Best and Worst of 2014 Movies

Half year passed by, still here I am assorting last year's movies. Well, mind is void.

Movies

Best:

1. Queen
2. Hasee Toh Phasee
3. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania
4. Hawaa Hawaai
5. Bhootnath Returns
6. 2 States
7. Khoobsurat
8. Happy New Year
9. PK
10. Rang Rasiya

So-So:

1. Gunday
2. Bewakoofiyaan
3. City Lights
4. Bobby Jasoos
5. Pizza
6. Mardaani
7. Finding Fanny
8. Dawat-E-Ishq
9. Haider
10. Dedh Ishqiya

Worst:

1. Humshakals
2. Shadi Ke Side Effects
3. Ek Villian
4. Kill Dill
5. Kick
6. Mary Kom
7. Bang Bang
8. Highway
9. Singham Returns
10. Ungli

PS: The list could go on, but I'm stopping at top 10.

Book Review: The Kite Runner

Title: The Kite Runner
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Genre: Historical fiction/drama
Publication Year: 2003

This is my second novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseni. The first one was "A Thousand Splendid Suns and that was truly splendid. The Kite Runner is Hosseni's first novel.

From the blurb: Afghanistan, 1975, Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend, Haasan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Haasan that afternoon, an event 
that is to shatter their lives. After the Russian invade, the family is forced to flee to America. Amir realizes that one day he must return to Afghanistan under Taliban to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him, redemption.

My Take: It is excruciatingly heartbreaking story set in the background of Afghanistan. Hosseni paints a picture of Afghan with mulberry and pomegranate trees, park, green grass, snowing, aromas of spices, kebab. It is different than what I saw or read or imagined of Afghan. It was not always blood thirsty Taliban. The story flows from 1970 to 2001. We get glimpse of liberal King Zahir Khan, internal coupe to Russian invasion, followed by Taliban ravage. Taliban's cruelty and war-torn Afghan is portrayed well here. Story ends with a positive note or that is what I would like to believe.

There is not a single emotional scene where my eyes weren't moist. Protagonist's journey through redemption in enthralling. Writer tries to make protagonist likable and he succeeds. Hosseni's writing is simple yet beautiful. Farsi is used pretty much abundantly, so knowing Hindi and and little bit of Urdu absolutely helps.

Amir is the most unsympathetic protagonist I have ever come across so far. He is selfish, jealous, attention seeker, mean, and very much real. Haasan's character is most cliched. He is loyal, forgiving, loving, and little goody two-shoes.

About kites. The kite strings are made with powdered glass and tar. I could easily relate because of our recent trip to Gujarat in January where kite festival just ended and saw remnants of strings, and bikes with protective gear to shield from being hurt from sharp edge.

Verdict: It is a story that needs to be read. It makes you a better person if you let be.

Favourite quotes:
"For you, a thousand times over"
"There is a way to be good again"
"It always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place"
"There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood"

PS: It changed my perception of Afghanistan, once the fascinating country.

An Open Letter to Byndoor MLA, Gopal Pujari

An open letter to MLA of Byndoor, Gopal Pujari

Dear Sir,

First, I would like to congratulate you for making your constitution infamous once again. Another teenage girl was murdered in less than a year after the mysterious death of Ratna Kotari. This time it is Akshatha Devadiga, a II PU student from Henberu village studying in Junior College Byndoor. She went to college on the fateful day as usual, but never to return home. Worried parents and locals launched frantic search and found her body in the nearby bushes. A chilling incident that sent shivers down everyone's spine.  Now police arrested two teenagers in connection with the case, one for murdering and another for being party to the crime and misguiding police. The accused strangulated and attempted sexual assault, though preliminary report says no rape.  
  
Last year, Ratna Kotari, a teenager went missing and her decomposed body was found in a remote area. Her death was declared natural after conducting 3 autopsies. Now who can tell the reason for a healthy, young teenager dying of natural death? Why police not tried enough to find the girl when missing complaint was lodged. It took ugly political turn and the case is down the drain, although police claim they are yet to get a breakthrough in the case and investigation is still on. There was no logical conclusion to Ratna Kotari's death. If there was, then probably this untoward incident wouldn't have happened. If only.......

My humble question to you sir, why there are no roads and buses to rural area. Don't you think it is pretty regressive in this age and time for kids to walk 5 to 6 kilometers to schools and colleges. Isn't it your responsibility as an elected representative to provide the basics such as roads, transport, etc.? Having been brought up in this place I know the rough terrain. How safe it is for anybody for that matter to walk in the remote area? Criminals, psychos, and antisocial elements are lurking in every nook and corner. It is really brave of parents to send their children to school/college in this condition. Do they have any choice? Either this or no education. Parents can't keep an eye on their kids all the time. How hard it is to built roads and provide transportation? And if I'm not wrong this is your fourth time as a member of legislature. 17 years is a long-term even for you. Young girls are being murdered. How many tragedies like these to happen before your take notice. I desperately want to believe police nabbed the right person/persons this time, not just to save your sorry ass. Just visiting victim's house and compensation will not help sir. People have voted you in the past and they may do so in the future too. Don't you have a thing called conscience? Do you have any f****** idea what family of the victims' is going through? Being politician doesn't give you the right to trample over people's life. You are a public servant and serve diligently. Why a prominent local politician's name is looming suspiciously to cover up these cases? And he is presumed to be your right-hand. Wake up and do something for your constituency before it is too late. Ever heard prevention is better than cure? God forbid the killer won't strike yet again. I was proud of my coastal heritage. Can I remain so? My head is hung in shame. Two murders in less than a year!

I dread to think what must be going through her mind in those final moments. A bright young life with lots of dreams and aspiration was snuffed out for no fault of hers. RIP Akshatha. It is exactly a month now.

PS:  This is B.S. Yeddyurappa's constituency too.  He is the member of Parliament.

Romantic Songs 2014

My favourite top 10 romantic songs of 2014. Not necessarily in that order.

Song: Samjhawaan
Film: Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya
Music: Sharib-Toshi
Singers: Arijit Singh and Shreya Goshal

Song: Zehnaseeb
Film: Hasee To Phasee
Music: Vishal-Shekar
Singers: Chinmayi Sripada and Shekar Ravijani

Song: Manwa Lage
Film:  Happy New Year
Vishal-Shekar
Singers: Shreya Goshal and Arijith Singh

Song: Galiyaan
Film: Ek Villain
Music: Ankit Tiwari
Singers: Ankit Tiwari

Song: Man Mast Magan
Film: 2 States
Music: Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy
Singer: Arijit Singh and Chinmayi Sripada

Song: Raat Bhar
Film: Heropanti
Music: Sajid-Wajid
Singers: Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal

Song: Mahi Ve
Film: Highway
Music: A. R. Rahman
Singer: A. R. Rahman

Song: Jiya
Film: Gunday
Music: Sohail Sen
Singer: Arijith Singh

Song: Tu Meri
Film: Bang Bang
Music: Vishal-Shekar
Singer: Vishal Dadlani

Song-Banjara
Film: Ek Villian
Music: Mithoon
Singer: Mohd.Irfan

PS: Couldn't help but notice five songs were sung by Arijit Singh. He definitely is unstoppable after Aashiqui II.

Vellore Golden Temple

Golden temple or Lakshmi Narayani Temple in Vellore is a popular among religious folks. Few of our acquaintances spoke highly about the place and as it is on the way to Chennai, we decided to include it. After seeing Vellore fort, we headed to the temple which is around 7 to 8 km from the fort. The sign posts are well-marked and wouldn't be difficult to locate the place. As it happens with most temples it was crowded with small shops selling flowers, sugarcane juice, sodas, savories, etc. We parked the car outside the gate. It was scorching hot and Tamilnadu's summer was at its best. Few ladies were selling plastic covers for 2 rupees to keep the shoes and sandals which we ignored, only to come back again and get it. As soon as you enter the gate, on the left side there was inquiry center and there a board depicting "darshana takes 3 hours ", which put me off immediately. First of all I am a non-religious person and if it is standing in a queue for hours to darshana(seeing main deity), I will run miles away in opposite direction. If any religious place doesn't have historical importance, it is definitely not for me. And this temple was built in 2007. If it is not for mother-in-law we would have returned without seeing it. After depositing our shoes/sandals at the counter, we started walking. We left our cameras, cell phones, and bags inside the car as they are prohibited inside. We were made to wait in a room locked and we felt like caged animals. There were small shops selling snacks, soft drinks, coffee, etc. After waiting for half an hour, we were made to walk slowly. They block the walk way many times, so we had to pass through shops selling medicine, cloths, books, sovereign, and what not. On both sides of walk way there are small cut outs of Godman Sakti Amman and depicting his charity work and of course quotes in English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu. I couldn't get the word megalomaniac out of my mind. Now you may ask why didn't we opt for special darshana which is merely 250 rupees per person. We are from rural part of the State and have seen fair shares of popular temples and know what real crowd is. Here an illusion was created for non-existent crowd. After and hour or so we reached the temple. The temple is beautiful. There is a pond surrounding the temple in which coins, currency, bangles, etc., strewn around.  

I presume they left it scattered to create a tradition where it is believed throwing coins to water brings luck. I am told the temple looks magnificent at night with lighting and glittering gold. Well, I can imagine golden temple gleaming in the pond.  

The people who opted for special entry were made to sit close to sanctum sanctorum. And less mortals like us were huffed and puffed, and could steal only a glimpse. My two cents on this temple is that it is a great place for resort or themed park because of the sprawling garden, which is maintained very well. It is way too much commercialized for a temple.     

I did google about this temple as well as Godman, and this is what I found out.

Here is the link.

http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/3237.html

http://www.narayanipeedam.org/

Review: Vellore is well connected by bus and train from both Bangalore and Chennai.   

Visit if you are in Vellore for some work.

PS:  My only consolation is that this temple ranks #13 in the "Large Hindu Temple" list.

Dum Lagake Haisha

Dum Lagake Haisha. I am very late in reviewing this amazing movie. Produced by Yash Raj Films and directed by Sharat Kataria starring Ayushman Khurrana and debutant Bhumi Pednekar.

Spoilers alert ahead. The story set in the 90s in the temple town of Haridwar. An average Joe, Prem with no qualification or talent with an overbearing father runs a cassette shop. He is a die-hard Kumar Sanu fan as he was quite a rage in the 90s. Prem is forced to marry an educated, but overweight Sandhya who aspires to be a teacher. His disinterest in marriage is palpable from the beginning and both sets of parents worry about the future of their relationship. Taking the advice of her mother, Sandhya tries to seduce Prem and couple consummates their marriage. At a function, Prem insults Sandhya in front of everybody, so she leaves him and goes to her parent's home. Being a headstrong woman she applies for divorce. But they are asked to live together for 6 months on court's order. Here again Prem is pressurized to participate in town's annual competition "Dum Lagake Haisha where husband has to carry the wife on shoulder in a race and to over come all the hurdles. Will they participate? Will they win? Will their marriage survive? Well you got to see the movie for that.

Ayushman Khurrana is natural as a clueless and helpless man. It is a delight to watch him emote. Sanjay Mishra as Prem's interfering father is endearing. All other characters make their presence worthwhile. But it is Bhumi Pednekar who steals the show and carries the movie on her shoulder. Her role as Sandhya is a woman of substance. She is educated and it is implied she is going to be financially independent too. That is the main reason for this alliance in the first place. She takes no-nonsense from her husband or in-laws. She knows how to take charge. My favourite scene where she throws her brother's stuff out of her room which was occupied by him when she moved out after marriage. She refused to believe her home is not her's anymore after marriage.

It is a breath of fresh air to come from Yash Raj films who for decades endorsed Swiss Alps, chiffon sarees, and drop-dead gorgeous heroines(I loved those too). It is a simple story which tackles many stereotypes effortlessly. Feminist in me is very happy to see an unconventional strong woman character on screen. It takes you back to 90's of cassettes, songs recording, VCP era. As a kid who grew in 90s I can relate to it very well. Make time for it. 

PS: Song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" made me believe good old Anu Malik has not lost touch after all. Listen to it to believe it.