Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Movie(s) Review in 2 lines


*****Long Post*****
I missed out writing reviews of quite a few movies this year, especially in december. So I am going to do a quick review for multiple movies in a single post. Some might just end with single liners.



Ishqiya
Very very good. Cast does a brilliant job. Music is awesome! The twists a little bizarre. Music is very good and the lyrics even better. 'Dil to baccha...' pick of the lot! Should Watch

Love Sex Aur Dhoka
Very surprising for an Ekta Kapoor production. Manages to keep you engrossed throughout! very real and kudos for bringing the "Home Video" style film to Bollywood. Also this Home Video style is what makes the 3 stories believable. Music is very interesting. Should Watch

Tere bin Laden
Another awesome movie, very witty, catches the flavor and political connotations brilliantly. I loved it! If you haven't watched it, you have missed out on some really clever cinema. Must Watch

Do Dooni Char
Very very good at having a flawless script. It captures the struggle a lower middle class family goes through to improve their standard of living. The cast is really good and have the body language of characters down to a fine art. Must Watch

Band Baja Barat
A movie that makes no bones about being intelligent, it is just for fun kind of movie, a feel good romance, the kind that YRF does best. What makes the movie work are the dialogues (very Delhi/Haryana "isstyle") Ranveer Singh is the find of the year, he carries off the annoying but lovable tapoori so well that I was reminded of Aamir's performance in Rangeela. Anushka Sharma also has done a good job in the movie. If the name had been more "cool", would probably have had a better response. Ainvayi Ainvayi is a fun number. Should Watch

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows I
Better than HP & HBP but still sucks in comparison with the book. Can Watch HP fans only

Me ShivajiRaje Bhosale Boltoy
A marathi movie that I only manage to see recently. Although it often goes of into unrealistic situations and events, the movie manages to pass its message to target audience perfectly. With the brilliant star cast it boast, the performances are as good as it gets. Can Watch

Pirates of Silicon Valley
This is an old movie that I saw recently. Very informative. I found out some things I didn't know about Apple & Microsoft. Should Watch for IT people

Social Network
Good movie, with everyone raving about this one, need I say anything more? Should Watch if you are on FB.

Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy (play)
This is quite an old marathi play that was banned by Maharashtra Government in 2000. I saw it this year and remembered why I loved theatre. The performance by the actor playing Godse was flawless. The power and conviction that Nathruam Godse must have held is conveyed clearly by the actor without any histrionics or any over acting. Must Watch

Chance pe dance
Awful! Don't Watch

Pyaar Impossible
Beyond Awful! Please oh please spare us any more uday chopra comebacks! Music is tolerable. Don't Watch

Karthik calling Karthik
Interesting script but some undefinable element was missing. Farhan did a good job but it lacked the charm of Rock On. Nice Music. Can Watch

Well done abba
Typical Shyam Benegal offering was a nice movie but no where near the beauty of "welcome to Sajjanpur". Can Watch

Na Jaane kahan se aayi hai
Oh God! Why did I even attempt to watch this! Don't Watch

Housefull
Dumb Comedy, leave your brains at home and go on watch for cheesy jokes. Typical Sajid Khan. Party type of music. I loved Dhano! Can Watch if you can tolerate Sajid Khan!

Kites
Only Hrithik fans should watch this movie to admire his greek god looks and the fabulous salsa at the start of the movie. I din't like the music either. Can Watch for Hrithik fans, other Don't Watch

Khatta Meetha
I would rather watch Pyaar impossible, Na Jaane kahan se aayi hai and Chance pe dance back to back than watch this one. 2011 resolution - Never watch Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar Movies ever again! Don't Watch even if some one pays you to!

Once Upon a Time in Mumbai
Surprisingly not a spin off the Company/any other underworld movies as I was expecting. Ajay Devgn proves once again why he has won 2 national awards. Music is also a plus point for the movie. Can Watch

We are a Family
The worst adaptation of a hollywood movie ever made in Bollywood! Don't Watch if you saw stepmom.

Break ke baad
A light hearted romantic comedy, one of the better ones of the year, definitely above I hate love stories & Aisha! The music is very nice and fresh. Can Watch if you like romcoms/chick flicks

Phas Gaya re Obama
The concept is superb. The actors fantastic! Yes, it does get slightly unreal at times, but the heart of the movie stays pure. A pleasure to watch. Must Watch

My Name is Khan
A hodge-podge story of too many issues together. A person suffering from autism in addition to prejudice over his cast and his trials and tribulations just made me yawn.Music is passable. Don't Watch

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Action Replay Movie Review



*******Spoiler alert!*******

Bunty is against the institution of marriage as his parents are always fighting and have never had a peaceful day. Enter his girlfriend and her uncle (Randhir Kapoor) aka the time machine inventor, who oh so generously explains the secret that time travel is possible by travelling faster than the speed of sound (I almost fainted at this epiphany).

Bunty then goes home to see his parents talk divorce and decides to steal/borrow the time machine to fix his parents marriage! Going back, he sees his mother is a tom boy-Kajal dada, hum paanch style (what perfect casting with Ash I say!) and his father a cowardly douche, aptly nick named Najuk Kali and Kitchen Kumar.He then sets about improving or rather giving his father a personality (basically saying "Awaaz Niche" every 2 mins) and convincing mommy dear to display her feminine inner self! His mission is endangered by maternal granny's enmity against paternal grandfather and the former grandparent's stringent opposition to love marriage. After a typical scene of getting grandparents to accept his parents love, he returns to a present where parents are happily in love and proposes to girlfriend to live happily ever after!

For the duration of this monstrosity you rail against yourself for even attempting to watch this movie and vow never to step into a movie theatre again. The only bits I liked were:
  1. Aditya Roy Kapoor, the guy playing Ash & Akshay's son
  2. The joke "Malika Sherawat ne murder mein kapde pehne the?"
  3. The song "Zor ka Jhatka"
My advice is do not watch the movie, you will regret it. Rating is 1/5



Thursday, November 11, 2010

Golmaal 3 Movie Review


Golmaal.. Golmaal... Golmaal is back again!

Rohit Shetty returns with the third installment of this mindless comedy.. and mindless it is! with puns thrown in left, right and center. Lots of references to Mithun movies, characters, songs and dialogues.

Story is stolen a bit from Khatta Mettha (the old one), Golmaal (The original one of this series) and thankfully has a climax which does not involve everyone running behind a single object. Only difference is the sad emotional scene included, to throw in a bit of drama. Also Arshad Warsi doesn't "play Black-Black" in this sequel.

Cast is a mixture people from Golmaal, Golmaal Returns & All The Best. Ditto for the characters they play. Ajay Devgn/Devgan/WhicheverWayHeSpellItToday does this whole movie with a single expression that seems to say I am wasted for such a role! Warsi, Talpade & Khemu are bearable. Tushaar Kapoor has realised that "Mayo" was last season and so adds to the dumb routine with some funny movements. Kareena is very good in small bits but has over acted in 90% of the movie. Mithunda is brilliant, even doing his trademark dance step during a song. All others are competent.

If you can manage to not apply logic or sense to what you see and hear (which I did very easily :D ), you will find the movie to be a light hearted comedy that can be watched with the family. he movie definitely is much better than Golmaal Returns (Yawn!).

Soundtrack is hummable and included 2 iconic songs, a.k.a I am a Disco Dancer & Yaad aa raha hai.. Tera Pyaar.

Overall my rating is 3/5.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Anjaana Anjaani Review


CHICK FLICK!!!

Ok now that I have put the do not enter sign for the males of our species, let me start with the review. Akash (Ranbir) & Kaira (Priyanka) meet on a bridge while trying to & failing to commit suicide. Then they make a pact to wait 20 days before killing themselves and what happens in between is the crux of the movie.

The good parts:
  • The humor in the scripts is just right not over the top, a little corny but funny
  • The chemistry is there not the fire up your screen kind but a more of comfortable with each other kind
  • The story line has definite possibilities. What could happen in 20 days that inspires 2 people who have given up all hope to try and face their demons and come out stronger?
  • The music. The entire soundtrack is very hummable.
  • Best for the last: RANBIR KAPOOR - Since I saw him doing the towel dance I thought of him as too girlish for my taste. Although is acting improved with subsequent movies, I never gave him any thought as eye candy. In AA, as RK flexes his muscles, rips his shirt in a gay strip club and I had to change my opinion and how! His performance is top notch, he shakes a leg with the best of them and then makes you feel sorry when he hurts!
The bad parts:
  • Akash's reason for wanting to die are made clear at the start but Kiara's are left as big mystery, which when finally revealed are a letdown. My take is that they could have let both reason's build up more. Kind of like Shahid's depressed state in Jab We Met is explained as movie progresses.
  • Also their reasons' for committing suicide are flimsy to say the least.
  • Story is slow at the start and the end drags into the next century. So we know they are going to end up together. Please don't force it down our throats with the typical rush to the airport scene for half an hour!
  • Beyond corny scenes to show increasing attraction between the lead pair! I almost gagged!
  • How can Priyanka look like a fashion model even after being saved from the brink of death in a hospital? a little more realism people!

So my opinion, all you girls watch it for Ranbir and a mushy kinda love story.

My rating: 3.5/5 (I am a sucker for love stories!)

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Spot Betting NOT fixing

The spot fixing sting has caused a minor storm in the world of cricket and loads is being written about it. What I am going to write about is not "fixing" but "betting". Recently a channel was running a contest, during the Champions League, "Guess the commentator for the 11th over and win a XYZ"

This was about an off field entity but then I remembered some other contests that I had seen while watching matches, "Guess the score at the end of the 50th over" , "Guess the number of 4s/6s being hit in an inning" , "Guess the number of dropped catches in an inning" , "How many players will wear shades during an inning"

I know that these contests offer a prize(fixed value) and do not ask for any money to enter them (other than the money earned by telephone companies!) but still what is to stop the contest organizers who are known to the cricketers, probably friends with them , asking them to score one run less or more? Will it affect the outcome maybe maybe not.

If these contests are acceptable why not betting? As long as all people involved in the bet are aware of the risks, why is it illegal? In fact the risks involved seem quite similar trading in the stock market. Like the evil of fixing there is always the risk of insider trading but that does not mean trading stocks should be made illegal, does it? Wouldn't making betting legal reduce black money in the market and generate higher revenue for the government?

Maybe I am not aware of some other problems in legalizing betting, but then why are such TV contest considered legal? either ban both or allow both.

Monday, September 20, 2010

A random Poem

Just penned this random poem while traveling, but haven't yet thought of a name for it yet. suggestion welcome :)

On the empty road we travel
Together yet alone
Lost in thought,
we contemplate the shadows
Knowing our destination
but unsure of the way.


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Dabangg Movie Review


Dabangg which means someone who is well known over an area and has control over the said area due to his fearlessness and power.

As already seen in the trailers, Salman Khan as Chulbul Pandey is Dabangg in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, where he lives with his mom, step father and half brother. The emphasis of the story is on the "half" brother & "step" father!

Enough about the movie, there is no point writing about it as the haven't made a movie but a 2 hour video of how best to use Salman Khan as a marketable "HERO" in a Hindi movie. to support him, Sonu Sood is the bad guy & Bhabhi dear aka Malaika Arora-Khan shakes her unbelievably slim hips and looks too sexy to be a mother! All others


  • Vinod Khanna
  • Dimple Kapadia
  • Arbaaz Khan
  • Sonakshi Sinha
  • Mahesh Manjrekar
  • Mahie Gill
  • Tinu Annad
  • Anupam Kher
are present just to fill up space. What a waste of a 90% brilliant cast! 90% of the punch lines have already been shown in the trailers and the movie has no element of surprise whatsoever.

However thanks to the spoilt brat of bollywood the movie will rake in all the moolah! Salman Khan emotes with a bored look that says I am too good for all this, struts his stuff with an exaggerated swagger and manages to bulge enough muscles to show off a shirt getting torn of his body Hulk style. In his action sequences , he tries to imitate Rajnikanth and dances the way (I assume) he would dance in his bathroom with no one watching and honestly speaking his dance is the most entertaining bit of the movie.
All other have been thrown its of dialogues and pieces of screen space and so their performance cannot be commented on. The music works same as the movie. Play it to get in touch with your tapori college day roots!

My advice is, leave your brains outside the cinema hall, watch the movie (preferably in a single screen) and then forget it! For me the movie was entertaining BUT nowhere near the fun that was WANTED!

My rating : 3/5

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Natha marega kintu jeevit rahega!



The movie tries to shock the user about the media circus that exists in India, using a proposed farmer suicide as base to showcase the TRP wars.

This movie has a moral, the way most Aamir Khan movies do. It basically shows how the actual issue is trivialized and focus is shifted from issues that affect millions to single individual. Here, rather than focusing on why farmers are even considering suicide, they focus on finding how random people "feel" about Natha committing suicide. They forget that suicide is illegal in India and there has to be an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness for someone to even contemplate such a drastic and final step.
This entire sentiment is conveyed through the disillusion that sets into a small time local newspaper reporter trying for a break into big time.

My only grouse is that the first half drags a little, being almost and art film, the duration seems a little long and so the film editing could have be tighter.

Everyone's performance in the movie is very good. Natha has very few dialogues but manages to convey his feelings through expressions beautifully, I especially loved the longing look when he sees the boiled eggs and is coveting them.

Raghuveer Yadav's Mehengai is a heartfelt song that strikes a chord in everyone. and Des Mera has a catchy tune!

My verdict, Its a good movie, but Jaane Bhi do Yaaron (the best Bollywood satirical movie IMO) is in a complete different class.

Rating : 4/5

Monday, August 9, 2010

Aisha Movie Review

I had heard that Aisha is an adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. Not having read the book I can't verify this but I can definitely tell that Aisha is a straight lift off from Resse Witherspoon's Clueless.
In spite of being a copy, the movie starts well. Audiences connect with the characters and the situations. The comic moments succeed in electing some laughter from the crowd. In fact my guy, who hates chick flicks and had come along under duress, admitted to enjoying the first half. All izz well till the intermission.
The second half makes you feel that the cast and crew decided to throw away the script and enact every cliche ever written about romantic stories! The story drags worse than a Vajpayee's each word enunciated speech! Characters lose their verve and dialogues keeps repeating. This kills all the feel good factor built by the previous half and you just want to shout at someone to forward the sobby sobby emotional claptrap. What caps the whole sorry state is having to hear Aisha(Sonam Kapoor) spout ten minutes of barely tolerable dialogues followed a minute later by Arjun(Abhay Deol) repeat it word-to-word! I loved the music of the movie. Perfect mix of peppy and soft numbers.
Performance wise Abhay Deol is wooden. He should stick to the offbeat roles that he does brilliantly. Sonam Kapoor was OK. Her smile is a lot more genuine and engaging than the plastic models of perfections she is compared to but her voice is irritating and expressions not quite there yet! Cyrus plays the loser in his usual MTV style. I loved Ira Dubey (Shades of Lillete Dubey), the girl who played Pinky, carried off her character perfectly! Overall, I will give the movie 2 stars out of 5

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Inception : My Take

I won't bother with a review as everyone is totally taken with the movie and its director! I will only mention the things I liked about the movie and the questions it raised in my mind.

Things I liked:
1) The performance by all the actors. A special mention to Leonardo.
2) The concept - it must have taken a really long time for Nolan to create a story that makes you concentrate throughout the movie, you really can't afford to miss even a minute.
3)The special effects are just right. Good enough but not so many or so awesome that you lose focus of the plot.
4) Overall, I loved the movie itself

Questions I have

1) Totem: You keep yourself connected to reality using your totem as it will behave differently in the dream world aka the top that never stops spinning. But in a dream world your subconscious believes that the top defies the law of Physics, So what stops your totem from behaving as in reality is that tiny part of your brain, which is aware that you are dreaming. Now If your brain doesn't want to keep track of reality versus fantasy, what stops it from ensuring that the totem behaves exactly as in the real world?

2)Limbo: I understand that Mol in limbo is actually Dom's projection of her. Assuming that Fischer is taken into the same limbo, by Mol to trap Dom and Ariadne is there as she is sharing the dream with Dom but how does Saito come into the same limbo as Dom? or vice-versa? They aren't even connected by the dream sharing machine.

3)The end is left open by Nolan himself leaving 3 questions based on whether the top toppled or not
  • If the top did topple, then how did Dom and Saito escape limbo? (presumably by Saito killing them. But then what about dying in a sedated dream and going into limbo?). Also, why have Dom children not grown at all? (Can be questioned as the time frame of Dom being away from them is not specified)
  • If the top didn't topple and Saito used the gun to kill Dom, then has Dom gone into a further limbo? (Is a limbo within a limbo even possible?)
  • If the top didn't topple and Saito didn't use the gun then where is Saito and how did Dom get away from him?
4) Th time acceleration told by Arthur and the time frame they operate in doesn't add up!
5 mins = 1 hour (Arthur tells)
flight duration is 10 hrs = 3000 mins = 50hrs = ~2.1 days
which means they have just a little above 2 days in the first level
Each level compounds the acceleration so
1st level = ~2 days
2nd level = ~4.5 days
3rd level = ~9 days
4th level(aka limbo) = 18 days
But the say, they have 1 week on the first, 6 months on the second and 10 years on the third!


My Biggest Disappointment
No trouble was taken to explain, how the machine lets you share dreams. A BIG GAP in my opinion and the biggest disappointment of the movie.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Why Housefull worked better then Raavan in the box office

On PFC, a blog post makes an anguished cry that housefull is considered more successful than Raavan (box office collections wise) and how this is all wrong.
I attempted to disagree with the post, but my comment became really long, so posting it as blog post :)
The comment is verbatim.

I disagree with your analysis. Would you compare Home Alone, Titanic and Avatar? Similarly housefull and Raavan can not be compared. Housefull, during its publicity campaign made it totally clear that it was nonsensical film that was made with the sole aim of providing a few laughs, show exotic locations and good looking people on the screen. IMHO it did that perfectly well. Meanwhile Raavan, during its publicity campaign alluded that it will bring forth 1) Ramayana 2) At the very least a villain called Beera and the story of him kidnapping the wife of a police officer 3) It made people believe that this movie will make them think, about interpretations of characters, plots, etc But it did not do any of the above, this movie is a failure because its publicity implied a different genre/ story! Had it been publicized as a story of unrequited love by Beera for Ash's character, it just might have done better. In the end, You should know your target audience and sell your product accordingly. Housefull did it right and Raavan didn't and that is well reflected in box office collections!

Monday, July 5, 2010

I hate luv storys movie review

"I hate Luv Storys" delivers exactly what it promises.. A cliched romance straight out of mills and boon, modified for the Indian palate!

Girl believes in love, Boy doesn't believe in love. boy meets girl, annoys her, then befriends her, makes her laugh, she falls for him. he doesn't realize that he has also fallen for her.. so begin misunderstanding, apologies, going crying to mom's etc, finally both come to their senses and live happily ever after.
But there is a very tiny humorous self deprecation to it which is lost due to all the cliches of Bollywood.
The film on which the pair is working seems borrow a leaf from LSD and mocks 3 bigwigs, Aditya Chopra, KJo and Bhansali. The set designs are straight out of Sawariya and Devdas. The director in the movie is a caricature of Bhansali (whose reaction I am highly anticipating!). The story has no twist what so ever, with the only difference being that in the end hero runs away from airport instead of towards it!

Acting wise, everyone is mediocre. Imran Khan is cocky, imitating Mamujaan frequently but having none of the brilliance of Aamir. Sonam looks pretty but is annoying especially because of her voice. I keep wondering how talented actors don't tell their offspring that they just can't act! The hero in the film inside film is really an ass (words quoted form the movie). Sameer Soni loses it completely trying to present an over the top Bhansali.

The saving grace of the movie... is its music. All the songs are really nice with a light hearted romantic feel to them. Vishal-Shekhar of the old seem to have returned after the recent debacles. My personal favourite is "Bin Tere", Sunidhi does an awesome rendition!

Final verdict... After having panned the film, this may seem contradictory, but I am a girl who loves mills and boon romances, so for all girls who like romances, this movie is definitely worth a one time watch! All guys, like my GUY, if you do take your girl to watch it, take a flashlight and book along else avoid as far as possible!

Rating : 2.5/5
Music Rating : 4/5

Monday, June 21, 2010

Raavan Movie Review

I have a theory, you go in to watch a movie with a set of expectations, due to cast or director or because of trailers or due to the reviews you read.
I did not read reviews of Raavan as I did not want to have a bias while watching the movie. But I did expect the movie to be Guru like due to Mani Ratnam and the star cast.

Also I had been listening to the music of Raavan for quite a few weeks and had high expectation from the "picturization" of these songs. I expected Beera to be Omkara-esque, wherein the song establishes the lead character as a force to be reckoned with, someone whom you wouldn't care to cross swords with.

**Warning Spoilers Ahead**

Lets start by saying none of my expectations were met. The song Beera shows random people killing cops and Beera riding a bike, playing a drum, and doing all things good heroes do!

For me the character of dev(Vikram) was much more sinister than Beera and Ragini(Aishwarya) was like no Sita I ever read about while reading Ramayan.

Beera only strips off clothes and turns a cop bald, a cop who raped his sister alonh with many other cops but Dev kills off a person who has come to establish peace with police after lulling him into a false sense of security. Also, it seems illogical to me that a SP has not known what happened to the sister of a wanted criminal when she is bought to a police station, especially when he was part of the raid during which she was arrested. So he condones the gang rape of an innocent girl, this does not seem "dev" like to me.

And then there is Aishwarya, who doesn't know the raod to escape back to her husband but has not trouble going back to beera when she needs to talk to him.

Now the acting, Oh God the acting!!! Abhishek proves once again that he can only act in cool dude roles like Dostana, the intensity, the psychotic killer instinct is completely missing, In fat the comic relief in the movie is provided when he attempts to show a sinister side by talking to himself about killing someone or the other.

Aishwarya seems to have a sore throat throughout the movie and looks out of shape in suits. I personally don't like her and so found her annoying during the entire movie.

Vikram makes a perfect "BAD" cop and I am sure he will pull of the role of Beera in the tamil version brilliantly.

Ravi Kishen is the redeeming point of the entire cast as he effortlessly pulls off the role of the younger brother of Beera

Govinda does a good job for the tiny role he has been given, but the character is badly written.

**Spoilers End**

Over all the movie is extremely disappointing. Dil Se was suppose to be a Mani Ratnam flop but I liked Dil Se. I think Raavan (especially the casting) is Mnai Ratnam's biggest FLOP to date.

The major reason to watch the movie is the brilliant cinematography. Santosh Sivan excels in showing breathtaking visuals of Kerela, Karnataka, Maharashtra and other parts of India.

My rating is 1.5(cinematography) + 0.5(overall)/5 = 2/5

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Rajneeti Movie Review




Rajneeti is Prakash Jha's adaptation of Mahabharat and a some parts of Godfather thrown in.
I had very high expectations from the movie and it totally lived up to them during the first half. But the second half was a very big let down. My major contentions with this movie were from the least to the biggest:

  1. Arjun Rampal: He was not bad but his accent, diction do not fit in. Also, as most of his scene are with the bigwigs, his lack of acting skills becomes very apparent.
  2. Nikhila Trikha: She play Ranbir's mom in the movie and is passable most of the time. But during her big scene with Ajay Devgan, she messes it up completely.
  3. The End: Climax is unbelievable as it happens in broad daylight with no thought for media getting even a hint of a shoot out between 2 major political opponents and Kat's big announcement in the last scene just seems cheesy and not needed.
  4. Katrina Kaif: Why why did Jha have to cast her? She falls totally flat. For a character born and bought up in Bihar, her accent is horrible. I think she felt wearing a bindi would show her as an Indian girl, which of course it doesn't and in the second half when she has to give a powerful political speech which falls completely flat! a complete thumbs down to Kat
  5. The timeline: can so many scandals, killings feuds happen in a few months? doesn't seem believable at all.
Performances: Nana Patekar is outstanding. Ajay Devgan once again impresses but seems to be under-utilized. Manoj Bajpai does a good job as usual. Ranbir Kapoor seems to be heading up with a commendable performance. as stated above, Arjun Rampal, Katrina Kaif and Nikhila Trikha disappoint.

Story: Overall a good story but gets cheesy and loses steam towards the end. Also the timeline shown could have been elongated.

Overall, I would give Rajneeti a 3/5 for some superb performances and a gripping first half. Definitely more watchable than Kites!



Friday, May 21, 2010

Rajneeti Music Review

Rajneeti has a total of 4 songs. Other than Bheegi si Bhaagi si, all songs have remix version as a part of the track.

  1. Bheegi si Bhaagi si - Sung by Mohit Chauhan and Antara Mitra, composed by Pritam this song is already popular on TV and radio. It has a nice melodious feel to it.
  2. Dhan Dhan Dharti - Sung by Shankhar Mahadevan, composed by Wayne Sharp quite a few people are raving about this song, but it did not appeal to me as it sounded very preachy
  3. Ishq Barse - Sung by Pronob Biswas, Hamsika Iyer and Swanand Kirke, composed by Shantanu Moitra, this song is very catchy and I simply loved it. Lighty and breezy, its the perfect mood uplifter.
  4. Mora Piya - Sung by Aadesh Shrivastav and Rosalie Nicholsan, composed by Aadesh Shrivastav, this is the haunting melody of the sound track.
  5. Mora Piya(Twilight Mix) - Sung by Aadesh Shrivastav and Shashi, remixed by Deep and DJ Chantz, I felt this remix was not required and it lacks emotion that the orignal track conveys
  6. Mora Piya(Trance Mix) - Sung by Kavita Seth,remixed by Deep and DJ Chantz, Again I felt this remix was not required but it is better than the twilight mix
  7. Ishq Barse(The Bombay Bounce Mix) - Remixed by Deep and DJ Chantz, this remix tries to make the already peppy track even more peppy
  8. Dhan Dhan Dharti Reprise - Sung by Sonu Nigam, this song is a little more tolerable than the Shankar Mahadevan due to Sonu Nigams softer vocals.
Overall an OK album, but I am disappointed due to higher expectations from Vishal Bhardwaj.

Final Verdict : 2.5/5
Omkara and Kaminey set the bar, this one is way below it!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Women's Reservation Bill

Ever since I was in college, I have been against reservation whether it is based on caste/religion or gender. I believe in equality for all. Let me explain my opposition using numbers.

I studied in Pune University. There the reservation structure is:

Category

Reservation Percentage

SC

13 %

ST

7 %

DT (A)

3 %

NT (B)

2.5 %

NT (C)

3.5 %

NT (D)

2 %

OBC

19 %

Refer (http://www.unipune.ernet.in/dept/geography/mscgeoinfo_files/pgbscselection.htm)

Lets assume that a particular course has 100 seats, which means

Category

Seats Reserved

SC

13

ST

7

DT(A)

3

NT(B)

3 (since 2.5 seats insnt possible)

NT(C)

4

NT(D)

2

OBC

19

OPEN

20

Now where did 29 seats disappear is what I will be asked… well they are what is popularly called

Now SC & ST form 16.2% & 8.2 % of population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India#CIA_World_Factbook_demographic_statistics)

I could not find the population break up for Nt-A,B,C,D and DT, so I am assuming a similar percentage as reservation + 1%

OBC population is counted at 32%

So if total number of students applying for the course is 1000

Category

Population %

Students#

Seats#

Ratio(Seats#/Students#)

SC

16.2

162

13

0.080

ST

8.2

82

7

0.085

DT(A)

4

40

3

0.075

NT(B)

3.5

35

3

0.085

NT(C)

4.5

45

4

0.088

NT(D)

3

30

2

0.066

OBC

32

320

19

0.059

OPEN

100*

1000*

49

0.049

*This is because Open seats are not reserved for forward class people but are literally open for everyone. Also I have not subtracted the management quota from the number of seats.

I feel that reservation creates a feeling of resentment in the forward classes. It was not our generation that mistreated anyone on caste basis, but with the reservation system, an unfair advantage is given to people belonging to a certain caste, which makes a complete mockery of Indian Constitution proclaiming India to be a “SECULAR” country.

I know of the creamy layer restriction put forth by the supreme court, but have often seen people belonging to affluent families, getting seats due to their caste and more deserving students having to search other options as they belong to the so called forward castes.

In my humble opinion… its time to abolish reservations in totality and not promote women’s reservation bill.