Boredom

Charlie Wilson's War is a film directed by Mike Nichols. It came out in 2007 and proved to be a hit with both Masses and Critics. I had following reasons to watch This film: 1) P.S. Hoffman 2) Tom Hanks 3) Om Puri 4) Plot 5) Julia Roberts Getting a chance to see both Hanks and Hoffman together displaying their craft in top form was absolutely memorable. Then there was Our own Om Puri portraying former president of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq. Julia Roberts was in her effervescent best. But it's the plot of the movie that stood out over and above these stars. A Struggling country in Afghanistan ravaged completely after ongoing war with Soviet Union who needs support from Pakistan and USA to defeat its might enemy. It's the height of Cold War and America doesn't want to be directly involved in war with Russians. So it has to be a cohort operation and Pakistan, Israel and Egypt needs to be America's allies in this pseudo war. Israel, a Jewish Nation doesn't want ...

The presiding jury of 63rd National Film Awards can be termed one of the most judicious in recent memory. Awarding Rajamouli's Bahubali the best film might seem a contentious decision at first glance but I know for a fact that sometimes sheer scale of a movie trumps everything else in sight. This was our AVATAR and though Oscars snubbed it big time in 2009 for that greasily war drama 'The Hurt Locker', our jury braved its decision to perfect timing. Awarding Bachchan Sahab the best actor award has to go down as a decision as brilliant it could get. His role reminded me of the character played by 'Alan Arkin' in that Indie Phenomenon of the last decade, 'Little Miss Sunshine'. I strongly believe that TIME has finally arrived to perfection to match Bachchan Sahab's enormous talent. Tanu weds Manu Returns is gotta be the most satisfying romantic comedy film of last 10-15 years and Kangna Ranaut's Tanu was simply taken to the round 15 of a super heavywe...

I am really amazed to find out that in a country as mad as us for films, no one is showing any kind of enthusiasm for the recently released film, Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921). The film epitomizes everything Bollywood stands for and also for everything we love about Bollywood. Most importantly, it celebrates that ingredient in abundance that Hollywood finds only in its glory. Family and the love for it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Kapoor and Sons celebrates the very essence of family. There is gotta be a reason why family and not anyone else stands tall when things go heywire in a particular individual's life. It might have something to do with the 'selflessness' of family-persons or their love but there is something which helps. Kapoor and Sons emphasizes that having a family is important and almost necessary. I'm saying almost for there are very successful individuals out there who are living a successful 'solitary' life. I can clearly remember a film (but not...

This is an appreciation post dedicated to HBO Original TV Series: The Wire. TV Series and Films are often considered a poor cousin of their ultra-rich (in mental stimuli) Literary Creations (Books, Novels, Autobiographies, Biographies, Essays, Short Stories, etc.) brethren. They are said to be lesser in everything be it plot, characterizations, landscape, background, essence or Soul. Learned people say that a good book might offer you more insights than its movie adaptation. Then they say further: A book is your best friend. You can find the solution of your problems in there. You can feel it. You can touch it. You can keep it. But movies and TV shows, they often promise far too much and deliver too little on them. This can be said for an original series/film too which is not inspired/adapted from anywhere. So the way you can enjoy a great book, you cannot be equally sure about even a great movie. And this is where my three picks: Inside Out, Anomalisa and The Wire come into,pictu...

'Borat' is artistic creation of 'Sacha Baron Cohen'. In case you haven't heard of him, let me tell you that he is a comic actor from England. He does stand-up comedy gigs all over the world and Borat is a Kazakhi Character he frequently endears himself to. Borat is a live-feature film. Borat is a documentary. Borat is a mockumentary. Borat is a shockumentary. Borat is a social commentary. Borat is a satire. Borat is funny and sad BUT Borat is not a Bollywood creation. Borat is anti-Semitic. Borat is anti-Muslim. Borat is anti-Christian. Borat is anti-American. Borat is anti-Kazakhstan. Borat is most definitely anti-Uzbekistan (Borat calls them fucking assholes, you see). Borat is anti-European. Borat was praised by pro-Americans (Borat made 261 million bucks on its 18 million dollar budget there). Borat was praised by Jews. Muslims praised Borat. Kazakhstan loved Borat (Borat quadrupled its Tourism Revenue). Borat received unanimous praise from Europeans. Bora...

"Anything to Look HOT" is a book authored by Dr. Jas Kohli who is a plastic surgeon by profession. This is the 11th book I'm reviewing and I must admit, it's by far the most entertaining book that I have come across. Let me start with its 'blurb'. Following is mentioned there: 'Dr. Dhruv's (the protagonist) journey surpasses even a masala movie for humor, drama and action.' Let me tell you that all three ingredients are really there in the book and that too bagfuls. From start (the TITLE, doesn't it get to you?) to finish, this is a blockbuster ride of an intelligent person who lives his life to the fullest while catering to the love, affection and demands of all his near and dear ones. This is a person who knows his trait and profession very well and though we see him being very crafty in his work, he never misses an opportunity to learn. He gets to work in that dreamy world which we call 'Bollywood' and he is well aware of the secre...

"Sorry! I Loved You" is the debut work of Mr. Saksham Mittal. First of all, I shall like to congratulate him for picking up a pen and daring to write a book. Writing is a noble profession and not everyone's cup of tea. As of late, Indian literary society is witnessing a surge in the number of potential debutantes and this is partially has to do with increasing internet penetration in country. Then there are companies like Amazon and many new age publishers who are giving a platform to all the aspiring writers. So almost everyone is writing nowadays and they are getting published too. They are even getting promoted very heavily and although I don't know what they need to do to bag the tag of a 'bestselling book', they still manage to stir the plot quite a bit. There is a great side-effect to this phenomenon too. Since almost all of them are writing, the most of them 'almost' are coming up with meaningless, soulless and despicable matter-in-hand. Unfort...

I like to think of myself as an Art Critic. As a matter of fact, some even call me that. For last couple of years now, I am seriously reviewing everything be it a good game of a spectator sports, a play, a movie or a book. It doesn't matter. Many a time or one can be tempted to say that almost all the time, I find my views synonymous with popular opinion or congruous to my colleagues but when there comes a time of digression, everything goes sour. Such a time I recently encountered when one of my dear friend who is currently working on a book found me heavily opinionated and 'stereotyping'. Then I also copped some tremendous amount of heat on behalf of a 'angry' writer whose first book I openly criticized for going too berserk with concept of 'pure' and 'unblemished' love. That writer asked me for taking down that review from digital space but I obviously refused. I am not one of those art critics who like to double-check themselves every now and the...