He is truly a gentle man...Gentleman Review!!

Finally, I get to write the review for this movie :).
And I am all happy to do that.

This film is definitely different from the other Nani movies that we have already seen. We have seen him in nice, homely, forgetful boy roles, which we have immensely liked. But this one, is different. This one brings out Nani as a true actor.

There would be no fun if the story of the film is revealed. So I will talk about the other stuff only.

Indraganti sir had an amazing cast and super story. He capitalized it to the max and gave us a delightful movie. The weaving of the story was top-notch.

The good part first:

• NANI - No words, classic!!
• SRINIVAS AVASARALA(SA) - He stood out like a charm. Nani and SA bring out great stuff together. They have done it repeatedly and have never disappointed.
• NIVEDITHA THOMAS - She is magic on the screen. She has done her job amazingly well. Crisp and smart, truly admiring
• STORY - A good story always wins, Proved once again and how!! Simply wow!!
• The part in Kodaikanal - one of the most romantic pieces that I have seen in some time.

The not so good part, (Oh yes! I am biased, I am a BIG Nani and SA fan, so there will be no bad part)

• LENGTH - I felt the screen play could have been quicker. I felt it got a little dragged in the second half.
• Vennela Kishore - A mockery was made out of him. I felt the jokes around him could have been better.

The music was ok, did not enjoy it much, but people have responded well to it. I still hum the songs of Bhale Bhale Magadivoy :).

A special mention about Srinivas Avarsarala, never before did I see him in an antagonist role. So this one was new and he has charmed us all with his incredible acting skills.

I will recommend everyone to go and watch this movie. 

My rating for this movie: 4/5 :)!!

Udta Punjab - My review

I got the privilege to watch a very honest movie called Udta Punjab. A very bold and crude movie, it is. 

The story is as depicted in the poster of the movie. Shahid Kapur is a drug addict rockstar. Kareena Kapoor Khan is a doctor who also runs a rehabilitation center. Alia Bhatt is a Bihari migrant in need of money, accidentally gets hold of a drug packet, worth lakhs. Diljit Dosanjh is a SI with Punjab Police. 

The story has been beautifully written to interconnect all these characters. And everyone has a brilliant role and been sketched beautifully. The chemistry between them also is amazing. 

The best part is not even a single frame there is, where the actual motto behind the film, i.e. drugs problem has been missed. The screenplay really needs to be commended for it. 

The music is okay. It just suits the essence of the film. 

I particularly liked the way Diljit played the part, very subtle yet strong. He gets full marks for his brilliant acting.

I will not reveal the story at all.  I would request everyone to watch this film. It is hard hitting yet true.

My rating for the movie: 4/5. 

The Conjuring 2 - My review

First experience is always special. So was this!!
My first horror movie in the theater with my husband.
I was always scared of watching horror movies, but of late after having watched numerous movies at home, I have gotten used to watching horror flicks. And so I gathered enough courage to watch "The Conjuring 2".

I may not be able to give a review like a critic or some one as I am just a novice in the world of horror movies.
So as a regular viewer, this is my review of the movie.

The story is simple and the usual, a family in London is suffering from disturbing paranormal activities at home. Ed and Lorraine Warren rescue them from it. But before that, they are asked to visit a home in AmityVille where Lorraine gets a premonition about Ed. That is where the story gets connected to London.

In London lives a family of 4 kids along with their mother, trying to make ends meet. They start to experience some strange situations in the house that scares them. Then the younger girl is confiscated by the ghost who is causing issues in the house and causes further problems.

There are some inhibitions that the family is faking all this, in a pursuit of better house.

One of the local professors who lost his daughter in an accident and still feels that she is around him, understands the pain the family is undergoing and requests the church to help the family. The church asks the Warrens to validate the situation and they come to London to check.

This connection to Amityville is interesting and well directed. I particularly liked the usage of one of the most beautiful Elvis song, "I can't help falling in love with you". I totally love this song and its presence in this movie was heartwarming. 

Coming to the horror part, it was scary and innovative. I really pity my husband for his hand must have hurt real bad after the movie, as I had held it real tight, thanks to the scary situations. The sound effects are good, and all the actors have done a great job.

All in all, a good movie, a horror movie lover will enjoy it.

My rating for the movie: 3.5/5

One moment (Kshanam)...My review!!

This was one movie that I wanted to watch from long but could not. And I regret not having watched it earlier.

This is the plot in a nutshell: A girl asks her ex-boyfriend to help find a girl, who she claims is her daughter.

The movie, right from the start, intrigues the viewer. The plot is crisp and the execution is accurate. The film moves at a good pace. There is not a single scene where the viewer gets bored. The film has some good and some predictable twists and turns. Don't expect me to reveal any of it. I want you all to watch it :).

The story is the main protagonist and the actors do complete justice to it. I have started to like Adivi Sesh even more now. I first liked him in Size Zero :). 

If you haven't watched the film till now, please go ahead and watch it. I am really starting to like the kind of films that the Telugu Film Industry is bringing out these days. They are fresh, good and sensible. Kudos to everyone out there and keep the good job going!!

Who is this Subramanyam...Yevade Subramanyam? (My Review)

Sometime back, I happened to watch this movie, Yevade Subramanyam . It is a very refreshing movie with the heart in the right place. I like Nani for the movies he does. The stories look real and so does he :).

Coming to this movie, the story, the idea behind the movie is superb and very apt in the current world. Nowadays everyone is running the rat race looking at just his own progress and not very worried about the other person. In such a scenario, Nani’s friend asking him to accompany him to Doodh Kashi is simply out of question, But circumstances arise where he is forced to go. The journey as expected shows him the real world. How he realizes who he is during the journey is the rest of the story.

The story is good but the execution failed us. Nani as usual played his part well. But the loose ends in the script does not make the viewer very happy. The lead pair do not have any chemistry between them. They both look great separately, but as a pair in the movie, did not impress me at all.

Rishi, Subbu’s friend is the most refreshing character that I have seen in a long time. The actor Vijay Deverkonda has done a great job. Avasarala Srinivas, I am starting to like you more and more everyday, with a small but an important role in the movie, you really make an impact. The other technical aspects are all okay.

I believe one must watch this movie for the freshness that it gives. The film looks beautiful with picturesque locations and good looking characters.

My rating for the movie: 3/5.

To dad with love...(Nanaku Prematho)

The title reminded me of the book by E.R. Braithwaite, To sir with love.  It is a book that is very dear to me. The book made me realize the importance of a a teacher in a student's life and appreciate them more.
I had the same feeling when I heard the title of this film, as my dad is one of the most important persons in my life, and I am my dad's pet. So with this aura I went to watch the movie.
The director Sukumar's last movie, 1 Nenuokkadine was a very intelligent movie. Though the film flopped I enjoyed it a lot. The story was way ahead of its time.

I can only jot down the good and the bad about the film, Nanaku Prematho in points:

The Good:

1. The story, intriguing
2. Jagapathi Babu, he is doing an amazing job as a antagonist. His work was on par with Jr. NTR. I am biased, yes, but I am helpless :). 
3. The entire look of the movie. Jr. NTR's look was nice and different.
4. Rakul Preet Singh did a good job. Her efforts did show up on the screen.

The Bad:

1. The execution of the story. It had a lot of potential. But it was just not well done.
2. Silly mistake: In an earlier scene, NTR tells JB Nov. 1 is his last day as a rich guy and in a later scene, JB calls NTR and tells him that today is Sep. 1??? What happened here??
3. Too many calculations, reminded me of my Physics lectures! Was it necessary?
4. Too much weightage to Jr. NTR. Other characters were not given their due.
5. Srinivas Avasarala was completely wasted in the film. He could have been given some more screen space and dialogues please. He is a good actor.
6. Rajiv Kanakala was also not given his due.
7. Music and songs, totally unnecessary. They were there just to add masala.

Jr. NTR did a superb job, no doubt but Mahesh Babu would have done better, IMHO.
It is a Sukumar's film so I will not reveal any part of the story. I will want people to go and watch it. 

But my rating for the movie would be: 3/5.

Size is the hero in size zero!!

A movie suitable to my size :), (un-size zero), this is what I felt when I started watching the movie yesterday night. I felt very happy when I saw Anushka Shetty look like me, fat and cute in the movie.

But she is tall which I am not.

The story line is simple, a fat girl (Sweety) who has reached a "marriagable" age. Her mother tries to get her marriage fixed but her weight becomes a problem and she is rejected. She is worried that her daughter might not get married at all. Which is when she meets Abhi through an alliance. She likes him instantly but since she knows what would happen next, she asks him to reject the match. But that was not the case with Abhi, he may have liked her. They meet again and become friends. 

Since the girl's marriage was not getting fixed and Abhi gets closer to another girl who is definitely better shaped, Sweety decides to join the slimming program. Another friend of hers who is competing for some beauty contest is also a participant of the program. During the course of the weight loss program, this friend gets ill and is admitted to the hospital. The reason is because of some improper content in the "slimming" juice that the program provides, the kidneys get spoilt. Sweety decides to protest against such programs which hide the reality behind the shakes and juices. She is fully supported by Abhi. How they go about this process is what forms the rest of the story.

Many complained that the second half of the movie is sluggish. But as a viewer I did not get bored at all. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The movie completely lay on Anushka's shoulders and she carried it with ease. She was well supported by Arya, I found their chemistry cute. The character of Anushka's mother is a strong one and was well played by Urvashi. The rest of the characters played their role well. Adivi Sesh looked superb in the movie.

Music is not that great.

Overall a nice feel good movie. Can watch it once.

My rating for the movie would be: 3/5.

Oh..what a tamasha!! (Movie review)

Continuing with my last post. 

The story is about a boy who lives himself in a place called Corsica. This is where he meets a girl. The two spend the rest of the days together having fun, but without making any advances towards each other (though they wanted to). Time flies by, and the girl comes to the boy's city for work and finds the boy in a totally different avatar. She does not understand and tries to make some sense out of the boy and his life. Does the boy understand what she wanted to convey and what happens next forms the rest of the story.

I actually had not seen the tagline of the movie before. I saw it only during the interval of the movie. Why always the same story? This is the tagline and is so true. The first half is yes, boring. I thought, what a waste of such talented people. But the post interval part is the strength of the movie. It is very powerful with amazing performances by Ranbir and Deepika. Imtiaz Ali truly brings out the best out of Ranbir in every movie they do together. This was proven again in Tamasha, after Rockstar. 

Music is also good, I have already reviewed it before :). It fits the storyline beautifully. It actually flows with the movie.

A special mention about Piyush Mishra is really important. Because he plays a pivotal role in the boy's life. Why and how, one must watch the movie for it.

I believe every person will definitely relate to the movie. So I urge everyone to go ahead and watch the movie.  

My rating for the movie will be: 4.75 / 5. 

Oh...What a tamasha!! (Audio Review)

Now I know, where were you Rahman all these days, spawning tunes for Tamasha. And the wait was totally worth it. Reminds me of yet another blockbuster after Rockstar, reminiscence of the latter are existent in this album. 

Let me go through the songs in detail:

Safarnama: Takes me to a beautiful safar. 

Wat wat wat: One of the most enthusiastic tunes that I have heard in some time. Reminds me of  Katiya Karun from Rockstar.

Tu koi aur hai: Nice soulful piece.

Matargashti: The highlight of the album. Mohit, you are a rockstar.

Tum saath ho: Alka Yagnik is back with a bang. And with a superb song that completely suits her voice.

Heer toh badi sad hai ji: Another fun filled song. Mika does full justice to the song. 

Chali kahaani: This song reinforces the fact that Rahman-Sukhwinder make a great pair. The lyrics of the song are equally beautiful. 

I am eagerly waiting for the movie after having listened to the wonderful songs. Hope it does not disappoint. I am sure the combination of Imtiaz Ali, Ranbir Kapoor and A.R.Rahman will not :). And Deepika Padukone would only be icing on the cake. I hope I am correct..fingers crossed!!

My rating for the audio would be: 4.5/5. :)

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...

The fault in me???

Bookhub and one of the most reliable sources The Hindu had this book as one of its best sellers. So I decided to buy the book to know why the book was so loved by many.
I had made a mistake of watching the movie before reading the book, this is the third time I have done this. The first time was the first movie of Harry Potter, the books were definitely better.

Then it was twilight series. I fell in love with the first part. So I bought the book and thus the series. 

Next was this, The fault in our stars by John Green.

The movie was not great but since everyone praised it so much especially for the dialogues, I thought might as well give the book a shot.

I purchased the book and started reading, This is one movie where the screen play completely matches the book. The story is very ordinary, but the way it has been written is very strong. The usage of words in the book is superb. That is the reason I guess, the screenplay matches the lines of the book. 

But for the lines, I don't know why, I did not enjoy anything else in the book. As already mentioned, I did not find anything extraordinary in the story. I was left dissatisfied at the end of the book. Maybe I was expecting something more, and to my amazement I am not sure what that more was...

One of the things that I definitely felt after reading the book was,,,,I have read better books!!!

My rating for this book would be only 2.5 out of 5. 

Do let me know your comments on this book...Somewhere down the line, I really wonder..Is it the fault in me???

This really made me cry...

The last movie, in which I cried was Taare Zameen Par. The title song shook me so badly, that I cried in the theatre itself. The next is, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, that I finally saw today. I regret not having watched it earlier.
The story is so simple and the movie is so beautiful. The people in it are the ones who have made the movie beautiful. The heart felt performances of every actor clearly touched me.
Yet again, the director is the winner, having executed the simple story in the most amazing way possible.
And how can I not talk about Salman Khan. I don't know if he is the one accused in the hit and run case or the black buck case, he is totally people's man in the movie. His innocence and charm added magic to the already beautiful movie. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, in his role, did superbly well.
Harshali Malhotra stole the show with her hand and her eyes :).
Overall, a must watch movie by ALL. I am sure everyone would like it. As as Bajrangi says...Jai Shri Ram.

Uppungule Godavari

Maha pushkaralu comes once in 144 years. Do not miss it. This is what is displayed in the advertisements put up by Telangana government. Amma also asked me if we were planning to come. I was hesitant, thinking of the kids. But since AMMA and Attayyagaru were also coming, both my husband and I decided to go. And I was not disappointed.

An amazing NH44 and greenery on both sides of the highway, it was a wonderful respite from our daily routine. An icing on the cake was the slight drizzle that quenched the thirst of the land and the humans.

Kudos to the government for the arrangements at the ghat and the banners giving the information. Full marks to the police force employed, and the volunteers who are always ready to help.

We visited the sri ram sagar dam in Pochampad. There were announcement of crocodile near by. My son was apprehensive of getting into water. But my daughter, not a chance. She thoroughly enjoyed her time, though limited, in water.

Surprisingly, even i had a great time in the holy river. All the tiredness of the journey vanished while I was in the water.

The roads were crowded, though. Lack of train and bus tickets, many families ventured the road way. Toll gates took a toll on time.

Barring pukes of my daughter, the journey was a wonderful one. Thanks to all who helped us!

Bahubali - bali unna movie (powerful movie)

I finally managed to get tickets to Bahubali. And so I watched it in the evening today. A magnum opus, I must say. Larger than life. Period. That is all I have to say about it.

Every single scene was beyond ordinary. In the literal sense. And the waterfalls, I have no words to describe my feeling for them. I wonder if such a place actually exists!

A couple of scenes did remind me of Avatar, like the mountains and their shape.

All the actors did a good job, but the real hero is the director. For his vision and execution, Rajamouli deserves the last laugh.

Watch it if you wish to transport yourself to a different world that exists only in the dreams of the director. A beautiful world indeed.

Chasing tomorrow....my review!!

Ok, after a long time, I got a book to read....The last one I read was Breaking Dawn for the third time. So I bought a couple of them for myself to quench my reading thirst.

The latest book that I read was Chasing Tomorrow by Tilly Bagshawe.

I must thank Tilly Bagshawe, the author who writes books based on Sidney Sheldon,  as she keeps the legendary author's flame alive. She really tries hard to bring that fire in the characters and the story line for which Sheldon is still known for. I won't give her cent percent for that, though.

So coming to the book, Chasing Tomorrow is the sequel to the Sidney Sheldon authored If Tomorrow Comes. Thanks to my impeccable memory, I could not recollect the original story. But the character, Tracy Whitney, the strong woman carved by Sheldon came rushing back to me, the moment I read the synopsis at the back.

Without revealing too many details of the story, all I can say after reading the book is, the character is still strong as the original one. But the story is not one of the most engrossing ones. I must confess I could not put down the book till I finished it, but after having read it, I felt the story was not among the ones that stayed with me for long.
 
It is not a bad read, definitely a must for Sidney Sheldon fans. You won't be disappointed if you do not have much expectations from it.

Just finished....reading Adultery!!!

Coelho is a star!! He can understand a woman and her feelings so nicely. A woman, at any age can amazingly associate herself with the stories that he writes!!

I loved the precis the first time I read it. And I bought the book. Of course, I could relate to her. It did not disappoint me. But at the same time, whatever the protagonist does, I don't know if it is possible in real life! Nevertheless, it is just a story! And a good one! Keep going sir, looking forward to more works from you!