Piccolo Posts

DABBA-NG       Arbaaz Khan owns a brand called Dabbang and its brand ambassador is none other than the crowd entertainer - Salman Khan. It seems that whenever Arbaaz Khan will be in need of money, he will release a Dabbang :-D.  The impact that Salman Khan makes on the masses could be seen by the whistles and cheers every time he made a gigantic entry. Some of his acts and stunts remind me of Rajnikant.  I had decided not to watch the movie in a multiplex to experience the craze for Salman but I did not miss a percent of the thrill, the aura even in the multiplex.      Arbaaz Khan annoys you by inserting songs at equal intervals. Though you will like the songs but will somebody please concentrate on the plot? Oh! There is no plot. The movie runs for 2 hours by the grace of Salman Khan, Mind-blowing Action sequences and Kareena-Mallaika yukt item numbers (more whistles and cheers and comments!) Sonakshi Sinha sulks (read ‘sulks’, i...

Advanced Search  The movie starts with random scenes from the darker side of Mumbai followed by the accident scene (supperb!). The movie takes us through a detailed investigation of this accident which involves  a superstar Armaan Kapoor. Director Reema Kagti shrewdly blends  Surjan Singh Shekhawat’s (Aamir Khan) personal life and the Talaash-shuda life. The story co-written by Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar is gripping throughout. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the character so proficiently that he makes you think that he limps in real-life too. Kareena Kapoor plays a prostitute named Rosy who helps Aamir in the investigation and also with his disturbed maritial life with Rani Mukherjee. The intemission  kind of breaks the flow of a very cautiously threaded movie. The climax disappoints. It definitely stuns you but with Aamir Khan out there I expected a supperb ending to the thriller. The songs donot disturb. A special mention to Farhan Akhtar  for the dialogues ...

The Mumbai Local           Lacs of Mumbaikars travel by the local train everyday. Mumbai local is called the Lifeline of the city. The over-crowded trains witness many stories, quarrels, debates, discussions, games, songs and  bhajans (a proper bhajan with dholak and cymbals!). They say, "Don't be a part of the crowd, lead the crowd." This does not apply in the Mumbai local. You have to be, infact you are a part of the crowd when you travel through the over-crowded trains. I got a chance to become a part of this crowd when I joined college. I found out some rules that came into being as the crowded trains went on becoming over-crowded. There are two three-seater benches facing each other between which generally three to four passengers stand. The first person from the window should be given the first priority to be seated if anyone gets up from those two benches. Fourth seat is allowed on the three-seater benches. Unless nobody is standi...

A SWEET LOVE STORY Life mein sabse bada risk hota hai kabhi koi risk na lena... Barfi is a film about the life and love of a Darjeeling born boy named Barfi. The film is set in the 1970s and runs into flashback from the beginning. Barfi (Ranbir Kapoor) is our protagonist who is dumb and deaf. He bicycles through narrow lanes, jumps quickly down a house and pinches buttocks. He charms Shruti Ghosh (Ileana D’Cruz) with his unique and naughty tactics but he finds true love in Jhilmil Chatterjee (Priyanka Chopra). Jhilmil is autistic and belongs to a rich household. Her grandfather dies and his Will says that all the money would belong to Jhilmil and it would be kept with trust called Muskan where Jhilmil grew up. Ranbir Kapoor with is inspirations from Charlie Chaplin and Mr. Bean is impressive along with Priyanka Chopra who has shed her glamorous avatar for the movie. Illeana who has given many Telugu blockbusters including Kick (2009) and Pokiri (2006) which remade in...

CINEMATIC  ECSTASY Kasam khoon ki khayee hai, sheher nahi Shanghai hai… The movie starts off with Bhagu (Pitobash) wondering about the English word for ‘mutton’! Bhagu is one of those party workers who do the dirty work for the well-dressed bureaucrats and politicians. The story, adapted from Vassilis Vassilikos’ novel Z (also made into an Oscar winning film with the same name) is set in a fictitious town in India called Bharatpur. The Bureaucrats plan to set up a business park under the project called IBP. The voice over says that its stands for India Business Project while the hoardings and pictures in the movie suggest that its International Business Project (flaw :-P). Dr. Ahmadi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is seen in a cameo playing an activist who opposes IBP. Shalini Sahay (Kalki Koechlin) is an associate, student and lover to an already married Dr. Ahmedi. There is a scene between two where you might think that Dr. Ahmedi is killing Shalini but you soon r...

"ए झिपऱ्या, पाटील बोलावतोय तुला", मावशी ओरडली . माझं नाव सदाशिव सोनोपंत माने. मला सगळे लोक प्रेमाने किवा रागाने ' झिपऱ्या ' असं म्हणतात . मी पण प्रेमाने किवा रागाने 'होऽऽ' असं उत्तरतो. पाटल्याचा नेहमीचा असतं काहीतरी काम - ''दूध आण" - ''कुत्र्याला फिरवून आण" - "हे आण ते आण", नुसता कटकट आहे हा पाटील. मी नाही जाणार आज त्या पाटलाकडे, मारू द्या बोंबा. मावशी परत आली . तिला पाहताच पटकन बोललो, "ए मावश्या, मला नाही जायचं त्याच्याकडे. मी नाही जाणार. या पुढे त्याचं काहीही काम असेल तर मला नको बोलत जाऊ." मग काय? दोन फटके मारून पाठवलाच मला त्या पोपटाकडे. मार खातांना राधा पण होती तिकडेच. मावशी पण येडी आहे. राधा समोर का मारायचं मला? राधा आणि मी शाळेत एकत्र आहोत. नऊवीत. राधा याच वर्षी गावात आली. पुण्यात रहायची आतापर्यंत. मला राधा खूप आवडते. जितका सहजतेने हे मी तुम्हाला सांगितलं, तितकाच कठीण आणि असंभव वाटतं जेव्हा तिला हीच बात बोलायचा प्रयत्न करतो. तिला पहिल्यांदा शाळेत पाहिला तेव्हाच मी ठरवलं की लग्न करेन तर हि...