It sure hurts when you are the receiving end

So must Australia be feeling after they were outplayed by England in the second Ashes test match at Lord's today.

Well the Australian media is going bonkers on the umpiring decisions. I wonder why though? It seems odd that the same media did not finding umpiring blunders equally appalling during the Aus-Ind Sydney test match about a couple of years back.

Don't worry this in not a diatribe on the Aussie way of doing things. I think enough has been seen and said on the lack of sportmanship by the 'mates' on and off field.

What's really to be seen from here onwards is how Ricky Ponting and his team and offcource the aussie media back themselves in a situation they have not been for some time now, say since 1987. Well is a bangladesh tour down under in the offing ?

Seven

Last week we had the worst 10 bollywood movies. Here's now what I consider the 'Super Seven' of 2008
1) A Wednesday - There is no doubt that this taut thriller had everyone on the edge. A great story complemented by some superb acting by Naseer, Jimmy Shergil and Amir Bashir. The end was a slight disappointment, but nevertheless director Neeraj Pandey deserves all the applause for a daring and different movie. Watch it if you still haven't.
2) Aamir - Two debutants (the director and the lead actor) had the guts to come up with absolute peach of a movie. Great story, great acting and on location shooting. Only people with solid conviction in their talent can do this. Also a learning for upcoming movie makers - always look out for a good sensible story.
3) Rock On- There is nothing new about the story, yet there is something that draws you to the characters. You do end up identifying with the aspiration, struggle and inter personal relations of the lead characters. Also one of the most superbly shot movies in recent times. Gives you feel of real rock shows and the electrifying atmosphere they create. The music and the whacky lyrics only lifts it further.
4) Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye - You have got to hand it over to Abhay Deol for being so different in each movie. I have seen nearly all his stuff so far and his USP has been the variety he has essayed in each outing. Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye is no different. Its a engaging and endearing fare throughout.
5) Jaane Tu, Jaane Na - All I can say is that it was a very honest movie. Honest because there were no pretentions from the director and cast that they were making a great movie. They were just making a movie which they felt was right. Again the success was that the characters were just right, no one was larger than life.
6) Mithya - A very interesting story of a struggling actor caught in the clutches of the underworld. Nice twists and a very tragic end. Watch it for some great acting by Ranvir Sheorey and Naseer.
7) Jodha Akbar - I am usually not too interested in costume dramas , but this one is definitely beyond being called one. The grandeur and the research that has gone in making the film is definitely commendable. Also there is some really pleasant music by A.R. Rehman.

Ten

No, this has nothing to do with Bo Derek. We will leave that for later.

This is actually just another top ten post on the best and worst bollywood movies of 2008. I had promised myself that I will not indulge in such frivolous posts on my blog, but being the hindi movie buff that I am, I could not resist myself from drafting this piece.

So lets begin with worst 10 films of 2008

1) Ghajini - Lawrence Olivier upon seeing Dustin Hoffman's "method" acting technique of not sleeping and making a mess of himself to get into character while shooting Marathon Man (1976) just said "Dear boy, it's called acting". Please apply the same to our dear Aamir Khan and see if it makes sense to him. Simply put Ghajini is a piece of ....... I have seen dozen of Sunny Deol movies(considered outdated today) which had more genuine action and stunts than this one. Also please don't tell me this one was not "Memento" inspired.
2) Singh Is King - If this movie would have been released in Akshay Kumar's darker days it would have added to his lists of all time disasters. Find a single great moment in this movie and I will take it out from this list. Again, the Sunny Deol starrer 'Jo Bole So Nihaal' had funnier moments than this brainless, witless and listless movie.
3) Drona - No surprises here. While the first 2 movies were bad, but commercial successes, Drona was an utter disgrace. Can one really imagine Abhishek Bachchan as a Superhero? I mean he barely passes the muster as a hero. This movie looked liked a sequel to 'Shiva ka Insaaf'.
4) Sarkar Raaj - What was this? A political thriller/ satire ? Its easy to take the masses for a ride with Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya in cast. Just add the Ramu style of tight close ups, jarring backgrounds, menacing looks and some story. Sarkar Raaj is ready. Watch out for the sequel " Sarkar - Rise and Fall. Vilasraoji knows better.
5) Welcome to Sajjanpur - Shyam Babu please take a break. This is probably Shyam Benegal's weakest offering in last 35 years. We expect better things from the maker of "Discovery of India" . Also he does not need to ride on Anees Bazmees's success while naming his ventures.
6) Hello - Hindi movie makers have yet to learn the art of making a movie from a book. What reads well, does not necessarily screen well. Also a reality check for Chetan Bhagat. IIM's produce failures too.
7) Love Story 2050- This one i am sure figures on everyones worst film list. Even on Priyanka Chopra's personal list. You can't even pan this movie. It is that bad.
8) Tashan - Its really bad when people force their celluloid dreams on poor cinegoers like us. Ram Gopal Verma did that in 2007 with his disasterpiece - Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag. Someone called Vijay Krishna Acharya repeated it with Tashan. The only saving grace -some foot tapping music.
9) Halla Bol - 12 years ago, Raj Kumar Santasohi gave his last box office hit . After that its been a desperate dry run. Halla bol extends that even further. Get a DVD and see how Raj Kumar Santoshi is loosing the plot. Or has he already lost it ?
10) A lot of movies vyied for this spot - The contenders were Woodstock Villa ( grin and bear the deadpan Sikander Kher), Mission Istanbul ( a piece of Bull...), Chamku (ever heard of this one), Sorry Bhai (i just don't like it), Dostana (if you scroll down you will know what I think about this).

The next post will have the best of 2008. Till then so long

Touring troubles

Continuing with my Murud -Janjira trip tales, as we wandered from one location to another, I again realised that the tourism development board in India needs to take a long hard look at how they are woefully underultilizing the tourism potential of India. I mean, there are abundant attractive places across India and still we lack the basic presentation and packaging skills to make these places tourist worthy.

Lets take the example of Murud Janjira itself. The Janjira fort will put Alcatraz Island to shame in terms of location and architecture. Yet today if you visit Alcatraz, it is a tourist delight whereas Janjira is a nightmare. Everything at Alcatraz looks neat, clean, preserved and presentable, while Janjira is exactly the opposite, unclean, unkept and in shambles. The biggest distinction probably between the two is that while Alcatraz has been given a national recreation area status, no one knows what status Janjira holds with Indian tourism authorities.

And its just not about bestwoing a status. I am sure India has many national monuments that are lying neglected and ravaged. The question is why is there so much apathy then . Don't we care about our tourism industry and the tourist at all ? Or is it just plain indifference.

I am leaving you with food some food for thought - at the best and most popular of tourist detsinations in India there isn't even a provision of clean and hygenic loo and pure plain drinking water. Its not asking for more. But then I guess over half of India's population too is asking for these two things.

So dear tourists you are in a long queue.

Suit Yourself

I recently came across one of the most amusing sights I have seen in my life .

I was on a weekend break to a place called Murud. Its on the Konkan coast and about 200 km from Pune. Murud's biggest attraction is the 12th century Janjira fort which is located right in the Arabian Sea. Janjira was therefore a must watch for me and wifey.

As we were being shown around this vast 22 acre fort by the local guide, I saw something catch my attention other than the ruins of the place. I strained my eyes to get a good look at this sight and I even pinched myself hard to ensure that it was some hallucination. No it wasn't , it was real - Amidst all the tourist flocking Janjira that day the person in the picture had me awestruck.

Here I was seeing a fully suited man on a sultry, scorching and dusty afternoon at a place which was swarmed by bermudas, trunks, t-Shirts, jeans, cycling shorts and anything but formal wear. I double checked whether there was a 'complete man' ad being shot on location somewhere. But there was no sign of camera and crew. I enquired around if there was some corporate event being organised at the Janjira relics (you never know you see, with cash crunch and economic slowdown some wise corporates may still host year end celebration at historic depleted places - it could serve as a precursor to the sign of things to come). But there was no sign of any corporate extrvaganza here.

The only logic I could draw seeing the man in the attire that he was in, was that may be this was a case of sheer nostalgia - the fellow was wearing his 25-30 year old wedding suit which he till then had never got a chance to re wear. Or, probably this was a brand new suit which the gentlemen had bought and he wanted to whether it in tough and trying conditions. Or even better, this could have been the strategy for the soft launch of a new line of comfortable suits and tux,which an MNC was launching specially from Janjira(market research may have indicated that).

I have taken my guesses, now you try figuring out the reason and suit yourself.

No Smoking

There was this revoluntionary law that was recently passed in India prohibiting people from smoking in public places. As per the law, smoking will be banned in all public places and private offices. Establishments cannot even have designated rooms for smoking. The ban also includes hotels and restaurants. Only hotels with a seating capacity of more than 30 can have a separate enclosure for smokers.

The government is planning to authorise gazetted officers, including sub-inspectors, railway ticket checkers and school headmasters besides NGO officials to collect fines from people who violate the ban. Though in the beginning, the fine would be only Rs 200, the government is trying to amend the act and in future the fine may go up to Rs 1,000.

So far so good. While the law is very refreshing and heartening, I wonder how is it going to be enforced effectively. Lets take a scenario where a group of 4 people are found smoking in a public place by lets say a school headmaster. What is the headmaster supposed to do? Ask the 4 chimneys to give their identity, address and then tell them he is going to fine them 200 each and upon saying so the accused are just going to pay up. Right ?

I strongly feel that such sort of laws cannot succeed unless there is huge public particpation. You don't expect sniffer dogs to sniff each cigarrette butt and identify the culprit do you? Nor do you expect the police to keep a 24x7 vigil on smokers and their ills.
So how is this issue going to be tackled? We will have to wait and watch. All one hopes is that like many such other society betterment laws, this one too does not end up in smoke.

Dud Dostana

I happened to see this flick called "dostana" that has been making waves in Bollywood recently. Waves because, it seems that for the first time in the history of Indian Cinema, two mainstream bollywoood actors have pretended to play gay.

While I have seen newspapers, critics and the junta going gaga over this daring yet light take on gayism, i found the movie extremely dull and boring. I mean i had gone there to see some rib ticklicking comedy about straight guys acting gay and all the mayhem that follows. But alas, I must say I was completely disappointed. There is nothing like humor in this movie and thats because the script and the sceenplay are completely missing.

Just having stars under a known production banner does not ensure a good movie. There was so much scope for the director to turn this into a good laugh riot , but what does he do instead- he gives us the Karan Johar brand of film. All style no substance.