Look what my mad love for K dramas/tv made me do

I have been making more comebacks to blogging than kpop bands do. Been a long, long, while since I did any blogging now though. 3 years gap? Longest so far. This Ph.D. has been sucking out all my joys and hobbies slowly but surely. None of my old blogger circle seems active anymore either. So this blogging exercise is mostly a testament to my love for blogging, South Korean entertainment scene, and was actually supposed to be just a lengthy note to my Internet bebe/daughter Rashmi.

So here goes,

Dearest Rashmi,
Thank you for being the reason I've reopened this dusty ol' blog of mine. True, I'm embarrassed by most of my old posts now, but I love this blog all the same. xoxoxo

If anyone is looking for an intro into K dramas, I'll always recommend the series installments Reply Me 1997/ 1994/1988. My personal favorite from these is the 1988 series which had the most perfect depictions of good ol friendships amongst neighbors. The first installment went immensely popular in South Korea and made nostalgia and retro trendy. But mostly all these three shows became popular for bringing back the good old times where people talked more and were less distracted by internet. At the root of all these shows were human stories. The characters won your heart and then went ahead and broke your hearts with every other moment. The writer-director duo behind the shows are Lee Woo Jung and Shin Won Ho.
After these three shows and their success, they created Prison Playbook and Hospital Playlist (both also must-watch K dramas). As with the Reply Me shows, these stories were also heavy on human nature and how even the person you least expected was actually driven with goodness at their core.
Some have compared the Shin-Lee team to the Mike Schur and Dan Goor shows. But that would be taking away all the uniqueness and beauty that these too give us through their series. However, I agree that the heart warming and the feel-goodness is common among the two teams. But as K dramas are always shorter and end in a season (mostly 16 episodes), the feelings they cause last longer, and ache sweeter.

BUT!~
This post was mainly to talk about the writer and director behind these amazing shows.They both had their starting with a Korean reality show called "One Night Two Days". And boyoyoyoyoyyyyyy that used to be one epic programme. The two worked under Na Young Suk PD for the show. (Still running, but it got diluted after Na PD left, most of the main cast left, and the show hasnt been the same since).

One Night Two Days is unique and I haven't found anything similar to this show in American or Indian entertainment. Here's a summary on the show:
6 celebrities travel to a remote area of South Korea, show the unique and beautiful landscape, play games to win food/money/lodging/more comforts
Why it is unique:
1) The celebrities are not flops as is normally seen in reguarly reality shows, and included heavy hitting A-grade singers, and some veteran pop stars, and comedians.
2) The Director (Na PD) and the crew makes them complete races/tasks/games and if they lose, they either have to sleep outside, or do something embarrassing in public, or go without dinner/eat without sides/etc.
3) I cannot imagine stars in our country going through the embarrassments and ridicules these guys have been through for the show. And the crew includes the equivalents of whoever's the most adored guy in your country who is known for his sweetness? The most popular guy of them all? See what I mean?
Could you see the most famous celebs in any other reality show having to hitchhike penniless across miles (can you imagine the screams from the travellers who happened to be kind enough to pick up the dude when they realize who it is?)
4) An epic episode was where the cast got pissed that the crew got to enjoy great food while they had to starve after working so much (on the tasks) and challenged them to a game of vollyball (? can't remember for sure). And the cast wonnn!!! Which meant the 70+ crew were then annoyed with Na PD for accepting the bet. The losers had to sleep outside and boy it started raining on top of that. One of the assistant lightmen had reached late at night for his duty and was totally gobsmacked to see his colleagues and bosses all huddled in sleeping bags🤣
5) Or the episode where the director was toootally chill and told the crew to just drive to the destination on their own. That this trip would be zero crew and they just had to make sure to get footage on their own with the cameras provided. All the cameras at the destination home were already set up. That was bizarre and unheard of, but also led to a lot of silly moments.
6) I could go on, but I'm too close to this show, and too in love to be coherent.
And i'm trying to finish this post in one go.
All in all, this show used to be the most watched show with the highest TRPs in South Korea. Unlike egotistic celebrities who wouldn't let an atom of mud touched their holy selves, these guys cooked for themselves, slept under the stars in crappy tents, and instead of being shamed, they won everyone's hearts and became immensely popular.

Na PD is famous for being unpredictable and overall an evil genius. He has the Midas touch and every reality show he created after he left One nIght and Two days have also been mad successes. I wish I could drag everyone I know into watching this show. And also watch all the consequent shows he made.

For example!
The next show he made was Grandpas Over FLowers, then it became successful, he created the spin-offs Sisters Over FLowers, Youth Over Flowers couple of seasons each. The concept for these shows were, he came up with elaborate lies, basically tricked them all and got them to travel to a foreign country and fend for themselves through different tasks and games. They usually got a younger "porter", another celebritiy who also got hoodwinked into the whole shindig and who has to help the older gang.

So Rashmi! (If you haven't left already =P)
Na PD created a Youth Over Flowers show with the cast of Reply Me 1988 and they were basically kidnapped after the show wrap-up party they had in Phuket. The first episode of the show had the setup. Na PD meets with the director of Reply Me 1988/his former colleague and discusses how he has this idea. He then gets the managers of the guys to clear their schedule for two weeks post the Phuket-party (which was also basically a ploy i think) without the actors knowing! Then this evil boi walks up to them in Phuket and says all casual, "Let's go to Africa". I have skipped a lot of hilarious details here, but basically he actually kidnaps his cast for every show. It just gets more and more elaborate with each next season because just the sight of Na PD raises suspicion at this point for most celebrities in S.Korea now.

I wish we had such interesting directors and shows here..

But I'm truly, honestly, deeply grateful for Na PD and his One Night Two Days show on which my sister and I have had a million laughs and rewatch even now.

The saddest part is not having subbed episodes to all his shows at the ready to watch. So if any of you have randomly, accidentally, unexpectedly reached this post- and you are internet savvy plus got mad love for k-dramas and k-variety (both entirely different beasts)- and you have found sources- LET A GIRL LIIIIVE! aside the dramatics, please do share! <3

PS- Here's the list of all Na PD director/producer works worth watching (even though i haven't watched the entirety of his works, i can vouch for them with my favorite pocket-dress at stake).

But honestly, WATCH everything he or his team works on. They are all pure talent and love.

ok byeeeeeeeeee! (sorry for the high-on-teenage-energy sign off, but super excited about blogging after so long =D )

And Stanley is a leftie!

How can a story be THIS beautiful, and be heart-warming and

heart-breaking all at the same time?

Oh Stanley and your elusive dabba. You had me, my soul, my all, from the opening credits itself. (Yes adorable mini cartoon, I'm talkin' abt you!)

Stanley ka dabba is one of those rare, Rare, Very rare movies where you get to see the child being-well, a child. I'd grown tired of all those hundreds of movies out there where kids behave prissy, with aggravating know-it-all teen sass. *Points accusing finger especially at the kid in Cheeni Kam who wanted to watch porn {granted she was terminal, but what's with the double-entendre laced inappropriate crushing on your sixty-plus neighbour? Weeeeeeeeird and uncomfortable.} and her ilk.
 On the other hand, the nicer ones include the friends in Paa, Taare Zameen Par and company. But yeah, TZP is practically an Amole Gupte product, so the normal children characters are expected.So, Stanley and his friends are such good hearted darlings like kids normally are, that it's a pure delight just to watch them interact on-screen.

Ooh, and for once, we get to see a deep-rooted stereotype squished. About time too. The rich, fat boy is actually nice and the kind who shares his tiffin!

And coming to the titular tiffin.. There's actually a parallel to Stanley's absent tiffin. Stanley meanie Hindi teacher, of the voracious apetite, Verma sir (Amole Gupte) who doesn't seem to have a tiffin either and shamelessly digs into everyone else's tiffins- students and teachers alike. Thumbs up for such a believable performance Amole Gupte! More so for the utter lack of vanity with which he essays the role. You'll totally want to pull out his hair out cos that's how believable he makes the character.

  

Coming to one of my personal favorite moments in the movie. Every frame of it is a personal favorite for me, but this one's all the more dear cos:
 How not to love the fact that Stanley is a leftie, with all the mundane leftie problems lefties face every day of our lives. Your left elbow constantly hitting your right handed neighbour's elbow just one of the many problems you face in a right-dominated, right-biased world. I'm so familiar with that happening like ALL the time at school. But what's more personal is how effectively the director captures each teacher's reaction to this problem. Must, must, MUST gush about how much I love him for including this detail into the story. So trivial,
and yet so true!
 My sister and myself have this fetish for finding out lefties among celebs. So when we do find one eventually, it's always a thrill and squee when you note a compatriot. "omg, i didn't realize he/she's one of us!!"

To say more would be to kill the fun for ya. But I must say, the first time around I sniffed like a little girl by the end of the movie. The second time round? I bawled my eyes out. Apart from the explicit storyline, Stanely ka Dabba mainly is concerning a universal problem. But i'd be a spoilsport if I were to spill more beans. Considering how this is the core of this heavenly fare.

Alright, happy movie watching everyone. Love you Stanley and all Stanley-friends!

1/1/'11

exactly my plan for coming year. NO!! it's not any obvious hint towards running away or something as idiotic. 
What am I? 15??
I just want to travel more! See more places, find the peace, bring in more creativity and joy.

1/1/'11 is here finally!

 As for new year wishes,

Not much to say, 'cept wish everyone a happy, happy, REALLY happy year ahead.I never was much into ceremonies. I'm unceremonious even in the required times.
Which is why new years do't mean much, neither do resolutions.But sometimes you totally have to promise yourself some stuff.

My resolution #1 [and the only one really] as regards my blog: Less comebacks and more posts. 

Yes! Cheer for me so that I don't end up breaking this word!

***
What was 2010 for me?
Apart from being extremely busy, over-straining myself and breaking down in the process;
I went places,
Learnt more stuff,
Have gotten much more patient [or so methinks]
and watched tonnes of Korean stuff.

The good:

1. Samsung died on me and I switched to Nokia ExpressMusic.
2. Had several meetups with the Girlfriends-of-the-{add several, several} millenia. Last one was yesterday. Awesome!
3. Uncle's housewarming.
4. Subscribed to the awesomest Indian magazine out there-The Tehelka.
5. Almost forgot- lots happening for The Downtroddence [will post on them soon. real soon!]!!

Sad things?

1. More people got married and drifting away
2. Friends and friends' family getting abused, cheated upon and divorced. =(
3. Read lesser books cos of lack of time SLASH lack of time management.
4. And another favorite girlfriend moves out o town. =( But she's doing really fine, so- w00t!
5. .Deaths, suicides.
6. Most of my Eids and my Christmas this year were ruined thanks to effing-aptly timed exams. Dang!
7. The kitten I saw getting killed by some stray dog. Could do absolutely nothing to save it. Had to watch it die.

Another to-do for 2011-
Meet at least ONE blogger buddy. We'll see how that turns out. =/




PS- and don't forget! 2010 was The year of Rajni! ynna rascala...! ;) I don't know about you, but I think he's one of the humblest actors out there in all of Indian tinseltown

Adorkabl-est movie of the year

Seriously, from my opinions about the movies whose teasers I reviewed in this post, I think only this movie has been true. Everything else was heart-breakingly pretentious and cheated on me. Yes, I'm talking to you- backstabber I Hate Luv Storys and Aisha. I don't think I can ever trust you with a movie again Imran. But then again, maybe I took this long to reach that conclusion only cos I didn't dare watch your dreck movies Luck and Kidnap.

**

Anyways, presenting to you Tere Bin Ladan, starring good ol' Ali Zafar, Pak pop singer. Sigh… I've missed you, boy. I fell in love with him years back after watching his music videos "Channo" and "Sunre Sajaniya". He was adorkable back then and still adorkable now. And this movie makes full use of his dorky-ness.

Though it's barely one and half hour long, it's not too overloaded with plots. There's one plot, and the movie does perfect justice to it. Btw, I had to clutch my sides and stuff my fist in my mouth to stop from laughing too hard. It's a riot.

Once more for emphasis: It is a R-I-O-T.

And lordy, I missed you so, so, so very, very much Shaleen meri Kaleen!! Great comeback, girl! [rememb the tomboy from JTYJN? she's in here! And I did see her in the trailer itself! {and I gotta stop being hyper. Control Raphe, control.}]

Movie makes fun of many things in a happy, whimsy, mischievous, playful manner. Like, the American paranoia about terrorists, the Asian dream of making it big in America, the futility of the War on Terror, among other things. One lovely thing you'd notice upon watching the movie is that, even though it's about a Pakistani's story set in Pakistan- you can totally relate with it. Entirely. I especially love how everyone talks in Punjabi. After all, Pakistanis and Indians were all one and the same until that bloody Partition came down on us and dragged everything along with it. You don't really even remember that the movie's supposedly Pakistani, until the characters mention it. Long-lost siblings we both, like I said.

The tone is hilarious, soft political satire, great cast, and a fast moving, tightly packaged script. Everyone already knows the premise of the story, so I won't repeat it. Zafar [gah, even thinking about him makes me want to swoooooon] is the slick guy who's got the gift of the gab and can totally convince anyone to join his wacky plan. Sigh, I loved every single character. I have got this massive crush on the whole movie, the story, the script, the direction, the cast [Qureishi!! Zoya! Lateef! Majeed! Gul! Usman! Ali! And of course, the real star- Noora! And the superstar- Sikander!!]

Confused? Don't worry, you'll find out once you watch the movie.

And why oh why did they ban this gem?

I fell all over in love again with that catchy "He's a good looking Ulloo da Pattha". Kudos to everyone's favorite trio Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy for the music.

My rating? 12 on 10. A must-must-MUST watch for the weekend. Go buy the CD already!

Oh, and one last thing to do before I wrap up the post:

*gets down on one knee, and;

"Tere Bin Ladan, will you marry me??"

Teaser reviewing

The best movie of the year 2008 for me was Rock On!!

And the best movie of the year 2009 for me was Wake Up Sid!

What's it gonna be like this year?

Teaser season's back on track!

Let's get down to business and get the dud potential movies outta the way. Even better, let's vote for which could be the dumbest movie and make a dartboard of it. Cheesy smiles all across the room. =D

Tight competition's on to make it to the potentially crappiest movie list. I'm not even sure which one's worse.

Kajra re- I thought everyone had at least a tiny brain to KNOW that Himesh Reshammiya ain't hot property. Hell, he isn't ANY sort of property. I used to love Pooja Bhatt. Not anymore, people. Love died the moment she signed that idiot. He can't act. He can't compose music. He can't even get a single tune straight to croon. And you make him lead actor? I wouldn't have given him the hopes to make it to back-up dancer status in my movie [if I ever get around to it, ever]. And deserts? Is that Udita Goswami trying to pretend to look all mysterious and princessy? Ugh!!

Krantiveer- Deshdrohi level I'm thinking.

Milenge Milenge- I was barely a teen when I first heard of this project. Now I'm nowhere near my late teens even and NOW they're promoting the movie?? WTH?

Ladies and Gentlemen: presenting to you the very worst project of the millennia. Concept lifted [as always] by The-Man-Who-Just-Doesn't-Get-The-Hints-When-To-Stop; Priyadarsan. Who else? He's here with two movies and I wish God would be ok if I'm having all these very angry emotions at him. He's lifted from one of Malayalam's classy comic movies of all times and made it into a laughable [and not in a positive way] affair called Khatta Meetha. And I can't think of enough mean things to call him. Help?

Then the *&%&(())@@#%^^ lifts THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, PURE MOVIE I've seen in quite some time- "Children of Heaven" and makes it into "Bum Bum Bole". I wanna throw really heavy things at a wall right now. I'm just so annoyed! Why doesn't anyone ban him from making more movies? He used to be so talented and creative a decade back? Why's he so desperately pressing onto the Self-Destruct button? Why, oh why??

Was that tiring or what?

Now let's get on to the good movies list.

I Hate Luv Storys. No need for words! I'm not usually the cutesy-movie lover, but once in a while, I let myself be so. And this one deserves all my love. Yay for Imran and Sonam!

Aisha- whoa, have I been waiting for this one to hit the screens or what. Ever since I heard that a project on Jane Austen's vivacious Emma was in the talks and that the father-daighter duo of Anil-Sonam Kapoor would be taking up the plum roles; I was all HUZZAH! No Anil Kapoor to be seen, but I'm still hyper excited after watching the teaser. There's the indie movie prince Abhay Deol [more Huzzah!], Sonam Kapoor lookin' all superbly single and you-can't-get-me hotness oozing, good soundtrack used for teaser, great teaser itself!

There's Udaan that seems interesting from the promos and Lamha from acclaimed director Dholakia to look forward to too.

Almost forgot Once Upon A Time In Mumbai. Is it good? Bad? Can't be sure from the teasers as yet. Music seems pretty good though!

Tere Bin Laden- . This one promises to be hilarious, and teaser itself put me in stitches Everyone listen up, presenting the BEST TEASER OF THE SEASON. Loved it to bits, shreds and every tiny-teensy-weensy pieces of it. Palindrome of a sentence eh? The concept had me at hello. It looks the kind of movie which would nicely fit into the shelf along with Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye and the likes. Only, this one seems a political satire, while the former was a social satire. And the first song Ulloo Da Pattha was veryy peppy. Visuals were fantastic and I give kudos to [was it?] Ali Zafar guy [is it?] for his honest-to-goodness Ulloo da Pattha portrayal. But the biggest cheer is reserved for the Osama Bin Laden doppelganger.

Cheers!!!

Oh Alice!

 I'd been waiting for the release of "Alice in Wonderland" by Tim Burton ever since that first trailer last year. Many reasons for the anticipation:

1. Directed by Tim Burton! 'nuf said.
2. If the trailer looks this amazing; how much more amazing will the movie be? Obvious answer!
3. Most important reason; Johnny Depp
4. The 'muchness' factor, of course!

Johnny Depp is hot in whatever avatar he takes on. How the hell was I to know I'd get a crazy, absurdly massive crush on Mad Hatter? of all characters in the whole story??!

I don't have to gush about Tim Burton's direction since it's a universally known fact that he is sui generis. And all the three movies of his that I've watched include Johnny Depp. Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and now Alice in Wonderland. Maybe I'm not the only one with infatuations…

Warning: Anyone who hasn't watched the movie, and thus detests spoilers ought to run now when there still is the opportunity. You stand warned: This post is spoiler-rich!

Synopsis: The movie deals with Alice post her trip to the what-she-calls "Wonderland". She's now all of 20 and about to be proposed by a lousy, spineless Lord. The girl has one, single recurring nightmare; she's falling down, and down and down a hole with no end…and the rest-as-you-know.

So was that trip to Wonderland just a dream? [or nightmare, if you please] Or reality? What if Alice returned to that place after a long time? As in, now?

General Gushing: The movie is story-telling at its best. Just anyone can re-tell a well known fairy-tale. But it takes a really good imagination to unravel the story's fabric and sew it in a new manner, starting from the basics. Lovely. If this movie were a human, I'd have proposed marriage to it by now. Of course, kidding. But just so that I can tell you how much I loved the movie in its entirety. The direction, script, cinematography, lighting, animation, casting…the Everythingness of it! Or should I say, the muchness!

Things I loved:

• So at long last we get it. A reluctant heroine! All the movies we have been through so far, have had reluctant men transforming into heroes. And here comes along imaginative, reluctant, "I'm-not-that-Alice!"-Alice who finally realizes that this isn't a dream after all.
• The reading in-between the lines done by the movie.
• There are quite a lot of parallels drawn across people in her "real world" and "that other world". I'm not even that mean as to chalk 'em all out and ruin the fun for ya. Watch the movie closely and discover for yourself. Mind you, you won't hate doing that.
• And you won't hate observing this movie closely because there are possibly hundreds of subtle hints, truths, facts strewn across it. The movie is wonderfully chiseled and very subtle in telling us things. Subtlety is one of its strong points.
• The innocent touch of humor in almost every frame. It's not slapstick, though some may argue about Mad Hatter being Mad Hatter being slapstick. And I say, Not!
• How could you not love the cast? From little Alice to the adult Alice, from Mad Hatter [miiiiiine!] to the Cheshire Cat, everyone's perfect for their role. Or maybe, that's because of the flexibility of all these actors. I didn't mention the Queens since they need separate gushing. Johnny Depp/ Mad Hatter would demand a whole post on my part; but I'll skip that.
• Helen Bonham Carter is so honest to her character that at times you forget that she's actually quite a good-looking actress and not bulbous-headed dictator of a Queen as she's portraying. She was so good as Bellatrix in HP5 that I couldn't help hating her with all my heart. She is that good. Here, the way she simpers at Knave and frequently yells "Off with her/his/their head/s!!!" in that characteristic style, just blows me. Every time she does it, it blows me.
• Anne Hathaway is the antithesis White Queen to her elder sister Red Queen Carter is just equally amazing. but while the Red Queen blows us with her freaky super ego and inferiority/ superiority complex, the White Queen makes us swoon with her sweetness, daintiness, innocence, goodness and a whole lot of positive  "–nesses". Even the way she walks. If it had been done by some one else, we had be saying "hypocrite". Here, you say, "awwwwww….she's so lovely and pure" Or maybe I'm just being partial to her because I was earlier on mind-blown by her acting prowess as displayed in the movie "Rachel Getting Married" [a must watch people].
• The Futterwack!
• Mad Hatter! Mad Hatter! Mad Hatter!! And on a different, less star-struck note, is Mad Hatter shown as a father-figure [but in reverse] to Alice as I think it is? I'll stick to this belief anyway. I don't need unnecessary competition from Alice!
• I dig the British accent. And when they talk, all I can say is "MOAR, gimme MOAR!"
• And how can I forget the scene where Hatter had to get all Captain Sparrrowesque and with just a little amount of smooth talk and swishing about, escapes execution by Red Queen, with Dormouse and all, very much unhurt. I couldn't help thinking- looks totally like a tribute to the loving memory of POTC!
• So much more things I love and things I must have missed out to mention here. Forgive me.

For now, fairfarren y'all. Love ye!

Back and it's trailer time!

did intend what I wrote in last post.>
Back from my long-period of enforced internet-abstinence. And it feels real good!

It was fun; and ironic to see that the 2 lines I typed in last, attracted 7 comments. That post must have been exceptionally good if it made Jindal-ji comment. He rarely ever does! Apart from that, new readers!! Warm, huuuuge welcome to Pan. I will take up your advice on shit-blogging. Thank you. Another unexpected comment was a bit of philosophy from some porn site. Whoa! Plus lots of love from my darling blogging-neighbors.

But the funniest thing of all was, none of you deduced my actual meaning behind the lines. I was in fact, talking about how I sometimes have to sit through lectures where everything they say is so obvious and the doubts my classmates ask is even more obvious-- so much that I never utter a word in some classes! Not because I'm a dunce [hardly that], but because I already can see 10 miles ahead of what is being taught. I'm not being self-flattering, but it feels weird when I have nothing to say because I have no doubts and everything is clear as crystal to me already. Sigh..

On the other side, let's get on to more pressing topics- Trailer reviews!!!
THE DUDS
Veer- From the first sight on my instincts told me this-is-so-going-to-crash-and-burn at the BO. I was right. And the heroine is major dud. The only scene where I thought her pretty was where she sheds a tear in the promo. Gah!
Dulha Mil Gaya- I definitely can't understand what's going on in this trailer, sorry.
Bolo Raam- The lead guy looks stoned through most of the trailer. But the concept seemed interesting..

THE SERIOUSLY-MIGHT-BE-DUD
Show Time [or whatever the name was]- Tacky movie name, scenes seem ripped straight from Matrix or Krrish even. Vivek Oberoi ain't a real asset nowadays. In fact, only plus point I see is that it's an Abbas-Mustan movie.
3 Patti- I thought the days where unnecessary item numbers ruled the screen were over. No????????????? I hate vulgarity of every kind. And this movie has me feeling sick.

LOOKING FORWARD TOs
My Name is Khan- obviously! Kajol looks Gorgeous with a capital G! Such pretty eyes! Sheesh, she will always remain my favorite actress.
Rann- Very timely and much debated topic- mainstream media and the way it keeps stooping to new lows in the name of TRPs. I just wish RGV could have added some light bulbs here and there. And Gul Panag would have made an amazing Alice Cullen with her pixie hair. =)
Karthik Calling Karthik- First, I'm interested. Then, not so much.. then, back to interested mode. I'm not yet sure if I really am interested in this movie or not. The music's real peppy [Uff Teri Ada], pepper-mint kind [Hey Na]. But the lead pair doesn't seem to have any chemistry going on between them. They seem real detached and awkward.. And for another thing, my interest in anything Deepika Padukone is at an all-time low. All her fault! The only reason I'm interested in this movie is 'cos of my faith in everything Farhan Akhtar. Hey, but idea seems cool. I'll give you that.
Rajneeti- At the moment, this is the movie I'm really looking forward to. Looks good, and my instincts tell me it's going to be worth watching out for.
Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge- My instincts tell me just one thing- Hilarious! Very Very interesting trailer. Tries to spook you before having you crash back down to earth. Unwelcome guests make for a good movie watch, the trailer has me believe. And I take the bait.
Ishqiya- Amazing music. Interesting storyline possibly. I'm in!
Striker- Because I've always liked Siddharth!

2009- The year that rocked

2009?

Graduated with flying colors, stepped into post graduation. Chose a stream the majority of my friends and family disapproved.

Made friends, strengthened relationships with old ones, got de-addicted to one crush, got crushed on something new. Found my soul-twin. Best friends and myself- all move on to new paths.

Read loads of books, watched several real-good movies, discovered quite a wide range of amazing music.
Had cable tv for 4 months [yeah, aside those months-I'm living sans-cable tv life] during which fell in love with "So You Think You Can Dance". and "90210" and many other series.

Launched a new blog. Learnt driving cars. Photograph collection of friends crossed the 5000 mark. =)

Got my first phone, about to celebrate the first b'day of it!

Went on a  brother-sister road trip.

Had my 21st birthday, which I didn't make a big deal of.  Had the second bloggiversary.

Friends got married, another had her first baby, I remain SINGLE and EXTREMELY HAPPY for that reason! Some of my best girl-friends go double. ;)

Might do a post on the best movies, books and music I came across in 2009 in next post.
'Til then, have fun, live, laugh and make others laugh.

Happy new year!!!!!

Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahaani- review and [warning!] spoilers

@ Bobby- buddy, I don't know if you will enjoy this movie here, but I'm working on a list of must-watch Indian movies. So watch this space!
First off, this movie is meant only for those who have a wholesome appetite for absurd comedy.

Moving on to more serious stuff; this movie is just so Ridiculously Cute!!
The cast itself is enough reason to watch the movie. Serious eye-candy. Everyone's [me included] sweetheart Katrina Kaif in a fitting role as an Anglo-Indian. Which means, you get to hear her great English instead of dubbed Hindi. And Ranbir Kapoor [squeeeeeeaaaaaaaal!!!!!!!] as Prem. I loved the actor who plays his father.

Honestly, the movie in itself is no good. Cliche story, mischief-maker boy, pretty-as-a-princess/ damsel-in-distress girl and all that. But what saves it is in part the cute cast, the fun elements and a crazy script. There are way too many loop-holes in the story than you had allow. The boy falls in love way too quickly. Mood of the movie shifts every now and then. But who the hell cares? Let's get jumping into the main plot!

A strange coincidence is how both Jenny and Prem stammer when they get upset.
Well, another coincidence would have been how both are vegetarians as well. If only his friends hadn't coaxed him into becoming a non-vegetarian to have something in common with her. How was he to know that she was a pure veg!

One big deal I noticed was that Jenny is a librarian! w00t!! Erm.. in case no one can understand why this is a big deal-- well, I'm studying for Master in Library and Information Science. Well! I think librarianship may just have got a brand ambassador! :P

I like the frankness with which he tells her that he sneaked into her room the previous night to place the thank-you bouquet, and that's how he came to realise she;s an orphan. Usually Bolly heroes tend to lie or at least leave such stuff un-said.

His heart is in bits, but plucky young Prem goes all-out to rescue Jenny from an unsavory-forced marriage with the weirdo Tony. This sequence involves a kidnapped train. What the...!!! No, no, I'm NOT complaining. I'm way too carried away with this movie to raise eye brows even if they planned to show Prem flying a-la-Mohabbat man.

The Underworld guys were cool. How come no other film director, or anyone for that matter, ever wondered how come the dons always seemed to have their phones perpetually recharged without actually doing that? That happens here. The Don is in a veryy awkward situation when he finds out his phone has run out of credit!! I'm clutching my tummy, shaking with laughter in pity for this predicament facing the don. May no filmy don have to face this situation. Amen. ;)

AND did anyone else feel the almost-"Mast" situation where he comes sneaky with Jenny as her beau Rahul disappeared at the last moment?

The final action scene is beyond words- [if u take me in the right sense!] Bubbles float around during the "tension packed" sequences where ransom is exchanged for Jenny. What could easily have become a worn-out emotional cliche scene becomes a fantastically corny-funny sequence:
Prem's dad comes out to fight the big-bad people.
Prem is surprised,
Dad responds with a melodramatic dialogue complete with sad violins playing in the background.
And Prem loves the line so much, he asks daddy to repeat it once more.
Dad complies with the exact same line, complete with the same melodrama and music!

6 stars out of 6!

And don't forget the Jesus-in-guise-of-theatre-actor-who-is-actually-Jesus-anyway. =)




PS- I know my review may be lacking, but I took sooo long to finish it, that the attempt became half hearted. :(

The weirdest trailor review [possibly]

Merry Christmas and it is trailor review time!!!
Instead of one-by-one reviewing, I'm doing a list thing.

The-Way-Too-much-Awaited Trailor Award goes to....
Dilli 6- much awaited with good reason. I so wanna see more from this space!

The I-really-am-interested-in-this list
Luck by Chance- Reason is obvious. The Jawed Akhtar family has proved its versatility in the movie industry. Brother Farhan acts, sister Zoya Akhtar directs!
Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!- The makers of Khosla ka Ghosla, that's enuf reason to get interested.
President is Coming- Sounds like some serious fun coming with the Mr Prez's arrival. The frames look docu-fictional satire, and the sound track is dark and humorous too.
Chandni Chowk To China- The ubiquitous infectious charm of Akshay Kumar at work. Plus Ramesh Sippy as prducer and Nikhil Advani (whose style I like despite his disastrous Salaam-e-Ishq). Music -Though the title track by Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy failed to catch my attention, my attention is definitely caught by the other song by the alternative composer trio-Kailash-Naresh-Paresh: more specifically; S.I.D.H.U!!! Cool trailor, fun element in correct proportions.
Gajini- Yep- I'm not bothered that it's a copy, I'm totally in for this movie. Storyline is interesting&uniq, music is excellent, casting is perfect [Asin is from my state-Kerala!!!], cinematography is damn good [again a Keralite!].

The Attenshun-is-caught-for-uniq-reasons list
Dev D- Tauba tera jalwa, tauba tera pyaaaar...
Tera emotional atyachaaar! My attenshun was initially caught on by this weird song. Count me in the interested ppl! Patna ke Presleys, I'm ur faaaaan!!!
[unfortunately, this is the only name in this list]

Trailor-I-Liked-Because-of-Music
Gajini can be here too.
But, Raaz-The Mystery Continues gets the vote.Emraan Hashmi's phenomenal luck in music continues. how come even if his movies bomb, they've always got a memorable soundtrack??
Maahi is haunting.

The-I'm-Not-Bothered Trailor
Billu Barber- honestly, SRK isn't reason enuf for me to be interested in this movie.
Victory- Harman Baweja? No thanks. Cricket? I never was a fanatic.

The-Trailor-I-Ought-to-Have-Been-Interested-In-But-Seriously-I'm-Not
Rab Ne Banadi Jodi- I can almost imagine the hordes of Indians and non Indian SRK fans coming for my neck. I wish I were interested in this movie, but somehow, i'm not. Maybe after watching it, I might change opinion. Haule Haule did interest me. But the promos after that didn't interest me AT ALL. Honest.

The-Trailor-That-Should-Be-Punished-For-Making-it-to-the-tv set
Desh Drohi- Indeed, a terrible trailor. I positively cringe whenever it comes on TV. Too bad the remote won't work

Jaane tu...Ya Jaane Na for Z, Vi, Vai and N /WARNING:SPOILERS INCLUDED

Yup. Finally. After having to take refuge with a pirated online version. Z gets to go for the movie as on the Big Screen. She was just so damned obsessed with the movie that she actually didn't care that she had watched the movie already at home! Well, and Vi,Vai and Nare like,the sweetest friends in the whole world. They wouldn't have gone for "Jaane Tu..." if it hadn't been for Z talking about JTYJN from the moment the first promo was out. And Z has never gone for a movie from college. So,why not begin with a cute movie she's so hung up on?

For this reason, Vi and Vai are discussing the idea of calling Z a petty bourgeousie(hope i got the spelling right.) since Z came along for the movie only because of her selfish interest in the movie and not for sport sake.

So off the foursome leave today, freezing from the whipping winds and just begun monsoon that's out-and-about with a vengeance. It was cold! Teeth chattering cold!So cold that Z was hugging Vi for warmth. Bunked classes and a half-reluctant, conscience-pricked Vai was coaxed and it was chalo chalo!!

*Over to Z:
" Just 17 spectators man! This place has never had much taste. Anyway, we occupied the last seats, back-benchers attitude still on! One young couple, one retired-from-military looking dad and his two daughters, one family with a cute baby whom Vai tried to woo, three
vagrant kind of men who made us doubtful if we had reached the correct movie. And some more typical looking people. Well, who's complaining the lack of spectatorship? This meant we could stretch our legs and place them on the seats in front of us. AND we were the most responsive. Well, the ONLY who made any kind of response. The rest of them were sooooooo dead! We cheered, ooooooh-ed, laughed, muttered at the right places.
Too bad none of us knew wolf-whistling. =(
It would have come in handy.
The 2 daughters-duo DID respond too,now I remember. But we drowned out their dignified laughter I guess. And no one turned left,right or backwards. On this N and Vai later remarked, 'they must have said, "don't look behind you. There are some rowdy kind of people sitting there.'" ' (about us)
Some kind of behaviour we are putting up,huh?

The sad parts from the otherwise delightful movie(according to me):
* Vi,Vai and N were not AT ALL impressed by JTYJN. They think it is only a one-time watch. Not much standards either. Just an ok movie. Seeeeee?????? I need to team up with JTYJN fans and defend the movie!
*They don't find Imran Khan cute or even impressive! They didn't think his acting prowess (they don't even think he has a prowess) was much of a big deal.
*They didn't like Genelia much either. Her face ain't much,they say. They also say that no boy would go back for a second watch. Farzad, Nezer,Shabas, and all theguys I know who liked the movie, help me out! I need evidence and witnesses!
*All in all they don't think it's anything as wonderful as I'm making it seem. And that a hit campus movie of Kerala of ages ago ("Niram") was way much awesome.
Excuuuuuuse meh? That movie was just soo materialistic and shallow! Ugh!

The happy parts
*They loved the music. Obvious.
*We all loved and are still singing the old "jaane tu" song. Gala phaad ke. Like we naturally do.
*Everyone loved Shaleen best.
*And Jiggy.
*And the whole group.
*And liked the fact that it was a group movie. Everyone gets equal importance. Not just Jai (sigh!!) and Aditi.
*Vi was just as touched and felt-it-in-her-skin-too in the Kahin to scene where Jai gets shocked and gets the jolt of his life when Sushant kisses Aditi. Youch! Same same here!
*Jai's singing in the climax. W.O.W! So naturally disgustingly bad and shrill and tired out he sounds. Perfect for the scene!
*Vi and I agree that they could have elaborated on the Aditi-Amit relatioship. It had a lot more to it.
*Plus a zillion other cute things.

I personally think this movie is so cute-overload and so polished. But i admit that the movie looks as if it were made for 15 year olds. Where kisses are covered up by the girls' hair. To which Vai wondered out loud, "wonder what they had do if they were bald!"

I lurved the movie. totalllllllllyyyyyyy. completelyyyyy. every bit of it. every scene of it. so much that i know every dialogue by now.
ok.
Over and Out.
Over to Raphael who will probably publish an out and out gushing review on the movie. "

Back to me.
That's all for this post. Z has done almost a lot of gushings herself, so I'm not sure if I need to put in a review.

Kabhi Kabhi Phon.E... & Trailor Review II & yak-yak

First off, I want to sing and cheer up my very heart-broken friend Phone.E who's having a rough time,thanks to her oppressive,suspicious boyfriend. All we have to do is to look at her,and we find ALL the reasons as to why-one-should-NOT-fall-in-love.
So,
"Kabhi kabhi Phon.E, zindagi mein yunhi koi apna lagta hain.
Kabhi kabhi Phon.E woh bichad jaye to ek sapna lagta hain.
aise mein koi kaise apna aansuon ko behna se roke,
aur kaise koi sochde, everything's gonna be ok?"
-And the rest of the wondehful song.

Break-up threatenings apart, everyone of our gang wants to really punch the senses out of her guy. He just blackmails her so much emotionally that it's God's Mercy she hasn't not fallen to pieces. Very strong gurl over there, people. For one thing,none of us would have even let a relationship with that idiot, if we could.
Maybe God knows we would have made messy situations even messier,
maybe that's why things are not in our control. Hm.
-----------------------------------

I'm having a bad time trying to convince Vaikhari that I'm actually very grown-up. Like,
Me:"Hey, I am mature and serious!"
Vaikhari:"Says who?"
Me:"Says me!"
Vaikhari: "Say that again with your green parrot pipe and teddy bears in hand."
Me: (inward groaning,since I know she's right there. changes tactics.) "At least I look serious!!"
Vaikhari: "Not a bit".
Me: "An atom?"
Vaik: "No"
Me: "A nano?"
Vaik: "Not even that much seriousness, you ARE too childish!!!!!!!"
Me: (gives up on pleading with small quantities. changes tactics again) "Says you? You are not childish??"
Vaik: (stumped. cos she didn't expect that.) "Huh?"
She's either worse than me or equal to me or a bit lesser than me when it comes to being immature. We give up on the stoopid fight.
*The olive greenish brownish text is fiction. I made that up. The rest of the conversation happened though.
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Trailer review time!!
And the best trailer award goes to........
ROCK ON!!!!!!- Obviously the best of the whole lot. Awesome rock music from Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy. The guys are looking very chilled and born rockstars. And Farhan actually sings quite well! "Socha Hain" and title track "Rock On" plus some other tracks were sung by himself.
The sepia tones give the movie a very stylish look. I'm soooooo looking forward to this one movie!
Ugly aur Pagli- The second trailor I'm really impressed by. And whatte catchy tagline;
"99 slaps, 1 kiss"
Ha ha!
Though Mallika Sherawat is far from what I like,but I love watching her do comedy. And her wardrobe for this movie is pretty cool. The fringe and casual clothes were stuff you find girls wear,unlike her otherwise gravity defying skimpy clothes. And Ranvir Shorey looks exactly like a frustrated,oppressed boyfriend. Music is extreme party genred. "Talli" is so much w.o.w!
And the funky-romantic "Ye nazar,aur ye adayein" is feet-tapping.
The way she keeps slapping him, had me wishing Phon.E had half the wits around her to slap her boyfriend when he asks for one.
Bachna Ae Haseeno- Good music from Vishal-Shekhar. The 3 chicks and the hunk( the wow hunk) look beautiful, great locales, and designer clothes. The movie has EVERYTHING. But does it have a story? plot?Guess that's not very important nowadays,huh?

Well, the other trailer I noticed but HATED was-God,Tussi Great Ho. If you didn't realise it was the Indian version of Bruce Almighty, buzz off! You've NO brains in you!
I didn't feel that any of the rest of the trailers were worth reviewing.

Ah yes,another movie I noticed was "Hijack". not much.Wannabe Hollywood if anything. Terrorists and all, the hero running,jumping and saving lives. Obviously the terrorists had to be with Muslim names who probably keep on saying Arabi once in a while in between their conversations. Pathetic,really. The fact that the movie industry thinks that all goons, terrorists, extremists and bad people are Muslims. Whereas the truth is violence knows no religion.
That's it. I'm taking off.
Bye for now, and keep coming back and responding. You don't know how much I love you people!
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*Post script- Just returned from a friend's wedding. Good food, but no excitement. ie-no wedding songs or anything of the sort.

Trailer reviewing (for a change)

Guess I will begin my Trailer-Review section from this post. I'll do one every fortnight, what say?

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na- Apart from the soft-satire in the first promo and the second song "Pappu", the movie seems like a very cute college romance. And the song "Aditi"? I'm head over heels in love with it! After all A.R.R is behind it nah? And when I heard the whole of it, its just so damn cute and the lyrics are so touching and consoling. Aditi will definitely be smiling by the end of it too! Debutant Imran Khan, or more famous as nephew of Amir Khan is very much a next-door-boy. And Genelia looks just cute, though I hated her prom dress and hair in the song "Pappu". This is one movie I'm hoping will do good in the box office.

Kismet Connection- Looks cute. But whenever I see this promo, na jaane kyon, I'm unconsciously thinking of Lindsay Lohan's "Just my Luck". Is it just me or is this movie related to that one?

Haal-e-Dil- Who gave all of them 3 the chance to work in movies?? Most probably star kids or something. Amrita Pathak, the debutant actress needs a lot of toning down. Fatty!
Music seems nice. But that doesn't stop me from switching channels. I prefer "Aditi" to the whole of Haal-e-Dil.

Love Story 2050- Yet another new face. But Harman Baweja looks and dances like Hrithik. Too bad. The first song out, Milo na milo? Catchy music, though something tells me I've heard something of the kind before. Futuristic, set in 2050, it could either be superb or fail disastrously. We'll see!

Mere Baap Pehle Aap- It's beyond even high time that someone banned Priyadarshan from copying stories from other people. This one already came out in Malayalam years ago. Son tries to get single dad married, blah blah. Genelia as the love interest (don't ask me whose, the film makers don't seem too sure either), apart from that the usual Priyadarshan favourites.

Hastey Hastey- Sick, plain sick. The girl (whoever she is) is looking her like some weird cat woman. This is 100% flop. Bleargh. I just hated the music as well.

Woodstock Villa- ahem- Can I say, "pass, next question?" Music ain't that bad. I actually kinda liked the "Kyon" song by Aryans. And another romantic song. The debutant is a star kid. And he looks wild, in the sense that he looks beastly.

Summer 2007- I think its about a bunch of young medical students. And the Woodstock Villa guy looks sudhra hua and nicer in this.

Aamir- starring debutant Rajeev Khandelwal. He definitely doesn't need an intro. Just ask any girl. He he! He's cute. And is running all through the promo. There's this nice, sufi sort of song called "Mehfuz". Hmmm.
[I heard he gave Aamna Sharrif a special screening. Just her. AND they still say they're just good friends? Whatever.]

Sarkar Raj- Since I haven't watched the first one, I can't really say much. Bacchan Senior, Bacchan Junior and Bacchan daughter-in-law. You figure out if it's nice or not. Like any other RGV movie, lots of darkness and silence. You will be stumbling across the theatre. Hah!

Khushboo- It's raining new faces cats and dogs. The 2 new ones in this movie are lookin so boringly um, boring! Boring music by Adnan Sami to complement the movie. Adnan? What's goin' on? Music is ur strong point. Not here though.
I especially hated the violet lipstick the heroine wears in one song. Urgh

Zindagi tere naam- Sorry, but I couldn't really make out if the actor and actress are newbies or not, 'cos they were all over each other all the time. The songs are pretty okay.

De Taali- Hi5 for this one. Hip, happy movie from the looks of it. All abt friendship I think. Vishal-Sekhar duo gives some good music. And hey! remember Raja the finalist from SaReGaMaPa 2007? He's singing a folk song in the movie!! Cheers!! But I liked Vishal-Sekhar's Tashan music tremendously over this one. Love you Ayesha, no matter how much Vinaya hates you. For one reason, you still have stood by your principle of not to shed clothes, which is very difficult in Bolly, where you see more skin than clothes.

Thoda pyaar, thoda magic- OBviously, it has a happy ending. Hm. Passably good music.

AND FOR THE REAL LOSERS
At third spot is Mission Istanbul. I hated the trailer. Stupid. Actors with women draping them in a stupid song. Thumbs down for this one.
Mehbooba- Outdated, old actors, boring music. Good combo for bad movie.
AND THE WINNER AMONG THE LOSERS IS..............
JIMMY- The director probably had lost a bet and had agreed to make this movie. I can't see any other reason how this waste of celluloid came into being. Outdated, with an actor whose face is enough to make people wanna go home. Naff. Why do they make movies which are sure not to have a chance to survive even the first hour of the first day first show????



My choice from the pop albums:
Strings any day. They are just making so cool music everytime. Rock like the Strings do. And I can never have enough of their earlier song, "Duur". Beautiful and striking.