Udaan...a liberating flight...

Udaan..the story of Rohan(Rajat Barmecha), 17 year old teenager having embittered relations with his father, Bhairav Singh(Ronit Roy). Being expelled from boarding school, Rohan returns to his father not having met him for 8 years. A budding writer and inclined towards studying literature, his dream to be a writer, is forced into engineering college by his father and forcibly made to work in a steel plant which is his fathers' business.

Rohan comes back and discovers he has a step younger brother Arjun. Such a cutie pie! I almost wanted to pull his cheeks and what acting by the newcomers! Applaudable! The best part in the movie is the relationship Rohan shares with his kid step brother. Arjun is just so adorable and a natural actor. Its shown in such soft light, their relationship and one very uplifting part of the movie.

Ram Kapoor as always exudes a lot of warmth in his character as the caring and loving uncle. Ronit Roy succeeds in his role so much that you abhor him throughout the movie! Flawless acting by all the characters. At one point you really feel for Rohan and Arjun..Wonderful depiction of emotions!

Some lighter moments shared by the actors in the movie..like the drunk scene with Rohan and his seniors, "Disgraceful" said by the father every morning when he wins the race and then repeated by Arjun, this was hilarious :D The picnic scene when Rohan says "kabhi rakshas kabhi bhedh" for his father after knowing it was his idea, the picnic :)

The music score is very liberating and on the story lines. As one of my friends rightly pointed out, watch the movie first and then listen to the sound track :) You come to appreciate the music more and it works! Amit Trivedi does an incredible job as music director.

The beautiful poems recited by the protagonist in the movie are so impressive and inspirational, am trying to get my hands on them. How Rohan struggles to free himself from an authoritative, arrogant and sadistic father and pursue his dreams is what the whole movie is about.What a welcome change from the stereotypical romantic and masala movies that we have in Bollywood. Kudos to the director Vikramaditya Motwane and the producer Anurag Kashyap.

Udaan is a journey to stand up for what you want in life, break free from the chains of fear and just fight against the injustice.Its a liberating and inspiring experience, go watch for yourself!! 

Find the magical poems of the movie here

Singin' in the Rain

What a sweet classic movie. After watching this one, I got a feeling that all movies should be like this. Light, hilarious, mushy and all things that make you feel good. Personally am not a big fan of musicals, but I did like Once and now this has been added to my list of favourite musicals.

Don Lockwood(Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont are the stars of a silent movie production. Don meets Cathy Saldon, falls in love and the love story unwinds into a pretty nice musical. With the advent of voice in cinema, Cathy Saldon is discovered as a budding star, a petite pretty girl.

Cosmo Brown adds such good touches of comedy and dance to the movie and is just phenomenal. The faces he makes, gosh!! he is superb. Lina Lamont with her shrieky shrill voice :D she is a typical piece, cawing away like a crow. The ascent trainer working on her is just hilarious. The tapping shoes dances, the classic songs, the sets, the lighting, the costumes is just so amusing. Don looks dashing and Cathy so cute, both having good chemistry.

Each one of the songs is adorable :D Please please watch this movie and laugh away..it will make your day! :)

Enjoy this video from the movie :)

Also love the lyrics of the song "You were meant for me"

Life was a song,
You came along
I've laid awake the whole night through
If I ever dared to think you'd care
This is what I'd say to you

You were meant for me
And I was meant for you
Nature patterned you
And when she was done
You were all the sweet things
Rolled up in one

You're like a plaintive melody
That never lets me free
But I'm content
The angels must have sent you
And they meant you just for me...

But I'm content
The angels must have sent you
And they meant you just for me...

PS: Video embedding is disabled for these particular videos. But clicking "Watch on YouTube" will take you just to these very videos!

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Source:http://www.poemhunter.com/

Invictus in Latin means unconquered.

A truly inpirational movie about Nelson Mandela during his first year as South African President and how he unites the nation through their love for Rugby. As always Clint Eastwood at his best, Morgan Freeman immaculate and paying an honorable tribute to Nelson Mandela.Matt Damon delivering his best. A must watch!
 

The Secret in Their Eyes

This Oscar winning movie will leave you mesmerized and glued to your seat, not allowing you to budge from your place. Just finished watching the movie, I did not know its an Argentinian movie, but realized its true that movies in other languages do not lose their lustre or emotions or effect if you need to watch them with subtitles. This one will leave a long-lasting impression on your mind.

 

The whole experience left me so shaken that I do not know where to begin writing about it. Right from the beginning, when the brutal rape and murder case of Liliana Coloto  comes into picture, Benjamin Esposito the justice agent who is assigned the case has his doubts that the suspects arrested for the case are not the real culprits but a childhood friend of the victim named Gomez. As the story unfolds, how Gomez is caught and at large again, never does the movie lose its pace or passion. How Esposito struggles till the end to gain some closure for this case, which was 25 years ago, how he comes across all the characters in the process of writing his novel.

The apparent physical tension between Esposito and Irene, the train scene and after 25 years how Esposito gets the courage to say what he wanted to long back, to Irene. Pablo discovering from the letters as quoted by him in the movie passion is one thing that cannot be changed in behavior, Benjamín learns now that that premise still holds true even for Molares, twist in the tale this one. With an 8.4 IMDB rating, I would strongly recommend to watch this movie! The actors are superb, the direction flawless, the story gripping!

Some likeable quotes from the movie.

Benjamin : Have you ever seen things from a different angle? You see someone else and what the other person is going through helps you see your own life

Pablo: A guy can change anything. His face, his home, his family, his girlfriend, his religion, his God. But there's one thing he can't change. He can't change his passion.

Benjamin: You are better than I am

Molares:  What do you care? Its my life, not yours

Benjamin: No Molares, its my life too!Your love for that woman..I never saw it again!In anybody! Nobody! Ever!

Molares:Choose carefully. Memories are all we end up with.At least pick the nice ones.

Irene: Its a novel. It doesnt have to be true or even believable

Benjamin:  Yes..No, What? It isnt believable?

Irene: No, Benjamin. That part when the guy leaves for Jujuy..

Benjamin: What's the problem?

Irene: Crying like he's all broken up..So what? Her running on the platform after the man of her dreams..

Benjamin: Well..

Irene: Touching hands through the glass, like they're one. And her crying, as if she knew her fate was mediocrity and never loving anyone, practically falling on the tracks, proclaiming love she'd never had the courage to confess..

Benjamin: Thats what happened, isn't it?

Irene: If that's what happened, why didn't you take me with you?

What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today.

I am sure you must be wondering about the caption. Well, am going to write my views about the movie "Groundhog Day"

I just loved this movie! It was unique from other movies in so many ways. Now I did not know what is Groundhog day, so heres something for those who don't like me.

Groundhog Day may seem like a newfangled ceremony — what with Punxsutawney Phil living in a climate-controlled environment in the town library (where he is fed dog food and ice cream) and being transported once a year to Gobbler's Knob where tuxedo-clad gentlemen await his exit from a heated burrow at 7:25 a.m. on February 2 and bend down respectfully to receive his meteorological prognostications and convey them to a breathless media and an attentive world...by the way Punxsutawney is a rat or squirrel I do not know..also know and woodchucker a search showed. Source: Answers.com

How a weatherman Phill Collins(Bill Murray) hates this very day and for consecutively third year is in Punxsutawney to report this very event, finds himself living the same day again and again. Every morning when the alarm rings, its the same old day. First he uses each day for his own selfish motives, to hurt people he doesnt like or do worthless things, and then after he starts knowing his producer, Rita, he realises each day can be lived in a worthwhile manner, helping people, saving peoples lives which was obviously easier for him because each day he knew the exact sequence in which any event or mishap would occur. His transition from leading an ego-centric, selfish life to a selfless, worthy life is noteworthy and along this time, how he falls in love with Rita, how he realises that he is capable of being generous and kind. The scenes where one night he admits the old beggar to hospital and the poor old fellow dies, and he tells the nurse "Not Today!". Next repeated day he takes the old man and makes him have a nice warm breakfast, sadly the old man still dies, as the nurse says sometimes people just die and he was old. Suddenly his humanity awakes in him, all these events manifest well.

With every repeated day, Phil realises there is so much good that can be done with each day. I mean think of it, how would you spend each today if you know it will get repeated the next day. What a thought! I mean who could imagine this! When Phil says "Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today." :) Gosh, if the same day is repeated everyday, I just can't imagine what I will do.

Something to muse about.

Well, what I learnt and what I felt was the central theme was that live in the now, live in each moment for now is the moment you can make someone happy, help someone, make your life better. Its like this saying..Live today as if there's no tomorrow..

A sweet movie and a must watch!

I Love You Phillip Morris

Quite a hilarious movie based on the book I Love You Phillip Morris by Steve McVicker. The story of Steven Russell, who after a car accident has this sudden epiphany as he calls it, and decides to live life as he wanted to without any compromises or without any secrets.

He was gay and his wife Debbie did not know this fact. After his car accident he reveals the same to her and thus begins a new life altogether. He has a boyfriend Jimmy and commits all sorts of frauds to shower his bf with expensive gifts. And when he's caught he tries to flee, unfortunately ending up in prison.

In prison, he meets Phillip Morris and both strike such a connection that it looks like both are made for each other. Although a normal person would not be able to fathom or understand the feelings a gay couple share, but I realised feelings or emotions are as is, they are not discriminated as feelings between a normal straight couple or a gay couple. Steven and Phillip are shown to share such a great chemistry and are so much in love.

Steven Russel has been potrayed as such an incredible and versatile con man, he fools people into believing he's a lawyer, gets Phillip out of prison, fools the chairman of a big company and becomes CFO of that company :D goes back to prison again because of all his frauds, tries to escape n number of times, and all that he does or tries to get away from is to meet Phillip Morris who is now pissed with him because he's been made an accomplice in all the illegal activities that Steve has been doing.

The most amusing and gut-busting dupe that Steve does is faking his death. That was too much. How he got away with so many dupes is beyond my understanding :D Faking AIDS, its just too much when he says the private care facility people never bothered to run him for an AIDS test :D

No one could have potrayed Steven best as Jim Carrey has done also adding an element of humor here and there. Quite a unique movie. Love the end scene! Watch it for yourself :D

An interesting review/post on this movie here

Questions..Life..Thoughts

Life is not a bed of roses, its a bed of roses accompanied by thorns. Every Rose has a Thorn

Whatever happens, happens for good. Is it not too much of a consolation to be true?

An idle mind is a devil's workshop, an unpeaceful mind the devil himself.

They say one should try to live every moment of life to the fullest, what if each moment leads to emptiness?

Solitude is loneliness enjoyed.

Humility leads to Simplicity. Simplicity to Positivity.

Innocence is Ignorance. 

Life is short-lived, a well-forgotten fact.

Feeling void is a blessing in disguise but grass is greener on the other side.

The strangeness of life lies in its ability to raise you to the skies in one instant and then pull you down in another.

Continued Endurance/Tolerance is the starting point for self-demise.

Depression - a killer on the loose. Kill it before it kills you.

Love - that magical feeling telling you that he/she is always there and you are not alone.

Lust - Love lost.

Ego - a constructive or destructive entity?

Am I alone in the crowd or a part of it?

Life is a series of  ungraded entrance examinations for which there are no coaching classes.

Road, Movie

An unconventional movie, with a rustic feel to it. Charmingly simple and yet conveying all emotions with par excellence.

Vishnu, the typical modern son of a typical middle class family. Father is trying a business to sell oil. आत्मा तेल लगाया बाल भर सर पाया, बाकी सब माया :D Abhay Deol plays the reluctant son well. 

Vishnu catches hold of an old mans truck and offers to do a favour to him by taking the truck to Samudrabhar, a city by the sea. How his journey unfolds varied experiences is quite a story to tell. Its rather life changing as depicted. Satish Kaushik in the role of Chacha or the mechanic, the kiddo Mohammad Faizal was just a natural when it came to acting. Tanishtha Chatterjee added a new dimension, the only female face of the movie, a beautiful Rajasthani Banjaara in search of water. And Abhay Deol as always did not need an effort to act. The best thing I like about Abhay Deol is his unsophisticated ordinary looks, I like his unglamorous boy next door look unlike the hunk look that some of our Bollywood heroes have, I think that gives him the edge.

Road, Movie is quite entertaining and has a good pace, how the truck has a movie projector system and how Vishnu and the other three tap it in the mela is awesome. The moments in the movie like the one when the police wala threatens them to show a good movie and how the whole village enjoys it, the scene when Tanishtha breaks into a song, the Charlie Chaplin scene when Chacha passes away with a smile on his face, the smiling faces of the village people amused by Charlie Chaplin, all are scenes just so worth watching.

You should definitely visit the official site of the movie which is this http://www.roadmoviethefilm.com/ A lot has gone into the making of the movie and the site has some nice facts and videos about the same. Also I like the look and feel of the site. Dev Benegal has made a gr8 movie and I think you shouldn't miss this one....

The film being aired in so many international film festivals itself speaks volumes...Need I say more?