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{mosimage}Thanks MoserBaer! The world's second largest Optical storage maker's entry into Home Video Segment had been a good news for movie lovers like me. The strategy of entry through low cost DVDs, courtesy old movie titles hopefully must have paid rich dividends but more than that it had been a music for all people who are nostalgic about old titles. I am catching up lot of old movies of late thanks to MoserBaer. The competition is stiffening with T-Series also moving to Rs. 45/- DVD segment through old/sold-out/flop titles. DVDs are piling up in my library after each visit to Musicworld or any other music shop that matter. Recently I caught up Salaam - E - Ishq, Chocolate, Singaravelan, Karagattakaran and Kya Cool Hai Hum. Even though SEI & Chocolate are commercial flops, they deserved a viewing because of some refreshing moments.

{mosimage}1. It is always possible to find a parking spot directly outside or opposite the building you are visiting.

2. When paying for a taxi, don't look at your wallet as you take out a note. Just grab one out at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.

3. Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at the precise moment it's aired.

4. Creepy music (or satanic chanting) coming from a graveyard should always be closely investigated.

Shiney and Vidya BalanI and Priyan are at logger heads.... Hey! I am talking about the famous Bollywood director Priyadarshan, yes the same guy who is fondly called as Priyan by the stars. Priyan was the odd man of Malayalam film industry in late 80's. When others including his mentor Faazil concentrated on the story and emotions mainly, Priyan had a keen eye for visuals and technical finesse. So his movies had heroines from places beyond Vindhyas, stunning visuals that lacked soul sometimes. Now Priyadarshan is the hotshot director of Bollywood and is minting money by remaking old Malayalam classics. All of his Hindi movies are the remakes of old Malayalam movies and the latest one to be released is Bhool Bhulaiyaa - remake of eternal classic Manichitrathaazhu.

{mosimage}In our society evil sells, else how can we attribute the success of Dhoom and the flop of Swades? The movie in question here is Swades, and it doesn't need even a hare brain to figure out why Swades flopped. When big names like Shah Rukh Khan, AR Rahman come together under the aegis of Ashutosh Gowariker, a director whose previous movie was nominated for Best Foreign Film Category in Academy awards, people expected another Lagaan or a period drama. But Swades was a simple honest, straight from the heart story with noble intentions, so people couldn't stomach the docu-drama instead of hardcore entertainment. But whomever watched Swades leisurely, they loved it... including my father who don't watch movies at all.

{mosimage}No matter people hurl accusations and allegations that Bollywood conveniently overshadows the regional cinema and presents itself as the face of 'Indian Cinema', I am glad that it represents the Indian Cinema. It deserves every worth of the "praise", I mean "every worth". Critics might keep cribbing that the movies are (f)re(e)makes of Hollywood hits, but atleast a layman cinegoer like me need not worry about the 'source' or 'inspiration' as long as it offers me something 'hatke'. Once in a while when I go home for weekends, I stop at Pondicherry to buy 'economy' DVDs of backlogs of Hindi movies. These days it had almost become a habit. Sometimes I do think of buying some Tamil DVDs, but all I end up buying is the evergreen classics. No recent Tamil release is worth buying or given a chance even if given for free.

{mosimage}Well... even though I had read about the movie "Life in a Metro" through the reviews, I must admit that I had a cultural shock while watching the movie. It left me in a despair that whether "SEX" is the only 'THE' thing of life and disgusting to watch the clandestine, illicit affairs conducted in simple casualness like brushing, eating etc.. But once that shock subsidised the emotions that run under each characters is identifiable. As I always used to say about the Maslow's theory of hierarchy, everybody chases something always... once it is attained, they start chasing another. The race is always like money & status first, fame next and love at last.. Some people run faster than their partner and in due course end up running with someone else...

{mosimage}Let me check how much romantic you are and your update with onscreen love cupids.. Who shares the best on-screen chemistry in Bollywood on recent times? Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla or Shah Rukh Khan with Kajol..? Boss! You are in BC ages.. Emraan Hashmi and Tanushree Dutta or John Abraham with Vidya Balan... Wake up from the deep slumber.. A new 'hot' pair that Bollywood had never witnessed is here.. Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu. Did I spell mistakenly Amitabh instead of Abhishek? You heard it right... it is 60+ Amitabh Bachchan who sizzles with Tabu. Testimony? Catch up Amitabh cajoling reluctant Tabu into the restaurant and going on knees making her blush in Red while Tabu begs "Jaane Do Na.." (Let me go). The music of 'Cheeni Kum' is special because of our own 'Maestro' Illayaraja's first big Hindi project and he didn't let the opportunity to mesmerise the Gen X audiences.

{mosimage}Had we really become scandulous that we don't (or hate to) take notice of the simple and warm things around us? Being good to the core and sticking to traditional values is fastly becoming the state of insane. This is exactly what struck my mind when I saw the "slandering" reviews of the latest Bollywood blockbuster "Vivah". May be it came amidst of the adultries and skimply claded sluts, it looked out of place. But its success shows that no matter how fast today's life had become, everybody likes to treasure those tender moments and family values. I got the DVD 3-4 days back and I had already seen it 4 times fully.

{mosimage}No, that tag line is actually a part of the movie's name, not I phrased to described the album. But no harm even if used to describe the album because the album really celebrates love. This album for which Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy collaborating with "Kal Ho Na Ho..." Nikhil Advani for his second directorial venture comprising a mammoth starcast of Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, John Abraham, Govinda, Sohail Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Vidya Balan, Ayesha Takia, Juhi Chawla, Priyanka Chopra, Isha Khoppikar and British actress Shannon Esrechowitz, is a run away success from the second one it starts playing. The stamp of Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy is evident all over sometimes spills the hangover of "Kal Ho Na Ho..." but considering that this album comes from the same KHNH team, it is unavoidable. Out of seven tracks, the success ratio is close to 100% with every track having a merit of its own. Lyricist Sameer pens some young and fresh lines for this album. My favourites listed on that order...

{mosimage}Gulzar, Maniratnam, AR Rahman - these stars come again after the landmark "Dil Se.." after a decade. By the time AR Rahman's career is spiralling towards an all time low, eyes are on these album whether it might give AR Rahman a new lease of life. Don't know whether this will turn tables for ARR or not, but this music manages to take you to the nostalgic times. Also it draws heavy inspirations from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Sufi kinda music - especially "Tere Bina" (ultimate best) and "Aye Hairathe..". An AR Rahman's album grows on you after many hearings only, so at this moment I am refraining myself from commenting which is best or not, but let me brief about what aspects that instantly draw me towards "Guru". I found it surprisingly that even the dialect coaches (normally who go unnoticed with their services restricted to recording sessions only) were also credited on the album jacket.

{mosimage}It had been sometimes I wrote about Bollywood albums. I just thought instead of writing out of initial jest and regretting later (like I did for the reviews of "Mazhai" and "Rasikan"), let me wait for sometime and if I feel that the album is something I want to hear for long, then write about it. This is one of the best periods for Bollywood as it had gained international appeal and the music had taken a totally different "world" sound. But there are few albums that manages to have a distinct sound for themselves standing apart from the maddening Himesh Reshammiya clone. "Vivaah", "Shiva", "Don" are such albums I liked among the recent releases. I also believe that "Umraao Jaan" will turn tides right for Anu Malik and Alka Yagnik who had lost their midas touch after the entry of spate of talented newcomers like "Pritam", "Shantanu Moitra" in music as well as emergence of Shreya Ghosal as a formidable force in the female playback singing.

"Sometimes not seeing the original version of a movie can be good". That is what I felt when I saw the Ram Gopal Varma's Indianised take of famous Hollywood cult classic "Godfather". I had heard a lot about that movie inspiring a lot of directors, many of my friends had told that the novel was still more superior. But I don't want to take away the credits from this Indianised version. While seeing the movie I noticed the similarities in other "inspired versions" - Maniratnam's Nayakan had more of it in the second half and almost all over in Kamal Hassan's "Devar Magan". While seeing "Sarkar" I realised the sway Big B, has over the medium, I wished Ram Gopal Varma make more movies as director, not as a producer.