This and that

And so, where was I?

Yeah..I was at India for 4 weeks and met over a hundred people that includes just family and friends :) apart from travelling approximately 2000 Kms by bus, car, auto, train and plane. Oh...i did manage to watch about 5 movies as well. Nothing short of a roller coaster ride..eh? Probably, that was the reason why I felt that it was a very short trip!

A few memorable/funny incidents happened during my trip. Let me share them here :)

All this while when I was here, I would send pictures of dishes prepared by me and mom would be surprised. But when I prepared vegetable biryani at home, it turned out to be a complete disaster!
Result: Mom is feeling very sorry for her Son-in-Law and she firmly believes that I still can't cook.

There were all sorts of comments pouring in from friends/family about how I looked/ had changed over the year. One such comment was from one of my mom's aunt (technically, my grandmom). She told me that I had become a bit taller. geee..I wish I could :D

All thanks to Kingfisher Airlines and Bangalore International Airport. My birthday blew up in air, literally. I was supposed to be celebrating my birthday half day at Hyderabad and half a day at Bangalore. Kingfisher screwed my day with some unnecessary stuff (which I don't even want to talk about). The flight was delayed and I reached BIAL very late. And traveling from BIAL to home was another plight...It took much more time than the actual flight duration itself. I was all tired and dead by the time I reached home!

Surprisingly, this time tirupathi darshan was much more relieving. I just love the serenity of this place. There's something about this place that gives me a special feeling of gaiety. The place has changed so much since I last visited. It looks much cleaner, spacious and all the more beautiful.



I happened to visit one of the temples near Warangal. Goes by the name, Ramappa temple. The detailing in the sculpture was fantastic. Posting a few snaps of the temple.









I shopped and shopped and shopped so much that finally, I think I have gotten over the urge to shop :( Feeling sick at the look of sale boards here. Can't believe that this is happening to me! Ok...let's change the topic now :D

Movies...movies...Welcome to my adda :D

A brief HBO rating of the movies that I happened to watch over the last couple of months.

Ghajini : Honestly, Surya was better.. I give a TGW
Billu : Again a TGW, only because of Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta
Delhi 6 : I'm gonna give a YEM coz I didn't enjoy it but I saw a lot many others do!
Luck by Chance : It feels like a dejavu especially after watching 'Fashion'...I give it YEM
Raaz - the mystery continues : What a joke..where is the mystery, infact it's a misery..I give it a SNH

Slumdog Millionaire : BSI (If slumdog could win so many Oscars, I think every good Indian movie should)
Confessions of a shopoholic : Such a cute movie :D I give it a TGW
He's just not that into you : Terrific casting and superb performances. It's a straight BSI
Vicky, Christina, Barcelona : oops, saw this one on my flight back to Toronto. We laughed until we almost choked when we discovered that S watched the same one, when he travelled back. It's SNH. I bet you can never appreciate the movie if you are normal :D
High School Musical: Very very Cute...God, the guy in the lead role is so charming. Watch it for him ;) it's TGW!

For telugu audience,

King: a TGW because of Nagarjuna's unexpected role
Arundhati: YEM I should say as some people enjoy the graphics. Anushka was a total let down in her role.
Sasirekha Parinayam: TGW only because of last performance scene by Tarun. You can skip it, if you want to.
Koncham ishtam koncham kashtam: abbaaa..naakentha duradhrushtam :( A YEM, found it very boring.

Ending my rather lengthy post with belated Valentine's Day wishes!

Posting an interesting picture from my India trip album. This was shot by my sister. She loves to experiment with me and S!

Now, do you spot a resemblance to taj mahal somewhere or is it just my illusion ?

Dasvidaniya

Dasvidaniya is a sweet and simple movie that touches your heart. Brilliant work by first time director, Shashant Shah. Also, Vinay Pathak's first movie as a producer. We have seen Vinay Pathak in Bheja Fry, Khosla ka Ghosla, Aaja Nachle etc. With his strong theatrics background, this guy has only the best to offer. Vinay Pathak has done complete justice to his role as 'Amar Kaul' in Dasvidaniya.

The story is about a common man, who leads a very normal life. Due to unexpected turn of events, he takes a jolly ride with life. As the movie proceeds, you'll fall in love with this common man.

The comedy in Dasvidaniya is light hearted. Ranvir Shorey did his bit marvelously, in a cameo role. Saritha Joshi in the mother's role, slightly over did her acting in certain scenes but she managed to portray delicate emotions in the scene when Amar sings for her. Neha Dhupia comes as a pleasant surprise. Never knew that she could act. I am not sure who played the role as the salesgirl. But she was so very natural. Rajat Kapoor and Suchitra are just adequate. The entire casting has taken the movie to a different level.

Music by Kailash, Paresh and Naresh is good. Alvida song is melodious. The mamma song is simply cute.

The movie does have some loop holes here and there. There have been mixed reviews too. But overall, it's a winner.

I'm sure you will walk out of the theatre with your eyes moist.

HBO Rating: BSI

BSI : I Bet you can't Skip this Item!

Dostana..jaldi se bhagonaa...varna tumhe hain pachthaana

I am deeply inconsolable for having to inaugurate my HBO with such a pathetic movie..tut tut!

My profound insight tells me that Karan Johar wants to familiarize our society with the so called gay concept. Things were fine up till Kanta ben. We didn't need a whole movie concentrating only on this!

I think Karan had to spend money only for Kirron Kher and Sushmita Mukherjee's wardrobe. Others really haven't worn much. Effect of global recession, I suppose. Thanks to our Bollywood Babes for the bikini marathon, we are now comfortable watching them in the tiniest of dresses. With dostana, the trend slowly moves on to the guys. We have seen Salman, Shahrukh etc flaunt their six-pack, but this movie has more to offer. Sadly, it leaves us all the more embarassed.

As the movie progresses, you just realise that every other person in the movie is gay. Your roommate is gay. Your boss is gay. The guy you bump into is gay. Your visa officer is also gay!!???!! ,it just gets into a wild slapstick comedy.

With such hot and happening bunch of actors, it's really disappointing to see the ultimate outcome.

AB junior is just wasting away his talent. There are better things that he can opt for. Not movies like Drona, Dostana! Wait a minute, I see a connection here, D and D. AB, I think you need a numerologist. Make hay while the sun shines, Honey.

Priyanka is good. For girls who love John, you might enjoy watching him in Dostana. He's much much much better than what he did in Paap. Bobby Deol...do I need to say anything at all! Oh, you didn't know that he was there in Dostana? Don't worry, you'll not know it even after watching the movie.

If Karan Johar wanted to portray a message of social responsibility towards the gay community, Dostana certainly does not make it any better. Madhur Bhandarkar, is the right person who can elegantly deal with such subjects.

HBO RATING: RAQ

RAQ: Run Away Quickly

Popcorn and Coke

Well, what else could popcorn and coke mean? Yeah...am talking about movies, movies and movies! On any day, I just love to munch on butter popcorn (I know, butter!!!), slurp a strawful of coke and get lost in the magic spinning onscreen. A magic that can cast spell at times, but most of the times it doesn't! Sadly, our hollywood, bollywood, tollywood, kollywood...whateverwood have been churning out thousands of movies that are "leave-your-brain-at-home-while-you-watch" types.

Cutting out the crap, now what I want to say is that I might be of some help to you. How?.. In here,I'll rate the movies in my Blogsville section "HBO" nah...it's not the Hollywood BO, you got it wrong! It's "Hema's Box Office" silly!

No..I'm not Raja Sen's sister or Jeevi's cousin but just for the heck of it! Oh come'on now, when Himesh can become Monty, I can become pretty...I mean, pretty critical!

So, here I define my scale.

STAR : Sizzler Treat to All, for Real

BSI : I Bet you can't Skip this Item!

TGW : Thank God, it's Watchable!

YEM : You'll Enjoy it, Moron!

SNH : Strictly Not recommended for Humans

RAQ : Run Away Quickly, or you shall repent, GUINEA PIG!

Now that the groundwork is done, HBO is soon to get into showbiz..watch out!

Note: Let me make it clear to all Producers/ Directors/ Actors, HBO doesn't accept gifts/bribes. Strictly no biasing, not even to Aamir khan or Farhan Akhtar or Siddharth, for that matter even Madhavan(sigh)!