I can't can't , just can't believe Sahasa Simha Vishnuvardhan is no more. I grew up watching his movies and till I discovered some great Dr Raj movies, he was my favorite , even after watching Dr Raj movies, he was still my favorite tho with Annavaru obviously up there.
An unassuming actor with hazaar style(his swagger when he made "whistling" entries in movies) , he made ordinary scripts look extraordinary.
Remember my early days watching his "Neenu nakkare Haalu Sakkare" / the brilliant "Singapoorinalli raja kulla" or several others on Doordarshan on Sunday evening ( This was when we had no cable tv at home ) or watching the super hit "Nishkarsha" in Shanti theater or "Muttina Hara" on independence day or even the kickass "Nishabhda" with his army of dogs.
The man was all style and substance and totally loved him . I couldn't believe that he had played villain in "Gandhadha gudi" coz' he always , always remained the hero who could beat up tons of people with his famous left hand clenching and punching. His family movies were equally brilliant and he made sure the time spent was definitely worth it. Remember watching a total brainless movie , just because it was him when I was even admitted to the hospital earlier this year and more recently watched him in the Baghban remake where he was as usual terrific.
His recent film "Bellary Naga" got rave reviews but I missed the movie . He was one of the 3 actors in Kannada cinema to complete 200 films as a mainstream actor( others being Annavaru and Rebel Star Ambareesh) and I had just seen those posters in Vision cinemas last week(will release soon!) and this morning, when I got up and heard he was no more , I was totally shocked like tons of other fans.
Thank you sir for all the entertainment you provided all these years . God bless your family and we all pray for your dear ones' well being. May this great artist's soul rest in peace..... Amen.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Moviezzzzzzzzz
A break from office and a decently long one at that has resulted in me watching a good number of movies.... Here are my expert comments and if you want to or don't want to watch these movies, you can decide after reading my blog! Please note these may or may not be new movies and the rating has to do with just perception of the movie... Your comments are welcome ( Atleast that way I know someone has read the blog!)
1. Kurbaan - (2.75/5) - Hugely hyped due to the pairing of Kareena and Saif did not make this a box office hit but I felt it was decent despite some flaws and unbelievable( where unbelievable is not equal to jaw dropping! ). Watch it if you like Saif in particular and surprise surprise- Vivek Oberoi has acted well after maybe Company.
2. 500 days of summer - (3/5) - Super casting and a different sort of a flick where this guy is trying to get over his heart break .The order of the 500 days shown in the movie keeps the interest right up there. Some scenes are simply awesome and people can so easily connect to certain situations and will feel they have been there and done that. I never felt I would feel like beating up the girl(the absolutely stunning Zooey Deschanel) but after one particular scene towards the end, this feeling came through ! A nice positive ending ups the happiness quotient but only just. Worth a watch on a lazy Monday morning but if you're busy on a Monday, catch it on a Sunday and maybe you will give it a better rating...
3. Italian Job - (3.75/5) - Loved the movie. Period. This is a brief brief(haha) - A gang steals gold from Venice with the security folks literally watching the gold referred to as the "Italian Job"! (Can't be "Greek Job" or "American" right? ) Then one of the folks comes up with his own idea of stealing the whole thing and even succeeds till after a year, the gang reunites to steal it back with another "Italian Job", this time in America (and even this time, its not called "American Job"!) . I don't want to give away one more byte or even a bit about this as I want you to watch it! (Go to IMDB for more info in case you ain't convinced even now :P). On the downside, you would say that you have seen tons of Hollywood movies in a similar sort of genre but hey, this ain't bad. Another not so good thing I heard was that this is being remade in Hindi, maybe they will call that "Italian kaam"??!! Oh Oh Oh ....
4. Kramer vs Kramer( 4/5) - My level of respect for Dustin Hoffman went up through the roof after watching this heart rendering film.(earlier it was just at ground level :P) Hoffman is a complete workaholic ( atleast in the movie !) and totally ignores his family till one day, his wife leaves him and her son and goes away. The next 18 months is all about the father and son bonding which is delightfully portrayed by Hoffman and Justin Henry( the younger Kramer). The mom( the wonderfully restrained Merryl Streep) returns after this period and a court case follows for the custody of the kid. Kinda gets senti towards the end but I think its a must watch ! By the way, this has been copied already in Hindi and was made into an extra senti movie with the music premise... Remember Akele hum akele tum ?
5. Cinderella Man (4.25/5) - Super duper movie . Success follows failure. True life story of James Bradock. Set during the great depression period. Magical combo of Ron Howard and Russel Crowe with Renee Zellweger adding in her charm. Never loved boxing more . Never shouted so enthusiastically( in my mind, watched it late night) during any other movie climax ( so far atleast) urging away Russel Crowe to kick the other boxer's ass. A must watch. I would put this on the top 10 inspirational movies of all time - The other couple of movies that I think fit this bill are "October Sky" and "Lagaan". Let me not get started on those now! Need to find another 7 on this list but for now, have 3 irreplaceable ones already in here !
6. Mussanje Maatu (0.75/5) - The 0.75 is for the one song that is hummable. I bought this non-pirated VCD for 70 bux coz' it was majorly hyped( not sure if it was a hit). Maybe I made the mistake of watching this after Cinderella Man. The acting was just about passable but the movie seemed so desperate for success and was even a bit manipulative. Hope Sudeep and Ramya's next movie Just Maat Mathalli ain't this disappointing!
7. Color of Money ( 2.25/5) - Had huge expectations what with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise going all out. Story is about this Pool retired guy (Newman) whose hope is rekindled seeing the brilliance of Cruise and tries to teach him how to bet and win money while playing Pool. What follows is a roller coaster ride and somehow I couldn't connect as much or feel that happy about the complete movie . Directed by Martin Scorcese whose movies I generally louuuuuuuuuuuu but somehow, it just, just didn't happen this time around. The rating is for the excellent pool skills ( thousand times better than my Yahoo Pool skills :P ) and the tremendous acting.
More movies / masti soon and part 2 of my trip to follow....
1. Kurbaan - (2.75/5) - Hugely hyped due to the pairing of Kareena and Saif did not make this a box office hit but I felt it was decent despite some flaws and unbelievable( where unbelievable is not equal to jaw dropping! ). Watch it if you like Saif in particular and surprise surprise- Vivek Oberoi has acted well after maybe Company.
2. 500 days of summer - (3/5) - Super casting and a different sort of a flick where this guy is trying to get over his heart break .The order of the 500 days shown in the movie keeps the interest right up there. Some scenes are simply awesome and people can so easily connect to certain situations and will feel they have been there and done that. I never felt I would feel like beating up the girl(the absolutely stunning Zooey Deschanel) but after one particular scene towards the end, this feeling came through ! A nice positive ending ups the happiness quotient but only just. Worth a watch on a lazy Monday morning but if you're busy on a Monday, catch it on a Sunday and maybe you will give it a better rating...
3. Italian Job - (3.75/5) - Loved the movie. Period. This is a brief brief(haha) - A gang steals gold from Venice with the security folks literally watching the gold referred to as the "Italian Job"! (Can't be "Greek Job" or "American" right? ) Then one of the folks comes up with his own idea of stealing the whole thing and even succeeds till after a year, the gang reunites to steal it back with another "Italian Job", this time in America (and even this time, its not called "American Job"!) . I don't want to give away one more byte or even a bit about this as I want you to watch it! (Go to IMDB for more info in case you ain't convinced even now :P). On the downside, you would say that you have seen tons of Hollywood movies in a similar sort of genre but hey, this ain't bad. Another not so good thing I heard was that this is being remade in Hindi, maybe they will call that "Italian kaam"??!! Oh Oh Oh ....
4. Kramer vs Kramer( 4/5) - My level of respect for Dustin Hoffman went up through the roof after watching this heart rendering film.(earlier it was just at ground level :P) Hoffman is a complete workaholic ( atleast in the movie !) and totally ignores his family till one day, his wife leaves him and her son and goes away. The next 18 months is all about the father and son bonding which is delightfully portrayed by Hoffman and Justin Henry( the younger Kramer). The mom( the wonderfully restrained Merryl Streep) returns after this period and a court case follows for the custody of the kid. Kinda gets senti towards the end but I think its a must watch ! By the way, this has been copied already in Hindi and was made into an extra senti movie with the music premise... Remember Akele hum akele tum ?
5. Cinderella Man (4.25/5) - Super duper movie . Success follows failure. True life story of James Bradock. Set during the great depression period. Magical combo of Ron Howard and Russel Crowe with Renee Zellweger adding in her charm. Never loved boxing more . Never shouted so enthusiastically( in my mind, watched it late night) during any other movie climax ( so far atleast) urging away Russel Crowe to kick the other boxer's ass. A must watch. I would put this on the top 10 inspirational movies of all time - The other couple of movies that I think fit this bill are "October Sky" and "Lagaan". Let me not get started on those now! Need to find another 7 on this list but for now, have 3 irreplaceable ones already in here !
6. Mussanje Maatu (0.75/5) - The 0.75 is for the one song that is hummable. I bought this non-pirated VCD for 70 bux coz' it was majorly hyped( not sure if it was a hit). Maybe I made the mistake of watching this after Cinderella Man. The acting was just about passable but the movie seemed so desperate for success and was even a bit manipulative. Hope Sudeep and Ramya's next movie Just Maat Mathalli ain't this disappointing!
7. Color of Money ( 2.25/5) - Had huge expectations what with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise going all out. Story is about this Pool retired guy (Newman) whose hope is rekindled seeing the brilliance of Cruise and tries to teach him how to bet and win money while playing Pool. What follows is a roller coaster ride and somehow I couldn't connect as much or feel that happy about the complete movie . Directed by Martin Scorcese whose movies I generally louuuuuuuuuuuu but somehow, it just, just didn't happen this time around. The rating is for the excellent pool skills ( thousand times better than my Yahoo Pool skills :P ) and the tremendous acting.
More movies / masti soon and part 2 of my trip to follow....
Monday, December 21, 2009
A super fab trip - Part 1
When my dear friend Ankita announced her marriage dates in early Oct, I was sure I was going to attend her wedding but I never expected the trip to be as memorable and jhakaas as it turned out to be.
Dec 10 - An early morning Spice Jet flight to Delhi was just the beginning. Deepika( my other married friend in the gang) and I met at the airport (Deepthi couldn't make it unfortunately due to health issues). From check in till the time we landed in Delhi, we spoke non-stop , and I mean that coz' I so wanted to sleep during that flight but didn't get an iota of sleep. It was super fun and man, that was just the start.
We anticipated Delhi to be really cold and chilly but was very pleasant and soon we were on our way to Mayur Vihar to meet a couple of other friends in a Delhi auto .That guy didn't loot us even though we were not fluent with our hindi . We spent the afternoon and late evening going to a nearby market place in a cycle rickshaw!!!! Yes, they still do exist in huge numbers and unfortunately, that guy didn't allow me to ride it as I would have loved to do so. For someone from Bengaluru, seeing a cycle rickshaw gets the adrenalin pumping am sure! The small market had this awesome Gol Gappa place and there started our Gol Gappa session.... Was recommended to have "Sujiwale Golgappe" and had exactly that and it was marvellous :D .
Soon evening set in and we headed towards Ghaziabad- the venue of the wedding ( after the ladies took hazaar time to get dressed up as usual) . A couple of decent rooms were booked for us . After spending a few mins there, we went to the wedding venue and it was at its zangiest best. The bride's bro Anmol took us around all the unbelievable arrangements that were made. A huge table for mocktails , another huge table for just salads and fruits, a huge table for pickles initially caught our eye. Walking into the shady area(:D) , we found mouth watering Chaat being served and a sweet caterer and then a huge line full of awesome dishes. Our eating sessions were on and off from 8pm to midnight.... And we had Gol gappas here as well without fail!
Lets come to the main point though... Ankita dazzled completely in an almost unrecognisable getup and we all felt really good seeing her family so upbeat. Soon, the Baraat arrived and the guy was looking so calm and composed and well prepared or maybe he was nervous! Varmala followed soon after and people went to dance on the dance floor. I for one , totally suck at it but who cares ? Just jumped at the opportunity to dance(or awkwardly jump as I call it) my heart out. Ramita was kickass, all we tried to do was follow her. ( and we weren't so good at that). The bride , bridegroom and their entire family then joined on the dance floor and everything was really fantastic... The puja started at 2.30am and went on till 5am by which time I was dozing off sitting next to the mantap like many others !
I created my own record for staying awake for 25 hours at a time before falling asleep at 6am . The wedding was absolutely great but all that I wasn't aware of one single thing when I hit the sack! A couple of other friends represented us at the "Bidaai", something that I am not a big fan of . I mean its an event that completely freaks out the guy!
We headed back at 9am to Delhi after what was a great evening/night/early morning! More in my next post....
Dec 10 - An early morning Spice Jet flight to Delhi was just the beginning. Deepika( my other married friend in the gang) and I met at the airport (Deepthi couldn't make it unfortunately due to health issues). From check in till the time we landed in Delhi, we spoke non-stop , and I mean that coz' I so wanted to sleep during that flight but didn't get an iota of sleep. It was super fun and man, that was just the start.
We anticipated Delhi to be really cold and chilly but was very pleasant and soon we were on our way to Mayur Vihar to meet a couple of other friends in a Delhi auto .That guy didn't loot us even though we were not fluent with our hindi . We spent the afternoon and late evening going to a nearby market place in a cycle rickshaw!!!! Yes, they still do exist in huge numbers and unfortunately, that guy didn't allow me to ride it as I would have loved to do so. For someone from Bengaluru, seeing a cycle rickshaw gets the adrenalin pumping am sure! The small market had this awesome Gol Gappa place and there started our Gol Gappa session.... Was recommended to have "Sujiwale Golgappe" and had exactly that and it was marvellous :D .
Soon evening set in and we headed towards Ghaziabad- the venue of the wedding ( after the ladies took hazaar time to get dressed up as usual) . A couple of decent rooms were booked for us . After spending a few mins there, we went to the wedding venue and it was at its zangiest best. The bride's bro Anmol took us around all the unbelievable arrangements that were made. A huge table for mocktails , another huge table for just salads and fruits, a huge table for pickles initially caught our eye. Walking into the shady area(:D) , we found mouth watering Chaat being served and a sweet caterer and then a huge line full of awesome dishes. Our eating sessions were on and off from 8pm to midnight.... And we had Gol gappas here as well without fail!
Lets come to the main point though... Ankita dazzled completely in an almost unrecognisable getup and we all felt really good seeing her family so upbeat. Soon, the Baraat arrived and the guy was looking so calm and composed and well prepared or maybe he was nervous! Varmala followed soon after and people went to dance on the dance floor. I for one , totally suck at it but who cares ? Just jumped at the opportunity to dance(or awkwardly jump as I call it) my heart out. Ramita was kickass, all we tried to do was follow her. ( and we weren't so good at that). The bride , bridegroom and their entire family then joined on the dance floor and everything was really fantastic... The puja started at 2.30am and went on till 5am by which time I was dozing off sitting next to the mantap like many others !
I created my own record for staying awake for 25 hours at a time before falling asleep at 6am . The wedding was absolutely great but all that I wasn't aware of one single thing when I hit the sack! A couple of other friends represented us at the "Bidaai", something that I am not a big fan of . I mean its an event that completely freaks out the guy!
We headed back at 9am to Delhi after what was a great evening/night/early morning! More in my next post....
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