Pawankhind (Marathi)

 Saw Pawankhind (Marathi) recently on Prime Video.

Maharashtrians don't need any introduction to this. This epic story is imbibed on our minds.

For non-Maharashtrians: This was an epic battle between Marathas at a mountain pass near the fort of Vishalgad. The Marathas were providing cover for Shivaji Maharaj who was escaping from the fort of Panhala which was under siege by Siddi Jauhar. 

The unequal battle was fought between 300 Marathas led by Baji Prabhu Deshpande and Sambhu Singh Jadhav against the 10,000 strong Adilshahi forces (Bijapur Sultanate) led by Siddi Masud, son of Siddhi Jauhar.

The pass was previously known as Ghod Khind. After this battle it was renamed as Pawan (Holy) Khind. It was chosen because it was narrow, and only a few people could pass it at one time. This helped reduce the numerical advantage that the Mughals had.

A solider named Shiva Kashid resembled Shivaji Maharaj in appearance. He volunteered to dress like Maharaj and get captured. This bought some additional time due to the confusion over identity, before Siddi Masud realised the error and gave chase.

Baji Prabhu had told Shivaji Maharaj that he would hold on until he heard cannon fire 5 times from the fort of Vishalgad, an indication that Shivaji Maharaj had reached safely.

The forces fought for several hours, and held off a vastly superior force. Almost all of the 300 Marathas were killed, along with 1000 or more of the Adilshahi forces.

A gravely injured Baji Prabhu held on, only letting go of his hold on life after hearing the cannons from Vishalgad.

When you see the movie, there's one thing that you notice. All the characters seem to have been inspired by the greatness of whoever they were playing, and raised their level automatically. It's as if they know that they owe it to others to give their best. 

You can see why Shivaji Maharaj was (and is) revered - he not only was great himself, but inspired others to raise their level just by his presence.

Other than the blood and gore, there's a few scenes that make you emotional. The good bye that Shiva Kashid (Ajinkya Nanaware) says to Shivaji Maharaj, knowing that he is going to a sure death. The gentle chiding of Baji Prabhu to his King when Maharaj was refusing to leave them to fight without him is touching. 

It's a very good cast of actors. Chinmay Mandlekar as Shivaji Maharaj, Ajay Purkar as Bajiprabhu Deshpande, Sameer Dharmadhikari as Siddhi Jauhar, Aastad Kale as Siddhi Masud, Ankit Mohan as Rayaji Bandal, Mrinal Kulkarni as Maasaheb Jijau, Akshay Waghmare as Koyaji Bandal; all have done justice to their roles. Even the supporting cast is solid.

Liberties have been taken with the cinematic rendering of the story. But the crux has been retained. A bigger budget would have made this a grander film. Action scenes are sometimes technically jarring. 

But still this is a great effort from the director Digpal Lanjekar, and the entire team .

The smile on Baji Prabhu's face just before he dies in the film, grinning at the 3 main Mughal opponents, is worth a million words.

Totally worth watching.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2

Saw Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 on Netflix.

If you have seen Bhool Bhulaiyaa (1), you will like it. If you haven't seen Bhool Bhulaiyaa (1), you will still like it 😊.

The main characters are Kartik Aryan (Ruhan), Kiara Advani (Reet) and Tabu (double role).

The standard haunted haveli, where Monjolika has been captured inside a room protected by holy symbols, is the only thing common between BB (1) and BB (2). The rest is a completely new horror - comedy story. Anees Bazmee, being  a pro at comedy, tilts more towards that than the horror part. But it's thoroughly enjoyable with the innocent looking Ruhan taking everyone for a ride, making up things on the fly, and generally winning the day. He makes silly things believable, and has a charming air about him.

There is some horror in the story too. Tabu never seems to really age. Her ethereal beauty shines through even when made up gruesomely as a ghost. Her acting is as top class as ever, especially bringing out the differences between twin sisters. Slight mannerisms here and there, and you feel they are 2 completely different people.

Kiara (Reet) as the leading lady is disappointing. Granted that she has to share screen time with Tabu. But she could have done more, and its a little dismaying that she didn't up her game. Just about OK.

If you compare 1:1 the cast of BB (1) vs BB (2), obviously BB (1) wins hands down. Vidya Balan and Kiara Advani is too much of a gap. Akshay Kumar is superior to Kartik Aryan. And there's no Shiney Ahuja, Paresh Rawal or Vikram Gokhale to lend their support. There were absolutely killer comedy scenes in BB (1). BB (2) has many that make you laugh, but none that will leave you rolling in the aisles. And Vidya made my blood freeze at least once. That didn't happen anytime during BB (2) with me.

But whoever is there in the film, does their job well. Rajpal Yadav, as chhote pandit, is a class act as usual. Sanjay Mishra, Rajesh Sharma and Ashwini Kalsekar are solid. Govind Namdeo does his bit. Even the child artist (Samarth Chauhan) does a good job.

So all in all, worth a watch. You won't be bored. And yes, there's a twist at the end which is satisfying.

Kashmir Trip musings - 2022

 “Gar firdaus, bar ruhe zamin ast,

hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast.”

“If there is paradise on this earth, it is here, it is here, it is here…”

-- Amir Khusrau

We just returned from a visit to Kashmir (week ending 28 May). This blog is not really about the places to visit - that you can get from a Google search which will return a plethora of sites.

No, this is more about what I felt on the ground.

Disclaimer: My sample set is really small. One driver who was with us continuously for a week. A few local drivers that took us around at various tourist spots, shopkeepers that we met, hotel employees.

Tourism is booming in Jammu and Kashmir right now. Travelers from all over India are swarming there. Hotel availability is an issue. All good from that point of view.

The talk with locals starts on expected lines. "We have no problems with India. All our earning comes from there. We are all one people anyway. Unrest is just a media creation. Don't believe all that you see on the TV channels."

Scratch the surface, wait long enough, and something slips through.

One of the local drivers, who took us to Betaab valley (named after Sunny Deol - Amrita Singh's movie by the same name) said "Betaab valley is so beautiful, that you won't feel like going back to Hindustan from there." Slip of tongue, but very noteworthy.

Our continuous driver was all business generally. But in a week, there will be times when you do speak your mind.

We asked him about how the situation was during COVID times. He said that they were confined to their homes. No phones, no internet for 6-10 months.  "Aap ke saath aisa ho jaaye to kaisa lagega aap ko? Mere dost ki Ammi ko COVID hua. Na landline, na mobile phone chal raha tha. Humein hi pata hai hospital kaise le gaye unko."

"Internet nahi hota hai to bahut dikkat hoti hai Sir.  2010 mein band kiye the. Jab Burhan Waani shaheed huye the tab bhi bahut dikkat hui thi."

Burhan Wani. Shaheed. Terrorist for us. But shaheed for him.

Another time our tempo traveller was stopped because of a passing Army or CRPF convoy. This has been started since the Pulwama attack where 40 of our CRPF jawans were martyred in a suicide attack in 2019. It's very inconvenient. But necessary from my point of view.
Chat during one such stoppage. "Sahab, kitni security force hain yahan par. 80 lakh Kashmiri. Unko sambhalne ke liye 16 lakh force (Army + CRPF + J&K police, etc.). Jagah jagah par rokte hain. Humein bahut dikkat hoti hai."

During our trip, Yasin Malik's sentencing happened (life in prison). He is a classic case of how we lost the plot and turned a killer of 4 Air Force officers into a Nelson Mandela type of figure for the Kashmiris (hard to achieve this, but we did it).  Our guide said that "Accha hua unko maut ki sazaa nahin hui. Warna shaayad aap ki trip yahin pe khatam hoti. Mein kuch nahin kar paata."

We chatted with our tour operators (local and Mumbai). The feeling that they have is that people in Kashmir have not earned for 2+ years due to COVID. Coffers are empty, and money is low. So this year their priority is to earn. And get their houses up and running. Which is understandable. When your stomach is empty, first thought is to put food into it. That is why the locals are not even entertaining any requests from terrorists / insurgents. 
The Amarnath yatra this year will, God willing, pass off peacefully because nobody wants any risk to their income.

The issues (if any) may start next year. Once stomachs are full then we shall see if the love still remains. I don't want to go into the politics of it. But hearts and minds are not won in a day. It's a tough balancing act that our government and agencies have to do.

Some people may never be fully in India's favor. But if enough get firmly behind us - hopefully for love of India, worst case purely for financial reasons - we may yet turn the tide.  Best is if the "shaheed" turns into "terrorist". Hope is eternal.

Mai: A Mother's Rage (Season 1)

 An ordinary mom turned avenging angel. That is the story of "Mai" in short.

Sakshi Tanwar plays Sheel, an ordinary doctor mom, whose daughter (Supriya - Wamiqa Gabbi) is run over by a truck in front of her own eyes. The rest of Season 1 is spent in Sheel getting deeper and deeper into the mystery behind Supriya's death, finding that it was a murder, and then avenging it.

Sheel works in an old age home with medical facilities in Lucknow. Her husband Yash (Vivek Mushran) is an engineer, but is stuck running their pharmacy shop and doing electrical odd jobs in his spare time. Their daughter, Supriya, is a mute doctor who also is a stand-up comedian. She is run over on the date of her younger cousin brother's birthday.

The truck driver who runs over Supriya apologizes to Sheel. While apologizing, he says "I didn't want to do it!" This sets Supriya thinking and she follows the trail. The trail leads to a murky world of medical scams, ruthless characters, and the SPF (Special Police Force) of UP.

The cast of characters includes Jawahar (Prashant Narayanan), Jawahar’s lover Neelam (Raima Sen) and Jawahar’s band of goons. Two of them, Prashant (Anant Vidhaat) and Shankar (Vaibhav Raj Gupta), deal with Sheel the most. First they treat her with kid gloves out of sympathy. Then they find out how ruthless she can be on her path of vengeance.

There's a whole bunch of characters - including the always reliable Akash Khurana (Goel) as the higher level crime boss, Seema Pahwa as a woman who has killed her abusive husband and owes Sheel a debt of gratitude, and Farooque (Ankur Ratan) of the SPF who had a personal interest in Supriya.
But none of them are developed beyond a point. Only Sheel as the main protagonist and Prashant are very well etched. Even Shankar, loyal to Prashant, is shown properly.

Raima Sen as a typical gangster's moll is wasted. So is Seema Pahwa, who still manages to showcase her brilliance by the emotions in her eyes. Vivek Mushran never manages to rise above the mundane. Wamiqa Gabbi is good in her role, even with the mute limitation.

The use of colors is brilliant. It adds to the whole atmosphere.
This is almost family friendly. Just a few scenes here and there - 13+ can see it methinks. Has a A certificate.

In spite of its limitations, the series is worth watching for Sheel (Sakshi Tanwar). The emotions that she shows are just amazing. So is her single minded determination. How she uses her medical knowledge to take revenge is mind boggling at times. 

Hell hath no fury like a mother on the warpath - see it just for her.

Pune 52 (Marathi Movie) Review

 This is a relatively old movie (2013). I just saw it yesterday on Amazon Prime. Couple of scenes will make it one degree short of family friendly, but I think you can watch it with teenagers.

The movie is set in the early 1990s in the Pune 52 pin code area. Amar Apte (Girish Kulkarni) is a struggling detective who gets mostly cheating spouse cases. His lack of earning and their overall situation makes for daily fights with his wife Prachi (Sonali Kulkarni). 

One day Amar gets a case of a woman who is cheating on her husband with a prominent builder, Prasad Sathe (Kiran Karmarkar). While Amar does get incriminating photos of the 2, the police go after him since the builder has clout and files a case of invasion of privacy. As a result, Amar has to forgo his earnings from the case as a bribe to the police.

This leads to further tensions between Amar and Prachi. These are increased by her mother (Bharti Achrekar), who has been helping them out financially.

Enter a mysterious woman - Neha (Sai Tamhankar). She claims to be Prasad Sathe's wife, and asks Amar to spy on him. 
While spying Amar discovers that all is not as it seems. He then starts playing his own game. 

In the interests of not giving too much away, Neha disappears after a series of events. And then Amar starts getting a lot of business from Prasad Sathe and his contacts. The fights between Amar and Prachi totally go away as his earnings start rising dramatically.

But something eats away at Amar, to the point where reality and imagination start to blur. 

Somehow the plot doesn't get very exciting. You keep trying to figure out what the director is trying to say. This film is labelled as belonging to the "Neo noir" category. Which for me means - dark lighting, some weird concept being thrust at you, and some things left for your imagination.

At the end you are left with the thought that this could have been so much better. Amar's character is underdeveloped. The mystery is limited to your imagination. It could have been this, it could have been that. But it isn't great at all (that or neo noir is not for me). 

The superb cast is the main reason to see this film. Girish Kulkarni is damn good. Sonali Kulkarni is a treat, as always. Sai Tamhankar does her job well (even though her character is underdeveloped too). Bharti Achrekar's talent is wasted.

The scenes between Amar and Prachi are too good. Any husband wife will identify and appreciate them :-).

Recommendation: Watch, but with low expectations. 

Bestseller (Amazon Prime Hindi Web Series)

 Not family friendly.

The past can come back and haunt the present. And screw it up badly.

A famous author Tahir Wazir (Arjan Bajwa) has been facing a writer's block many years since writing a very famous novel. He meets a wannabe writer Meetu Mathur (Shruti Haasan) who is a huge fan and has a story of her own. Since he has no ideas of his own, Tahir wants to user her story and so strikes up a friendship. 

Tahir's wife (Gauhar Khan) is a successful Ad agency owner. She gets a new intern, Parth (Satyajeet Dubey), who is bright but has a hidden agenda. That of destroying Tahir and anyone close to him.

A series of whirlwind events, bodies dropping, assaults, and we have a full blown case on our hands. Tahir gets hammered from all sides, and the needle of suspicion points squarely at him.
Mithun Chakraborty and Sonalee Kulkarni are the cops in charge of the case. Mithun has a reputation of not letting go until he finds the truth. But he has a past too.

The truth lies hidden in Tahir's past and the novel he wrote. 

The direction is fast paced. You don't feel bored at any point in time. Mithun as usual, gives a good performance. Shruti is competent, so is Sonalee. Gauhar Khan is so-so. Satyajeet Dubey is good in places, overacts in others. Arjun Bajwa does a decent job, but he could have done much better.

Finally the series left me with a sense of being less than what it could have been. It's a little unsatisfactory. But still definitely worth watching, with a promise of Season 2 clearly at the end.

The Great Indian Murder - Season 1 (Hotstar)

 Watched The Great Indian Murder on Hotstar. 

Not family friendly.

Tigmanshu Dhulia has directed the adaptation of Vikas Swarup's murder mystery 'Six Suspects'. I haven't read the book, so can't compare. 

The series - season 1 - is watchable. But if you are expecting Gangs of Wasseypur level stuff, you will be sorely disappointed. It keeps you engaged, and is pretty decent. But GoW it's not. 

A rich business man and third class human being - Vicky Rai - is killed at a party thrown at his own farmhouse. The list of suspects is long. But mainly there are 6, which include his own father - played by Ashutosh Rana. 

The bonus for me came in the form of Raghubir Yadav. What a delight to see him in action again! Ashutosh Rana and Richa Chadha are good in their respective roles as father of victim/suspect and Police inspector respectively. 

The CBI officer leading the investigation has his own agenda and no morals. Played by Pratik Gandhi, this was a disappointment. No pizazz. 

Shashank Arora as one of the main suspects was much better. 

Jatin Goswami as the victim is decent. Could have added more flair, but was ok. 

The main grouse with this series is that I am used to the Hercule Poirot kind of direction where the audience is also presented with the same set of clues as the detectives. And then you also get to do your own detection. You fail often, of course, but that's not the point.
Here you are shown things very late. So you can't even begin to try and deduce anything. It might be that way in the book, but surely there's room for improvement when the medium changes.

Some of the episodes are much better than the others and give a glimpse of Tigmanshu that we love. . Even with this unevenness, it still is watchable.

In For A Murder (Movie Review)

 Saw "In For A Murder" on Netflix. 

It's a Polish film. There's dubbing in English, so that saves you from reading subtitles all the time. 

A bored housewife gets a juicy murder to solve right in her neighborhood. 
By pluck and determination she slowly gets towards the truth. 

There's a spread of suspects to choose from. The inspector is her classmate. He's a bungling sort of chap who can't say no to her meddling in an official investigation. 

The movie is totally child safe. It says 13+, but I would show it to a 6 yr old. 

Don't expect an Agatha Christie level mystery. This is more gentle medium pace rather than hostile fast bowling 😊. 
But its charming. The location -  small town Poland, the characters, are all likeable.

The lead actress is the glue that holds the movie together. She makes it worth watching and keeps you from getting bored. 

A classic this one definitely isn't. But I liked it.

https://www.netflix.com/title/81338273

The Girl with a bracelet (Movie Review)

Saw "The Girl with a bracelet" (La Fille Au bracelet) --> French with English subtitles --> on Amazon Prime Video.

I liked it. Story of a teenager who stands trial for murdering her best friend.

Extremely low on melodrama, and almost devoid of any grisly visuals. Looks almost like a documentary. Only the dialogue in a few scenes renders it not suitable for family viewing.

Very simple, and yet holds your attention. Understated, and a welcome change for me at least.

It touches on generation gap. And questions whether we are too hasty in judging young people for their actions from an older generation's perspective.

The end has deliberately been left ambiguous, and to each his own as to what it means. 

The other kind of classics - 7 - Tiranga

The other kind of classics proudly and patriotically presents - "Tiranga"!

If you are a patriot, you have to love this movie! Else go to...

A competition in obnoxiousness between the great Nana Patekar and the greater Raj Kumar!
Since Raj Kumar is senior, Nana decided to play second fiddle here and be a little less obnoxious (respect, you see).
The film is replete with "main kitna mahaan actor hoon" scenes by both of them. Very enjoyable.

Oh yes, the story. Not much to tell.
3 nuclear scientists are kidnapped by Pralayanath Gendaswami - no shame in body shaming here! The plan is to make his own missiles and destroy India.
Gendaswami is actually Marathi Manoos Deepak Shirke! What a performance, sir!
Brigadier Suryadev Singh (Raj Kumar) allies with Marathi sher Police Inspector Shivajirao Waghle (Nana Patekar).
Lots of twists and turns later, they save India from certain nuclear disaster on 15 Aug 1993 (mind it!)

Boring! It is Nana and Raj Kumar that are the hearts of the film! Do not miss the song "Peele peele o more Raja"...
Mamta Kulkarni is there for a break in the bromance between the two.

Trivia: Nawazuddin Siddiqui refers to this movie in the movie Black Friday while discussing the planting of explosives.


And finally -  those of you poor people who think missile technology is, well, rocket science, that is for mere mortals!
Raj Kumar foils Gendaswami's missiles by removing their *fuse conductors*. That's right, you didn't know that
missiles had fuse conductors, did you? Well they do. It is a critical part, without which the missiles blow only smoke.
See for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js_I5EJqQOY

The Other Kind Of Classics - 6 - Sheshnaag

"The Other Kind Of Classics" presents one of the all time classics! If you ever want to see just one of these movies, this is it!!
 
The name: Sheshnaag
Actors: Jeetendra, Rishi Kapoor, Rekha, Danny, Madhavi and Mandakini.

Story: Aghoori (Danny) wants the ichchadhari Naag-Nagin pair of Pritam (Jeetendra) and Banu (Madhavi) desperately.
Bcoz every lunar eclipse they reveal a trove of immense wealth and power - more powerful than the Gods!
 
Meanwhile, in a small village far, far away, we have Rekha whose father dies. She is left with a foul hubby (Anupam Kher) and
innocent brother (Rishi Kapoor). Bhola loves animals. He can charm any animal with his flute. He saves the nagin (Banu) and hence
is hated by Aghoori and his henchmen.
Meanwhile Rekha suffers a Draupadi fate. Anupam loses her in a wager, and she is surrounded by men wanting to sexually assault her.
So she jumps off a cliff. Banu takes her form and comes back to take care of Bhola. They move into a palatial mansion.
Pritam joins as a servant so he can be close to his wife and help look after Bhola.

Now Bhola falls in love with Kamini (Mandakini) and undergoes training to make a strong man of himself. This training is classic in itself!
But how will these guys stop Aghoori?

Fantastic dialogue of all time:
Aghoori on the origins/chemical composition of his power:
"Aghoori ki srushti Shaitan ne ki hai!
1000 Shaitanon ko mar kar, shamshan ghat mein jalakar, ek raakh tayyar kiya gaya.
Us raakh ko 1000 chipkaliyon ke khoon mein gholkar, ek putala tayyar kiya gaya.
Aur uss putle ko magarmach ke khaal se dhak diya gaya.
Aur uske haathon aur paaon ke jagah bichoon ke dankh laga diye gaye.
Aur uske baad Aghori paida hua!"


The entire movie is available on YouTube.

Finally, we leave you with proof that Alpenliebe stole their "Kaisi jeebh laplapayee" ad concept from Sheshnaag.
Enjoy this song - I am not responsible if your stomach pains with laughter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzAR7ZdIaN4

The Other Kind Of Classics - 5 - Mr. Prime Minister

"The Other Kind of Classics" presents "Mr. Prime Minister"!

Dev Anand made many wonderful, memorable movies. But then he kept on making a ton of trash ones. Even Jewel Thief was not spared with a hideous sequel called "The return of Jewel Thief". Blow by blow, Dev saab painstakingly dismantled the temple he had created.

But I digress. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. So it is with this "movie" called "Mr Prime Minister". Enjoy it!

The story - cough, cough! is as follows:

Kutch earthquake survivor Johnny Master (Dev saab) sells newspapers for a living in a small village in Gujarat. Residents of the village form a new political party and make Johnny their candidate. He wins, his opponents kidnap him. After being tortured, Johnny regains his memory to discover that he is Prem Batra, the third richest Indian in the UK! On the day of his arrival in Kutch, he had become a victim of the earthquake.  Johnny busts corrupt politicians and becomes India's prime minister.

The scene below shows Johnny watching 9/11 disaster happening from some unknown hotel window.

Points to be noted in just this one scene:

1. Ranchi waala aircrash bhi 9/11 ko hua tha.

2. As many extras as possible were crammed into the room.
3.  There is a naked guy among the shocked onlookers.

4. A plane crashing into a building must create a mushroom cloud, because it looks exactly like an atom bomb.

5. Dev Saab and Ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani were buddies.
6. Rudy got a check for $1 million from Dev saab. He never quite recovered from this shock and became the raving lunatic Trump supporter that he is today.

7. The lady casually donated blood for *all* the ghayal log in the WTC towers. Manmohan Desai had nothing on her!

https://youtu.be/hkSU-YSYeZI

The Other Kind Of Classics - 4 - Zehreela

"The Other Kind of Classics" is back!

When is a remake not a remake?

When it has been remade in such a way that it takes a life of its own or  irreparably mangles the original!

We proudly present the latter - "Zehreela" starring the one and only Prabhuji urf Mithun da!

Mithun is one actor on whom an entire series of Classics can be written! Throughout his career he has acted in funtastic, crazy films. Classic satisfaction guaranteed in each and every one of them.

In Zehreela, which is an unimaginable remake of "Cape Fear", Mithun has done numerous action scenes, each worth its weight in gold. One of them is a "non-veg" action scene where chicken is literally the bone of contention. Watch, ye mere mortals, as Mithun da pulverizes the goons and turns them into kadhai chicken!

https://youtu.be/R7sGEAC_1Fc

The Other Kind Of Classics - 3 - Andaz (Anil Juhi)

Teachers' Day Special!
The Other Kind Of Classics  presents - "Andaz"!
Teacher: Anil Kapoor
Student: Karishma Kapoor
Wife: Juhi Chawla

A 2nd level remake of a South Indian movie (Tamil remade into Telugu remade into Hindi), the plot is simple. A student (Karishma) falls in love with her teacher (Anil). The teacher rebuffs her and she vows to marry him. Scared, he marries an illiterate (Juhi).

Karishma is mortified by what she has put Anil through. So she tries to improve Juhi - education, manners, etc. wise. Matters get complicated when Karishma moves in with them after her father dies.

But the real reason why this is a classic because this is a combined skeleton in both Anil and Juhi's closets!
Both of them have not done anything cheap in their careers. Except here.
Since it is a David Dhawan film, cheapness is guaranteed. So also here there are 2 songs with double meaning.
"Khada hai khada hai .... Dar pe tere Aashiq khada hai"
And
"Mein maal gaadi tu dhakka laga". What poetry!

Presenting one of the daags on the chaands (Juhi and Anil).
Please see when alone.

https://youtu.be/9pDOSg2IBGs

The Other Kind Of Classics - 2 - Jiyaala

The Other Kind Of Classics proudly presents - "Jiyaala"!
This hidden classic has remained hidden for a reason. Actually 2 reasons. The hero and the heroine.

Hero: Siraj Khan. Such powerful expression - one. Used throughout the movie for all scenes.

Heroine: Poonam Jhawer: Such a wasted talent. Just look at her eyes! Kya nahin that uske paas? Naysayers say kuch nahin tha. But we ignore such ignoramuses.

Bonus: This song, blasted out by Kumar Sanu. If you can tolerate it, see from 4:07 to 4:18. Such expressions have never been seen on the silver screen. And God willing, will never be seen again.

https://youtu.be/6a6eC-9BDZQ

The Other Kind of Classics - 1 - Meri Awaaz Suno

This is a series of post which lists films that are "the other kind of classics". These are basically films that are so bad that you like them! Sounds contradictory, but that's the way it is.

First example is the great Jeetendra doing a fantastic double role in "Meri Awaaz Suno".
One good cop, and the other an apparently bad one called Kanwarlal.

Admire the genius of Jeetendra as he tries to play the 2 characters as differently as possible...

https://youtu.be/l1CMo_qvu8c?t=2m25s

Diary Notes from my child's school

"Please send 4 onions, 2 karelas and a brinjal with your child next Monday."

The note. The dreaded diary note from school.

You have just come home from office, and are chatting with your better half and the little one. Somewhere in the conversation, the kid casually says "Oh BTW, there is a note in my diary. Teacher has asked parents to read it."

The conversation stops. My better half and I look at each other, trying to keep a poker face. But internally there is churning. As Spider Man would say, "My spider sense is tingling!"

With trembling hands, we open the school diary. Pinned with a stapler pin is an innocuous looking small white piece of paper. On it are typed the latest instructions to parents - kind of like the mafia boss instructing his minions to do his bidding. Disobedience is not an option. Consequences will be severe.

This note has a sequence of instructions, akin to a complex puzzle.
"Next Thursday there will be a monthly competition."
(Me): Ok, no probs.

"Your child has to make a pen stand."
(Me): So far, so good.

"The materials have to be found at home."
(Me): Oh oh.

"The density of the materials sent must be between 0.69 to 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter."
(Me): Google!!!

"Sketch pens allowed but minimal usage recommended. Glitter can be used maximum of 5 dots per square cm. Natural colors preferred."
(Me): I should send turmeric and red chilli powder. Maybe dhaniya powder and garam masala. Ekdum natural.

And so on.

Sometimes you have to make charts (healthy food VS junk food).
Sometimes you are made to rummage around the streets like a crazy person (find stones that are rhombus shaped).

Sometimes you visit 20 costume rental shops (Armadillo costume kidhar milta hai bhai?)

You gather all the required materials, and send it with your sweetie.

At the end of the day you ask, "So what did you make with it?"
Sweetie: "Oh, Fantasia Luktuke from my class got a lot of material from her parents, so we used that only. I kept mine aside."
(Me): $#@*#$@$!

We finished our education without our parents having to even bother what went on in our class. Here I am getting a second, forced childhood. I am learning things I don't want to learn. Any of the parents can pass the school exam tomorrow, because we know their syllabus by heart.

What cannot be cured, must be endured.

The weekend approaches. Bliss will be mine!!

Sweetie: "Oh Daddy, another diary note!"
(Me): Spider  sense ....

Note: "Please grow fungus on bread, paper, grass and cow dung. Each must be watered and studied every 2 hours. All materials must be sent on Monday."
(Me): Sweetie, how much fungus can Fantasia Luktuke's parents grow?

Movie Review: Kick

Summary: Go watch it!!

Saw Salman's "Kick" recently. This turned out to be yet another "paisa vasool" movie from Sallu Bhai! Keeps you entertained throughout, if you don't demand that logic is a necessary part of a film.

Story: Salman (Devi Lal Singh) is a daredevil who gets a "kick" in life by doing risky things.

Salman meets Jacqueline (Shaina) and they fall for each other. But he can't keep a steady job as it becomes too boring. So they break off.

Cut to a spate of robberies where the thief is always ahead of the police. Using a prototype mask discarded by Hritik in Krrish, and a "mark" discarded by Hritik in Dhoom 2, the thief robs truckloads of money. It turns out later that the thief is none other than - hold your breath - Salman (gasp)!

Randeep Hooda is after the thief - named "Devil". He also falls in love with Jacqueline.
But Jacqueline to Salman ni! Her heart still belongs to Sallu Bhai.

Randeep figures out that "Devil" is actually Devi+L of Devi Lal Singh, thus achieving a major breakthrough for all mankind.

In between there is a brief cameo by Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a demented greedy head of a Medical empire, with a corrupt Chacha as minister to boot. These become Sallu's enemies.

Many twists and turns later, the inevitable happens. Sallu wins - everything.

There are some good action and chase scenes in the movie.

Salman does what he does best - entertainment, entertainment, entertainment!
Jacqueline is passable, although her accent needs work.
Randeep is good and holds his own throughout.

Mithun da as Salman's father is, as usual, solid gold. (Koi shaq?)

Nawazuddin is good but has a smaller role than he deserved.
Archana Pooran Singh goes over the top in her portrayal of Sallu's mother. Saurabh Shukla is good as Jacqueline's dad.

Wasted was Byomkesh Bakshi (Rajit Kapur). So also was Sanjay Mishra. Both deserved more.

Book Review: The Salvation of a Saint

Is it possible to kill someone from hundreds of miles away?

This is the fundamental question that Detective Galileo (Yukawa, who is actually a professor of Physics) has to answer.

Intriguing? Definitely. 

This installment of the Detective Galileo series from Keigo Higashino may not match the masterpiece ("The Devotion of Suspect X"), but it is also very good nonetheless.

The plot is simple. 
Yoshitaka was on the verge of divorcing his wife. He is poisoned by coffee spiked with arsenic and dies. The most logical suspect is naturally his wife, Ayane. However, there is a glitch. Ayane was hundreds of miles away when he was murdered. 

Yoshitaka was not a saint. He had other women in his life at various times, and had treated them badly. That includes Yoshitaka's mistress. But none of those suspects is as strong on motive as Ayane. But her (lack of) opportunity to commit the act at the fatal hour is a major obstacle for the investigators.

To add to this, the lead detective (Kusanagi) unfortunately falls for the prime suspect . He just refuses to believe that she could have had anything to do with the crime. 

However, his assistant, a lady by the name of Kaoru Utsumi, thinks exactly the opposite. Her woman's intuition tell her to go after Ayane, even if the facts don't support her theory.So she does what her boss has done for years when stymied—she calls upon Professor Manabu Yukawa.

Yukawa and Kusanagi had damaged their relationship during the previous case ("Devotion ..."), and are not on speaking terms. But Utsumi's interference forces them to work together again. And being thorough professionals, they do that quite well.

Higashino follows his tried-and-tested method of hiding everything in plain sight. When the end is revealed, you might end up kicking yourself for not guessing the plot.

Book Review: The devotion of Suspect X

This is not a "who"dunnit. It is a "how-was-it" dunnit. 
You know the crime, and the criminals. What you don't know is how the crime was covered up. 
The author hides everything in plain sight, and does a wonderful job of it.

The story begins innocuously, with the central characters (Tetsuya Ishigami and Yasuko Hanaoka) going about their normal routine.
Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who works at a restaurant that delivers packed meals. She has a daughter called Misato.
Ishigami is a very intelligent Mathematics teacher. He is a next-door neighbor of Yasuko and Misato.

One day Togashi (Yasuko's loser ex-husband) shows up at Yausko's apartment to extort money from her. He threatens to keep doing this and to intrude in their lives. The situation quickly goes out of hand, and Togashi is killed by mother and daughter.
Ishigami overhears the noises, and puts 2 and 2 together. He offers his help in taking care of everything - including getting rid of the body and also covering up the crime.

Inevitably the body turns up and is identified. Kusanagi (the detective investigating the murder case) starts looking at Yasuko as the obvious suspect. He tries to poke holes in her alibi but is unable to do so. 

Kusanagi frequently (unofficially) consults with Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and his college friend. Yukawa and Ishigami are also batch mates from the same college.

Yukawa initally does not suspect Ishigami and he only meets him to catch up with his old friend. But slowly Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami is not just an innocent witness. 
Then we are treated to a battle of wits, where Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko and Yukawa tries to unravel the layers of deceit and get at the truth.

In the end, Yukawa does decipher what happened. He is awestruck by Ishigami's devotion which even surpasses his considerable intelligence.


The prose isn't very elegant - probably because this is a translation from a Japanese novel. But it doesn't matter. The substance more than makes up for the lack of style.

My favorite quote from the book:
"Sometimes, all you had to do was exist in order to be someone's savior."