Veer movie trailer - Jan 2010

Salman Khan does it again - get dups when he cannot get the real actress :) The movie Veer which is an epic war movie has Lisa Lazarus (miss UK 2008) and Zarine Khan both of them look like Katrina. Remember folks for the movie "Lucky no time for love" Salman picked Sneha Ullal who looks just like Aishwarya. Watch this trailer and be your own judge.

The Taking of Pelham 123 - good watch

Suspense, Thriller and interesting till the very end. It is about hijacking of a subway in New York. Danzel Washington and Trivolta are great as always and make this a good watch. This is a remake, i have not seen the original but this movie sure uses latest technology - webcam, google, etc.

Pyar Impossible - Jan 8, 2010

This movie is written, produced and acted by Yash Chopra's son - Uday and directed by Jugal Hansraj. The theme is age-old geek guy meets cute girl Priyanka and is probably a chick flick. I hope to enjoy on DVD when it is released. I know Uday is big on stopping piracy; I just hope the industry however learns that DVD and streaming is an extremely powerful medium and if they find a way to charge every person streaming online say within 15 days of movie release, the collections in this new medium would be huge. Enjoy the trailer and song clips below...for now...

The Ramen Girl - tribute to Brittany Murphy

This is a sad coincidence, i was watching "The Ramen Girl" over the weekend with Brittany Murphy the lead star who just died from cardiac arrest at the age of 32. In my opinion she was talented, had the girl next door look and had a long career ahead of her. Watch this trailer which summarizes the movie - American girl gets deserted by her boy friend in Tokyo and then gets crazy about cooking ramen. The culture challenges and communication barrier is also shown well. The movie is OK to watch, does get boring in between and it is very predictable.

Kabhi Kabhi - Amitabh - Bally Sagoo remix

This is a remix of an old song - Kabhi Kabhi by the remix expert Bally Sagoo and commentary by the legend Amithab. At first i used to hate the remix as they add nonsense to the original, but when the old song is over 30 years old, remix adds new life to it. By the way... i think we need a remix of this remix (this is over 4 years old).

Star Trek Movie - Good

Watched the Star Trek movie, it was good. Growing up, this was a series i watched every week; this new movie retains some of the original flavor but is fast paced and entertaining. Overall a good movie even if you are new to this.

The car chase scene is great - watch the trailer video around 1:30 for this.

Celtic Woman - great Irish music

This is a 5 lady Irish group that went big in 2006. I did watch their 2009 show on UNC. The music is very soothing and reminds me of Enya. They performed at White House for the National Christmas lighting. Enjoy the clip -

Body of Lies - Good movie

Just watched Russel Crowe and DiCaprio staring movie.
Story: The movie touches current situation in Iraq; and the global war on terror. What to expect next, and who can one really trust? Isn't this real life situation?

Cast: I loved the role and the acting of Mark Strong, the Jordanian intelligence head. DiCaprio has a powerful role but I did not find him convincing. Others did a decent job.

Notable Moments: When DiCaprio first visits the Jordanian girlfriend played by Golshifteh - the customs are so different - a simple hand shake is considered not appropriate. Next DiCaprio loosing his fingers - not a pretty site.

Neele Neele Ambar - Abhijeet version

Old is Gold; this song will never die... Neele Neele Ambar - original score by Kishore Kumar in movie Kalakar. It has good lyrics and tune. The link below is remix by Abhijeet and features John Abrahman (he is too young in this one), enjoy....

Remembering 26th Nov 2008 (26/11) attacks on Mumbai

This is an excellent UK documentary on the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. The interview of Kasab and phone intercepts are detailed and explain the complete plot and execution.

http://mobmag.in/seriously/dispatches-terror-in-mumbai/

James Cameron's Avatar

James Cameron's movie are always big in scale and great to watch - True Lies, Titanic are my favorites. This is probably the next block buster - the first reviews who got to watch the movie (private screening) claim to be delighted with the 3D effects.

3 Idots first look

This is a new movie having a lot of star power - Aamir, Karena and Madhavan + Vidhu Vinodh Chopra (producer) + Rajkumar Hirani (director). The movie is based on a novel (Five Point Someone) by Chetan Bhagat who became an overnight star with his One night at a call center novel.

It is about a group of friends that struggle to get a good GPA at college and how that affects their career, friends and life.

See this link for first look with the cast http://www.rajshri.com/Video/3-Idiots-First-Look

Also Youtube trailer..

Delhi 6 - good movie

Omprakash Mehra has another good movie - Delhi 6; while his last movie Rang De Basanti was a superhit, this one did OK. The director however continues to pick up tough issue - this time it is religion and caste. I liked the flow of the movie but most of it seemed predictable and one sees a glimpse from other movies like SRK's Swades.

Notable scenes - song at NY times square, conflict scene between Hindu and Muslim that pair up as soon as they find a common cause.I don't want to be a spoiler but the director has made the ending too long and full of suspense.

I recently watched an interview of Nasarudin Shah where I echo his comment, why do Indian directors stick to the standard themes - religion and suppression of woman. In current age there are several other issues that bug the 1 billion Indians.

Defiance - great true story

I watched Defiance on DVD today and it is a definite watch. Movie is about a jewish camp that is trying it's best to survive the German attack just prior to World World 2. The movie is slow and touches various aspects. It shows how the Bielski brother's escape the Nazi slaughter; then help several hundreds. One of the brother's separate out as one joins the army while other stays with the camp.
Casting is great and some scenes are noteworthy for special mention:
* Camp struggle especially when winter strikes.
* The wedding which is run parallel with the fight against Germans.
* Fight for medicine at the German police station.

Yanni - Nostalgia

This is one of my favorites...Yanni is very passionate and full of energy....

District 9 - interesting and different

The movie is like a documentary about an alien refugee camp. It starts with a footage that shows a huge spaceship over the city of Joahansburg, South Africa. After 20 years the local population is irritated with the aliens who are nick named "Prawns". The special division dealing with Aliens (MNU) is given the charter to move these aliens to a different camp far from the city. During this exercise of ejecting them, the main star, Sharlto Copley is infected by a chemical and slows turns into one of the aliens.
The movie is overall interesting but parts of it are stupid and weird - for instance the 24 hour evacuation notice to aliens who don't have any other choice. It is also not clear as to how only some humans understand the alien language.
If you are expecting any action like Predator or Aliens - forget about it.

Happy Diwali from Obama

Hiking Yoga - San Francisco, CA

Check this interesting concept Yoga and tourism - http://video.forbes.com/fvn/personalbest/hiking-yoga-mind-and-body-fitness?partner=playlist

Fox - hindi movie - average

I just watched the Deepak Tijori movie "Fox" staring Arjun Rampal. Movie is a drama about a lawyer fed of defending criminals. He leaves the criminal life and starts a new life in Goa where he meets an author who plans to publish a book. The original author dies and Arjun publishes the book under his name. Watch the rest.. as it does take a twist here. Overall the movie is OK. Arjun's action is not great; Sunny Deol has a play but too little in my opinion.
If you would like - here are the online links http://apnaview.com/Hindi-Movies/Fox-2009?zcc=4ad00656

Dil Bolhe Hadipa

I haven't seen the movie yet, but it seems to be worth a watch and is based on the English movie "She is the man". Rani pretends to be a guy to play T20 cricket against Pakistan. The English version was based on soccer.

Based on the reviews, movie fails to do good in social or sports aspects, for instance - you just cannot chase a 200+ score when you are down 49 for 9. Nevertheless if want to enjoy some slight stupid and funny movie, i would say go for this one. It is produced under Yash banner.

The Hauting in Connecticut - Scary

Just watched this on DVD today, this is about a haunted house which was at one time a mortuary. The family that moves into this place sees supernatural activity - this is based on a true story and at times real scary. The family has one teenager who is sick and about to die keeps getting images of a dead young kid who tries to tell the story of the house.

Weather this is really true is debatable since only that one family "Snedeckers" claims to have seen activity in that house - no one before or after reported it. See this article.. http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/090326-bad-haunting-movie.html

Hillary and Aamir at tech India event

Hillary Clinton and Aamir Khan share their opinons about Teaching in India and how education can act as equilizer. It is good to see that Bollywood icon is promoting education and is very sincere. Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/VIDEOS-News-illary-Aamir-attend-Teach-India-event/videoshow/4795033.cms

Pink Panther 2 - Average

This was an OK movie, if you have seen the first one, this sequel will seem very similar and not much of a change. It has some good moments. Steve Martin is great with the French accent, the rest of the cast is just OK.

Aishwarya Rai Bachan was the other reason i wanted to see this; she does not really steal the thunder. It is however good to see main stream Bollywood star in an English movie. She is smart and looks great and has done a decent job. However her role and the movie are short.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose - True story

I was watching this on the local TV station and the movie is scary. The scary part is not the movie itself, it is the fact that it is a true story. It raises the question - if the belief of supernatural "God" exists, then are demons also real?
The movie is the court drama of "People vs Father Richard Moore" which details the events that lead and the eventual exorcism of Emily Rose. The movie has been directed well with excellent performances. If you are intrigued and want to read more... see this page that compares the real and reel life. http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/emilyrose.php

I believe portions of this movie have inspired Indian blockbusters - Chandramuki and Arunditi

Tips to manage Mangal Dosh, Shani Dosh

This is from an astrologer.... she talks about popular steps to handle the influence of stars in our life.

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

My first Youtube upload.... this is a sad movie and a really sad song...but done well.

Jagjit Singh... Hoshwalon Ko khabar.. Sarfarosh

This is a great song from a wonderful movie... good story line.

Juda Hoke Bhi... Kalyug song

Songs that will never get old

Songs again... I believe these will never get old... thanks to SRK... first one is from Pardes shot in CA and sung by Sonu Nigam, 2nd is from Yes Boss and sung by Abhijeet.

Quantam of Solace - good action

Bond movies are generally fascinating, action and drama packed. This movie does live up to the expectations. The movie is rich in locations, style and cast. Daniel Craig is pretty convincing and this is his 2nd movie as Bond (not 3rd as quoted earlier). Olga Kurylenko is ok, but does not get close to Eva Green (from Casino Royale).

Now the negatives... the plot of the movie is not deep and the story does not have a good flow. The link between oil, water and politics is not good.

Overall, it is still good for a Bond fan and the series continues.

8 * 10 Tasveer - decent drama - worth watching

After my friend's recommendation I saw Nagesh Kuknoor's decent drama - worth a watch on DVD. The movie has Akshay Kumar with extraordinary power to go back in time and see the past - only one minute at a time. He uses this power to solve his father's murder. The story will keep you engaged till the end and in my opinion is a simple murder mystery when compared to what we see in TV shows like 24, CSI. There is no good chemistry between Ayesha Takia and Akshay and she is not convincing. The senior cast is wasted and are only there for a very brief period - Girish Karnard, Annat Mahadevan and Sharmila Tagore. Javed Jaffery is good and adds some fun to the movie.

If you prefer to watch it online, here is the link: http://apnaview.com/Hindi-Movies/8x10-Tasveer-2009?zcc=4a03779b
Enjoy!!!

Youtube movies!!!

Google videos is promoting Youtube movies.. http://www.youtube.com/movies

Mummy - Tomb of Emperor - average

This is the 3rd of the Mummy sequel. Movie is average and is now out on DVD. The story line is similar to the first movie except that it is set in China. What i liked = Jet Li getting the idea of being immortal; discovery of the lost army; the sangrila diamond and the snow creatures and some action scenes. What was not that great = middle of the movie was little boring; action scenes look just ok - not great; the cast looked weird - the main actor does not look too old and has a 20+ old son.

Bottom line: Watch it if you are a Mummy fan for the action scenes and adventure. It is however not as exciting as the 1st one.

Some Songs I liked.....enjoy

I picked these songs for their lyrics and melody. Videos are ok... enjoy...

Valkyrie - average movie

This is based on a true story and regarding the world's worst enemy Hitler which has captivated people for ages. It is educational for young kids and depict life as it was in 1940's. This being a true story, the outcome is not a surprise to anyone - so it does not have any surprise factor. It is generally slow and gets the audience ready for Cruise's failed attempt to kill Hitler. The acting, casting and dramatisation are good, and hence it is worth seeing. However I would have liked the movie to bring in some context and show how Hitler rose to power and how the Alliance against him grew and led to his final collapse.

Link to trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmJUE1LYPUc

Back after a break - songs collection

I am back after a long break. Check out my songs collection http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DED16CE2DA920789

Slumdog Millionare link

Movie just got 4 Golden Globe awards. It is a hindi movie with english words - the drama and storyline are good. There are few scenes that could be deleted to make it more appealing. http://desiclipshare.com/short-clip/slumdog-7-1

AR Rehman has one good track and background score is good.

Enjoy the movie.