Udaan

                        

turns out to be a refreshing breather amongst the numerous awful Hindi movies released this year. A must watch for anyone and everyone who has ever dared to dream… The movie brings on the plate a variety of emotions like love, hatred, disappointment, hope and rage in a delicate yet powerful way!

Udaan begins with Rohan and this three friends getting caught watching a b-grade film at a local theatre in Shimla. They end up being expelled from the boarding school. The movie then traces Rohan’s life as he suffocates and struggles but finally breaks free from his brutal and autocratic father.

Rohan’s father, who owns a small factory in Jamshedpur, wants Rohan to study engineering and work in the factory. He has his own set of rules and ideologies. He bullies Rohan to follow them. Rohan in contrast is a creative teenager, who aspires to be a writer. Other major characters include Rohan’s cute little step brother Arjun, his empathetic uncle and his friends at Shimla and Jamshedpur.

The story is simple, at times a bit slow and repetitive. So is the cinematography. Yet, Udaan never loses its charm!

The cast has delivered a stellar performance and one can easily relate to at least a few of the characters or scenes in the movie. Scenes like the one where Rohan’s father burns his writings are stirring and disturbing. Then there are other dramatic scenes, like the last one, where Rohan rebels and successfully frees himself and his younger brother from his father. Apt and Subtle humor is effectively used throughout the movie. The music is fresh and soothing with fine lyrics.

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Et cetera…

Although the intensity of the movie had not yet sunk into the intellect, we all couldn’t help but burst out laughing even as we desperately searched for a loo at the City Centre, Chennai. Fighting with odds like long queues, renovation work and shop closing times, we managed to get into a restroom after almost 20 mins and relieved ourselves. This was followed by a satisfying meal. Then, a few rounds of singing old hindi songs loudly in the auto-rickshaw and the campus. “Super!” exclaimed the auto driver anna. Indeed, it was a super evening.. One that I will remember for many good reasons :)

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Movies have immensely helped me kill time in these past few lazy weeks, or rather months. I’ll always be indebted to them. Here’s how I rate the movies I’ve seen this summer..

The Good: Toy Story 3, How to train your dragon, Harishchandrachi Factory(Marathi), Udaan

The not so Bad: Date night, A-Team, Knight and Day, The City of Gold, Remember me, Prince of Persia

The Bad: Kites, Ravan, Rajneeti, Haapus (Marathi), Badmaash Company, Houseful, I hate luv storys

The Ugly: Paathshaala

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Next movie: Inception

Khana and Khazana...

The Bombay Stock Exchange, 28th floor, 12:30 pm:

It’s been more than an hour that I have been on my desk and there is so much to do! My to-do list includes:

Checking the IFMR chain mails…

Following the volatile status message wars…

Watching NDTV profit and trying to lip read what the anchor has to say…

And of course pretending to work…

The markets are trading at the day’s low due to weak global cues and concerns over the Greek debt crisis. It’s not only gloomy on the dalal street but also inside BSE. The mentors are worried that the interns are good for nothing, the interns are in turn worried about their stipends and the folks in the adjoining cubicle are worried that their lunch order is not yet delivered. Among all these global and local worries strikes the big question of the day. Where do we go for lunch?

Respecting our whims n fancies and the mood for the day, we decide on what cuisine we want to eat. Then we burrp for the restaurants which can satiate our wish list and hopefully our taste buds too. After saying “chalooo” for half a dozen times to each other, we finally lift our bums from our seats and land on the dalal street. It’s usually the four of us: me, Chaitanya, Priyanka aka chirkut and Pawan.

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Dalal Street and fort area, 1:00 pm:

The markets crash further after the opening of the European markets. Global and local worries continue to haunt us! While heading for lunch, Chaitanya and Priyanka are worried about getting tanned in the sun and its future consequences. Pawan is worried about the distance left to be covered. I am wondering if we are walking in the right direction or the opposite one. Finally we find our place, get in and start browsing the menu card.

Hmm… Well, my silly internship project is to do a comparative study of algo trading strategies across exchanges. It is certainly not to do a comparative study of food quality across restaurants. But the sincere, hard-working, dedicated guy I am, I always go an extra mile and push myself to deliver more than expected. So here you go… few quick reviews of eat outs near fort!!

Mahesh Lunch Home ****

Excellent sea food, says Chaitanya. Good hyderabadi chicken biryani as well. Not bad for veggies too (although nothing is good for them). I’ve tried veg pulav and biryani. The quantity is decent. Ambience is ok. They play instrumental music, usually old hindi songs. Check out the restroom on the 1st floor :) . And also check out the drinks menu, even if you can’t have them.

Welcome Restaurant (Since 1924) ***

Tried Chinese (choupsey) and Pav Bhaji. It’s the typical udipi style restaurant with a loyal customer base.

Fort Central (Since 1942) **

The aamras was ok but puri and batura sucked. It was pretty crowded and one uncle actually threatened Chaitanya to finish her mango shake and vacate the seat. That’s probably the only time I have seen fright on her face.

Nandus paratha’s *****
Among the finest and the heaviest parathas I’ve seen. They offer a good diversity in paratha stuffings like chocolate, wadapav, pavbhaji, cheese chilly mili, pizza topping etc etc. A very small and cramped place to sit, but the food compensates for the discomfort.

Jimmy Boy *Forget it, boy! Tried dhansak, a raspberry drink and few other parsi dishes. It does nothing other than sucking your dhan. The food was bland and expensive.

5 Spice *****

It’s known for its Chinese food. The quantity is really good and the taste is even better (or maybe we were just too hungry). You may also try brownies and pastries like ‘death by chocolate’. We did not have the appetite to die for it.

Army Restaurant (Since “Rock on”) ***

Decent pav bhaji and kheema pav. It’s the same restaurant where Arjun rampal, Farhaan Akhtar and gang met often in ‘rock on’. The Khurshid chacha in the movie still manages the counter. It’s a noisy place, but worth going once if you are a rock on fan. Food is average.

Fountain Plaza ****
Awesome kerela style food. Their chicken biryani is world famous in the fort area. Little choice for veggies though. Nevertheless, it is value for money. Biryani is just about 60 bucks. Good range of sea food as well – all mallu style.

Lalit Restaurant **
Gujrathi and Marathi thalis on offer. I did not think it was authentic Marathi food. Misal pav was below-average. Some weird music is played here.


BSE Canteen **
The food is okiesh but there’s almost no variety. Mysore masala dosa, utthappa, lunch, dal rice and couple of more dishes – that’s what the menu looks like.

Yazdani Bakery (Since ages) *****

A heritage bakery which takes you in the past. The wall clocks, the posters, the tables and chairs, the roof, the machine that makes bread slices, even the waiters. All of them make a good pre-historic ambience. The cakes and desserts are nice. They taste like homemade cakes as they are prepared on wooden ovens. Some of the items I can remember are golden sponge cake, chocolate cake, apple pie, carrot cake, mava samosa etc. Also try brun maska with chai on a relaxed evening.

Chaotic Juice shop ***

This juice shop in front of the ICICI bank near dalal street is chaotic and the operators just multiply the chaos. But they do have a good choice of juices, milkshakes and combination drinks.

Food Inn, Colaba ***

It’s a run of the mill Punjabi veg restaurant. Don’t go by the hype and the ratings on burrp.

Peshawar ****

Visit this place if you get a craving for aloo parathas. The parathas were indeed good but a bit expensive. Not recommended for students or interns who are yet to get their stipends.

New Anand Bhavan ***

Not really new. This place reminds me of the taste in Chennai. It gets a loyal tamil customer base.

Anna Leela Modern Café **

A small place with a good variety in the menu but the food is just average. Entry restricted on the 1st floor if your height is 5 feet 8 inches or more.

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The Bombay Stock Exchange, 28th floor, 2:30 pm:

We are all satisfied and at peace, no matter where we had our lunch. Meanwhile, the markets have recovered from the day’s lows and are now trading in green. Priyanka has changed her status from “I am hungry” to “I am sooo full”. I am feeling very sleepy as I continue to pretend to work and wait for 5 pm.

The best good bye ever!

It’s probably too late to write a review for Dasvidaniya. I don’t know if it is still running in the movie halls because thought provoking movies in India rarely hang on for more than 2 weeks. I really liked every bit of this movie and the review was long planned and pending. This is also my debut at writing a movie review.

It’s not that I was waiting for a long time for this one. In fact, I came to know about it minutes before I reached the theatre. On my mom’s nagging, I had reluctantly logged on to book tickets for either dostana or fashion. But on seeing Vinay Pathak on the Dasvidaniya poster, I quickly booked Dasvidaniya and then convinced my mom for the change in plan. I already knew that it would at least be more Paisa Wasool than the other two.


Eshtory batau kya re baba?
Dasvidaniya - they say is Russian word for good bye, although I couldn’t find it on google translator :( . The movie portrays a mixed bag of emotions and overall it can be categorized as a situational comedy. Our hero Amar Kaul (Vinay Pathak) is a 37 year old, unmarried, shy, typical middleclass Indian, working in a pharmaceutical company. His boring life includes a “things to do list” which consists of tasks like repairing geyser, getting vegetables etc. In short, there is no SPICE in his life.

One fine day, Amar gets the shock of his life when his routine checkup reveals that he has stomach cancer. He learns that he has just 3 months to live. A ‘cool-dude’ (Ranvir Shorey) and his own atler-ego motivate him to live life king size. This is when he converts his boring daily “things to do” into a wishlist of a lifetime! He then starts his roller coaster ride and eventually ends up doing things which he would have never done in his usual life. These include buying a car, catching up with a old friend, proposing his girl, learning guitar etc. He fulfills all his dreams and departs as a happy, contented man. The movie shows his death in a very subtle way unlike the painful death seen in other similar movies like ‘Anand’ or ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’. The movie doesn’t preach anything but still touches your heart.

Kya acting kiyelay Baap!
It was Vinay Pathak all over and at his best! Vinay’s expressions and body language were outstanding. There were several scenes where he communicates effectively without a dialogue. There are very few genuine actors who can make you laugh and cry in the same scene. Vinay is one of them! Every character apart from Neha dhupia comes out very naturally. Neha Dhupia was probably a bit glamorous to be Vinay’s first love. There is Rajat Kapoor who does well as a calm, composed and mature childhood friend. Sarita Joshi plays an unforced role as his ever-nagging mother. Then we have Joy Fernandes (Guitar teacher) with his punches, the separated yet beloved brother Gaurav Gera, the Russian love twist Manoylo Svitlana, the obese and gluttonous boss Saurabh Shukla among others.

The music again is dazzling. The songs 'Mumma' and 'Alvida' by kailash kher are a brilliant portrayal of love and emotion and I’ll not be surprised if people cry while listening to Mumma. Some claim that the movie is copied from its hollywood counterpart “the bucket list”. All I would say is its worth watching Dasvidaniya even if you have seen the bucket list.

The good thing is that offbeat movies like Dasvidaniya are making a mark on the Indian cinema more frequently than ever. They need a pat on their back from you guys who understand quality cinematography.