Another Saturday went by and we friends were like a bunch of movie hungry college students. It was after a gap of 3-4 years that we saw back to back movie in theatre. 1st it was “Luck-By-Chance” and then “Dev-D”. And we enjoyed both.
One was a light hearted motivational flick about a struggling actor who made it big because of his luck, timely flattery and open going nature. My verdict: 3.0 out of 5.
The other one was a contemporary version (not exact remake) of the renowned “Devdas”. It’s like Devdas has traveled from the era of early 20th century to the 21st but his life remains similar. Just that now he isn’t ambivalent in the end and comes out of the dreaded life to avoid the tragedy. Out of the box story writing, direction, music and choreography. My verdict: 3.5 out of 5.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Delhi6 - A.R. Rahman is the best
At the time of all the speculations revolving around A.R. Rahman getting an Oscar for Slumdog millionaire, comes another superb album - Delhi6. I 1st heard "Masak Ali" from this album and found it different. Music was awesome as ever. But, it was even better when I heard the full album. Take music of the title song Or my personal favorite "Rehna Tu", u can't just stop grooving to the music or singing along. Moreover, the album contains very different type of songs ranging from aarti, to Qawali; from slow "Dil Gira Dafatan", to fast high-bass title song. It's a sort of music that slowly grows on u...
I played "Rehna Tu" 50 times since yesterday and can still keep going on & on...
Rahman simply ROCKS...
I played "Rehna Tu" 50 times since yesterday and can still keep going on & on...
Rahman simply ROCKS...
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Evolution of mid-size Indian cars...
India has pressed on the accelerator in the economic terms from last few years. Thanks to globalization, our strong determination and numerous other factors which now drives our country in race with other formidable developed countries. We can surely say India is one of the fastest growing developing countries. We have made advancements in fields ranging from agriculture to space (Chandraayan) and there seems to be no looking back.
Today, I am just going to write about the advent of low to mid-size segment car market in India and my views on some of the cars.
India's car revolution actually began with introduction of Maruti-Suzuki (MUL) in India around 1981-83. At that time, there weren't many cars and India was dependent mostly on 2 wheelers and other means of transport. The only 2 cars in India were the outdated Premier Padmini and HM Ambassadar. Then came "Maruti 800" which revolutionized the Indian car industry. Maruti 800, a light-weight compact car with a fuel-efficient 800cc engine became the dream of every middle class Indian family. With sales sky rocketing, it became a very common name in Indian households; still "Maruti" is a term commonly used for Maruti Suzuki 800. In fact, Maruti 800 (and newer alto versions) is still the most selling car in India. Along with Maruti 800, came Maruti Van (also called Omni). I still remember my Uncle had one of the only few in Kullu those days and we really roamed a lot in that.
Maruti Suzuki also launched Gypsy in 1985. The sporty Gypsy gave a small SUV look and gave solid performance. It was meant for off-road driving and was extensively used by the army, govt vehicles (especially Police). I remember driving my dad's office gypsy when I was doing my graduation. It gave a different sort of driving pleasure. It was robust, had good pick-up. It wasn't meant for luxury but for rough conditions.
Apart from these, Maruti also rolled out Zen (1st generation) in 1993 and it catered to thousands of small-luxury-car loving population. ZEN acronym for "Zero Engine Noise" lived up to its name. A noiseless car with classy styling was the 1st choice of many middle class Indians for a long time. Only downside for Zen was its low ground clearance which sometimes had to bear the brunt of bumpy Indian roads. Eventually, the 1st generation Zen's production was ended after it was replaced by the 2nd generation successor.
Maruti kept dominating the market and face-lifted the same cars until 1999 when it launched Wagon-R. But before that, Hyundai's Santro had arrived in Indian market and so had India's indigenous Tata Indica. In 1998, Santro (Or the Atos) made its world debut in India. The tall-boy design hatchback with more space, style and power than Maruti 800 turned the tide in its favor. Soon Hyundai was the 2nd most selling car company in India. On the other hand, there was a proud moment for India as Tata launched a mid-size passenger car named Indica in the end of 1998. With spacious interiors and a good home-grown diesel engine, it was calling for a change in Indian automobile industry. In 2 years, it was the highest selling car in its segment. In this combat, Maruti Wagon-R's competitive specifications could not meet the Santro's style and despite of selling numerous cars lost to Santro in sales. Both Maruti and Hyundai kept face lifting their models and kept providing more features. Indica moved along in the diesel segment.
In 2000, Maruti came up with Alto, next generation mini car that was priced between 800 and Wagon-R. Alto also made huge sales and was the lone warrior at its price tag for a long time. In 2005, Maruti also launched Zen Estillo (Generation 2) which in many respects is similar to Wagon-R.
Next, Hyundai came up with Getz and then Maruti Suzuki with Swift. Getz initially did a good business but was taken aback by Swift's dominating power, style and performance. Swift still leads the race in its segment.
More recently we saw series of new launches in Indian car market and mid segments also got the benefit. In 2007, Hyundai launched i10 and Chevrolet launched Spark. In late 2008, Hyundai launched i20 and Suzuki launched A-Star. i10 was highly acclaimed, it earned multiple awards and became the fastest growing car in its segment since its launch. Spark came in to compete with lone Maruti Alto and took a fair amount of market share since its launch.
But the biggest surprise that rocked the world was claim of producing a 2500$ (100,000 INR) car by Tata. Tata Nano which would soon be launched and seen on every road in India would bring a revolution in super-mini car segment. Whole world is eagerly waiting for a ride in tiny Tata car that will seat 4 people and provide a roof at a price of a mid level bike. Wow! What a move by an indigenous company.
Apart from the high selling cars, there were few other in the low to mid segments that came but could not shake the confidence of Marutis, Tatas or the Hyundais. To name a few were Fiat Uno, Fiat Palio, Daewoo Matiz (1st generation), Chevrolet UVA, Skoda Fabia.
With new cars lined up to hit India's booming economy, we would eventually see more companies trying their luck and eventually further improving the mid segment cars.
Of the cars described above, I (along with my family) have owned and driven Maruti Van (Omni), Tata Indica, Maruti 800, Hyundai Santro (my prized possession) and Maruti Suzuki Swift (car that my dad currently drives).
Last year, when my dad was looking on for a change, I test drove many cars in mid segment ranging in 5-6L and finally decided on Maruti Suzuki Swift Vdi. No wonder it is called Swift... with pickup that you expect in mid-high segment cars only, that had to be my choice. I was really impressed by the engine (same used in Fiat palio and Tata Indica Vista) and tuning done by Suzuki folks. Just pump on the accelerator and it would give you the thrust and the required adrenaline rush. After driving Swift, I was thinking what sort of a car Indian youth would need and I had an instant answer. Youth need a mix of power, style and masculine built. If there is a small SUV type car that can provide you luxury of a mid-segment and power similar to swift and cost no more than 6-7 lacs INR, that would be it. In my opinion, if Maruti Suzuki can come up with a small gypsy like SUV with Swift's base and engine, that would cater to most of the Indian youth's dream. I hope such a car comes up soon.
Today, I am just going to write about the advent of low to mid-size segment car market in India and my views on some of the cars.
India's car revolution actually began with introduction of Maruti-Suzuki (MUL) in India around 1981-83. At that time, there weren't many cars and India was dependent mostly on 2 wheelers and other means of transport. The only 2 cars in India were the outdated Premier Padmini and HM Ambassadar. Then came "Maruti 800" which revolutionized the Indian car industry. Maruti 800, a light-weight compact car with a fuel-efficient 800cc engine became the dream of every middle class Indian family. With sales sky rocketing, it became a very common name in Indian households; still "Maruti" is a term commonly used for Maruti Suzuki 800. In fact, Maruti 800 (and newer alto versions) is still the most selling car in India. Along with Maruti 800, came Maruti Van (also called Omni). I still remember my Uncle had one of the only few in Kullu those days and we really roamed a lot in that.
Maruti Suzuki also launched Gypsy in 1985. The sporty Gypsy gave a small SUV look and gave solid performance. It was meant for off-road driving and was extensively used by the army, govt vehicles (especially Police). I remember driving my dad's office gypsy when I was doing my graduation. It gave a different sort of driving pleasure. It was robust, had good pick-up. It wasn't meant for luxury but for rough conditions.
Apart from these, Maruti also rolled out Zen (1st generation) in 1993 and it catered to thousands of small-luxury-car loving population. ZEN acronym for "Zero Engine Noise" lived up to its name. A noiseless car with classy styling was the 1st choice of many middle class Indians for a long time. Only downside for Zen was its low ground clearance which sometimes had to bear the brunt of bumpy Indian roads. Eventually, the 1st generation Zen's production was ended after it was replaced by the 2nd generation successor.
Maruti kept dominating the market and face-lifted the same cars until 1999 when it launched Wagon-R. But before that, Hyundai's Santro had arrived in Indian market and so had India's indigenous Tata Indica. In 1998, Santro (Or the Atos) made its world debut in India. The tall-boy design hatchback with more space, style and power than Maruti 800 turned the tide in its favor. Soon Hyundai was the 2nd most selling car company in India. On the other hand, there was a proud moment for India as Tata launched a mid-size passenger car named Indica in the end of 1998. With spacious interiors and a good home-grown diesel engine, it was calling for a change in Indian automobile industry. In 2 years, it was the highest selling car in its segment. In this combat, Maruti Wagon-R's competitive specifications could not meet the Santro's style and despite of selling numerous cars lost to Santro in sales. Both Maruti and Hyundai kept face lifting their models and kept providing more features. Indica moved along in the diesel segment.
In 2000, Maruti came up with Alto, next generation mini car that was priced between 800 and Wagon-R. Alto also made huge sales and was the lone warrior at its price tag for a long time. In 2005, Maruti also launched Zen Estillo (Generation 2) which in many respects is similar to Wagon-R.
Next, Hyundai came up with Getz and then Maruti Suzuki with Swift. Getz initially did a good business but was taken aback by Swift's dominating power, style and performance. Swift still leads the race in its segment.
More recently we saw series of new launches in Indian car market and mid segments also got the benefit. In 2007, Hyundai launched i10 and Chevrolet launched Spark. In late 2008, Hyundai launched i20 and Suzuki launched A-Star. i10 was highly acclaimed, it earned multiple awards and became the fastest growing car in its segment since its launch. Spark came in to compete with lone Maruti Alto and took a fair amount of market share since its launch.
But the biggest surprise that rocked the world was claim of producing a 2500$ (100,000 INR) car by Tata. Tata Nano which would soon be launched and seen on every road in India would bring a revolution in super-mini car segment. Whole world is eagerly waiting for a ride in tiny Tata car that will seat 4 people and provide a roof at a price of a mid level bike. Wow! What a move by an indigenous company.
Apart from the high selling cars, there were few other in the low to mid segments that came but could not shake the confidence of Marutis, Tatas or the Hyundais. To name a few were Fiat Uno, Fiat Palio, Daewoo Matiz (1st generation), Chevrolet UVA, Skoda Fabia.
With new cars lined up to hit India's booming economy, we would eventually see more companies trying their luck and eventually further improving the mid segment cars.
Of the cars described above, I (along with my family) have owned and driven Maruti Van (Omni), Tata Indica, Maruti 800, Hyundai Santro (my prized possession) and Maruti Suzuki Swift (car that my dad currently drives).
Last year, when my dad was looking on for a change, I test drove many cars in mid segment ranging in 5-6L and finally decided on Maruti Suzuki Swift Vdi. No wonder it is called Swift... with pickup that you expect in mid-high segment cars only, that had to be my choice. I was really impressed by the engine (same used in Fiat palio and Tata Indica Vista) and tuning done by Suzuki folks. Just pump on the accelerator and it would give you the thrust and the required adrenaline rush. After driving Swift, I was thinking what sort of a car Indian youth would need and I had an instant answer. Youth need a mix of power, style and masculine built. If there is a small SUV type car that can provide you luxury of a mid-segment and power similar to swift and cost no more than 6-7 lacs INR, that would be it. In my opinion, if Maruti Suzuki can come up with a small gypsy like SUV with Swift's base and engine, that would cater to most of the Indian youth's dream. I hope such a car comes up soon.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Ghajini Vs Memento
Well... It's time to talk about these two movies (Ghajini (2008) and Memento (2000)) based on the medical condition called "Anterograde Amnesia" aka "Short term memory loss". I watched both these movies on the same day. Of course, the concept for Ghajini is derived from Memento...
The concept of both movies is similar wherein the male protagonist suffers a head injury and falls into this dreaded medical condition. In both movies, this central character has lost his loved one and is avenging the murder ... 15 minutes is the maximum time, he can remember anything and need to write it down somewhere to retain any memorable information. He tattoos his body to remember key things about the murders and facts that revolves around his revenge.
No doubt, there is striking similarity in the concept but the storyline and direction are well apart. Ghajini (also the Villain's name in the movie), is a typical Indian masala movie (apart from the concept) and portrays all the characters in great amount of detail using the flashback technique whereas Memento presents the events and the history in bits as two different stories, one part being in reverse chronology, to provide a deep curiosity right till the end. Also, Ghajini, Unlike Memento, provides no insight of how the protagonist developed the technique of remembering stuff in spite of suffering from this condition and remembering nothing apart from revenge to start with.
GHAJINI:
The movie starts with a medical student being interested in taking on the project of a subject having the "Short term memory loss" but is denied by her professor on account of the complexity and police involvement in the case. Then, the protagonist (Amir Khan) is shown brutally attacking and killing a man (an accomplice in his wife murder).
The diaries of the protagonist serves the purpose of presenting the visualization of what happened in the past and presents his emotional side. Two movie characters read his diaries, in part, in between the present developments of Protagonist's revenge, which gives a flashback and the reason of his present brutality. So, there is always a sense of suspense till the later half. By the end of movie, all the viewers want him to take revenge and eliminate Ghajini (the Villain) which he finally succeeds in.
The most interesting scene to me in the whole movie was right at the end when the protagonist is running after Ghajini and thrashing multiple gang men whoever came in his way. But then, at one moment his condition creeps in and he forgets why is he there. People with broken arms and legs and what not are lying around him and he is giving a blank look. This do affect him and he gets seriously injured in the process but eventually gets his revenge.
The movie does drive emotions, sympathy and awe with the events unfolding. Overall, a good masala movie if you are not very picky about the nitty-gritties.
MEMENTO:
This movie starts with the protagonist killing a man. Then it's followed with an event that led to this kill. Then many events are picturized in the reverse chronological order. In between these events (picturized in color), there are some other events in black and white. These are actually the historical events that depicts the history of the protagonist and his investigations of a case that equipped him to deal with "short term memory loss" situation. Both these different narratives converge in the end and lead to a single colored sequence.
With the events unfolding at the end, you actually get the full context as how the protagonist have not only taken his revenge a long ago but now is using his medical condition to kill the other man who was taking his advantage. Whole movie, we are forced to think that the person he killed in the 1st event must be the villain (who must have killed his (hero's) wife) OR a he must be a cop helping the protagonist to find the murderer. But, it's only in the end we know that the deceased, a cop, who actually helped the protagonist kill the murderer a long time ago, himself was a scoundrel and used the protagonist to kill other people. So, after knowing this fact, the protagonist plans his murder and tattoos his body with the cop's vehicle number and later uses it to kill him (as he thinks the cop is the murderer of his wife).
The movie flows with confusing narratives linking the alternative events and keeps you on your toes... It knocks on your detective skills and in the end make a mockery of it. This is a kind of movie that will elicit awe right at the end stimulating your thought process. All in all, great direction and a great movie.
The concept of both movies is similar wherein the male protagonist suffers a head injury and falls into this dreaded medical condition. In both movies, this central character has lost his loved one and is avenging the murder ... 15 minutes is the maximum time, he can remember anything and need to write it down somewhere to retain any memorable information. He tattoos his body to remember key things about the murders and facts that revolves around his revenge.
No doubt, there is striking similarity in the concept but the storyline and direction are well apart. Ghajini (also the Villain's name in the movie), is a typical Indian masala movie (apart from the concept) and portrays all the characters in great amount of detail using the flashback technique whereas Memento presents the events and the history in bits as two different stories, one part being in reverse chronology, to provide a deep curiosity right till the end. Also, Ghajini, Unlike Memento, provides no insight of how the protagonist developed the technique of remembering stuff in spite of suffering from this condition and remembering nothing apart from revenge to start with.
GHAJINI:
The movie starts with a medical student being interested in taking on the project of a subject having the "Short term memory loss" but is denied by her professor on account of the complexity and police involvement in the case. Then, the protagonist (Amir Khan) is shown brutally attacking and killing a man (an accomplice in his wife murder).
The diaries of the protagonist serves the purpose of presenting the visualization of what happened in the past and presents his emotional side. Two movie characters read his diaries, in part, in between the present developments of Protagonist's revenge, which gives a flashback and the reason of his present brutality. So, there is always a sense of suspense till the later half. By the end of movie, all the viewers want him to take revenge and eliminate Ghajini (the Villain) which he finally succeeds in.
The most interesting scene to me in the whole movie was right at the end when the protagonist is running after Ghajini and thrashing multiple gang men whoever came in his way. But then, at one moment his condition creeps in and he forgets why is he there. People with broken arms and legs and what not are lying around him and he is giving a blank look. This do affect him and he gets seriously injured in the process but eventually gets his revenge.
The movie does drive emotions, sympathy and awe with the events unfolding. Overall, a good masala movie if you are not very picky about the nitty-gritties.
MEMENTO:
This movie starts with the protagonist killing a man. Then it's followed with an event that led to this kill. Then many events are picturized in the reverse chronological order. In between these events (picturized in color), there are some other events in black and white. These are actually the historical events that depicts the history of the protagonist and his investigations of a case that equipped him to deal with "short term memory loss" situation. Both these different narratives converge in the end and lead to a single colored sequence.
With the events unfolding at the end, you actually get the full context as how the protagonist have not only taken his revenge a long ago but now is using his medical condition to kill the other man who was taking his advantage. Whole movie, we are forced to think that the person he killed in the 1st event must be the villain (who must have killed his (hero's) wife) OR a he must be a cop helping the protagonist to find the murderer. But, it's only in the end we know that the deceased, a cop, who actually helped the protagonist kill the murderer a long time ago, himself was a scoundrel and used the protagonist to kill other people. So, after knowing this fact, the protagonist plans his murder and tattoos his body with the cop's vehicle number and later uses it to kill him (as he thinks the cop is the murderer of his wife).
The movie flows with confusing narratives linking the alternative events and keeps you on your toes... It knocks on your detective skills and in the end make a mockery of it. This is a kind of movie that will elicit awe right at the end stimulating your thought process. All in all, great direction and a great movie.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Bob Marleys' albums...
(I am listening to his songs while writing this stuff)
I found these albums in my friend's laptop and a strong emotion went through my mind...
I remembered the time when I used to listen to these songs without even understanding them. I had my own interpretations. My sister and me often hummed those songs and sometimes replaced the words with our own homegrown "Hindi" words and made it sound really funny. I must be around 6-7 then.
Those were my dad's favorite English albums. He had 2 cassettes which he used to play very often in his 2-in-1 stereo system. Those cassettes were really special to him and he took good care to protect them for being overwritten. You know the left hand recorders in the 2-in-1s... If we would have pressed the red button, those melodious songs would have been overwritten with our nonsense kids' talks.
I also remember the special covers of those cassettes. Those were different than hundreds of cassette covers in the collection. Thinner and made of bendable plastic and less brittle. On front, it contained Bob Marley's picture with his long hairs falling on his face. From his get-up on the pic, I used to imagine him as a rowdy guy singing anything with some good music behind him. At that time, I didn't know what kind of songs were those and how good a singer he was.
Today, when I am 26 years old and with these songs sung (played) again on my 4.1 speaker system and wikipedia a click away, I came to know that the album we, as kids, used to listen to is the "Best selling reggae album ever" (10 times platinum with more than 12 million copies sold).
Sometimes... these small memories are of a great significance to you and bring smiles on your face...
I found these albums in my friend's laptop and a strong emotion went through my mind...
I remembered the time when I used to listen to these songs without even understanding them. I had my own interpretations. My sister and me often hummed those songs and sometimes replaced the words with our own homegrown "Hindi" words and made it sound really funny. I must be around 6-7 then.
Those were my dad's favorite English albums. He had 2 cassettes which he used to play very often in his 2-in-1 stereo system. Those cassettes were really special to him and he took good care to protect them for being overwritten. You know the left hand recorders in the 2-in-1s... If we would have pressed the red button, those melodious songs would have been overwritten with our nonsense kids' talks.
I also remember the special covers of those cassettes. Those were different than hundreds of cassette covers in the collection. Thinner and made of bendable plastic and less brittle. On front, it contained Bob Marley's picture with his long hairs falling on his face. From his get-up on the pic, I used to imagine him as a rowdy guy singing anything with some good music behind him. At that time, I didn't know what kind of songs were those and how good a singer he was.
Today, when I am 26 years old and with these songs sung (played) again on my 4.1 speaker system and wikipedia a click away, I came to know that the album we, as kids, used to listen to is the "Best selling reggae album ever" (10 times platinum with more than 12 million copies sold).
Sometimes... these small memories are of a great significance to you and bring smiles on your face...
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