Movie Review – Iron Man

Loved It! Loved It! Loved It!

One of the Robert Downey Jr’s dialogue in the movie goes like this..’There is an assumption that I am a Super Hero…I am just not the Super Hero type’…and that is what I exactly thought before I went in to watch the movie…Robert Downey and a super hero….hmmm??!?!

I was skeptical. I remember Downey from movies like Friends and Lovers and Only You…and the most recent being Gothika where he plays the role of a middle aged doc. According to IdliDosa’s rule book…he did not have the chrisma to be a super hero…but I was in for a shock!!! He suits the role perfectly..better than the kiddo Tobey Mcguire as Spider man.

Downey is such a natural…he potrays the role of Iron Man with such ease. From being the head of a weapons manufacturing company (Tony Stark) to Iron Man…resovled to end violence his weapons are creating in Afghanistan and from going into the wrong hands….he blends into both the roles effortlessly. His sense of humour…his quick & intelligent single liners….the way he flirts with women…..he is being himself and not trying to put on an act for the camera! No..I am not exaggerating…you have to go watch the movie.

I will not elaborate on the story ‘cuz you will find innumerable reviews everywhere but what I will say is this…. Downey Jr is simply FAB in the movie….go watch it for him!!!

I’d give it 3.5/5 😀

and i think the beard really suits him….. 😉

Oh…and I almost forgot to mention. There’s this moment in the film where Tony Stark aka Iron Man is kidnapped by terrorists in Afghanistan and is held in captivity. The leader of the terrorist organisation wants to speak in Urdu..but comes across to us as if it’s Hindi and the remaining terrorists respond to him Afghani/Arabic. S and I were looking at each other every time this happened. 

I am sure it would not have been an expensive affair to get a guy who speaks Arabic or Afghani to play that role. Do these Hollywood people take us to be fools? FUNNY!

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.

What I Thought of Jodha-Akbar (The movie of course)

Went to watch JA coupla days ago. I wanted to get myself to writing and updating my blog but my holiday has done me bad…I feel extremely lazy!!! But since S is snoring away to glory and the weather is gloomy….i thought…ok….why not write 😉

Well anyways, I am not going to write another review of the movie ‘cuz most of you would have already read it somewhere. So, I will keep it simple and tell you what I liked and disliked about the movie.

So first go the pros –

Hrithik……Hrithik….Hrithik…. 😀 OMG…how good looking he was…Mind you girls, I am not a great fan of HR, but he was jaw-droppin good lookin in this movie. His acting was not bad either. He is much better in this movie…when compared to Dhoom-2. I read somewhere that Akbar actually had 199 wives, the 200th being Jodhaa…..but if he was as good looking as the actor in the movie…..THEN AKBAR is NOT TO BE WRONGED!!! 😀

Coming to Ash, as Philip rightly mentioned in his blog, I was just glad that she stayed away from all the inappropriate giggling

Music by A R Rahman was fantastic as always. You might not instantly like the songs…but when you watch them on the big screen, the choreography, the sets and the costumes….it looks and sounds amazing!

I don’t know much about direction but to mention some of my favourite scenes in the movie – When Jalaluddin (Akbar) goes to Jodhaa’s place to apologise and get her back to Agra, Jodhaa refuses to return. Akbar requests her and Jodhaa turns a deaf ear. It only reinforces the fact that nobody is spared from the ‘nakhre of women’. Another note-worthy scene is when Jalaluddin sees Jodha’s face for the first time without the ‘Ghoonghat’. He then goes into a trance…like he’s seen the most beautiful thing on Earth. There are other scenes aswell…BUT GO WATCH THE MOVIE!!

Ila Arun and Sonu Sood were a revelation. Infact, I did not realise it was Ila Arun who played Maham Anga until the finishing titles started rolling.

Coming to the Cons –

The movie is way too looooong….222 mins if I am not wrong

I wouldn’t call it a con…but just a piece of advise…Don’t expect it to be like Troy. Ashutosh Gowariker has done a good job in gathering people, horses, elephants etc….but I guess Bollywood does not have the bucks Hollywood does…so has to compromise on flamboyance of the scenes and the sets.

I was also disappointed to see that some of the scenes were similar to that of Troy. For eg., the background score in the beginning when Big B narrates how the Moghuls came to power is similar to that in Troy. I was surprised to see that even A R Rahman has started looking to the West for inspiration 😦

Though  history behind the movie can be debated….we can instead choose to take home positives from the movie. Akbar always wanted a united Hindustan…..a Secular India….which we strive for so hard these days but end up getting hurt very badly. I am not very concerned about AG distorting history to sell his movie…but I saw something good in the movie and I hope everyone will see the same. Afterall, Secularism is a jewel in a beautiful Crown called India…we all have to do our bit to keep it that way.

Well anyways, enough of the serious stuff! My fav song from the movie….here goes…NJOY MAADI 😀

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!!!