Taare Zameen Par- Review.....

I loved the film. It's really an amazing film which the masses can relate to....
An everyday story, which everyone ,the teacher, the student and family members can relate to. It was also a good experience to watch a nice clean Hindi film with kids.
A perfect movie for all to watch from a perfectionist..... Aamir Khan.

In the movie its title itself specifies“Every child is Special”...and once you come out of the theatres you can really understand why it says so.One thing I liked about the film is that it relates to most of the kids and not just the Special Child, who may have some disabilities. As Aamir points out in one of the dialogues…all the fingers of our palm are not of the same size or shape. Its so true....I wish we were taught the same right from the start of our education instead of just throwing all the students in the rat race. Its a good lesson for parents who need to understand their child well as an individual and go slow with their kids at their learning stage and slowly mould them to the shape that they are willing to be moulded into.
The movie correctly shows what the unfriendly,insensetive education system can do to jeopardize a kids life, mentally and emotionally.

Ishaan(Darsheel) is a dyslexic child who hates to learn, read, write or simply "study".
He is constantly pressurised by his teachers to study and by his parents to show outstanding grades like his elder brother.Aamir Khan is able to bring out the real disaster in the education system when the teachers themselves point that they are not able to provide enough attention to the students and all they want is to get them ready for the race to excel in life.
It talks about the emotional churning of a Dyslexic child who is left alone with this inability that he is ignorant about but even his parents and teachers are not aware of. The poor kid is not able to match up with the expectations of everyone around him who wants Ishaan to excel in academics, sports and extra- curricular activities.

It is here, when the energetic, fun loving child Ishaan retreats into the shell of timidness and low self-esteem and loss of confidence, that Ram Shankar Nikumbh( wonderfully potrayed by Aamir Khan)carefully guides the boy’s attention to the fact that he was not the only one to face the problems that he had gone through. This he very easily does by listing out the names of those very famous and prominent entities as Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci and many others in front of the class but excluding Ishaan's name and telling it to him in privacy. That catapults the little boy’s confidence back to its peak and he is slowly able to cope up with his disability with the help, care and love of Nikumbh sir. Towards the end, the scene in the movie, when Ishaan wins the drawing competition and he’s given standing ovation he can’t believe it. He runs crying into the safe and secure zone of his loving friend, guide and teacher
The movie looks so realistic in terms of treatment
It is not just an entertainment masala movie for three hours that one can just watch and walk out. It makes you think and ponder your own faults as parents, teachers and responsible adults.
So it’s a tale of effective parenting, a tale of insensitivity in our Indian educational scenario, and a tale of love of teachers who think and work for their students…..I wish that even if a 2% of teacher would learn a lesson from this movie, I am sure we would save a lot of kids from inferior complex and make them better individuals to lead their chosen path of life with self esteem.

Paris Hilton hiatus

Authorities in California have confirmed the release date for Paris Hilton. After
serving 24 days in the jail, the social butterfly is set to leave jail on Tuesday,
26 June.

The 26-year-old hotel heiress was originally sentenced to 45 days in jail for driving with a suspended license while on probation. She started with her sentence on 3 June, but crowded jail conditions and her good behaviour got her the much needed relief.

Earlier this month she was briefly freed on medical grounds but the court sent her back to jail, and told she would have to serve her full sentence.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who ordered Paris’ release, had different opinion. He wanted Paris to complete her sentence at home as he felt she was being turned into a ‘criminal justice football’. But Baca’s treatment is questioned by opponents who feel that Paris was given preferential treatment because of her social status.

Life has changed quite a bit for Paris Hilton, who is all set to be released from the jail soon. The 26 year old hotel heiress feels that her “gratitude” has increased manifolds since she has started serving the rigorous jail sentence in the special-needs unit of the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.

Miss Hilton sounded extraordinarily humble when she said that she is even grateful to have the most basic of needs like those of food and bedding fulfilled. The socialite also revealed that life behind bars was tough and she felt emotionally touched.


In the interview Paris was quoted saying, I am behind glass and I want to give my dad a big hug and they won’t even let me do that. I’m not a criminal, I’m not dangerous. ... It’s hard but I’m stronger every day.

The social butterfly who once used to emblazon the party pages of almost all famous glossies feels that her fame has been misused by media, which she thinks has poked fun of her and thoroughly used her social status.



Looks like Paris Hilton is making real good use of her time at the jail…

she is doing something that she never did before in her life……… Retrospect!

Idolizing Indians

Personally, I think its truly corny that singing talent from around the country has to face a jury consisting of people like Anu Malik (with more reputation for western music rip-offs than for his talent), Alisha Chinoy (the one-song wondewith very few songs to remember which she can call her singing talent with Made in India most would remember Milind Soman in one!! and Kajra Re), Udit Narayan (an exceptional vocalist but too soft to really be a judge) and Javed Akhtar (who is a lyricist and has more to do with word pronounciation and little to do with voice modulation).

Its alright if they're looking at Indian Idol as a platform for modelling, acting skills or even if just to say hullo world -in true sense of copying their American counter-parts but its completely unacceptable if they even remotely want to use that to show off their vocal talents.
I agree that they are good singer ,but then they will still need about a few thousand hours of practise to be a talent like asha Bhosale or Lata Mangeshkar or even our own Anuradha Paudwal.

Firstly, I don't 'idolize' Abhijeet Sawant - the first Indian Idol and don't know anyone who remembers even more than one song from his album that hence launched. The same signs off for people like Amit Sana or even Prajakta Shukre or Mr.Vidya for that matter.
God!!they are so many there these days without the real talent to show off that I cant even remember their names though.

Wasn't it apparent with shows like Channel [V] Popstars, that these stars are a couple of night's wonders before disappearing behind dark clouds forever? And still people continue to humiliate themselves in front of incompetent judges, sms for their favorite singers and even pray they win.
And if it weren't enough, now each channel plans to launch their own talent hunt. So we have the bandwagon with Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Voice of India - and God knows how many to follow.
We're a country brimming with vocal talent - its a fact. But we need platforms better and less commercial than the likes of what have come along. And at least the awardees need to get somewhere in life rather than depending on the publicity to pull their gears towards success.

And then dont you think that we need equally competent panel to judge them by their talentand not just get hooked on to their style just the way we see Alisha doing it for Suhit all this time? And then I fail to understand if Suhit doesnt even have any co-ordination of taal and Sur then why is he in the music talent show in the first place?

There is a lot of budding talent in the American Idol this time but then are they really worth the hype? They do need a lot of polishing and finishing and thats going totake a lot of hardwork and steam to be around for a long time otherwise they are just another one night wonder to join the bandwagon.

Till then I am just content as a bathroom singer...

In Pursuit of Happyness- A must see film

"In Pursuit of Happyness," starring Will Smith, begins with one of those "inspired by a true story" notations letting us know we are in for an uplifting anthem to the human spirit.
"The Pursuit of Happyness," by Chris Gardner is the astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street.It is the gripping story of his refusal to give up on his quest for the American dream and his duties to his toddler son, or give into the despair that threatened to devour him from birth.
Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith) is a bright and talented, but a struggling salesman who spends his days trying to sell expensive, unnecessary medical equipment to doctors who don't need it.

Anyway the hook is that he's also a single father, Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his 5-year old son (played by Smith's real-life son, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go.No longer able to cope, his wife (played by Thandie Newton) leaves him and moves to New York. He lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, and although there is no salary, he accepts, hopeful he will end the program with a job and a promising future.
So the drama comes in how this guy can find shelter for his son, wash his clothes in a sink, then get to the firm on a bus, carrying all of his belongings, Without a financial cushion,he gets kicked out of his apartment, gets arrested for not paying parking tickets, gets kicked out of a hotel, and there's not always room at the homeless shelter so he even ends up sleeping in a public bathroom at one point., He and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters,and then be the best stock broker trainee in the place in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them.At one point he's on a break, he gets hit by a car and loses a shoe and then has to go back in and play it cool wearing only one shoe.
Despite his troubles, Chris continues to honor his commitment as a loving and caring father, using the affection and trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces.



But what feels most striking about this film is this isn't the story of a black man learning how to succeed in a white world, or a poor person becoming rich, but the achievement of one man who looked past the litany of obstacles to which he could have easily surrendered. The fact that no one in the film looks down on him because of his sometimes unkempt appearance, much less the color of his skin, is a testament to the unfiltered purity of the real Gardner's story, and what makes the movie accessible to all audiences.

Most eligible bachelor weds the most beautiful woman. Abhi-Ash wedding saga....

The Big Fat wedding of the year is finally over.As the most eligible bachelor of the country, Abhishek Bachchan, wed the most beautiful woman in the world, Aishwarya Rai.
Touted as the marriage of the year, finally the Bachchan scion managed to take a plunge by marrying the ice maiden.

And what a wedding..... complete filmi style with choreographed naach-gana-and egos and dramebaazi.....not to forget the physical absence of the "so called villains" with their names constantly present at the back of everyones mind......

HuFF!!! what a relief from the "will he?", "wont he?","will she?", "wont she?".
Finally the decision was made about "I Do".But this relief was really shortlived, after the media started announcing the probable dates of marriage with the griha dasha, stars and moon, the manglik status of the bride,and such other non-quetenssial issues becoming a national headline and a discussion forum for the News channel.
Do we really care if they got married at the given muhurat time or a few minutes late? Isnt it time that the media realise that wasting so much of paper on such non-trivial issues is a loss to the environment?
How many of you would get bothered if the name of Abhishek's mare is not Chandani but Nandini? Do we care to know if the people who were to drape the turban were specially invited from Jaipur or Udaipur. As if we really care if the rituals will be south Indian or North Indian....

I can understand the media attention given to Abhi- Ash(one more over hyped name)since both are public figures, but isnt it time the media and public realise that they have a life of their own and marriage is something that is private to the families? Why not leave them to enjoy a few moments of bliss all by themselves? Is it necessary to impede their independence? Instead doesnt the National news and the dailies have any other frontpage news? It was such a plight to read that the most read about newspaper in India giving a frontpage headline as Abhi-Ash wedding to be a top secret affair!(Sure it is...thanks for letting us in on the 'secret').Why dont they utilise these useful resources called reporters onto a more constructive news?

I hope the media takes atlest 10% active participation shown during that of Abhi - Ash wedding to focus on many trivial issues concerning our nation. Next few days are going to be equally painful to read who is going to be the next to walk up the altar....
I hope the media offers us news that would really make sense....and please stop further discussion of Honeymoon locales suited for the newly wed couple. Let them share and enjoy some private moments of their own.

Give us a break...c'mon!!!