Look closer.

The funniest part is that this is the second one that I spotted within 20 minutes. I thought the earlier one was a mistake but two? Am I missing something?

So last Friday we has 2 new comers whose movies were released. Harman has almost all of his friend (*wink wink * including gal friend Priyanka) pitching in for the mega budget film, unfortunately it was the biggest disaster for 2008 as far I am concerned for a couple of reasons:

• He looks like a clone of Hrithik, if not for his lack of height. He even sounds somewhat like him.
• Bollywood is not yet ready to produce ultimate sci-fi movies.
• He definitely could brush up his acting skills (may be a lot)
• The script was pathetically boring and senseless. Common which 23 year old guy looks up the sky and speaks to his swarg waasi mother. Grow up!
• Its creepy to have a pop singer speaking to a teddy bear look alike robot.
On the other hand I really did not have a lot of expectations from Jaane na Jaane Tu. A not so mega budget movie with the age old college love story. Nothing unusual, probably that’s what worked for Imran. Although a gamble, Aamir managed successfully to launch his nephew with a simple movie.

The platform of chocolate boy aka box next door has been vacant for sometime. If my memory serves right, it was Aamir aka the maamujaan himself a few years back then it was Aftab Shivdasani (for some time). Now I think the Imran has managed to bag the chocolate boy of Bollywood title quite at ease of course with the help of his maamujaan Aamir.

Gone are the days when moms looked like moms. Now its mom who look like their kids elder siblings. Tube tops, off shoulders, capris, backless are the latest fashion trends for the moms in the city. So on this Mothers Day lets meet some of the hottest moms who have flaunted themselves in many front pages.

Looking at Mallaika Arora Khan, you wouldn’t guess she is a mother of a four-year old (Arhaan). This photogenic model has appeared in numerous advertisements, item numbers and now is all set for her full fledged film role in Shaadi Ke After Effects starring her hubby, Arbaaz Khan.

A mother of four-year old daughter Nysa, Kajol Ajay Devgan may not be tall, fair or conventionally beautiful, but all that is forgotten by her sheer screen presence and charisma.

Madhuri Dixit made her comeback with Aaja Nachle after a five-year gap to take care of sons, Arin and Ryan. The film might not have rocked, but we still love Mads for her amazing ek do theen hip shakes.

This is one Dream Girl who looks dreamier as she gets older. In fact, Hema Malini can give her own daughters, Esha and Ahana Deol, tough competition! Infact seeing her in Coffee with karan, she seemed like a pretty chilled our sexy mom :)

Mother and grandmother, Dimple Kapadia continues to turn heads. Daughters Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna can barely hold a candle to their gorgeous mom.

Last but not the least the utmost super sexy and super cool among all of them. She has always been ‘different from all’, the lively, smart Sushmita Sen has chosen to walk the path of motherhood slightly dofferent, a path less travelled by otehrs. She and her adopted daughter pretty much make a sexy duo.

Mera Road Bheyender

Escelworld

I always wondered what the names stuck on the back of taxis meant. Would he be offended if I asked him to go elsewhere? Now we see our autorickshaws have abandoned social awareness (Mulgi shikli, pragati zhali) in favour of more practical (if not indecipherable) engravings.

Speaking of which, the Mumbai autorickshawallas and taxiwallas must be the most amourous of all Indian men. I’m thrown to one side while he negotiates a pothole but I land on a poster of a pouty Urmila Matondker. From the other corner Amisha Patel stares balefully at me, as if asking me why I favour her colleague. From the side-mirror dangles a beaded heart with tassles. And Himmesss implores me to show a glimpse of my face. Anybody remember Altaf Raja of Tum to thehere pardesi fame? Alas, a decade later, he has finally been dethroned as the king of rickshawalla gaana!!!

And finally, my piece de resistance:

I rest my case. No one understands my dil ka haal better than this man!!

The movie is well executed and has the right ingrediants necessary at the right place. Nothing overdone; no excess shots squeezed in to show the struggles of kid with his diability. Infact Ishaan is by far the character who is happier than the other charaters, playing his pranks and living in his la la land of dancing letters and jumping cartoon images. Aamir has been able to show to the audience the vulnerability of kids and that every kid has a pace of their own. In this competivitve age somewhere down the lane todays parents have forgotten that and are in a constant race to see how far better, smarter and fast learner are their kids in comaprison to their peers. TZP has made us take a step back to understand the each kid has to be handelled uniquly. And like the old saying spare the rod and spoil the child funda doesn’t work for every other kid. This movie makes us realise that if your kid is a slow starter that dosnt mean that they are stupid or dumb. Just that they have to be taught in a different way.

As for the music let me quote Joginder Tuteja from Indiafm.com

“Aamir Khan, Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy and Prasoon Joshi make a zero compromise album which stays honest to the film’s theme and bring in as much variety as one possibly can in the music for a film belonging to a genre different from regular romance, action or drama. Taare Zameen Par boasts of a soundtrack that stays true to the film’s spirit and promises to thoroughly involve a viewer while the music is on in theater.”

Overall its worth the 500/- bucks I spent (including the snacks :D). A must see for every one, especially parents and teachers.

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag
Starring Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kunal Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan and Anupam Kher, the film is about a woman who willingly chooses prostitution as a profession to support her family.

Rani plays the central character of Badki who lives with her parents (Anupam Kher and Jaya Bachchan) and younger sister Chutki (Konkona Sen Sharma) in Varanasi. On the surface, life is fun. The sisters enjoy playing pranks, sneaking off to see a forbidden mujra, and soaking up life on the banks of the Ganges.

But a financial crisis is brewing and Badki is fully aware of it. It gets worse when Badki’s father falls ill. The family is in dire straits and Badki decides to go to Mumbai to seek a living to support her mother and sister.

Alone in Mumbai, she battles with dark forces, keeping her focus on her purpose to support her family and continue Chutki’s education. She deliberately morphs into someone else, leading a secret life full of murky compromises.

As luck would have it, Chutki too comes to Mumbai to work. After her arrival, Badki’s life turns into a minefield because she has to hide her secrets from her younger sister.

Chutki finds success at work and also meets Vivaan (Kunal Kapoor). They eventually fall in love.

While supporting her family and battling with blackmail, Badki gets attracted to Rohan (Abhishek Bachchan) but she lets him go, as she believes he is not meant for her.

After a sequence of events, Badki’s dual life is revealed, and the two sisters find themselves face to face in a confrontation neither had expected. When love beckons Badki again, the whole family is thrown in a tumultuous storm.

Everything threatens to explode in their faces, destroying all of them.

Saawariya
Saawariya marks the debut of Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. Besides the newcomers, Saawariya will also star Sanjay’s favorites, Rani Mukherjee and Salman Khan.
It is the story of a shy dreamer, Raj (22 years old), who spent most of his time isolated in his apartment, creating riddles and finding answers to them, jabbering poetry or arguing with his foolish landlady Miss Disa, with whom he shared a love/hate relationship. Raj was loved by one and all, for he always brought happiness to the people around him.

Destiny plans a magical tale for Raj over the next four nights of his life that shall change his entire being.
Saawariya is the story of a couple’s chance encounter and the advance of their parallel obsessions over four successive nights. An impromptu romance is initiated in a remote town in the serene beauty of picturesque Simla, a quaint hill station in Northern India that was once the summer capital of India under the British Raj, known for its lakes, mist, heavenly snowfall, rains and the tall swaying pine trees.

The bright, fun-filled winding streets of the mall come alive with singing clubs, rustic folklore, dancing, love ballads, flourishing colonies of artists and weavers, and chants from the monastery- all woven in perfect harmony into a magical dream.

It is here that the dreamer finds the ‘lost’ self in himself.

Om Shanti Om

The film has an ensemble starcast on the lines of Main Hoon Naa. Shah Rukh Khan leads the way, followed up by Arjun Rampal, Shreyas Talpade, Malaika Arora Khan and debutante Deepika Padukone. Deepika is a model turned actress. She recently made news by opting out of a Salman Khan starrer.

The story begins from Karz but doesn’t end there. It is about an artist of the seventies who falls in love with the girl of his life. But as masala had to come in, the artist suffers an untimely demise. He is reborn at the same time and then the movie leaps into the 21st century. He is disturbed by the memories of his previous birth and attempts to solve the mystery of his past.

Sessions Court in Jodhpur which upheld the five-year jail term for actor Salman Khan in the Chinkara poaching case, turning down the actor’s appeal against his sentencing last year. The actor failed to appear for the hearing, saying he missed the flight to Jodhpur from Hyderabad where he is currently shooting.

Salman will now be arrested unless he surrenders before the court himself. [IBN Live]

It’s astonishing isn’t it, the way our thinking works? When Sanjay Dutt was handed with 6 years prison sentence, I felt a little bad but overall was happy with the outcome. As they say, “Justice had prevailed”, though I know there are many who would argue with me on this.

But the thing that bothered me the most since Sanjay Dutt’s punishment was what would become of my favorite Salman Khan. To make things clear, no I am not delusional – I am well aware of the fact that many across the nation are more sympathetic towards Sanjay but not Salman. To the actor’s disadvantage, his past (besides the crimes committed) has a lot to do with it as well – troubled relationships, scandals, (rumored) underworld connection, dadagiri and the likes.

No, I am again making it clear; the purpose of this post is not to defend him. Like any other ordinary citizen, I too believe that be it Salman, Ambani or whoever golden spoon fed dude, should be treated equal in the eyes of the law. If a crime has been committed then they should pay for it; no two ways about it.

But no matter how logical and appropriate the consequences may sound, the fan inside of me wants to disagree. It’s hard not to be affected, it’s difficult not to be filled with sadness – it’s tough to be immune. The selfish nature within wants to see him walk off scot-free; his negative past to be forgotten or some loophole to be found in the system, so that the charges against him are dropped.

Then again in life things usually don’t happen as per our wishes, no matter how desperately we want them to come true. On the other, I truly believe…what goes around comes around.

These are naught but the ramblings of a distressed fan and they end thus:

Dear Salman, I shall always remember you for the good things and forever you shall be my Hero No. 1 but dude without any denial this is the time to reap what you have sown.

Goodbye but only for now.

With a number as high as 15 million, there are only a handful among its population who have managed to standout and make a place for themselves in the hierarchy of our dubious society. And keeping in mind the “7 Things about Mumbai” theme, here is my list of 7 most popular citizens of this city, who in very real terms ‘Live Life King size’.

Bal Thackeray – When you mention Mumbai and Politics in the same breadth, the one name that immediately makes its presence felt is, Bal Thackeray, the man behind the now “tainted” political party, Shiv Sena. Often referred to as the ‘Tiger’ by his followers, the cartoonist turned politician has been a center point of many controversies ever since he founded the hardline Hindu party more than 35 years ago. Frankly speaking, I completely detest this man and his party’s so-called philosophy of “sons of the soils”. The reasons are innumerable – their intimidating and (often) violent campaigns, fanatic beliefs, self appointed moral police behavior, vandalism and last but certainly not the least, Mr. Thackeray’s role in sparking anti-Muslim violence in Mumbai, which led to more than 1,000 deaths.

However, no matter how corrupt and immoral his actions have been over the years, the fact still remains that even today Bal Thackeray is described as the uncrowned monarch of the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

The Bachchan Parivaar – Claiming the thrown from the Kapoor clan, Amitabh Bachchan and his superstar parivaar, without any hesitation be considered as Bollywood’s First Family. The elder son of Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Amitabh was a former stage actor, radio announcer and freight company executive in Shaw Wallace in Calcutta, before coming to the land of dreams, Mumbai. Despite early failures, in no time the Indian film industry was declared a ‘One Man Industry’, and Amitabh Bachchan its undisputed king. Later on, Amitabh Bachchan married actress Jaya Bhaduri in 1973 and had two kids, the now most sought after actor Abhishek Bachchan and up-coming television anchor, Shewta Nanda.

But as they say, “fame doesn’t come easy”, the Bachchan family has had its share of ups and downs – cold war with the Gandhis, (rumored) dispute with Shah Rukh Khan, ABCL failure, extra-marital affairs and the most recent, the Farmer’s Land controversy.

Regardless of such bad publicities, the Bachchan Family’s strong-hold in the Hindi Film Industry and their huge fan following has never been affected. Plus with the addition of the new bahu, the former Ms. World and Bollywood’s International Face, Aishwarya Rai – The Bachchan Family today is labeled as one of the most expensive brand in the country.

Ambani Brothers – The Fortune group magazine ‘Business 2.0′, just recently came out with the list of “The 50 Who Matter Now” – and guess what? Apna Ambani bhais managed to get a spot for themselves, which proudly announces them as one of the world’s 50 most influential people in business. The Ambani Legacy is no less than a perfect Bollywood Pot Boiler story of rags to riches. And what makes their story even more entertaining – is their inner bitter rivalry.

"These billionaire brothers from India are locked in a bitter intra-family rivalry, and each seems intent on leading the group of companies he inherited from their late father in a different direction," Business 2.0 said on why they matter.

While brother Anil maybe slightly rejoicing over Mukesh bhaiya’s SEZ trouble, one thing is for sure there can nothing that can stop these business boys from stacking their bank accounts.

Ekta Kapoor – She is bold, she is aggressive and is known in the television industry for her massive tantrums but the one fact about this young Kapoor is that “you” can never ignore her. Barely in her mid-twenties, Ekta Kapoor entered the television backed with nothing but few “innovative” ideas and the burden of her, (once) superstar dad’s expectations. And as they say…the rest is history. Ekta, without any doubts is the only woman who dominates and demands her way in the small-screen entertainment world.

Agreed, Balaji Productions have over-burdened us with their conniving in-laws, bitchy daughters, aagyakari sons, vampy mothers with visually painful dressing sense and never-ending sagas of joint families (that would put even the folks at Rajshri Productions to shame) – but in the business where high TRP rating is the ONLY goal, Queen Ekta is a pro at it .

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar - Probably the only cricketer in the history of Indian cricket to be widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He currently holds the records for the most cumulative runs in One-Day Internationals, and the most number of centuries scored in both One-day Internationals and Test cricket. 34 years old and still going strong….do I really need to say more!

Meeran Borwankar - A tom-boyish teenager for whom love meant nothing but her bike and whose headstrong attitude made her college lecturer’s think of her as India’s finest police officer in the making. And very soon she turned their dreams into reality, in 1981 Meeran Borwankar joined the Police Force and took over responsibilities which were primarily asserted as a “Man’s Job”. But this was just the beginning; soon she was made Mumbai’s Joint Commissioner (Crime), a portfolio one would barely expect a woman to hold. In 2006, she was presented with President’s medal for meritorious service, one of the most honored and prestigious award in Government Services.

In my opinion Mrs. Borwankar is definitely a positive role model for many young girls, who dare to dream beyond household chores, marriage, children and other womanly expectations of the society. Though last but certainly the most controversial of the lot,

Himesh Reshammiya - From production assistant to composing music to singing and now acting, this Mumbai lad has surely come a long way. Today his trademark style of sporting a baseball cap, stubble, fitting jeans, and a belt with an oversized buckle – has made him a house hold name but it’s his nose which has gifted him the stardom and others envious of his popularity.

If you ask for my two bit on His Himeshness, it would be – good musician, bearable singer and a pathetic actor.

Hopefully July 31^st would put an end to the ever-going Sanjay Dutt Trail – either the man’s probation plea gets rejected or he is allowed to walk off with freedom for good.

Judge Kode had earlier declared that Dutt was not a terrorist but had found him guilty under the Arms Act for illegal possession of an AK-47 and other weapons. If the actor’s probation plea for suspension of sentence (on grounds of good conduct) is tossed out, then he could be sent behind bars for a maximum term of five years.

And if one takes into account Judge Kode tough stance, he has sentenced as many as 11 convicts to death; the above scenario seems to be the most likely outcome. Plus sitting behind Yakub Menon in the TADA court while he was handed with “death sentence” must have surely done some damage to Dutt’s moral.

Personally speaking, I think Sanjay Dutt’s probation plea should be rejected. Since he has been convicted under the Arms Act, he needs to be suitably punished for it. As they say – You do the Crime, You do the Time. Obviously the sentencing should take into account his 18 months already served in prison, I guess a slightly lenient term of a year sounds more appropriate.

On the other hand, if Dutt is set free, this decision may not go down well with the certain sections of the society and many others prosecuted under the 1993 blasts case.

Now whether his blue striped shirt and denim pants would help clean out the voodoo off him (and Bollywood), well only time will tell – me just praying for an end, once and for all.

Yes the infamous Munna bhai’s gandhigiri has its charm working for the Indians in America too. In a protest against the last minute reversal in policy that would delay the permanent residency Indian green card seekers sent hundreds of flowers to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Emilio Gonzalez in a three-day campaign that started on Tuesday

Inspired by the hit Hindi movie Lage Raho Munnabhai that extolled Gandhian ways of non-violent protest, the green card applicants sent around a thousand flower deliveries to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Emilio Gonzalez in a three-day campaign that started on Tuesday.
On its part, the USCIS response was equally pacific. It plans to forward the flowers to Walter Reed Army Medical Centre and Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington, the main facilities treating US soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Gonzales in a statement on the agency website.

Read More here

Who says that Bollywood movies are all about signing songs and dancing in the rain..