Sunday, May 23, 2010

Kites head towards nowhere

Today watched Kites with lot of expectation. The movie has got all the prerequistes of making a huge box office hit with likes of Hrithik, Barbara- The mexican beauty, Kangana, Direction of Anurag Basu & Music of Rajesh Roshan. But matter of fact is that Kite somewhere got confused in midair to head towards which direction. At the end it gone nowhere & crashed somewhere in no mans land I guess.
As per me the movie lacked the proper story line. Story has more of confusion than engrossing. It lacks the punch. The movie doesn't justify the presence of Barbara. The romance between the two also not presented properly. Other than the sequence where Hrithik & Barbara does that finger art form act (forgot the name of the art form) there is nothing meaty which keeps the audience to feel the pulse of the movie. Other than that the seductive glances & some kisses here & there were shown in plenty. But the romance lacks the passion which audience would have liked to watch after knowing the pair of Hrithik & Barbara in the movie.
Hrithik's strong points are always been dancing & action. The one sequence where dance was shown in a crash was not worth enjoying. Movie demanded some international dance form which should have been done by Hrithik & Barbara which could have been hold the key & justified the pair somewhat. Also the action theme was seen before many time. I mean the on road chase in the second half of the movie. The action could have been presented with more impact with some sequence of one to one fight shoot which could have justified Hrithik's macho image. Also there is no twist in the tale in the movie. It got all boring at the end. Only one should give credit to the Kites team for the boldness to make a cross over film & trying something different. It will inspire other directors to try something different like this hopefully with more impact & passion.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Lot Can Happen Over Coffee

Few days back I was in Café Coffee Day. Just wondering how this coffee concept has picked up a big time in India. Here in Mumbai even small gullies have CCD outlets which are doing fabulous business. As the word coffee comes in my mind I start mumbling the famous bangla song of Manna Dey Coffee Houser sei adda ta ar neye. It means gone those days of gossiping at Indian Coffee House. May be Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd. (ABCTCL) got inspired from it & pumped the trend in a different package & opened a chain of Café with a name of Café Coffee Day. CCD as they referred by everybody has revolutionaries the coffee business in India which is always been dominated by Tea industry. Tea always been a dominant addiction of most of the people in India. Coffee always been thought as a drink for a change or sipped mostly in winters. But definitely the coffee connoisseurs were always been there in plenty in South India. CCD has given a refreshing youth taste to it with very smartly done interiors which has a rich & vibrant looks which goes properly with the mindset of youth these days. Also adds a feel good factor for people coming in & getting inspired with- Lot can happen over coffee. Keeping on with the trend and globalization they have tied up with World space for non stop music and Microsense for Wi-Fi connection. If a person is looking for exciting weekend afternoon, Cafe Coffee Day is the destination where you can get the feel of music, Wifi connection to keep in touch with your social networks with a sip of coffee. CCD has caught the transformation in India’s psyche after the economic growth in the country & successful in regenerating the café culture which was somehow getting lost although Indian Coffee House is in very much existence. To the credit of Indian Coffee House they are in existence for last 52 years since their inception in 1958. It is run by employees only. But it didn’t catch the imagination of 21st century generation youth because it lacks the innovation & transformation which is basically needed from time to time. CCD has been one step ahead by introducing music & wifi connection. Also targeting the youth of the country. They have put their outlets in every nukes & corners of Metros & also in important location of other cities. They have put their outlets in Malls, the big company office premises& inside the college premises too. They are present in most of the locations of a city. Infact it will not be wrong to say that they have created Coffee wave in India. It’s a favorite hangout place for college crowd & also the place for dating. Even a preferred destination for business meeting. Even one of my colleagues kid who is just 4 years old wants to go to CCD in every weekend with her parents. They have justified their punch line that Lot Can Happen Over Coffee.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Disastrous World T20 for Team India

After the hooplah of IPL everybody said India is one of the leading contender of this year's World T20 but all beaten to the dust. India even unable to qualify for semis. So what happened to our poster boys. Some are saying it's over cricket, some are saying its the radial tyre like tummy of some of our celebrated cricketers is the reason, or its the pubbing & some times bawal & tamashas at the pub taken the focus out of cricketers, or is it the memories of lady loves back home in India kept the focus out of short balls & our big boys failed at the big stage. Yes, our public & media are right to ask these questions because we only shower accolades to them when they excel in cricketing frontier.
So where was the ghost? It was the same old SHORT BALL. Gavaskar asks Indian team to go back to NCA. Yes he is correct because when the students does mistakes continuously they have to take special coaching. But I thought in Indian team players should be masters not students & thats why they got the cap to play for the country. Also I fail to understand that these bunch of player's have performed well before in Aussie & Kiwi wickets which are supposed to be more bouncy than Windies wicket. Now suddenly why they are unable to play short balls. This limitation had been earlier seen in previous edition of world cup too. So why they were not better prepared this time. As per me it is fat salary they earning every year & the additional IPL cheques has created mockery of the prestige & pride for playing in Team India. Its lack of application without doubt & players doesn't care till they getting those fat salaries. If you ask any cricketer what are your limitations he can easily gauge it after years of playing cricket. So why they didn't prepare themselves for short ball before Wortld T20. Only one thing can improve Indian cricket is the performance based salary & qualitative analysis should be done after each tournament. We have enough pool of talent in our country atleast to play T20 or onedayers so selecters should no be shy to drop any player who has underperformed, whosoever it may be.
Lastly Indian bowling is always been a problem. How come a world class team can keep persuing bowlers like Nehra for so long who doesn't have anything even to scare a crow through left alone the quality of balls. Other than Harbhajan India lacks genuine bowler whom team can bank upon at the time of crisis. Even Zaheer disappoints in most of the big games. It's high time we start looking at options of good fast bowlers & groom them properly. As per me Ishant Sharma can be groomed. He is a good test bowler. He needs some different kind of balls in his armoury to excel in Onedayers & T20. He is young & talented bowler who can be groomed for future. Even Irfan Pathan should be given confidence because he can be asset to the team as he bats well. For long time we are looking for an all rounder after Kapil's retirement. Pathan can be the solution, if he gets good backing & confidence from the BCCI but it seems this selection committee doesn't have much faith on him.
Lets hope misery of Indian team regularly failing at big tournaments ends soon with better application from the players & proper selection of the team.

Monday, May 17, 2010

England the deserving winner of World T20, 2010

England has finally won a World title in Cricket. They were 3 times finalist in in 50-50 World cup format. But all those dissapointment gone now with a World title win that too against arch rivals Aussies. England are the deserving winner. They played matured cricket in the series. Their bowling was good with a appropriate combination of spin & pace. Batsman clicked in crucial times including the hunk of the team- KP. It seems Kevin Peterson (KP) decided beforehand to add to his joy of fatherhood with a title win & cameback after seeing his baby & wife with determination to clinch the cup. On the otherhand Aussie played it all wrong in the finals for the first time after a long long time. Otherwise Aussies are very tough team to beat in finals. They can be called as unbeatable in finals but not so now after loosing convincingly against rivals England. The new kid on the block- Craig Kieswetter has made no harm to his reputation by playing a mesmerising innings in a crucial final. He may be a big bet in next IPL. Swann bowled terific & not to forget the spell of Sidebottom. KP is deserving man of the series with some crucial knocks & catches. At the end the superior team in all departments of the game won the cup.