Oru padam oru book :)

Silapala postsugaluku munna continuousa review postsa poatutu irunthenaa...intha blog pakkam vara pala kodi makkalla (read 5)  sila kodi per (read all) oru review postukum innoru review postukum pothiya idai veli vidanumnu sollirunthaanga. So..konjam gapku apruma i the review postings :D

Talaash -

Aamir khan padathoda main USP is Aamir khan himselfngarathu ulagarinja vishyam (Thala... Aamir khan yaarunu kekkamaateengannu i the pheeling. I the eagerly awaiting ur post on his Satyameva Jayate series). Review paakaama i rarely go to see movies. Apdi paakama poi bulbu vaangina padams pala. Intha padathoda review paathathu thappa poachu :(( Enna maathirye sila pala cashews, padathoda twista poattu udaichitaanga. In a way it spoiled the fun. But, first time viewing itself, felt like second time viewing for me. I could relate to each scene and how it built up to the climax. Aana, i felt, even without reading the spoiler, one could guess the twist. Oray matter, you would've had to wait till halfway into the second half of the movie. Athu varaikkum the buildup is gradual. Infact, dragging is the right word. Plight of women in Red light area has been told in a breezy casual way. Even their sufferings are depicted in a matter of fact tone with almost no melodrama. Setting the base for a story is important. Aana the entire first half gets bogged down in that. I guess the only reason why Aamir would've accepted the movie is for its ending. The twist is something similar on the lines of Sixth sense movie. Wish they could've tightened the script in first half and edited quite a few scenes in second half. It could've been THE spooky thriller akin to Sixth sense. Dialoguesla Hindi-o-hindi. Even for casual conversations where in usually some english words get thrown in, in general, even there also they had used Hindi words. Not to be faulted, but it somehow sounds hmm..different. Not casual, but forced. Not sure if people would use such shuddh hindi terms in real time conversations. Another standout from the movie is definitely Kareena kapoor. The way she coquettishly smiles and pouts and grins at Aamir, she carries that air of mystery about her role throughout. As it is she has a vampire white complexion that she can fit right into the "Twilight" vampire family. In this movie, the lighting makes her literally glow!! Rani mukerjii doesnt have much of a role, except to appear with Archie Andrew like freckles , sans makeup, which look a bit scary on closeups. The handicapped guy, Nawazuddin Siddique, has done a neat role. His costume, mannerisms and facial expressions everything is picture perfect. Towards the last few minutes into the movie, Aamir is seen crying, sitting on the river bank, where his son drowns in an accident, with the letter from his son. I wish they had ended the movie there. Though it prolongs for a minute more with Rani joining Aamir, i guess it would've been more poignant an end. Read somewhere that Aamir never knew swimming and learnt just for this movie. This man surely has that burning passion for excellence. The title song "Muskaane joothi hai" is haunting and the lyrics kind of outlines the story. Over all, a movie that could've been a lot better, had it been made a bit shorter and for a tighter screenplay.

Gils verdict - Definitely worthy of a one time watch.

Immortals of Meluha -

For almost a year have been wanting to read this book. Truth be told. I never feel secure to pay 100 plus rupees to buy any Indian author's book. Whether he is an accomplished one or newbie. But never felt the same to try out Foreign authors :( It feels sick and sad to even type these. But for Chetan Bagat, who has established himself as the masala author catering to the masses, i've never read any racy thriller kinds from Indian authors. Suitable boy, God of small things...well they all are heavy duty stuff. What i mean is the Jeffrey Archer, Sidney sheldon variety. If you guys are aware of any please let me know. Coming back to the Meluhans. After reading this book, i feel satisfied on that quest mentioned above. The story reads like Amar chitra katha on novel format. The best part about the book is, its a beautiful blend of author's imagination with mythology. Its the story of Lord Shiva, who is depicted as a marijuana smoking Tibetian. To avoid constant attacks from fellow tribes, he decides to accept the offer of Meluhans to migrate his tribe. Meluha is described as a place over and above Punjab and is basically whole lot of JnK plus other parts Akhanda Bharath thrown in. Meluhan's, coming from the clan of Suryavanshis, have a hidden agenda in inviting Shiva to their place. They've a prophecy per which, the Neelkanth, will be their saviour and will help them conquer evil. They accept Shiva as their leader and he helps them to win the war against Chandravanshis of Swadweep. After the battle Shiva realises that even the Chandravanshis have a similar prophecy that has the same prediction. He is left in a dilemma and feels sad that he might have made a big mistake by taking sides with the Meluhans. In the course of the story, there is a romantic interlude between Shiva and Sati, daughter of Daksha, who is the king of Meluhans. There are other characters like Nandi - captain of Meluhan army, Badra - shiva's friend, Ayurvati - chief doctor of Meluha, Krittika - Sati's friend who later marries Bhadra, Parvateswar - Meluhan army chief and Sati's god father and Brahaspathi - chief scientist of Meluha. There are lot of references to Lord Ram and his reign and rules. But never it mentions him as god. The Suryvanshi's strictly adhere to the rules of Lord Ram and feel their way of life is much better and noteworthy compared to Chandravanshi's degraded liberal lifestyle. There are lot of references to caste system and untouchability. And then there are the nagas, the scene changers. They are described as a people with bodily disfigurations, which they hide behind their hoods and are known for their mastery over martial arts. They bring with them an element of surprise and there is always an air of mystery, whenever and wherever they find a mention.

The story is the first of the trilogy, followed by Story of the Nagas, which i am reading now and final part being Oath of the vayuputras (soon to be released this year). The first part ends at such a crucial scene that, wonder how many would've had the patience to wait for the second part :) It ends at such a nail biter scene where a pregnant Sati is attacked by a Naga with Shiva rushing to protect her. I simply rushed to the second book to know what happens next :) will post the review once i am done with it. Coincidentally many of my friends happened to start reading this book at the same time. Hope they all were as thrilled as me :) The theme of the book is a pretty risky one, considering how impatient and intolerant out society has become and any deviation towards criticism would've been considered blasphemous. This is where the author scores brilliantly. He mixes his own ficiton with mythological fiction and the blend is near perfect. Without digging deep on to the social issues, he dwells over them just enough to give a peek of his opinion and manages to even wring out a solution. As i mentioned before, if you are a fan of Amar chitra katha and thriller novels, this is the book for you.

Innum 11 dayskulla olagam azhiyaama iruthaa adutha postla paakalam..varta :))