Smiling ear to ear

No points for guessing why. Sachin scores a century AND India wins. Thank you superstitious Me. And we Sachin fans have the right to remain crazy about this great player.:-)

Sachin Sachin - II

I am as superstitious as the cricketers I admire. The last time I wrote a post hoping for Sachin's century, he actually hit one and this time I decided to do the same and hence the last post. And he hit a half-century. It worked! :-)

I didn't watch the match but got the score online. 60 off 66 balls and I thought it should silence critics temporarily. But people who watched the game live in the stadium and the ones who watched it on the internet said it was painful to watch Sachin score a 60 with just 2 fours. And ofcourse there would be others who'd continue to say "India loses whenever Sachin scores". I think the reason behind so much criticism is that Sachin is not another cricketer, he is SACHIN.

hmmm, I think thats enough suck-up for the day. Sachin, you'd better score big next time and pray to God that the team wins too. Would I be third time lucky?

Sachin Sachin

Anybody that knows me decently knows I am a crazy Sacin fan. I have refrained from talking cricket for the fear of hearing "You still support Sachin? He is pathetic. He should retire". I have been waiting for that one elusive knock that would save him and me (or all such crazy fans) When this current series started, he scored 35 in the first match. Even 'Gone'guly hit 98. When I spotted an eyelash on my nose, like a teenager, I placed it on my knuckles and wished for a century or at least a half century or at least a match-saving 20 in the next match and blew it. And he scored 0. Zero, Zero!! How much it hurt!!

The next match is tomorrow and I can't believe I am tensed. There is no method or reason behind this madness. I have to admit. As usual, I am just hoping he'd score big. Good Luck Sachin.

Guru - Why not?

As a protest against the thundu beedi role thats been thrusted on one of the finest actors of tamil cinema today (I am talking about Madhavan), I've decided not to watch Guru...in theaters. The only hero, in recent times, I can think of who did a good job in his very first movie is Madhavan. Maniratnam did it to Arvind Swami first (though I am not a great fan of Swami's acting) and now its Madhavan. Sad! My friend, Bubby, has written a prompt review as usual and I thought I'd also join the review-Guru gang. And here it goes.

I saw Guru last weekend. Its a very very well made film .Its a bio pic of Dhirubhai ..saari Gurubhai a.k.a Gurukant desai played by Abhishek bachchan. Abhishek bachchan is fantastic. Though the reviews have gone ga-ga over his fiance Aishwarya rai's performance as Sujata, Gurubhai's wife, I felt that her acting was nothing great.. the same plastickey expressions. Her 'kezhadu' tattufying shows badly in close-up shots. Looks like abhishek's akka..

Loved Mithun-da as Abhishek's mentor turned enemy . Madhavan plays a tundu beedi in the film.. paavam!Vidya balan has been wasted. Vidya is a very talented actress [parineeta, lage raho munnabhai].Would have been better if she had played Sujatha. I guess casting Aishwarya rai has its own advantages at the box office. The Vidya-Madhavan liplock is sad...

The screenplay is very good. Cinematography [rajiv menon] and the production design [sameer chandra] are of excellent quality. Sameer-da has recreated th e1950s ka mumbai very well. FYI,All the old Mumbai scenes have been shot in Binny mills, Madras on a set erected in 20 days.

The special effects are very well done. Watch out for Mithun-da's entry scene. That was shot in Pondicherry and the old Mumbai marine drive recreated as special effects in the background. Unless told, one cannot make out.

A R R's music is super. I wish they had picturized the Mast-Mast and the Yeh hai rathen .. songs better. Aishwarya's entry song is so typically Maniratnam... heroine dancing in the rain n 'chalakkudi' falls [Aaathadi ammadi in Idhayathai tirudade, Ohoo megam vandado in Mouna ragam, Chinna Chinna aasai in Roja].
Mallika sherawat sizzles in the opening number [box-office zindabad!]
The songs have been placed arbidly, esp the Mast-Mast song..The ek-lo song sung by Bappi-da is a real waste.

Maniratnam's casting is bang on... be it Aishwarya's brother [Arya babbar -raj babbar's son], Abhishek & Aishwarya rai's parents, the mallu IAS officer, - watch out for Pratap Pothen [yes, the same songi pothen..one of radika's ex- husbands] , the Gujju Mottu bhai [Manoj Desai] and ofcourse Mithun-da.

Song picturization as I mentioned earlier is a big let down... The mast-mast song shot in Madurai in the aayirangkaal mantapam- the same place where "Kannalane" (bombay) was shot... ditto for the climax court scene. A bigger let down!

But over all, Guru is worth a watch despite a sagging second half.Abhishek's body language, dialogue delivery - it shows that he has put in his best and mani ratnam has extracted the best out of him.

Prior to the release of the film, I am told that Amitabh bachchan saw the film and arranged a special preview for the Chopras, Johars and the likes just to show them that his son can act and he should not be cast in tundu beedi roles in KANK, Dhoom 2 etc.
[info courtesy: Guru team Line producer]

Guru - An interesting life story of a village, visionary and winner!

Food and me

I can say with certainity that I must have been a dog in my last birth. Not just because I am scary or loyal or whatever but because I keep eating as long as food is available. I realized this only a few years ago. During my school/college days, my close friend kept saying that my size misled people. Thats true, anybody who willingly included me for a special-occasion-treat was always in for a big shock. So I knew I had a "good" appetite but I didn't know I was actually eating food till there is nothing left.

I feel full only after I have over-eaten. I think eating has 2 parts or volumes. In the first part, you eat to drive away the hunger, in the 2nd part, you actually relish or complain about the food. I have a 3rd part. Thats when I am stuffing food in till I am unable to move. Saying "I overate today" is a ritual for me just like washing your hands after eating. I refrain from buying snacks and stocking them up in the kitchen because I finish them single-handedly. The man in the house has no choice, sadly. And for my son, I deliberatly buy snacks like Goldfish which are yucky for adults but delicious for kids. I would definitely be interested in knowing more about this phenomenon. What makes a person overeat? (don't say greed) I want to overcome this syndrome soon. So I am looking for input and any well-meaning suggestion is welcome.