Movie Reviews: THe Incredible Hulk & Dasavatharam

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Brief reviews of the two movies I watched yesterday. Manged to watch one after the other 😀 O

HULK:

I LOVED THE MOVIE! Edward Norton (HULK) is one of my FAV actors. There’s this innocence about his face. There’s so much love in the movie. 

Incredible HULK is definately different to the previous HULK since this HULK doesn’t want to be the angry green man anymore.  Liv Tyler is fab too as HULK’s ‘girl friend’. Though sometimes, it did feel like I was watching Beauty and the Beast 😀

Special effects are fantastic….though I thought HULK could be a little more good looking 😉

There definately will be HULK 3 and it could have Iron Man in it 😀 That will be fabulous! To know why…you should go watch the movie.

Overall, the movie is thrilling, exciting, full of action, lots of love and fantastic locales (e.g. Brazil).

My rating: 3.5/5

DASAVATHARAM

The first tamil movie I watched was Sivaji because of all the hype and it did not have subtitles 😦 Considering I don’t speak or understand a single word of tamil, it was a nightmare. I had to be satisfied with the eccentricites of RajiniKanth….which were surprisingly entertaining. It was astonishing that there were just 10 pple in the screen watching the movie.

It was a different story for Dasavatharam. People were standing and watching the movie and it had subtitles too 😀 and what should I say about Kamal Hassan. He is simply FANTASTIC. He is truly blessed. He plays ten characters in the movie; Govind Ramasaamy (the real Kamal Hassan), Rangaraja Nambi (devotee of Lord Vishnu), George Bush, Avtar Singh (a famous pop singer), Christian Fletcher (ex-CIA member aka the villian), Shinghen Narahasi (Chinese martial arts master), Krishnaveni (grandma), Vincent Poovaraagan (social activist), Kalifullah Khan (a rather tall muslim man) and Balaram Naidu (my favourite character of all…RAW official…and a telugu).

The movie starts off sometime in the 12th century. Rangaraja Nambi is drowned in the sea with the idol of Lord Vishnu by the King who is a follower of Lord Shiva. He is reborn in the 21st century as Govind Ramasamy and works for a Biotech COmpany in the US. His company is on the verge of selling a very effective but a dangerous bio-chemical weapon to the US army and Govind is out to stop this from happening. THis takes him from US to India. Following his every movie is Christian Fletcher (Kamal again) who has been assigned by the weapons manufacturer to kill Govind and get the sample back. Govind is held captive by RAW officials (Balram Naidu also Kamal) on his return India and the rest of the story is revolves around how Govind retrives the sample and saves the world 🙂

Kamal Hassan touches on many issues in the movie….from Global Warming, to War….from Social Discrimination to Religion. Considering his age…he’s in good shape. I have been a great fan of his dancing skills since Sagara Sangamam.

My Rating 3/5

Peri Peri Chicken Indian Style at Home. Yummy!

OK…before I start off on this post…let me just say that we went to watch IRON MAN yesterday starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges and it was FANTASTICO! Review coming up very soon. SO stay tuned!

OK…coming back to the actual post….did you ever taste a Portugese Dish called Peri-Peri Chicken? Trust me…it’s truly delicious….it’s heavenly!! Our local restaurant Nandos is famous for this and S & I simply love going there. The secret to this dish is the sauce…Nandos Hot Peri-Peri Sauce which is what the chefs at Nandos use to marinate the chicken in before they grill it. S and I always wanted a couple of bottles of the sauce at home and were more than glad when we saw our local supermarket selling them. You can have it with anything…bread, chips, tortillas and even rice 🙂

So one day when we decided to grill chicken at home…S wanted to try out a new recipe. Instead of the regular marination of chicken with youghurt, chili powder etc etc…he wanted to do it with the Nandos sauce 😀 Yes! Our very own Peri Peri Chicken Indian style (that is what I’d like to call it from today) at home…..and all it takes is 10 minutes for preparation with minimal ingredients.

Ingridients:

1. Nandos Hot Peri-Peri Sauce (there’s also Extra Hot Peri-Peri Sauce if you like your chicken really hot!)
2. Salt to taste
3. Tandoori Chicken Powder – 2 Tbsp
4. Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 Tsp
5. Chicken Legs or Thighs – 5 (Depends how much an ‘eater’ you are and if you are having any guests over 🙂
6. Lemon Juice – 2 Tbsp
7. Lime – 4 (Cut to sprinkle on chicken at the end)

Method:

• Pre-heat oven at 200 °C for 10-15 mins
• In the meantime, wash chicken thoroughly in cold water and pierce into it with a knife to make spaces so as to let the ingridients into the pieces
• Add 8-10 Tbsp Nandos Hot Peri-Peri Sauce, 3 Tbsp Tandoori Chicken Powder, 1 Tsp Ginger Garlic Paste, 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice, Salt to taste and mix well.
• Marinate for 15 mins

The best thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to marinate the chicken over night or for hours together…15 mins is just fine.

• and that’s it…place the chicken pieces on an oven grill and place it into the pre-heated owen at 200 °C for 45 mins – 1 hr
• Garnish with coriander and onions. Cut lime into pieces and leave them on the plate

Picture Courtesy of – http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u80/AtlFoodie/BoneHeads/Chicken2.jpg

Sorry, no pics of the dish we made…we were done with it before I could take any 😀

Since it is a very simple dish…everyone can try it out! Guys, Girls, Men, Women, Grannies and Grandpas, the lazy ones who don’t want to cook, learners….everyone really….and let me know how it goes 🙂

Njoy!

PS: Just realised that you actually get the Nando’s Sauce in the restaurant itself 😀 And also…once you are done with the dish, you can dip you chicken in the sauce before you savour it…even more YUMMY!! 😀

Movie Review: Tashan

Ok..before i start…let me just clarify that my image header actually reads ‘Deccan Chargers’.

Coming to the movie, I did not have a good feeling about it from the beginning…since I saw it’s rushes. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. But what the hell, I had the unlimited movies card and I could watch as many number of movies I wanted……never mind how crap they were.

The movie starts off with obviously the titles which had quite a resemblance to Kill Bill or Sin City…like the titles rolling and in the background you are shown actual scenes from the movie…as in a heads up of what we could expect.

The movie starts off with the story of Saif Ali Khan aka Jimmy….how he works in a call centre…how he loves sleeping around with women etc etc…meaning he leads a pretty ‘bindaas’ life. And one day, he gets bored with the regular dumb girls he usually goes out with and wants a ‘hindustani woman’…wearing a shalwar…really long ear rings and is a jeegtha jaagtha example of the ‘so called’ Indian traditions and cultures. And that is when he meets Kareena Kapoor aka Pooja Singh aka Gudiya. Pooja works for Anil Kapoor aka Bhaiyyaji aka the villian. Bhaiyyaji recruits Jimmy to teach him English to show off in front of his Foreign delegation due to arrive in a few months. After a couple of songs…Jimmy and Pooja fall in love and end up stealing 25 crores from BhaiyyaJi to repay the debts Pooja’s murdered father owed.

This is where Bachchan Pande aka BP aka Akshay Kumar comes in…arguably the best part of the film. He is hired by BhaiyyaJi to get back the money from Jimmy and Pooja. After a few more songs and fights, BP and Pooja realise that they were childhood sweethearts who were torn apart by destiny. They re-kindle their love for each other and vow to take revenge on BhaiyyaJI who is the person responsible behind Pooja’s father’s gruesome murder. The rest of the story is about how the three (Jimmy, Pooja and Bachchan Pande) do it.

So did I like the movie? I didn’t.

Usually, on a weekend, S and I watch 2 movies in a row. So the next movie we were supposed to watch was Leatherheads starring the irresistable George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. By the end of Tashan, our Bheja was deep fried so badly that we had to go home and instead of Leatherheads…watch Dirty Sexy Money. So, what didn’t I like about the movie. Here goes

• Anil Kapoor’s HINGLISH. Though it was amusing in the beginning, after 1 hr, it got really annoying. Thank God there were subtitles. I tried ignoring the subtitles for a while but could not understand a single word of what he was blabbering
• The action sequence at the end of the movie. I have heard so many people make fun of Rajnikanth’s movie because of his fights…like when he kicks…20 men go flying in the air and he comes out without a scratch…? Tashan is exactly like that. Just because it stars the big wigs of Bollywood..there are no comments. The prolonged fight scene at the end was terribly funny (in a bad way) and at times BORING!
• Kareena. I don’t know if I should include this aspect or not…but I didn’t like her. She looked really pretty in Jab We Met. But in Tashan, she looks like a dried Drumstick. So thin! And the costumes she wears in the song ”Challiyan’ are out right Ugly!

One of the reasons for me to go and watch this movie on friday itself was Raja Sen’s review on rediff. He gave it a three star…which was really surprising. I know he critically rips apart most of the movies….but this one? C’mon…definately not worth a three star.

I’d give it 2/5.

Movie Review: Saawariya

I saw the movie coupla days ago but didn’t bother writing a review. Thought I’d leave it for when I am really bored 😀

What was Mr. Bhansali thinking when he made this movie??? Really…what was he? It left me dazed. We (S and I) wanted to run out of the theatre at first given chance but alas…I knew I had to write this review to warn you people so tried really hard to sit through it. Once the finishing titles started rolling…we were the first ones to get out…no…run out!

Well…I don’t think this movie deserves a review..because basically…this story could be told in 10 mins. It is something on the lines of Ahista Ahista (remember that movie which has Abhay Deol and Soha Ali Khan?). Essentially, there’s this happy go lucky guy Ranbir Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) with no family or friends behind him and who comes to this godforsaken place to be a muscian. I say godforsaken ‘cuz this ain’t no normal town guys. This town never has a sunrise i.e., no sunlight. There’s only darkness with ocassional rain and snow and it’s always blue..everything is blue..the houses…the cafeterias and even the mohalla of  prostitues. Well anyways, one day Raj bumps into Sakina (Sonam Kapoor)…this ghost like figure who seems to have some sorta chemical locha in her head (as Munnabhai would put it) who goes around dimly-lit alley ways holding an umberella like a ghost (and when she is not doing that…she is dusting carpets with what looks like a baseball bat without closing her nose or her mouth) waiting for her beloved Imaan (Salman Khan) who left her an year ago and promised that he’d return to marry her on the night of Eid. Why she carrys an umberella when there’s no rain and no sunlight and why she goes to the bridge every night when Imaan tells her clearly that he will only return on the night of Eid is above me!!!

So Ranbir loves Sakina…but Sakina loves Imaan (Salman). Imaan doesn’t return on the promised day so she takes shelter in Ranbir’s embrace and asks him to help her get over Imaan. Even though she’s dumped Ranbir once already and he was terribly heart broken, Ranbir readily comes to her rescue and dreams of a future with her. But wallahh…not everything is so straight forward in our movies is it. There we see Imaan on the ghostly bridge waiting for Sakina. So Sakina tells Ranbir to buzz off now that Imaan has come and Ranbir Raj happily agrees 😀 There…story in a nutshell.

As Raja Sen very rightly said in his review, Sonam and Ranbir should have made a debut with a movie like Jab We Met. Sonam and Ranbir are young..and I don’t know why Mr. Bhansali potrayed them…especially Sonam as these sad souls…..especially Sonam…as this creepy psychotic woman who goes around wearing clothes that look like bathrobes  and Sonam…you cannot laugh and cry at the same time…it aint ur cuppa tea…so please stop doing it!

Ranbir is pretty good….he plays the character with ease but not sonam! There was something very artificial about her. I just hope she won’t turn out to be another Aishwarya Rai…the touch me not or I will wither types…

Well anyways, the horror is behind me now…and I am looking forward to some other good movies.

If you guys think otherwise about the movie…lemme know!

Movie Review: Om Shanti Om

 

I was super hyper before we walked into the screen to watch Om Shanti Om. We arrived at the Cinemas 45 mins before the movie began to make sure we got the best seats 😀 Screens allocated for international movies here are so small in size and the public so large that you need to push your way through.. 😉

So finally it started…and the best way to begin the movie could have only been with the song ‘om shanti om’ from Karz. It’s one of my fav and I was literally jumping in my seat..clapping and giggling and Rishi Kapoor….how handsome he was. I am sure I was the only one showing my excitement. What I found really delightful was Farah Khan and SRK fighting over Rishi’s jacket in the opening scene when the song om shanti om ends.

Om shanti Om is a pure masala bollywood flick…it cannot get better than this. S was unsure if OSO would do better than Saawariya but I was certain that it would since Farah knows really well what a typical bollywood movie should have…and she adds all the ingridients in the right amounts. OSO has romance, action, drama, song & dance, emotion and even horror 😀

The movie starts off with SRK a.k.a Om Prakash Makhija…a junior artist trying very hard to make it big in the film industry. He is supported by his very close friend Pappu Master played by Shreyas Talpade. The role of Om Prakash Makhija’s ‘filmy Maa’ is played by Kiron Kher. Om is deeply in love with Shanti Priya…the top actress of the 70’s and also ends up saving her life once which leads to their friendship. Shanti is unaware of Om’s love for her but Om on the other hand dreams of a future with her. Circumstances leave Om’s heart broken and the death of both Om and Shanti one night.

Om..in his next janam….is born to the 70’s super star Rajesh Kapoor. Om is now the toast of a whole nation. He is a spoilt actor who comes late for shoots, demands script changes etc etc. Eventually…his punar janam catches up with him and soon realises what happened and is now out to take revenge. He is determined the find the person who let the love of his life burn to death and left him to die in a hospital.

SRK is fantastic in the movie. He playes both the characters with ease…that of Om Makhija and Om Kapoor. He is fantastic and looks as if he’s shed 20 yrs of his age. His toned body and new hair style add to his look immensely. It must have been a huge task to make a 40+ year old actor look as young as Deepika Padukone ;). Deepika Padukone is alright. Farah made sure that her screen presence was kept to a minimum. Shreyas role is best in the first half. In the second half….he looks unnaturaly old and tired. Arjun Rampal playing the negative character is a revelation. I can safely say that this is without doubt the best role he’s played and he does it with élan.

But all  praise should go to Farah Khan. She makes the movie into a complete entertainer till the last shot. SRK pretending to be a tamil super star and the filmfare awards scene where we get to see Big B, Little B, Hrithik and a number of other super stars are the best parts of the movie which will leave you smiling even after you’ve left the screen. The scene in which AB and Akshay loose the best actor award to Om Kapoor and what follows later are hillarious. I was literally off my seat lauging.

The title song Om Shanti Om (Deewangi Deewangi) starring a number of actors is very well choreographed. Even when the finishing titles are rolling, you get to see the cast and crew along with their names..including spot boys and light boys…..which I thought was very noble of Farah. Rarely do they get any recognition for their efforts. It’s always the big shots who take all the glory.

I was not born in the 70’s…so essentially, I don’t know how it was and what it was. It was only through my parents that I came to appreciate the 70’s. I was not a great fan of the melodrama but my favourite were the songs which still make me stand up and dance like crazy.

As I wrote in my previous article, if you are one of the ‘artsy’ types…..this movie might not be the one for you. As SRK rightly said…’if you want to enjoy the movie, leave your logic at the door and enter the screen and you will love it’….till the last shot.

I give the movie 4/5. Go watch it!!!