Packing quite a punch!

There are many things that give me a high apart from good food and great movies. It could be a good book, having some good time with friends/ cousins, traveling to a great place or watching some great artistes perform!

I should say that I have not been fortunate enough to catch great artistes performing live! Well, the town that I live in did not have many avenues and the theatres in Kochi city always used to have them on weekday evenings which made it diffcult for me to attend considering my working hours at office.

When I read about JTPAC being conceived jointly by the Choice Group and Mr. Mohanlal, I was quite happy. I still was not sure what kind of a theatre they were planning to set up and what kind of shows they were planning to put up. Amidst much fanfare, the theatre was inaugurated a couple of months back and again, there was silence!

Only recently did JTPAC start issuing advertisements announcing the programmes that they had planned for and boy- 0- boy, I had a very pleasant surprise when I heard about what was on offer. Check out the list below if you want to know more:

4 April- The Subramaniams with Louis Banks- Contemporary Fusion Music

26 April- Usha Uthup- Contemporary and Jazz Music

9 May- Sobhana's Maaya Raavan (I was screaming with joy when I read this!)

23 May- Shaadi@barbaadi.com- Hindi/ Gujarati play by Paresh Rawal (OOOOOOOH!)

6 June- Rock Music by Avial

And all this at the newly constructed Performing Arts Centre, just 2 kilometres away from home! This is like hitting a Super Lotto! 2 events every month from the stalwarts of the Indian Art Scene- what more could a lover of art ask for! I am extremely happy, euphoric and excited at the very thought of attending these shows! If you are, please check out the website of JTPAC

Last one on food for a very long time...

Ma and sis were off to Chattisgarh for almost 10 days and I was home alone for a week :-) Being all alone at home is fun of another kind when you see things happening around you the way you and only you want them to. No questions asked, you get up when you want to, bathe when you want to, eat when and what you want to and do whatever you want to. It is a very strange sense of freedom that being home alone brings with. I would not say I would like to continue being home alone eternally and as if the almighty knew this, my cousin who had also been to Chattisgarh was back 3 days earlier than scheduled.

If you think I am the greatest foodie to have walked the earth, you ought to meet my cousin, V. A 3rd year student of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, he achieves a very strange kind of high at the very sight of food! Do we need more reasons to bond with each other well?

It was a lazy Saturday morning and both of us got up really late. We decided that we were gonna skip breakfast and head to Jharokha at Hotel WyteFort, Maradu for a sumptous buffet lunch. The fact that my sister had been to the restaurant with her friend and had always good things to say about the place contributed significantly to our decision to select this one over the others.

It was my first visit to the restaurant in the last 7- odd years and after the change in management, I had not heard very good things about the place. I stepped in without much expectations and realized that there was not much change to the ambience! We comforted ourselves into a small table and were looking forward to start our marathon eating session. Both of us were so hungry that we could hear weird sounds from inside our tummies!

Hot and fresh Mushroom soups were served and we drank the portion as if we were drinking manna :-) The main course comprised of rotis and naans as well as freshly made kerala porottas. Boiled and seasoned Tapioca, Vegetable Manchurian, Dal Fry, Kadai Vegetable are some of the items that I still remember to have gobbled up. The Noodles was not very good but that was kinda compensated by the yummy peas pulao. A well stocked salad bar that even had kimchi, my favorite korean salad of seasoned cabbage leaves added to my excitement!

The dessert section was quite elaborate. I did not bother to taste the aval pradhaman since my favorite gulab jamun with vanilla ice cream was again on offer. Tarts, Rolly Polly, Dates Vada and Chocolate Pastry- all of them were equally yummy!

It took us a good hour and half to finish eating and by that time, we were so full that we could not even move! Need I say that I had to skip dinner that night?

Dinner with Family...

I have written so much about eating out with my colleageus that I will be unfair to myself if I did not mention about a lunch and a dinner that I went out for, with my family!

The first one was a dinner get together with a cousin and family from Chennai. The occassion of course was their visit and it had also to do with the fact that it had been a really long time since we ate out. So, here we were, in a car and on a 2 wheeler- 8 of us at Hotel Nyle Plaza, Vyttilla for a buffet dinner.

I had visited this place earlier too and was a great fan of the food on offer :-) I was the one who selected the place and looking at the lavish buffet spread before us, all 8 of us happy, hungry and excited- all at the same time. Indian breads were served hot at the table and we were not supposed to pick them up from the buffet table which was such a relief! And we had some excellent gravies to go with the rotis. The star of the day, however, was the dry Gobi Manchurian which all of us were munching much to our delight :-)

The salads were good too and so were the vegetable chammanthies (vegetables wet ground with dessicated coconut) which is quite a regular at all buffet spreads these days! The dessert section was also equally mouth watering with hot gulab jamuns and vanilla ice cream to go...

The best part was that children under 8 were not billed and we had 2 under 8 kids with us which was more reason to cheer! I would recommend the restaurant to all who want to have a good time and eat some good food! And mind you, it is not just the food that is a hit- the ambience and the prompt service also score very high :-)

Of Farewell Lunches...Part 6 (and this is the last one!)

B's last day in Kochi office was 31 March 2009 and so her team decided to host a special lunch for her at Park Residency, Kakkanad considering its proximity to office. The d- day was fixed for Monday, 30 March 2009 and since I was part of the team earlier, I was also invited.

The arrangements pretty much remained the same, except that there was no chart paper this time. B was not leaving the team as such since she was supposed to manage the same team from Bangalore. I was asked to emcee the function again and only when I started reading out the name of the hosts did I realize that it was also a celebration of birthdays of almost half of the team as well as anniversaries (with the organization) of almost half of the team. Plus, we had to celebrate the "special" achievements of 2 team members- the first person will be holding his 2 month old daughter for his 1st wedding anniversary and the 2nd one just got married and had the entire district talking about his marriage!

Though it was an occassion to be happy and to celebrate, not all of us were in a mood to considering the fact that B was moving to Bangalore the next day. A was there too since the project was being supervised by him. We started with A reminiscing his association with B over the past 4 years and moved over to the team. Most of the team members spoke at length about B, some explaining why they consider B to be so special. By the time it was my turn to talk about B, I was so choked up with emotion that I could not speak all that I wanted to speak. I really thought I would end up creating drama, but I could thankfully restrain myself and the moment passed without much issue!

All those who knew what B meant to me understood my predicament. She has not just been a boss, but also a good friend, philosopher, guide, sister and agony aunt for me, someone who shares the passion that I have for food, books, movies, hanging out, traveling, trying anything new, someone just like me who takes pleasure in the simple things of life, and someone who I have always looked upto and will continue looking upto whenever I face an issue- personal or professional. She is all this and more to me...

Anyways, after everyone spoke, it was time for B to address the gathering. She has always been a good speaker, an extremely inspiring one that is and none of us were surprised at all those golden words that she put very rightly across. The team gifted her with a watch and A handed it over on behalf of the team.

The lunch was not as good as what it was during the last get together, but the dessert more than made up for it. Yummy Gaajar ka halwa with aromatic vanilla ice cream- the combo made my mouth water and it was gorgeous, to say the least. Among the main course, I particularly enjoyed the Aloo Mutter curry- quite a rarity in a buffet! And the Welcome Drink was extremely good 2 :-)

Of Farewell Lunches...Part 5

Well, I have the 2 biggies to go. This one is about the lunch that had R had thrown for all of us (all Process Managers and Team Leaders) along with of course, the fellow GM's and heads of the support departments. This was more about the fun that we had than the food itself! The event was organized at the banquet hall of Park Residency, Kakkanad. As usual, B and I were the first ones to reach and we were almost half hour ahead of schedule. The hotel had just opened an Executive Bar and a Lounge Bar and we thought we should go and check out the place. 5 minutes later, we found ourselves at the lounge bar sipping mocktails. The place was cool, with 2 LCD screens, comfy couches and good service. The bar desk had not been fully arranged plus there was some more work to be done at the sides. But, all in all for a place like kakkanad, I must say it was appealing. Green Salad and Potato Chips were served on the house. The best thing was the Italian Dressing that was served with the Salad. It was amazing! The mocktails were also very good :-) R being the host came in next and the Hotel Manager grandly announced that there was this lady who was waiting for R and since she did not find him, had gone down to the lounge bar (Later only I realized that B had spoken to the Manager. The poor guy had not seen me coming in!). R joined us in a minute with a wicked smile on his face and all 3 of us had a hearty laugh over the whole episode! It was time for us to assemble at the banquet hall and people started dropping in one after the other. R had arranged for beer as well as soft drinks and the hall was arranged as if we were attending a training session. There was this podium as well as a big chart paper attached to a board with the requisite writing material. Knowing R, we were slightly suspicious as to whether he was planning to train us on some management funda :-) But, R had other plans in mind. He wanted it to be a properly convened meeting with everyone talking about his/ her experience of working with R. He had specifically brought the chart paper because he wanted autographs from all of us on a single sheet which he was planning to frame, quite a novel thought, rite? I was assigned the job of the emcee which I happily accepted. There were many people who spoke at length about R. How he terrorized them in the initial phase and how he used pick on them and how he turned out to be their favorite in an year's time! I also spoke about R. I fondly remember the time I spent with him, how he has calmed when I was disturbed, how he encouraged me to try out everything and how he congratulated me on even my smallest achievement! R is one of those persons I met in my professional life who is truly irreplaceable! I really thought I will break down on R's last day at Kochi Office, thankfully it did not happen. I was sure that I was not going to bid him farewell when he leaves office on the last day, so I left office earlier than he did :-) Coming back to the lunch, after all those speaking sessions, it was time for us to hand over the laptop bag we had bought for him from Hidesign! A and S handed it over to him and then it was time for the photographs! By this time, hot, piping lunch was ready to be served and all of us rushed to the buffet table. The lunch was very good- hot rotis, 2 non veg dishes, 4 veg dishes, noodles and the customary salad- pickle- pappadam! A filling lunch and some tasty desserts later, R, A, M and I headed straight to the lounge bar to spend some more time with R... Looking back, it was a day very well utilized and a day that I would remember for a very long time to come...All of us at Kochi office still miss R a lot, but here is wishing him good luck in all his endeavors :-)

Of Farewell Lunches...Part 4

This is going to be my last post for the day! For starters, I have written so much over the last 4 hour window (this is my 15th) and I have been writing so much about food that I just have to stop this and gobble down my lunch (No one can make cabbage thoran like ma does!) but here is a quickie on the quick lunch that B had thrown for all of us. Like I said earlier, B and R were leaving Kochi and S (of the opposite sex, sillies!) was flying out to US of A. This was kind of the last get together of the BRASS and we had lot more people joining in to make it more merrier.

The venue was the restaurant at Avenue Center, Panampilly Nagar, Kochi and it was meant to be another quick lunch on a working day. All of us gathered pretty much in time since we had to finish it fast and get back to work and that was the precise reason why I loved this one. The lunch buffet spread was the ideal one that you could have on a working day. There were not too many dishes to choose from but all of them that were laid out were equally good. Hot Tava Parathas with spicy mixed vegetable curry, choice of soups as usual and among half a dozen veg and non veg dishes were lemon rice- not a common sight on buffet but a very good alternative to pulao and biriyani especially on a working lunch! The salad bar was kinda mini but again whatever was on offer was good!

I generally dont fancy a mini dessert bar even if it means I have to feel drowsy at work. That probably was the only minus in an otherwise quick and tasty lunch! Avenue Center is another moderately priced restaurant and the ambience is good! The huge plasma TV in one corner of the restaurant and the greenery outside the big glass panes make you feel much better :-)

I have heard great things about the dinner buffet at this place. Shall post on that after I dine at the restaurant. Till then, thanks to B, for having hosted that good and quick one :-)

Of Farewell Lunches...Part 3

Well, chronologically speaking, this is not the 3rd lunch that we had. But I have to write a long story about the 3rd and the 6th lunches because they were done almost in the same fashion and we had some moist eyes during the gathering- due to losing out on the august company of R and B.

Here I am talking about the lunch hosted by a newly joined S (Big Boss, he is!) basically to get together once again before we bade farewell to B and R. The venue was the coffee shop at Harbor View Residency, Near Kochi Shipyard which according to a friend of mine is on the way to Willingdon Island! Though the hotel has been around for quite sometime, it was my first visit to this one!

It was a working day and we were looking at a working lunch! We were supposed to take a quick bite at the buffet and head straight back to work. However, we ended up waiting for sometime for all of us to gather and we used the time to check out the lounge bar and disc that was launched recently. The place did live up to its name (GLOW!) and all those lights were glowing at us with the music. It looked real cool and is on my radar for a visit with my friends on a Saturday evening :-)

Within half hour, all of us gathered at the lobby and off we were to Two Trees, the strangely named (or so I thought) coffee shop of the hotel! Till I visited the place I had never thought that the attic could serve as a good coffee shop and here we were, right in the middle of the hotel with corridors at 7 levels around us. 2 Miniature trees were also planted inside the coffee shop which thus lived up to its name. Thanks to the layout, the air conditioner was not really cooling it and the tables were quite narrow for the big group that we were. The restaurant was not brighly lit and I did not really fancy the idea of sitting under a tree while eating a 4- course lunch!

But all those apprehensions kinda melted away thanks to the wonderful array of dishes that were on offer! A couple of kadai dishes fresh from the stove along with soft and fluffy appams- vegetable stew for the conventional and gobi manchurian for starters- a fairly well stocked salad bar with my favorite egg salad and I completely fell for the place! At a moderate price of 254 bucks net per person, this coffee shop truly deserves a second visit!

There was one more reason to cheer- the dessert section which had my favorite payasam along with gulab jamun and ice cream- Need I say more???

Of Farewell Lunches...Part 2

February 12 happens to be B's birthday and we decided to make it special for her. We had also planned to buy something special for R who was hosting a lunch for all of us over the weekend. So, off we were to the HiDesign store in Kochi to select something special for R. Select we did, a beautiful laptop bag made of brown leather and the good thing was that it was portable! The other S had treated B to a pedicure (Ladies matter, this) and we decided to gift B with her favorite brand of clothing. B did select something of her choice (her choice is always elegant, btw!) and I also selected something for myself and off we were to eat at the restaurant of Hotel Gokulam Park Inn, Kaloor, Kochi.

Considering the fact that this happened just a few days after our lunch at Bubble, I was comparing this one with Gateway all along which is just not the right thing to do. Taj group is the ultimate in luxury and the others are just trying (though sometimes I feel they are trying in vain!). Having said that the lunch was quite enjoyable and presented a decent spread at a decent price. Choice of 2 soups, North Indian and South Indian bread, Rice, Pasta, Noodles, 4 Non Veg dishes and 6 Veg dishes and a fairly decent salad bar sounded exciting and the food was quite tasty! The reason why I suppose it did not appeal as much was because the dining area was kinda full and there were big groups making a lot of noise. Service was interrupted as a result but there were no major issues.

However, we were in for some disappointment at the dessert section. I was not sure whether it was due to the considerable crowd in attendance for lunch but I personally did not find anything much exciting at the dessert section. A cake and a tart are all I remember as of now, but that said the meal was good enough to deserve a moderate rating!

Of Farewell Lunches...Part 1

Well, for all those of you who did not know till now, I am a self confessed foodaholic and nothing, I repeat nothing, gives me the kind of high that good food gives. Those of you who have seen me in person and have had that rare chance to eat out with me will more than agree...

And today I am feeling bored and lazy and hungry and the only thing that I can think about is the series of lunches that we had which served as farewell to B and R. The occassion was definitely not worth celebrating because we were losing B and R to another branch of our office, but if I look at the "eating" part in isolation, let me tell you, the food was worth another round of celebration!

So, here I go giving out my opinion on the buffet spreads of some of the better hotels in the city and considering the fact that I am a foodaholic, I would request you to take my opinion with a pinch of salt because I cannot be over analytical and over critical when it comes to matters of the stomach ;-)

The first session that we had was at the Bubble Cafe, Coffee Shop at the Gateway Hotels, Marine Drive, Ernakulam. I had fallen for the food at the Taj Group ever since I started auditing those hotels 8 years ago. The sheer variety of food on offer and the authenticity with which the various kinds of cuisine is cooked and presented makes your mouth water. For the average Indian, there can not be a bigger luxury than eating at the Taj and the hotel leaves no stone unturned in making you feel like a king. At 500 bucks plus tax, the lavish buffet comprises of 2 welcome drinks, 2 soups, a chaat counter, a salad bar, an Indian bread corner, 3 starters, 4 of the rice/ noodles variety, half a dozen non- vegetarian dishes and at least a dozen vegetarian dishes with curd vada, pickle, fried stuff and many many more to go with the main course. The 3 hour window (12 noon to 3 PM) might not be sufficient for a lover of food and the fact that I had skipped breakfast (I always try to make most of the occassion, you know!) helped me gobble down quite a bit! And listen, I have not even started talking desserts yet- ice creams, cakes, tarts, pastries, fresh cut fruits, payasams and Indian sweets- the very arrangement of the dessert table makes you go weak on your knees...add to it the decor- the wide glass panes all around you and even on top, the huge umbrella that protects you from sunshine, the friendly butlers who make sure you enjoy your meal and the privacy that each group gets thanks to the excellent layout of the dining area just adds to the pleasure of eating at the Bubble Cafe!

It is not possible to describe in words how much I enjoyed this lunch and how full I was at the end of it all. I could not eat dinner that night or breakfast the next day morning. And who paid the bill? ha ha, not me, sillies. It was S of the opposite sex who graciously paid the bill- she was treating us for having been the proud owner of a brand new i10 and also for having pocketed a good sum of bonus for her exemplary performance at work! It was also her way of saying good bye to B and R and as for me, well like I always say, I was and still am plain lucky to be part of this group!

Wanna read more on food, go to part 2 :-)

BRASS diluted...

I did not realize till now that if you join the first names of the 5 of us it would end up as BRASS! Not bad, eh? But let me tell you that the group was as good as GOLD or even PLATINUM in our office! Those wonderful times that we have had together over lunches, coffees and dinners are irreplacebale. I dont have the audacity to call them my friends- all of them being senior to me both in terms of age (I can see someone squirming) and also in terms of experience! But, the fact that they took me under their wings, believed in me and walked me through all the challenges I faced at work itself speaks volumes about them

And that is why I feel sad today because B and R have moved to our Bangalore Office and before you start laughing out on what remains let me tell you that we have added M and another S to the group- that makes it MASSS- which is quite apt considering the massive support that we are to each other and our massive acceptability (!) in office. BRASS has moved over to MASSS and one of the S's is in US till end of April! I am not sure whether days in future will be as interesting as the days in the past. But am hopeful even though I will definitely miss B and R and am eagerly looking forward to having S back in office...

Office, Office!

It has been a while since I wrote about my work life. Well, it is not that things have changed much for me. My project remains the same, but thanks to the multiple trips to Canada, the number of processes and teams have increased. 4 processes in progress- 1 in steady state, 2 completing transition soon and 1 that has just been transitioned, but there is enough to look forward to in the next 4- 5 months- additional volumes for the 4th process and a 5th process being transitioned. There is so much of discussions, analysis and planning being done to make sure that things remain under control!

Not that the last year and half with the new project was easy! Lots of discussions, negotiations, challenges, gaping differences between expectations and actual performance. But almost an year later, things are looking better and brighter! Discussions, suggestions, arguements, talking through issues and challenges and general improvement in performance- finally, everything has fallen into place and now the team that I am part of is in expansion mode! There is happiness all around, accolades coming from all directions and lots of hope for the team, not to forget the high degree of expectations from everyone...

But the last one year has brought about a significant level of increase in confidence and with a hardworking, focussed and wonderful set of people working together, today I can confidently say that anything is achievable...

As a team, we say- WE ARE READY FOR MORE :-)

Sucker Alias Yuckie Overloaded...

The entire Malayalam Film Industry is passing through a scary phase of creative menopause and it is getting only murkier! How else would you describe the sudden interest in making non descript sequels to well made films of the 80's and the 90's? A better option would be to make no movies at all and let the theatres in Kerala screen excellent movies from across the state border. If you dont agree, please go and watch Sagar Alias Jackie Reloaded (or whatever!)

There is a limit to testing audience's patience and how could a veteran scriptwriter like S N Swamy do this to us? Even the ever dependable Jagathy Sreekumar irritates and it is completely uncool watching Bhavana drool over an ageing, out of shape Mohanlal! Are we saying that family packs are better than six and eight packs? Oh, Jesus!

Having Sobhana and K B Ganesh Kumar is a relief and probably the only justification to have endured this cinematic torture! Get a DVD of Irupatham Noottandu and watch it 25 times over but stay as far away as possible from theatres screening the sequel...

Rotten Chillies!

There is no hope in Malayalam Cine World these days- the veterans are past their prime and the youngsters simply refuse to come up with something interesting! The audience are fed with rehash of old films which are unbearable to say the least! In spite of all this, sometimes when you see the posters/ promos of an upcoming Mammootty/ Mohanlal film, you start hoping with all your heart that this movie could be the proverbial saviour of the industry!

It is this hope that drives me to watch inanities like "Red Chillies". The disappointment, despair, disillusionment and dejection that I experienced while I sat through this apology for a movie cannot be described in words. I dont understand what A K Sajan is creditted with- A script? That is the last thing that you would find in this listless enterprise! Shaji Kailas apparently does not direct anymore, he conceives shots- but Mr. Kailas needs to understand that it does not help if all you have in a movie is a series of freeze frames of an ageing, out of shape star draped in suits and accessorized with cool shades and with jarring music ringing loud in the background!

And those 9 bimbettes in the movie- are you still interested? Gimme a break...

Silk loses Sheen...

It was difficult to catch "Kanchivaram" in a theatre but Priyadarshan had spoken so much about it that I had made up my mind to watch it with a live audience. The audience (totalling to max 20) were anything but live and I would not blame them completely for what Priyadarshan ends up delivering is a pseudo- intellectual movie and a Shyam Benegal or a Govind Nihlani would have made this one truly intellectual!

The problem with Priyan is that he tries too hard to make it different from his normal film making styles and he fails miserably. It is good to have innovative lighting techniques, unique camera angles, beautiful set designs and picture postcard frames- but the damage that these do to Kanchivaram is that they take the authenticity out of the narrative. At no point of time you feel for Vedangam (Prakash Raj mostly under control but goes overboard at least in a couple of scenes) or his poor, non descript existence. You fail to empathise with him when he declares that he would wrap his daughter in a silk saree when he marries her off. The characters and the situations get alienated from the audience, precisely because Priyadarshan is more interested in technique than the soul of his script!

Shriya Reddy puts in an interesting cameo and manages to connect with the audience. M G Sreekumar's background score is pedestrian. The film scores high technically but feels a tad too long even at a running time of just 112 minutes. The script has in it to be a classic but Priyadarshan fails miserably in making one!

Gods must be Happy!

It is for no reason that Bala is considered one of the best directors in Tamil today- and he reiterates this fact categorically with "Naan Kadavul". This is the kind of movie that many directors would have dreamt of making but very few would have the guts to make.

Naan Kadavul delves deep into the psyche of aghori sanyasis through its protagonist Rudhran (Arya) who was abandoned as a teenager in the holy city of Varanasi by his father following an astrologer's advice. More than a decade later, the father resurfaces in Varanasi and manages to find out his son who is an Aghori now. Rudhran's guru convinces him to go to his native and his family is totally shattered to find out that Rudhran literally lives on alcohol and marijuana. This takes him to a set of sanyasis who make a living out of begging afoot a hill top temple along with a group of beggars controlled by the cruel Thandavan. In comes Hamsavalli (Pooja), a blind singer and takes over the narrative thereafter.

There is nothing much in terms of story value to "Naan Kadavul" but it is the treatment that makes a difference. Bala's expertise as a story teller comes to the fore while depicting the lives of the group of beggars- even in the face of adversities and abject poverty, the gentle humor in their lives and their very zest to live has been brought out beautifully. Hamsavalli is a well etched out character and the range of emotions that she goes through has been brought out very well by Pooja, indeed an award winning effort! Jayamohan's dialogues are sharp, Suresh Urs does a good job with his pair of scissors and Arthur Wilson's camera adds to the authenticity of Krishna Moorthy's designs.

Arya needs to be congratulated for taking up a completely unconventional role and breathing fire into it. In addition to acting prowess, Naan Kadavul is a good showcase for Arya's well toned body and the actor does not hesitate to drop even the last piece of clothing for the sake of authenticity. I dont think any other conventional leading man would have taken such a big risk, that too barely half a dozen movies into a very promising career!

Maestro Ilaiyaraaja's background score adds to the mysticism of Varanasi and among the songs, Madhu Balakrishnan's soulful rendering of "Pichai Pathiram" and Vijay Prakash's high octave vocals to "Om Shivoham" stand out! If you are a serious movie buff, you will definitely come out of this cinema chanting "Jai Bholenath"

A "Bhandarkar" Mal- function

Anything in excess is dangerous- everyone in the world understand that probably with the exception of National Award winning director Madhur Bhandarkar who is on an expose- spree. After bar girls (Chandni Bar); politics (Satta); celebrities (Page 3); corporate affairs (Corporate) and under belly of the city (Traffic Signal), Bhandarkar has this time focussed on the big bad world of modelling and fashion!

Nothing wrong but what is new here except the ambience? It is still the same homosexuality, moral compromise, cut throat competition, drugs and alcohol and dishonesty on offer! All this would have been passe had the ambience been believable. To start with Meghna Mathur's overnight rise to stardom is not quite digestible, add to it the badly choreographed fashion shows and the outrageous costumes that would not be welcomed even by the fashion unconscious! Arbaaz Khan playing the sauve fashion magazine owner does not help. He, in fact, needs a great deal of help in the acting department. Kangana Ranaut is caught in the rut- she repeats her "Gangster" act of drugs, alcohol and self- pity for the nth time. Harsh Chhaya fails miserably in enacting the gay designer.

On the positive side are Salim Sulaiman's music ("Mar jaava" and "Jalwa" stand out! ), Mugdha Ghodse's confident debut, Sameer Soni's gay designer who appears real and Kitu Gidwani and Suchitra Pillai putting in credible performances. Priyanka Chopra is adequate but I would not say that it is an award winning performance. Bhandarkar promotes men's fairness cremes though unintentionally. How would you otherwise describe Priyanka Chopra's sudden pangs of guilt after having slept with a black escort?

For the record, there are non entities like Arjan Bajwa and Rohit Roy and veterans like Raj Babbar and Kiran Juneja who end up being non entities! A host of designers turning in guest appearances along with Karan Johar, Ranvir Shoerey and Konkona Sen Sharma dont help either...

Chandni Chowk to Chaos

When Binod Pradhan's camera zooms in on the topography of Dilli and takes you through the twists and turns in the narrow gallis of Chandni Chowk (masterfully recreated in Rajasthan, thanks to Samir Chand's award worthy set design), you almost end up feeling the aroma of hot jalebis and samosas titillating your taste buds!

The feeling gets even more accentuated as Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra introduces us to his characters one after the other- the ever graceful Waheeda Rehman playing the dadi- ma; the simpleton Gobar played skilfully by Atul Kulkarni; the jalebi wala Mamdu immortalized by Deepak Dobriyal; the friendly Ali chacha with his betel box (Rishi Kapoor on his way to become the most revered character actors of this decade!); the innocent, loud and naive Vimala chachi (Supriya Pathak on the silver screen after a long hiatus); the fiery, low caste scavenger Jalebi (Divya Dutta improving with each film); the corrupt Inspector (Vijay Raaz, his best outing since Monsoon Wedding and Raghu Romeo); the brothers at war who never leave a chance to take a dig at each other (veteran Om Puri and the hugely talented Pavan Malhotra), the flirtatious photographer (Cyrus Sahukar, confident!) and the quiet and self conscious Rama Bua (debutante Aditi Rao Hyder, quite a stunner!)

One does empathise with Abhishek Bachchan's NY returned Roshan (his US accent is jarring!) when he lands right in the middle of this ensemble of characters and takes his time along with the audience to understand and react to each and every one of them. Roshan goes through a range of emotions- bewilderment at how the Dilli traffic stops when a cow is giving birth right in the middle of the road, surprise when the fiery Bittoo (Sonam Kapoor) announces that she will have to sacrifice her ambition and say yes to the groom her father finds for her, confusion when people around him isolate Jalebi because she is from a lower caste and compassion when Mamdu's mithai shop is destroyed as part of the communal riot in his neighbourhood.

All of these sequences drive home the point- quite well, thanks to A R Rahman's scintillating score to Prasoon Joshi's profound poetry. However, Mehra's narrative moves southward during the second half when the Kala Bandar issue becomes a Hindu- Muslim issue causing tensions in the otherwise friendly neighbourhood. From then on, the movie gets preachy to the extent of being boring and you fail to empathise with Roshan when he gets into trouble for no apparent reason! The less said for Roshan's pleasure trip to heaven and his tete- a- tete with his Dadaji (Amitabh Bachchan in an absolutely unnecessary cameo), the better! By the time the end credits roll, you feel you have had enough of it which is sad considering how well Mehra began his ode to his favorite city!!!

Khan(s) and Able

When Manikandan's camera zooms in on the lush green topography of Pollachi and zeroes in on Billu's (Irrfan) carefully constructed house, you settle down in your seat realizing that Priyadarshan is not going to come up with anything innovative this time as regards lighting, camera angles and the like (It is high time Priyadarshan and Sabu Cyril bade each other good bye, they have been showing us the same sets ever since Thenmavin Kombath that was released a good 15 years ago!)

But Priyan does surprise you with his deft handling of the comic sequences- there is not even a hint of slapstick here and that is when you end up standing the first and the best Khan in this enterprise! Om Puri is as loud as he has been in all Priyan films of the past, Sad!

Priyan has been faithful to Sreenivasan's script for Katha Parayumbol and that probably is the reason why he is under control while handling the comic as well as emotional sequences. However, the ace director goes all wrong in a couple of departments- showing off Pollachi as Uttar Pradesh which is a bit too much even for a Cinematic Liberty; casting of Lara Dutta as the village barber's wife- though Lara brings in a certain sincerity to her performance, her style, intelligence and sophistication defeats her; the child artists who have been given so much to mouth that at one point of time you feel like smacking them right across their faces and ask them to just shut up and of course the excessive commerciaization in the form of bringing in 3 leading ladies for item numbers. There is no denying the fact that Kareena, Priyanka and Deepika look hot but the item numbers serve as mere speed breakers in taking the narrative forward!

Shah Rukh Khan is thankfully highly restrained and does a good job with the climax scene where he pours out his emotions for the long lost friend. "Billu" is in the genre of the Hrishikesh Mukherjee brand of "saaf, suthri, paarivarik comedies" of the 70's and there definitely are times when you feel the narrative is just not moving forward! That said, "Billu" is watchable for its noble storyline. It does make an attempt to tell you that there are relationships worth your time in this fast paced world but I would not say it has been completely successful in delivering the message.

The "Zoya" Factor

The most well directed sequence in Zoya Akthar's directorial debut "Luck by Chance" is the one where the principal characters are shown reacting to an article in a filmi periodical speaking about Vikram (Farhan Akthar) ditching his long time struggling girl friend, Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma) in favor of starlet Nikki Walia (Isha Sharvani) to further his filmi career. Watch this one especially for Juhi Chawla's gleeful expression- a 3 second shot that tells us how extremely talented and how disappointedly under utilized an actor she is!

The above mentioned is the best sequence in the film which is peppered with well conceived scenes and very well acted out characters. It is a delight to watch characters and not actors here- that too played by some of the most talented names in Bollywood. Dimple Kapadia is marvelous as yester year star turned star mother Neena Walia! Rishi Kapoor is a delight to watch as producer Romy Rolly and Javed Akthar pens his brutally sarcastic dialogues for Kapoor- listen to how he refers Nikki Walia as a "crocodile wearing a chiffon saree" or how he singles out Farhan Akthar saying "subah se itne chimpanzees dekhe hain, chalo, ek to aadmi mila!" or how he shouts at Anurag Kashyap playing a scenarist saying "Aye Film Institute, mein yeh picture film festivals ke liye nahin bana raha hoon"

Alyy Khan plays the lecherous producer to perfection; Arjun Mathur is promising as Vikram's best friend; Isha Sharvani is surprisingly good as the naive starlet; Sanjay Kapoor adeaquately under plays the director and Farhan Akthar is pitch perfect as the struggling actor who will do anything to achieve stardom!

The film is peppered with special appearances by the biggest and the best of Bollywood! The ones who stand out are of course, Hrithik Roshan who plays his most well etched out character till date- the scheming superstar Zafar Khan; Karan Johar whose single line of dialogue inspires wolf whistles; Kareena Kapoor playing the snooty actress that she has been made out to be; Akshaye Khanna as confused and undecided as ever; Abhishek Bachchan playing the nice- boy to the producer and of course, Shah Rukh Khan who sums up the plot in 2 very well written sentences!

Luck By Chance is also a lesson in Production Design for many- the authentic sets and props add to the script. Cinematography is good and Editing is crisp. Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy's music goes well with the mood of the movie. However, Hrithik's homo erotic look in the circus song could have been avoided. This film is a must watch from the word "go"- the title card design is awesome too!

Honey Irani and Javed Akthar can really be proud of their progenies- Luck by Chance categorically declares the arrival of a talented director and showcases Farhan's acting skills very well. And Did I tell you that this is another golden feather in Konkona Sen Sharma's already overcrowded cap? Need I say more???

Long break...

I think long breaks have become more or less my characteristic as regards updating my blog. I was busy, not that I am claiming I was not. My weekends were filled with activities- watching movies with friends, eating out, lazing around in the city, guests visiting, catching up with periodicals, you know, the works...

However, I have decided to go current with the blog this weekend and hopefully by next weekend I should be through with all those things about which I wanna write. So, here I go...