Shanghai- Caustic, honest and in your face Movie.

This film made me curious and eager right from the first promo that was out. This film is not here to make you cry. This film is not here to make you laugh. This film is here to make you think. It stands right there in your face. This film hits you hard at the little patriotic corner of your heart.  It makes you cringe and feel helpless. This film doesn’t say anything that we don’t know of, but says things that we brush under the carpet. Things we all know but are scared to talk about. Things we read about. Things we feel helpless about.

The film, adapted from the novel ‘Z’, given a soul by Dibaker Banerjee and Urmi Juvekar (screenplay), starts off with a backdrop of political hooliganisms happening in the undeveloped town of Bharat Nagar. The Chief Minister of the State, Supriya Pathak as Madamji, is worshipped by her party workers who are nothing but a group of self proclaimed social reformists called the Morcha, working for the “PRAGATI” of the town. The hooliganism cutting to seemingly innocent and visually negligible characters played by Pitobash Tripathy as Bhagu and Anant Jog as Baggu, keep you hooked on the screen for a couple of minutes without realizing what exactly they are up to. Cut to Emraan Hashmi as Jogi Parmar, an adult film maker. He is rusty, evil, but a cheapskate with a heart.  He seems like a guy who will indulge in any immoral activity for a dime. You will yet not despise him. His ‘STD blocked hai’ line will make him endearing to you for a moment. This film then moves on to Abhay Deol as T.A Krishnan, the regular Tamil Brahmin intelligent bureaucrat you will come across. The ex IIT alumni is a man with high morals. He is applauded as one of the most sought after officials in the bureau.  Cut to Prasenjit Chatterjee, the soul of the film, playing Dr Ahmedi. He is a socialist professor and political activist. He is out to save the bustling city of Bharat Nagar from an upcoming infrastructure project backed by the ruling political party that will wipe out the existence of the local population. In spite of death threats, warnings foreseen by his adheren, Kalki Kochlein as Shalini Sahay, Dr Ahmedi lands up in Bharat Nagar. Dr Ahmedi looks out for Shalini and the chemistry between them has a short span on screen but it is captured enough to let you into their world. Fate turns around for everyone when Dr Ahmedi is attacked in the middle of a crowd of more than 100 people and the attack is masqueraded as an accident. His wife, Tilotama Shome, lands up in Bharat Nagar to be by her husband’s side. Farooq sheikh as Kaul, Principle Secretary at the CM’s office, leads on T.A Krishnan and sends him to Bharat Nagar to investigate into the “accident”. To write the incident off as Police force negligence, lack of co-ordination in the force, a premeditated murder or just an accident, is left at Krishnan hands for disposal. In terms of on camera, the movie is swept off by Abhay Deol. The seemingly harmless humble man is the surprise element of the movie. In this chaos of uncovering the truth and investigation, Krishnan uncovers the multi faceted ruling party that seemed as a sheer facade with shocking revelations which you ought to see in the movie. The last 5 minutes of the movie is going to leave an impact on you. And the last 30 unspoken seconds actually says it all. Trust me. But that, I am not going to tell u ;)

The movie has an amazing stability in the script. No loose ends. Nothing is left unexplained, yet nothing is explicit. You are going to figure crucial bits of the movie yourself. The editing is done aptly making it short, crisp and cut almost to perfection. The costume designing by Manoshi Nath and Rushmi Sharma is tailor made for the characters, literally. The music by Vishal and Shekhar is just right for the flavour of the movie. The songs aren’t thrown in just for the heck of it, including the item song Imported Kamariya.

The real star of the movie is Dibakar Banerjee. His realistic direction yet again leaves you gasping for more. He keeps it simple and sensible. That’s one thing you will see in his last releases too. Either Khosla ka Ghosla or LSD, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye or Shanghai, the unfeigned attempt at movie making is reflected in every frame of the movie. Standing ovation is what he deserves. The only complaint I have is that there were obvious differences in the re runs of the most crucial scene of the movie. In every rerun the scene looks different though it is the same. Spot it if you can once you see the movie. Other than that, it’s absolutely worth watching, again and again AND AGAIN. Superb, mind blowing movie of the year!!!! GO WATCH IT NOW!!!!

Rating-4/5

My doll now heading to her dollhouse :)

So just a few days to go for the big day, my little doll must be busy pampering herself. I remember the overwhelming walk we had, where I told you that I will write and say whatever I want because I am very bad at expressing myself in person. I did it only because I didn't want to cry thinking how much I am gonna miss you. Our friendship began in the most unexpected way. We never really expected that we were gonna hit off so well. But we did. And HOW!!!!! 

With you, Raju Uncle and Anju Aunty around, I never really missed home. The homesickness just disappeared with all of you around and I found a big sister in you. I knew how I used to just wait to get home from college so I could go for a walk with you. The chocolate bars we shared on the late night walks will forever keep these memories sweet and special. We never rally walked, we just talked. TALK TALK and TALK. It was amazing how we could never run out of things to talk about. And the longest silence that we had was of 2 minutes when I had a lump in my throat thinking when are we gonna go out for walks again. 

You stood by some of the real bad times of my life. When I had no one to understand what I am going through. I remember breaking into giggles when you tried to say say something serious because darling, NOBODY can ever take you seriously. You are that cute. I felt at ease, I felt at home with you. This is only way I can sum up to what I feel for you.

Coming to the good times, oh there are just so many. I mean I can't really count. The girly talks and giggles we had. The Amul Chaas walk in the summers. The chocolate hunts every time we had to discuss something important. The CAD B escapades to give into chocolate cravings. The late night walks. The goose incident that scared the daylights out of you. The countless lunches and dinners we had. How my driving freaked you out initially. The little shopping trips we had. The handicrafts place you took me to. The bhel chowk trips. The movies we saw. The french fries smuggling we did. The little picnic at my place. The midnight masala bhaat I made that you loved (I am still trying to make it the same way, probably it was one special time for you) The yummy sandwich you made. It's just countless Dee. I am so gonna miss everything. It's all just going to be etched as my special years in Pune with you :) (I am almost gonna cry now)

I can't begin to say how happy I am for you. I wish you all the happiness and success in your future endeavors. I know I am gonna miss u like crazy, even more when I move out of Pune, coz then I will really not know when I am gonna see you. But more than anything I am super excited and happy for the beautiful life you are gonna begin with Jiju. You make a wonderful couple and I wish God bestows all his blessings on both of you. Cheers !!!!!!

P.S DO NOT mention this post when I am gonna be there for your wedding. Coz I have promised myself I am not gonna cry :'(

Tips for young people to become normal

You are the future of the nation. You are the most powerful resource of the country unless you are an engineering student. Then you are just a goon in making. I am talking about YOUTH. Some tips listed for you people to realise what ”YOUTH”  is not about and help you not behave like something that rhymes with it ;)

      1.       It’s my...repeat after me you little retarded monkeys....it’s not mah...it’s my...

Saying ma for my, just looks like a faux attempt at proving how much you love your mother. Seriously guys and gals, have you never been to a proper school??? Are you so oblivious to the concept of grammar and pronunciation??? (Once again someone says “pronOUnciation” I will slap the shit out of them) Why do you tawk lyk dis? Are dyslexic? Are you blind? Do you just smash your forehead on the keyboard instead of typing? I swear I feel like throwing a copy of The Wren and Martin on your face when I see the mass murder of English language like this.

      2.       You are LOLing...OMGing....BRBing...WTFing...I am boiling....

You have serious issues here okay? What the heck is saying LOL when someone says something funny? Are you a seal? No maybe you are a pig? Laugh no, you numb heads. Why do you have to say LOL?????? OMG ??? WTF????  Please talk to me just once, I will tell u how to say the complete sentence with utmost aghast. It is more liberating you see.

      3.       Pull up your pants....Pull down the top....please!!!!!

Yes please. Wear your clothes the way they are meant to be worn. I don’t care if you’re a Calvin Klein fan or a Rupa chaddi fan. I frigging don’t want to see your Grand Canyon. And girls, I don’t want to either of your Grand Canyons.  I don’t want to see cellulite oozing thighs. I don’t want to see huge bellies and asses bulging out of poor little denim cages who can’t contain them. Even if you have a great body, why on earth are you flaunting it for no apparent reason? There is a time and place for it. Don’t expose inappropriately. Why can’t you dress up like a sane person? Just go full Monty if the clothes bother u so much. Much easier to achieve what you want.

      4.       You look like a crossbreed of peacock and a diseased rooster.

The macaw hairstyles, neon coloured extensions and highlights, the weird facial hairstyles, etc. All this reminds me of roosters who mated with peacocks and produced off springs like you. You look UGLY, HORRIBLE, And STUPID. There it is. I have burst the bubble??? Go frigging get a normal person haircut. Girls, what is with the weird rainbow makeup???? You know if someone hurls a bucket of water on your face you will look like a colour palette that was washed ashore by Tsunami. Get your frigging brains repaired. YOU LOOK UGLY. SIMPLY UGLY.

      5.       What is life without Gizmos??? Facebook and Twitter??? Worth living.....

Bunch of kids with Playstations and Ipads make me cringe to no end.  What the hell is wrong with you people? Haven’t you heard of outdoor games? Do you even know what sky looks like? Do you know how to run or play? Off course you don’t because you are busy moon walking to faux coolness. Yes, there is a life beyond social networking sites. I have seen people going to gatherings just to click pictures and upload them on Facebook or update a status like having so much fun at the party. If you’re frigging enjoying so much, why the hell are you on your smart phone? And for your information, nobody wants to see 347 pictures of the last night barbeque with friends. People prove their love by over mushy picture indulging in PDA and by CHANGING their relationship status. Such a wannabe thing to do I swear!!!!

      6.       Get your act together. Don’t go with the herd unless you are a cow....

Seriously, bitches that pretend to be a storehouse of wisdom will get you shot. If following socialist hotties is your thing, go with Brinda Karat. The worst that might happen then is you will have no friends left. When the hell did Paulo Coelho become the must read author to prove your intellectual chops?  Don’t stick your stupid Facebook and twitter profiles with Paulo Coelho as your favourite author. It just tells me you don’t really read and just bought one at a train station because everyone seemed to have one. Personally, I swear I don’t read books and I have said that honestly on my Facebook profile. And I am not considered a retard because I don’t read.

      7.       Stop giving a damn about the EPL , IPL and also CPL, u might get a GP....never mind....

Nobody, I repeat, NOBODY cares if you’re supporting Man U or Barca. KKR or MI. They’re not YOUR team and their success doesn’t mean that YOU won. No matter how many jerseys you buy from a trip to Thailand or Bandra, no matter how many soccer shoes you buy and wear at inappropriate places.  They won’t pick u in the team.  Enjoy watching the game, get competitive, play football like hell in your REAL life, its cooler. Find some other goddamn purpose in life than tweet about players whose names you can’t pronounce and who you’ve only been exposed to in FIFA 2007.

      8.       Commitment phobic??? So is everyone right?

Yup it’s true. Not believing in love is the latest thing to do. Friends with all kinds of benefits are around so who needs a companion??? Who needs commitment???  Who can actually LOVE someone??? Seriously you idiotic kids who don’t believe in the institution of marriage, you will die alone on a rocking chair with your macaw gelled grey hair and a Blackberry in the hand.

      9.       You booze, you fag and you get stoned every Saturday night? Wow your parents are really lucky!!!!!

True isn’t it?? You can’t be cool if you are teetotaller??? You can’t be cool if you don’t do drugs??? Fagging helps relieve stress??? Hookah parlours need regular attendance from you??? Say no friends. Don’t give in to pressure. Understand what this abuse will do to your body in the long run.

     10.   You are here only because your parents wanted to.

Don’t insult your parents. They may not be a gizmo freak retard like you but they are still parents. They endure your bull shit only because they love you to the core. You will land nowhere if u disrespect them.