Random!!!

Here's a lowdown on the week that went by in my life!

ಪಂಚರಂಗಿ (5 Colours) (2010):

My eyes are burning!!

Finally, after 3-4 months, I saw a Kannada movie! Directed by Yograj Bhat, this movie had huge expectations. His last 3 movies; Mungaru Male, Gaalipata & Manasare were all huge hits. Bhat's name has become synonymous with bittersweet love tales, & its for this reason he has become my only favourite director in Kannada! He doesn't give you eye-catching, titillating dance numbers or violent fights. He presents a simple, yet complicated story, with beautiful dialogues, soothing music and mesmerizing scenic locations. The only thorn was that in the theatre, a huge man was sitting in front of me & I had to sway from side to side to watch the movie. I felt like punching the fellow for being so huge & ruining my experience!

Diganth & Nidhi

Two families meet to see if their older siblings are meant for each other. While everything seems to be going just fine on the surface, there is nothing going alright. The younger sibling, Ambika (Nidhi Subbaiah) falls in love with the lazy Bharath Kumar (Diganth) who is also a younger sibling and seems to have an uncanny, if slightly exasperating, hold on the kannada language and treats everything around him (even people) like non-living things. He doesn't reciprocate and advises her to search for someone who is worthy of her and not a good for nothing guy like him. 

So cute

Loads of witty sequences, catchy dialogues which are sure to be a hit among the college going youth, highly interesting characterizations, background commentary, perfect cinematography along the beach ensure that there is enough to keep one's attention on the screen all the time. Diganth, still the chocolate boy, sports a rugged look and his acting has leaped in quantum amounts compared to previous attempts. Nidhi is gorgeous and sexy as the modern village belle (well, she is actually a city college girl who has gone home for the holidays), her acting also matches up with elan. The rest of the cast delivers up to expectations. There's a hilarious spoof on Nithyananda and other quack swamis. Watch this film with friends and family, you'll have enough material to keep yourself entertained for days! 

A small dialogue or whatever; me & my friends created it:

ಅರ್ಥ ಆಗದ ಪಾಠಗಳು,

ಉಸೆಲೆಸ್ಸ್ ಸಬ್ಜೆಕ್ಟ್ ಗಳು,

ಸಿಗ್ನಲ್ ಸಿಗದ networkಗಳು,

Heartbreak ಮಾಡೋ loversಗಳು,

ಬರಿ ಗೋಳು ಹೊಡಿಸ್ಕೊಂಡು ಇಂಜಿನಿಯರಿಂಗ್ ಮಾಡೋ ನಾವುಗಳು ನೀವುಗಳು... 

ಲೈಫ್ ಇಷ್ಟೇನೆ!!!

[Lessons cannot be understood,

Subjects are useless,

Worthless signal in all the networks,

Heart broken by our lovers, 

Listening to boring stuff, completing engineering, myself & yourself,

That's all there is to life!!]

Umm, yeah, much more cooler & humorous in my language!!
By adding 'galu', it is like treating everything like an inanimate object.

In College:
 
I found out there is a humbling and embarrassing feeling you get when you find out that the thing you were good at some time ago, you are not so good at it now. I had a passion for Table Tennis & I used to play for my school TT team and that was 6 years ago! After that I got immersed in other activities & TT lost out. Due to the excess of free time in college nowadays, I decided to hold the racket again to see how I fared, whether my skills had stood the test of time. The first day I played like a complete novice. My partner, the racket, betrayed me and I was spilling the ball all over the place. I got segregated in the beginner's court (there is no apparent divide between the players, but you get pushed to the side when you don't play well!) I played against a girl & some guys who couldn't even do a proper serve. But thanks to them, I found some kind of footing and within a week I have become an average player, don't have the same kind of reflexes like before in my glory days, but I now know that I can compete without fumbling around like a fool like that sad first day.

Korean movies:

Yippee, watched two Korean movies after a long time and loved both of them!

Windstruck (2004):

When police officer Kyungjin met with Myungwoo accidentally in a crime scene, she found that this responsible teacher who acted like a conniving thief was a really nice guy. One night, Kyungjin got into trouble & found herself in the middle of a gun fight between rival drug dealers. Myungwoo tried to help her & then something happened that forced them to stay together all day long. They got closer to each other and Myungwoo was not able to repulse the strange but pure natural attraction towards her. One day, when Kyungjin was chasing a notorious criminal, Myungwoo helped her again, however, not knowing that was the last day for him on Earth!

This has a tongue-in-cheek atmosphere for the most part and its a real fun movie. The emotional scenes seem too forced and tries hard to tug at our heartstrings. The sudden jumps from emotional scene to a funny scene is quite distracting. Still, it worked on some level. Oh yeah, the guy looks quite average and cannot act properly. But the girl is beautiful and acts wonderfully. Told from the girl's point of view, this movie will appeal to girls who like sad romantic stories.

A Moment to Remember (2004):

A heart broken girl probably would like to get the bitter past erased, but what if it happened to a 27 year old woman. In A Moment to Remember, the young couple Sui Jin and Cheol-soo struggle with the fatal Alzheimer which ruins their marriage step by step. Cheol-soo could save Sin Jin from a bitter past, but how can he deal with his wife who is losing her memories of love and life? 

Being a guy who loves romantic movies, I cried for the entire second half of the movie! I felt transported back to my teen years when I saw 'A Walk To Remember' for the first time. The physical loss of a loved one seems much more kinder when you see this movie. I totally connected with Cheol-soo, in his love for his wife and getting his heart ripped apart when his own love didn't recognize him. Many cute aww moments. Major recommendation to any Korean & romantic movie fan. Be sure to keep lots of hankies in hand! You'll need it!

Troy: Immortality Awaits - In This World Or The Next!

Title: Troy (R)

Year: 2004

"If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise & fall like the winter weeds, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, taming the forces. Let them say - I Lived, In The Time Of Achilles"
 - Achilles

King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) of Mycenae wants to rule over the world. He has already conquered most of Greece, forming them into a fragile alliance and the only kingdom powerful enough to rival the Greek nation is the kingdom of Troy, with whom they have made a peace pact. Achilles (Brad Pitt), considered the greatest warrior ever born on the face of the planet fights for the Greek army. But his disdain for Agamemnon's rule threatens to break apart the fragile alliance. In Thessaly, Greece, Agememnon challenges the King of the land to fight the war in the old fashioned way, the best fighter of each side fighting one another and deciding the result. Of course, Agamemnon calls forth Achilles, whom he hates from the bottom of his heart. Achilles finishes the fight in one move and both the armies are confounded by his superior battle skills. He has many myths surrounding him; his mother being an eternal Goddess, his immortality even in the toughest and fiercest of battles, to name a few. His only aim in life is to immortalize and etch his name into the minds of men and history books for ages to come. When his bones will be dust , he wants to be remembered as being the greatest warrior in the the time of Achilles. Paris (Orlando Bloom) is smitten by Helen (Diane Kruger) who happens to be Agamemnon's brother's young wife. They both run away from Sparta along with his brother, Hector (Eric Bana), the Prince of Troy. Having got his reason for a war with Troy, Agamemnon gets his troops and marches his massive fleet across the great seas in hopes of bringing down Troy's unbreachable walls and defeating Troy to become the greatest Emperor.

The greatest of fights are always fought because of a woman, look at Mahabharatha and Ramayana from our Indian myths (cannot say its completely a myth, proof is being uncovered that it all happened). Brad Pitt has probably immortalized Achilles much more than the real Achilles had ever anticipated or hoped for. Brad Pitt is like an incarnate of Achilles' ferocity, love, beauty, strength, agility, prowess, his defiance, his supreme confidence. I was left in awe of this man's performance, he is such a good actor. And everybody in the film complement him with some wonderful, fine method performances. Achilles gives a short speech when approaching the beach of Troy, saying immortality awaits beyond the horizon. He takes the beach of Troy with only 50 men, defying Agamemnon's orders! I had read the story of Troy and knew how it ended, most would also guess given the ending involves a certain 'Trojan Horse'. Well, here is how the name 'trojan' stuck to a virus. Agamemnon is really a back-stabbing, lying, cheating bastard whom I hated from the bottom of my heart. In that respect, Brian Cox was awesome as Agamemnon.

Wolfgang Peterson has brought the story of Troy to life in this superb movie. Everything about this movie screams of a tale of epic proportions; love, betrayal, valour, justice, evil; and the movie is filled with testosterone filled six pack hunks to satisfy the viewer. Orlando Bloom plays the role of the scared younger brother of the heroic Hector to perfection. Other than Achilles, I loved Hector. He is like a Trojan (A man of Troy) version of our own Yudhishtira, the brave, kind and righteous king. I loved Bana's performance, I was hoping against hope he would win his fight against Achilles. The women in the movie, though having very less screen time, give amazing performances. The fight scenes are amazing even with the cgi effects, which you will rarely notice. The story is pretty authentic and the director has made a good effort to stay true to the story and make it entertaining. Give this movie a try if you haven't seen it yet and I promise you, you will be glad you saw it.

My rating: ****1/2 out of *****