Keep Rocking!!! Rock on!! - movie review.

A good movie is one which makes you feel good.

Forget about its bigger-than-life settings. Forget about its disconnects with real life rockers. Forget about the corny characters. Forget about its contrite dialogues. Forget about the predictable screenplay. Forget about the rock concerts that would do Shakira proud!!! Forget about the 'that is so stupid' moments.

Rock On!! is a movie which makes you feel good. You come out of the cinema with that typical heart-warming feeling and that is good enough for a bit of selective amnesia.

The direction is a tad better than the other recent Hindi movies. I am sure, though, that the director has made use of his producer's talent as a film-maker. The movie has all the moments that DCH had. The fight between two close friends, the late realization of one towards rapprochement and the death of one of the main characters of the movie. Too much of a similarity. One could be forgiven for thinking that Farhan Akhtar was the director! (Psst...just for the record, Abhishek Kapoor is the director!)

The story, though, fails to score. One of my friends was thinking of a career as a film-maker, no thanks due to the sheer lack of ingenuity on the part of the screenplay. Anyway, the film is about four friends who gang up to form a rock band. Arjun Rampal as Joe, Farhan Akhtar as Aditya, Luke Kenny as Rob and Purab Kohli as KD form a rock band 'Magic'. (Can you believe it, neither could I!!!) The band disbands after Joe has a run-in with Aditya over the (See...you are thinking of becoming a film-maker, ain't you?!) band's association with a leading music channel. However, (again, that same film-maker feeling, right?!) they get back together later for a final gig. (Final? Well, you are clever enough...guess the reason!!!) The other important characters are Debbie as Joe's girlfriend-turned-wife, Tanya as Aditya's ex and Sakshi as Aditya's wife. Of these, Prachi Desai as Sakshi excels. Clearly, she proves quite capable of transiting from the idiot box to the 70mm. She exudes the right amount of sentiment in the space she shares with Farhan Akhtar. Shahana Goswami as Debbie, too, has a pivotal role to play. She manages quite well in her role as Joe's nagging half.

However, I could not quite fathom the fact that Purab Kohli was given one of the minor roles in the movie. A load of talent wasted! Although Farhan Akhtar excels in his role, the character sounds patchy at times. Luke Kenny is good in the first half, but the story makes him look bad in the second. Arjun Rampal is by a long run, the best of the male acts. He acts every bit his character. Getting into the skin of one's character is any day, a tough job, but Arjun makes it look like child's play in the movie. The scene where he exchanges words with Shahana Goswami is moving, as one almost feels sorry for him, split as he is, between loyalties to his friends and to his family.

The music is the real treat of the movie. The title track sounds brilliant. One of the 'nicest' rock songs to hit the Hindi charts, one should say. Pichle Saat Dinon Mein is another track that one would enjoy. The vocals sync so well with the music that one hardly notices the strange sounding lyrics. However, the best is Ye Tumhari Meri Baatein. It is so soothing, that you want to listen to it many times over. The visualization and timing of the song in the movie too, are near-perfect. Sindbad the Sailor, Tum ho Toh and Socha Hai complete one of the best albums in Bollywood today. Kudos to Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy and Javed Akhtar for churning out some real good music!!!

Overall, the film is a good package. One of my friends complained that there is no real climax to the movie. Well, not all movies need to have a climax. Why can't they just be about a period of ones' lives?! You watch Rock On!! and tell me.

In the meantime, let me strum on my guitar. \../
My verdict - 4/5

Knock off your blues!

My friend wanted photos of a recent trip to a waterfall. He asked for them to be copied on to his pen drive. I said I will copy them on to a CD instead, to which he retorted - "No macha, my CD drive is screwed." Another of my friends mocked him - "What were you watching? A blue movie?!"

Alert the Navy

What would you call a witch on the beach and ready to dive into the water?

A submarine sand 'witch'!!!

A 'turny' joke!

Question:
How many turns are there in the world?

Old Answer:
Two. Left and Right.

New Answer:
Four. Left, Right, On and Off.

The Lesser Devil 5

Pakistan and Foreign Affairs

Long time due, worth the effort.

It is generally implied that much of India's Foreign Affairs revolve around Pakistan and the Kashmir issue. Let me examine the NDA's record vis-a-vis Pakistan. In February 1999, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India, went to Pakistan, amidst much fanfare and symbolism, on board the then newly-introduced bus service between India and Pakistan. And then, Kargil happened.

Pakistan-supported militants infiltrated into India and occupied the peaks of Kargil. We lost the lives of 527 soldiers in the subsequent military operations to drive out the invaders. What happened then, was a sheer travesty of humanity. The NDA politicized the Kargil incursions and the subsequent conflict to win the 1999 general elections. What probably was a military operation to counter a humiliating invasion by Pakistani army irregulars and militants was blatantly glossed up into a victory over Pakistan. In the aftermath of Kargil, ties with Pakistan were severed for almost a year.

Meanwhile a coup helped the military regain power in Pakistan. General Musharraf was now in command. Worse, India followed a blow hot - blow cold policy instead of engaging the General in full earnest. The relations reached a ground digging low in the period after the Parliament attack. Instead of overhauling the intelligence infrastructure, the Government resorted to yet another nationalism-inspired facade - mobilization of our army! To what end, nobody knows.

Neither did India invade nor did it send its troops across the LoC to strike at terrorist camps.
In 2003, Prime Minister Vajpayee blew the peace bugle yet again and called for a summit. The Agra summit, that consequently happened, resulted in nothing substantial. Apart from a routemap for frequent meetings between officials, nothing substantial resulted.

Compare this with the present Government. It has not flinched once from its politically mature stand of peace with Pakistan. In fact, it was mature enough to continue with the Vajpayee initiated ceasefire (Nov 2003), fully cognitive that BJP could walk away with the credit. Consistency in our interactions with Pakistan has been lauded by the international community as the factor contributing most to the resilience of South Asia, economically and politically. The slew of confidence building measures undertaken with Pakistan has paved the way for greater trade and people to people contact. It has regenerated the hope for an unified South Asia, with its two biggest nations showing the way.

Foreign Affairs has been in the limelight for most of the UPA's tenure. If not Pakistan, then China. If not China, then the USA. Our engagements with the Chinese have been fruitful, if one measures in terms of bilateral trade. The most significant of them was the no-decision to move a motion against the safeguards agreement in the IAEA meeting on Friday (China abstained). India walked away with most of the goodies in the Indo-US nuclear deal (controversial, will deal with it in another post). People in the US cried foul over the exceptions made for India vis-a-vis nuclear technology. Our relationship with Russia continues to travel north. (The Gorshkov issue was a business issue and nothing more. Russia mis-estimated the costs involved in retrofitting the carrier and therefore, charged more. India was reluctant to part with the extra money.) Iran has re-affirmed its commitment towards sharing a cordial relationship with India despite all the hullaboo raised over our supping with George Bush.

The UPA Government has been seasoned in its external affairs policies and decisions. The world is welcoming India with both hands. But will the opposition understand? I do not think so.

Internal Security is up next.