Love Aaj kal - Movie Review

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Gieselle Monteiro, Rishi Kapoor, Rahul Khanna

Director: Imtiaz Ali

My Rating : * * * * / 5

Well to ponder over this movie tells you that it’s a love story about yesterday and today. And we all know the difference what it was and what it is. The Good and the bad of yesterday and today. Though most people of the older generation would completely agree that their era was the only era where love was treated as it should have been treated. What Imtiaz Ali has done in his stupendous storytelling skill is that whatever the era is, if you are compassionate about your love then the end of your love story will indeed be an happy ending.

LOVE AAJ is about Saif and Deepika playing a very hip and mod couple from London who meet and then are in a relationship for a year but then with the cool kinda attitude of " No strings attached" decide to break up coz career beckons. Deepika comes down to India for her architectural restoration works, and stays in touch with Saif thro the net phone and sms, today’s relationship mode.

LOVE KAL is where you get the desi ghee smell to the plot. Rishi Kapoor who’s playing an acquaintance to Saif is narrating his passionate story, how he had been jolted with a thunderbolt after seeing Harleen ( Debutant Gieselle Monteiro) for the first time and how he travels thousands of kilometers to Calcutta from Dilli( not Delhi) just to have a glimpse of her loved one Harleen.

The key to his apt story telling is about the plots moving concurrently together. The Love of Aaj with the Love of Kal, so there is a every chance of oneself to get entangled with it and get mysterious about what’s happening, so my advice is to stay alert for the first half untill u get the grasp of the movie. The shots in the beginning tend to confuse you more coz as I had talkative audiences around me. The abrupt melancholy song doesn’t help to the cause too.

The movie as a story teller is complex, coz Saif and Deepika for the hip couple they are are in denial about being in love hence break up just like that. Infact even throw a breakup party, Rishi Kapoor who is all watching this remembers his days and narrates to Saif about what a lover he had been. But Saif would always think how silly and naive one can be to attain his love. But then the second half has its most gritting moments. The second half is the soul of the movie, this is where the brilliance of Imtiaz Ali as a writer director comes in full view. The time when Deepika decides to marry until their last union, it simply keeps the spirit of emotional desires at the apex. Saif's interaction with Deepika at her wedding or the gradual depletion of Saif's Hip attitude in America shown in the course of a song , or Deepika's realization that the wedding was a mistake, is absolutely brilliant the way it has been brought out to the audience in a way bringing them to hazy heights.

The music as it is are on the top of the charts, and so also are not a let down in the movie. They indeed harness the flow of the narration. Imtiaz Ali is definitelty a genius, for portraying such a complex love story the way he has. The river could have easily flown into the ocean like any other mundane love story, but he manages to keep this river, off the normal, and keeps it off from flowing into the ocean. Saif , a truly mature and seasoned actor now. This role is not different to the urban guy he has played in other movies, but this one is more complex, which only a seasoned Saif could have played. Deepika looks gorgeous, and has played the act well, but the script desired her to be the quieter one, and so she was. But the bubbly charming Deepika is much desired.

Dont expect to get romance in multiple dishes, coz love for today’s Saif and Deepika are the buddy types. the hang out types rather than dying to each other types. The affection and passion can be seen in Rishi Kapoors young age story where emotions and feelings can be only felt by the ever quiet Harleen's words. We get trendy pick up lines like "I’m not trying to pile on, says saif; then why pile on, shoots back Deepika . Go watch this flick to some good bollywood entertainment which we have been missing for long.

Earn to Live & Yearn to Leave

Teacher : what is the use of our nose?

Student: To pay for rents in UAE. My dad says he’s paying the house rent through his Nose.

Well pretty much is the case for most “Asian expats “ living in the UAE. The rents especially in the capital Abu Dhabi have reached soaring heights in recent times. The fact that I started my comment by saying Asian Expats is that all the European, Americans and the rest expats from the more “developed” countries either have their companies paying for their houses or their salaries are ridiculously high that they can easily afford the rents. One might wonder, but isn’t it the same in all the countries where expats work for a living. In my experience it is, so why should UAE be an exception.

With the ongoing unprecedented economic downturn, which effected most of the countries worldwide, Dubai was no exception, and reached a level where rumors had it that Dubai would never rise again, which is yet to be seen though. In an emirate where real estate was at a major boom, property prices where at a peak, people who cashed in at that time were the major winners, but it turned out that most people lost in the bargain. Companies merged, split, and did what they could to survive, some held on, some went deep under. Result, rents in Dubai came down to a staggering low, affordable places to live were available in plenty, so much so people in Abu dhabi now opt to commute a 2 hour journey and live in better and affordable homes.

But then why does an emirate 175Kms away from Dubai does not experience the property meltdown. Simple, Abu Dhabi is one of the richest metros in the world. It generates 55% of the GDP of the UAE. One of the worlds largest producers of oil, well then in such torment times did a pillar move? None. And so the market rulers rule everything. Not to spare the property sector. The demand being greater than the availability black marketers cash on the scenario by setting a value which does not actually exist and then slowly pushing this value for it to hold itself, and holds itself sternly into the minds of a commoner like me. The average yearly rent for one BHK would be somewhere close to 130,000 dirhams ( 16,90,000 rupees / 35500 USD), which of course is unaffordable at any levels of my sane mind. Recent reports stipulate that rents have indeed dropped in the capital due to the influx of new apartments and villas being available after completion of construction and also the fact that a considerable population is moving out of the capital into Dubai as cheaper and better quality dwellings are available. The same reports suggest a further drop in price till the year round, which definitely will be watched by me with all of my 4 eyes open. A question arises; will I still be able to afford a spacious dwelling with no external hindrances? With the value already set to a scorching unreachable value. Needs to be digged further, in a desire / need that remains to be accomplished.

Ajmal Kasab Wanted Jannat : So be it!

There are various articles, discussions, forums that have talked about how the infamous and ongoiing trial of slain accused Ajmal Kasab is prsently undergoing in Mumbai. At first the controversy whether such a person carrying out such gruesome acts needed a trial, but then as a democratic country we needed to stamp our said position by giving the accused a fair trial, ok, alright. But at day 51, with still a long way to go and all of the tax payers money being used up to feed such a criminal, are we really justifying or stamping anything? One one hand the special Public Prosecutir Ujwal Nikam claims that kasab is a terrorist and ofcourse which we belive with all those evidencies of him holding a AK47 and shooting at the CST been flossed around in the media, to top it off there are eye witnessess from all over the country and from small to old who have identified Kasab, yet Kasabs lawyer maintains that he dosent understand a thing going on in court. So what is all this happening here? The media rightly covered the happenings during 26/11 with all their possible possibilities, but then why dosent the media campaign for a quick trial in this case. For millions its just a open n shut case with the punishment being of the maximum yet why are we sitting here and reading, discussing and writing about it. I would personally like to see the media take a bold step to start a campaign to put the words of the public at a level where it matters.

Reading some of the articles and blogs by renowned journalists on the day to day happening at the special court undertaking this trial, one wonders whether Ajmal Kasab is truly sane? He has been pursuing some out of the world acts like grinning and smiling about instances and witneses that have been accusing him of hosting the bloody bath on that night of 26/11. Is he making a mockery of the whole thing? Or does he really dosent understand? He had been promised with a little money and jannat for doing such a heneious crime, so why don’t we fulfull his desire of jannat on a fast paced trial by convicting him on all the charges that are being filed against him. How long will our judiciary system be an irony to itself, preach of being fair and then take light years to give judgement on an open and shut case. Why is ther being so much of prcecious time being spent of the honorary judges, lawyers, administrative officers and all others invloved in a case where everyone is watching. Are these people scared that they would give a wrong judgement?

After all this and if by luck the murderer gets a conviction, will there be more beurocratic loops in the system to keep his judgement at bay and take the matter upto the supreme court, I as a citizen of the country wonder and wonder where is this going to end up in. All those people who lost their lives have gone to a place beyond our understanding, yet those who live on with those memories have somehow taken the path back to their life’s. Is there anyone other then Ajmal kasab who wants this to get over, I wonder if he does too.

Everyone needs an explanation to the complexity of this case, if there is any?

Is everyone Reading ?

In the task bar on the right side corner of my machine in office, appears one tiny envelope, indicating I have a new mail in my outlook, thankfully I don’t have those that were showed in the movie “U’ve got mail”, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks which graphically says “ U’vvve gotta New Mailllll “ with a sound TINNNNNGGG!. The thought of it being a work related email arises only for a mere millisecond but the thought of it being a much so called internet fwd rules over it. So then I open it to much of my delight that indeed it is an internet fwd. Internet fwds have been a common pastime for all we outlook users( or rather internet users) who have the MS outlook open forever on their machines as long as they r on their desk. What you get in these fwds are varied forms of expressions, information, do n don’ts, a hello fwd, a good morning fwd, it’s the weekend fwd, and the list goes on till eternity. What makes us read these fwds? The first thing that comes to my mind is inquisitiveness, hell we all are inquisitive about what’s going to be inside of that email. Be it of great importance or rather just a blonde joke, as long as there is a mail fwd from an acquaintance, it needs an opening. Sometimes though, I wonder if some emails need a Grand Red Carpet Opening. Ha !

Many a times than not, most of the emails are nothing but some passing chain of crap which comes bundled and covered with the best wrapping paper u could ever imagine. Or sometimes you receive a fwd of some insane incidents happening in some bizarre place in the universe and then u come across it again claiming that it happened in your neighborhood, I pray, God have mercy. This takes me to the thought of the originator or shall we call him “ Mr. Jack Ass “ of such emails; sure does the person need help I wonder. But nevertheless some of the fwds are ridiculously funny, creative and etc. So then comes a point, where each of us, the smart ass of all, needs to be vigilant of what he/she grabs into his life. There indeed comes a time where one needs to decide for himself the difference. The difference between what? The difference between your willingness to accept and what not to accept. There is always a thin line between the truth and fiction, in cases, where you aren’t the performer, but just the audience for such a performance. To applaud such a performance lies within us, to applaud for oneself coz random it is that the next person who would receive such information doesn’t care about the person sending it to him. Arguably in some cases yes but more than often it is a no.

A honest case in a world of today gets lost within the very diasporas of such smart ass vigilant audience, who for the smart ass they are tend to make the wrong decisions. Decisions where one could have a possible contribution towards achieving or rather giving contemporary happiness to ones that matter and of course to the ones that don’t matter. But for the short term individualistic gains that we are known for we don’t, because after all its just a piece information that could be incorrect coz of our assumption. So what does this all bring to? That information be withheld? Or we continue to admire and applaud without making a difference? Well I certainly don’t have the answers yet for sure, so I continue to open every tiny envelope that pops up at my task bar and so shall Mr. Jack Ass.

Michael Jackson - A name, lived with Time and Now Beyond

25^th July 2009 , what a day it was for millions of music buff’s. The tragic and shocking news of the death of music industries undisputed star in the history. Micheal Jackson. MJ as he was known to all. I don’t think there is any person with a little sense of life that does not know about MJ, not necessarily for all the good reasons, but for reasons without reasons as well. MJ might have been an icon a star an epic a hero, but in the end succumbed for the end.

An end that brings anxious moments for people who hear the details about his end, and what an irony hearing details about life after death.

When I first heard the news on Friday, it was like normal disheartening news that one hears on TV, but then as days went by, 6 to be specific, when closely followed this news, it brought me lot of agony and some concerns. Agony coz it made me wonder what a life he led to come to an end like this, and concern coz the final details of his death will not be known for another 2 weeks. A country that boasts about being “thee best” in technological achievements, cannot categorically put down in black n white the reasons of someone’s death. Ha.

This person MJ, has come out with music of its own class. I am not an out n out MJ music fan, but yes the music that he came up with, definitely needed an ear or rather ears to listen to it. He made some great tracks like , thriller, bad, Billy Jean , Black or White , Cry , You are not alone, Earth Song, Dangerous, Blood on the dance floor, just to name a few which I can recollect. Every song of his had this over the world, over the universe feel to it. The videos of each song were different, creative and amongst the best. This music was what made him a billionaire and these billions too brought an end to him. His lifestyle for the past years has always made him a target. A target which people thought was worth aiming at. From the 90’s child abuse to the latest his ex-wife alleging that MJ didn’t father the kids, was way of life to him. His eccentric behavior, frequent change in appearances bought him to the limelight forever.

After his death pathologists confirm that at the time of his death MJ didn’t have any food in his stomach but only had tablets. The abuse of prescribed drugs is what people are talking about, drugs that are narcotic was his prescription. MJ started getting acquainted with these drugs after his downfall during the child abuse case that started in the 90’s, a child abuse case which ended in 2005 which acquitted MJ of all charges due to lack of evidence. He always maintained that he was being targeted by some cheap stints, which now proves to be right as the child’s father Evan Chandler asked his son Jordan Chandler to tell lies regarding the child abuse by MJ, and now Jordan Chandler has decided to speak up in guilt, to say sorry. Sometimes one wonders isn’t this murder? It was because of this very reason MJ went into depression and got addicted to narcotic drugs. But then a sane mind would not do to oneself what MJ did to himself. The report that came out in the media was shocking, Insomniac MJ literally begged for sedatives to put him to sleep, didnt he know that these drugs were one day going to put him to sleep forever? The findings which apparently were not revealed yet leaked in the media said that injection wounds were found above or near to Jackson's heart. All appeared to have resulted from attempts to pump adrenaline directly into the organ in a failed bid to restart it. The autopsy also found unexplained bruises on Jackson's knees and on the fronts of both shins. There are also said to be cuts on his back, indicating a recent fall. The King of Pop's face bore scars, while the bridge to his nose had vanished and its right side had partially collapsed. He also suffered several broken ribs as rescuers pumped his chest after he collapsed in cardiac arrest. Michael's fans will be horrified when they realise the appalling state he was in. He was skin and bone, his hair had fallen out and had been eating nothing but pills when he died.

With such a battered death, I wonder if those things what he did good did any favors upon him? Apparently Michael donated and raised millions of dollars for beneficial causes through his foundations and charity. Ironically, Michael now has a 500M $ debt which nobody knows how its going to be collected. But he was preparing for his come back, a series of tours starting in London on the 13^th of July. Some say the funds that will be raised through his incomplete music will fetch more then what he is indebted to. So I guess its all settled in for those of whom he owes. But those millions of fans wanting more of his music will have to be content with what he has left for us to cherish. Cherish in times where one needs happiness, cherish in times where one wants to be alone with music, cherish in clubs, cherish in sadness, cherish for the unfortunate, cherish in times of war, cherish in times of hatred, cherishing all those heartfelt songs that he has given us.

So heres some great lines from MJ to MJ :

"Gone Too Soon"

Like A Comet
Blazing 'Cross The Evening Sky
Gone Too Soon

Like A Rainbow
Fading In The Twinkling Of An Eye
Gone Too Soon

Shiny And Sparkly
And Splendidly Bright
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like The Loss Of Sunlight
On A Cloudy Afternoon
Gone Too Soon

Like A Castle
Built Upon A Sandy Beach
Gone Too Soon

Like A Perfect Flower
That Is Just Beyond Your Reach
Gone Too Soon

Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like A Sunset
Dying With The Rising Of The Moon
Gone Too Soon

Gone Too Soon

Down Memory Lane...Mombasa, Kenya

I moved to Kenya somewhere in August 2002. I was the Engineer In-charge to build an extension to the already existing floating Dock in one of the major shipyards in Mombasa, Kenya. My decision to take up this job in a “place” like Kenya did raise a lot of eye brows within my fraternity. I kept getting sarcastic “ All the best” during my tenure when they learnt about my would be venture. Neither did I exactly know what is going to be my fate on this safari of mine. Infact as the person I am I would not think too far away from what I am being offered. It never crossed my mind regarding culture, people, food, time, place weather, etc. But I took it up, at first it was the monetary demand which made me think in favor of it, it was nothing that I can boast about but just the thought of earning 5 times more to the existing made me make that decision. The thought of fulfilling my dreams, dreams that were seen and pledging to fulfill them were at hand now. Dreams that were seen when times of hardships have overcome you, time when you have seen your parents wanting to give you the best and in return keep their desires at rest. That’s when my dreams emerged, to give them back 10 times more what they need.

I landed the Nairobi airport somewhere mid morning, the morning cold breeze sweeping through. Nairobi they say is cold for 12 months a year, I wondered if the warmth in people too had been eroded by this cold. For the first time I saw the local African beings. Never at their first sight could I imagine any kind of characteristics that were visible. I was on a high vigil as stories told to you while traveling always kept coming to my mind, I was then swayed through the rush of people to the Domestic terminal where I would board my flight to Mombasa.

Mombasa, the commercial capital of Kenya, and the entry and exit point of goods from the world over to the interior of Africa. The natural harbor made it possible for ships to come in the port from various parts of the world. The only other port which did not come even close to the Mombasa port was Dar-es-salam in Tanzania, but due to the available water draft, Mombasa could harbor in bigger ships. What infringed me was the difference in temperature between Nairobi and Mombasa, 45 minutes ago I was shivering in the cold and now here I am sweating my guts off while loading my baggage in the back of Salim’s car. Salim, a stout, small, curly haired dressed in faded jeans and T was waiting at the exit with the placard surprisingly with my name spelt correctly. Blazing he’s ever naughty smile nodded to me as he saw me approaching towards him. With a gentle yet robust handshake we moved on. A 35 min drive from the airport to my destination awakened me if I had made the right choice to come to Africa.

I lived for 5 years in Mombasa, traveling around Tanzania, Zanzibar and Kenya. I spent most of those 5 years working in Mombasa, a place known as a tourist hotspot for its beach resorts. The sand at the beaches are white unlike in India, and if you want to spend some great amount of time at the beach got to make sure you cover your eyes with sun glasses or else the harmful sun rays could really do the damage to your eyes. Nothing like a chilled bottle of Tusker beer at the beach, I have indeed tasted some of the best beers and this one comes up right there at the top in terms of taste. All beer lovers know that a beer is all about the taste.

Most people imagine that the local African people could be violent or harsh but with my experience living there I can comfortably conclude that these people are most humble and ever inviting. As long as you don’t have any foul interest they don’t mind your existence. Every Kenyan is well aware of the political happening in their country; a political debate over a chilled beer is always on the cards at nearby tables.

Right choice , we all make choices and when we make them weigh our pro’s and con’s which suit us, sometimes we manipulate our pro’s against the con’s or the con’s against the pro’s because that’s what we think is right. Its about the mind v/s the heart, we make choices to suit us, if we come out of it victorious it was the right choice and if we don’t we manipulate it again.

Now sitting here in Abu Dhabi as I write this post I am definitely sure I did make the right choice then, the experience of Life in those 5 years were exhilarating, and experiencing life is what I look forward to.

On this day..

On this day the 28^th Of April

In summers of the year 1982

When the lovely breeze defied the scorching heat

They tapped their legs and danced to every beat

They ran with a smile helter & Skelter

And must have ran brushing my shelter

They announced to the leaves

And they announced to the trees

They announced to the rooftops

And they announced to the shades

A girl has arrived with a smile that shall never fade

Years drifted like an Ocean tide

They come back today in my sight

Same Old Breeze defying the scorching heat

With their soft and hazy smiley treat

I hear them giggle as they whisper in my ear

Wishing my wife a blessed year

On this day the 28^th of April.

- Makarand