Movie Review: Begin Again, a must for your eyes, ears and heart

There are movies that put their message, their story, their 'drama' out there- in your face- and then there are movies that subtly express 'life' in just one scene; and that also is so subliminal that you feel it somewhere inside and little while later know you understood. All I'm trying to say, it that it's just so relatable when it's not so in any apparent way. It doesn't have to be. I'm talking about the only worthy release of the past week- Begin Again. 

Starring Kiera Knightley, Mark Ruffalo *twinkle-eyes*, and Adam Levine, Begin Again is a movie simple and sincere to music, love and relationships. In summary, it's about Dave (Adam Levine) cheating on his songwriter-partner and girlfriend since 5 years, Gretta (Keira Knightley) while on tour; Gretta ends up in a bar with a friend who forces her to sing on stage, where Dan (Mark Ruffalo), discredited record label guy falls for her talent and wants to produce her album. 

Begin Again is good because it fails to accord to a typical movie plot. I love how Dave genuinely wants to get back and isn't just another boyfriend who gets rich, cheats and doesn't regret it. I love how Gretta and Dan don't have a steamy moment which they both would regret. Theirs is a complex relationship with underlying tones of respect, appreciation, friendship and care (nothing romantic!). But what I love is the most is how each character evolves individually through the movie. 

The movie narrates the story using a series of flashbacks; which is not confusing, and very interesting! New York looks like a dream as usual and Keira's singing skills are more than a pleasant surprise. 

My favourite scene is one in the end when Gretta is at Dave's show and has a sort of epiphany of her own choices and future by looking at the audience and the effect her kind of music has on people. I realize, at the end, her earnestness in wanting to make her music reach to the audience. 

So that's why this movie isn't about romance or breakups. It's about love for life, for relationships and above all for music. Do take time out to watch it. If nothing else, it will be and hour and forty five minutes of good music to your auricular nerves. 

Let me what you think! 

Grandiose (adj): impressive or magnificent in appearance or style, esp. pretentiously so...

Hola! 

With this post, I'd like to confess something. It's 100% true, so try not to laugh. 

I believe all of the following things are real: Santa Claus, mermaids, goblins, witches, wizards, Hogwarts (and everyone in it), aliens, angels, archangels, fairies, Peter Pan, Mary Magdalene, existence of multiple universes/ galaxies, the Hatter, Absolem, Wonderland basically, and  Ganpati Bappa among many other things. But I do not, oh, wait... do NOT believe that what happens at St. Teresa school shown in Karan Johar's Student of the year could be true in any of  galaxies that exist.. 

Clearly, I just saw Student of the year and trust me, since the 11th minute of the movie I had been waiting to get back home and write a review on it. So here it goes! 

What story? 

The title of the movie makes the story one of the most obvious ones and no, there will be no surprises waiting for you (if you still haven't seen it). Two boys, Rohan and Abhimanyu, fight over a championship award, both love the same girl, Shanaya, she's confused about them both, ta-da ta-da d-dah... 

If you're the kind of person who likes to watch movies that make sense and have a story, don't go for this one. It does NOT make sense and the story sucks. The whole setup is ridiculously unbelievable. The school which is supposed to be in ___ (I seriously don't know where exactly), looks better than any private school in the US. 

Oh, and the amount of skin-show in this movie is 'woahhhh'. I am now aware of all the veins and nerves that run through the bodies of Siddharth Malhotra annd Varun Dhawan. At one point, my bestie who was watching it with me commented, 'Yaar, kabhi toh (shirt) button bandh kar lo.' For the record, we are both very normal, if you know what I mean. 

Oh, KJo! 

I do like Karan Johar movies and mindless comedies, and I LOVED K3G. But this one didn't hit me on any level. The humor didn't make me laugh (like K3G did), neither did it make me cry (like K3G did). The dialogues, the screenplay was just okay. Some things were very cliche, for instance, the way the Dean's (Rishi Kapoor) homosexual tendencies were shown. 

However, the newcomers have done a pretty decent job with their acting skills, especially Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan. They were confident, stylish and sure as hell good-lookers!

Review abhi baaqi hai, mere dost... 

Not all was bad with the movie. I am going to give you three reasons why you should watch this movie. If they appeal to you, then go. The three reasons are:

1. Clothes

The clothes in this movie are fab! I wonder why none of the fashion bloggers have blogged about it. This fashion should be noticed. The clothes and shoes worn by the star cast is of course amazing, but what really caught my attention was Rishi Kapoor's style. It was brilliant! Kudos, to whoever designed the look for him. It paves way for classy style for the above 50 age group. 

Rishi Kapoor has worn great checkered shirts, unconventional ties and unusual (for a male) brooches. The brooches were really the best of them all. 

2. Music

The music is fun, and although there are EIGHT darn songs in the movie, which was too much to bear, would all find a ear to sound good to. 

3. Visually appealing 

The movie was a visual treat, but that's a given when the screen reads 'Karan Johar film' anywhere. It's grandiose, a world of its own. If you are looking for entertainment, well you will get some from SOTY. 

So well, there you go. Fashion, wee bit of entertainment and 'time pass' are definitely the things SOTY gives. I'd say, go watch it for the clothes, but ensure you leave your logic back at home. Oh, and catch a cheap show. My wallet's still tingling with such a loss of 300 bucks. With that much  money, I could have had the cheapest coffee at Starbucks. Ha. 

Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/devikabharadwaj

Then she returned fifteen years later...

Hola!

I've been MIA, but trust MBA and exams to do that to a being as insignificant as me. I can't say how the darned exams were, but I can tell you how they ended. Well, I must say. I saw English Vinglish, so yes, time for a review!

The plot surrounds pretty much around the story that Shashi (played by heavily cosmetic surger-ied Sridevi), your average house-wife who cannot speak English, isn't given respect by her husband and teenage daughter who make fun of her lack of English-speaking abilities, and is ruled heavily by the requirements of her duties as a home-maker. 

Then as luck would have it, she goes to New York to help her elder sister with her daughter's wedding preparations where she comes across an advertisement that says 'learn English in 4 weeks'. Having some extra dough that she earned from her laddoo making home business. She signs up for it, and baaam... life changes. 

At the classes, she meets different people from different backgrounds (very Zabaan Sambhal Ke-ish). One (very cute) French chef, Laurent, is consumed by her simplicity and beauty and well, I'll leave the rest for you to watch. 

What's endearing about the movie is it's simplicity. Shashi's simplicity. Gauri Shinde wrote a beautiful character, but Sridevi brought it to life. I was never a fan of Sridevi... ever. However, I don't think any other actress could have done this role as well as her. When she cried, you feel like crying; when she's excited, it shows on your face... 

Although, I couldn't help but cringe a bit at close-up shots, because you could see right through her cosmetic surgeries gone wrong. *ouch* (though the bloody beautiful sarees by Sabyasachi made up for anything not-so-pretty things in the movie)

The script seems very real. Some scenes almost make you cry. Her struggle to order a cup of coffee, her daughter's embarrassment to introduce her to her school friends and teachers, her husband's lack of respect for her in public and very many such scenes that leave you feeling so sorry for her that you want to get up and slap her husband and daughter, and hug her through the screen. 

Final word: 
My verdict is a 4 and  a half stars for good acting, good direction, a very real script and good portrayal of emotions. The music supports the script well too. Go watch it and take your family along. Especially your mum. It may leave her positively inspired, and it'd be worth it.


Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/devikabharadwaj

Tiger proves the power of 'stars'...

Salaam!

After a tedious day of shopping yesterday, I was feeling generous and thus, I agreed to go on a world tour with my mother. Oops! Sorry, I meant I agreed to watch Ek Tha Tiger with mes parents. I will try to do justice to humanity and the credit its intelligence is given and keep this review really short. 

Why Ek tha Tiger works. He is why. 

Ek Tha Tiger is quintessentially a post-40-Salman Khan film. The Yash Raj banner, Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and the song Mashallah are the sole reasons people went for the movie and helped them make crores of rupees. 

What was good?

Photography, especially in the first couple scenes where 'Tiger' is hunting for an agent gone rogue, look good. Mashallah the video was good too. It came at the end with the credits, but more than half the theater stayed back and watched the entire song. (Were still trying to make up for the money spent on the movie). 

I also liked Ranvir Shorey. I am biased here. I think he's a good actor and I like him in whichever role he plays.

The only good thing in Ek tha Tiger.
This song makes me miss
Belly Dancing terribly.

For the sake of my mother, who enjoyed the film, I'm going to say CERTAIN action scenes were good. I also liked Salman's costumes in the film; especially the Afghani look ones. Made him look real good. 

What I liked best were the locations. This movie, much like Agent Vinod, covered so many countries and showed where all I could plan my next vacation. I took a virtual tour to Cuba, Afghanistan, Dublin, Kazakhstan, Iraq and apni Dilli of course. Or wait, was it all Mehboob studio? *face palm*

What was bad (which made it funny)? 

Stunts in Ek Tha Tiger. *seals lips*

Romantic songs that crop up every time Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan blink. The story. The logic in the story.

Additionally, for my own sake, may I mention the stunts? They were impossible and funny. I believe everything Bruce Wayne can do, but the kind of effects they give in Sallu movies make me sit back and laugh. Then, there's this other car chasing scene where animation has been used and... it's PATHETIC to the C. 'Nuff said. 

On the whole:

the movie made me laugh and wonder when it will get over; showed places which I'd like to visit; made me feel like Katrina may have put on some weight on her face(not a good thing to observe, no?) and make me understand that I'll never watch a Sallu movie which does not have a good song/video in it. 

Go if you need some time pass and the wallet is still feeling heavy. Like me, you might just end up laughing at everything that was not intended to be laughed at. 

My Rating: **

Ek tha Tiger has made some 33 crores before the end of the weekend. It is clear proof of what a powerful star cast can do. Sadly, this motivates them to make more such films. 

Godspeed to good cinema. Wherever it is. 

Au revoir,

Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/



P.S.- Might I just add how darn expensive shopping has become; and every other store has almost the same design! Style has died. Fashion killed it. I spent an obscene amount of money but barely had any weight of shopping bags in my hands. :( 

Rising above a regular 'epic finale'

Good Morning/ Night! 

After 8 days of struggle, I finally got to see The Dark Knight Rises. After watching a late night show, I walked past the door and picked the laptop up, because I just cannot go to bed unless I gush about the movie.

Just for the record, Christopher Nolan just got placed at number 2 in my list of excellent series' makers. (First one is, and always will be, JK Rowling for the Harry Potter books.) Clearly I'm bowled over with the movie; but what is it that makes me, like so most others, crazy about this epic end to the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy. 

Christian,no, Bruce, oops, Christian Bale in The Dark Knight Rises!
Isn't he a marvel? *swoons*

Story

By far, the strongest factor of the Dark Knight series. What the Nolan brothers did with the story and script writing is pure magic. They have revolutionized the comic character to a completely different, large and real personality. The Dark Knight Rises, I noticed, had more emotions packed than the previous movies in the series. Batman and the surrounding characters could all be picked as case studies for psychology lessons; and I bet the discussions wouldn't stop. Because that's what they have done: added so many layers, good and bad, to each character. 

The star performers in The Dark Knight Rises

I can't help but make the comparison, however, much the Harry Potter series, The Dark Knight Rises concludes the stories of the previous two magnificently. In both the series, everything that happened in the stories earlier, finally makes sense in the finale. I don't want to give a summary of the movie's story, because if you haven't seen it, make some time available and go watch it. 

However, I feel, the movie could have been a little shorter. Although they must have been important to make sense of the whole plot, some scenes of elements could have easily been cut short. There were moments when I felt like the movie was going a bit slow for me; and the story is where I placed the blame. 

The New Batmobile in The Dark Knight Rises

Cinematography, Photography and Production Design: 

What a job they've done! Excellent, excellent visual execution. This is by far the most important element to make the movie what it is. Though I have always wondered why Gotham city looks like New York city; it looks good. The locations, the principal photography, the effects, the designs of the costumes, the sets, the Batpod and the new Batmobile are all tres magnifique. 

Music

If you too had 'deshi basara' playing in your head hours after you left the theater, you's understand why I have put this section is a review for a 'war' movie. It is effective. That's how simple and powerful a tool the background score was to the entire script. It added a very raw kind of an appeal to the movie, thus adding strength to the story. Three Cheers for Hans Zimmer.

Characters + Actors

Christian Bale deserves a standing ovation from us all. I do like George Clooney a lot (he has played the character of Batman before), but no one can be as perfect a Batman as Christian. He truly turned himself into Bruce Wayne's body, mind and soul. Like I said, the characters in this movies, especially Bruce Wayne's had a lot more emotional aspect to it than ever before. And Christian mixed into Bruce just as a river does into a sea. Unidentifiable-y. (If only that was a word).

Anne Hathaway as Cat Woman.
P.S.- Did any of you say a woman can't drive? 

Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard and Morgan Freeman were all as brilliant actors as you and I would expect them to be. however, I was pleasantly surprised with Anne Hathaway as a cat burglar. She was sassy, swift and fit as you'd like anyone in a 'Cat' suit to be. For me, this for the first time that she truly broke out of her innocent, girl next door features. Good for her. 

Tom Hardy as Bane was... hardly effective. That was one role I thought that anyone could have done and for which Tom wasn't required to put on a zillion kilos for. Really. His features didn't matter much, and his voice didn't matter at all. He was hardly as effective an antagonist as the Joker was. I didn't find him menacing enough and they could have picked any body builder to have the 'Bane' effect. 

Here's some very technical information of the team of the movie. These names should be remembered. The Dark Knight Rises is their legacy. An epic legacy.

Direction- Christoper Nolan

Producer- Emma Thomas

Christopher Nolan

Charles Roven 

Screenplay- Jonathan Nolan

Christopher Nolan

Story- Christopher Nolan 

David S. Goyer (who I believe left this project early to work on Man of Steel) 

Music- Hans Zimmer 

Cinematography- Wally Pfister

Editor- Lee Smith 

If the movie has kept me, an eternal early-to-bed kinda girl awake till 3.30 am, The Dark Knight Rises sure has something in it. 

Overall, great film. I had MASSIVE expectations, and apart from a couple of moments where I thought the movie could have been shorter, I have NOthing non-positive to say about the film. Emotions, actions, great visuals, greater background score... Money and time well spent. I could not have imagined an end to a Batman series like this by anyone else. Christopher Nolan does justice to the real Batman's career. 

Go watch it; and watch it in Imax if you can. You might just see me around, because I am going for Round 2 of The Dark Knight Rises. 

Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/

They like to move it... and well!

Hola!

There are few movies that can be credited with their ability to get better or at least stay as good through its series, and the Madagascar franchise just joined that list.

Madagascar 3: Europe's most wanted Review

Appropriately short with a gripping fast pace, Madagascar 3- Europe's Most Wanted, is an animation movie made for viewers of all ages to enjoy. The old characters are as fun as ever, but it's the new characters that add a load of freshness to the movie.

What made me happy? King Julien (my favourite Madagascar character) finally finds a love interest! And so does Alex. Melman and Gloria's chemistry remains ever-so-cute and Marty is in his brightest best. Talking about the characters, I REALLY wish that the Penguins were real AND a part of my life. Their part in the journey of the 4 main characters in vital; and how the hell are they so cool and so, so smart?!

Amongst the new characters, French animal-control officer Chantel DuBois, who trails the animals with the objective of slaying Alex's head, makes for one evil, very talented antagonist. On the other hand, Alex's new love interest, Gia, makes for one pretty jaguar (with a very pretty turqouise neck piece.)


While the story had a very fast pace and all that, there were weak moments in the story; such that I thought they got confused about what they really wanted to focus on for the story. However, I think this sequel was far better than its predecessor. Lessons learnt by team Madagascar?

The music was great and had me grooving in my seat. The only thing I really missed was the old granny from the previous movie. I still remember how I loved the penguins for kicking her around.

However, I am going to insist, do watch the movie if you can! It had some great humorous moments and conversations, especially for adults. For children, it had truckloads of visual appeal, which is primarily what they're there for. It's a movie with rich animation and funny moments for the whole family and might just be the last one by the franchise. (Or so I think)

Me love: King Julien

Like Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman, I like to move it, do you?


Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj

Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/


P.S.- I'd like to tell you, DO NOT GO TO STUPID CINEMAX. They charged a NON-refundable cost on the 3d glasses and when I called the manager to tell him no one has ever charged for 3d glasses and that they are cheating us outright, he told me I could return the tickets and leave. :| I will pay obnoxious high rates even at PVR, but I am NOT going to Cinemax. Nope. (Couldn't even find their customer care/ complaint service's email address or anything).

I'd like to share another funny thing that happened while lots of disgruntled customers were talking to the manager. A lady said, "Now we should all ask Aamir Khan to fight for us." I found it SO funny; but I'm keeping my lips sealed on that one.

All white and no red...

Hola!



Talking about a movie 6 days after it has released is practically criminal. I know. But I just had to talk a wee bit about Snow White and the Huntsman.

I'd like to start with the truth. The movie Snow white and the Huntsman is NOT a fairy tale. Furthermore, I don't think it is about Snow White OR the Huntsman. Not really. They might as well have sub-titled it as: Snow White and the Huntsman: a journey of the step-mother/witch. A lot of time was given to the witch, Ravenna's past, present and emotions.

The story was confused. Just when I thought "I'm going to get seriously bored now", the story picked up; and just when I thought "wow! This is so good", the pace dropped like cow dung. The pace of story kept dwindling. What added to its drop was the acting; particularly Kristen Stewart's. But truth be told, there has been a 5.8282894729% improvement in her acting skills since the Twilight Saga. For the sake of her movie viewers, I hope it keeps increasing.


On the other hand, I think Charlize Theron made for an amazing evil queen (far batter than Julia Roberts). Her features made for the perfect match of beauty and evil. Chris Hemsworth too did fairly well as the huntsman. Another actor who acted befitted to the character was Sam Spruell as Finn, the queen's brother.

Symbolization 

The best part of the movie, for which I thought this review was a must-write, was the symbolization included in the movie.

The creative heads did a a great job of including points and ideas were particularly related to fairy tales. In the beginning of the movie, young Snow White's friend plucks an apple, which falls on the ground and the red, bitten apple then rots and simultaneously the scene fades as the kingdom falls into the arms of evil.

The 3 drops of blood in different parts of the movie were beautifully and strategically placed too.
The presence of dwarves was a good touch too. Truly I didn't think there would be any before I had seen the movie. Even the personality of each of them was pretty much like the ones in the original Snow White by Brothers Grimm.

One great addition to the original story was the mirror, which in the movie, took a human form, visible only to Ravenna and had the support of a great voice-over.

This scene where Chalize Theron comes out of a milk bath looked excellent too

Ravenna agony at turning old and losing her powers were well  shown by Charlize Theron.

Where Snow White and the Huntsman disappointed...

While they took great efforts and reportedly did a lot of research to get fairy tale elements, they failed on some very basic points. Snow White is supposed to have rosy lips. Stewart's lipstick shade was red nowhere in the film. Furthermore, her lip colour was very unbalanced and even uneven in some places.

While the title of the movie is Snow White and the Huntsman, their chemistry is so mildly treated that until the moment that he kissed her, I had no remote expectation of something possibly happening between them.
The script could have been edited a bit more and made for near perfection. 

Where are Snow White's famous rosy lips?  

All in all, the whole movie was filled with characters, locations, animals, names, etc. from classic fables. It made for excellent viewing and was a great fairy tale for the eyes. I say, give it a watch. It is a different perspective of the story we have heard since we remember hearing. You might be pleasantly surprised.  


Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj

Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/

PC Sorcar and the Sorcar's stone....

Hello!

The things and thoughts of the 90's put a smile on most of us who were brought up during that period. I too have been smitten by the revisiting-the-90's bug and last evening I spent it in the most magical way possible. Literally.

I had the opportunity to go to PC Sorcar Junior's Magic show last night! Well, he is back in the city after 12 years and well, I had to repeat history from back then. Many of my friends apparently have never seen his show yet; so I guess I was really lucky when I saw it the second time yesterday.

A lot of people asked me how the show was and wanted to know more. So  here comes the details about the great PC Sorcar's  Magic Show!

Artist: PC Sorcar Junior, joined by magicians: wife Jayshree and daughter Maneka

Name of the Show: Indrajal (which means magic in sanskrit). "Indrajal" was also conducted by his father, PC Sorkar Senior

Indrajal troupe: They use about 48 tons of equipment, 75 artists, 12 jadoo girls (who will remind you of extras from the 80s' movies), psychedelic laser lighting systems, over 400 dresses made of brocade and original music composed by his own orchestra (which also sounds like the background music of action or comedy scenes of movies).

Photography and Videos are not allowed. Like they said, it will disappear on its own. Slick

Miss Bee's Rating: *****
% whole stars because it was so much fun! The only suggestion I could possibly have is that the show could have been a little shorter. It was about two and a half hours long.

Indrajal

The show started with psychedelic laser lights beaming everywhere in the auditorium with one of Sorcar Junior's songs warning us of the impending magic, waiting to be performed around us. And then out of nowhere appears the Magician on the stage.

A magician, should not only be a great performer but also be a  good orator; and Sorcar Jr possessed both these qualities. The way he spoke was very entertaining.

He was dressed in very shiny, brocade kurtas and even shinier pajamas. In any other circumstance, it might have been an eye sore. But on stage for a magic show, it was PERFECT. Besides, I think it added a nice Indian, ethnic touch to the performance.

What is a magician without his crew? Not much, I'd like to believe. Well, Sorcar Junior's crew is an added brownie point. The "jaddoo girls" and the extra artists are all dressed in the jazziest clothes, with great expressions accompanying every emotion they are supposed to portray and smiling and moving constantly through the acts to keep the viewers interest unwavering and active.

The Acts

PC Sorkar Junior included many Indian street magic acts in addition to some international ones.

The 'Water of India' is a famous act by magicians where they have a jar that constantly pours out water. PC Sorcar and daughter Maneka performed this act almost after every 3rd act. It sort of kept a humorous element and by the end of the show whenever they were about to announce the next act, the audience expected the 'Water of India' to be poured.

There were many acts through the show. Some we all have heard of. For example, the act which involves the parts of a person in a box' body cut; the one where ducks in a box disappear and instead a huge white cloth rolls out; or an act where as many as 6 girls come out of a small box in which 2 girls had entered.
Further ahead, I'll mention just a few that really blew my mind.

Like most of us know, PC Sorcar Junior made the Taj Mahal and the train: Indore-Amritsar Express disappear for a couple of moments disappear. So honoring these great acts, his daughter Maneka Sorcar performed an act where she made a huge, life-size statue of Goddess Venus disappear right in front of our eyes! 
Additionally, she, herself, also went through a huge, running fan on stage. When I say a huge, running fan, I mean a HUGE, fast-running fan!

'Father of Indian Magic' PC Sorcar Junior also performed  many such great acts; many of which involved his crew members disappearing, reappearing, and being cut,. It may sound gross, but it was magical.

His wife Jayshree Sorcar, appeared for the  final act where she cut her husband into two! Magic hath no fury like an angry wife? Haha... The really cool part of this magic was that after cutting him up, they did lift the boxes up and there he was! Lying on two separate beds.... separately. :P

Summary: 

The show was everything you can imagine a magic show to be like. It was absolutely entertaining and it makes for an excellent program for the whole family. I sincerely pray that all of you get a chance to watch this show sometime. A little bit of magic in life could do wonders.

Abracadabra until the next...

Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj

Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/



Extra Note:  An acquaintance and I were discussing during the interval of the show about how rare it is to see magic shows, let alone PC Sorcar Junior's show in today's time; and he said: "Nobody's interested in magic anymore." And what I said to him, I am going to say to you now:

It's not the magic that people are no longer interested in, it is the  fact that we look for logic  in everything we do. So even when a wondrous magic TRICK is being performed, instead of enjoying the magic, people ruin their experience of the show by looking for the logic.

Of course, it's not magic being performed. I knew that too. But I really had a great and memorable evening because I chose to enjoy the magic. Try doing the same if you get lucky enough to go for a magic show. 

Bombay to Mumbai... Rediscovering my city.

Hello!

The south-westerly winds inform me that the summer is coming to an end. Thus, I am going to make the most of it, because for a lot of reasons (most tres personal) this feels like the last summer I am truly going to be able to enjoy completely. So here I am, making the most of it.
How, you ask? Like this.

I have been grateful to be able to visit those spots in Mumbai that most of us haven't visited since the summer of 1999. I am, of course, talking about the forgotten, parks, aquariums, museums and zoo. Although, to be true, the joyride to the past hasn't been all about the joy... Soon you'll find out why.

But I know one thing for sure now, Bombay isn't Bombay any more. Like many others, the change to "Mumbai" wasn't all cool with me. Even now, most of the time I refer to this city as Bombay when all my relatives from elsewhere call it Mumbai. Bombay stands for a lot of things in my life. It stands for my childhood, the glorious 90's. It stands for limited commercialization and for good and innocent times. It stands for purity, freedom and everything that makes Bombay, the city of dreams.

'Mumbai' makes me feel like I am stuck in a traffic jam, in Dharavi, in the heaviest rainfall, in a Rickshaw, without a jacket, wearing white, without any food, at night. *shudder*

But these recent visits to the defining spots of the city have now made me realize, I am now in Mumbai. Bombay is long gone...

Anyway.
So the first visit to the tourist spots of the city of Mumbai started with the Aquarium!

Taraporevala Aquarium Review

Details: 
Name: Taraporevala Aquarium
Location: Marine Lines, Mumbai.
Built in: 1951
Closed on: Mondays
Entry fee: Rs. 15/- for Adults, Rs. 10/- for children
Photography and Videos not allowed. (Though everyone was clicking pictures. Som even with their flas lights on).
My rating for Taraporevala Aquarium: **
(And those 2 stars are for the aquatic animals for surviving there)

This is one aquarium you can't just swim through and have fun. Unfortunately, I went on a Sunday and exactly at a time when 2 other tourist buses had arrived. So it was terribly crowded and there were about 50-60 people in the queue before me. Also, there was a staff member of the aquarium yelling and screaming at me, and others, to move quickly and stand in line, and everything else you expect to hear in an over-crowded BEST bus. After standing in the sun, waiting in line to get tickets, we finally entered past the doors of the only aquarium in the city; and here's what I unleashed. 


Stink. Darkness. Uncontrollable, wee bit rowdy crowd. And stink again.

The main exhibit area:

The first thing you see when you enter is a dolphins skeleton. It's huge, but didn't impress as much as it could have by just lying on the floor. Can someone buy the dead guy a glass case at least? Moving on.

The state of the aquarium is almost depressing. It is horribly maintained. There are paan stains all around the walls and boundaries. The whole place stinks thanks to the loo inside the first chamber, so much that I had to cover my nose and mouth with a scarf. It was so bad that I couldn't breath it directly.
The aquarium is very dark and dingy and not forgetting to mention, dirty!

Talking about the exhibits, the collection isn't impressive at all. But it is not that bad either. Some of the better parts of the collection were fresh water sharks, Moray eels, sea turtles, an alligator fish and skate fish. Some other sea inhabitants were hermit crabs, milky koi, Bottan shark, sting rays, puffer fish and bat fish.

While the list sounds good, but the condition in which they are made to live don't. The aquariums of the exhibit are dirty and the water looked stale and practically green due to algae or whatever. Oh, and some of them were even cluttered with fish poop.

The place just has fans and no air-conditioning making it the wrong place to visit during the summer. I fervently hope they add air-conditioning when and if they renovate. Much needed. Thank you.

The room with fossils and sea shells: 

I hoped this one would have been better, considering most things here were dead and thus didn't need any cleaning. I was wrong. This section which had fossils and preserved dead fish, such as various types of star fish, also had aquariums with smaller kinds of fish (alive ones) on display.

The glass shelves and casings of the fossils and the rare sea shells were covered with dust. I, for one, am a cleanliness freak. The sight of those shelves sent me in depression, not to add the fact that these things that must be valued aren't even being cleaned.

Summary: 

The exhibits, like I said aren't completely unfortunate. But don't expect much action or think that you will get a feel of the real life of the ocean, because most fish were lying dull. In some aquariums, there were just 1 or 2 of the kind. You and I, both, can imagine what must have happened to the rest if they were alive. All in all, give it a visit considering it costs almost nothing.

I spent as little as 10 minutes there, which included a second round of seeing everything again. Make other plans too, the day you go visit Taraporevala Aquarium so that you feel like you made use of the time and travel.

The photos are dark and unclear, because I did not want to use the flash light as it would scare them and also because I don't have a good camera. :P
But this will give you a fair idea of how the place looks!

I think that's the lonely Alligator fish

That's one type of Shark

That's the Moray eels, which are supposed to be quite the dangerous aquatic animals

I don't know if you can tell the difference, but that's a fish in the bottom corner
(Notice the condition of the aquarium from the inside)

Turtles. There were many of these. See how dirty the water is!

Turtles

Hermit Crab

Can't tell what that is.

Skate fish

Sea turtle
(Sorry for the shaky picture. It was horribly crowded and I was being PUSHED!)

Sea turtle
(Sorry for the shaky picture. It was horribly crowded and I was being PUSHED!)

Sea Snails, I think.

Shark

Out of order 

The Taraporevala Aquarium, Marine Lines, Mumbai

Rumor has it that the aquarium will go through massive repair and would be renovated to have an underwater sea walk and a glass vision sea-world. Something like that in Ocean Park, Hong Kong. (You can view my personal experience of that here: http://devikabharadwaj.blogspot.in/2011/12/day-3-ocean-is-always-alive.html)

I hope they are successful in achieving this dream. One good aquarium isn't too much to ask for in a city like Bombay, oops Mumbai, is it?

Hoping to fish through a better aquarium again.

Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/


P.S.- I apologize if I have made a mistake in identifying the fish in the photographs. I was, admittedly, in a rush to get out of the heat and stink there. :(

The movie-worthy Pandav: Arjun, the warrior prince...

Pranaam!

That Sanskrit greeting was involuntary, however, it stemmed out of a voluntary decision to go watch Arjun: the warrior Prince.

I first saw the trailer in the theater while I was watching Chota Bheem, the movie, and it looked so impressive, that I swore I'd watch it no matter what. (I had to take an action as big as an oath because I have missed way too many movies recently). Finally, I reached a rather stinky movie hall of Fun Cinemas on the day of Arjun's release; thus, began my 2 hour journey on one of the 5 Pandavas... the movie-worthy warrior prince Arjun.

Summary: 

The Story starts with Arjun as a child, when he along with his brothers join their guru for training in Hastinapur. The famous story of how he alone focuses exactly on his target during archery lessons has also been included. (Yayyyyyy! I grew up with that story... So you can understand the excitement.)
The story then moves on to the legendary, treacherous board game that cost the Yudhistir, his throne, kingdom, material possessions, brothers and, umm... wife Draupadi. It further moves on to their 13 year exile and the resulting battle of Virat.

The story includes those chapters that most of us know already. It is the story-narration that makes it all interesting and probably saves the movie from being downright boring. What I really like is the twist of who the story-teller is; but you're going to have to watch the movie for that as I am not going to put out that spoiler for anyone.

The music, cinematography, animation and voice-overs are truly brilliant and a class above the animation we have seen so far in the Indian cinema. However, it lacks on the screenplay. Rajesh Devraj, the screenwriter, could have made it more quick paced and gripping. But this is the only place where Arjun: the warrior prince loses its luster.

The Animation is the first of its kind in India. International quality and brilliant detailing surround it and all in all, it's a great job done.

Characters:

Each and every character was well created, such that the character sketch that you may have had of each one is almost perfect. Care was taken to show their attire and even their wooden sandals as those used in that age.

Looks of characters that I was impressed with most were those of Duryodhan, with his long mustache and the belying evil brains; Shakuni, the evil uncle of the Kauravas... his character perhaps impressed me most because of how they had shown his behavior, in addition to the fat body, evil eyes and manner of his speech; and of course, Arjun's. His inner steel was somehow so well shown on his face. That explains why it took 4 long months to design his look. Well done, folks.
 

Locations:

I have one word for this one: breathtaking. The attention to detail is ingenious. This is how India must have looked like in that mythological era. They have captured the idea and presentation so darn well.  Even the trees and landscape look exactly like they're native to India.

The detailing given to the palaces are by far the best. I find it hard to write anything about it to describe how good I thought it was. But it was gooood....

 Voice-overs: The voice-overs were fantastic! They were exceptionally pleasing to the ear. One of India's great pride (of the past, of course) is the sweet and "vinamr" manner of speaking. This attribute too has been beautifully achieved  by the voice artists of Arjun: the warrior Prince.

Some of the voice-over artists are:

• Yuddvir Bakolia- Arjun 
• Anjan Srivastav- Lord SHiva
• Sachin Khedekar- Lord Krishna 
• Ila Arun- Kunti
• Vishnu Sharma- Bheeshma 
• Rageshwari Sachdev- Draupadi

Music: Surprisingly, the music was really good. Composed by Vishal Shekar, the songs had a Bollywood-ish feel, but were all good pieces of work. You will leave the theater wanting to hear the music again for sure.

The background music too was exceedingly appealing thanks to the large variety of classic Indian instruments used.

High-points: 
There were certain scenes in the movie which will be remembered by me for eternity.
One was the scene at the Swayamvar of Draupadi, when Arjun strikes the fish and wins her hand. The whole effect put up of him jumping into the pool and striking his arrow are spectacular to say the least.

Arjun aiming at the fish

Another scene to watch out for is the battle at Virat, and the formation of the Chakravyuh. It is at this point where the movie finally gains a certain momentum.

On the whole:

UTV motion pictures and Walt Disney Pictures put up one good show and hopefully, a start to more such quality animation films to come. I say, go give it a watch. Don't be under the impression that it's just a children's film. I think it a film meant more for the adult audience, especially considering that the pure Hindi language used at some parts definitely lie outside the understanding of young children.

My rating: **** 
4 stars just for the great effort and quality of work. I would have given that one last star too, provided the story had been treated with a better screenplay.


Do give Arjun a chance to strike your eye with his arrow. This Pandav deserves it.


Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/


P.S.- I am back on twitter with my own personal account! Do follow me on the link above! See you, fellow birdies..!