Pirates of the Caribbean: On the Stranger Tides (2011)

Much awaited fourth part of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series released worldwide in month of May. After the enthralling success of previous three parts, all were eagerly awaiting for the return of Jack Sparrow. Err… Captain Jack Sparrow. As expected, the release of movie witnessed a grand opening all over the world, surpassing the success of all previous Pirate movies. As per the present trend, it was shot and released in 3D version also.

PLOT: As it was hinted in the climax of previous part, the movie revolved around the hunt for the “Fountain of Youth”. Joined by some new character, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johny Depp), Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Roy Rush) remained to be the only familiar faces. As shown, most feared Pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his daughter (Penelope Cruz) were after Jack Sparrow as he had the map which leads to Fountain of Youth. Somehow Barbossa had joined English army (which looked weird to me) and he too was directed for the search of the fountain. They had to travel through sea (for the very little part), through land of mermaids (special creatures) and though jungles to locate the fountain. Won’t go in detail but the script was not that appealing as in previous cases.

Performances:- As always, Johny Depp stole the show with his amazing wit and brilliant acting. Penelope Cruz was refreshing. This stunning beauty left me amazed at times. Would like to mention that she was pregnant when the film was being shot(may be she still is). So some of the sequences were shot with the help of her sister. Blackbeard appeared very depressing to me. Barbossa and Gibbs maintained the same consistency. That beautiful mermaid and Blackbeard’s son were wonderful to watch.

Screenplay:- Well I must say I was disappointed to see the 3D version of the movie. They could have made it better as most of the times (almost 80%) movie looked 2D. I really liked the scene where they were trying to catch the mermaid, wonderfully shot! 

Locations were beautiful!

Music:- That one soundtrack is the life of this movie, its true identity and was heard throughout the film. Some new tunes were added as per the situation and music remained one of the highlights of this film.

Conclusion:- I really missed the crew and The Black Pearl. The story had very little part of sea journey which disappointed me. The new characters have born out of nowhere and somehow you would not like it if you try to relate it to previous parts. King George II was funny but looked weird. Blackbeard’s son’s lectures on compassion and righteousness were looking a mismatch. But yeah for all Jack Sparrow’s lovers, this is a must watch. He would not disappoint you. Not as good as previous parts, but certainly its worth watching once. 

RCB... in finals again!

My passion for game of cricket began since I was 6-7 years old. Co-incidentally, it was the same time when Rahul Dravid started his career. There was something special about him. He might not be a very hard hitting batsman but his ability to adjust in adverse situation, his ability to bat when attack is hostile and conditions are non-friendly made me a big fan of him. For me, he had become a symbol of patience, hard work, sincerity, calmness and consistency. I always adored Sachin Tendulkar but when you talk of personal favorite, it was always Rahul. So when IPL began, RCB was my obvious choice. I was not just cheering for Rahul or his team, but I was cheering for my love for cricket, I was cheering for the spirit of my favorite city. Somehow the team combination did not suite well for RCB and they ended up being the second last team on the table. My friends always made fun of so called TEST SIDE playing in a T20 league. But I never gave up. Next year they inducted some new players of caliber of Robin Uthhappa, Manish Pandey and Kevin Peterson and all of the sudden RCB started to win. My father gifted me a RCB fans' jersey and that jersey just added to my passion for the team. It was fun fighting with my friends in common room. It was fun to be the only supporter of RCB at times, later on joined by Saransh. Things worked for RCB...they made it to the finals...But could not clinch to the trophy. I never gave up...How could I! It was about Rahul..it was about Banglore. 3rd season also did not go well..They lost in the semis. But my love for RCB had just increased. I am sure red color of  RCB had replaced some red blood cells in my body. RCB was in my blood. But then happened something very strange. The franchise did not retain Rahul Dravid and he went to Rajasthan Royals. Now what! On one side there was the team whom I was worshiping for last three years. On the other side, it was my favorite player who is a synonym of cricket for me. I decided to support both RCB and RR. But somehow I felt my passion for both the teams was never the same. Both the teams were not doing so well. But then something really great happened. GAYLE made his way into the team, thanks to Dirk Nannes' injury. Gayle had a point to prove. He had to prove his worth having been rejected by both- IPL teams and West Indies board. He did it! He single handedly changed the fortunes of the team RCB and they again started winning but for me, RCB was not the same. one day after reaching Banglore, I decided to watch an IPL match in Banglore's home ground. It was one of my dreams for last three year. I entered the stadium. It was all painted in Red. It was RCB all around. All of the sudden the atmosphere started to thrill me. The match began. Gayle's hostile attack was ripping apart the Kings eleven Punjab's bowlers. Crowd was cheering RCB....RCB....RCB... I could feel it inside me...Again my love for RCB rose to an extent that I forgot all my miseries. This match again made me the same RCB lover. And that RCB is in finals today. Out of the all four seasons, this one has been the most special one. Those arguments with Akshay, Shubhayu, Sumeet, Nilesh were nothing short of a world war for me. People say they dont feel the same passion for IPL in comparison with what they feel when India is playing...Well.. I would say both the feelings are different for me... But the intensity is same. I dont know whether if my desire to see my team winning IPL would come true today or not. But for me... Its just RCB whom I would love till I am alive!

Life in Banglore...

Having got confirmation for internship in the month of January itself, I was more than excited to reach this place. I am attached to this city since i was 12 years old when I came here for the first time. I was so impressed with the tall buildings, some wonderful places to visit and most importantly, my favorite cricketer comes from this city. Having got my seats reserved in the month of March itself, I was just waiting for the day to come. In the end the day came...But by that time something unfortunate had happened and this meant I would not be staying in Banglore for very long. Hence all the excitement just vanished. The pain of failing for the first time in my life and uncertain duration of stay in Banglore kept playing on my mind throughout the train journey. Dejected, frustrated and shattered- these three words describe my state when I landed in Banglore. I checked in a nearby hotel and booked a room there for three days. The city was full 'coz of COMED-K examinees and hence the hotel charges were just the double. After getting fresh, I left for Chinnaswamy stadium. The tension of not finding a PG was playing on my mind. Well...The next day I left for IISc's aerospace department to meet my professor who had not arrived that day. So while returning when I signed on entry register, I saw some familiar names from my own college(Amit, Dheeraj and Abhay). I dialed Amit's number and joined them. Well...Here began the hunt for the PG and trust me the search seemed never ending.   At-last we found a good PG but somehow we were thrown from there very next day... HAHA...I still remember how  we had to stay on footpath for almost three hours with all the luggage. It was late in the night, so we thought of spending that night in hotel. So we again went to the same hotel where I stayed and the moment we entered, everyone liked the rooms and hence we decided to persuade the manager to give us two rooms for next 2 months to which he agreed. Now life seemed little smoother. We all got some very good projects and were happy on that part. No to describe IISc campus-I must say its greener than NITH campus but still it lacks glamor. But a perfect place for research. We are supposed to work here from 9am to 6.30 pm with just one free day in the week. We decided to utilize that free day i.e. Sunday for re-creation. We started from ISKCON temple. It was my third visit there but for rest of us, it was for the first time. The atmosphere leaves you spellbound. This is a perfect place to calm your inner soul. I knew my stay in Banglore can end on any day, so I wanted to see more of Banglore and we all decided to go to Brigade road and MG road. Well...here we found all the glamor that was missing. After some shopping in Brigade, we left for Garuda mall and there we witnessed something spectacular, something that left us thrilled..We saw 2 Ferrari and one Lamborghini one after another. Ohh mannnnn.....This was amazing! Well..finally the result came and thus came the authorities' decision that no summer semester this time. I felt happy coz now I could focus on my project. Life settled here. The food is good, but exceptional(both ways) at some places. In between we visited UB city where I was lucky to see Vijay Mallya from very near. That coffee with Mayank and Amit in a very expensive restaurant in UB city along side watching RCB vs CSK remains to be my most special memory. That late night show of Pirates of Caribbean is another good experience as we had to walk for around 5 kilometers in the mid-night to make our way back to hotel. Weather is really good here, maximum temperature hardly shoots 35 degrees with frequent rainfall and cool breeze in the morning and evening. Things have settled down. But some embarrassing yet funny incidents keep happening. One day we were having lunch in IISc canteen. Saransh and Amit had got received their orders and they had started to eat. Later I and Mayank joined them and we saw a bottle of Fanta there with a straw and 1/3rd of drink left. We were told that its Amit's and hence Mayank took the first sip, followed by me. But you know what...we were pranked. This bottle belonged to some aunty who had eaten at the same table before us and she left the cold-drink. Well...this time Amit and Saransh got better of us but I am sure we would take revenge some day. I would also like to mention Google Map in my phone which always lead us on wrong direction and I had to stop using them. Life is good here... Future is uncertain. But the very fact that we are working in country's best research institute gives us a feeling of joy. I am sure next 45 days are gonna be fun....Life is good!