Rajneeti

Finally, we are “inspired” enough to write another review. After Kites (a predictable love story—wait for the DVD; don’t buy, rent) and Shrek Forever After in 3D (fun, much better than Shrek The Third), we moved our asses to the theatre to watch Rajneeti.

And we weren’t disappointed. A very obvious Mahabharat-meets-Mario Puzo, like you must have already heard/read, with Ranbir Kapoor playing Michael Corleone and Nana Patekar playing Krishna, the writers have fortunately taken the best from both and created an engrossing tale. Fast-paced, with action-packed performances from all actors, Rajneeti gets a 7/10.

None of the actors steal the others thunder, and each has done justice to their character. What you see on screen are not stars, but politicians.

Rajneeti will remain one of the best Indian political dramas for some time to come. It may not be a must-watch-in-the-theatre, but it is definitely a must watch. Kudos to Prakash Jha, who was in hibernation for the last five years. What a way to come out!

Our favourite character? Krishna, of course!

Iron Man 2

The conceited Tony Stark is back with a bang (or two!), and boy do we love him! One word that describes the movie—awesome!

Sure, like Tony Stark the movie has a flaw or two, but just like we ignore them in the person, we ignore them in the movie.

But even though we all love Tony (been established enough!), the show stealer is Whip Lash/Ivan Vanko played by Mickey Rourke. This man undoubtedly has the most “villainous screen presence” I have seen in some time.

I had initially thought that Don Cheadle won't be able to take over from Terrence Howard as Rhodey, but he manages to pull it off pretty well. All the other supporting actors do a good job, well, supporting!

Just one piece of advice—don’t forget to wait out the end credits for a special Marvel treat.

This gets an easy 8/10.

Okay, so just to give you a fair review. Some people I saw the movie with thought that the first half kinda dragged on and some scenes were unnecessary. I did not think so at all! :-P

The Shadow of the Wind

The Shadow of the Wind

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Set in the post-civil-war Barcelona of the mid-1800s, Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind is a gripping thriller from the first page.

A bookseller takes his son, Daniel, to a secret place — The Cemetery of Forgotten Books — a library that houses all books that you and I have never read or heard of, and those that have simply vanished with time. It is here that the young Daniel comes across Julian Carax’s novel, also called The Shadow of the Wind.

Led by curiosity about the author’s life, and strange incidents of someone searching for Carax’s books to burn them, Daniel is propelled into a world where he faces danger he has never seen before.

From the character of the lovable Fermin to the disgusting Inspector Fumero, what works for this book is the superb characterisation. The narrative keeps you on the edge of your seat, while your heart goes out to Daniel. There is much to be said about the author’s writing style, which makes you turn pages with frenzy, waiting for the mystery to be solved. Twist after twist keeps you guessing till the end.

All in all, The Shadow of the Wind rightly deserves its place as a worldwide best-seller.

The Palace of Illusions

The Palace of Illusions

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

The Palace of Illusions is a familiar story — of the great war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Who has not heard the great epic tale of Mahabharat? But this is “Panchali’s Mahabharat”!

A captivating tale from the beginning, we don’t start with King Shantanu falling in love with Ganga, but with a young Draupadi curious about her unusual birth. The book explores her inquisitive, yet innocent nature, and traces her emergence as ‘the woman who changed history’.

Chitra Divakaruni leaves behind the male protagonists and shows us the turn of events through the eyes of Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas and daughter of King Drupad.

We all know the story; then what is it that captivates the readers? Simply, Draupadi’s character — her doubts, her fears, her secrets. Every woman will see a reflection of herself in the complex maze that is Panchali; every man what he loves and hates about women.

With a narrative that makes you turn pages with frenzy, The Palace of Illusions is the perfect companion for a lonely night.

Fly Me to the Moon (3D)

A 2008 animation that has finally come to India, Fly Me to the Moon is a thoroughly enjoyable family affair. Many people have called it a “flat animation”, but either they upgraded something, or the 3D screenings in India are missing something, coz this was one of the best 3Ds I have seen yet! At one point I actually thought that there were flies meandering around the pizza slice I was munching on.

There was nothing gripping about the story as such, but it did remind me of those days as a child (younger child than I am now) when I wanted to be an astronaut and travel to outer space.

I would recommend this movie for having a good time, without using your brains much, coz there are some things that are “technically” incorrect. I mean who would break a glass tube inside a space shuttle?

Oh and don’t get up from your seats immediately after “the end”.

This one gets a 6/10.

(Yes, we are still sticking to our “no storylines in reviews” policy.)

How To Train Your Dragon (3D)

Maybe we have a thing for 3D movies, well, we DO have a thing for 3D movies, so we watch a lot of them—Monsters vs Aliens (thrice :-P), Ice Age 3, Bolt, Avatar, Up to name a few.

I hadn’t seen any of the trailers of How To Train Your Dragon, or heard good/bad things about it, and only seen the poster of the smoking Viking helmet. But being a sucker for animations, I wasn’t going to miss it, and let’s just say that the movie was great! Some really cool 3D, clever dialogues, superb characterisation—this is probably going to be the Oscar winner for Best Animation next year (I have gotten these right for the last five years I think).

If you are thinking of renting the DVD once it’s out, you are going to miss something. And if you are thinking of giving it a pass because someone said it was “emo”*, you are a fool.

Grab a bag of popcorn, sip that soda, put on the 3D glasses and let the dragons take you for a ride!

This one gets a well-deserved 9/10.

*emotional

(No storylines in reviews here!)