Truly a Yash Raj film with all those colorful dresses, songs, dances, beautiful foreign locations or shall I say DDLJ served to you in a new platter with fresh faces. It has lot of reference to the movie as well.
Like DDLJ it also has a flirt and careless person whiling his time away in the first half who turned out to be a mature and ultra emotional person in the second half. It also has a song picturized in Punju wedding. It also has songs beautifully picturized in foreign locations. Australia is looking much more beautiful in this movie than it was in Salaam Namaste. It seems Siddharth Anand is exploring it more and more with his every visit.
Ok now the movie - I loved it, simply because I love songs, dances, romance, good looking people and colorful clothes - its good enough for me to pass 3 hours. I liked Jhoom Barabar Jhoon also. Common whats the smirk for? I really enjoyed that dance competition and Amitabh was looking awesome in the title song. What more do you want?
I am not writing the story here - I am writing why should you watch this movie?
a) Ranbir is looking like a dude, dancing superbly, acting well ( I almost started hating him in the first half and was sympathetic towards him in the second half)
b) Bipasha, even though she is looking elder to Ranbir, but she is looking drop dead gorgeous and performed so brilliantly. Its time you should take Bipasha seriously, she is more than a hot babe now.
c) Deepika is looking the best and the chemistry between Ranbir and Deepika is rocking in the movie. She is very dignified and professional in the movie. Guys you will not mind watching the movie for Deepika and Bipasha.
d) Minnisha is a complete misfit in the movie. Firstly because she was potrayed as 15 years old and she is looking way too older for that age. Secondly, poor thing is lost between the two ultra gorgeous and tall ladies.
e) Khuda Jaane and title song simply rocked; Jogi Mahi and she is a small town girl are peppy; lucky boy is what I hum the most.
All and all - go and watch the movie - big deal!!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Bachna Ae haseeno
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 1:51 PM 3 comments
Labels: Bachna Ae Haseeno, Bollywood, Movies, Review
Friday, August 22, 2008
Ranbir Kapoor - The new SRK in making
Be it his witty answers in interviews or lot of public appearances just before the release if his movie or his representation of an ideal son and ideal boyfriend - Ranbir always reminds me of Shahrukh Khan.
Like SRK, he will be seen everywhere from reality shows to talk shows just before the release of his movie and he will mingle with the crowd, he will interact with everyone in a very sweet and nice way.
Like SRK, his answers are very witty and intelligent and his interviews are always interesting and entertaining.
Like SRK, he is ultra sweet with his leading ladies at least in front of camera.
Like SRK, he is making his off-screen image of an ideal man doing full justice to all the relations around him even after being a celebrity.
Like SRK, he is making his mark with extra emotional and romantic roles.
Its too early to comment whether he is following SRK acting wise or not but offscreen his PR and Marketing skills are seems to be influenced big time from SRK.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 5:20 PM 1 comments
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
YouTube is the new convinient theatre
Sigh is Kinng. I loved this movie. I am so surprised that people get disappointed with the movie stating that there is no story / no sense in the movie. My point is why you had such expectations at the first place. It was supposed to be a funny film and it is just that. I absolutely loved Akshay and Katrina in it and it is a great entertainer. Javed Jaffery and Om Puri as usual are brilliant. Akshay truly is a rock star.
GOD Tussi Great Ho is below average and if you have already seen Bruce Almighty then its a sheer wastage of time. The funny moment between Sohail and Salman are just the same as they were in Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya. Amitabh and Priyanka are wasted in the movie; they dont have much to do. Salman couldnt even touch Jim Carrey. Not to forget that I am a huge fan of Salman.
Mission Istanbul. A very boring movie; Producers has spent so much on special effects and stunts, I wish they would have spent something on the cast also. Besides Vivek, everyone specially Zayed disappoints in the movie. Shabbeer could have been better but he has nothing to do in the movie. Can safely avoid.
Kismat Konnection. OK movie; no harm in watching it on YouTube for free. Vidya is definitely looking elder to Shahid and I dont know why she was paired opposite to him at the first place. It doesnt have the Aziz Mirza charm and freshness. Juhie is funny in her short and comic role.
Money Hai to Honey Hai. Govinda should select his movies very carefully now. When Bhagam Bhag and Partner were hit for whatever reasons; why he want a flop to his credit. He might not get the full credit of the success of these films but he would definitely get the credit for the failure of this one. He cant do a lead role and he cannot, I repeat, cannot dance with Eesha Deol. He is a brilliant comic actor but brilliant comic actor too get old and they cant keep on doing the same thing all their lives. Avoid by all means.
Friday, August 8, 2008
My Favorite Management Books
Managing Radical Change
What Indian Companies Must Do to Become World-Class looks at what companies in India must do, not just to survive, but to rank among the best in their strategy, organization and management. According to internationally acclaimed management gurus Sumantra Ghoshal and Christopher A. Bartlett and industry insider Gita Piramal, the problem is not that managers are unaware of the need for a radical response to the problems and challenges posed by the new competitive, technological and market demands in India. But, trapped in an incrementalist mindset—that change can come only by degrees—deep in their heart they do not feel the urgency that they profess.
Only the Paranoid Survive
New techniques, new approaches and new technologies upset the old order and change the rules of the game. This is what trucking and air transportation did to railroads, what container shipping did to traditional ports, what superstores did to small shops, what microprocessors did to computing and what digital media might do to entertainment. Andrew Grove calls a very large change in one of the competitive forces in an industry, a “10X” change, suggesting that the force has become ten times what it was just recently. In the face of such “10X” forces, a company can lose control of its destiny. The business no longer responds to the company’s actions as it used to in the past. What such a transition does to a business is profound, and how a company manages this transition determines its future. Grove describes this phenomenon as a strategic inflection point.
World Class in India
World Class in India presents the stories of select Indian companies that have been able to spur their managers to overcome their resistance to change and begin the journey to becoming world class. The cases in this book have been chosen from a cross-section of industries in different sectors and range from family-run businesses to multinational corporations to government enterprises. They are drawn from extensive research done by the authors over several years and show how companies have transformed themselves bottom up, revamping their strategies, organisation and management. Organizations covered include Bajaj Auto and Life Insurance Corporation of India, Reliance, NIIT and Wipro and more...
The Tipping Point
This fascinating book, by Malcolm Gladwell talks about how little things can make a big difference. Though the book covers various social issues, business leaders can learn a lot about innovation, especially disruptive innovation by reading this book. If we think carefully, disruptive innovations share a lot with epidemics. Both result in major changes.So it is useful to understand how social epidemics occur.Social epidemics share a basic, underlying pattern. Tipping Point is the name, Gladwell gives to that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once. Innovators can learn a lot by identifying and anticipating tipping points. The great innovators know how to tip the world.
The Machine That Changed The World
The Machine That Changed the World is a well-written book that highlights comparisons and contrasts among automobile manufacturers. The book is written for a general audience interested in the topic of automobile production. Of particular relevance to the technology educator however, is the time frame and scope of the book. A chronological history of global automotive development and manufacture, from the industrial revolution to the present, provides many useful insights to the technology educator. Among the most important of these insights are discussions of the origins and future of manufacturing technology.
Managing for Results
This is one of the first ever books written on Business Strategy. Drucker mentions that any organization must be focused on making the present business effective, identifying and realizing the potential of the existing business and transforming the business to cope with the needs of a different future. Drucker emphasizes that results and resources always exist outside the business. It is always somebody outside who determines the success or failure of a business.
Emotional Intelligence
Why do people of high IQ flounder and those of modest IQ do surprisingly well? According to Daniel Goleman, the difference quite often lies in the abilities collectively called emotional intelligence. There is a strong link between sentiment, character, and moral instincts. Impulse is the medium of emotion. The seed of all impulse is a feeling bursting to express itself in action. Those who are at the mercy of impulse suffer from a serious shortcoming. The ability to control impulse is an integral part of character. Similarly, the root of altruism lies in empathy and the ability to read emotions in others. Self-restraint and compassion are the two values needed to build a moral society. The author argues that emotional intelligence must be given much more emphasis in schools, colleges and the workplace.
The Goal
Anyone connected to manufacturing industry who has not read "The Goal" should correct the matter as soon as possible. For one thing it is the most readable management book that it is written as a novel with a believable story line. It is also the definitive book on Theory of Constraints, the theory which says look after the bottlenecks and the rest will take care of itself. The novel can transform management thinking throughout the world.
Good to Great
This book is about what separates the great companies from the good companies. The author describes his work as a search for timeless principles – the enduring physics of great organizations – that will remain true and relevant no matter how the world changes around us. The specific application might change (the engineering), but certain immutable laws of organized human performance (the physics) will endure.
Count Your Chicken Before They Hatch
Count your chickens before they hatch is a bestseller by Indian business guru Arindam Choudhary where he discusses his theory "i" management, apart from general business theories. The book starts off detailing qualities, skills & attitudes required to succeed in the business world today and goes on to explore examples of people who made it big against all odds. Choudhary also explores the Indian psyche in depth and looking for qualities such as passion, patriotism & integrity among the employees of various Indian companies he interacts with. He emphasizes the need for Indian corporations to follow management practices that are suitable to Indian culture rather than blindly aping western management theories.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 1:25 AM 1 comments
Friday, August 1, 2008
Food Shortage - Very Striking
Worldwide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was:
"Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"
The survey was a huge failure, In Africa they didn't know what 'food' meant, In India they didn't know what 'honest' meant, In Europe they didn't know what 'shortage' meant, In China they didn't know what 'opinion' meant, In the Middle East they didn't know what 'solution' meant, In South America they didn't know what 'please' meant, And in the USA they didn't know what 'the rest of the world' meant!
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 12:07 PM 0 comments
Labels: General
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Make a Wish!
I have received this mail from Hirav himself and I know him for quite some time now and have no reason to distrust him; so I am posting him mail on my blog. He claims that this small ritual makes your wish come true and many Americans have tried it already and the success rate was 80%. I have not tried it myself - if any one of you try this; please let me know about your experience.
=================================================================
Most Popular, very effective remedy by
HIRAV SHAH – Celebrity Astrologer - Research Professional
for each kind of general problems like business, job, love, marriage, education, health, baby issue, immigrations etc.
This valuable remedy is possible only on Thursday morning 6-30am.
Steps:
1) On Thursday after taking bath before 6:20am, take blank A4 size whitepaper with red pen at sharp 6:30 am.
2) Write down below info about your problem on the middle of page
Name :
Problem:
Wish:
For example,
Name : ABC
Problem: Since last 10 years, I am struggling in my business & not getting desire result
Wish: I want success in my business with good profit margin which can give me financial peace level.
Imp Note: Don’t try it more then one problem per family till 6 months
3) After writing your problem on paper, fold your paper & place it into temple as per below instructions
1. First fold it from bottom to top then left to right.........fold it alternate way 6 times....
2. Put that folded paper at your temple or where you placed your God at home.
3. While putting that paper in front of GOD, try to speak your problem and wish in your mind.
4. Don't forget to finish this whole process of presenting your problem/wish to
GOD before 6:40am.
4) After putting your paper in front of GOD, buy 2 bananas and give it to one of your family members before 9 am and tell them to eat it before 9 am same day.
- Also while giving bananas, speak about your problem and wish in your mind..........
5) See the amazing result of this remedy by having your problem resolved as per your wish
in 6 days,6 weeks,6 months...etc
All the best for your solution......God Bless U all………………
Note: If you find with your own experience this remedy is real effective for your case, please don't forget to share/circulate your experience to your friends & relatives by circulating this valuable remedy for their well being.
If you have any query/concern for this remedy,
Contact:
Hirav Shah
BE Electronics,Business Management,
Chess(National Player),Music(Graduate in Tabla)
Volleyball(Qualified National Player) ,SAP-Certified
Astrological Research Professional (USA)
Astrologer-Numerologist
cell# 551-689-5323(USA)
email-hiravkshah@yahoo.com
http://www.hiravshah.com
Linkedin Profile id : http://www.linkedin.com/in/hiravshah
For Orkut users :hiravkshah@gmail.com
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 2:00 PM 2 comments
Labels: Astrology
Friday, July 18, 2008
The three Mistakes of my Life
So finally I got hold of Chetan Bhagat’s latest book and finished it on the same day. He continues to have his charisma of storey telling in this book as well. The description of Amdabad is so interesting that you almost feel like visiting the place. It has all the spices of life that every Indian love – Cricket, Love, friendship, Religion and Business. Still, you will find it is less gripping and entertaining than his earlier books because 1) you will feel you have read this in Five Point Someone 2) You will find the end rather abrupt.
Like his previous book, he has started the story again with himself giving a little peek in his life. He also buys the furniture with his wife in the same way all the other Indian husbands do.
This is a typical story of confusion that any boy from an Indian town will have - What to do with the career?; Parent pressurizing you to leave your hobbies for your studies; Father expecting his son to follow his profession and a big hoard of other people, problems and pressures. It’s about how they react, solve and live with those problems.
In this story, there are three boys – Govind, Ishan and Omi. They opened a sports shop in the temple complex with the help of Omi with three different objectives:
Govind – He is an ambitious businessman with a talent in mathematics and not much money. It was a natural choice for him to start a shop.
Ishan – He wanted to get away from the constant nagging of his father and moreover being in the shop means being closest to his first love – Cricket
Omi – He has no better option; he has to do what his friends are doing.
The shop did well and the boys planned to get some extra income by Govind giving coaching on Maths; Ishan training kids for Cricket and Omi giving physical training. Story keeps on moving around these friends with almost all the spices added to it.
There is a factual angle of the story; the author has roped in every major incident that happened in 2001 be it Gujrat Earthquack, Godra controversy, Kolkata cricket match between India and Australia and even the bombing on WTC towers.
There is a romantic angle of the story, to add spice to otherwise all boys story and their adventures, between Govind and Ishan’s sister Vidya.
There is a dramatic angle of story by the name, Ali, a miracle child with an unbelievable talent in cricket who hits sixes like you drink your tea. Ishan wanted Ali to get what he could not get and with the little money they earned from shop, they have to take Ali to Goa and even Australia just for the sake of Ishan. Boy; that’s some friendship!
There is a religious and political angle of the story describing the riots happened after Godra controversy.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 3:19 PM 1 comments
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Gandhi's Top 10 Fundamentals for Self Development
Gandhi's Top 10 Fundamentals for Self Development
1. Change yourself.
'You must be the change you want to see in the world.'If you change yourself you will change your world.
2. You are in control.
'Nobody can hurt me without my permission.'What you feel and how you react to something is always up to you.
3. Forgive and let it go.
'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.''An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.'
4. Without action you aren't going anywhere.
'An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.'Taking action is hard and difficult.You have to take action and translate the knowledge into results and understanding.
5. Take care of this moment.
'I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.'When you are in the present moment you don't worry about the next moment that you can't control anyway.
6. Everyone is human.
'I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.''It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.'
It's important to keep in mind that everyone is just a human being no matter who they are and that we are all human and prone to make mistakes. Be able to see with clarity where you went wrong and what you can learn from your mistake.
7. Persist.
'First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.'Be persistent. In time the opposition around you will fade and fall away.
Find what you really like to do. Then you'll find the inner motivation to keep going, going and going.
8. See the good in people and help them.
'I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others.''Leadership means getting along with people.'There is pretty much always something good in people. And things that may not be so good. But you can choose what things to focus on. And when you see the good in people it becomes easier to motivate yourself to be of service to them.
9 Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.
'Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.''Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.'One of the best tips for improving your social skills is to behave in a congruent manner and communicate in an authentic way. People seem to really like authentic communication. And there is much inner enjoyment to be found when your thoughts, words and actions are aligned You feel powerful and good about yourself.
10. Continue to grow and evolve.
'Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.'You can pretty much always improve your skills, habits or re-evaluate your evaluations. You can gain deeper understanding of yourself and the world.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 12:48 PM 2 comments
Labels: Life, My Favorites, Philosophy
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Qatil Song
I just loved this song - so practical and so true!!
It always happens; if you have broken off with someone it does hurt as much as it hurts to see that person happily going around with someone else. Especially if that someone is the reason of your break-off or if that is the person you hate the most.
Ideally, you should have nothing to do with the personal life of a person who is no more a part of your personal life. Like every other ideal situation this one is also very hard to achieve until and unless you also find someone to focus your mind. Then also it is equally hard to accept the person you loved so much in your life has gone to someone else's life and is not bothered about you. Remember, the restaurant scene of Pyaar ke Side Effects :)
Anyways, this is life and life doesn’t wait for anybody, it just moves on!!
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 11:34 AM 3 comments
Labels: Life, My Favorites, Philosophy
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Lord Hanuman
Hanuman ji is my favorite Bhagwan and I have made HIM my brother from the moment I was big enough to understand the meaning of brother. HE is so intelligent, brave and humble. HE is so naughty and at the same time so sincere. HE is so independent and at the same time so so obedient. HE is so powerful and at the same time so humble. HE is so intelligent and at the same time so impulsive. HE never stops amazing me and the best thing I like to sing all the time is Hanuman Chalisa.
I get so charged up while singing it; it just fills me with energy and confidence and I immediately feel like doing something great like HE did so many times. I simply love HIM and HE is the best :)
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 4:28 PM 2 comments
Labels: My Favorites
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Why?
She called up and finally said – “I am leaving you”. I am moving to a different city to start my career and that’s going to be my focus for sometime in my life. I have taken enough shit from you and I believe that’s it; I can’t take it any more, so, I am moving ahead in my life and would request you to do the same. She hanged the phone down.
He was in tears; too shocked to say anything – it was impossible to believe that this is actually happening to him. He always thought if at all anyone is going to leave the other person – it’s going to be him. How can she dump me? I am the one who is rich, smart, only son of influential parents, with a handsome salary and a promising career. She is nobody. She is just out of college with a pathetic job with no money and experience. She doesn’t even know how to survive alone. Had I not been with her; she could have never even scored the marks she did. It’s not fair; it’s not happening. She is lucky to have me; she can’t dump me; only I can dump her and I did not because I am a good guy. Still, she dumped me?
They met in the college and become friends immediately. Both of them were studious and only aim in their life at that time was to score good marks. Reason enough for a deadly competition and ideally they should have been competitors, hiding their notes from each other. Fortunately, they decided to turn the situation other way round and became best of friends for exchanging notes and sharing assignments. Their role nos. was adjacent so they used to be together for lab projects and after that for combined studies. As predicted by most of their friends; they immediately had fallen in love with each other.
Things were dream like and excellent during the entire course and they were trying very hard to get their admission for post graduation in the same college. Unfortunately it could not happen and not only they got themselves registered into different colleges but in different cities as well.
Everything changed, the time they used to spend together, the feelings they need to share, the library where they used to spend most of their time, everything changed. Still unlike the myth, they were quite successful in maintaining the long term relationship. When the guys used to tease him, she will fall for some other guy, in professional post grad course, its quite common, so, don’t count on her anymore and find someone else for you here - he used to proudly say, if anyone is going to leave the other person, its going to be me, not her. She can never do that to me. She is too weak to do that.
She was so happy - she got a big award for a competition in her college and she wanted him to be the first person to know about it. She called him up; a girl picked the phone.
Girl: Hello
She: Ah! Hi.....May I know who is this?
Girl: May I know who are you; you called up at my boyfriend's mobile asking me who am I?
She: What??? Ah...mmm...okay! May I talk to him
Girl: Not until you are telling me your name
She: Well....I dont think I have called on your cell so I am not liable to tell you my name. I have called up at a friend's mobile and it would be nice if you let him know about the call.
Girl: What if? I dont
She: In that case, I will call some other time
As she moved out of PCO; her legs were trembling, she was not able to walk properly. She didnt know where to go. Who was she? Why he never told me about her. What's going on?
She called again and this time he picked up apologizing for the entire episode saying the girl is a freak and after him and he is not at all interested in her. She just flicked his cell and was bullshitting with every one who was calling. She believed him.
It was too hard to live without seeing each other so she went to visit him in his city. There were way too many SMSes he was receiving even from a big businessman standard when they met. She demanded to see his mobile. It was a girl with lovey dovey romantic messages. She asked him, who is she? He convinced her, she is the girlfriend of his friend and all the messages are for him, he reads them from my mobile. The guy cant afford a mobile like you and so I am helping him out. She believed him.
He called her one day saying that he is leaving for his friend's wedding and wont call her for couple of days as it is too expensive to call on roaming. She waited restlessly for 3 days until she received a call; not from him; but from a girl saying - you know what! I had an amazing time with your guy, he is so much of fun! "Those were the golden days of my life". Thanks for sparing him for me for 3 days. Have fun! Bye.
She immediately ran out of her hostel and called up at his cell telling him the entire episode. He said he didn’t know what she is talking about. He was in a wedding if she wants, he can make his friend call her to prove that he was in a wedding and the call she received was nothing more than a hoax. She believed him.
It was the biggest day of her life; she finally got what she was dreaming for all this while. Her dream job!!
She was on sky 9 and wanted him to be the first person to know about it. She opened his inbox to write a mail from him to him to give him the news as a surprise. It was very easy for her to get his password. She was super excited without knowing that there is a surprise waiting for her this time. The inbox was full of romantic mail exchanges with the promise of wedding. He was talking to someone and her family about the potential dates and time of his wedding with someone.
She was too shocked to react. She didn’t say a word and came out of her computer lab; rushed for the closest PCO and called him up. Only thing she could say was, “I am leaving you”. I am moving to a different city to start my career and that’s going to be my focus for sometime in my life. I have taken enough shit from you and I believe that’s it; I can’t take it any more, so, I am moving ahead in my life and would request you to do the same. She hanged the phone down.
She was feeling much better as if some burden is removed from her shoulder; a burden that she was carrying for the last 6 years. She was all determined and oozing with confidence to take the world in her stride. He was still wondering, “Why she left me??”
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 4:02 PM 11 comments
Labels: Fiction, Short Stories
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Lalu Rocks! - Truly
I could not stop myself from posting this. This is simply amazing. This is a lesson for all of us who don’t speak up in public thinking what others will think. I remember when I was in school; I used to wait for my teacher to ask the question directly to me rather volunteering to answer myself even after knowing very well that I know the answer. Common! I was a bright student; my school friends can vouch for that if it is that difficult to swallow ;)
This guy is simply amazed me by his confidence; everyone is laughing but that is not bothering him even a bit. He is having gala time delivering his speech. Kudos!!
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 11:16 AM 0 comments
Labels: Lalu Prasad Yadav, Public Speaking
Monday, July 7, 2008
Kahaani Humaare Mahabharat Ki
I am very excited and eagerly waiting for this show which is starting from today at 9X. Visually, its look like a desi version of Movies likes Gladiator. Manish Malhotra has designed the costumes and the graphics are amazing. Given the fact that Ekta Kapoor's normal serials are also like Mahabharat only; I have high expectations from this one.
As per Ved Vyas, writer of the epic; if there is a character and incident present in Mahabharat it’s present in real life; if it is not present in Mahabharat, it’s not present in real life.
When B.R.Chopra made his Mahabharata, I was too small and have not seen the serial with this angle. This time I am surely going to analyze characters and incidents. I just hope the present one is not too far from the original one. Anyways, the promos are looking promising to me.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 5:03 PM 2 comments
Labels: Indian Television
Friday, July 4, 2008
Aeonflux
In 2011, a virus destroys 99% of earth's population. The movie started in a beautiful walled city survived on earth called Bregna after 400 years. As the movie is about future; there is a lot of scope of imagination which director has used beautifully. I found the buildings, roads, trains and dresses quite imaginative.
Charlize Theron played the title role of Aeonflux; an assassin from the group of rebels called 'Monicans' under the leadership of The Handler. The group's mission is finding out the reason behind the strange events of people disappearing suddenly. Aeon’s sister is also murdered for unknown reasons in the beginning of the movie.
Aeonflux and Sithandra (both assassin member of Monicans) got an assignment of killing the government's chairman Trevor Goodchild. For me, the most enjoyable scenes were the scene when they coup into the government’s building and later when they fight with each other following the Aeon refusal of killing Trevor.
Aeon got hold of Trevor in the building but something prevented her from killing him. Ultimately she discovered that she is a clone of Trevor’s late wife Cathryn and not only is she, the entire city populated by clones. The virus made people unfertile and to continue life on earth Trevor was recycling DNA of dying people and cloning them as new born babies. Trevor himself died and reborn 7 times in the movie.
There is a certain batch of people who were able to get their babies on their own. If the population increases and they lose control on who is getting clone from whom; they are running the risk of losing power, therefore, Trevor’s brother Oren was killing all the pregnant ladies in an attempt to stay in power. In fact, Aeon's sister was also killed because she was pregnant.
Aeon and Trevor fight against Oren and Handler together. Ultimately, Aeon managed to convince her friend Sithandra and Monicans to fight against Oren and his men against Handler’s wish.
Aeon also convinced Trevor that humans are meant to die and babies should be born naturally, otherwise, with every cloning their minds will be destroyed. Trevor allows her to destroy a constantly floating airship used to clone DNA.
Charlize Theron is a visual delight in the movie. She has performed all kind of stunts from jumping; running; slinking, diving, and gliding and she look gorgeous in the white gown while receiving her assignments.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 3:16 PM 2 comments
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Core
Director: Jon Amiel
Star Cast: Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart, Tchéky Karyo, Stanley Tucci, Delroy Lindo, DJ Qualls, Bruce Greenwood, Alfre Woodard, Nicole Leroux
The movie starts with some strange incidents happening all around the world like 32 people dying suddenly due to pacemaker in Boston; thousands of pigeon suddenly lose control and created havoc in London. As an analysis of all these incidents, a geophysicist professor predicts that The Earth's magnetic field is collapsing because the outer core of earth has stopped rotating due to some reasons unknown in the beginning. Since, the field is what's protecting us from deadly cosmic rays and microwave radiation from space, so life on earth will be finished in a year or may be sooner.
At the outset the movie looks goofy and there are many controversies regarding the scientific concepts used in the movie but I don’t want to comment on them as I am no expert myself. As a movie; I found it entertaining and attention grasping.
The special effects used are as good as any other sci-fi movie. I like them better in Day after Tomorrow. There was hardly any scope of emotional bonding or humor amongst the team of five (2 scientists, a weapon expert, a professor and 2 NASA astronauts) but it has been weaved in quite brilliantly during their visit to The Core. There is not much of an action; mostly graphics and special effects are used for the thrill and excitement.
They used a sonic boring device and a remarkable material "Unobtainium"- name given by the scientist to his compound made of 37 materials to construct a Ship, Virgil, for taking the team into the core. As predicted, they met with some difficulties in their journey to save the world by starting to rotate the core again by blasting some nuclear bombs in the molten metal thereby giving it energy for rotation.
I was interested and involved throughout the movie to know what’s next. The only annoying things was the director has been too kind to his characters and no suspense was lasted for long; for everything they found the solution in practically 2 min, thus, the excitement was lacking.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 3:08 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Trust
She was pretty, intelligent, rich and influential.
He was a regular guy – just a regular guy!
They met first time in the induction session of their management program and felt immediately attracted to each other. He thought she is some princess and she was too happy to get so much attention especially when she was feeling little low being outside home for the first time.
They became friends immediately and decided to take their places nearby so that they can study together and go for dinner together but later they realized they just love each other’s company and it does not make any sense to live separately so they moved into a new and big apartment together. They were practically together all the time – same college; same canteen; same house; same gym; same hang out places and common friends – there was no reason for doing anything individually. It was perfect life for him and she was not missing any pampering that she is so used to from her childhood.
One day after college when they were generally chatting in the library like any other day – she broke the news that her fiancé is visiting her and she wants him to move to a friend’s place for couple of days along with his luggage.
He: What?
She: Yeah; he is coming from US just to meet me – ofcourse he is gonna stay with me and I am sure he wants my exclusive company so why don’t you just excuse me for some days.
He: You never told me that you are engaged
She: Well; you never asked me – I neither told you that I am not
He: How could you this to me – I thought you loved me
She: I never told you that – Have I? What makes you think that I love you
He: Is it not so obvious – whats there to tell me – we are practically together 24*7 – what else do you want me to assume?
She: See – when you ASSUME – you make an ass of you and me – OKAY! See- you are my best friend and I love your company and all that is fine but right now I want to spend some time with my fiancé and that’s all – no more discussions (No one argues with princess – why the hell he is reacting like that)
He: Then why the hell you lived with me?
She: You also lived with me – I mean we lived together – Big Deal – Who knows my fiancé also live someone else. I never questioned him. Anyways, I don’t want any more arguments – you just move – that’s all. See you next week. I am off to beach resort with him off the city for the rest of the week.
He: When he is coming?
She: Well; I am going to pick him up from the airport – we will directly go to beach resort from there; we will be back on Sunday – by that time I want you to be out of my house with all your stuff and yes you are most welcome to live again with me once he is gone.
He (almost in tears): You cant do this to me – it was a perfect world for me; everything was going on so fine – you just cant dump me like this….blah blah blah
She: Hello! I am not dumping you or something – I have made no promises to you neither I said that I love you – I am still maintaining my stance that you are my best friend and I love your company and that’s it. There was no commitment from my side neither there is going to be any. So you be happy – let me be happy!! Now I really have to rush – please remove your stuff before I come back
She left!
He: I cant believe what has just happened to me – she must be joking – this cant be true – how can she not tell me such a big thing about her when we have talked for hours about everything else in her. I know every detail about her; I can name all her cousins right away. Its simply not possible. He went home with a heavy heart to find that all his stuff was packed with the same message sticked on his bag that was conveyed to him sometime back. He thought let me not move from here; let her fiancé know everything about me – that’s the best way to take revenge.
Then he thought; no my love is true for her; so what if she doesn’t love me right now. I will make her love me someday for sure. This time I should support her and be at her side – that surely going to make some place for me in her heart. He picked all his stuff and moved into his friend’s place for a week.
He bumped into her and her fiancé at one of their regular hang out area. He was tall, handsome and rich. She introduced him as her class-mate (he sighed she could have atleast used friend). They quickly moved out of that place.
He (thinking): Its so evident in front of me still its so hard to believe; whatever my mind says; I am sure she is gonna come back to me only because that’s what my heart says and it will happen finally.
She (thinking): Thank GOD that fool didn’t open his mouth; let me not take my fiancé to my regular hang out places – high chances of bumping into him
Fiancé (thinking): I am so lucky to get such a nice girl. She is so true to me even after being so beautiful. I can trust her blindly even after being so far from her
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 5:04 PM 8 comments
Labels: Fiction, Short Stories
Monday, June 30, 2008
IIFA Awards 2008
I found IIFA awards very entertaining much better than all the award function of all this season (though I hated them in 2007) – Ritesh and Boman were very entertaining as hosts – simply superb and it was a nice change to some new faces doing the hosting – I am bored to hilt to see the same faces over and over again. The more I see of Ritesh the more I feel there is so much of untapped potential in him; he really needs someone to take it out. Boman as usual was a thorough entertainer. Though they were also mean to an extent to the rest of the fraternity; but by no means can they give any competition to Shahrukh and Saif in Filmfare awards or Sajid and Karan in Zee Cine awards. Shahrukh’s gang comes out in public with a sole purpose to prove that Shahrukh is great and all the people Shahrukh doest like are good for nothing.
Urmila can do a better job if she doesn’t use such heavy accent – it was really not going well with her but she was looking very good :)
Now about performances:
a) Akki truly rocks and he precisely did that in the event – he ran from the stage and sang a song right amongst his fans – you read it right – he is a real dude :)
b) Clips to show nomination for movies from Ritesh and Boman – simply hilarious
c) Harry and Priyanka – Priyanka did an awesome job of matching steps with Harry
d) Kareena – I tell you something has happened to this lady – or may be success gives you the confidence – or may be the magic of newly found love - have never seen her in such spontaneity and cheerfulness. I like one thing about her; she never forgets to thank Shahid on the face of Saif for the movie – that’s professional. I wish Shahid would have also won half the no. of awards she has won for Jab We Met. Common guys he was equally good.
If you have missed the show; catch the glimpses here and don’t forget to watch the repeat telecast – there has to be one!!
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 3:04 PM 0 comments
Labels: Bollywood, Indian Television, Movies
Harman Baweja – the new superstar on the block
I was watching IIFA awards yesterday and the second best part (best is ofcourse from my all time favorite Akshay Kumar) of the event was Harman’s and Priyanka’s dance number.
Looks like it’s an era of long faced heroes. After Hrithik and Ranbir its Harry – in fact – he is a mix of both of them. Harry looks very promising to me in the promos of Love Story 2050; but it was a visual treat to watch him live in the award function. I have practically fallen in love with him. He is an extremely good looking hunk who can easily give Hrithik a competition in dancing.
I can confidently announce that this guy is here to stay and rule the Bollywood. Mind you, I am a real connoisseur when it comes to Bollywood actors. I have forecasted for Salman Khan in "Biwi ho to Aisi", much before the release of "Maine Pyar Kiya" that this guy will be a big star someday and see where he is today. He is still my first love :)
He is paired very aptly with Priyanka Chopra – good news for all the tall actresses – they have one more hero with whom they can dance with their high heels on.
Way to go Harry – I am eagerly waiting for your new movie to release.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 11:12 AM 2 comments
Aamir - Just OKAY!
Aamir is a story of a muslim doctor who works in London and supports his family in India. He comes home to see his family and turned into a scapegoat by one the extremist group for some mission unknown to Aamir throughout the movie. He was bound to follow his instructions as his family was kidnapped. The entire movie is all about Aamir dancing to the tunes of an extremist terrorist and exploring the worst of the slum areas of Mumbai.
I was excited in the beginning as the suspense was building up and I was curious to know what will happen next or why this is happening but the same situation has prolonged too far and then I got bored and was waiting for the movie to finish. How long you can be interested in one situation that’s been shown to you for the last 1.5 hours. Aamir is an excellent debut for both the director Raj Kumar Gupta and actor Rajeev Khandelwal. I am not a die hard fan of Rajeev akka Sujal unlike many girls but to give him the right credit I do agree he is a very talented actor. After the movie I am waiting to see how he will fair in a regular Bollywood masala flick.
First of all there is no Bollywood masala stuff (item numbers, romantic angle, song and dance track etc) to break the monotony of the hero following the directions from villain over the cellphone; on the top of it the movie is tragically slow. A hard core bollywood ishtyle fan like me won’t appreciate it that much.
I didn’t like the end as I don’t like good guys dying in the movie at the end. Alt least in the reel world things should be ideal. Even though the good guy is struggling in the entire movie he should meet a happy fate in the end.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 10:30 AM 0 comments
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Empowering others to ruin your day by reacting
I am writing this post in addition to my earlier post Garbage Trucks Psychology. I was thinking about this theory and have realized the simple fact when you are getting angry because of someone’s action; you are actually empowering the other person to be able to affect you.
As they rightly say that no one can disturb you without your own consent. Whenever you react on someone’s action/words that’s precisely what you do; you give him/her your own consent to disturb you.
It’s such a loser attitude to let someone else rule your life; to let someone else decide for your mood; to give away your mood, time and day to someone else.
So what should we do if someone is trying to ruin your happiness????
Maintain that calm and composed posture of yours. DON’T REACT. You be happy irrespective of what’s happening around you. This way not only you are in full control of your day but also you are sending this clear message to the other person – “Dude!!! I give a damn what you do; try as hard as you want you just can’t change a thing in my life”
Not reacting is the best answer you can give to people who want to hurt you.
Well that's my personal opinion from my experience.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 9:03 PM 0 comments
Labels: Life, Philosophy
Monday, May 26, 2008
Garbage Trucks Psychology
How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood?
Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what's important.
David J. Pollay explains his story in this way…
Sixteen years ago, I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!
The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean…he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"
And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."
"Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did."
I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore."
Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe that everything happens for a reason. Never let the garbage truck run over you…
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 2:52 PM 0 comments
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Life is all about avoiding Cs
Confused??? :)
Yeah but its true; in order to lead a happy and fulfilling life; you have to avoid 3Cs in your life!!
They are:
a) Comparison
b) Complaining
c) Criticism
Comparison:
We are living in the competitive world today and our professional life is actually a rat race out there.
I am not sad because I have not bought a house for myself. May be I never felt the need for it as I want to be mobile for some more years; but it irks me a lot that most of my batchmates have already bought a house and only I am left.
I am ok with my raise but my colleague got more than me; I am equally qualified and experienced then why the disparity?
Why the hell I don’t have the killer looks that the other person have?
Sounds Familiar!!!!! :)
Trust me you are not the only one!!!!
Every person is a GOD’s unique creation with his/her own positives and negatives. Each one of us keeps on contributing to the universe all the time in our own unique way. Each one of us leads our lives in our own unique way irrespective of the fact how our relatives, friends and colleagues are leading.
Whenever we compare ourselves or our life with any one else; we don’t only insult ourselves but somewhere we challenge GOD’s creation and GOD’s decision for us. If you can follow the mantra – whatever happens; happens for good and GOD has some special plan for you and try to see the positive side of it; then nothing in this world can make you unhappy!!!!!
Feel special all the time because you truly are. If in doubt; ask your mother; how special you are and all your doubts will be gone :)
The only healthy comparison that I know of is - comparing how you are doing today Vs How were you doing yesterday?
Complaining:
Here; I would let Jack Welch do all the talking. As per his famous quote:
“Never Moan, Don’t be a victim. Either raise hell and change the game or get out of there.” – Jack Welch
Here again I will take most common example; couple of us keep on complaining about our respective jobs. The more we complain the more our brain register that the job in hand is not good. Simple logic – the more we talk; the more we think and eventually the more we believe. Our thoughts and words together will create so much of negative effect on our minds that we will stop appreciating interesting parts of our job as well.
So; either raise hell and get your profile / role (or whatever is troubling you) changed or quit the job and join somewhere else. But for your own sake’ don’t make complaining your daily routine. This holds true for any complaining routine that we might have.
Complaining obviously don’t help the situation but drain out all the positive energy from you. I am not sure whether you have noticed or not but you ought to feel weak and stressed after a long cribbing / complaining session. That’s because you tend to get angry; use bad words and get stressed while cribbing for something and these actions suck all your positive energy from your body.
Criticism:
Here I am talking about criticizing a person for the heck of it; I am not talking about the constructive feedback at all.
The most common example is whenever we criticize unnecessary when we discuss movies and bollywood stars. We don’t take it as just another entertainment service and attach our emotions with them. The ones we don’t like we criticize them whole heartedly. The ones we are criticizing is not even aware of it and is unaffected by it and we have ended up not only spending our precious time but we have converted our valuable positive energy into negative energy.
It’s good to give critical feedback to the person who is related to you; that’s how you can grow your team, your friends, and your family. Criticizing someone; who is not even related to you and becoming emotional about it; is a total waste of time and energy.
We don’t realize but every negative thought, word and action keeps on registering in our mind and start reflecting in our behavior and it has a very long term effect on us. By being nice to people we are not doing any favor to anyone; we are doing a big favor to ourselves. We are creating a very positive life and environment around us.
The way you behave; The way you think; The way you treat others– everything is inter-related and finally decides your life at large.
If suddenly you are feeling depressed without any reason; understand it’s the negative energy at work that you might have accumulated for some period of time.
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 3:23 PM 0 comments
Labels: Life, Philosophy
Friday, May 23, 2008
Fokat ka Advice
There is this colleague cum friend of mine; who loves to give fokat ka advice and maintains a blog as well.
He is a happy go lucky person, I have never seen him agitated, angry, depressed, worried or sad. I have never heard him saying anything bad about anyone or cribbing about anything. He has no friends and no enemies and he is always very busy with himself without worrying about anyone or anything at all.
I keep on wondering, how can someone be like this? How can someone lead such an emotionless life? I mean you got to be attached to someone; you got to be angry with someone; you got to be feeling bad about something. How can you be giggling all the time?
I could not resist the temptation and finally one day I asked him; what’s the reason; why he is like that?He gave me the following mantras that he follows very religiously to be like what he is:
a) No Expectation policy
Have no expectation from any one – personal or professional. Don’t expect anything even from your parents. Accept the fact that everyone has his/her own life and no one has any time for you. The root cause of feeling bad most of the times is that someone failed to match your expectation. Having no expectation not only will save you from many misunderstanding; it will also give you exponential happiness when someone will do anything for you as you would have never expected that.
b) Be an extremist
Either believe in GOD or don’t believe in HIM at all. Don’t believe half heartedly. Either take complete control of your life and don’t expect anything from HIM at all or leave everything on HIM and stop worrying. It does not mean that you should stop making efforts but stop reacting on results. As you believe that nothing is in your control and the best thing you can do is to put in best efforts; then you will do just that and stay happy.
c) Chose an ideal and start behaving like that
Most of the times we are sad because we want to achieve something or we want to be like someone and we are far away from our goal. Start behaving like the person you want to be 6 months down the line today. This will keep you motivated to reach your goal faster and keep you confident today.
d) Work on yourself
Keep on working on yourself all the time – personally and professionally. The more you groom yourself the more you are accepted by other people and the more confident you feel about yourself. It’s a great self booster when you are accepted and appreciated by people around.So these 4 rules are his mantras to lead a happy and emotionless (read negative emotion) life. I am not sure how much is practical to adopt in life but yes I agree with all the points and I am going to work on them for sure.
Have written this post to pass on the fokat ki advice ;)
Posted by Shefali Gaur at 3:45 PM 0 comments
Labels: Life, Philosophy