Pissed!

Ok, I am officially pissed now! This is the second time this has happened.

I usually catch up on new authors (not really newbie authors but new in the context of my static tastes) whenever I travel. Airports are the best places to pick up authors (that sounded much better in my head :P) you haven't tried before and who you will find quite dissuaded to try if you are at Borders or Landmark, simply coz they have too many books there and filtering is a frustrating process!
Anyways, so I religiously try new authors whenever I travel, light weight enough for airline or hotel reading. Sometimes I do well and find authors who are brilliant and sometimes, well.. just your average read and leave behind types....

About 2 years ago, I hit gold with this author named Harlan Coben. He writes what I can now say, is my favourite type of fiction. The speedy, racy thrillers that are just sooo addictive. So, i managed to pick up a few while I was travelling and told myself when I go back, I am gonna pick up the entire collection from Blossom's (the go-to book store in bangalore!)

So, imagine my irritation when I got back and found that apparently hes become the novelist of the season and all the books are sold out!! I mean why! Why did everybody have to get fascinated by him the same time I did :P

Anyways, it took me a good year and a half to collect all of his books where as it would normally take me about 6 months to go thru what about - 10 odd books written by him so far.. !

This time around I decided to try the duo novelist team- Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (yes, I know a lot of you may hum and say what! You read this like now?? Haven't you seen Relic? ). But yes. I decided to try them out only like now! And I loved it. A couple of them are really scary too (if you dont believe me, try reading 'Still life with Crows' all alone in a hotel room! Goosebumps! )
But they are those racy thrillers that just grab you by the gut and you can't put them down!

So, again decided to grab all possible copies from Blossoms after I head back and guess what!! They are all sold out.. Yes, extremely coincidental and vexing you may say but thats not all..

I go to Landmark which is like the biggest bookshop chain ever and guess what- they had just 1 copy of exactly 1 book of theirs, rest- sold out! Well.. I did pick that up in case you are wondering :)

Anyhoo.. to fast forward to today morning when I am very confident I can find the books online (Fabmall/ Indiaplaza). Book search and 10 mins later guess what - ALL sold out!!

I am soooo pissed I tell you!

Aaja Nachle?

After much anticipation and speculations, aaja nachle came to the theatres last friday. Since mum was quite (in a not so subtle way) excited about it, decided to take her for the so called 'first day first show'.
I think I speak for the rest of the junta in the theatre when I say that, it was quite an enjoyable movie. Small town, extremely predictable but also full of small town, daily life moments which you don't see that often with these big production houses. Somehow the essense of the movie is lost in all that gloss and glitz. But this one somehow manages to capture that and that too in a nice un-complicated manner.

Simple story, lots of cliches and you know whats going to happen. But the director knows that, all he wants you to do is enjoy the ride and forget about the destination. And it was an enjoyable ride, awesome cinematography, very earthy songs and Madhuri is back with a bang with her typical jhatkas!
The best thing about the movie is really no glorified hero heroines. There is supposedly the central character of Dia who kinda holds the movie together but the characterization is classy in the sense that she is not shown to be this uber-woman. Her character is not faultless as typical hindi heroines go. The director has taken the liberty to not harp on her personal life, keep it simple- which pays off because otherwise the movie would have been too distracting.

Its nice to see no issues being made of subjects like inter racial realationships, divorces, single parenting and last but not the least patriotism. Its a refreshing change to see these things being a non-issue in the movie. Dia is not ashamed of her past, she is not apologetic of her impulsive dash to matrimony or the rapid decline of the same. Dia is not the wimpy single mum who is struggling, for anything ! Dia is not the super patriotic types who come back to the country for a a reason and then decide to chuck her entire life elsewhere to supposedly 'give back to the homeland' ! Dia is a character not full of at least these cliches, which I thought was a very smart move by the director. Otherwise god knows, how this one could have turned out to be.

The rest of the characters are just that, characters in a story. Strong characters who lend a definitive flavour to this small predictable tale of song, dance and theatrics. An unusual cast of misfits who come together for a purpose.

There are actors who had so much of potential but seem terribly wasted but I think thats because of the simple reason that we have come to expect so much from them. The very reason they are so understated is because their characters in the tale are understated and thats the whole beauty of it. When you have accomplished actors who can play those 2 bit roles and still leave the audience wanting more, they have done their jobs :)

Vinay and Ranvir have become the standard small budget fixtures but they do add something to a scene everytime they are in it. Even though, you really wish poor Ranvir's character had been given a chance to do some tidly bit more. But he is good as a small town cafe owner who just blends into the background but his eyes light up everytime he sees Dia.

Raghubir yadav is so cute! He is definitely one of those characters you will not recall when you exit the theatre but that just shows what a seasoned actor he is. I really have special regards for all these TV actors or NSD actors from hey days. They were really good at what they did, you just dont find such character actors now a days!

Madhuri, ah.. where do I even begin. From the time the promos have been on air, I have not been able to take my eyes off. Be it at home or at this place we go for lunch to, every single time that they have shown that promo, I have stopped in my tracks to look.
She is so awesome! 43 and she still rocks when it comes to bollywood dancing! There is simply no comptetition, when it comes to any latkas and jhatkas.

I confess, I have been a major fan of her dance numbers ever since I was a kid, whether it was ek do teen, choli ke peeche, didi tera devar or channe ke khet mein!! I admit today, that I have been one of the few (or more) teen kids who latch their bedroom doors and dance to all numbers mentioned above. And when I say dance, I mean really mimic just about every jhatka of hers to perfection.... Yes.. I was one of them and I am not ashamed to admit it :))

And believe me, since the time I have seen the promos of the title track, my brain is sub-consciously trying to memorize the damn steps !!!

Anyhoo, aside from my dancing aspirations, I really think anybody who's grown up with a good pinch of bollywood or has been a closet fan of Mads, should go and enjoy this movie..

Its about singing and dancing with all abandon, to your heart's content- Aaja Nachle !