Movie Review:1920-Evil Returns

Cast : Aftab Shivdasani, Tina Bajpai

Director: Bhushan Patel

Producer: Vikram Bhatt

Rating : 3/5

It doesn’t entail to that extreme breathtaking horror that would not even allow you to catch a quick loo break.However, compile the usual old drama of a beauty possessed by an evil and a hero who frees his beloved blah blah. Old school. Nevertheless, who thought that this old school trick could actually work .1920-evil returns has all the basic spooky elements to cling the audience to their seats and visit the loo more often. At least I did! Although the story line is very very basic. Moreover, if you have ever happen to watch Exorcist by any chance, do not get startled if you find some similar scenes.

Smruti (Tia Bajpai) is found unconscious at a lakeside shore where our hero (Aftab Shivdasani) as the famous shayar Jaidev is able to rescue her. The departure of her lost love (whom he had never seen by the way) has made him an alcoholic. The arrival of Smruti brings back that vanished love in his life along with a sway of an evil drooping on her head. Oops! I meant on her shoulder.You've got to watch the movie to unveil that. Then the fight-to-free-my-love takes place, which obviously is what the movie is all about. Sorry can’t sketch the suspense here. Although, it is easy to picture it the moment you watch it.

One good thing about the movie is its cinematography. Beautiful, serene, and incredible views of the country side of England has added to the splendor of the picturisation. Tina Bajpai has acted amazingly and has very well defined the role of a possessed woman. Aftab Shivdasani seems to be working out a lot these days. Result is his fit body that has been portrayed flamboyantly by the typical medieval shirts that he has worn in the movie throughout. Acting wise, he is average. The music tracks are also averagely rated with some of them sung by the singer turned actress Tina Bajpai herself.Eerie,creepy scenes combined with a usual dose of horror and drama is what 1920-evil returns is all about. For those ardent horror viewers, it might look a bit boring. However, as the story goes, particularly from the other half, it gets intriguing. Do not keep your hopes very high but yeah, once in a while, you can always spend a few bucks to avail an Indian taste of spooky ride. Can’t you?

Movie Review: Shirin Farhad Ki toh Nikal Padi

Cast: Boman Irani, Farah Khan, Daisy Irani

Direction: Bela Bhansali Sehgal

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Duration: I hour and 52 minutes

Rating: 2.5/5

Rose tinted 40 plus love amalgamated with a funny storyline and a wide range of under  clothes. Well you are definitely in for a roller coaster ride of unceasing drama, love and an endearing finale.

Farhad Pastakia (Boman Irani) is a 45-year-old salesperson at Tem Tem Bra and Panty shop. He has given up all the hopes of getting married ever in his life until one day he encounters another Parsi bachelorette Shrin Fuggawala (Farah Khan) who is the secretary at The Parsi Trust. And that marks the beginning of yet another love saga between the two. Boman Irani’s has acted undoubtedly well. Farah Khan fits beautifully in the role of Shirin and her acting skills are natural enough to make her debut a hit!

 Amidst the sizes 38-d, 36-b at which Farhad is a master  at, the duo began to realize that love indeed has no age limits and finally plan to get married. What a perfect beautiful love story! Well like all the bollywood flicks, this one also has a slight twist. Farhad’s mother ( Daisy Irani) opposes the lovey dovey couple and this sets a benchmark for Farhad and Shirin’s troubled love life. Caught in a bad romance but finally  having a delightful conclusion after a voyage of action and melodrama, the movie undoubtedly gets you in that happy-go-light mood throughout 1 hr and 52 mins.However it becomes a little dull in the middle but the excellent dialogue deliveries ,amusing scenes  and portrayal of typical  parsi  culture surely prove it to be an epic entertainer. The music is averagely rated.  For those who brag about the absence of romance in their lives, Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi is one cute and amiable movie to watch for as Farhad says “Love has no expiry date”!

Paan Singh Tomar: Movie review

Irrfan Khan does it again! With a methodical portray of the real life Olympic winner Paan singh tomar, Tigmanshu Dhulia has brilliantly portrayed the life history of one of the illustrious but eventually forgotten sports heroes of our country. The movie starts off in a flashback when a journalist interviews Paan Singh who has now become a gruesome”BAAGI” (as he likes to be referred )in the Chambal valley.  Paan singh being a jawaan in the Indian army represents a lean, little but yes an educated  villager who at frequent times does exhibit his love for his wife Indra (mahie Gill). The mention of lemon drops at times in order to drive their children away to grab a chance of making love is in a way very amusing. Mahie Gill who plays the role of his wife has a dark complexion like of all the village girls around,thus doing justification with the character.Not to forget the typical language used which enlivens the authenticity of the film.

From a normal jawaan, the army sports coach soon discovers a rising athlete in him which ultimately favours paan singh's chances to participate in the steeple chase competition in asian and Olympics. Paan singh makes India proud by winning laurels in both the tournament and at one instance breaking his own record. Little did he realize that these laurels and prizes would prove to be useless when he tries to get hold of his ancestral lands abducted by his own relatives.  And that marks the turning point of his comfy life. With no support from the government and  the police officials who plainly deny to help him out in acquiring his land, circumstances force paan singh to get an early retirement and seek to become the most wanted dacoit. He kills and loots the people whom he considered were bad enough to live for he says that he is not a criminal, but a person who has punished the culprits fairly. In the meantime Paan Singh gets into a serious tiff killing 5 gujars and moreover the broadcasting of  his interview thus enrages the government. Later he is killed in an encounter along with his whole group of dacoits.

Paan singh Tomar is one movie that would cling the audience to their seats till the end. Totally different from the usual hundi movie melo drama, the film does raise a questions regarding those innumerous and forgotten heroes of sports and the dreadful conditions they encounter afterwards.

For those intellectual and practical minds who always seek some rationality in bollywood movies, this movie wold surely prove  to be a great, enriching and eye opener experience.

Vision 2050

When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone? Or the last time you sent a greeting card?Don't remember? Well all these conventional sources of communication have been replaced by e-mails and e-cards.And this is what we call as techno' revolution.
A few years back cell phones were considered to be a luxury.Now it is more of a necessity.Earlier postmen were long awaited by us. But now all we wait for is a Facebook updates or twitter tweets.Way back in 90s wee did not imagine that chatting on whats app and e-buddy would be our daily routine instead of verbal communication.Neither we imagined that tv sets and pcs would become as thin as a book.
Considering all these modifications,we can now develop a vision about how our future would be like.How the year 2050 would be like?
Presently we usually battle with our alarm clock.In the year 2050, we will have a device that would limit or control our sleeping capability that would ultimately wake us according to the designated time.We need not rush to pee or poo for all the waste matter would get absorbed from our body by certain radiations. Food will take form of small,portable tablets. Traffic is one of the largest problem in the world. In 2050,we might give rise to air traffic.Just like Jet sons did!
"Once upon a time children used to study in a school and read books made of paper......." Our next generations would get amused and entertained on reading stories like this.
Instead of humans, robots and machines would rule all the spheres of our lifestyle.
In short, greenery will be substituted by different metallic shades and sentiments will take form of electric signals. And this is how i vision 2050- spectacular and brilliantly amazing to fantasize but too technological to handle. I just hope homo homo sapiens do not devise a faster way to reproduce also. :D

Talking About Development

The national debate over the changes that are to employed in the election system of  India has taken a new turn  with the suggestion of Chief election commissioner Mr. Sv Qureshi to decrease the tenure of lok sabha and vidhaansabha to 4 years.Qureshi although hasn't stated any valid reason for his statement.The issue ; for making our system more accountable had been going since a long time.Whether it is about the Right to Reject or the Right to Recall or to prohibit the participation of criminals into politics or to stop the candidates from spending huge amount over campaigning,the debate has been going on and in.Every political party talks of giving the tickets to the people having so called "clean image".However when the time comes,only people those people who have the most winning chance and who generally constitute of less educated people are put up in the show.The credit of the our infamous political system goes to those mindless people who consider it as a business to yield capital instead of national service.Neither the ideals matter to such people nor the basic moral values.The government doesn't seem to be able to control the participation of criminals and charged people into politics,And the same case is with the expenditure involved in political campaigns.The candidate parties keep on spending lavishly but rarely he/she has been rejected so far for not falling in the frame work of election guide lines.Everybody needs to understand that only talking and debating would lead us nowhere.
If a criminal gets successful in climbing up to a powerful post,then who is to be blamed?The parties which frame and fund them or the electors who vote for them.If instead of decreasing the tenure to 4 years,Qureshi thinks of ways to prohibit the entry of some scarred people into politics and to limit the expenditure done in the elections,then there is a possibility of some amends.This aint an impossible task to accomplish. In fact all it requires a quick and positive approach.There had been a number of chief election commissioners in India but nobody has earned the respect and status like T.N.Seshan and no one stands a chance too.Even Qureshi wishes to  improve the  of the situation but to put his thoughts into action,he will have to first ponder on the basic problems regarding the various political parties and the government.To come forward and work upon it is an urgent need oh this hour.

My first reporting task

Me with some of the women who were a part of the gathering

Dark,dusky lanes, houses merely being supported by broken tin sheets, foul smell lingering around every nook and corner and a bunch of some of the most poor people around the world. Well this truely resembles a description of a typical kachchi basti but how many people have actually seen it. Unfortunately i got a chance to.Unfortunate because the sight of the people living in such a dreadful state is enough to rack your brains and actually think about it.
Okay so this place situated almost 20 kms from main jaipur city (rajasthan state, india) is inhabitated by mostly people of muslim community indulged in bangle making business.The reason i went there was that that a workshop for the upliftment of muslim women had been organised there by an ngo Vividha which had been working for the cause since an year or two.After having listened to what the speaker ( an ngo activist) was saying ,i decided to actually talk to these women to know what actually their grievances were and the answers which they gave me were quite shocking.I thought i had landed at some unknown place far far away from the development that our country is been undergoing.Scarcity of  proper 2 meals, no govt. schools around, girls being married of at a tender age of 18, extreme conditions of employment and poverty.I had always heard of such things,saw them on tvs, felt sorry and then ultimately forgotten but my this encounter with a bunch of muslim women who were ailing and subdued by men, shook me apart and forced me to ponder hard.For the first time, i realised that which ever government comes into action,nothing can be done for them because our system has a habit of making promises and showering fake sympathies but let me tell you people distributing blankets an food once in an year doesnt seem to be a possible solution to it,Does it ?