Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn.

Till yesterday millions of messages were circulated on how the tiger would devour the kangaroo. Today the tiger looked a bit unfit, the kangaroo escaped and the tiger had to back off. This wasn't digested by many who took leave from their work or had nothing better to do than showing how freaking hypocrites they were. The same crowd after the defeat is now leaving no stone (pun) unturned in defaming the otherwise proud team till the match began. This shows that many wear jingoism for a day in the name of patriotism without knowing what supporting a nation is about. Many are bloody phonies with no clear idea whether they are supporters or just dogs who can only bark at every situation! It saddens and after a while angers when you see bashing up of Indian cricketers the way many have chosen to do so for their own reasons.

Okay, India couldn’t make it to the final. And that is a reality. Even I believe we couldn’t put up a show we were capable of. There were some glitches and so we couldn’t fit the bill. But get this loud and clear. You have no business to ridicule someone who proudly wears the Blue for the nation especially when all your job is to forward messages on WhatsApp or to give your damn opinion at a nearby paan shop. Check what you are up to. You are far from even knowing what it means to representing a nation.

There are no failures. There are only results. The result of today was not favourable. We all get it. Move on. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn.

Movie Review: 'Shamitabh'

A confident village lad, Daanish (Dhanush) overwhelmingly crazy about movies, spends his childhood living in his fantasy of being an actor. However the nature has a condition with him that he could only be a mute actor which he has no problem with but the world at large wants otherwise. He is rejected by many but he gets lucky to be spotted by a wanna-be-director girl, Akshara. She even though looks down on him and often calls him Monkey, becomes a fan of his acting. She finds a way that a voice can be embedded into the dumb actor which can give his facial expressions and moving limbs some understandable meaning. The actor then chooses the voice of an old, shabby, serial whisky-drinker Amitabh Sinha (Bachchan), whose acting career wasn’t taken off due to rejections for his voice, and who spends his life in hangovers in the middle of a graveyard. With the help of technology the strengths of both the artists are put together and they rule the Box Office without letting out their secret. The villager becomes the talk of the town and gains enough fame to cause indigestion to his voice donor. They argue, fight, and abuse to prove that the other is less talented and often convey that by lowering the alphabets of other’s name parts used in Shamitabh, the pseudonym they make for their combined endeavour. Egos clash, both separate, and when wisdom strikes, join hands again. At this time of the movie, R Balki, the director, pitches in and makes his presence felt.

Both the leads exhibit power pack performance and is fun to watch before things begin to cross the fine line between adequate and over-the-top. The bits that delighted me the most are - the intensity of Daanish to be an actor, and music, which is a touch of a genius named Ilaiyaraaja. The movie celebrates the most popular and dearly loved baritone of Indian cinema and is certainly a good watch especially the concept is novel and a few directional touches truly deserve thumbs-up.

Movie Review: 'Birdman'

If you hear of any Hollywood movie with a title ending with Man you know that the superhero is blessed and designed by the Almighty in his happiest hour. He possesses super powers that can woo women and patronize villains first by his trademark costume and then by his stunts. Birdman does neither of them or rather, can't to any of them. He is no way close to the charisma of even the antagonists of the usual super hero flicks. In here, the protagonist aka Birdman (Michael Keaton) is a sloppy, wretched, flabby middle-aged theatre actor who in the nineties became famous as Birdman before fading away under the glitz of technology-borne omnipotent charmers. He is in search of his lost identity especially when he is still a passionate actor and simply cannot bear the prevailing stain-on-acting, formula stars bask in the fame that is meant for pure acting. He decides to pull off a play in Broadway and in the process he battles with his ego, love, producer friend, newly found actor and his idiosyncrasies, his daughter’s rehab, stalking social media, and above all, his career.

It’s a raw satirical tale that stands tall on the back of its fine performances from all the actors without any glamour peppered over. The movie offers more laughs than scowls and silences. Keaton's dialogues with his ego, shown as the nagging character in the Birdman suit (with the voice like that of Batman, somehow!), his frequent scuffles with the actor he hires for the play, his arguments with the biased critic - all bundle up a package of desperation stuffed with fun. Also, the amazing thing is, it looks to have been shot in a single take. The camera is in awe of Birdman and never gives him a break. It is like almost chasing him throughout the movie! You must watch it if you have patience and sense of admiration for the heavy art. Else, stay away from this if you want everything to be logically connected without loose ends. You know which side you stand.

Movie Review: 'American Sniper'

 It is a real-life story of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), the deadliest sniper in the U.S. Military history based on his memoir. A young kid born to hit the bull’s eye is taught to be a “sheepdog” by his father and grows up to be a kickass bronco rodeo rider whose heart beats for his country. He joins the U.S. Navy SEALs. The crack shot gets deployed in Iraq to save the lives of American soldiers by stopping the enemies from ambushing their Marines. He operates mainly from terrace tops with the telescopic vision of his rifle. During his four tours of duty he gets the title of Legend with 160 confirmed kills to his name.

The movie has the potential to transport you to the warzone and gives you some serious moments when your eyes get glued to the screen without a blink while you struggle to hold on to the edge of the seat. The one in which Kyle blows Mustafa’s head from 2100 yards shows a real mettle of the man. Some of the scenes are so fantastically shot that they resemble live footage being run. The best thing about the movie is that it is filled with believable frames. Chris is always on the war, be it on the field or off it, be it struggling to be with his family or regretting over what he could have done. He is lost in the war field even when he is home with his wife (Sienna Miller) frequently calling out to him. Also, his ears reverberate with gun sounds whenever he hears any raucous sound.

A fine film-making presents subtlety with strength and keeps narration at bay. I simply loved that the director Clint Eastwood has done a fabulous job of not letting the words dominate the movie. Emotions and sounds have done better justice and added beautifully to the overall impact of the movie. The characterization of Chris Kyle is so strong that by the end of the movie one can know him well enough and say that he was not only an ace sniper but also a great human being and above all, an extremely proud patriot. To get a look of the Legend, Bradley Cooper packs on 40 pounds and claims a power pack performance. This is a movie made with a heart; needless to say it's really a good watch to know the Legend that lived.

Movie Review: 'The Theory Of Everything'

An ambitious cosmologist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) badly wants to define the equation that could explain everything. He wants to lock Time up with all its mysteries in an equation but before that happens, Time shows its might and pits him against the gruelling motor neuron disease when he is only 21. A doctor tells him he is left with 2 years but his love of life, also his first wife, Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones) looks after him so well that Hawking becomes a world known name in next 30 years but she gets jaded in the process, singlehandedly supporting him and raising their three children. Responsibility-laden Jane then gets further close to the choirmaster Jonathan (Charlie Cox) who offers her support in the beginning, before offering himself in totality.

The movie belongs to Redmayne who portrays a lean, hunched, bespectacled Stephen with an ever-wearing Hawking smile and letting out perfect Hawking gestures, both disease-borne and natural ones. Even though during its early part the movie shows the nerve to carry such loaded biopic with multiple dimensions to balance, the latter part lacks the punch and dilutes into normalcy ranging within obvious and known. The movie exhibits theories on life with opportunities and vulnerabilities, love, patience, determination, and attitude, but floats mainly on the surface without sufficiently allowing us to look into the life of the living legend.

Staying away from Christopher Nolan’s path of testing the intellect of the audience, director James Marsh makes a movie for the masses and lays out the story of Stephen Hawking after filtering out all the heavy scientific theories and other complexities. The theory Of Everything is based on Jane Hawking’s memoir which has more messy things about their marriage breakdown and has also Stephen being painted in not so charitable light. Overall the movie looks like a sanitized version of the selective yet inspiring reality, packaged with undoubtedly brilliant performances, and that makes it certainly watchable.

If you think life sucks then go and see how this tough guy sucks life.

Movie Review: '2 States'

Krish (Arjun) is a relaxed Punjabi with an IIT degree to flaunt. Ananya (Alia) is a modern Tamilian with an Eco-topper tag to her credit. Both meet at a queue leading to a bad sambar and a good rasgulla, become friends, and slowly graduate in love along with graduating in MBA from IIMA. They decide to tie the knot but come to know that the threads of their families are differently knotted. They decide to tackle the easy end of the problem first – to convince Ananya’s parents to agree. Krish chooses Chennai as his work location, warms up with her family, gives her younger brother IIT tuition, encourages her mother to pursue singing, helps her father prepare a presentation, and then hits the iron when it is hot by sweetly proposing the entire family to marry him; and that does the trick. The South okays to meet the North; or should I say, the low-keyed agrees to meet the loudmouthed. The Northerners seem to feel that the position of the state in the map reflects the level of status in the society and behaves accordingly. Krish's mom, Amrita Singh, becomes a tough nut to crack and convincing her disturbs the delicate equations. Some sparks fly when the two opposite poles try to unite. The whole drama with various tactics to woo the opposite party and to compromise on some of the things you hold so dearly to your heart is woven really well.

The film touches many of the untapped angles on the path from courtship through to marriage. I applaud director Abhishek Varman for effectuating the perfect frames to pull off Chetan Bhagat’s story; especially the wedding scene towards the end with apposite background sounds is the scene that made me go wow. Ronit Roy nicely fills the shoes of a bully-with-a-heart father. Amrita Singh and her counterpart, both give a punch of their presence. Arjun looks good in the role of a soft-spoken, levelheaded lover. But the pleasant surprise for me is Alia Bhatt who emerges as a true headturner with the mind of her own, showing proudly the mettle of her acting. The movie is a candid display of a sweet love story with parents creating a rough weather and lovers keeping their cool, settling the dust by the end. The enjoyable thing is the culture clash that is amazingly captured both in the book and in the movie. There is indeed a watchable stuff in here and is as fun as watching delicious chicken being served in a banana leaf with a potful of sambar and a bottle of booze by the side of a hungry gut.

Side effects of 'Shaadi ke side effects' - Prize

A nice T-shirt with a DVD and a creative calender is a combo of side effects of my review of "Shaadi ke side effects". Thanks, TV18 Broadcast Ltd.