One of the best albums in recent times. This Pooja Bhatt venture which has music by the jingle-maker Ranjit Barot has some amazing numbers.
The album opens with “Khwahishon Se” sung by Kunal and Shreya. This song has a complete Goan feel. Moreover Kunal and Shreya have sung this song really well. Among the best tracks of this album.
This is followed by “Aashiyaan Ban gaya” sung by Ranjit and Shreya. Nowadays music directors have turned towards singing. First it was Anu Malik (countless movies) then it was Himesh Reshammiya (Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Jhalak Dikhlaja). Ranjit’s voice sounds different from those typical Bollywood singers. A decent number which may look really good on the screens.
This is followed by the best track of the album “Neele Neele”. It definitely ranks as one of the best numbers rendered by Shreya. She is ably supported by Vijay Prakash. Check out the chorus in this song. It adds to the overall feel of the song. This song is about hopes and ambitions.
Next comes the track “Move with my body” a Moulin rogueish kinda stage number which has Kashmira Shah onscreen. This is the weakest song of this album yet its good on ears.
Next comes “Tu Hai Bhatakta” sung beautifully by Shreya and has good meaningful lyrics
When it comes to romantic solo number then it has to be Shaan be it Pyar mein kabhi kabhi (Woh pehli baar), Jhankaar Beats (Suno Na), Main prem ki deewani hoon (Aur Mohabbat hai), Home Delivery (Kaash). He has sung the song ‘Raqs Kar le’ so beautifully that I can stop craving abt this singer. He is the most talented singer today in Bollywood after Sonu. When it comes to fun numbers, Shaan remains the first choice. In terms of romantic numbers Sonu might be slight ahead of Shaan because of the hit numbers he has sung. However Sonu gains a big lead in soulful, sad numbers. Such songs are not Shaan’s forte. Coming back to Raqs kar le, listen to the trumpets used in the song. Very few Hindi songs use trumpets so effectively. Moreover the song looks good onscreen.
The last track (I haven’t counted the remixes) of the song is “Tauba” sung again by Ranjit. This one is a slow sad number which grows on you on repeated listening.
If you wanna listen to quality music, go grab your “Holiday” CD today. Definitely not to be missed.
Friday, December 30, 2005
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Songs of the year
The year has seen many good albums. Check this out
http://www.indiafm.com/features/2005/12/28/913/index.html
http://www.radiosargam.com/features/memories/songs2005.htm
My top albums of this year would be
Parineeta: Best album of the year. Songs of this film completely gave a fell of that era (early 60s). Great numbers by Shantanu Moitra (this guy is to watch out for after some stunning songs in Parineeta, Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi, Yahaan) and excellently penned by Swanand Kirkire. “Piyu Bole” (ultimate love song) and “Raat Hamari to” (a depressing number) are my favourites
Main meri patni aur woh : Most underrated album of the year. “Doob Jaane re” is among the best romantic songs of the year which has been wonderfully rendered by Sonu and Shreya. Also watch out for the ghazal “Guncha Koi” sung by Mohit Chauhan (lead from Silk route band). Amongst the best slow numbers in recent times.
Salaam Namaste: All the songs of this album were mind blowing starting from title song to My Dil goes Hmmm. Tu Yahaan is my favourite song. This album along with Dus catapulted Vishal Shekhar to the top bracket of music directors though Jhankaar Beats is my favourite Vishal Shekhar album.
Socha Na Tha: All the songs of this film were hummable ranging from “Yaaran Rab” to “Abhi Abhi” to “Socha na tha” to “Zindagi”. Sandesh Shandilya is one music director who could excel if given proper chance. His works till now K3g, Chameli, Rules have been exceptional.
Lucky: Adnan Sami in a different seat for a change. This time as a composer. And yes Pappu pass ho gaya. He returned with aces with the album. A great romantic number “Sun Zara” can easily be sung to your sweet ones. There were other good numbers like “Chori chori”, “Lucky Lips” and “Jaan meri”
Bluffmaster: A unique track which featured remixes of many of the yesteryear’s chartbusters like “Sabse Bada Rupaiya”, “Do aur do Paanch”, “taqdeer se bigdi”, “Shayad meri shaadi”. The album has some good original numbers also like “Say na” (sung differently) and “Right Here, Right now” rendered by Abhishek and Sunidhi
Yahaan: Another underrated album. Each of the songs of this film had a Kashmiri feel and they really look good onscreen especially “Urzu Urzu Durkut” and “Naam Adaa Likhna”
Home Delivery: A disaster film with good numbers. Each of the songs of this film were good but were not properly projected in the film. Songs like “Happy Diwali”, “Kaash” (Shaan at his best), “Khushboo churati” really stood out
Kaal: Rocking numbers different from the typical Dharma production stuff. “Kaal Dhamaal”, “Tauba Tauba” and “Nassa Nassa” were good dance numbers
Garam Masala: All the songs of this movie were good but none were exceptional. My favourite was “Dil Samander”
Kisna: One more Subhash Ghai’s chartbusters though not at par with Taal and Karz. Songs like “Hum hai is pal yahaan” and “Who kisna hai” were hummable
There were even movies which had 1-2 songs which really stood out.
o Le Chale(My Brother Nikhil): My all time favourite brilliantly rendered by Sunidhi. My best song of the year
o Wo Lamhe (Zeher): Great Pakistani number sung well by Atif
o Aadat(Kalyug): Another Pakistani number by Atif
o Chup Chupke(Bunty and Babli): Nice romantic number
o Tinka Tinka(karam): Alisha at her best
o Maine dil se kaha (Rog) : Excellent track with great lyrics
o Dil Di nazar(Maine pyar kyun kiya): Nice dance number
o Jal jal ke dhuan(El Khiladi Ek haseena): Sonu at his best in this sensuous number. Often reminds me of Makhmali Badan from Road.
o Mann yeh bawra(Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi): Nice qawwali
o Aa jeele ek pal (Kyon Ki): Typical Salman number
o Dus Bahane(Dus): How can one forget this ultimate chartbuster with Abhishek in a different and a cool get up.
http://www.indiafm.com/features/2005/12/28/913/index.html
http://www.radiosargam.com/features/memories/songs2005.htm
My top albums of this year would be
Parineeta: Best album of the year. Songs of this film completely gave a fell of that era (early 60s). Great numbers by Shantanu Moitra (this guy is to watch out for after some stunning songs in Parineeta, Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi, Yahaan) and excellently penned by Swanand Kirkire. “Piyu Bole” (ultimate love song) and “Raat Hamari to” (a depressing number) are my favourites
Main meri patni aur woh : Most underrated album of the year. “Doob Jaane re” is among the best romantic songs of the year which has been wonderfully rendered by Sonu and Shreya. Also watch out for the ghazal “Guncha Koi” sung by Mohit Chauhan (lead from Silk route band). Amongst the best slow numbers in recent times.
Salaam Namaste: All the songs of this album were mind blowing starting from title song to My Dil goes Hmmm. Tu Yahaan is my favourite song. This album along with Dus catapulted Vishal Shekhar to the top bracket of music directors though Jhankaar Beats is my favourite Vishal Shekhar album.
Socha Na Tha: All the songs of this film were hummable ranging from “Yaaran Rab” to “Abhi Abhi” to “Socha na tha” to “Zindagi”. Sandesh Shandilya is one music director who could excel if given proper chance. His works till now K3g, Chameli, Rules have been exceptional.
Lucky: Adnan Sami in a different seat for a change. This time as a composer. And yes Pappu pass ho gaya. He returned with aces with the album. A great romantic number “Sun Zara” can easily be sung to your sweet ones. There were other good numbers like “Chori chori”, “Lucky Lips” and “Jaan meri”
Bluffmaster: A unique track which featured remixes of many of the yesteryear’s chartbusters like “Sabse Bada Rupaiya”, “Do aur do Paanch”, “taqdeer se bigdi”, “Shayad meri shaadi”. The album has some good original numbers also like “Say na” (sung differently) and “Right Here, Right now” rendered by Abhishek and Sunidhi
Yahaan: Another underrated album. Each of the songs of this film had a Kashmiri feel and they really look good onscreen especially “Urzu Urzu Durkut” and “Naam Adaa Likhna”
Home Delivery: A disaster film with good numbers. Each of the songs of this film were good but were not properly projected in the film. Songs like “Happy Diwali”, “Kaash” (Shaan at his best), “Khushboo churati” really stood out
Kaal: Rocking numbers different from the typical Dharma production stuff. “Kaal Dhamaal”, “Tauba Tauba” and “Nassa Nassa” were good dance numbers
Garam Masala: All the songs of this movie were good but none were exceptional. My favourite was “Dil Samander”
Kisna: One more Subhash Ghai’s chartbusters though not at par with Taal and Karz. Songs like “Hum hai is pal yahaan” and “Who kisna hai” were hummable
There were even movies which had 1-2 songs which really stood out.
o Le Chale(My Brother Nikhil): My all time favourite brilliantly rendered by Sunidhi. My best song of the year
o Wo Lamhe (Zeher): Great Pakistani number sung well by Atif
o Aadat(Kalyug): Another Pakistani number by Atif
o Chup Chupke(Bunty and Babli): Nice romantic number
o Tinka Tinka(karam): Alisha at her best
o Maine dil se kaha (Rog) : Excellent track with great lyrics
o Dil Di nazar(Maine pyar kyun kiya): Nice dance number
o Jal jal ke dhuan(El Khiladi Ek haseena): Sonu at his best in this sensuous number. Often reminds me of Makhmali Badan from Road.
o Mann yeh bawra(Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi): Nice qawwali
o Aa jeele ek pal (Kyon Ki): Typical Salman number
o Dus Bahane(Dus): How can one forget this ultimate chartbuster with Abhishek in a different and a cool get up.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Flicks to watch out in 2006
Check this out
http://movies.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1346788.cms
My picks
1) Krrish
2) Munnabhai Meets Mahatma
3) Dhoom 2
4) Phir Hera Pheri
( all the above 4 films are sequels to the much successful films like Koi Mil gaya, Munnabhai MBBS, Dhoom and Hera Pheri)
5) Kabhi Alvida Na kehna
6) Salaam-e-Ishq
(check out the star cast of above 2 films)
7) Khatta Meetha
http://movies.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1346788.cms
My picks
1) Krrish
2) Munnabhai Meets Mahatma
3) Dhoom 2
4) Phir Hera Pheri
( all the above 4 films are sequels to the much successful films like Koi Mil gaya, Munnabhai MBBS, Dhoom and Hera Pheri)
5) Kabhi Alvida Na kehna
6) Salaam-e-Ishq
(check out the star cast of above 2 films)
7) Khatta Meetha
Thursday, December 22, 2005
California trip: Those 9 golden days of my life
Memoirs of the Golden Valley trip
Its been a month since I have come back from the golden valley (yeah this is what I call the California state) and I still cannot forget the exciting time I had out there. So here it is, my diary specially created for those wonderful 9 days (18th Nov to 27 Nov 2005). It will be a long read keep in mind
18th Nov: Set foot in the valleys
The day when the great trip started. I reached LA from Chicago at 11 in the night. Shobhit (my friend from Infosys) also reached there around the same time. We were received by Ravi (my VJTI buddy). Ravi stays in West L.A and his house was just 7-8 miles from LAX airport. However the traffic on 405 freeway (busiest freeway in USA…this is what Ravi claims) took us around 25 minutes to reach his place. After reaching Ravi’s place, we had a small chat after which we retired to bed.
19th Nov: Universal studios (Actors: Nahush, Ravi, Shobhit)
We made out trip to Universal studios. Before reaching universal, we had a glimpse of the much famous “HOLLYWOOD” sign on Mt.Lee
At Universal, we came across many of my fav cartoon characters (Shrek, Spiderman).
There are many rides in the universal studios for all the age groups. I really had fun in the Mummy ride. The show “Waterworld” was really wonderful. Jurassic Park ride was okayish. But the best part was yet to come “Shrek 4D”. People nowadays come up with so many innovative ideas. Everyone must have heard 2-D, 3-D but what is 4-D. Well in 4D shows, it gives you the real feel of the movie. You still have to wear those 3-D glasses. However in this case, the seats start rocking (when the Shrek in riding the horse carriage) and water splashes on our face (when the donkey sneezes). This gives the 4D feel. After coming back from Universal, we went to the Hollywood street where we saw the Kodak and the Chinese theatre. Then we (even Sudeep joined us) went to the Santa Monica pier for a walk and had a dinner at All India cafe
20th Nov: Sea World, San Diego (Actors: Nahush, Ravi, Shobhit)
We had a 120 mile drive to cover in order to reach Sea World which is located just on the outskirts of San Diego. Sea World was a nice place though I preferred Universal Studios. Sea World is more of animal shows than an aquarium. Shows range from the world famous Shamu (killer whale) experience to the dolphins show to the sea otters perfor
mance. Each of these performances were unique and worth appreciating. The efforts put down by the employees of sea world in training the animals were commendable. Other than this we took a roller coaster ride in “Lost in Atlantis” and saw another 4D show and the “Haunted Lighthouse”. We even took a trolley ride (my first) in the Sea world. In the evening we had dinner at Baja Fresh near Ravi’s place. In the night we took a trip of USC
21st Nov San Jose trip (Actors: Nahush, Shobhit, Aniket)
In the morning we rented a car (17k mile driven Chrysler Town and Country). This car (or should I say minivan) could accommodate 8 people. We first picked up Aniket (my GPR buddy) from Artesia. He had come there for some personal work. Instead of going to San Jose (he stays in Milpitas which is 5 mins drive from SJ) through the more common 5N freeway, we took a different but more scenic, picturesque freeway (combination of 1N and 101N). This freeway 1N runs parallel to the Pacific coast and passes through Malibu (one of the most expensive places in USA and where many of the Hollywood stars reside), Pepperdine University (most picturesque univ in USA as it overlooks the pacific ocean and Malibu). This was really a wonderful drive and we enjoyed every bit of it. For lunch we stopped at Santa Barbara and whoa what a town. Looked completely different from the typical American town. Looked more like an European town (though haven’t seen a European town yet). Now I am clearly disappointed on not getting an admit in UCSB (U.Cal Santa Barbara). From then on, we made a stop at Solvang (a Danish town). This was quite a nice place. We reached Milpitas around 10 in the night
22nd Nov: Lake Tahoe drive (Actors: Nahush, Shobhit)
Woke at around 6:30 in the morning. We had to go to Tahoe which was around 250 miles from Milpitas. We left Milpitas at around 7:45 and reached Tahoe at 12 noon. Unfortunately, the trolley ride (which takes you to the top a mountain which overlooks the entire Tahoe lake) was closed. We were disappointed because of this. However we decided to go down to the lake, take some snaps and do some trekking (such a bad idea). The water in the lake was crystal clear and chilly. It was mentioned that at a particular location in the lake one can see 67 ft below the water level. We also enjoyed walking in the woods. The entire region around Tahoe lake is such a beautiful place that I would recommend everyone going to the Bay area to visit this place. The drive around the lake is a bit scary with some steep slopes and winding turns. The maximum speed limit at most of the places is a mere 10 mph. We came back to Milpitas by around 10 in the night
23rd Nov: Back to LA (Actor: Nahush, Shobhit, Aniket)
This day we (myself and Shobhit) started early at about 8 in the morning and headed directly to San Francisco. Actually we had been to SF the other day but it was pretty late and we couldn’t see anything. The first tourist spot that we covered in SF was the Lombard Street (crooked street). It is the most crooked street in USA. In order to reach the crooked street, we had to drive the car on an elevation/slope of 20-30 degree. At the upper end of the slope there was a stop sign. It is so difficult to stop a car at such a spot. The crooked street was really nice. Then we went to the Golden Gate. I do not know why this gate is famous. It was nothing special. I preferred the Brooklyn Bridge in NY over this one. Anyway, we stopped there only for taking snaps and returned back. Then we headed to Stanford in Palo Alto, which is around 30 miles from SF. The university was a cool, quite place. Being the holiday season, we couldn’t see many people in the campus. The campus has some splendid buildings (maybe it was Greek architecture) and statues. We reached Milpitas at around 1 in the afternoon and left for Los Angeles (picked up Aniket) at around 3:15. We had plans of going to the Mystery spot (only place in the world were there is no gravity) and the Monterey beach (picturesque place full of golf courses and a 17 mile scenic drive). However the holiday traffic did not favor us and we had to abandon the plans. Hence we headed straight to LA though made a small pit stop at Santa Barbara again for an ice-cream break. We reached LA at around 12 in the night after picking up Alok(another VJTI cum Infy buddy) from Long Beach airport. By this time Prashant (Infy buddy) and Arshad(VJTI cum Infy buddy) had already gathered at Ravi’s place
24th Nov: Grand Canyon (Actors: Nahush, Shobhit, Ravi, Arshad, Alok, Aniket, Prashant)
Early morning at 2:30 am, all 7 of us left for Grand Canyon. It was close to 8 hr drive. So we had to switch drivers after every 2 hrs. Ravi, Shobhit, Alok and myself got a chance to drive the car to GC. The other 3 folks were busy sleeping in the car. Inspite of this overnight journey, none of us was tired and were still excited about the GC trip. We first reached Williams where we had our breakfast at Denny’s. After that we headed directly to Grand Canyon.
We reached there at around 11. Grand Canyon is truly a nice tourist spot. It is a deep, colorful gorge formed due to the Colorado river. The view from Grand Canyon is breathtaking. We did some trailing on the rim of the Canyon. By 4:30 we were all exhausted because of the trail walk and chilly winds blowing. We decided to return back to our hotel in Williams (Fairfield Inn). After reaching hotel at around 6:30 in the evening, we again went to Denny’s for dinner. We retired to bed early that day (by 10 pm)
25th Nov: Las Vegas (Actors: all 7)
The California trip remains incomplete without going to Las Vegas in the neighboring state Nevada. In the morning we headed towards Las Vegas. En route we got a chance to see the Hoover dam. Dunno why this place is famous. It was nothing special. We didn’t even get out from our car. In the meantime, our entire car trip was filled with great Mp3 songs. Moreover Aniket (anda as he is called) had bought his laptop also. So we got a chance to see many movies (Rangeela, Naram Garam, Chupke Chupke) and several of the Great Indian laughter challenge shows. Moreover everyone was also busy pulling each other’s leg though Prashant and Shobhit were the ones who were most teased. We reached Las Vegas by 2 in the afternoon. After checking into the hotel, we directly went to the Las Vegas Strip which is one of the most happening streets in USA. The entire strip is filled with innumerable casinos.. Mandalay Bay, Luxor (Egyptian architecture alongwith the Sphinx), New York - New York (Famous monuments of New york recreated), MGM Grand, Bellagio (the climax of Ocean’s eleven was shot near the fountain of this casino), Paris(famous monuments of Paris is recreated), Venetian(the casino has a look of Venice with even Gondola ride available), Circus Circus, Treasure Island, Mirage, Stardust, Wynns, Stratosphere. The list is endless. We didn’t even get a chance to visit all the casino. Our entire evening went in visiting some of these casinos and trying our hand at some slot machine and table games. I was fortunate to win 20 bucks that day
26th Nov: Las Vegas (Actors: all 7 of us)
Next day again we went for some sight seeing. This time we chose Stratosphere. It is the tallest building in Las Vegas (observation deck is on the 106th floor). Stratosphere is famous for its 4 rides which are on its 106th floor. It did not have courage to take these rides. However my other friends bought the tickets for the ride. However when we reached up, we found out that the rides were closed due to heavy winds. Dejected, we all went back to New York New York casino to play for some time. This time I managed to win 40 bucks. The Vegas trip proved to be lucky for me. We left for LA at around 7 in the evening. Reached there by 11. Had a dinner at Jerry’s and went back to Ravi’s place
27th Nov: Back home (sob sob)
Had to get up at 5 in the morning grrrrrr…..flight was at 7:30. I reached Chicago at around 1:30.
Finally one of my most wonderful trip came to an end…..wish I keep on having such trips once a year.
Some stats for the trip:
Total miles driven: close to 3500 miles
Total size of snaps taken: 1.4 GB
Its been a month since I have come back from the golden valley (yeah this is what I call the California state) and I still cannot forget the exciting time I had out there. So here it is, my diary specially created for those wonderful 9 days (18th Nov to 27 Nov 2005). It will be a long read keep in mind
18th Nov: Set foot in the valleys
The day when the great trip started. I reached LA from Chicago at 11 in the night. Shobhit (my friend from Infosys) also reached there around the same time. We were received by Ravi (my VJTI buddy). Ravi stays in West L.A and his house was just 7-8 miles from LAX airport. However the traffic on 405 freeway (busiest freeway in USA…this is what Ravi claims) took us around 25 minutes to reach his place. After reaching Ravi’s place, we had a small chat after which we retired to bed.
19th Nov: Universal studios (Actors: Nahush, Ravi, Shobhit)
We made out trip to Universal studios. Before reaching universal, we had a glimpse of the much famous “HOLLYWOOD” sign on Mt.Lee
At Universal, we came across many of my fav cartoon characters (Shrek, Spiderman).
There are many rides in the universal studios for all the age groups. I really had fun in the Mummy ride. The show “Waterworld” was really wonderful. Jurassic Park ride was okayish. But the best part was yet to come “Shrek 4D”. People nowadays come up with so many innovative ideas. Everyone must have heard 2-D, 3-D but what is 4-D. Well in 4D shows, it gives you the real feel of the movie. You still have to wear those 3-D glasses. However in this case, the seats start rocking (when the Shrek in riding the horse carriage) and water splashes on our face (when the donkey sneezes). This gives the 4D feel. After coming back from Universal, we went to the Hollywood street where we saw the Kodak and the Chinese theatre. Then we (even Sudeep joined us) went to the Santa Monica pier for a walk and had a dinner at All India cafe
20th Nov: Sea World, San Diego (Actors: Nahush, Ravi, Shobhit)
We had a 120 mile drive to cover in order to reach Sea World which is located just on the outskirts of San Diego. Sea World was a nice place though I preferred Universal Studios. Sea World is more of animal shows than an aquarium. Shows range from the world famous Shamu (killer whale) experience to the dolphins show to the sea otters perfor
mance. Each of these performances were unique and worth appreciating. The efforts put down by the employees of sea world in training the animals were commendable. Other than this we took a roller coaster ride in “Lost in Atlantis” and saw another 4D show and the “Haunted Lighthouse”. We even took a trolley ride (my first) in the Sea world. In the evening we had dinner at Baja Fresh near Ravi’s place. In the night we took a trip of USC21st Nov San Jose trip (Actors: Nahush, Shobhit, Aniket)
In the morning we rented a car (17k mile driven Chrysler Town and Country). This car (or should I say minivan) could accommodate 8 people. We first picked up Aniket (my GPR buddy) from Artesia. He had come there for some personal work. Instead of going to San Jose (he stays in Milpitas which is 5 mins drive from SJ) through the more common 5N freeway, we took a different but more scenic, picturesque freeway (combination of 1N and 101N). This freeway 1N runs parallel to the Pacific coast and passes through Malibu (one of the most expensive places in USA and where many of the Hollywood stars reside), Pepperdine University (most picturesque univ in USA as it overlooks the pacific ocean and Malibu). This was really a wonderful drive and we enjoyed every bit of it. For lunch we stopped at Santa Barbara and whoa what a town. Looked completely different from the typical American town. Looked more like an European town (though haven’t seen a European town yet). Now I am clearly disappointed on not getting an admit in UCSB (U.Cal Santa Barbara). From then on, we made a stop at Solvang (a Danish town). This was quite a nice place. We reached Milpitas around 10 in the night
22nd Nov: Lake Tahoe drive (Actors: Nahush, Shobhit)
Woke at around 6:30 in the morning. We had to go to Tahoe which was around 250 miles from Milpitas. We left Milpitas at around 7:45 and reached Tahoe at 12 noon. Unfortunately, the trolley ride (which takes you to the top a mountain which overlooks the entire Tahoe lake) was closed. We were disappointed because of this. However we decided to go down to the lake, take some snaps and do some trekking (such a bad idea). The water in the lake was crystal clear and chilly. It was mentioned that at a particular location in the lake one can see 67 ft below the water level. We also enjoyed walking in the woods. The entire region around Tahoe lake is such a beautiful place that I would recommend everyone going to the Bay area to visit this place. The drive around the lake is a bit scary with some steep slopes and winding turns. The maximum speed limit at most of the places is a mere 10 mph. We came back to Milpitas by around 10 in the night
23rd Nov: Back to LA (Actor: Nahush, Shobhit, Aniket)
This day we (myself and Shobhit) started early at about 8 in the morning and headed directly to San Francisco. Actually we had been to SF the other day but it was pretty late and we couldn’t see anything. The first tourist spot that we covered in SF was the Lombard Street (crooked street). It is the most crooked street in USA. In order to reach the crooked street, we had to drive the car on an elevation/slope of 20-30 degree. At the upper end of the slope there was a stop sign. It is so difficult to stop a car at such a spot. The crooked street was really nice. Then we went to the Golden Gate. I do not know why this gate is famous. It was nothing special. I preferred the Brooklyn Bridge in NY over this one. Anyway, we stopped there only for taking snaps and returned back. Then we headed to Stanford in Palo Alto, which is around 30 miles from SF. The university was a cool, quite place. Being the holiday season, we couldn’t see many people in the campus. The campus has some splendid buildings (maybe it was Greek architecture) and statues. We reached Milpitas at around 1 in the afternoon and left for Los Angeles (picked up Aniket) at around 3:15. We had plans of going to the Mystery spot (only place in the world were there is no gravity) and the Monterey beach (picturesque place full of golf courses and a 17 mile scenic drive). However the holiday traffic did not favor us and we had to abandon the plans. Hence we headed straight to LA though made a small pit stop at Santa Barbara again for an ice-cream break. We reached LA at around 12 in the night after picking up Alok(another VJTI cum Infy buddy) from Long Beach airport. By this time Prashant (Infy buddy) and Arshad(VJTI cum Infy buddy) had already gathered at Ravi’s place
24th Nov: Grand Canyon (Actors: Nahush, Shobhit, Ravi, Arshad, Alok, Aniket, Prashant)
Early morning at 2:30 am, all 7 of us left for Grand Canyon. It was close to 8 hr drive. So we had to switch drivers after every 2 hrs. Ravi, Shobhit, Alok and myself got a chance to drive the car to GC. The other 3 folks were busy sleeping in the car. Inspite of this overnight journey, none of us was tired and were still excited about the GC trip. We first reached Williams where we had our breakfast at Denny’s. After that we headed directly to Grand Canyon.
We reached there at around 11. Grand Canyon is truly a nice tourist spot. It is a deep, colorful gorge formed due to the Colorado river. The view from Grand Canyon is breathtaking. We did some trailing on the rim of the Canyon. By 4:30 we were all exhausted because of the trail walk and chilly winds blowing. We decided to return back to our hotel in Williams (Fairfield Inn). After reaching hotel at around 6:30 in the evening, we again went to Denny’s for dinner. We retired to bed early that day (by 10 pm)25th Nov: Las Vegas (Actors: all 7)
The California trip remains incomplete without going to Las Vegas in the neighboring state Nevada. In the morning we headed towards Las Vegas. En route we got a chance to see the Hoover dam. Dunno why this place is famous. It was nothing special. We didn’t even get out from our car. In the meantime, our entire car trip was filled with great Mp3 songs. Moreover Aniket (anda as he is called) had bought his laptop also. So we got a chance to see many movies (Rangeela, Naram Garam, Chupke Chupke) and several of the Great Indian laughter challenge shows. Moreover everyone was also busy pulling each other’s leg though Prashant and Shobhit were the ones who were most teased. We reached Las Vegas by 2 in the afternoon. After checking into the hotel, we directly went to the Las Vegas Strip which is one of the most happening streets in USA. The entire strip is filled with innumerable casinos.. Mandalay Bay, Luxor (Egyptian architecture alongwith the Sphinx), New York - New York (Famous monuments of New york recreated), MGM Grand, Bellagio (the climax of Ocean’s eleven was shot near the fountain of this casino), Paris(famous monuments of Paris is recreated), Venetian(the casino has a look of Venice with even Gondola ride available), Circus Circus, Treasure Island, Mirage, Stardust, Wynns, Stratosphere. The list is endless. We didn’t even get a chance to visit all the casino. Our entire evening went in visiting some of these casinos and trying our hand at some slot machine and table games. I was fortunate to win 20 bucks that day
26th Nov: Las Vegas (Actors: all 7 of us)
Next day again we went for some sight seeing. This time we chose Stratosphere. It is the tallest building in Las Vegas (observation deck is on the 106th floor). Stratosphere is famous for its 4 rides which are on its 106th floor. It did not have courage to take these rides. However my other friends bought the tickets for the ride. However when we reached up, we found out that the rides were closed due to heavy winds. Dejected, we all went back to New York New York casino to play for some time. This time I managed to win 40 bucks. The Vegas trip proved to be lucky for me. We left for LA at around 7 in the evening. Reached there by 11. Had a dinner at Jerry’s and went back to Ravi’s place
27th Nov: Back home (sob sob)
Had to get up at 5 in the morning grrrrrr…..flight was at 7:30. I reached Chicago at around 1:30.
Finally one of my most wonderful trip came to an end…..wish I keep on having such trips once a year.
Some stats for the trip:
Total miles driven: close to 3500 miles
Total size of snaps taken: 1.4 GB
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
2005: Best Films
As the year comes to an end, I would like to list some of the memorable movies of this year. 2005 saw a lot of hit films (more than any of the last 5-6 years) spanning from comedy(No Entry), tragedy(Black), remakes(Parineeta), emotional(Waqt), romantic love story(Salaam Namaste), suspense(Kaal), action (Dus), off-beat (Page 3), sports(Iqbal).
Well here is my list (not in order)
My Brother Nikhil: Easily my best film of the year. Handled the AIDS and gay issue sensitively. Juhi and Sanjay Suri were at their best. These actors truly deserve a National award for their performances. Even the song ‘Le Chale’ is mesmerizing. However its to disappointing to see that this film went unnoticed.
Sarkar: Excellent film on the lines of Godfather (though haven’t seen it). This Ramu film completely matched (though was not able to overtake) his previous gangwar movies like Satya and Company. Abhishek Bachchan was a revelation as Shankar Nagre. Amitabh as usual was brilliant.
Black: Best Amitabh performance till date. Even Rani acted very well though I liked the acting of Ayesha (baby Rani) more. Shernaz Patel (especially her speech at the end) was mind-blowing. Overall a nice movie with great performances. This film will definitely gather some of the most popular Filmfare awards (maybe Best Actor, Actress, Film and Director) though it will face stiff competition with the likes of Iqbal
Iqbal: Truly an underdog movie. Shows how everything is achievable through sheer determination. Shweta Prasad acted really well in this movie. Nagesh Kukunoor once again turned up with an ace. He is turning out to be a great director after a series of critically acclaimed films (Hyderabad Blues, Teen Deewarein, Iqbal)
Waqt: Nice movie depicting father-son relationship. Akshay acted really well in this movie. The comic sequences between Rajpal Yadav and Boman Irani were hilarious.
Paheli: Sweet film set in the backdrops of Rajasthan. After a long time Shahrukh was seen in a different role (which was truly hatke from his routine Yashraj stuff). Rani also looked good in the movie though her character was a bit restrained. The story (a Rajasthani folktale) too was different from what is churned out in Bollywood everyday.
Main meri patni aur woh: There is only one word to describe this film:cute. Rajapal yadav, KK and Rituperna were perfect casting for this role. The songs were even more beautiful especially the highly underrated romantic number “Doob Jaane re” and the ghazal “Guncha koi(unplugged)”
Parineeta: What a debut for Vidya Balan. She played the role of Lolita to a T. Saif was also brilliant in this film and this film showed his wide range of emotions (the other film in which Saif acted really well was Ek Hasina Thi). The songs of Parineeta are among the best of these years and bring back memories of 1942: A Love Story
Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya: A typical David Dhawan comedy film in the lines of Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Haseena Maan Jaayegi et al. The performances in the film were ok but the movie was thoroughly enjoyable.
No Entry: Biggest hit of the year. A laugh riot which had some decent performances from Anil, Fardeen and Salman.
There were some other nice films also which did not figure in my top 10 list like Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi, Socha Na Tha, Salaam Namaste, Yahaan but were worth mentioning. I haven't seen Bluffmaster, Apharan and Deewane Huye Paagal yet and they may change my Top 10 list.
Watch out this space for my favourite songs of 2005.
Well here is my list (not in order)
My Brother Nikhil: Easily my best film of the year. Handled the AIDS and gay issue sensitively. Juhi and Sanjay Suri were at their best. These actors truly deserve a National award for their performances. Even the song ‘Le Chale’ is mesmerizing. However its to disappointing to see that this film went unnoticed.
Sarkar: Excellent film on the lines of Godfather (though haven’t seen it). This Ramu film completely matched (though was not able to overtake) his previous gangwar movies like Satya and Company. Abhishek Bachchan was a revelation as Shankar Nagre. Amitabh as usual was brilliant.
Black: Best Amitabh performance till date. Even Rani acted very well though I liked the acting of Ayesha (baby Rani) more. Shernaz Patel (especially her speech at the end) was mind-blowing. Overall a nice movie with great performances. This film will definitely gather some of the most popular Filmfare awards (maybe Best Actor, Actress, Film and Director) though it will face stiff competition with the likes of Iqbal
Iqbal: Truly an underdog movie. Shows how everything is achievable through sheer determination. Shweta Prasad acted really well in this movie. Nagesh Kukunoor once again turned up with an ace. He is turning out to be a great director after a series of critically acclaimed films (Hyderabad Blues, Teen Deewarein, Iqbal)
Waqt: Nice movie depicting father-son relationship. Akshay acted really well in this movie. The comic sequences between Rajpal Yadav and Boman Irani were hilarious.
Paheli: Sweet film set in the backdrops of Rajasthan. After a long time Shahrukh was seen in a different role (which was truly hatke from his routine Yashraj stuff). Rani also looked good in the movie though her character was a bit restrained. The story (a Rajasthani folktale) too was different from what is churned out in Bollywood everyday.
Main meri patni aur woh: There is only one word to describe this film:cute. Rajapal yadav, KK and Rituperna were perfect casting for this role. The songs were even more beautiful especially the highly underrated romantic number “Doob Jaane re” and the ghazal “Guncha koi(unplugged)”
Parineeta: What a debut for Vidya Balan. She played the role of Lolita to a T. Saif was also brilliant in this film and this film showed his wide range of emotions (the other film in which Saif acted really well was Ek Hasina Thi). The songs of Parineeta are among the best of these years and bring back memories of 1942: A Love Story
Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya: A typical David Dhawan comedy film in the lines of Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Haseena Maan Jaayegi et al. The performances in the film were ok but the movie was thoroughly enjoyable.
No Entry: Biggest hit of the year. A laugh riot which had some decent performances from Anil, Fardeen and Salman.
There were some other nice films also which did not figure in my top 10 list like Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi, Socha Na Tha, Salaam Namaste, Yahaan but were worth mentioning. I haven't seen Bluffmaster, Apharan and Deewane Huye Paagal yet and they may change my Top 10 list.
Watch out this space for my favourite songs of 2005.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Nach Baliye wave
I have followed this game show since Day one. I know that this is a copy of the American show 'Dance with the Stars'. However I was in complete awe with this celebrity dance show. Bringing together celebrity from TV and films for a dance show was exciting. There were some great celebrity dance couples ( in that order)
1) Varun-Raageshwari
2) Sachin-Supriya
3) Apurva-Shilpa
4) Archana-Parmeet
5) Manish-Poonam
Surprisingly my favourite (maybe the favourite of the judges Saroj, Farhan and Malaika also) Varun-Raageshwari lost in the semis. That was a complete shocker. Everyone expected a Sachin-Varun showdown in the final but Varun went blank in the semis and they lost the semis. Varun-Raageshwari's performances on the Half ticket song and Banda yeh bindaas hai (Aks) was simply great.
Sachin-Supriya were great in Dhagali Lagli, Chale jaise hawayein(Main Hoon Na) and chod do aanchal song. They were my second favourite. They were pitted against Manish-Poonam and it was a cakewalk for them.
I am waiting now for Nach Baliye Part 2.
1) Varun-Raageshwari
2) Sachin-Supriya
3) Apurva-Shilpa
4) Archana-Parmeet
5) Manish-Poonam
Surprisingly my favourite (maybe the favourite of the judges Saroj, Farhan and Malaika also) Varun-Raageshwari lost in the semis. That was a complete shocker. Everyone expected a Sachin-Varun showdown in the final but Varun went blank in the semis and they lost the semis. Varun-Raageshwari's performances on the Half ticket song and Banda yeh bindaas hai (Aks) was simply great.
Sachin-Supriya were great in Dhagali Lagli, Chale jaise hawayein(Main Hoon Na) and chod do aanchal song. They were my second favourite. They were pitted against Manish-Poonam and it was a cakewalk for them.
I am waiting now for Nach Baliye Part 2.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Third time lucky!!!!
this is the third site on which i m blogging.....
I started off with rediffblogs (http://napsy.rediffblogs.com)... did a quite bit of blogging on this site for almost 2 years....however found it difficult to post messages there....so switched over to MSN spaces (http://spaces.msn.com/members/nahush92) ...however one drawback of this site is that one has to be a member to put comments in your blog.....
lets see how blogger turns out to be.....
I started off with rediffblogs (http://napsy.rediffblogs.com)... did a quite bit of blogging on this site for almost 2 years....however found it difficult to post messages there....so switched over to MSN spaces (http://spaces.msn.com/members/nahush92) ...however one drawback of this site is that one has to be a member to put comments in your blog.....
lets see how blogger turns out to be.....
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