Monday, November 27, 2006

Dhoom 2 Movie Review....

Hritik shines in the illogical sequel...


Movie - Dhoom 2
Director - Sanjay Gadhvi
Producer - Aditya Chopra
Music Director - Pritam
Date of Release - 24th November 2006

This has been a year of sequels, starting with Krrissh, Phir Hera Pheri, Lage Raho Munnabhai and finishing off the year with Dhoom 2. So does Dhoom 2 meets the expection and the hype created around itself ? As per me it does not. Amongst the many problems with the films are most of the songs which are not needed and tend to break the momentum of the movie.

The movie starts off with an exciting theft sequence in Africa, which does match up to some extent to the Hollywood standards. After that it is a journey of various robberies by Hritik assisted by a good looking Aishwarya Rai. The duo of Jai-Ali (Abhishek - Uday Chopra) has been retained in the movie, with a special appearance by the Rimi Sen.
Bipasha Basu also looks awesome in the begining of the movie, but somehow her characterisation is not well sketched up and she loses focus by the second half of the movie.

Where the film clicks is the way Hritik has been portrayed in the movie with some cool and different looks, doing some death defying stunts. Hritik as usual has given some awesome dance performances which might attract a lot of yougsters. The picturization is good with background music adding to the whole environment at times.

Where the film fails are most of the songs which break the flow of the movie. Abhishek - Uday are not sharing the same level of chemistry as in the first part. Bipasha Basu's role is underutilized and to top it all the end is quite illogical and a I left the hall quite disappointed. Without revealing much I can say that if the movie had ended 10 minutes earlier it would have had definitely made for a better watch.

All in all not a bad movie, but had a potential of becoming a super hit which has gone wasted.

Movie Rating - 3.5/5

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Guru Music Review...

Movie - GURU
Director - Mani Ratnam
Music Director - A.R. Rahman
Lyrics - Gulzar



Finally managed to lay hands on the Guru CD as my college examinations were keeping me busy for the past few days. Just writing the review below for the movie after a couple of hearings and honestly it was an awesome experience which is bound to grow on you.

Track -1 , Barso Re - Shreya Ghosal, Uday Mazumdar

The album starts with one of the typical A.R. Rahman tracks. This one really grows on you, and after 4-5 hearings you are bound to be spellbound. The "dhan na re, na na re, na na re na na re" vocal by Shreya ia awesome and is the highlight of the song. The variety of instruments used for the songs is also good adding to the total experience.

Rating 7.5/10

Track -2 , Tere Bina - A.R. Rahman, Chinamayee
A.R. Rahman back to what he does best, singing on his own tunes. This song is undoubtedly a masterpiece. A.R. Rahman's voice gels with the music so well and this song takes you back to the "Lukka Chuppi" song from Rang De Basanti. The alaap done from 1:35 - 1:55 is out of this world. This song which has been used in the promos is bound to be a super hit.
Rating 9/10
Track - 3 , Ek Lo Ek Muft - Bappi Lahri, Chitra
To be very honest, I am disappointed by this song. I had huge expectations of this song, since I heard that Bappi Lahri had sung for A.R. Rahman in Guru (and Bappi Lahri was afresh from the success of Taxi No 9211). But to the best this is just an ordinary song, which might catch up once the movie releases as this is rumoured to be the title song.
Rating 5/10
Track - 4 , Mayya- Maryam Troller, Chinamayee, Keerthi
A good item number in which A.R. Rahman does good justice in the use of various instruments. A catchy tune with smart use of instruments will make this song a hit in various discos and pubs across the country. Maryam has a good voice which suits the mood of the song quite well. Would be interesting to see how the song has been pictured on Mallika Sherawat.
Rating 7/10
Track - 5 , Ay Hairathe- Hariharan, Alka Yagnik
This song similar to "Tere Bina" song also starts with the voice of A.R.Rahman singing the tone as "dum dara dum ...." The tabla interluding this song gives it a classical feel. In addition this song also has a bit of crackling song ( A.R. Rahman did the same with some of his previous song to which he wanted to give a periodic look) which even confused to believe that I had a a faulty cd. A slow number which has been sung beautifully by Hariharan as usual well supported by Alka Yagnik. This one is also a sure shot hit amongst the crowds.
Rating 8.5/10
Track - 6 , Baazi Laga- Udit Narayan, Madhushree, Swetha, Bhargavee
More of a situational song with some pacy fast music. Udit has given good vocals. Nothing much about the song except that should catch up as the movie releases. The lyrcis by Gulzar are quite good and gives the whole song a form of a story.
Rating 6.5/10
Track - 7 , Jaage Hain- Chitra, A.R. Rahman, Madras Chorale Group
A slow good song by A.R. Rahman. Chitra is awesome in this song, but A.R. Rahman voice in this song is undoubtedly the focal point of this song which adds the extra punch to this song. One of those songs which could actually give goosebumps in your stomach after a few listening.
Rating 8.5/10
Overall a great album by A.R. Rahman although I would still rate Rang De Basanti a bit higher than this album.
Final Album Rating - 7.5/10

Monday, November 06, 2006

Current status of Preparations..

Strategy - By today night hopefully, should have gone through the notes once.
Advertising Management - Done three topics out of around 10 topics.
Consumer Behaviour - Done three topics out of around 10 topics.
Managing Across Culture - Yet to start.
 
So you can clearly see that the situation is quite grim at the moment.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Another 10 days to go...

Just another 10 days to go for the exams. Just tried out the new service today www.zoneedit.com. It allows me to even receive emails on the domains which I have bought (like www.vikramkumar.org) for free. This seems a real cool service.


Friday, November 03, 2006

Bigg Boss Rocks..

Big Boss Rocks. Starting just 11 days before my examinations, I did not miss even a single minute of it.  Showing at 10 PM on Mon-Thu & 9 PM on Fridays.. this one is sure gonna be a big hit. Check this out
 
 
 

Exams Just another 11 days away..

Keeping three days for the first paper, it leaves me with eight days. Plan to cover strategy in three days which includes the weekend. Advertising Management on 6th & 7th. 8th , 9th & 10 for Consumer Behaviour & Managing Across Cultures. Please please. let me pass this time toooooo....