Movie Review: Toy Story 3 delivers...To infinity and beyond!!!

Genre: Animation/ Comedy
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack

This signature line from Buzz Lightyear, alone is enough to bring a smile and perhaps a nostalgic flash of the preceding two installments of this heartwarming saga but Toy Story 3 delivers a lot more than just that. From the first frame itself, the movie sets into sublime motion with one scene simply flowing into the other. The audience gets introduced to all the old familiar faces - the Potato Heads, Rex the Dinosaur, Hamm the Piggy bank, the aliens, Slinky the dog, Jesse and of course, Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

Andy's all grown up now and headed to college and the Toys are left guessing as to their fate now that Andy won't be interested in playing with them anymore. Woody, always the loyal one, tries his best to convince them that Andy won't discard them, but the others don't believe him. What follows is another typical 'Toy Story' adventure with the toys experiencing the supposed thrills and chills of being toys to kids in a Day Care, imprisoned in what they believed to be their new wonderland and Woody, as always, is there to save the day. Toy Story 3 also brings to the fore a host of new characters including Barbie, Ken, Lotso and Big Baby to name a few.

On the downside, the 3D of the movie..well let's just say it isn't there. After the magic that Avatar has created, the benchmark is probably set so high now that one wonders if any other movie would even come close to creating that level of realism. To expect that from an animation movie, no less, would be harsh but the sad truth is Toy Story 3 doesn't even attempt to impress in that department. One may as well watch the movie in 2D because the true magic of the movie is in the story and characters rather than the effects. Another disappointing factor was the dearth of humor in the movie..though, a couple of scenes do make you chuckle and smile.

However, what really warms your heart towards Toy Story 3 is not the beginning, the action but really, the end. Knowing that Andy is now, indeed, too grown up to play with his old toys the movie ends on the best possible note, leaving perhaps a touch of sadness that this marks the end of a one-of-a-kind saga

For those who are still trying to make up their mind, I'd say if you found anything good about the previous two installments don't bother your heads on this one - just go watch it. If you loved toys when you were younger, I bet this movie will remind you of your favourite ones, the good times you had with them and possibly a touch of regret if they aren't in the best of shape any longer.

So go ahead, remember the good ol' days and bid farewell to one of the few trilogies that have lived up to the expectation...and beyond

Movie Review: Raavan - Kata Bechara Bakara

Genre: Action/ Romance
Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Govinda, Priyamani 

It took two years to complete this movie. Am still reeling from the shock, disappointment, anger et al felt while viewing Raavan. Two years?? It takes two years to make drivel like dis? And I thought Bollywood was slowly but surely catching up with Hollywood...

For the tourists, you get treated to two hours of sheer visual delight with breath taking landscapes, amazing shots and excellent camera work. For the movie goers, looking for a decent script, plot etc, start watching the movie in the second half. The first half makes no sense watsoever. So you start off proceedings with an animal-like Beera character (played by Abhishek Bachan) who cackles and shouts at will and is seemingly enraged over something, that you need to wait till the second half to understand. Meanwhile, Aishwarya Rai as the kidnapped maiden and wife of the SP (who is hell bent on catching Beera) seems to have the easiest job in the world - she has to have both hands tied, make sure her eyes are red at all times (still not sure why that was required) and scream and shout at all and sundry. Just for the record, I just condensed 70 minutes of the first half of the movie in one paragraph. Meanwhile, the song and dance routine continues with 3 songs packed into the first half itself. The movie intervals with the song - kata kata bechara bakara..and one is only too consciously aware who the bakara is at this point.

Thankfully, the movie picks up its act in the second half where the story finally gets revealed. One begins to understand the character of Beera and why he acts the way he does, why he has kidnapped Aishwarya and the plot finally begins to fall in place. It is only the last 20 minutes that really deliver what the movie promised, the only time that the audience is left guessing as to what turn the movie would take, who Aishwarya would really end up with and whether this really is a tale of love. If only, the rest of the movie had been crafted so painstakingly with curious twists and turns, there was so much potential..

Alas, Raavan is far from the thrill-ride it promised to be. The plot is very predictable and twists and turns, few and far between. Even the leads, don't deliver a dynamite performance, though, to be fair, they both have very little room to. Abhishek, surprisingly, doesn't really fit the character of Beera and is loud and over-bearing. Aishwarya, though she looks pretty as ever, doesn't get to do more than scream and shout. Though I haven't actually timed it, I think Govinda's character possibly has the maximum air-time and dialogues. As the forest guard (playing a pseudo 'Hanuman' role) who accompanies the SP, he is in his element and provides much required comic relief in the film

So unless you are going for the scenery and landscapes, or are really eager to hear shrill screams & shouts in surround sound, I suggest you stay clear from this one...

Movie Review: Kites..Yikes!!!

Genre: Romance/ Drama/ Action

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Nicholas Brown, Anand Tiwari, Kiran Bedi, Kangana Ranaut

At the outset I would like to thank Mr. Masand, Anuradha Chopra and the rest of the reputed film critic elitists, for having given such generous reviews to such a disastrous film - it gives me the opportunity to pen my few words and make this post worth much more of a read than if I were just agreeing to their take on it.

About the movie, I can tell you plain and simple - don't watch it!! Not in the hall and if you have really nothing better to do when the DVD arrives, you can catch a peek but you won't miss much even if you miss it. I say this with quite a heavy heart though, since I myself had much expectations from what was touted to be the successor to 3 idiots (even the thought causes anguish). All this talk of the movie being a brave attempt to extend the boundaries of a typical Bollywood movie is pure balderdash and I can't for the life of me understand why the established film critics are so desparate to give this movie a chance.

Sure the Hritik-Barbara pair sizzle on the screen and the chemistry is quite obvious in each frame but the movie needs to be supported by a plot line which simply isn't there. While you sit and watch one disjointed scene follow another, random car chases and action sequences, you can't help but wonder of what could have been!! Two strangers, neither speaks the others language share an invisible bond that attracts them towards each other despite the risks and dangers of doing so. Top it up with the fact that they are both otherwise, street-smart hustlers who are only looking for a way to get rich overnight and not your reflective and emotional couple who would otherwise believe that love is beyond boundaries. The possibilities were simply endless...the constant conflict that each found themselves in, could have been so wonderfully captured, wherein the audience gets to see each, slowly but reluctantly follow their heart to unite despite the dangers fraught with doing so. No, instead you get to see, a mish mash of sequences roughly put together..random bank robberies..car chases...constant bickering between Barbara and Hritik..yet somehow, somewhere there is supposed to undeniably, be love underneath it all. One moment they are worrying about survival while in the very next they manage to steal lots of money and are singing and dancing about it. The constant flashback mode (read Memento, I probably shouldn't bring up the name of such a masterpiece to this drivel) only succeeds in confusing the audience further and half the time wondering what sequence is actually supposed to be present-day!!

What saves this movie (at least attempts to do so) is the way it has been shot..breath taking landscapes and amazing camera work are probably the best takeaway from Kites.

It pains me to think that some director in Hollywood actually thought that this movie was worth making an English version of..Bollywood could easily have had a better advertisement than this farce.

If after all this, you still feel this movie is worth it..well, its your money..I'd ask for a refund if I could...

Movie Review: Not all that Bad - maash Company

Genre: Action/ Crime/ Comedy
Starring: Shahid Kapur, Anushka Sharma, Meiyang Chang and Vir Das

I know this review comes in late but for those of you who have avoided this movie, based on the blasting it got from the critics (read Masand, Anuradha and Co.), I do believe that the movie's not all that bad as they've made it sound.

What's really done this movie in, is the way it has been publicised. I think the teasers and trailers before the movie gave the wrong idea and expectations were sky high before people walked into the movie hall. When one reads the tagline say 'They did all the wrong things....the right way!!' the images the mind conjures up are those of an Ocean-like crew (read Oceans 11) who's got it all figured out and is able to pull off smart heists and get away with it all. On that count, the movie certainly doesn't deliver.Far from it...

Its your average movie with a simple plot line..a boy genius who comes up with an idea to make money by using loopholes in the system and is able to pull it off with the help of his close friends. Once the idea works they replicate the same idea over and over again to make a lot of money...until the success goes to the boy-genius's head and he starts considering himself better and bigger than his friends..its not a novel plot line but it has been executed stylishly and in a manner where u don't impatiently look at the watch and wonder how much of this you would need to endure further..the first half passes in quite a breeze and though the second half tends to drag a tad too long, the movie has its heart in the right place. The transformation of the boy-genius (played by Shahid Kapoor) from a sincere yet ambitious lad to an arrogant and rude guy is nicely done. Each of the characters in the story are well crafted and given adequate screen time to be understood by the audience. The heist itself though is not highly convincing and seems a little too easy to pull off. One disappointing factor is that there are no major twists and turns as the story develops which is characteristic of such heist movies. Another disappointment is the practical absence of humor (another critical ingredient of such movies) other than one scene in the beginning which is guaranteed to have you burst out laughing.

Decent performance by Shahid Kapoor who takes up most of the screen time and the supporting actors also play their part well. All in all a fairly watchable film but strictly a one-time watch

Reel-take

When I first start writing this blog I practically vowed that this would not be just another 'movie- review' blog. That it would have articles related to actual incidents/issues/thought provoking stuff that's happening in the world or rather, my take on it.
However, dismayed as I am by the quality of reviews of our 'so-called' movie critics that are meant to act as the beacon of light and potential soothsayers for the latest movies to hit the silver screen, I believe it would be a disservice to the general public if they were forced to run with the farce that these critics have come up with lately

I'll try, to the extent possible, not to give away too much of the story, especially for movies that I think are worth a watch, can't promise a lot in that respect. However, what I do assure you, is a sincere and honest opinion of the average cine-goer...not reviews based on technical perfection..amazing screenplay...great editing per se...but rather the overall movie going experience..so here goes

Well done India!!

While its difficult to impress the general public with the regard to the Indian cricket team (They don't have the spirit to play..the passion is missing..only interested in making money through ads etc..the usual stuff..)
I have only respect and adulation towards the Indian team for having lifted their game to such a level: Not in the area of batting (though the Little Master proved his worth yet again in a scintillating century), not bowling either (not to play down the exploits of RP Singh and Bhajji),and not even fielding (though they were few complaints in that domain as well), but no, there was another aspect of their game that overshadowed their feats in all other departments: Their humble acceptance of the ridiculous umpiring decisions!!
You only need to see the replays of every single decision that went against them and you'll know what I mean. The fact that I didn't throw something at the television screen in frustration while watching the replays is a marvel in itself.

With the growing popularity of ipods and other portable musical accessories, I am beginning to suspect that umpires have begun to bring them to the field too. What else would explain missing a clear nick by Ponting when he was on a paltry 17?? (With Australia struck at 45/2)..but you could possibly excuse him for that..maybe it was his favourite song on the Ipod and he was listening to it too intently to notice; visually the nick was hard to tell.
But how could he miss Symonds' edge to the keeper. Despite all the song and dance in his earphones I am sure Mr. Bucknor would have seen the ball edged to the keeper..the deflection was clearly visible..but no, not out. Australia was tottering at 134/6,down and nearly out, but that wrong decision helped Symonds amass a mammoth 162 'not out' (which was obvious since none of the umpires seemed to be in the mood to give him out, so much so that even the third umpire 'erred'. Its all very murky indeed and its not due to bad light this time)

If we thought the Australian batting was all the surprises we would get, little did we know the two men in the proverbial white coats had plenty more in store for us.
Rahul Dravid, the poor guy has been facing much flack for dismal performance so far in the series and he seemed determined to prove his point. The Wall again erected his defences to give nothing away to the Aussies. But when you have the umpires on your side even the toughest of Walls, crumble. Rahul Dravid was given caught behind for a delivery in which the bat was not even visible when the ball passed to the keeper. Dravid had been clever enough (or so he thought) to tuck the bat right behind his leg to leave no doubt. However, the umpire had other plans in mind and for reasons only he himself can best explain, concluded that the bat had mysteriously managed to make contact and firmly raised his finger. Dravid's reaction "Arree yaar" couldn't have captured half the frustration he would have felt.
As the world watched in disbelief the test match continued and one could only hope and pray that the rest of the decisions would be fair. However, the umpires were in no mood to relent and saved the best for the last!
There have been many records made in this match but all would pale in comparison to the most ridiculous 'form' of umpiring decision. If one thought that the third umpire giving a wrong decision was the worst it could get, well , think again. Sourav Ganguly, was all set for another biggie when he edged one to the third slip, only to be scooped up by Michael Clarke. Ganguly, sensibly, stood his ground and looked to the umpire, Mr. Benson for his decision.
Mr. Benson, for his part, was clearly confused. He wasn't himself sure whether Clarke had grounded the ball while catching it and the batsman seemed determined to wait for his (Benson's) decision.
Pressure and stress will make man do the most extraordinary things in extenuating circumstances but what possessed Benson, to go to Ponting, yes Ponting (wasn't he the captain of the opposition team?) for his take on the situation, loses all sense of meaning. Ponting on his part, equally disappointing and hell bent on winning (like a child aged 9 playing his first match) emphatically gestured that Ganguly was out.
That was enough for Benson. Since 'Umpire Ponting' was so sure that Ganguly was out, there was no need for further judgement and confidently raised his finger.
After all the agony and frustration, day 5 finally closed with the inevitable..India crashing to a 122 run defeat..but when you have the Australian team + the umpires in the opposition..its a tough ask..one can only applaud the Indians for their effort.

'Food' for thought

As a budding Human Resource professional, one is frequently confronted with questions as to how organisations can improve the productivity of their employees, how to build engagement among them so that they are passionate towards the organisation and want to sincerely take it forward. Innumerous theories have been suggested by many a renowned management guru but have met with little success.
I recently discovered what might be quite the recipe for success in such a domain. While not satiating enough by itself, in conjunction with other measures it is sure to whet the appetite. Surprisingly and sadly, it has been given very little importance by most organisations.
If you've been wondering what I have been alluding to all this while, the answer is as simple as it might sound: "food"
One look at the food served at so-called great places to work, during lunch-time, and you will be convinced that I am not as loony as I might sound and there might actually be some merit in my claim. I recently went to the office of a leading organisation and was unlucky enough to be forced to have my lunch there. The food was appalling. I honestly wondered why it could not be compared with the stuff served at Tihar jail and how it could possibly get worse than this.
I remember that day quite well. After an intense session of non-stop work I was famished, and looking to attack my lunch with gusto, but my misery was trebled when I saw what was being served. My heart went out to the poor employees who were forced to bear such injustice day after day. Why, it almost made me not want to join the organisation at all once I graduated.
We all talk about attracting and retaining talent. Here was a new one: repelling talent...don't want talent to join you?? Treat them to food in your cafeteria and you've lost them forever...

Enough sarcasm, I have made my point. Let us look at the flipside.
I did my training at the Taj President Mumbai for a period of 16 weeks. I remember the employees, all working hard, (lots of physical labour in hotels) and then seeing them attack their food. Lunch was a gala affair. The best hour of the day. All their energy came from the fact that they were being given good food. Look at the positives:
The employees feel cared for and well looked after
They work on a full, satisfied stomach
They are healthy and up to the task
I tried to put the same picture in the leading organisations. A dull and dreary cafeteria replaced with good and healthy food. The entire scene transformed. People were happy and satisfied. Employees did not look for the first excuse they could find to complain about the food. They were proud of their workplace, and it was the topic of the season with friends from other companies. (USP for attracting talent??)
We keep talking about best practices and how organisations should adopt them. How come this one has missed the eye? I haven't even seen much research being done in this regard either. I sincerely believe that this is an investment worth making. I agree with the fact that you need to cut costs wherever you can, but one has to realise that this is one area that should not be compromised. I am not campaigning for high class multi-cuisine being served. Nothing of the sort. All I ask for, is a decent square meal, that I can look forward to, after an exhausting day's work.
Think about it...