new born to this world and wishing him all love and luck to achieve all he wants in his life!!
Cant wait to go back to India and spend time with him!!