Zindagi na milegi dobara(2011)

2011 has been little unfortunate for Bollywood. Initially they had cricket world cup 2011 and then IPL which forced director/producers to delay the releases. Some big releases were scheduled in June but they disappointed. But then came July and all of the sudden Bollywood seems to have come alive with success of Delhi Belly and ZNMD. "Zindagi na milegi dobara" is Bollywood's gift to the viewers all around the globe. Its whopping box office collections say its success story.


PLOT: Three friends once had a pact in school days that they would be going for a bachelor trip abroad where each one of them would suggest one adventure sport and other two would have to be a part of it. So Hrithik, Farhan and Abhay go to Spain to fulfill this pact. During their trip, they face their fears, they conquer them and understand the true spirit of life, which is the name of the movie itself. The plot is refreshing with a message: to feel life in each breath. 


PERFORMANCES: Now here is a movie where each actor does full justice to his role. Abhay once again proves his brilliance where as we see Farhan is a new refreshing avatar. Hrithik was fabulous whereas Katrina was adorable. A blend of wonderful actors brings the screen alive to us.


SCREENPLAY: The movie was shot mostly in Spain. Locations were the highlight of this movie. Camera-work just added to the beauty of locations. Picturisation of Tomatina (tomato festival) and Bull race leaves you spellbound and amazed!


MUSIC: Music of the movie was nothing out of the box, yet it was hummable. The music of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a good mix of Bollywood sounds and external influences. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have stuck to their signature style and have churned out a decent score. 


CONCLUSION: Here is a movie that tells you to live and feel each moment of your life keeping aside all your worries. The movie touches your soul and motivates you to live a life worth living. The movie asks you a question that is monetary success a the actual key to happiness? The script is nicely written and garnished with some effortless humor and really good poetry. ZNMD is a winner all the way and would live in your hearts for  really long time. Well said "Hawaa k jhonkho jaisa azaad rehna seekho".  

Delhi Belly(2011)

Aamir Khan  is often very much appreciated for his publicity strategies before release of his movies. But this time, he did not require to put much efforts as half of the publicity of this film was taken care of by popular song "Bhaag D. K. Bose". Delhi Belly released all over world at the same time as was the case with "Jaane tu....Ya jaane na". Success results were the same. Within first three days of release, movie was a blockbuster hit. Infact it over-shadowed Big B's B..Buddah hoga tera baap. The movie was originally shot in Hinglish (blend of Hindi and English). Its complete Hindi version was also released. 


PLOT: Story was simple. 3 struggling bachelors, one Don and lots of drama and running. We had seen that in past too, haven't we? But this one was different. The script writer had mixed all the successful ingredients to this story. It had lots of abuses(read it the actual language we speak in normal life), some really funny dialogues and highly refreshing music. The movie revolves around the life of three young professionals who unintentionally get trapped in the hunt for diamonds and catch attention of a Don. The threesome certainly had a hard time in tackling the Don and situations which arise in the escape.


Performances:- Well.. kudos to Imran Khan. He not only acts splendidly but lives his role. Kunal roy Kapoor was the best of the lot. Vir Das was also commendable.  Shehnaz Treasurywala was little disappointing but rest were good. 


Screenplay:- Screenplay of the movie was one of the highlights. Rather it was the lifeline of this movie. The dialogues and those socially prohibited words added to the life of this film.


Music:- Ahhh...Ram Sampath.. Thanks to you for providing bollywood with some really creative and wonderful music. The song  bhaag D K Bose is still topping all the charts. Ja Chudail  was so entertaining. Hats off to you!


Conclusion:- Delhi Belly was a fine blend of some quality situational humor and wonderful direction. The humor might not be as effortless as in some hit comedies of past but I appreciate the guts shown by the makers of this movie. Though at times I felt a bit bored but yet its a must watch for those who wanna witness the a fresh comedy film...

our education system :-)

We Indians, often dream of going abroad for higher education. Rightly so as education system in India has always been criticized. I would not dwell much onto the what Jairam Ramesh said recently that we do not have world class faculty. I personally thinks its Indian Education System as a whole that needs some refinement. When we talk of school level education, there is highly any coordination across various states. Central boards like CBSE and ICSE are well organized but when we speak of state boards, they are way behind in some parts of the nation. Hardly any student touch 90% marks in state boards like UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal pradesh. Few years back  I was standing in a queue to submit my form for admission in St. Stefen's college, New Delhi there I saw a girl with 100 marks in english in her 10+2 examination. See the variation! When I was in Kota, I had one batch-mate who cleared IIT-JEE but later denied admission just because he scored 57% marks in 10+2. We can blame coaching trend in Kota for this 'coz students there do not attend school their  and prepare for JEE but again many students suffer 'coz of poor marking methodology of state boards. There has to be some modification so that students don't suffer just because they studied from state board. May be one single board all over the nation can solve this problem to some extent. Not only marking, the quality of education in rural areas needs to be uplifted. I know this is a very difficult thing but neither we can deny that so far no effort has been put in this direction. Efforts always yield results. 
Higher education in India also has been under scrutiny for sometime.Again I would not discuss much about the absence of emphasis put on research here. If we talk of technical education, the absence of interaction between academia and industry is a major concern. What we study and whats required from industrial view point needs to evaluated. 
(One suggestion I want to  give to all my teachers and friends in NITH. Please promote the culture of research in our college. Please make our juniors understand whats the importance of research papers. Here in IISc,I met so many students from NIT-Surathkal and almost each one of them has published upto 4-5  research papers.)
Emphasis should be laid more on practical approach of teaching. If we are studying electromechanics, if our teacher shows us a motor, its windings-it makes it easy for us to learn the concept. If we are being taught switchgear and protection, a visit to a nearby dam can male things easier to visualize. I dont think it would be tough for a teacher to create the students' interest in the lecture if he/she tells the aim and practical applicability of the topic in beginning of every lecture.
Its not just the lack of resources or opportunities that weakens our education system, but the wastage of  whatever resources we possess leads to a weak education system. We have some great mind as faculty and students as well, but we need a foolproof mechanism to lead them.
As a matter of fact a revolution is needed to solve this crisis. Students aren’t willing to mug up but their hands are tied. We need to lay emphasis on practical education system wherein students will be able to learn with all the modern technique and equipments available and they need not be a bookworm always.

Baba, Black Money and Bhrashtachar....

 Well..This whole issue of black money and lokpal bill has certainly given some sleepless nights to Congress Party. This all started with Anna hazare's fast, later on joined by Baba Ramdev. I am sure each one of us at some point of time has been a victim of corruption. But we had learnt to compromise. Rather this is a very popular excuse these days:- "yaar exam dekar kya faiyda, selection toh bina kuch liye diye hoga nahi". Very often we get the sms regarding the the amount of black money which is stored in  Swiss banks. The facts amaze us, but always are easy to forget for us. Some of us wanted to do something but again it was easy to convince ourselves-"yaar ek aadmi ka chahne se kya hoga". But recently, one of us stood against this, that too in walking alongside the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Thus started all the discussion on Lokpal Bill, which has not been passed over the years. Before we go ahead, lets look at Lopkal bill:- 


A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:

1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up

2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.

3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.

4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.

5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.

6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.

7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.

8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.

9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.(source:- http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/what-is-the-jan-lokpal-bill-why-its-important-96600)


Well certainly, if followed in true spirit, Lokpal Bill would be really effective. But the point here I want to discuss is that why some of us are criticizing this recent development on this whole issue of corruption and black money, I am not able to understand it. 


1st point:-
People say that this is going to taint India's image internationally.
Well I wanna ask them abhi bhi kaun sa hamari image achchi hai. I was watching a debate on Headlines Toady and there I heard some industrialist saying that people and companies overseas often make fun of India and the this trend of corruption prevailing here.


2nd point:
People say Baba ramdev did it with a political motive.
I would say that it might be true, but atleast he channelized the voice of people of India and amplified it to a level that its now audible. I am sure this would be a warning for all those who took it lightly. Congress must have thought after throwing out DMK that they would compensate for the whatever damage has been done to them by all these scams in the remaining time before next loksabha election. This whole movement by Anna hazare and Baba ramdev would make them think again.


3rd point:- People say corruption can only be killed by improving ourselves.
Well, I would say for that we would have to wait for all these corrupt politicians to die and then pray that none of them borns again.

Well, its true that no political party is free from corruption but such movements would certainly send across a message to all of them that its time that they better not take it for granted. Corruption is so much into the roots of India that no Baba Ramdev or Anna Hazare can wipe it alone but these efforts  can certainly decelerate the rate at with its growing. 
Lets all of us pray that someday, we can be a corruption free society. 
amen! 

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!