Dil Bole Hadippa - A movie full of Dreams, that (predictably) come true

Watching a Hindi movie in St. Joseph, MI is nothing short of a miracle for me.. my first ever since I moved to this part of the world. Co-ordinated with a couple of friends before arrival to the movie hall so we could get seats together - whats in a movie if you dont have the right company with you to share a running commentary with or have the parallel conversations amid cold stares and "shhh" sounds from the people around you.

A,K and I had more company in the form of other Indian friends to add to the melee.

We picked seats close enough to the higher end of the hall to give us the balcony effect. By the time we settled in our chairs we had already missed the opening scene.

The minute I saw Rani Mukherjee, I cursed one of the Chopras under my breath ;-)

In the hot pink salwar kameez, swinging a cricket bad and mouthing off lines with a heavy "punjabbbi ucksent" she looked nothing like the plump 18 yr old damsel in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The only ding in this new slim n trim avatar was the nose-ring she had on - but well, I guess it was required for the karector she plays. Veera is a cricket crazy sardarni who repeatedly announces she is a Left te Right handed batsmen who can not be bowled out by any munda around. Working and living in the gaanv's naatak company, she has friends who remind her to give up on the big dreams she sees with her "nanhi aankhein". She dreams of playing alongside the stalwarts of Indian cricket and prays to them as her demi-gods and along with wahe-guru ofcourse in very typical bollywood ishtyle..

Cut-to Wagah border: Dilip Tahil and Anupam Kher speak of their ever lsating friendship across the borders but remind us that all friendships aside, when it comes to cricket, India and Pakistan dont see each other eye to eye. Predictably they play a match and India loses to Pakistan with a fuming Rani announcing she'd have made the Pak team run for shelter if only she could..

A weird haired Shahid Kapoor a.k.a Rohan (where do they get these names?) is introduced as the key player of English County cricket. He wins matches and runs around like a Brazilian football player. His team huddles like a bollywood version version of an African tribal dance and always responds to him in chorus sync.

Surprise element in the form of Poonam Dhillon playing the pretty mom. Anupam Kher, dont be surprised, plays the dad who lives away alone in India. Kher sentimails Kapoor into coming to India and fulfilling his dream of winning the Aman Cup- giving him all leeway to form his own team.

If you've seen the trailers you know Rani Mukherjee comes dressed as a Sardar. To add some details, without giving away the ending, "Veer" plays cricket for the India team with Rohan and the movie has a happy ending. I wont divulge all details here and steal away the thunder..

High points in the movie include "jokey" conversations between the firangi munda Rohan and the bhains-lo girl Veera. Rani Mukherjee carries the movie with elan and great comic timing, with some support from the muscle-flexing guy in pink shirt n skinny jeans.

Overall rating? Worth the 2.5 hrs intermission-less presentation... Paisa, full vasool in one sitting.

If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull

After I landed in town, I took my niece, nephew and mom in my sister's SUV to go to Ruby Falls and the Chattanooga Incline rail at TN.

Knowing our mom and her kids just a little too well, my sister had in her casual but sarcastic tone piped in I was with "awesome" company - right before we had stepped out!

From the minute we got out, my nephew was cranky, my niece was fighting with her brother and my mom was pissed we were starting two hours too late and that we may not be able to cover all points she had thought we had planned for the visit! Like these conditions were not all bad by themselves.. guess how they all wanted to communicate their feelings to me.. They wanted to speak to me all at the same time and all with breath-taking high intensity and fervor.

After a couple of hours of what I should not be calling my mom's cribbing came to a stop, we made it to our destination. My nephew thankfully had slept through the last leg of the drive and woke up after we reached Lookout Mountains containing Ruby Falls.

My nephew woke up.. well, as you may guess, cranky! He wanted to go home rightaway. I had managed to keep my niece engrossed with a story telling challenge (which I have to narrate as another blog entry!) Seeing a cranky sibling up and about, my niece easily distracted herself into fighting with him..

After the few hours of constant frying, my brains were ready to burst out of the seams and I wanted to run downhill screaming..even jump, but I managed to contain myself and keep my humor alive. A vain joke or two later, I got back to ground zero.

SO what do kids really want? I'm baffled! For that matter I'm baffled with what grown ups want as well.

Once we got on the inclined train and then made it into the mysterious caves of Ruby falls everyone was (blessfully) distracted to their surroundings. The sights and sounds of Ruby falls were an audio-visual treat.

I did not get to wield my photographic talent as much as I would've otherwise, but I was happy we went to this place and everyone getting into the car was a seemingly more happy person (including whiny me).

Knowing that some friend of my niece was going to be home by the time we would reach home excited my niece, my mom was glad she was going to have a few more mamis to speak to once home.. my nephew did not thnk either of those ideas were too appealing. He chose to switch back to his "I wanna go home" mode but one nag-ma is definitely more manageable than three..

Maybe, just maybe.. all's well that ends well. Some distracting games later, my nephew was in his right senses and I was a happier person driving back home! Isn't that the most important thing?

These are a few of my..

Raindrops on roses and Whiskers on kittens..inevitably reminds you of Julie Andrews. Sweet, melodious, mellifluous!

The tune kept ringing in my ears today as I took a walk down to the beach. Pitter patter of raindrops on my head n nose while the waves lashed at my feet, I sat on the rocks feeling all poetic and at ease.

With some of my favorite people in town, hanging out at the beach watching the sun set crimson at the horizon was never so much fun. When boredom runs after you to bite, meeting with friends n laughing over a joke or two makes such a lot of difference. I have always had lots of friends and always only a few of those friends I cherished being around with. Today I felt that long lost feeling of "cherishment" I say, for lack of a better picture that truly expresses my emoticon.

With the sweet sound of music ringing through my laptop I smile now as I wipe my wet head with the towel... These are a few of my favorite things!!

Where demons dare to tread..

As the dark veils set in, the light of anxiety shone in her eyes, some sparks flew and some reactions occurred - faster than the speed of light. She had given birth to something that mankind had never dreamt of, never believed in the ability of science to create and definitely nothing in this quantity..! Shrill beads of sweat trickled down many a forehead and a wave of joy engulfed the laboratory where the first antimatter was created. Science had created what was always believed to have been created by god in the pre-universe universe, the first speck of energy that heads the genealogy of everything that matters.

A few crimes, some theft and a story shrouded in the dark politics of the papacy- Angels and Demons walks one into the mystique of Roman and Vatican art. From Galileo to Newton- a heady mix of symbolism, science and religion form the crux of the movie. With astounding casting, the characters mouthing words with beguiling expressions stole every heartbeat the book had managed to tick. My mind kept racing back to the words I had heard as I read the book and the visions I had approbated to the streets, the corners and the priceless art. Much more than anyone would imagine, the movie kept the artist in me spell bound.

While I noticed a few dramatic variations to the narration, I could almost flip through the pages of the book and be just as mesmerized. There were a few minutes, a few scenes when you knew what to expect and the movie chugged along those exact same lines, appearing to fall through the cracks when it caught back up on the speed and raced along, keeping the audience at the nail biting edges of their seats. Nervous laughter, sighs of relief and laughs to the subtle humor – I heard them all in the movie hall as I nibbled away on my non-existent tub of popcorn through the two and half hours of excitement, give or take a few minutes.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown is a highly recommended read and Angels and Demons by Ron Howard -starring Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor and Ayelet Zurer- is a highly recommended watch.

Truly.. yet another decision

To be or to not to be.. the ultimate conundrum when the bug of life bit me.

Today is a great milestone in my parents' life.. but it has remained only a milestone with little or no emotions and memories attached to it. I look back, a little hurt, a a little empty.

Today as I think back ot the occurings of the day, were not too special- in fact come to think of it, it was bad.. but here I am nevertheless., blogging my thoughts, voicing my feelings and channeling my energies. 

Wait wait.. before you leave thinking this is yet another spot with ramblings unlimited, I will run my thoughts by you. The question  is "was it the right thing to do..?" Am I acting in haste when I tell someone who is/was attracted to me that I am/was not.. and that for no apparent reason.

Instinctively, I know the answer.. I know I did the right thing for her and for me.. but someewhere deep in the dark alleys, a thought prevails. No else seems to see why I would say no to such a sweet and "universally" acceptable/ likable person. Young, haughty she maybe a little bit of both, but not in complete vain. She has her long list of merits.

Everyone, including my family thinks, I should hv gone for it..But I wait, but question myself..

Will I stand to regret the decision I made today tomorrow? Will I end up with someone who is nowhere close to the talents this girl is bestowed with and think back, "if only..."?

Maybe.. things may well, turn out to be that way, but gut says.. despite all lessons that I havelearned in school and in life to never go by gut, but to go by experience or even better to go with data.. I go by gut, to say I wont.

Time will stand testimony to my decisions and maybe someday I will return to this spot and go hmm.. wasn't I right!

Watch to know why

“We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...” – Billy Joel, the piano man

Tunes so oft heard, words so oft repeated but credits never duly paid.

Little did I know about the works of Billy Joel when I drove into the parking lot of the Lake Michigan College’s Mendel Art Center to attend the hit Broadway musical “Movin’ Out”. My friends seemed excited and I was amazed by their excitement but indifferent about attending the show- the experience I was to have still unbeknownst to me.

The musical tells the story of a generation of American youth growing up on Long Island during the 1960s and their experiences with life – through their dreams, hopes, friends, lovers, the Viet Nam war, drugs, violence, anxiety, anger and above all their music. Taking us through the lives of Brenda, Eddie, James, Judy and Tony with a super talented ensemble of their friends, the experience was worth every minute spent in that auditorium.

The usher mentioned there were going to be very few dialogues as we were entering the auditorium to take our balcony seats. I did not think much of it until after the play was done with. “Very few dialogues” was an overstatement – “Yes!” is the only word I clearly remember having heard from the dancer on stage. The will, the thrill, the determination, the joy and the excitement in that one word however lingers.

Unlike in my previous experience of a musical where the dancers sang their songs, Movin Out had none of its dancers singing. All the vocals were performed by 3 pianists and their accompanying band from a suspended platform above the stage where the dancers performed.

While the performances, by the band ‘upstairs’, of all-time favorites like Captain Jack, River of Dreams, Its Still Rock n Roll to me dazzled my aural receptors, the stage and the lighting sweetened my visual receptors, and the lead and supporting cast left me encumbered with thoughts of my two left feet. They engaged their bodies in what can only be termed as acts of sheer brilliance and years of strenuous practice.

As I left the hall speechless and in utter awe, I retired my thoughts to the words I half knew…

“Uptown girl…

She's been living in her uptown world

..

I'm gonna try for an uptown girl

She's been living in her white bread world

..

And now she's looking for a downtown man

That's what I am”