SUPER Disappointment...

Krrish 3…The hype, the anticipation and over the hill superhero expectations finally made way for a movie that turned out to be a disappointing and a mercilessly boring watch. The story failed miserably to keep me and my friends engaged.The disappointment was acceptable as we had expected the same, given our preconceived opinion about Bollywood films trying to swim in troubled waters. Then RaOne and know Krrish 3, both shamelessly showcase the ineptness of Bollywood in pulling off such superhero movies. The genre is surely not Bollywood’s cup of tea yet. The movie was two and a half hours of boredom, unexciting action and blatant, shameless theft of Hollywood.

Spiderman, Superman, Batman! The plagiarism was (as usual) so open and so easy to guess.  Poor and untimely songs made the flavor even sourer. Hrithik seemed to be the lone fighter with his good looks, acting and as always with his benchmark physique and dance moves. But it was too bad a superhero plot for even sturdy shoulders of Hrithik to carry.­ Priyanka Chopra served no real purpose as is the case with actresses who just for namesake are tagged as heroines. But hey, PC’s contribution was invaluable!! Isn't her giving birth to a child (to be noted: that also a boy) the ticket for Rakesh uncle’s next in the series? Hope it’s not.

The baddies were equally bad. Maanwars, the desi name surely didn't hide the shamelessly stolen concept. Kangana as Kaya with her uncorrected diction ensured she caught attention at least by the attire she wore. Flashing her cleavage and her barely clad body seemed to be her prime motto in every scene. Her falling in love with Krishna (Hrithik) in a flash again showed that Indian movies simply cannot do without love. Shooting an entire song in a desert terrain in which Hrithik and Kangana come up wearing different costumes with every passing second was a bit too much for Kangana’s slight sense of voluptuousness. The other three mutants frankly speaking were completely spineless!! Perhaps Kaal needed to invest a little more of his brain while creating these idiotic maanwars. An action sequence of Krrish with one of them (the frog one) was highly stupide. The maanwar with his frog like ability was time and again showed in helpless light when Krrish repeatedly pulled his protruding tongue to the extreme!! And the other maanwars were just left as mere spectators as if devoid of any significant power. Vivek Oberoi as the main villain KAAL equally fizzled out as the rest. He should perhaps continue playing gangster roles which actually he does the best. Nor did his created mutants have enough power and nor did he himself. Even after beating invalidity, his powers (which he highly boosted off) should have produced a more interesting climax, but the final action scenes were really unappetising. And last but not the least, a big ZERO for the crappy costume of Kaal. It seemed to be made of trash and it deserves to be thrown in trash.

Director Rakesh Roshan ensured that the movie didn’t miss the much priced Indian emotions of fatherly, brotherly bonds and concerns about one’s child. Advertising A-Z brands seemed to be the only success of the movie. Talks about the film earning 1000 crore can be easily be dismissed as the film itself. It will be good if Krrish doesn’t expect anything in return for his goodwill.

The consolation to takeaway : “the superhero is within you”!! That is the thing to believe in, as it's tough to find any superhero stuff in Krrish 3 for sure. L

Going AGRA...

We were at the fag end of our college life. In those days I and my close friends were always in pursuit to go places and accumulate memories for future. College curriculum and money did pull our enthusiasm at times but envisaging the busy professional life ahead we then knew ‘it’s now or never’.

It had only been a few weeks that I and a very close friend of mine had returned from the Maha Kumbh. For us, asking money from our families for another trip was out of question. With just a month left for our beloved college life to end we continued tolerating our boring classes and labs. But soon a plan was to pop up.

The plan was to visit Agra. A group of 5 of our classmates had actually come up with this and four of us were optimistically invited to join them. Initially thoughts of gong to Agra did summon a great interest in me and I could unmistakably sense the same in others. But soon our system tripped. As stated before, money was an issue and seeing my disapproval my other friends also came up with a negative response. Suddenly each of us had some or the other reason which was toppling the plan. Being very close buddies meant either all four went or none of us went.  The plan was pre matured but we didn’t allow it to fizzle out. We reviewed it frequently to keep our interest alive. Seeing the other group plan and book their tickets, we finally decided (unanimously) that we had to go. Even thoughts of missing out a wonder like Taj Mahal were painful.

The base was set. After we convinced our families for the trip finance it was time to book our tickets. We had to make up for the delay in making up our mind. We spent hours at night analyzing and planning our itinerary. We chalked out trains from Indian Railways which would best suit us. Fun part was that we maintained privacy and ensured the other group didn’t get the slightest hint of our changed plans. We also ensured that we boarded the same train from Kolkata to Agra as they did. Rough calculations to estimate the least budget sufficient to manage the trip were made. We finally came down to 2000 rupees. May sound very less but that was what we could cough out. Having less and managing more adds to the fun. Doesn’t it? After patiently spending hours in long queues we booked our train tickets. All set and done we then keenly awaited the day of our departure.

It was 4^th April Thursday. Magadh Express which we were to board was scheduled for a 1pm departure from Sealdah. Just because of our lagging attendance we were compelled to attend a first half lab and then eventually hurry up with our final packing once we returned to our hostels. A quick lunch and boarding the timely bus ensured our arrival at the station just on time. We filled our empty bottles to avoid buying water. Cost cutting was an invisible companion to accompany us. With less than 10 minutes in hand we scurried for our compartment. 

We kept a sharp vision to ensure that our co-group didn’t catch a glimpse of our presence. Finally we get our respective seats and by then the train had already started its journey. We took half an hour to get ourselves settled and then finalized that it was time we gave the other group the much awaited surprise. They were seated not so far, rather just in the next compartment. Feeling very anxious we approached them.  A hard slap on the back of one of them was enough for him and rest of the group to turn their attention towards us. Seeing us they were completely left agape. None of them were ready to believe that we were to accompany them to Agra. After revealing them our planning and how we wanted to surprise them, they were left completely astonished but nonetheless were thrilled to have us join them. Now we were a single group of 9 (final year college mates) heading for Agra J

College friends are the best ingredients one can get in his/her life. Having them in a tour adds cherry to the cake. Sharing our food, buying eatables from hawkers, fighting for cost cutting and not to forget the endless gossiping, all these ensured that we never had a null moment during our journey. Photo sessions had already started, courtesy to the two cameras we carried. Getting down the train at smallest of the stoppages, standing beside the compartment door (at times precariously) and getting clicked individually or in groups (striking next to perfect poses) was such fun. 

The train was catching speed. It was evening and the sun was dying down at the distant horizon. There I was standing at the door with a transgressing look. The train whistling past the trees, the wind hitting my face and playing with my hair. Life couldn’t get any better, I told myself.

Later at night we had to content with the not so good pantry dinner. Then it was time to retire to our respective berths for a tight good sleep. We expected to reach Agra the next day before noon, a thing we were all eagerly waiting for.                                              

                                                                                                                     …………..to be CONTD….