New York Review: Thankfully Does Not Define "Mohabbat"

New York is a very watchable movie with decent performances from John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ifran Khan and Katrina Kaif.

For a change (that too a huge one ...), Yash Raj films does not define love, commitment, parenting or any of those things. Usually, there is an overdose of "mohabbat", "pyaar", "shaadi ka pavithr bandhan", "dosti" and stuff, but New York was so much better with none of those cliched concepts being put to use. Moreover, it exposed the audience to a different side on 9/11 which is very less known.

With Mohabbatein, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai being greatest tortures of all times (... and then being termed as *larger than life*), New York is the most watchable movie from Yash Raj banner after DDLJ.

Transformers 2 Review: Bloody Long

The plus point of first movie in Transformer series was that it was short, funny and had amazing special effects.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the fallen, was "OK" with the special effects and more autobots and decepticons introduced in this movie. Watching it on IMAX screen was special with some scenes specially designed for IMAX screen.

That's about the good part. For the flip side is that the movie is bloody long. I felt that probably because I was forced to be glued to the chair for whole 2.5 hours without any breaks. Prasadz IMAX screen does not give you any breaks. I had to buy 2 popcorns before I got in.

Megan Fox was hot in the first movie, but it took me few scenes to recognize Megan Fox in Transformers 2. Thanks to her new lip job which I found bad. I think, with all the lip job, she was finding it very difficult to hold her lips sealed!!!

Back to the robots. There are too many Autobots introduced in the movie who have nothing to do except pass on some wacky comments or stunts and then die. This time they have a lady decepticon in human form (reminds me of Terminator) sent to seduce Sam. The movie got a little boring where Sam Whitwicky gets emotional with his parents, Bumblebee and Mikaela.

Micheal Bay tried to pull off larger than life stunts at heritage sites like the Pyramids of Egypt and Petra in Jordan which looked great on IMAX screen. Getting the robots to do stunts in a heritage site was a great idea instead of having everything done in a crowded city which usually is the trend. However, the cameras were kept too close to where the action was, which made the whole thing look shaky and started giving me a headache.

The movie, for me, was too long, over emotional, not so funny and was definitely not as good as the first part. But watching on an IMAX screen probably makes it an "OK to watch" movie.

Answers That Blow Your Mind

My brain just exploded ... Well, after seeing the Miss. South Carolina episode and the geography knowledge video, browser is too technical after all!

My Introduction To English Music

It started with my visit to my cousins place in 1992 when he was playing some songs with catchy beats. I had never heard those kind of beats ever before. The vocals started and I found it ok, mostly because I could not understand crap of what was being sung. Considering that I was used to Balarama (Malayam version) and Poombatta, it was hard for me to understand anything that was non-indian accent.

I pumped the volume up a bit and my parents came running. My father said, "What kind of music is this? This guy is singing with boiling water in his mouth ...". I lowered the volume and continued listening to the album and it kept me glued to my seat with the peppy beats.

I checked the cassette cover, it said "Thriller" by Micheal Jackson. I still can't believe that I heard the album 10 years after it was released. Thriller was the first English song I listened and my introduction to English music.

Today, the world woke up the news that MJ passed away. May his soul rest in peace ...

8 x 10 Tasveer - A Soup

We ran to watch Nagesh Kukunoor's "8 x 10 Tasveer" with high expectations. After Bombay to Bangkok terribly disappointed the viewers and bombed at the Box Office, we expected Nagesh to mend his ways and churn out a good one with a superstar like Akshay Kumar.

The movie started off decently and then it completely lost its way. The concept was pretty good and but there was no execution to go with it. It looked as if Nagesh Kukunoor was trying to do a M Night Shyamalan, but he fell flat on his face attempting to become Mr. Shyamalan (... not that Shyamalan is creating great movies these days).

The movie is slightly influenced by Vantage Point, showing different perspectives of the same incident, but failing to keep the tempo up the way it was done in Vantage Point(2008). Each time Akshay Kumar stares at a photograph, he can choose to travel back in time (... into the photograph) to the moment when the snap was taken and be one of the characters in the photograph for a minute or so. He uses this power to investigate his dad's death.

Javed Jaffrey walks into the movie trying to get in a comic flavor and miserably fails trying to mock Adrian Monk (homicide detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder from the popular TV series "Monk") with a Hyderabadi accent.

Overall, a very forgettable movie. A decent storyline lost in translation. A decent plot that turned out to be an avial(not so tasty one)!

Will I recommend? YES, for kids, only for kids ...


(Image coutersy: IndiaFM)