Battleship : A Better Than Expected Fare

"From the makers of Transformers" and the first assumption I had was this is gonna be another run of the mill mindless action flick from the stables of Michael Bay. I was so sure of this fact that I didnt even bother to confirm it. On a saturday evening when I had nothing better to do after a energy sapping Corp Fin exam , couple of friends wanted to catch this movie , so I tagged along at the last moment and was mildly surprised with this movie, thinking that Michael Bay has improved from his last flick (the utterly mindless Transformers 2 & 3) until the moment the end credits start rolling , which gave away the director as some Peter Berg (Hancock), and I signed a big sense of relief.... 

Coming to the movie the plot was pretty decent with a group of alien ships(humanoid  race apparently) raiding the earth which looked like a invasion plan. But just 5 ships to conquer the entire earth, which were not bigger than any of the navy ships of the earthlings, and you know there is a serious plot hole (atleast they should have been the size of those in Independence Day , which set the benchmark for alien invasion movies ). A multinational group of navy ships is sent to intercept and explore it.  Anyway the aliens create a sort of force field around them so that none of the navy ships can enter it other than 3 navy destroyers which get trapped inside. So starts the cat and mouse game between the navy ships and the alien ships, a perfect adaptation of the actual grid based "Battleship" game, and I loved the way they adapted it.  At one instance they actually are looking at a grid based display and calling the shots trying to intercept the alien ships. 

Another honorable mention is the soundtrack which was bombastic in the real sense bringing the full experience of watching this movie in the cinema. Special effects were also very good, with a lot of explosions, destruction, blazing canon's, sea battles keeping the action buffs rooted to their seats. But again when you have a WW-II era battleship thrown into the sea battle (which supposedly was not even started for the past 10 years) and you get distracted a bit with the plotholes in the script. I was like "WTH????" when the actual operators of the decommissioned WW-II era warship (the oldies of course) appear from nowhere to crew the ship !!!!! Even then the final climax was fitting and satisfying. Rihanna in her first apperance as an actor is a bit irritating sometimes. An awesome actor like Liam Neeson is completely wasted. Dont know what the heck was he doing in this movie. Brooklyn Decker (apparently she is a SI model :) ) plays the female lead and is an absolute eye-candy. Oh ya.. the lead actor Taylor Kitsch is OK. 

 A decent action movie with a few story line, few comic scenes thrown here and there. But what impressed the most was navy maneuvers they have adapted in this movie. Apparently this movie is released here in India almost a month before US for reasons unknown. Anyway a rating of 3.5/5 even after overlooking some major plot holes. 

Why So Single ???!!!!!

(NOTE: My attempt at satire comedy. All the characters in this blog post are works of fiction, but if you might find a strong resemblance with any particular person living or dead, then give yourself a pat in the back and shut up.)

They say opposites attract, if that is the case all the not so fortunate people with respect to looks and bank account would have attracted the rich and the sexy, but is there any truth in that. The rules of this world are indeed strange. Anyway check out the profile of a guy, a very close friend of mine... Close enough that we are like 2 souls inside a  single body.

Age - 27
Height - 5 feet 11 inches
Build - Good enough to give Govinda a complex
Looks - Mirror Cracking (Phrase courtesy FB or was it Orkut ???!!!!.. who cares)
Hobbies - Like an endless borewell (especially those borewells in Bangalore)
Education - BE, MBA in progress from IIM-B .... (Woohoo... big bucks)
Job - Works for a Korean Tech Multinational...In short is made to work like a dog.
Hair - More than he can handle, after getting to know that this is one of a prime criteria for girls.
Relationship Status - Single since the past 27 summers and counting. (and winters ofcourse)

For an impressive profile as above, the last pointer stands out like a sour thumb. Naturally people including me assume my friend  to be surrounded by attractive females and being actively pursued by countless others. But sadly that is not the case. He has been a single since the day he was conceived in this world. So as a true friend I am trying to analyze what went wrong in his life. Some of the questions people usually ask are....

Is he gay ????....
This is the first question everyone asks when I describe his situation. And people especially stress on this point when I do mention the above comment of  "2 souls single body" crap. But I assure you that is not the case, he is 100% straight and so am I, to set matters straight. There is literally nothing in the closet for him to come out with apart from a pair of stinking socks, which I presume was mine a long time ago.

Did he forget to spray his body a with truck-load of  "Axe-effect" or "bed-wet" ..oh sorry "set-wet""???!!!!!....
 Answer is Nope.... He has been a dedicated follower of all these thesis and effects since those ideas were  broadcast on prime-time television to shock women activists and to the enjoyment of pubescent boys like my friend. Some of these boys growing up in a conservative South Indian family, were made to cover their eyes, while others were downright threatened by their parents for ogling at these images with an open mouth. But my friend was one of the few who understood the underlying hidden truth, "Axe डालोगे थो..... Even Angels Fall !!!!!!"

Is his outward presentation a problem ???!!!!
Well as a matter of fact "hardly". He is one of those maniacs who shaves twice a day, once in the morning and once before going bed, I guess he  somehow got this confused with brushing his teeth, which he still does only once in the morning. Always trimmed hair, ie military cut hence exposing those big brains 24x7, man this guy is just short of being a total show-off.  His dressing style is top notch and this guy even wears pink to show his feminine side. Easily the heights of desperation.

Did he not try to patasify any girl ???!!!!!
Well not really. His policy in life is to be like a street lamp, attracting all the mosquitoes and bugs in its own right. Further he imagines himself to be a peacock, with all those colorful wings and dancing in front of females in order to attract them. Just imagining this scene gave me 3 sleepless nights. Awwwwhhh !!!! the humanity.   

Doesnt he "like" the FB posts posted by attractive females ???!!!!!
He religiously does this. So much so that he doesnt even look at the actual posts before liking them. He even liked a post by a girl which was "Lost my beloved Bow-Bow today..Sad. Sad Sad :(:( " and he was promptly removed from the friend list by that girl. Even after this incident he has never learned, just like Bow-Bow 's tail. May the soul of Bow-Bow rest in peace.  

Is he shy ???....
Not really..He is one who gives everyone his piece of his mind when the situation requires. But unfortunately when he comes face to face with an attractive girl his knees go weak and he starts acting like a mentally challenged person. People start hearing only monosyllables during that time, similar to the signals generated by a Morse code machine. Girls start feeling pity and all the initial attraction they had towards him goes down the drain. Hmmm, atleast some progress. Might be he has to improve on this point. 

Finally people might ask why I am  taking so much pain to solve his problem. Well frankly speaking I have a hidden motive in this. Now imagine all the expenditure my friend might have to endure to maintain his high maintenance girlfriend, movies , restaurant, petrol expenses and so forth . Imagine if they get married they would have to buy tons of gold,  marriage halls rents, food preparation costs and million other things. Imagine if they had a baby and the expenditure they would have to endure to put that kid into school and then higher studies. Now imagine that kid finds someone and starts his own family... The loop is infinite. And if you were not sleeping in your economy classes you would have listened that increase in expenditure/consumption would increase the GDP of the country. And increasing my countries GDP is what this is about. Hence I am doing all this for my country and not my friend. Mission 2050 and for this my friend is the first stepping stone.. WOOHAAHAHAHAHA (evil laugh if u didn get it).. I am a genius.

Now imagine what would happen if my friend stays single for life......

P.S. > I know d ending sucks. but couldnt think of a good one. Suggestions are welcome :P

Kahani : The Rise Of Vidya Balan

SPOILER CHECK PASSED: NO SPOILERS

Vidya Balan is on a roll with her roles. And looks like having Vidya as a prime protagonist in a movie is also raking in all the moolah, not once (which can be termed as one time wonder) but twice that too back to back. Even-though I didn like "Dirty Picture" as much as reviews made it out to be, "Kahaani" is something which I loved especially for the story line. Even though I got the feeling that this movie was a bit inspired by some western movies, the fact that I couldnt pin point the exact movie makes up for the talent of the writer/director. (Similiarly the great SD Burman got inspired by some brazilian/latino music and composed the tune for "Mere Sapno Ki Rani", but the fact that even if you listen to both the tunes together you cant confirm the inspiration---- That is talent :)  )

Movie starts with the Vidya Bagchi(Vidya Balan) a heavily pregnant women,  landing in Kolkata from London in search of her husband who is missing from the past 2 weeks. When she starts visiting the places frequented by her husband, everyone denies having seen/met her husband. But she is determined in finding the fate of her husband , but the locals think that either her husband has left her for good or she is imagining things that never existed in the first place. The story telling is done in a great fashion, as and when the story unfolds a new layer is revealed. Even though the professional reviewers hailed the cinematography as top notch, exposing the underbelly of Kolkata I couldnt find anything striking or unique.

Thankfully there are no song and dance routine in the thriller/serious movie which makes it all the more gripping. I can understand item numbers in masala movies popping out at random times, but when such a thing happens in a serious thriller then it would surely messes up the intensity , which was the case with "Chikni Chameli" shocker in the latest Agneepath. The actor playing Sub-Inspector Rana does a commendable supporting role (the closest thing to a male hero u get in this movie :P). Even though there are some plot holes in this movie, considering the entire package it can be forgotten with ease. Overall I would rate the movie a 4.5/5, with the majority of it being for the storyline , followed by Vidya's acting. The best bollywood movie of 2012 so far. Dont miss it.

Kudremukh TreK : A Tale Of Sweat,Tear,Tan and Sunburn

Split Personality

Woah !!!! no travelogues from my side from the past 4 months... got to be some sort of personal record. But as quoted by some unknown person "The only thing constant in life is change", a very big and expensive change indeed :P. Initial plan was to trek to the mysterious Ombattu Gudda which has eluded us for the past 2 years, but due to an unfortunate incident of a fellow trekker meeting his end and the forest officials on their toes, made us to look at some alternate options. After a lot of speculations finally it was decided to trek to Kudremukh and Kurinjal Peaks on 2 successive days. Since Kudremukh area was recently converted to a tiger reserve, there were rumors that this peak might be shut down permanently for trekkers , hence we were a bit keen to cover this easy trek as early as possible even though the season we had chosen to go was a bit unconventional, with pretty much everyone getting a tan under the hot sun in the open grasslands and some even getting sun-burns :P.

As is the norm wrt our weekend treks we (Shravan, Shashi, Vineeth, PPR, Umesh, Raghu and Myself) left Bangalore on friday night (2 Mar 2012) on a 10.45 pm KSRTC Volvo bus to Kalasa. We had expected this to be a dry - hot season but as soon as we got down at Kalasa, 6am in the morning, it was literally freezing. Surprisingly the interiors of the ac bus seemed warmer than the outside climate at Kalasa. Kalasa town at this time of the day was pretty much deserted, with a few shops selling tea/coffee just opening up. We had previously contacted  Satish , a trek organizer cum home stay owner who stays on the fringes of Kudremukh Wildlife santuary. He had given the directions to reach his place , the first stage of which was to catch a bus to Balagal which was around 15 kms from Kalasa. The first local bus was at 6.30 am.

Light and Shadow

Landed at Ballagel to continue towards Satish's home at Mullodi, but now the route was through rough terrain and the means was a 4x4 Mahindra Jeep. Reached Satish's home, which was a traditional village home with tiles for roofing and red oxide flooring. Finished our morning chores and had out breakfast for the day. Unlimited Idlis ...  A "stuff till you burppp" invitation :P.

Peak In the Background

After that we started the trek at around 9 am. Loaded with water and our afternoon lunch. Since this was a protected forest, one needs to take prior permission from the forest office at Kudremukh town. For us this was arranged by Satish himself, but unfortunately one doesn't get permission to camp overnight. Hence one has to trek the entire 20km or odd km in a single day, even then this trek can be termed as an easy one. Initial part of the trek was alternating between grasslands and shaded forests. Within the shaded forests we came across quite a few water bodies , so I guess water wouldnt be a problem even in the summer seasons. The name of the peak was kept so, since it supposedly resembles a Horse's face, but to me it resembled more of a human's nose... a very big nose indeed :P.

Milestones

But by this time the temperature was soaring and we were getting roasted in this weather. It was really a freak weather condition, freezing mornings and nights and extreme heat in the afternoons. Even then the views were pretty decent , and with the bright sun its pretty much a treat for photographers with deep blue sky against brown grasslands offering a very contrasting image. Some mountains were even turned to black thanks to grassland fires that seems to be starting by itself every now and then, at some random location and we were witness to such fires quite a number of times.

Peak Snap: The Group

With A Flag At the Peak

Atleast in such conditions one would expect the participants to be properly prepared with caps, glasses etc but Vineeth, Shashi and Shravan didnt even bother to get one. In the end they were more or less the worst hit. Technically speaking this route doesnt require a guide with the route pretty much straight forward, but a guides presence ensures that you can access some hidden watering holes which are plentiful enroute. After trekking continuously for about 4hrs we hit the peak at around 1 pm. Having conquered the second tallest peak in Karnataka at 1894 m. Of the 10 km we trekked from Mullodi village only the final 3 km can be termed as a climb with the rest of the distance being just a walk along a flat gradient. The view from the top was pretty mesmerizing. On one side you had endless grasslands and on the other we had endless mist/cloud filled regions which we couldnt make out whether it was land or (quite preposterous as it might sound) 'the Arabian Sea' :). The only animal sighting we had during this trek was what looked like a giant Malabar squirrel :).

Lunch Spot

After spending 15 mins near the peak we started descending and our guide took us on a detour to have our lunch. The lunch spot was a cozy place in the afternoon sun, with trees for shade and a stream gurgling beside it. We spent close to an hour having our lunch and relaxing under the shade. After resting we descended the peak pretty quickly and at around 5 pm we reached back to Satish's home, taking 8 hrs to complete the trek. We then went to a small waterfalls nearby (Somavathi Falls), spent some time having a dip in the chilled water. Spent the remainder of the day indoors playing UNO pretty much until the middle of the night.

The Contrast

Woke up the next day, and we were still planning to attempt Kurinjal trek. But when Satish informed us that we might have to spend 275 bucks/head again (we paid that amount for Kudremukh permission, dont know to what extent we got ripped :P ) for permission to this relatively unknown trek, the majority of the gang was against this trek and with Raghu having a mild sprain it was finally decided that we would spend the day checking out nearby places. First destination was Hanumagundi Falls and we got a direct local bus from Balegal. After descending a lot of steps we reached the falls, which eventhough had lesser quantity of water looked gorgeous. We explored a path which went to the top of the falls , which quite frankly was quite a taxing climb. Finally at around 12.30 noon we were about to leave this place for Horanadu after getting to know that there were no more places worth visiting.

Hanumagundi Falls

Reached Kalasa at around 2.20 pm, went to the best restaurant in the town which was Hotel Suprabha which was pretty decent. Caught a bus to Horanadu, reached within half an hour , rented a room in the temple premises and spent the rest of the day sleeping , visiting temple and roaming around. Finally at around 10.15 pm caught the Volvo bus to Bangalore and reached Bangalore sharply at 5 am in the morning. This was how a quarter break was spent in a life of a poor management grad. The things people do to breathe in some fresh forest/grassland air, quite insane indeed :P.

Peak Snap: You Shall Not Pass

Trek Details --->
Total Trek Distance--> 10 + 0.5(lunch detour) + 10 -> 20.5 km
Difficulty Level ---> Easy
Total Cost Per Head --> 2100 bucks
Price Charge By Satish :
Home Stay + Food (2 Breakfast+ Lunch+ Dinner+ n no of teas)----> 400/head
Forest Permission ----> 275/head
Jeep Rent -----> 450 per side
Guide Charge ------> 500/group

Contact Info Of Satish ----->  08263-249595 / 9481074530 / 8722847688

Tree Of Life

Snaps Link ---->
https://picasaweb.google.com/112114250378515450499/KudremukhTrek
https://picasaweb.google.com/100919899222671268664/Kudremukha?authuser=0&feat=directlink 
https://picasaweb.google.com/108118793084917245817/KudremukhaTrek
 

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan !!!!!!

It felt like having returned from some other universe. One complete week of no checking mail, no deadline worries, no assignment submission (thanks to my IIM-B team mates :) ), so much so as not even receiving calls or sms's thanks to our accommodation in an isolated village on the outskirts of Udupi. All this for my Brothers Wedding :). Below is my performance on D-day minus one. This took my 11pm to 1am slots every night for over 15 days. Thankfully non of the neighbors complained :P.

This performance was and is dedicated to Bhaiyya aur Bhaabhi :)

P.S> Dialogues in Kannada and Hindi. If the window is displayed as too small click on the youtube icon on the progress bar to directly take you to the site.