Thank You for : "No Smoking"

No Smoking:
A movie about a rich, arrogant chain smoker whose well wisher advises him in vain to stop smoking but not before his girl friend decides to leave him if he does not give up smoking. He decides to go to “THE LABORATORY(prayogshaala)” (a rehab centre for salvation from smoking).

The rehab centre has 3 main rules for smoke addicts as a “QUID PRO QUO” to their puffing. If you smoke, the centre will:

1. Almost kill your loved ones.
2. Will cut your finger. And finally, if you still don’t quit;
3. Kill your loved ones.

Now, if K(John Ibrahim) takes even one puff of cigarette again, not only he’ll be charged the rehab fees but will also have to face the consequences of the 3 golden rules.

The movie takes a u turn when K finds it hard to quit smoking. Every cigarette of his will act as an unsaid “yes” to rule 1 followed by 2 and 3. He tries to smoke when none’s watching but to no avail. He’s being followed everywhere. His life no longer remains his own. A labyrinth of life puzzles surrounds him like the unstoppable rehabilitation from which there’s no escape.

Guys, If you wanna know more about as to what happens next, better say “No to smoking but not to movie”

A critically acclaimed movie but didn’t do well at the box office. Anurag Kashyp’s made a pure Hollywood branded stuff with shots taken in Indian slums and Russia. A slow, serious movie with exceptional performances from Paresh Rawal and John Ibrahim.

A movie definitely for the nerds, for the psychos, who’ll start smoking instead of quitting after watching it. I’ll give 10/10 to anurag for the script and for the screenplay.

P.S.: Watch ”Pan’s Labyrinth” to understand how life maze works.


Thank you for Smoking:
A comedy drama about a lobbyist whose main job is to encourage smoking among youngsters by convincing them about its harmless effects. His idea is ask oneself, to judge as to what is harmful, harmless for you. What may be wrong for the society may not be wrong for you. “ if your mamma says, chocolates are bad, will you take it up??”, ask Nick (the lobbyist) to school children. Similarly one cannot abstain from smoking till you find out its pros and cons. “So, the future of America, bend the rules and start smoking”.

Nick turns out to be a hero in his son’s eyes, but on the job, he finds many including the US senator who envies him and his message to encourage smoking among kids. When asked as to why he spreads the wrong message, he’s got one answer for all, “everything is mortgaged!!!”.

A critically acclaimed movie again which got mixed response commercially. A must watch for all the youngsters, who wants to learn, how can cigarettes save someone from dying.

A dialogue from the movie, when doc says to Nick, “smoking cigarette just saved you, otherwise you would have been a dead man today”

My take 9/10.

Transform Together

DISCLAIMER:
The poem is written with intentions to support and motivate every member of Satyam family and to hope, one day, the company will again rise to newer heights and the show will continue with the same magnanimity as it has continued in the past for 20 years.

A dialogue from the movie 300, "They were 300 men, against a million!". Here we are 50k against the entire world. Let's re-write history to create another feat of Spartans on the Persians.

No matter how deep we fall,
No matter how great was the wall.
No matter how high the pain,
But, a true leader, one day will rise again.

Let’s hope against hope,
Not dither away from scope.
Everyone makes mistakes,
But not everyone’s a pope.

Be the captain to save the ship,
No matter how high is the tide,
Let’s save the boat from the mightiest flip,

The morale is down, but not the SPIRIT,
Let’s TRANSFORM TOGETHER, not separately, but with IT.
What was yesterday, it won’t be the same tomorrow,
So focus today, focus now, to cease future’s sorrow.

I, take a pledge, I won’t quit,
What so may come, I will not let the wall split,
I promise not much, but I promise this a bit!

P.S: All thoughts and reflections are welcome!!!

Chandigarh to Chennai

It was a month of December when I started my journey from my native place, Chandigarh to my working place, Chennai. No wonder, the five inch difference between the two places on the map will actually take 12 hours of traveling for me. I started from Chandigarh at 10 in the evening on third-last day of the year when it was freezing zero degrees Celsius outside. The only thing missing to prove the icing temperatures was...it wasn’t snowing! Searching for a rickshaw puller at an hour when the probability of seeing a stray dog even is bleak, I walked, alone, with the bag on my shoulder, hoping against the hope to find someone to deport me to the bus stand. A walk further, I saw a locked tricycle on the stands’ with the owner sleeping next to it, all cuddled up in a trampled shawl with the half slept stray dog on a night watch duty. I decided to move ahead without disturbing either of theirs naked sleep. Few yards ahead, I saw a rickshaw puller, riding, on the opposite side of the two way road. I waved to get noticed and shouted with a shrill voice as if someone’s kept ice cubes in my throat. That must have been the only sound that must have traveled to his ears other then the guzzling of the winds through the leaves. He halted, charged me the heftiest amount a rickshaw puller can extract (thanks to the condensing temperatures) and couriered me to the bus stand in no time.

I seated myself to the comforts of a semi deluxe bus, scheduled to depart for ISBT, Delhi at 11. The non stop conduit started the journey once every seat was sold. Doom prevailed all over. The only thing visible was the streaky traffic tubes flashing an ambush from the opposite side. The fog got so thick that except the driver none could figure out even an iota difference on what lane the bus was moving.

By the time I reached Delhi, dusk made way for the dawn. Delhi, least expected, but, proved to be cooler then Chandigarh. Miniscule water drops created a white blanket on the wild grass. I took out the last-minute shawl mom gave and covered myself from top till toe. Guzzling winds urged me to look for a tea stall nearby. Hot cup of tea proved as a blessing for the hard hit soul. I soon remembered a quote from Oscar Wilde, “What seems to us bitter trials are often blessings in disguise”. I finally took a CNG local bus from the stands to IG Airport. It took another one hour to reach the destined point.

At 7, when the sun was out and pouring its light yellow streaks on my part of earth, I felt a sigh of relief. After a brief check-in bustle at the air-station, I gathered my exhausted body covered in winter wear and got into the plane. The artificial bird took a detour via Hyderabad to Chennai. I compensated three hours of the journey with last night’s lost sleep. The moment I landed in Chennai, the desirable and wanted, yet-so-likely sun in Delhi turned out to be an unwanted, undesirable, not-so-likely ball of hot fire in Chennai. I, without any thoughts, threw away the winter wear before someone gets a chance to ridicule me.

A 12 hour journey came as a soul stirring experience as I moved from the freezing climates to the blistering temperatures. An inch’s difference on the map turned out to be a thousand miles journey from shivers to heat strokes.

Definitely, un voyage pour se rappeler!!! (a journey to remember!!!)

An Unfinished Life

The best thing after watching a movie, reading a novel or doing anything creative is is to write about it on the blog. It rarely so happens when I write movie reviews twice in a row but let’s hope that the next blog do not turn out to be a hat trick for me.

Sometimes it makes me wonder why do we miss movies during their time of release and watch them later once they are archived in the history. And sometimes it so happen, classics fizz away unnoticed.

Well, 2009 is slowing proving for me as the year to watch the best of the reel stories on the virtual screen and publish my reviews about the same here on my online public dairy. So, hold on guys, tonight I bring you my viewpoint about the classic movie “An Unfinished life”.

Seeing the heavy star cast itself prompted me to declare this movie as NUMERO UNO among all 2005 released flicks. What more you demand from the movie which has veteran actor Robert Redford along with Morgan Freeman and JLO together under one roof. Am sure, the first day of the movie release would have definitely raised critic’s eyebrows and made viewers go gaga.

Directed by a Swedish, Lasse Hallstrom, movie says a lot about unfinished lives of almost all the main lead roles of the movie. Robert Redford plays a role of a father who lives alone in a ranch who lost his son in a car accident thanks to his daughter in law’s reckless car driving and now he misses all the fun time that he could have had with his son if he would have been alive today. JLO along with her daughter comes back to stay with Redford in his ranch without his approval. Robert finds his son in his granddaughter while JLO does everything to convince her father in law about her innocence in the accident. Morgan Freeman has his own story as a bed ridden neighbour of Robert who was attacked by a wild bear while trying to save a calf from the clutches of the wild bear. The tomb of Robert’s son has embarked “An Unfinished Life” which gets completed when everything resonates synchronously with Robert accepting JLO’s innocence and forgiving her and Morgan Freeman freeing the wild beast from the zoo.

A must watch movie. I’ll give nothing less than 9 out of 10 for the movie.

The Cinderella Man

“Hey, wassup, any plans of what next as you’ve almost run out of work at home as well like in office?,” came a sarcastic question from my roommate. I, gasping for words from the mouth, thought of one good thing I did in 2K8 to save my ass in future from these kind of annoying questions. And, the good thing was, I bought a laptop to not only to safeguard myself but to kill time when am completely jobless or idle-ohlic.

Sitting idle for too long and waiting for someone to bail me out of this situation, I questioned myself and remembered the very infamous statement that says, “god help those who help themselves”. I took out the laptop from the bag and started exploring the folders I last created. It came off as a surprise when I found a treasure of around dozen unwatched Hollywood movies I missed out previously. I felt elated as my laptop came as a rescuer for me in my bad times.

To pick one from the best was a tough job but I settled on to the fact that no matter what I pick, one day I would have watched all of them. So tonight I review a movie which once again proved as a virtual retreat for me at the start of the year.

Cinderella Man:

Mae Braddock: “Maybe I understand, some, about having to fight. So you just remember who you are... you're the Bulldog of Bergen, and the Pride of New Jersey, you're everybody's hope, and the kids' hero, and you are the champion of my heart, James J. Braddock.”

Listen to these hard hitting dialogues said by Mae (Renee Zellweger) to Jim (Russell Crowe) before the final boxing match. It sounded so powerful when she says this, with trust as well as fear in the eyes for her husband as she might not see him alive after this.

Based on a true story of the legendary heavyweight boxing champion, Jim Braddock, Russell and Renee did a onetime classic role in this drama movie together. Both out performed each other. No matter whatsoever roles comes this gladiator’s way, he gonna prove it to his audience, that he’s best among the best. After a long time, I watched a classic flick like this.

Story of a boxer, a family man, a humble father, an honest guy, who breaks his hand in one of the boxing match and decides to retire from the arena during the great depression of the late 30’s. He does menial job to earn bread for the family and then decides to come back and put on the gloves to knockout every contender he faces. And he does it in style. And soon, the Americans as well as I, finds in him, a benchmark example to come out of the great depression America has ever faced in the same way as he does in his comeback by winning all the matches irrespective of the broken hand and injuries.

The second half of the movie definitely raised my heart beat from normal to frenzy. Every punch shot, in the movie, raised me from the seat as if some spring was kept beneath it which automatically pounces once Jim raises a punch to hit his opponent, Max Baer (played by Craig Bierko) in the movie. It was as if I was watching a live boxing match with full support for Jim to win it not only for himself but for the family and every common man in New Jersey. Truly, this classic deserved to be titled as a “Cinderella Man”.

A must watch masterpiece which deserves nothing less than 10/10.