Why do I love rom-coms?

Of late, I have only been watching romcoms whenever I get some free time. This made me think, why do I like watching these movies?

Every time I watch any rom-com, I automatically find myself in that heroine's position. Then I start thinking what would have I done in her place and so on! But that doesn't happen in other movies. Yes, that is correct. I am totally smitten with rom-coms.

Definitely this is one of my favorite pastimes, not that I get a lot of time :). But to think of it, why do I love these kind of movies, I did come up with some points. 

• While I am watching the movie, I am transported to a whole different world. 
• The characters make me laugh, they make me cry, but finally they make me happy :).
• I get to experience some of the most beautiful things in life again :), like love at first sight, coming back for the person you love, see the smile on the loved one's face :)
• There are hardly any sad endings in these kind of movies. Even The Notebook, the two died together, which, in my opinion, was one of the most beautiful endings for any movie, and life as such. 
• I understand such things are usually hypothetical but still happy endings please me :).

I am still thinking of points. If you have any, please do leave me a comment. I would love to know what you think...

Love comes softly...watch it!!!

Another finding from Katherine Heigl movies was the "Love Comes Softly" series. It is a series of 11 movies/episodes of roughly about 1 and 1/2 hour.

The movie starts with two people with completely different backgrounds getting married under some unavoidable circumstances. The woman is pregnant with her first husband and the man already has a daughter of 9. The rest of the episode shows the struggle to adjust, love and cherish the relationship.
In subsequent episodes, the family expands and new people join and celebrate life.

What I really liked about the complete series is the way the characters love and embrace life. They are content with what they have and always eager to extend help. It reinforces our faith in God, irrespective of religion. The series bolsters our belief in fellow human beings, in the act of helping others. It reminds us that "God helps those who help themselves." and "One must help, one day or the other, it will definitely help us" and so on. 

These were the moral values that we had learnt in Moral Science classes in school. And have seemed to have lost somewhere in our everyday struggle to survive and excel the race, be it at home, workplace, anywhere!! These episodes are a reminder of what we had learnt and are expected to follow and teach our future generation.

I recommend this series to everyone irrespective of age and gender. I absolutely gloat over romantic movies, but this one was so pleasant that it filled my heart with joy and I was all smiles watching it.

This may not be the best of series around, but give it a try. 

My rating for the entire series would be: 3.5/5

p.s. There is a book by this name also.

Yes..this is The Ugly Truth!!

After watching The Bu(i)g wedding, I browsed through Katherine Heigl movies. I stumbled upon this one..."The Ugly Truth". The actors were Katherine Heigl, of course and Gerald Butler. Immediately I decided to watch it.

Abby (Heigl) is a TV show producer whose TRPs are falling drastically. She has to bring it up, else her job could be in jeopardy. On the other hand, Mike(Gerald) is the host of a TV show called The Ugly Truth where he discusses issues between men and women. He doesn't hesitate to call a spade a spade and tells what men actually want. Because of this he is very popular on TV and so is his show. He is hired by Abby's TV channel where the two meet and so the movie continues. I do not want to divulge any further details about the movie.

The film starts on a slow pace but once Gerald enters, it speeds up and becomes interesting. Gerald is good as Mike. I love his accent and the way his mouth twitches when he speaks (Blush! Blush!). Katherine, in her part does a great job as usual. 27 Dresses is my personal favorite but this movie was equally good. What made this work was the crackling chemistry between the leads.

A clip from one of the best scenes in the movie

There are some really hilarious scenes in the movie and I had not laughed that loud during any movie in the recent times. And if you know me, you would know, how loudly I laugh!! Hehehe!!

The ending is very melodramatic but the overall movie makes up for it.

My rating for the movie would be 3.5/5.
Watch it!! It is a fun watch!!!

One day..finally!!

One day is one movie that I wanted to watch since a long time. I happened to see the trailer and bits of the movie on Romedy Now channel. But as usual, my kids did not allow me to watch it completely. So I went back to the best source, my phone :).

The movie is about 2 people and how they are placed on the same day every year. The day is 15th July, a day after their graduation. They were supposed to be lovers but ended up becoming friends and so the movie goes on spanning almost 15 years.

It is an intriguing love story. I realized that there is a book as well, on which the movie is based. The bookreads has a good rating for the book. The movie also did not disappoint. It is simple, yet very deep. There is no dragging of situations which increases the pace of the movie. One doesn't tend to get bored during the course of the movie.

Coming to the characters, Jim Sturgess is totally handsome and he fit the bill perfectly. The nonchalant guy, then the guy in distress, every part, he was great. And so was Anne Hathaway. There is no doubt about her acting skills and she proved it yet again what a good actor she is. Her ascent that fetched lots of comments, good as well as bad, was okay. It showed that she had worked hard on it.

Some of the things that I totally fell in love with:

• Line where Emma says: "I always loved you, Dex but I don't like you anymore."
• The conversation that Dex has with his daughter at the end of the movie about he being friends with his daughter.

It may not be the best of romcoms, but it has its own appeal. A soft and subtle one.

A nice rainy day watch.

My rating for the movie would be 3/5

Silver Linings...Did I see it?

I know it is a little late to publish the review of the movie, Silver Linings Playbook. This movie as I understood from my research has garnered lots of appreciation from critics and audience alike for the story and the performances. I never really got a chance to watch it earlier, but now I finally did.

One novel thing that happened in this case is that I have not read the book on which the movie is based. So all my review pertains to the movie only. The story is simple and straight, no complications around. But the characters are complicated. I really need to applaud the artists who carried off such complex characters with ease. 

IMO, Pat's father, Robert DeNiro's character was the most complicated and I felt he portrayed it like a charm. I loved him more after watching the movie. I became a fan of Bradley Cooper after watching Hangover series, but post watching this, I realized, that was not acting, this is his acting. And he did good. He deserved an award for this.

In the beginning I could not recognize Jennifer Lawrence, I haven't seen much of her stuff. But she was awesome. 

All the artists adorned their characters well. I did not enjoy the ending, I felt it was a little cliche`. But they pulled it off making the movie a good watch.

My rating for the movie would be 3.75/5.

A week well spent!!!

My surgery gave me a 1 week break from work. I had a feeling that sitting at home would be difficult for me. But it was not so. 

I studied for a couple of days, and then did what I really enjoy doing..watching rom-coms.
My kids usually do not allow me to watch Romedy Now with their POGOs and Cartoon Networks. Along with that my mom and mother-in-law with her daily dosage of serials, I thought I should give watching TV a pass.

So I moved to my phone, I really need to thank Pradeep now for having forced me to buy the phone that I have now. And I now realize it more :). Watching a movie on my phone was a pleasurable experience. The bigger screen and the wonderful sound clarity made it more entertaining.

So I started watching all the movies that I could. I managed only 4, whose reviews I would be publishing in the subsequent posts. So keep watching this space for more...

Shh..grandpa's around!!!!

Just the other morning, I was standing in my balcony basking in the morning sun. I saw an elderly gentleman doing his daily yoga practices. Accompanying him were a bunch of kids who also were something related to yoga :), falling in and out of the yoga mat.

That scene reminded me if the days I had spent under the guidance of my grandfathers. My paternal grandfather was a man of less words and more anger. We were very scared of him, so we used to hardly stay at home. Most of the time we would spend in our aunt's place with my cousins.

But one thing I distinctly remember is the walks to the MCEME temple in Trimulgherry. It used to be a long walk but he made us do it. I did not realize the distance during my childhood as with cousins it was always fun doing anything. But now when I pass by the same place, I wonder how did I manage to walk for so long. And that too almost everyday!!

He hardly spoke, but the thought that he was around, was reassuring.

I also remember the songs he used to sing, Alak elahi ek hai. I sing the same to my children. He was a good singer with a baritone.  With his friends he was one of the most jovial persons around.

Maybe the fact that we were staying in Delhi and visited once a year did not allow the bond between him and I to grow much.

When he died there were lots of people who attended the funeral, that is when I realized what a gregarious person he was. Also he was the one who wanted to celebrate life, and his death. On his 1-year ceremony, dad hosted a big dinner party in his memory rather than having a dismal memorial. 

Today looking at that old man doing yoga and also silently monitoring the kids brought back memories.

Dear grandfather... Rest in peace!!!

Tryst with death???

Last week I underwent operation to rectify umbilical hernia. The doctor advised general anesthesia for the surgery. The surgery started, as usual, the OT team had a tough time finding a vein. They cited multiple reasons, including my obesity. But even when I was thinner, it was tough to find my vein. Nevertheless, the team finally found it and inserted the anesthesia.

I don't remember when the surgeon came and when the operation concluded (obviously!!). But post it, when the doctors were getting ready to move me back to my room, they found that I was not inhaling. Actually by that time, even I was awake but my body was not under my control. I was not able to make any of my parts move including my lungs.

The doctors in order to make me respire started hitting me. They also pinched me and pressed me under my ears. I could feel the pain but was helpless as I could not force my lungs to suck the air.

I could hear them say, Shashi breathe... Shashi Nandivada oopiri peelchukondi(saans lo, breathe) but could not do much.

It may be a very common situation in the operation theatre but for me, it was a tryst with death...

That is when I felt maybe this is what happens when you die when you so much want to live!! God brought me to his doorsteps but then sent me back. 

Thinking about this, I recollect the speech that my friend wrote for me, where I was opposing the topic, and which still holds good, man is definitely not the architect of his destiny.
The entire speech is in  one of my earlier blogs. Here is the link: http://iamshashikiran.blogspot.com/2007/06/man-is-architect-of-his-own-destiny-is.html