Hollywood Hints

a.k.a. Hollywood Version of "Bollywood Bites"...


All of you know well enough that I am really looking forward to "Order of Phoenix", and I am planning to watch it as soon as I can. But I can very well say that while I agree with the tone of this article, the headline is something I am not so crazy about.

Also, 30 retakes for a simple shot? And they call themselves actors? Well, I guess what they say is true... As long as you are enjoying it...

And come to think of it, if 1 kiss ~ 30 retakes, imagine about our own Kissing Man who maintains that he has way more than 20? Talk about crossing half thousand mark...

Hogwarts, Here I Come...

Well, I am not bragging here, nor am I trying to gain looks of admiration and pats on my back from you (got the hint?)..

Anyways, I won't sing my own praises, but let the certificate talk for itself...




And now, let's see how I did on WOMBAT Grade 2, shall we?



So, I improve my grades, I passed both WOMBATs easily and that's an O baby...

Any suggestions which job I should apply for at Hogwarts?

Bollywood Bites XI

a.k.a. Why "Partner"?





If you head over to Adlergedanke, the "This Week in History" column lists a not-exactly-a-review of the movie "Hitch" for this week in 2005. So, I was not a bit surprised to see that David Dhawan is "inspired" by the Will Smith-starrer I liked.





Now, I have got nothing against inspiration, unless it is shoddy and is used as a substitute for original thought. What I mean to say is that, if there are enough "original" moments in "inspired" movies to mark them as good ones, I will watch them (e.g. "Awara Pagal Deewana" is not so bad). But, I do have some questions/comments about the movie:

• Given the story lines of the movie, why would Indiatimes put a "question mark" at the end of title? Is this another in the growing cases of abuse of the "question mark"? (For those wondering what I mean, google for "Jon Stewart comments on question mark" and watch the video)



• The jury is still out on what will be more entertaining: Watching Govinda give "date advise" to his clients or watching him try and do the "pizza dance" as an rank rookie.



• Which is why I think they must have gone for matching sizes while casting.



• However I hate people lifting scenes directly out of Hollywood originals, I fervently hope they retain "Pizza dance", or at least make it into something similar. ("Paratha dance" anyone?)



• At the same time, I am prettty sure even David Dhawan is not brave enough to retain the famous "kissing training scene".



• Or is that why the film is named "Partner"? Do they mean "that" partner? Now, that would be an original twist in the tale...

Whatever happens, I am ready to reserve my judgement till I see the movie, given the original and the people involved in the "inpired" desi version.





Technorati Tags: bollywood, david dhawan, hitch, govinda

Bollywood Bites X

a.k.a. "Whoa" indeed...

If my eyes are not deceiving me (and I don't have a reason to believe they are), there's only one conclusion to be drawn from this: Not content with attacking our eardrums, The Nose is out to annihilate the English language now.

What else can explain the title (I hope that's how it's spelled even now) of his Moviee (believe me, that's not misspelled)?


At first glance, I think the title is wrecking havoc among the english vowels. I frankly believe the vowels were out there playing hide-and-seek when the movie title was chosen. Or maybe, they were trying to hide from his singing when they were caught and thrown mercilessly on the poster. Or maybe, the other alphabets have risen against "e" for being the most common alphabet.

Maybe it is time to launch a worldwide drive to save the vowels and get them their rightful places among words. Society for Promotion of Vowelish Welfare anyone?

In any case, the title along with the pictures make me believe that The Nose is out to fight the English language in a ye olde Bajaj auto. Beware Bond, and don't forget to stock up on your earplugs (noise-cancelling earphones would work too).

P.S. Click here for rest of "Bollywood Bites" series.

Technorati Tags: bollywood, himesh reshammia, movies, hindi

Holmes, I Ain't...

... but then, I don't need to be...





OK guys, work with me here, and tell me if I am jumping at conclusions here.



Imagine the scene... You are helping some people who are moving, and your job includes (and is limited to) making sure the boxes are being piled correctly in the truck. Which means you have a lot of time on your hands to roam around in the colony. So... well, you roam around looking at all these garage doors.



And then, you notice that one of the garage doors has a keypad lock. Before you can say MI (or any other sci-fi movie name for that matter), you notice it is not exactly the best of protection.





For one thing, you notice the digits 2, 4 and 5 have been erased beyond recognition (of course, with what I can only assume to be the "Enter" key), while all other keys are... there's no way of putting it delicately, in pristine condition.



And before you can say 6 tries max (yes, 3 digits can have only that much combinations) before you hit the jackpot, you notice that you are standing in front of building with apartment number XX238-XX252.



Now, I think you get what I mean when I say that you don't need to be Holmes to crack this one...

Fount of Knowledge Part VI.V

a.k.a. From A Kid's Mouth



We all have heard the phrase, "Laugh and the world laughs with you".



I found out recently that kids have their own version of this:

"You are not being polite. You didn't laugh when I laughed just now."

Fount of Knowledge Part VI

a.k.a. The Observations from a Cross-country Flight and A Hiking Trip


For all people wondering where I have been for last few days, I flew across the country all the way to West Coast on Thursday, and then we went on a hiking trip to Yosemite National Park over the weekend. Two days of living in a canvas cabin, no electricity, heating by wood-burners, all food stored in lockers to keep away the bears, two phones out of six with any reception kind of trip. I mean, complete au naturale.

But apart from a lot of fun, the last few days also taught me a few things:

• You know you've been connected too much to iPod when you start fiddling with your iPod remote because you can't hear anything on the airport terminal TV.


• You know you are not getting anything to eat on the flight when you see the pilot carrying a packet of sandwiches with him.


• It's not co-incidence that hungry and angry rhyme. Especially for kids.


• Wood-burners are pain. Making fire in them is even more pain. Sometimes, being cold is not that bad.

So, till the time I settle back, here's a sample of what we have been doing:



There's some 200 more where these came from...