Chhichhore (Movie).

Chhichhore.

After the "Saaho" saho and sehte raho debacle :) I had to correct my mistake by taking my kiddo out for a movie which worked on most ground and wifey wanted to see "Chhichhore" as the lead guy looks exactly like her brother. Going by the name and the casting, I had no expectations on top of that we decided to see it at a much smaller single screen theater near our place, unfortunately even the single screen theaters are now multiple screens :D but this one has stiff non moving seats, with total old school feel building and the crowd is royally rowdy to top it all. But usually a new movie is always housefull thanks to the cheap tickets. The last movie we saw and loved in this theater was Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 2 and the experience was mind-blowing to say the least. "Chhichhore" upped that quotient by few notches for sure as it turned out to be a hilarious joy-ride right from the word go and on top of that conveys a brilliant message so subtly. In other words the movie can be called a Middle class man's Student of the Year :) with at-least eight awesome characters that you will not be able to forget neither their names nor the way they are throughout the movie :) even when the movie keeps going back a few decades in flashbacks. Super and utterly disastrous college life of the "Chhichhora" gang, story of their victory and losses plus how they all turn out in the end in the present is something you've got to watch the movie for. Especially for those who have or are setting up steep targets for their kids to achieve something big in life and are preparing them for a very competitive future, this should work like an eye opener if at all the movie gets its proper due. We totally loved it, starting from the dialogues to body language to the ultimate comedy which didn't let us sit straight for more than five minutes at a stretch. Especially Varun Sharma (Choocha) is my hero of the movie and how beautifully he lifts the movie on his capable shoulders with superb support from his half a dozen friends is really commendable. The movie took me back in time to my own loser friends, made me laugh like crazy, hoot like anything, made me regret yet again that I still haven't learned how to whistle with a few fingers in my mouth, choked me a few times and give solid pain to my jaw-line, made me fall in love with Shraddha Kapoor yet again (yeah it does) and so much more than I can blabber about here. Also, taught me a superb lesson as how to treat my own kid when it comes to competition in today's time and take life a bit lightly :) as at the end of the day, we all end up making our own marks one way or other just like the "Chhichhoras". If you haven't seen it yet, I big time suggest you take a break and watch it at the earliest, especially on big screen and help the makers make some profit so they keep making such gems in future too. And if you've seen it, I am sure you will agree with me when I end up giving this one a superb 5/5. Yeah! it did made me blush a few times with my teenage kiddo sitting right next to me but no big deal, they have their own ways and sources to learn all that they do or say in the movie anyways, so take it with a pinch of salt when some references from your own past come hilariously haunting you on your face :D. But do not miss this movie at any cost.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (Book)

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde.

The reason why I got this book or for that matter I bought the entire collection of Oscar Wilde is such that if I tell you, you will laugh on me big time. Unfortunately I haven't read nothing from him in the last two decades or more. What I read of him last was for sure in the school course books and never picked up anything after that. How stupid one can be :( and how sad that is. Now, I saw this on Amazon a few months back and the book cover, a huge picture of Oscar Wilde with his wild hair got my attention, I totally love his Hair but now I love his writing slightly more than his hair if you ask me. Of-course, people who have read more of him will not be surprised when I say that his Novel and story is actually so smooth that it feels as I am reading the world's most perfect poetry. It just made me glide through it, I was feeling as I am travelling in a Gondola in a secluded lake with beautiful surroundings on my way to heaven. And if you have a Low Blood Pressure problem, let me tell you, this book exactly made me feel like my BP was going low as if I was waiting on a huge swing going up and down. For sure, this is my life's one of the most beautiful book ever which further confused me when I am asked to decided whether I loved the story or the characters or actually the Author. Even after 48 hours of finishing the book, I am not out of its awe and still dreaming of Oscar Wilde, in exactly that attire typing his story on a vintage typewriter. Now and then, he keeps shaking his head to move those curls totally making me love him more and feel jealous. I wish I could keep my crop like that (someday).

I have heard of a term "Poetry in motion" some time back but what it means truly I have learned with this book. As I moved ahead with the story of the most beautiful character of Dorian Gray who is much loved, admired and followed almost by all his friends, neighbors and people of the society he moves around in. The way they love him and the way he does things and especially the way his character is carved out, one just can't help but fall head over heels in love with the man. At the very start of the story one of his best friends Basil Hallward paints a picture of him and calls it his own masterpiece :). Dorian Gray is so jealous of his own picture (hardly 18 years) that he wishes if he could always remain young and his picture takes all the brunt of not only ageing but also of anything he does in real life. How not only his wish comes true but changes his life upside down is what you need to read this book for. His love story with Sibyl Vane, Wow, it had me smiling, laughing, sad and heart-broken too but the way Wilde gave the two sides of their love story was simply heart-touching, totally loved it. The best love story ever. Dorian's another best friend Lord Henry Wolton is another character that you just can't not love in the story. Although at times he felt too old to be his friend but the guy is simply amazing and his love for Dorian over the sulky Basil who feels he is losing Dorian by introducing both of them to each other, is totally hilarious. The way story goes fast forward couple of years yet doesn't loses its shine, the reader in me kept loving Dorian big time, I hated to love him for what he was doing with his life (and why) and later loved to hate him for that terrific ending too. Also, although written in the late 19th century still you can read so much in between Wilde's lines, I was supremely impressed and in grins too. The man was totally amazing (read Oscar Wilde).

It was an amazing experience the way he put his own philosophy through the story of Dorian Gray. It never diverts from the story but he has incorporated so much in the longer version of the book which becomes an important part of the story too when he talks about the futility of our own lives, the young people wasting their youth unknowingly only to later regret at a very late stage when it is simply too late to amend the ways. Never expected it to be a such an eye opening philosophical story which made me fall in love more with it even more.

As I said, I bought the entire collection of Oscar Wilde's work from Amazon (Kindle version) at throw away price. I read two versions back to back, the smaller magazine version which lasted close to 5 hours of constant reading and the detailed originally edited version which lasted close to 8 hours was totally awesome. I wish I had read the original version first and not the magazine version as it gave me the ending too fast but I enjoyed the second version which was in great details. I am now planning to get a Paperback Classic copy of the book too as unfortunately this is the only Novel that Oscar Wilde wrote and rest all are either short stories, plays or poems. But after reading and loving this (which will certainly now onward show up in my top 10 favorites of anytime) I am totally intrigued to read his stories, plays and even poetry. Guess this will be a damn good start for a guy like me who has never read poems in his life ever.

Have you read "The Picture of Dorian Gray"? do let me know how you loved it and if you haven't read it yet, I will say dump whatever you are reading and read it first. You have no idea what you are missing. I am so looking forward to his stories now before attempting to read one of his plays.

Saaho (Movie)

Finally, I watched the epic of the year from our side of the world and in one sentence if I have to review it I will say - it is the WTF movie of the year. I tried my level best to coax, force, plead, bribe and what not to all my colleagues, friends and family members to give me company to watch the movie but no one agreed. Finally my kiddo agreed realizing that I had no choice :), 140/- worth of tickets and we end up spending 500/- on cab and pop corns, you see my DL expired few months back and with new rules in force, I am taking no chances. I am not going to talk about the most stylish or say the most expensive movie from our side as that is already done and dusted but what I will tell you are the priceless words that my kiddo threw on me as soon as the movie got over and the lights were turned on. She said "Papa, what was that? I can't believe that we saw the whole movie, And is this the movie that you mentioned which came close to break Avenger's record?? Are you serious? What are you going to say to mom? As she is going to ask how was it". And if there is a sequel, which chances are for sure they are making, she is definitely not joining me for it. The Damn movie never comes to an end, it keeps going and going and going, I couldn't believe that 171 minutes can be that long, all style and no substance with so many characters thrown at the audience one after the another and the twists like every 20 minutes the game changes, predictable cliche stuff throughout yet the style never ends. Wonder why they didn't work on Prabhas's hair style, he looks Yukk and why the heck he talks like he is giving a voice over for someone like Amitabh Bachchan is beyond me. Shraddha Kapoor is a total miscast, instead they should have taken Sonakshi Sinha, she would have fitted the role superbly and it would have brought some oomph factor to the movie too. Although Shraddha and again mis-fit songs were a saving grace for me, they were like a breeze of fresh air (meaningless though) but totally unwanted. Over all, if you haven't seen it, stay strictly away from a theater running it and if you have seen it already, Dude!! I am sending some sympathetic hugs your way, I hear you. We need a few good movies to get over this contortion.

Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte (Book)

Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte.

I do a lot of pleasant mistakes (at times) when it comes to picking the right or wrong books :). Like last year when I was going through the used book collection at Blossoms, I picked up so many amazing names, without reading the blurbs or cover or back pages or any kind of research on writer or the book. That's typically me for you, if you do not know me. So, as soon as my eyes landed on a book with it's side wall saying "Bronte" I just picked it up and put it in my cart :) and what a brilliant decision that was, I must tell you post reading the book. She happens to be the youngest of the Bronte children and her other sisters have written some brilliant books like "Wuthering Heights" and "Jane Eyre" etc and they even had a lesser known brother too who was more a painter than a writer. Those two super known books are anyways in my radar to be read soon and I am glad that I started with Anne's Agnes Grey which turned out to be a brilliantly simple yet totally heart touching account of a maid to be young girl, who goes through her own set of struggles to make the ends meet from a lower middle class family back in the day. Now that is another thing which keeps pulling me (time and again) to British Authors, the way they play with the language, the details, the terms (which send me looking for a dictionary) and they always put a wide smile on my face.

Terrific story of Agnes Grey whose only aspiration is to become a housemaid to help her struggling family make the ends meet. She is good in a few things, knows multiple languages, fills up as a house tutor to young kids and to take care of the grown ups to make them better, how she handles all that for two opposite families is the entire book in her own words with a little of her own private story. Although the story is a proper British drama full of humor, philosophy, a little sadness and a little twist there but it is no less than a thriller if you ask me (about the ending), it almost had my heart in my mouth for once. These days and especially with the kind of books coming my way, I am never too sure as what to expect from a particular Author and Bronte sister (as far as I know) are exceptional in all departments. I loved the way she kept the reader in me involved with the story, it works wonders when she left so much for my own imagination and claims that she doesn't want to bore the reader with unnecessary details and I was delighted to see that she had offered so much in almost 300 pages (only) that I kept asking for more. The kind of families that she faces in her initial years of being a maid and the characters that she comes across from different walks of life teach us readers so much about the human behavior. It was an amazing experience to see that kind of story coming from such a young soul that too from her own personal experience, was simply too good. But the best part of the book is her own underrated love story which I totally loved but I refuse to talk about it :), you've got to read the book to know anything about it.

Have you read anything from the Bronte Sisters? Do let me know which one is your favorite as my next from them will definitely be Wuthering Heights followed by Jane Eyre :) giving me taste of the remaining two sisters. But if you haven't read nothing from them yet, I very highly recommend you start with Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey, enough to fall in love with.

Lord of the Flies - William Golding (Book)

Lord of the Flies - William Golding.

I got this book long back from a very dear friend, in the course of our book club meet and he told me that this is one of those amazing classics that I have to read at any cost. Going by the title, Author's acclaimed background and the time that it was written in, I expected a book which will swipe me off my feet and will give so much food for thoughts. But unfortunately this became a (rare) case of a Classic totally going above my head. With hardly 230 odd pages, it was a quick and easy read with such an interesting premise but by the ending it left so much to be answered that I actually found the ending to be half hearted or too hap-hazard which totally didn't work for me.

Imagine the world has come to an end (again) because of Atomic bombs, a handful of kids (no exact count, may 20 odd) somehow crash land in an unknown Island which is uninhabited yet. They have no idea how they came there, the way story progresses it becomes a little bit clear that either they were dropped off an Airplane or must have crash landed but again there is no wreckage of any aircraft on the Island. They are aged as young as 6 year old (thumb sucking) to the oldest would be like a 13 year old kid. How they survive on the Island waiting to be rescued is what makes up for the rest of the story. The unknown creatures and demons that they had to face on the course of their unfortunate survival was gripping and kept me glued to it. Plus I really wanted to know if they will actually survive till they may get rescued if there still was any humanity left on the planet.

What didn't work for me was the way it ends and the way Author totally refuses to answer the questions which a reader is sure to have. For example all the surviving kids are males and not one girl among them, not even a mere mention by any kid of having a (girl) friend or a sister or anything. No mention of anyone's family either shocked and surprised me to no end. Also the title, I mean I was like, it actually sounds so much forced on the book and the way he justifies it had actually turned me off completely but as it comes at almost the ending, I somehow dragged myself to the ending.

I would really to know if anyone has read it in the recent times and liked it? or shall I say understood it, as it went way above my understanding level for sure. Although my kind friend has put in so many notes in the book and his own metaphors, some did help but some made me feel as if he actually was reading a little too much than the Author was offering (read forced). Now, having said that and read this one, I will have to pick up a couple of books from William Golding for sure to see if they make any sense to me. Have you read this one? Do let me know your thoughts on the book. Or which do you recommend that I read next from William Golding?