Down memory lane....

I saw this Vespa in Sainsbury's yesterday. It took me back 20 years when I had a similar scooter – almost identical model in cream colour. It also reminded me that a lot of my friends had a similar Vespa/Bajaj, which was the main mode of conveyance in our college days. I still remember the registration number of mine – RSZ 7701. I request you – if you come across this blog, to leave the registration number and colour of your scooty please…

CONfidence

Saw another good gangster movie on Sunday – Confidence.

Jake is a grifter who unknowingly steals from a big fish – the King. When one of the friends involved is killed, Jake walks in to make peace with the King, only to be tasked with the biggest con of his life. With no other way to make good King's loss, he accepts…

Dustin Hoffman, Edward Burns & Rachel Weisz play the lead characters

Fantastic thriller

Rating: ****
Click here for teaser

21

First of all, I am excited that we watched two movies in one night at the theatre. The first one was 21. Inspired by the book - Bringing down the house by Ben Mezrich, which is based on the true story of six MIT students who took Vegas for millions by counting cards.

An amazing book and the inspired movie was no less - though I admit, I am not sure if there was a reason why they couldn't make the movie based on (and not inspired by) the book. Good performances by Kevin Spacey & Jim Sturgess. A must watch movie...

The other movie of the evening; Krazzy 4 - the less said about it the better.

Rating ****

Click here for teaser

The Bank Job

The movie is based on a real 1971 London bank robbery at Lloyds Bank, Baker Street, which was instigated by a few MI5 officials to recover compromising photographs of a certain female member of the Royal family. Like all operations, after the robbery, it goes out of control with the local police, the MI5, the corrupt police officials and local porn-club owner (a club ledger containing the corruption records of local police also goes missing from one of the lockers) looking for the culprits. The culprits soon realise that they have got more than just money…and understand the plot and involvement of one of their team members. They quickly turn it around to negotiate a 'no prosecution' agreement with MI5 and get the corrupt police officers & club owner arrested.

An estimated £4m went missing from the locker (more than the great train robbery) but a lot of people did not come forward to report their loss. Surprising?

An amazing film. A must watch.

*****

Click here for a teaser.

GM Diet: It really works...and I am not paid to write this!

There are various theories of why it is called "GM Diet" - some say it was designed for executives of General Motors; some call it a"Genetically Modified" diet.

The truth is: IT WORKS.

Nidhi & I have tried it a few times now and it works everytime - though I admit the laws of dimnishing returns do come in. But, it actually gives you a kick-start to lose weight and you can always follow it up with excerise/healthy eating. It's a seven day diet program which goes as follows:
Day 1: You eat only fruits. As many you want, but no bananas
Day 2: You start with a medium size baked potato with a little butter. The rest of the day you can eat all the vegitables you want, but no potatoes
Day3: You can have all the fruits and vegitables you want with the exception of bananas and potatoes
Day4: You can have up to 8 bananas and 3 glasses of milk. You can supplement the same with a vegitable soup (no sugar please)
Day 5: Have some meat (e.g. sausages, steak, grilled chicken) and 8 tomatoes
Day 6: Have a feast - all the meat and vegitables, but no potatoes
Day 7: You can have brown rice and vegitables, but no potatoes

On all 7 days, have plenty of water (recommended: 8-10 glasses) and weight yourself on the 8th day.

Jodhaa Akbar

How much can one falsify facts and still try to sell a story as a piece of (Indian) history? I am no historian, but it doesn't need one to see through the mega distortion of it in the movie and I am not talking about the controversy doing rounds in India about Jodha's real name. The garble extends even to the culture and customs of the time.

The movie fails on almost all accounts - weak storyline, mediocre acting, average direction and poor research (I am happy they got the name Akbar right). Full marks to the sets, locations, photography and costumes - if that can keep you awake for 223 minutes, go for it....zzz....

The Departed

Two cops: One is a mafia rat in the police force, other's a police rat in the mafia. One helps the police to close-in and the other helps the mafia to get away... fantastic thriller.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Jack Nicholson star in this 2006 Academy Award winning movie.

*****

Click here for the teaser

Better late than never....

I admit, I have discovered Andrea Bocelli almost a decade after he made it on the international scene. Hence, the clichéd title to this blog. Céline Dion introduced him to America with "If God had a singing voice, he would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli." I couldn't have come up with a better introduction, even if I tried.

Most of his music is in Italian (Music doesn't have a language – apologies for another cliché) but he's done some in English. The music is brilliant and the voice - divine. So, to experience heaven in your living room, pour yourself a glass of red, put on Vivere and sink into your sofa…

Click here for a sound/video clip

Bobby Fischer (1943 - 2008)

Robert (Bobby) Fischer - the greatest chess player of all times, died last week. He was a grandmaster at 15 and went on to win 20 consecutive championship level titles between 1968-71. He can truly be described as the eccentric genius, with chess being his sole passion in life - he had chess boards set up beside each bed in his Brooklyn house, ignoring everything outside to compete with himself. Never married, he did not do any other job but dedicate himself to the black and white board. He was the only American grandmaster but unfortunately after having played a game in Yugoslavia, he had to take asylum in Iceland, where he passed away.

Not known for his political correctness, he claimed most of the championship games were pre-arranged and went on to invent a new version - Fischer Random, where the back pieces are lined up by a computer generated program. I admit, I have never played this version, though I am a lilliputian-master in orthodox chess.

Car of the Year 2008

I am sure everyone knows by now that the Fiat 500 has won the Car of the Year 2008. It isn't easy re-launching an icon – much less winning a prestigious award as this (Neither the new Beetle or Mini got one). But this blog is not about the car itself.

I requested a brochure which was promptly delivered. I am not exaggerating when I say that it is one of the most ''interactive'' pieces (of print) I have ever got my hands on. I have seen classier/glossier and more premium brochures and DM from the Cartier's and Jaguars, but never this interactive. It let's you play with the wheels, colour combinations, stickers etc… I am sure the cost of the piece is significantly higher than other similar product brochures, but it does its job brilliantly. It has prompted me to book myself for a test drive as soon as it is available in London.

And that is exactly any DM/brochure is designed to do – salesmanship in print. Whether I buy the car or not, depends on the product and service, not on the marketing piece.

OGX 874E: Vish Dhamija's MG Midget

Yesterday was a good day - bright & sunny...so we picked up our Midget from Newgate and brought her home. Here are the pictures; I am sure you'll appreciate that she's quite photogenic...

She' now resting in the garage after the 40 miles run...

Morocco (Dec18 - 24, 2007)

Being married for many years now – I am quite used to the idea of being told where we're going for a vacation. Don't take me wrong – I do get consulted sometimes – though my views can be vetoed as they were this time and we went to Morocco in December.

The BA flight was a stopover in Casablanca which came as a surprise to me and Nidhi (my wife) – had we known that, we would have spent a couple of days there. We reached Marrakech late in the evening – but it was a disappointment even in the dark. The dingy by lanes in the old Kasbah district looks like a poor man's Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi. Thankfully, we were booked in Riad Alma (http://www.riadalma.com/) – a family owned Riad which takes care of everything from airport pick-up to meals to restaurant bookings to tourist guide to personal tours to in-house spa… It was our oasis (literally) for which I cannot thank Pierre (owner of Riad Alma) enough.

We had a guided tour to the Souk. Ignoring all the warnings, Nidhi bought a woollen hand-woven runner (Kilim) after bargaining hard. (It now adorns our dining room)

Pierre arranged for a cab to drive us to Essaouira – which is a coastal town. A must, if you go to Morocco. We were booked in La Maison De Artists, which was sold to us as a sea-view room and which was the only good thing about it. The place has not been cleaned for years – avoid it at any cost. That aside, the town is simply beautiful and the people are perfect hosts. If you are fond of food, do not miss Le Mechouar. It serves some seriously good French food. The town is quite picturesque with ramparts over the Atlantic; coloured doors on shops & houses and coffee shops where one can sit and read for hours.

We were back in Marrakech after two days and decided to take the tour to the Atlas Mountains.

The return journey was a nightmare. The flight was delayed by 6 hours with no BA staff to manage the chaos. My luggage got lost and reached me after 3 days. I came back with a sore throat and needed rest (after the holiday)

I know where I am going for a vacation this year – I have already recommended NY to my dear wife. No more exotic places for me please.

Heat (1995)

"Do not allow anything into your life which you cannot walk out on in thirty seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner."

Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and the rest. One's a cop, one's a convict - outwitting each other.

Fantastic. Gripping - till the very end.

Rating: ****

Click here to see the trailer

Sholay producer GP Sippy dies...

If one was to ask a 100 Indians to name one Bollywood film amongst the millions released in the last 80 years or so, one name will dominate the poll – Sholay.

The movie was released in 1975 – and no one knew then how big a legend was being born. Everything in the movie came together perfectly. It broke all previous records and in real terms no Bollywood movie has ever come close in over 30 years.

Numerous movies still have references to the characters, dialogues and scenes of the movie. I am one of the die-hard fans who has an original 1975 poster of the movie adorning a wall in my house.

I recently saw the re-make of Sholay - RGV Ki Aag. All I can hope is that GP Sippy did not see it. I sincerely request all Sholay fans to avoid the same at all costs.

Rating: *****+

Click here for teasers:
One
Two
Three

Finally (still fingers crossed...)

I was a bit harsh on Allen Carr three months ago when I claimed that their therapy did not work. It certainly did - though it had a delayed reaction (on me). I did smoke for another day before I kicked the addiction in September.

It's been three months now and I have not smoked a single cigarette (or cigar or pipe or...). The fact that smoking has been totally banned in England in bars, pubs & restaurants helps.

On a recent trip to Morocco - I had everyone smoking around me in enclosed places (there is no smoking ban there), but I did not feel the need to light up at all.

I have succeeded, this time (I think). So for all those who really want to quit smoking, may I recommend the Allen Carr method. If it is not available in your country, please read the book. It helps.

10 years later....

We owned our first classic car in Chennai, India. It was a Morris 8 (1948 model), but due to our move to Mumbai (then Bombay), we had to sell it in 1997.

10 years later, we will soon be owners of the blue MG Midget (1967 model). We will be getting the delivery of the car after Christmas... I will post more pictures once we get it home in London...

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

Amazing speech...

...and the Oscar for the best orginal script of 2007 goes to...

..The Darwin Conspiracy.

If I had read this in a fiction, I would not shunned it as too imaginative.

"March 2002: A man vanished in the sea and his canoe was found after weeks of police search. As the body wasn't found an inquest declared him dead in 2003. His wife claimed insurance.

Nov 2007: The man (John Darwin) walked into a London police station and says: "I think I am a missing person" and claimed he does not remember anything after a family holiday since 2000 (A case of complete amnesia!) The police contacted his family, only to find that his wife (Anne) had sold off all their UK properties just 6 weeks back and emigrated to Panama.

As the story unfolded, the police discovered the whole fraud. It was planned from the very beginning - the vanishing, the insurance claims, the move to Panama....

Mr Darwin has been charged, while Mrs Darwin is still not back from Panama (she is selling her story to every tabloid in town before she gets arrested)

I am still not convinced that the story is complete...there is definitely more to it. Let's wait for Anne Darwin's arrest.

Click here for teaser
Script: **********

Does someone care what the consumer wants?

I own a Nokia N95 mobile phone, which is the the most technologically advanced phone I've ever had. It's a phone, a computer with wifi, a mp3 player, a 5mp camera with flash with a a memory card (available up to 8GB today).

As I mentioned in one of my blogs, I have a wifi network set up at home and I wanted my N95 to connect to the wifi network and access the hard drive (containing all my music files). But it would not access the external hard drive for some reason - either the two platforms are different or N95 does not behave like a host. Imagine if I could access my music library through my phone - my N95 would become a remote control for the whole music at home (see Picture)

May be I am imagining - but isn't it what every consumer would want?

Om Shanti Om

A wicked spoof on 70's Bollywood. To fully appreciate, you should have seen Bollywood movies of the 70's or you will not catch the satire. It has every possible masala you can imagine in a movie - romance, song & dance, reincarnation, action, comedy...

Shah Rukh Khan has done an amazing job. So has the newcomer Deepika.

Hat's off - making a spoof is easy, but to make it the biggest earner for Bollywood (of all times) is another thing.

Can I see it again? Of course, I WILL see it again...

*****

Click here for teaser