Category: Movies

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

If you have ever chanced upon this blog and landed up on this post and yes this one too from my cricket blog – you should not be surprised when I tell you that I can’t wait to watch this movie! 

http://youtu.be/w_Ky4KPzKwY
It releases this weekend. Cavill here & Fassbender in the latest X-Men edition are competing for too much panache in their movies – it is too much to handle! 

Ishaqzaade

Has taken over my iPod since the last 2 days! Amit Trivedi as I have said time and again on this blog, is a freaking genius. I did not find a single song in the entire album to find fault with.

Aafaton Ke Parindey  is in sync with Trivedi’s earlier compositions Dilli & Aali Re genre from No One Killed Jessica – fast paced and some hard hitting rock.

Pareshaan by Shalmali will soon be topping the music charts – it is soulful and exhilarating. The chorus after a soft pause and Shalmali’s voice variations during the chorus leave you completely mesmerised

Chokra Jawaan should be a hit among the masses – Sunidhi totally owns the song. Ofcourse the chemistry with Vishal Dadlani is obvious – they seem to have had a ball singing this song.

I always thought Shreya Ghosal did an average job with her Chikni Chameli song and was probably not comfortable doing rustic numbers. She wipes off that performance with a stunner in Jhalla Wallah. The diction, the accent and the sensuous touch – I can’t wait to see the video. A song that fits in with the cult “Kajre Re” number. Listen to the song – the lyrics are hilarious – kudos to Kausar Munir

Amit Trivedi makes excellent use of the harmonium, tabla, dholki, dafli – the simplest musical instruments to keep the rustic tone in most songs – the brilliant use of chorus especially in Pareshaan and  Jhalla Wallah takes the songs to a different level.

But my favourite song of the album, and in my opinion will probably go on to become one of the cult songs of our generation is the enchanting title track. It starts off with a trumpet, then Javed Ali starts off softly , the tempo rises and comes down again and rises again and this goes on for 3.5 minutes and just when you are getting out of the trance, in comes Shreya for the last minute – striking a low pitch so melodious like only she could and in that one minute transcends all levels of the brilliance we know she is capable of. She with her low pitch and Javed Ali in his high pitch singing Ishaqzaade; I could just replay that last minute in an endless loop for the next few days and never get out of that magical trance.

If you haven’t already tuned into Ishaqzaade and the magic that Amit Trivedi has spun – I suggest you waste no more time and get listening to it right away.

Meryl Streep and the Oscars

Meryl Streep is one of my favourite actresses, although I must admit I’ve not watched each and every movie she has acted in. I’ve loved her in Kramer Vs. Kramer and The Devil Wears Prada. Miranda Priestly stayed with me for a long time after watching the movie , she is probably one of my favourite movie characters too. I’ve watched that movie a million times over just for Streep and Anne Hathway. Every time I watch that movie I wonder how can acting come so easy to anyone. No one else could’ve played Miranda. I must admit I was a bit a disappointed when she did not win the Oscar in 2007 for that movie.

I’ve always seen Meryl get nominated at the Oscars and never win because the last time she won an Oscar was in 1982  for Sophie’s Choice. I was learning my first words then – understanding movies or knowing Meryl Streep was out of question. She has been nominated a record 17 times and won thrice – and that makes her the greatest living underdog as Michael Schulman concludes in this wonderful article at the “New Yorker

If you are a Streep fan like me – this article is for the keeps – to be bookmarked and stored as a favourite. Michael Schulman traces some of Meryl’s famous acceptance speeches across different awards in the years gone by and dissects them in the same delectable manner as Meryl delivers her speeches. To quote him:

“ But the real reason I’m in the tank for Streep is simple: I want to see her acceptance speech. The Meryl Streep acceptance speech is an art unto itself: elegant, loopy, cunningly self-aware, and impeccably delivered—in short, everything you expect from a Meryl Streep performance, condensed to three minutes. Where else can you see fake humility, fake gratitude, and fake spontaneity delivered with such aplomb?”

So go hurry over to the article and revisit her speeches – and learn why she is indeed the greatest living underdog.

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