Om Shanti Om - Movie Review

Actors - SRK, Deepika Padukone, Shreyas Talpade, Arjun Rampal
Director- Farah Khan
Music - Vishal & Shekar

After having been struck by Farah Khan's spoofy film "Main Hoon Na", myself and hubby dear were eagerly waiting to watch this movie. Sharukh's six-pack also was very very tempting. We wanted to watch this movie asap. The fact that we got tickets for a night show and each ticket costed us Rs 150/- didn't deter us from watching this movie.

The movie has the reincarnation drama with generous helping of humor. OSO is Karz directed by Manmohan Desai. There is also a reference to Manhoman Desai in the movie.

OSO starts in the 70's where Subhash Ghai is directing the song Om Shanti Om. Here Om Prakash Makhija (SRK) and his friend Pappu Master (Shreyas Talpade) are junior artists. The ever struggling junior artists who always dream to be heroes. Om has a huge crush on the Superstar heroine of those times Shanti Priya (Deepika).

During one of the shoots Om saves Shanti from a fire accident. As a gesture Shanti agrees to spend an evening with Om. The movie's best song (Tum ko paya hai) plays as Om goes all fida on Shanti. Then he comes to know that Shanti is secretly married to the vicious producer Prakash Mehra (Arjun Rampal). Shanti is fighting for her recognition as Mehra's wife. In turn she gets killed by him and Om also dies in an attempt to save her. Well in the other half the same junior artist becomes the biggest star of his times and takes revenge on the producer.

Now things said about the plot, I would like to highlight the strengths of the movie:

1. backdrop i.e. sets in the first half
2. costume in the first half. Everyone , from the background artists were wearing clothes of that era and the detailing was given a lot of importance.
3. SRK's six -pack abs in the song Dard-e-disco
4. The writers make light of everyone and everything in sight, packing the first half with so many jokes and movie references. Even the South Indian film industry was not spared by Farah.
5. When the credits are rolled out in the end, everyone from the spot boy to the light man are brought in the front of the camera, which I felt was a very nice way of giving credit to. Kudos to SRK and Farah for this novel idea.
6. Credits to Farah for bringing Sheryas in the commercial stream, because he is so good an actor that we do not want to watch him in just few off-beat films.

Having said about the pluses, the major flaw I could say was the spoof was not very much on the face and so the fun element was missed out unlike Main Hoon Na. Sparing for some 3 songs the other songs in this movie are forgettable.

So that's it folks from my end. OSO is a watchable movie.

Rating : **1/2 (Watchable)

Jab We Met - Movie Review

Actors - Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapur
Director - Imtiaz Ali
Music - Pritam Singh

"Jab We Met " is a cute love story. Well you would heard this by this time now. But let me tell you it is a FUN film to watch. There are lot of stuff missing in this movie, which now has become a trademark of a pot-boiler:

*item number
*extravagance be it for locales or costume.
*unnecessary rona-dhona
*dream sequence

So, the movie is quite endearing and closer to life. But still the director has taken some liberties to move away from logic like where Kareena gets down from the train to get Shahid back into the train and in turn misses it.

Well moving to the story, the story is very simple Geet (Kareena) ,a happy -go-lucky chatterbox girl whose childhood dream is to get married in life, meets Aditya (Shahid), a sober disillusioned businessman on a train. Aditya has boarded the train after he has almost decided to end his life, that is when he meets Geet. Both end up missing the train. Geet informs him that it is his responsibility to take her to home-town Bhatinda. She constantly nags him and frustrated both of them embark on a journey to Bhatinda. Well one thing I would like to mention that the rural Punjab is a scenic beauty with the sarson da keth and etc.

Once they reach Bhatinda Aditya is already in love with Geet. But the twist here is that Geet is already in love with some other guy. Here again our hero helps Geet in getting reunited with her love of life.

I do not want to spoil the movie goers with the full plot. So what happens next and how Geet and Aditya reunite forms the rest of the story.

I think one of the reasons for the success of a movie is a well-written script and well-etched characters. I like Geet's characterisation very much. She is a girl who follows her heart and has no inhibitions at all. If she decides to jump into a river she would and not think about the consequences. I think sometimes we need to let ourselves be carefree and take it easy. After all Life is about Living.

Kareena has done a damn good job. She has portrayed the effervescent character very well. The beauty is she is a chatter-box but doesn't irritate you. Instead makes all of us yearn why we can't be like her.

So that's it folks. I recommend you all to watch this movie.

Rating : *** (Good)

Spirituality and CEO - The connection?

I just read a recent article in TOI about this. The article was about a Spirituality course at IIM-B. Well in IIM-B there is a popular elective course "Spirituality for Global Managers". Kewl stuff.

The whole article is available at this link http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mgmt_gyaan_from_CEO_Lord_Krishna/articleshow/2510295.cms

The seed of thought to write this post came to me after I read this article.

"Spirituality and Religion "

Spirituality is not the same as religion and vice versa. You could be either of these or both of them. Confusing na...

Spirituality is Natural. It is inside all of us. We all want to be good in some or the other way. No one really strives to be bad. So as long as the intention to be good exists, I think everyone is spiritual.

Religion is a man made, culture based doctrine that guides it's people in the practice of spirituality. Because religion is man made and culture based, it naturally has some of the rules and taboos of that particular culture built into it. Unfortunately for some, many cultures have chosen to use the fear of God to enforce the man made rules of that culture. And some wonder, how can there be a loving God when so many terrible things happen to some people. Creator gave us free will. No one, no thing, can totally control that which has free will. Although Creator has a great plan for us to be happy, healthy, and good people, He has no control over it. If we chose to follow this great plan, our lives can be wonderful. But there can be sadness or pain or misfortune even if we follow a good spiritual plan. Because that is the flow of life.

I know how difficult it is to accept this. I think if we train our minds that "LIFE" is not always a bag full of goodies, we could lead a very happy life. We would have pain, suffering, failures, disppointments...etc.

But when a mishap occurs to me , the first question that I ask GOD is "Why me?". I hope and pray that the Almighty gives me the strength and maturity to accept that this is also a part of his plan for me.

It is also equally important that we accept the fact that " It is ok to fail". Even when I write this I realise that I am extremely competitive. Anything I do I want it to be the best. I keep pushing myself until I am the best.

Oops, I started this blog on a different note and ended it in a tangent. Anyways pour in your thoughts ...........

Script writer !!!!

Myself and hubby dear are movie addicts. Whenever time permits we sneak in a movie here and there. I was always fasinated how people bring stories to life. Best example being the movie "Iqbal" and "Malgudi Days".... ever since then I have always had the urge to write a nice story and visualize it.

Suddenly the company annual day was announced and they invited me to be a part of the organization. The high profile management also wanted some culturals to be thrown in for the entertainment. I immediately jumped in and proposed for a skit.

But then what would be the theme of the script ? That was a million dollar question. After a brainstorming discussion, within myself ofcourse :-), I thought the best thing would be a spoof on the age old "masala movie".

After all that is what Farah Khan is doing in all her films till date. So if she can cash on it then we can as well give it a try.

I had a bound script in 2 days. But unfortunately I could not bring in together the casting that I wanted and I was loaded with work. So because of the above reasons "The project got shelved". Analogy could hold good to the movie making business as well as the IT industry. What the heck !

Voila ! I have started a blog. So here goes my script ppl. Bouquets and Brickbats are welcome.

Tension Nahi Lene Ka !
====================

Entertainment is the buzz word today. There are lots of companies competing with each other to entertain people.

There is no denying that “Films and movies” are the greatest source of entertainment to people all over the world. The actors are larger than life and people closely associate themselves to them.

The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication; some movies have become popular worldwide attractions.

For us Cinema speaks our language and also reflects the socio-cultural progress in our lives.
As a tribute to the wonderful world of our Cinema we present this skit.
Well this in complete Hindi/Telugu ishtyle and it is cross lingual, where we speak Hindi, Telugu and English.

Presenting to you “Tension Nahi lene Ka”

[While reading the script ….
Black : Refers to voice over in the background
Dark Red : Refers to dialogues and how to emote?
Blue : Refers to songs
Orange : Refers to the way to emote]

Note
====

All the characters and situations in this script are fictitious. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

Cast
=====
1. Raju (Hero)
2. Rani (Heroine)
3. Hero’s mom

4. Hero’s father
5. Heroine’s father
6. Hero’s Friends (No 4)
7. Villagers cum city men (No 4)
8. Hero’s Boss



Act 1 : Chintalapudi Village

Act 1: Scene 1

This is the story of Raju in Chintalapudi Village, Andhra Pradesh. A very small village, where Raju is the only person to reach an “ENGINEERING COLLEGE”.

A young man who is in full Josh to conquer the world. Will he succeed in it? Let us see.

Friend 1 : Raju , raju tu pass ho gaya! Engineer ban gaya !
Friend 2 : Hey, hamara Raju engineer ban gaya !

(All of Raju’s friends rejoice. Raju runs and tells his parents.)

Raju: Amma main pass ho gaya !
Mother: Mera Raju pass ho gaya ! Kuch meetha ho jaye ! Arre aap kyon etne dull ho?
Father: Meetha to theek hai …… ab gaon a sab log party maangenge ! (sad)

(The whole village is praising Raju and they celebrate it!)

Song 1: Raja rajadhi raja (Agninatchatram)- Villagers sing
Or
Song 1 : Mass (Mass) – His friends sing
Song 2: Raju ban gaya gentle man (Raju ban gaya gentleman) – Villagers sing


Act 1: Scene 2

As goes the saying “There is only one happiness in life,to love and be loved”, the same holds true for Raju. He is in love with our sweet, innocent Rani. He goes ahead and confesses his love for her.

Raju: Rani ……….. Nenu ninnu premisthunnanu

Song 3: Mere Rang mein rangne wali , pari ho ya ho pariyon ki Rani, Ya ho meri Prem Kahani….Mere Sawalon ka Jawaab do, do na…… (Hum aapke hain koun) – Raju sings

(Rani, Silent and shy….. She then smiles)

Raju: Are are are hasi to phasi…..

Song 4: Avunu nejam, nuvvante naaku istam (Athadu) - Raju sings

Yes, Raja ko Rani se pyaar ho gaya aur rani ko bhi raja se pyaar ho gaya. Jab miyan biwi raji to kya karega kazi……lekin Rani ka kya bolti tu?

Rani: Raju tum mujhe ache lagte ho, lekin mere “pappa mummy” ka kya hoga. Tum mere pappa se pooch lo. My father’s decision is my decision.

Raju: Enti….? Duet with me.But decision her father’s? Cheppu cheppu idi neeku thaguna?


Act 1: Scene 3

Song 5: Kumari….(Aparichidu) – Raju sings along with his friends

In this song, Rani drops her flowers. Raju preserves it. Her pencil, her notebook and even her kerchief?

Raju is in dire status. He is so deeply in love with Rani that all the while he keeps thinking of her. His friends are unable to stand his antics. What do they do?

Friend 1: Raju tension nahi lene ka !
Friend 2: Hey ra! Letz go to her dad and ask her hand for marriage man.
Raju : What?
Friend 1: No man , “YOUR MARRIAGE”
Raju : Nooooooooo I am tooo scared.

All his friends : Hum hain na……………… (ICICI Bank Tune)

Song 6: Le jayenge le jayenge dil wale dulhaniya le jayenge… (Chor Machaye Shor)- Raju’s friends sing


Act 1: Scene 4

Raju and his friends arrive at Rani’s place. They ask her father for Raju’s marriage with Rani

Rani’s father : mmm…what is it?
Raju : Sir, Nuvvante naku istam.
Rani’s father : Enti?
Raju : Kaadu kaadu, I meant I like your daughter. I would want to marry her.

(Rani’s father is shocked. He stands up from his chair)

Rani’s father : Mere paas gadi hai, bungalow hai, latest mobile phone hai , aur aur Rani bhi hai. Tumhare paas kya hai? Hain.

Raju : Mere paas mere paas “Engineering degree” hai

Rani’s father : Adhi chaaladhu babu !

Song 7: Sabse bada rupaiya …..(Bluffmaster)- Rani’s father sings

Rani’s father : Raju tension Nahi lene ka !Find a job for yourself. I will marry my daughter to you.


Act 1 Scene 5

Raju then decides to go to the city, Hyderabad to fulfill his dreams and get a job. His parents wish him and send him off.

Song 8: Tu jahaan jahaan chalega mera saaya saath hoga (Saaya) – Raju’s parents and friends sing

Raju as he leaves is overwhelmed with emotions.

Raju : Ma ….

Song 9: Ye bandhan to pyaar ka bandhan hai….(Karan Arjun) – Raju’s mom sings


Act 2: Hyderabad city

Act 2: Scene 1

Our Raju is in search of a job in Hyderabad. But unfortunately as he is a simpleton and from a village all the software companies rebuke him.

Song 10 : Gali gali mein phirtha hai tu kyon banke banjara.. (Tridev) - Background

Raju: College lo unnannallu chaduvulu yeppudu aipothay, exams nunchi vimukthi yeppudu vastundi, job lo dabbulu yeppudu sampadistam ani tondara padatham. job search lo naanaa tippalu padi kanapadina prathi company interview attend Chestham. But ………….. Nakku okka jobu?

Song 11: Mera Jeevan Kora Kaagaz Kora hi pad gaya ….(Kora Kaagaz)- Raju sings

Act 2: Scene 2

As our hero Raju starts walking from the streets of Hitech-city. There is a buzz about a company. Raju overhears all of them.

Person 1: Yo man ! Mannar& Mannar is a cool company. Loads of Techie stuff man.

Person 2: Entha pedha company Mannar & Mannar. Naaku chala ishtam !

Person 3: Arre yaar kya mast company hai Mannar & Mannar ! Ekdum Jhakaas.!

All three people say to Raju …..”Tension Nahi Lene Ka"

Abhi Raju ke dimaag ki bhaji ghanti our wo decide karta hai Mannar & Mannar main apply karne ka! Kya ?

Song 12: Koi hamse jeet na pave chale chalo …(Lagaan) Raju sings

Act 2: Scene 3


Raju attends the interview and impresses the panel with his “Intelligent” answers.

Song 13: Valkaiil aayiram thadaigal appa. – Padayappa number – Narasimha in Telugu

While this song plays in the background, there is an interview panel and Raju is talking to them.

(Raju gets the job and finally marries Rani.)

Song 14: Sree rasthu subhamasthu,(Pelli Pushtakam).

No no our movie doesn’t end here. It is just the beginning. Raja and Rani are in seventh heaven

Song 15: Dekha ek khwaab to ye silsile huye (SILSILA) – Raju sings


Act 3 – In office

ACT 3: Scene 1

Raju works very hard in the office. Becomes a yes-man, solves all bugs. Surpasses all his targets. Works all the time. Is available 24/7/365 days. In short, becomes the boss’s favourite man.

Raju’s boss is very tensed and people around him are scratching their heads on a problem. Raju enters singing this song.

Raju : Tension nahi lene ka ! Apun hai na !

Song 16: Kiska hai ye tumko intejaar main hoon na (Main Hoon na) – Raju sings


ACT 3: Scene 2

As Raju is always in the office, back in his village it has been years since his friends have seen him. Raju has not met his parents also. Back in the village people miss him

Song 17: Sandese aate hain hamain tadpate hain – (Border) –background song

His wife also misses him a lot as he hardly comes home

Song 18: Lambi judaai char dinon ka …..(Reshma) Rani sings


His wife is upset with him as he forgot their first anniversary. Oops that is a crime!


Song 19: Mujhe tum se hain kitne kile ……(Ram Lakhan) Rani sings


Act 3: Scene 3

Next day in office Raju is very dull and not his usual spirits. His boss notices it and is scared, will he lose Raju to other competitors. No he doesn’t want to. So he goes up to him.


Song 20: Zindagi ki yehi reet hai haar ke baad hi jeet hai …( Mr.India) – Boss sings

Raju: Sar, Kotha illu , kotha caru, kotha wife undhi saar, Kaani vishayam ledu saar.

Boss: Don’t worry ! Be Happy. “Sab ka solution hamare paas hai”

Raju’s boss keeps thinking. In the background the titanic theme song plays. He is disturbed by a noise from a distance. Chana ! Chana ! Oye Chane lelo….

(Eureka ! Raju’s boss has got an idea)

Next day he hands him a “LAPTOP”

Raju’s boss : Down nahi honeka “Raju tension Nahi lene ka“ --- Hands him the laptop

The whole cast comes to the stage and sways as this song plays in the background

Song 21: Haku na mata ta …(Lion Song) ….

Everyone in chorus ! Tension Nahi lene ka !


As the credits in ppt roll, the theme song of Top Gun plays !

Song 22: Theme song of TOP GUN for credits.

Awesome threesome !!!!

Well long time people close to have been insisting to start a blog and here I am, with my first one. We had a nice trip last weekend (10/27 - 10/28), which I am planning to write about. Well I had my birthday also so it was great fun. So here I roll...............

Well the reason for the short but nice break was the dreaded monotony that was creeping into our lives. (well, "our" includes mine, hubby dear and my SIL's hubby. I call him "Bro") .

For quite some time we all had hectic schedules . So in chorus we echoed "Hamara break tho banta hai na............."

All three of us drove down to a place 210 kms from Hyderabad called Srisailam. Well my in-laws and my SIL are in Mumbai for some time. They are there for a wedding.

Srisailam is a hill-station. The main attractions there are a Siva temple, a hydro-electric Dam and a wild -life sanctuary. We started on Saturday afternoon, reached Srisailam in the evening. The APTDC hotel "Punnami" surprisingly didn't have rooms. The care-taker there looked really uninterested in business and was happily watching TV. She referred to another place which was a bit expensive. Since we had no other choice we checked-in there and then crashed. Well must admit the place was decent enough. The room had a balcony which oversees the garden. Kewl na?

Well at 12:00 my hubby and bro woke me up and gave me a cake made of bread and kesari . Poor things they couldn't find a cake there. :-( Then as per our family traditions I was drenched in Mirinda, Pepsi and coke. Well usually it is the beer that the birthday babies are drenched in. But considering that we were driving, Srisailam is a holy place and I was the birthday girl that was avoided. :-)

Then we hit our sacks and woke up pretty early as we wanted to finish off the temple when there is not much crowd.The temple is very beautiful and I should say one of the neatly maintained places. The Siva lingam there is swayambhu.This is one of the place where the Jyothirlingam and Shakthi sthalam are together. By the grace of the almighty we had an amazing darshan of the Lord and Devi.

After our breakfast we went to the dam. It was massive and huge. We were also generally yapping about how the hydro-electric power generated there is stored, the huge electro-magnetic field created and so on.Well I was reminded about our IV (Industrial visit) days !

Then went on to the sanctuary in the Nallamalai forest. Well that's when it hit me that our wild-life is slowly getting eroded. In our day - to day life we are soo busy that we hardly even think about it. I felt really sorry for our generation. I am not sure if our future generation will get to see even what we saw. Well it was a hard hitting reality . Will dedicate another post to this.

We joined the "Tiger Patrol" group. Well sounds exciting na, but believe me you could buy a ticket and get a ride in that jeep. The sanctuary was developed in order to conserve tigers, but hard luck we did not spot any tiger. To prove that indeed they had tigers in the sanctuary they showed us some paw-marks.

We got to watch peacocks, deer and whole lot of variety of birds. Then we went on to the highest spot on the hills which had a breathtaking view.

We then drove back and reached Hyderabad in the evening . The three of us went out for dinner to our favourite restaurant IndiJoe. Quite a nice place. Both me and my hubby dear have become ardent fans of Italian, Mexican and Lebanese food. It was too good. Even my bro enjoyed it, so much that he has already planned his next visit there. I can dedicate another post to our fav restaurant in Hyderabad "IndiJoe".

Too much for the first post I believe. Until next time.........



Cheers,
Lakshmi