Movies:
Watched Special 26 over the CNY break ... good fun watch! About an hour into the movie, you know where it's gonna go ... but it's a fun ride. Manoj Bajpai as good as ever ... enjoyed Anupam Kher, Akshay Kumar and Jimmy Shergill. It's being touted as one of Akshay's best performances by audiences as well as critics. so Akshay is happy. The romance track was completely useless and unnecessary, and the girl was pretty useless too.
Also watched Zero Dark Thirty ... the true story of the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden ... very interesting watch again ... although it was a long movie!
Books:
Read the first of the Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer. Read a funny anecdote about the launch of the books - JA launched the books in India, as it's not only one of the biggest markets for his books, but also the place where they get pirated the fastest. Driving to his hotel in his car, he was stopped by a street urchin, who offered to sell him his own book, before it was officially launched, saying it was "the latest Jeffrey Archer". JA told him ... "kid, I AM the latest Jeffrey Archer!"
Also read my first Nicholas Sparks ... thanks for the recommendation, girls! Am looking for more now.
Read 2 States by Chetan Bhagat ... the guy is no great writer for sure.
Watched Special 26 over the CNY break ... good fun watch! About an hour into the movie, you know where it's gonna go ... but it's a fun ride. Manoj Bajpai as good as ever ... enjoyed Anupam Kher, Akshay Kumar and Jimmy Shergill. It's being touted as one of Akshay's best performances by audiences as well as critics. so Akshay is happy. The romance track was completely useless and unnecessary, and the girl was pretty useless too.
Also watched Zero Dark Thirty ... the true story of the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden ... very interesting watch again ... although it was a long movie!
Books:
Read the first of the Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer. Read a funny anecdote about the launch of the books - JA launched the books in India, as it's not only one of the biggest markets for his books, but also the place where they get pirated the fastest. Driving to his hotel in his car, he was stopped by a street urchin, who offered to sell him his own book, before it was officially launched, saying it was "the latest Jeffrey Archer". JA told him ... "kid, I AM the latest Jeffrey Archer!"
Also read my first Nicholas Sparks ... thanks for the recommendation, girls! Am looking for more now.
Read 2 States by Chetan Bhagat ... the guy is no great writer for sure.
hey! i am kinda busy with project so not reading full time fiction, but managed to read few and i would recommend all of them.
ReplyDeletefirst one was thrill by jackie collins. i dunno if you have heard of her. it was good read. a romantic thriller with powerful female protagonists. the narration intriguing.
the next one was Scarecrow by Matthew riley. i would just say this, if you wanna read crime thriller coupled with sci-fi misadventures, this is the guy you wanna read. the whole book is so unpredictable and moves very fast. it was a 700 page read, and i couldn't bring myself to put down the book. riley has a way of creeping emotions on you. every character of his is very tough from the outside, so when they show normal human emotions it is all the more powerful.
i read two dystopian fictions, the divergent series and hunger games series. i liked hunger games better. it has a powerful story with a very bold female protagonist. the series has three books, and it portrays world of near future where north america is destroyed in war and in its place is a new autocratic country. there are 12 districts under the government, each with a designated with a job. and every year children from each of the districts are chosen as tributes in the hunger games. a kind of pass time for the rich where the tributes are left in an arena to fight each other to death, until only one remains.
the divergent series is again a dystopian fiction and in here the city is divided into five factions, each factions lives according to a virtue they think is the most necessary for peaceful living. soon a revolution breaks out!this is series has three books, only two of them have been released, awaiting the third one.
which sparks book did you read?
have you read revolution2020, by CB?? Don't!! there is this other guy, Ravinder Singh i guess, his books are worse! i dunno how it came to be national best sellers...
btw dia, how's casual vacancy? i read its review which wasnt very comforting!
and did you watch viswaroop??
Krish....hey so gud to "see" u......sensibly staying away from TV atm...eh?hehehe....
Deletei am in and out of reading...in fact i am about to begin reading "nine lives-In search of the sacred in modern India" by Dalrymple..i am encouraged by its reviews..there are contrasting responses...somehow that gives me hope it will be a gud read....
Well CB...i have only read 2 states and i was surprised at the way his books have been received in India....wondering why they are bestsellers..maybe he will make a good scriptwriter...or rather his books make for gud scripts (easily translatable??)i guess its not necessary to be an author of literary merit to churn out a good script...somehow i am keen to watch kai po che....its the setting that makes it interesting for me..and...i like Sushant Singh Rajput!!
On revolution2020...i first thot its about CB's views on education system etc.....he is a regular contributor to articles to newspapers...i have liked a few of those articles..later realised the book is a fictional account..won't be venturing there...i guess movies based on his books maybe better than his books at any rate....
Hey Rekha!! i am glad to be "seen" here again! m planning on watching saraswathichandra, purely because it is directed by SLB. Hum Dil De Chuke is one of those rare movies i enjoyed watching despite it starring Salman Khan.
Deletei was just too caught up with studies to spare time for TV, plus star is the only hindi channel i get and except for Veera there is nothing worth the watch. i did read shwetha's running commentaries on madhubala.... it cracked me up!
and about CB, it requires a very skillful director to turn his books into a good script. there was this one book called One Night @ the Call centre, i liked that book, but the movie was a flop. of all the CB books i liked One night @ call centre the best. Three Mistakes is an okay-ish book i guess, should be an interesting watch!
Revolution 2020 is a misleading title! that is all i have to say about it! i was thoroughly disappointed.
speaking of stories.. here is a very sweet arshi short story
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.158463210972961.35833.153282834824332&type=3
krish, don't go the jackie collins route.. you feel like puking after a couple of those. I havent read Thrill, though.
thanks for the rec on scarecrow.. looking forward to reading that.
that one was indeed a very sweet story... brings back an ocean of memories and emotions :)
DeleteFor Arshi stories ... some recommendations. I haven't read most of them, but the writers are good.
Deletehttp://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3441542
ohh, k! thanks for the tip J! before scarecrow, read ice station...
ReplyDeleteKrish, good to see you back! And thanks for the recommendations. Have read Jackie Collins earlier, I don't remember the names of the books though. I'll give the other ones you mentioned a try ... am off to India next week, so my reading and writing (on the blog) will be reduced :)
ReplyDeleteSaw Vishwaroopam ... the movie had a very international feel to it ... it was okay, a bit confusing and disjointed, I felt.
I haven't read Casual Vacancy ... both my kids are reading it, but like my daughter says, the fact that she is taking so much time over reading it, means that it's nowhere as compelling as the HP series. You can't get attached to any of the characters.
I read Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks ... while the story is actually not original, it's the usual abused battered wife making a run for it. starting a new life and finding a new love ... but it has a small twist at the end, and it's a nice read, I like his style.