<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128</id><updated>2011-07-25T14:03:19.368-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Blue sky and the bright stars - Girish's Ramblings</title><subtitle type='html'>Totally directionless and incoherent writings, teachings, and work of yet another life form on this planet - Girish Nagasandra (Wonder if I am the most advanced life form.. Douglas Adams might disagree.. hmm..)</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>15</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-2067607347325865859</id><published>2010-02-20T11:02:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-03-01T09:43:49.050-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: My Name is Khan - Too emotional!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;“Mr. President, my name is Khan, and I’m not a terrorist”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The above statement pretty much sums up the movie.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rizwan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) is a very intelligent Muslim Indian immigrant living in the United States. He suffers from a rare disease called Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. He meets Mandira (Kajol), a beautician living in San Francisco. When he just settles down in life with her in a San Francisco suburb, he becomes victim to an act of hate-crime in the post 9/11 United States. Devastated by this experience, he follows the US President’s itinerary in a hope to meet him and tell him “Mr. President, my name is Khan, and I’m not a terrorist”. It is this journey that forms the back bone of the movie, with his flash backs and the challenges he faces along the road.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is probably one of the most emotional movies I’ve watched in my recent memory – too emotional to be called an entertainer! There are very strong emotional sequences when a challenged person has to undergo the atrocities of life, which almost makes you cry! Shah Rukh has performed decently well as an autistic person, but I guess he could not help but bring his lover-boy image (being a Karan Johar movie and all..) - which contradicts and leaves you in a confused state – is he an autistic person to pity for? Or a lover boy to dream about? Kajol is not very convincing in her role – as a single mom who decides to marry an autistic person. Though the character is powerful, the screenplay doesn’t give her much opportunity to showcase her acting talent. Being a Karan Johar movie, Shah Rukh dons bright and colorful clothes, even dances to catch tunes, and tries to lure those starry eyed youngsters – in spite of being an autistic person, which spoils the message of the movie. I think this movie is Karan Johar’s attempt to reproduce the magic of Forrest Gump, a simple challenged person achieving great success, but the movie has simply failed to even come close.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though the movie has a lot of promise, I think the movie utterly fails to deliver any of it. Unless you want to watch an emotional movie and cry a lot, you would be better off considering something more entertaining.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recommendations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;frequent&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don’t Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;moderate&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don’t Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;rare&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don’t Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-2067607347325865859?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/2067607347325865859/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=2067607347325865859' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/2067607347325865859'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/2067607347325865859'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2010/02/movie-review-my-name-is-khan-too.html' title='Movie Review: My Name is Khan - Too emotional!'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-399604448984738442</id><published>2010-01-20T09:24:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-20T09:26:36.029-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Book Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid - A comic genius!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;After reading some serious books like “Book of Life”, “The Selfish Gene”, “Monk who sold his Ferrari”, etc., I was on the lookout for a light and funny book, a book that makes me laugh and lifts my spirit. I saw the Wimpy Kid book on display at a local bookstore – the frontispiece looked quite promising, so I picked up the book to read. I am not an impulsive person, not by a long shot, but this was one impulsive decision that paid off handsomely!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This book, called a “novel in cartoons” is simply a journal of a fictional middle school kid named Greg Heffley. In his journal, Greg describes his exploits with some funny illustrations. The author, Jeff Kinney, started off this series as a comic strip on a website - in the form of individual journal entries. After the initial success, he took the individual entries and put them together in the book format. There are four books in this series, and I have listed them below, in descending order of my rating:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days&lt;br /&gt;Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw&lt;br /&gt;Diary of a Wimpy Kid&lt;br /&gt;Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Wimpy Kid books are one of the funniest books I’ve read in recent times. The books are mainly targeted for kids and teenagers, so they are very simple and easy to read. One of those books where you don’t have to think, but just read and laugh out loud! Another thing to note in this book is Greg Heffley’s character. If you read between the lines, you will notice that Greg always maintains a positive outlook towards life. Any time something doesn’t work out, which will be the case mostly, he will not be disappointed or discouraged. He just says “too bad” and moves on. He does not feel jealous or hateful or anything of the sort. Too bad he is just a cartoon character – only if we humans could emulate him!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you have a comic bent of mind, this book is a must-read. This simple “novel in cartoons” will have you rolling on the floor laughing! You may also learn a lesson –a lesson probably more powerful than the ones mentioned in “Monk who sold his Ferrari”!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-399604448984738442?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/399604448984738442/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=399604448984738442' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/399604448984738442'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/399604448984738442'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2010/01/book-review-diary-of-wimpy-kid-comic.html' title='Book Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid - A comic genius!'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-5994976793313243218</id><published>2010-01-18T22:41:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-18T22:49:25.387-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Book Review: Monk who sold his Ferrari - The usual platitudes!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;One of the highly recommended books, I wanted to read this book for over three years now. I read it half way through two years ago, and never got around to completing it. I finally blocked some time on a recent Sunday to read this book, and finished it in one sitting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This book belongs to the “self-help” genre, in which the author, Robin Sharma, provides a set of techniques to follow that will improve your quality of life – more purpose, more energy, more happiness, etc. When applied, these techniques are supposed to solve your life’s problems. The techniques are described with the help of a fable – in fact, two fables. In one fable, a hot-shot wealthy trial lawyer named Julian Mantle gives away all his material belongings, including his Ferrari, and sets off on a journey to the East – to find the mystic secrets of happy living. He meets a bunch of sages in the East, learns the secrets, and shares it with his friend back in the West. He explains these secrets through another fable. When I first started out reading this book, I was eagerly awaiting for the elusive elixir, but only to be disappointed in the end.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though the “fable” idea is pretty slick, the book has nothing but banality. There is no great technique that you don’t know about already – it is just that the stuff you know is explained to you in a slightly convincing fashion. Some of the stuff makes sense, though it appears entirely obvious (example - “Write down your goals”, “Wake up early in the morning”, etc.). The book has some contradictions as well – some things the author says in the beginning are contradicted by him in the latter part of the book (if you manage to connect the dots). I also felt that the author’s narrative style a bit redundant – he seems to me like a person with limited expressiveness trying to talk about a lot of things – and ends up talking about all of them in the same vein.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you have not read many “self-help” books, and are interested to read one, this may be a good read. If you have read some already, or are not interested in that genre, this book has very less to offer. You can read it to revisit some of the obvious techniques you might already know – but don’t expect to get any silver bullet out of this!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-5994976793313243218?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/5994976793313243218/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=5994976793313243218' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/5994976793313243218'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/5994976793313243218'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2010/01/book-review-monk-who-sold-his-ferrari.html' title='Book Review: Monk who sold his Ferrari - The usual platitudes!'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-1689819811739542995</id><published>2010-01-18T15:27:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-18T15:29:14.003-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: Chance pe Dance - An average fare!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;This movie was not on my to-watch list, but I saw this movie since there were no better ones to watch! I have always admired Shahid Kapoor’s dancing talent, so thought I could find out how he fared in this dance-centric movie.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sameer Behl (Shahid Kapoor) is a struggling actor with amazing talent looking for a break in Bollywood. In spite of his immense talent, he will find it extremely difficult to land a gig since he will have no money, no family in the movie industry, and no political connections. In his difficult journey he meets Tina Sharma (Genelia D’Souza), a struggling choreographer, who recognizes his talent and encourages him to realize his dream against all odds. The movie takes you through Sameer’s trials and tribulations in his chosen path, and his ultimate destiny.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The only crowd-puller for this movie was Shahid’s dancing talent. Though Shahid has done his best, the choreography is very poor. There is probably only one dance sequence in the movie where you watch Shahid and go “wow”. Everything else seems very ordinary. Shahid, for whatever reason, seems to be trying very hard to make it big after his break up with Kareena – maybe an ex-lover’s fued, and he has tried really hard in this movie too, but nobody else has supported him. Genelia is a complete misfit to the role – this girl can’t dance properly, act properly, or even talk properly – wonder how she is still surviving in the industry. She seemed cute and nice in her role in “Jaane Tu.. Ya Jaane Na”, and may be the success of that movie is carrying her still. The movie is fraught with illogical sequences (which is okay I guess, considering a Bollywood movie, but they kind of stand out in this movie).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I would not recommend anyone to watch this movie. Unless you an ardent fan of Shahid, and want to go see him dance (albeit to bad choreography), and drool at his six packs and broad chest, you are better of saving your time and money by passing this movie.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recommendations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;frequent&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don’t Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;moderate&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don’t Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;rare&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don’t Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-1689819811739542995?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/1689819811739542995/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=1689819811739542995' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/1689819811739542995'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/1689819811739542995'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2010/01/movie-review-chance-pe-dance-average.html' title='Movie Review: Chance pe Dance - An average fare!'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-9165303124083767248</id><published>2010-01-13T00:12:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-13T00:14:16.526-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Book Review: The Selfish Gene - A new perspective of the world around us!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;One of my college friends recommended this book a few years ago. I was intrigued by the concept of the book, so I bought it. For the past few years, this book had been just decorating my book shelf. I finally got around to reading it just last month, and this turned out to be one of the best books I’ve ever read!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This seminal book by Richard Dawkins, presents a new angle to the traditional Darwinian theory of evolution. While Darwin maintained that the individual, the organism, was the basic unit of natural selection, Dawkins presents a “gene centered evolution” angle. Dawkins argues that the basic unit of natural selection is not an organism, but the individual genes that make up the organism. In fact, he goes on to say that the individual bodies are instruments manufactured by the genes for their own survival! Dawkins provides various theories, case studies, examples, and analogies to prove this point – and they all make incredible sense!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This book is one of the top five books I’ve read in my life. Maybe partly due to my predilection towards genetics and evolution; an awe of the diversity, order, and balance of the various life forms in this world; or some reason I don’t know, I just loved this book. Dawkins provides very compelling theories for the origin of life on Earth, animal behavior patterns, co-habitation, mating habits, and things of that sort. Some of the principles he explains can be applied to so many real-world behavioral problems as well. Using these principles, you can explain some of the mysterious human behaviors, the reasons behind them, and what factors will bring about a balance in the system. The chapters are well organized, theories are well presented, and key points are articulated nicely. The only thing I didn’t like about the book is Dawkins’ condescending view of his opponents and rival theories. I felt that Dawkins does not provide due consideration and regard to the rival theories, and haughtily dismisses all of them. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;If you have even a slight inclination towards genetics, evolution, or general diversity of life, this is a book not to be missed. This book provides a convincing view of the origin of life, animal behaviors, genetic influence, and the role the “selfish gene” plays in the world at large. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-9165303124083767248?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/9165303124083767248/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=9165303124083767248' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/9165303124083767248'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/9165303124083767248'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2010/01/book-review-selfish-gene-new.html' title='Book Review: The Selfish Gene - A new perspective of the world around us!'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-7092044099926964496</id><published>2010-01-02T17:24:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-02T17:25:52.394-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: 3 Idiots - Aamir all the way!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;The annual Aamir’s flick for this year, 3 Idiots, was released on Dec-25, just in time for Christmas holidays. The movie is loosely based on Chetan Bhagat’s novel “Five point someone”. The script was written by the director himself, Rajkumar Hirani, and Chetan Bhagat has stamped his seal of approval on the script.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had been constantly intrigued by the posters and the trailers of this movie – and wanted to watch this as soon as I could. I went to this movie last weekend in a local movie hall – and walked out with a resolution to watch every Aaamir movie that gets released from now on!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3 Idiots is a story about three students of Imperial College of Engineering (ICE), a premier Engineering college in India (based on the IITs). Rancho (Aamir Khan) is a think-out-of-the-box kind of guy, who comes up with innovative solutions to all the problems of life. Raju (Sharman Joshi) comes from a poor family, is highly superstitious, and is determined to do really well in his studies. Farhaan (Madhavan) has been forced to major in Engineering by his parents for the promise of a better future, but his heart yearns for something else. The movie is about the college life of these three guys, the stress they go through these days, how each one deals with this stress, and finally find their calling in life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aaamir steals the show in this movie. He is very well supported by the rest of the cast – Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, and Madhavan. Aamir plays a character that is about 30 years younger than him – and he plays the character so well that you won’t even think for a moment how old Aamir really is! The movie has a strong message, albeit a cliché. The story keeps you interested throughout the movie. The movie is insanely funny – and you are guaranteed to laugh your guts out during the movie. In fact, I felt this movie was almost up there with “Andaz Apna Apna”! A lot of drama unfolds in the later part of the movie – in spite of being impractical, I think the drama has been well handled. The music score is pretty good too – thought it doesn’t boast of any runaway hits, the music score supports the plot well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3 Idiots is a movie not to be missed. Aamir seems to be doing one better in every new movie – and he has kept that up with this movie too. The movie is a laugh-riot, and is guaranteed to lift your spirits. If you have resolved to watch only one Bollywood movie this year, this one has to be it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recommendations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;frequent&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;moderate &lt;/strong&gt;movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;rare &lt;/strong&gt;movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-7092044099926964496?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/7092044099926964496/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=7092044099926964496' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/7092044099926964496'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/7092044099926964496'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2010/01/movie-review-3-idiots-aamir-all-way.html' title='Movie Review: 3 Idiots - Aamir all the way!'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-9222149842398790922</id><published>2010-01-01T19:29:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-02T17:26:13.841-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: Avatar - Visual Splendor!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;If you were given a chance to be reborn, with a fresh new body, a body that seems to have expunged all the deleterious effects of time, but with the same conscious you have now - a chance to start over all again, would you do anything different with your life? Isn’t that the concept of an avatar? – A brand new start with the same conscious?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, this isn’t the theme of the movie – these are just my philosophical musings based on the movie!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Pandora” is an Earth-like moon of a planet in the Alpha Centauri system. It is inhabited by the “Navi” people - human-like creatures with feline features (“Feline Humanoids” is my nomenclature for them). Pandora also supports many diverse life forms, much like our beloved Earth. Pandora has rich deposits of the mineral “Unobtainium” (talk about eponyms!), which is very valuable in Earth – so a group of earthlings – comprised of scientists, businessmen, and the armed forces form a base near Pandora, with the intention of exploiting Pandora for its rich natural resources. The scientists find a way to genetically engineer Navi bodies using human DNA. A human whose DNA matches with this genetically engineered body can enter this body while his human body sleeps. So the human will get a new Navi body with the existing human conscious – a new avatar of the human mind, in a fresh new body. Scientists plan to use these avatars to learn about the Navi people and exploit them. The story revolves around the Navi body of a handicapped marine called Jake Sully, and his forays in Pandora.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This half-a-billion dollar movie does live up to its expectations. The director, James Cameron, has not cut any corners in displaying the visual spectacle of Pandora. In spite of being a totally separate celestial body from Earth, Pandora supports much of the Earth-like life forms – plants, reptiles, insects, dinosaurs, humanoids, etc. Makes me wonder if Darwinian principles of evolution and natural selection hold good in any part of the universe! The animation is excellent. James Cameron has used the latest in technology to make Pandora look “realistic” – and it does. Latest “stereoscopic” motion picture cameras were used to make the 3D images look realistic. Don’t expect any out-of-the-world 3D experience though (like snakes crawling into your clothes, etc.). The story is a bit weak, rather nothing great (ironic, coming from the director of “Titanic”), but the visual effects more than make up for the story. The director specifically chose rather unknown actors to keep the cost low – and the rookie cast has risen to the occasion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Avatar is a movie not to be missed. The amazing special effects, the novel concept, and sheer Cameron magic will leave you content in the end.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recommendations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;frequent&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;moderate&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;rare&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-9222149842398790922?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/9222149842398790922/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=9222149842398790922' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/9222149842398790922'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/9222149842398790922'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2010/01/movie-review-avatar-visual-splendor.html' title='Movie Review: Avatar - Visual Splendor!'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-2198835368438083213</id><published>2009-12-21T00:02:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-12-21T00:03:48.133-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: Up In The Air - Travel light in the journey of life!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;How would you feel if your entire life is packed in a backpack? All the stuff you own – from the little things in your medicine cabinet to the big things like your TV, furniture, etc; your relationships from casual acquaintances to your closest ones. Won’t you feel that your backpack is heavy? Don’t you think this will slow you down in your journey of life?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a jet-setter, whose job requires him to travel all the time. Last year he spent 300 days on the road. He does not believe in anything that slows him down – he owns a storage locker instead of an apartment, no relationships, and keeps his family at a distance. Enter two women – Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a new hire in his office who accompanies him in one of his journeys to learn the tricks of the trade; and Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) another jet-setter whom he meets in one of his stopovers – and Ryan begins to rethink his priorities in life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;George Clooney takes the cake again for a great performance. You have to see the way he packs and zips through the airport procedures – quite fascinating! Anna Kendrick is very convincing in her role too – as a confident young career woman with immense talent and drive, yet vulnerable to the blows that life deals. The story is quite gripping – and will keep you interested till the end. All of us in the dog-eats-dog corporate world will easily relate to the tone of the movie.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though I don’t think the movie deserves the high ratings it has (91% on Rotten Tomatoes, 8.3/10 IMDB), the novel plot, great performances, and sheer Clooney-charm will not leave you disappointed when you leave the movie hall.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recommendations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;frequent&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;moderate&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;rare&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don't Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-2198835368438083213?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/2198835368438083213/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=2198835368438083213' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/2198835368438083213'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/2198835368438083213'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2009/12/movie-review-up-in-air-travel-light-in.html' title='Movie Review: Up In The Air - Travel light in the journey of life!'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-9042771411335476573</id><published>2009-12-15T23:37:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-12-15T23:42:34.111-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: Rocket Singh - Aren't we sick of salesmen already?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;“Do you have shixty seconds? Only shixty seconds?”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is how the trailer of this movie starts – and a pretty well made trailer too, in my opinion. The trailer made me feel that this would be a different type of movie – and I wanted to watch this movie. I watched this movie last weekend, and the movie didn’t quite live up to my expectations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Harpreet Singh Bedi, aka Rocket Singh (“Ranbir Kapoor”) is a recent graduate, who has just barely made it through the academia. He wants to give a shot at becoming a salesman, as he thinks he has the right qualities to become a successful salesman. He gets a job as a trainee salesman, and gets exposed to the non-ethical ways in which sales deals are made. He gets angered at this practice, and the rest of the movie has the story of his steps to “cleanse” the business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though I thought Ranbir has done well, the movie fails miserably. The story-line is very weak, and the music score is terrible. The title song, “Pocket mein rocket” does not even exist in the movie! Rocket Singh’s attempts at cleansing the business seem too impractical, even for a Bollywood movie. I found it very difficult to spend two hours in this movie – I was always hoping that the movie would end soon!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The movie is a let down, and I don’t recommend you to even consider watching this. Though there are some funny bits, the movie fails completely as a whole. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recommendations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;frequent&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don't Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;moderate&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don't Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;rare&lt;/strong&gt; movie-goers: &lt;strong&gt;Don't Recommend&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-9042771411335476573?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/9042771411335476573/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=9042771411335476573' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/9042771411335476573'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/9042771411335476573'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2009/12/movie-review-rocket-singh-arent-we-sick.html' title='Movie Review: Rocket Singh - Aren&apos;t we sick of salesmen already?'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-3839457933878187136</id><published>2009-12-13T23:09:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-12-13T23:14:41.334-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: Wake Up Sid - Don't we all love those carefree days?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;I had been glancing at the posters of this movie for a while before the movie's release - and I should say that I used to find the posters quite inviting. I saw this movie the first chance I got, and I wasn't disappointed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Siddarth "Sid" Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor) is a rich spoilt brat with a lavish upbringing, who doesn't take life seriously. He is in his final year of college, and has no clue about what to do in his life. He meets Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma) at a party. Aisha is an independent, self-made woman who has just landed in Mumbai from Kolkata looking for an editing job. Sid graciously plays the host to the out-of-towner and helps her settle down. What follows is a clash of personalities, how they positively influence each other, and realize their feelings for each other in the process.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The movie is well made with good performances by Ranbir and Konkona Sen. Its a light, simple, romantic-comedy movie with no frills attached (No car chases, no item numbers, etc.). Ranbir fits the role like a glove - he probably had to just play himself! His wardrobe is something to watch out for - with the toon-themed T-shirts and the goofy socks. This is the first commercially successful mainstream movie of Konkona (in a lead role) - she has done well and fits the role too. Karan Johar should have been bold to cast a young chocolate-boy hero against a mature art-movie heroine - and the risk seems to have paid off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The movie delivers exactly what it promises - A simple, light, fun-filled story that keeps you engaged.  You will find the story of a carefree young boy's life experiences that transforms him to a responsible adult with a purpose in life quite exhilarating and refreshing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Recommendations&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;b&gt;frequent&lt;/b&gt; movie-goers: &lt;b&gt;Recommend&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;b&gt;moderate&lt;/b&gt; movie-goers: &lt;b&gt;Recommend&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;For &lt;b&gt;rare&lt;/b&gt; movie-goers: &lt;b&gt;Don't Recommend&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-3839457933878187136?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/3839457933878187136/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=3839457933878187136' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/3839457933878187136'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/3839457933878187136'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2009/12/movie-review-wake-up-sid-dont-we-all.html' title='Movie Review: Wake Up Sid - Don&apos;t we all love those carefree days?'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-4443287985226054474</id><published>2009-12-13T21:52:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-12-13T22:04:43.245-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: Kurbaan - Terrorism, bollywood-style</title><content type='html'>This much awaited Karan Johar movie starring the real life couple "Saifeena" was released last month. Being an avid movie goer, I saw this movie the same week it was released in the local movie hall.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan) meets Avantika Ahuja (Kareena Kapoor) in a college where they both work as lecturers. In the traditional Karan Johar way, they fall madly in love with each other. Avantika would be a visiting lecturer from a US university, whereas the college earns Ehsaan's daily bread. In a not-so-surprising turn of events, Avantika gets a call from her US boss asking her to return. Ehsaan, being a long-distance-relationship-skeptic, marries Avantika and moves to US with her. What follows is a "surprising" turn of events that involve terrorism, hatred, blood &amp;amp; gore, and some steamy saifeena scenes&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;The movie falls well short of its expectations. The only saving grace is Saif and Kareena's performance. Their on-screen chemistry is very good till they settle down in US, and once they do, they look as if they are forced to stay on the screen together. The supposedly "steamy" scenes between Saif &amp;amp; Kareena fail to raise any steam.. Saif's "wardrobe consultant" has done a good job, and his costumes are something to look out for. The whole movie is spun around the strong angst &amp;amp; hatred of the muslim community for the post 9/11 crackdown.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;The only crowd-puller for this movie was the hype around the on-screen pairing of the real-life couple of Saif &amp;amp; Kareena. The movie does not live up to the hype, and is full of angst, hatred, &amp;amp; violence.Unless you are dying to see how "Saifeena" fare on screen, you might as well pass this movie.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Recommendations&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;b&gt;frequent&lt;/b&gt; movie-goers: &lt;b&gt;Recommend&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;b&gt;moderate&lt;/b&gt; movie-goers: &lt;b&gt;Don't Recommend&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For &lt;b&gt;rare&lt;/b&gt; movie-goers: &lt;b&gt;Don't Recommend&lt;/b&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-4443287985226054474?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/4443287985226054474/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=4443287985226054474' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/4443287985226054474'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/4443287985226054474'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2009/12/movie-review-kurbaan-terrorism.html' title='Movie Review: Kurbaan - Terrorism, bollywood-style'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-7576701053170269653</id><published>2009-12-07T23:58:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-02T22:37:23.577-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: De Dana Dan - Things gone awry</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;I wanted to watch it for the last couple of weeks, but finally got to it only last weekend. The film is directed by Priyadarshan, and boasts of the impressive star cast from "hera pheri" and "phir hera pheri"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The movie is about two friends living in penury in Singapore (Akshay Kumar &amp;amp; Suniel Shetty). In order to marry their rich girlfriends (Katrina Kaif &amp;amp; Sameera Reddy), they have to make a fortune quickly - else they'll lose the love of their lives to other "eligible bachelors" setup by the girl's parents. The brave duo of Akshay &amp;amp; Suniel plan to kidnap the dog of Akshay Kumar's employer, and the rest of the movie tells the story of this plan undone..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The movie starts with a good promise, but turns silly as the movie unfolds, ending in a completely silly climax. There are too many actors in this movie (way more than this 3-hour movie can handle!), and the plot is so confusing that you wish you can pause to understand what is going on. Akshay Kumar has performed well, but hardly gets any screen time to show his talent. Katrina Kaif fits the role looking pretty, but she too hardly gets any screen time to show her "talents"! Suniel Shetty and Sameera Reddy fail to impress. Paresh Rawal, the famed "Baburao" from Hera Pheri, has tried his best to hold the movie together - but the movie has so many characters that each one hardly has any time to make an impression!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though this movie looks promising "on poster", don't dare to even consider watching this movie. Even a person like me, who has a high threshold of taking crappy movies, thought this movie is a waste of time. A utterly silly and complicated plot, inane comedy scenes, below average music score, and a pitiful direction make this movie a nightmare to watch!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-7576701053170269653?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/7576701053170269653/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=7576701053170269653' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/7576701053170269653'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/7576701053170269653'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2009/12/de-dana-dan-movie-review.html' title='Movie Review: De Dana Dan - Things gone awry'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-113868693381023748</id><published>2006-01-30T21:12:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-02T22:36:12.114-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Movie Review: Page 3 - Life of the Rich and Famous</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;I watched a bollywood movie called "Page-3" couple of days ago. This movie had made quite some news when it was released, with the claim that this was not a sterotypical bollywood movie, but "hat ke" from the mainstream. As usual, this tag line made me curious.. and I wanted to watch this movie for quite some time, but got around to it only a couple of days ago..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The title of the movie refers to the third page of a newspaper - a page that covers the local glamor news of town - the parties of the rich &amp;amp; famous. The main character of the movie, Madhavi (played by Konkona Sensharma, of "Mr. &amp;amp; Mrs. Iyer" fame), is an entertainment journalist who goes to all these parties and writes about them - the who came with who, the who went with who, the latest hook-ups, break-ups, etc. In due course, she comes to realize the superficial lifestyle of this class, gets fed up of it, and ends up doing something drastic (and stupid, i shld say)..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though the concept of the movie is good, (and "hat-ke"), the movie has been very poorly made. The movie is too long and boring to sit through.. the music score leaves much to be desired.. the parties are not well shot.. sometimes makes you wonder if the party is glamorous at all.. there are a couple of pathetic fashion shows in the parties.. performance of the cast is terrible, except Konkona Sensharma who tries to carry the whole movie on her shoulders..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One more thing worthy of mention though, is the wardrobe of Konkona Sensharma.. She wears very simple, down-to-earth, middle-class cotton salwars to all the parties.. yet she confidently talks to all the designer-wear-clad celebrities in the party without feeling conscious or inferior.. and the celebrities too reciprocate without making a face at her outfit.. which goes to strengthen my philosophy of dressing.. "Its not important what you wear, but how you carry what you wear"..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This movie proves that just having a good concept is not enough for success.. executing the concept is equally important too.. be it a business venture, a movie, a thesis, a project, or any endavour.. The only good thing I got out of this movie is interesting material to write this blog.. ;-)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-113868693381023748?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/113868693381023748/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=113868693381023748' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/113868693381023748'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/113868693381023748'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2006/01/page-3-life-of-rich-and-famous.html' title='Movie Review: Page 3 - Life of the Rich and Famous'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-113756327609631483</id><published>2006-01-17T21:29:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-02T22:36:45.661-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Book Review: By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;"By the rivers of Babylon&lt;br /&gt;There we sat down&lt;br /&gt;Ye-eah we wept&lt;br /&gt;When we remembered Zion"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ring a bell? This is that famous, catchy, pastoral number from Boney M. Until last weekend, I never thought of this song as having historical and religious origin. This, apparently, is one of the Psalms - Psalm 137 to be precise. Psalm 137 is a hymn expressing the yearnings of Jews in exile following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem [Courtesy - Wikipedia].&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I came across this hymn last weekend while reading a novel by Paulo Coelho - "By River Piedra I sat down and wept". I had read two books by the same author before - "Veronika decides to die" and "The Alchemist". Both of these were good books. However, "By the river piedra I sat down and wept" left much to be desired.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The overall concept, style, content of the book was similar to the other two, but the story was not gripping enough. The entire novel is built on a weak story-line. The novel starts by the main character weeping besides river piedra, and talking about her sad story. The story starts with this flash-back, wraps around to come back to the point where the main-character started, and concludes in a few chapters. I didn't think the wrap around has been well managed, and the main reason for the main-character to sit by river piedra and weep has not come out strongly enough (I wonder if that is a strong reason to weep, anyways!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In spite of the above issues, this novel has Paulo Coehlo's stamp all over it. For a Paulo Coehlo fan, this book will be worth a read.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-113756327609631483?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/113756327609631483/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=113756327609631483' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/113756327609631483'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/113756327609631483'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2006/01/by-river-piedra-i-sat-down-and-wept.html' title='Book Review: By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21081128.post-113748489881489240</id><published>2006-01-16T23:39:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-02T22:37:03.262-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Hello World</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;I have been following some of my friend's blogs for a while now.. they have been trying to get me into blogging.. but one thing always held me back from doing this - the topic of the blog. I wanted my blog to have a topic, a theme, a purpose.. so that my blogs can be coherent, and readers can follow and understand it well..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After months of careful and intense thinking, I came to realize that it is beyond my materialistic capabilities to come up with one.. so I thought of rambiling on the blog.. and rambling would be my topic, theme, and purpose.. so if I do end up rambling, then my blog would have fulfilled its purpose.. If not, then I'd have found the purpose I was in pursuit of initially.. so a new form of catch-22, eh? or russel's paradox.. or whatever... who cares.. i'm rambling.. ;-)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21081128-113748489881489240?l=gishroad.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/feeds/113748489881489240/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21081128&amp;postID=113748489881489240' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/113748489881489240'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21081128/posts/default/113748489881489240'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gishroad.blogspot.com/2006/01/hello-world.html' title='Hello World'/><author><name>Girish</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry></feed>
