Godzilla - 2014: Kids and Comic Fanatics should watch this!

I will have to say that this movie will keep you enaged for the whole duration....only if you are a kid or a Godzilla fanatic....

I am sure you will not believe me if I say that Godzilla has been portrayed here as a "hero" - one who balances out all the negative and equally powerful creatures/ forces of this world.

The story revolves around the friction and the fights between two huge creatures -  MUTO (or Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) which feeds on Radioactive material and the GOJILA (Godzilla aspronounced by Japanese).
Yes we humans do play a part of tracking them and trying to save the human world as well....we do have our hero's in the mvie as well!
The story starts in Japan and pulls all teh way to San Fransico bay area...to know more you should go and watch .

The animations are superb and to get the best experience do watch it in 3D. I believe that the work taht has been done here are miles ahead what we saw in Godzilla in 1998.

My Rating: 3***

Suzuki ertiga : First hand experience

It has been 36000 Kms now....I have done now almost 3 long 700kms+ trips and have one through one major accident...now its a good time to call for revisit of my Cars's review ..the Ertiga ZXI which is now almost 4 years old now...

Few things that I loved till now:

• Reliability of the engine
• Space it gives me at that price point ( 9-10 lakhs)
• Maruti service ( specially after the accident)
• Mileage has been amazing - a whooping 15.9 kmph ( this is with 80% AC and 30% highway) driving

Things that I still don't like or have found it now:

• Stock tyres run out after 20K....I am planning to change them soon. I had at-least 10-12 punctures in last 5000 Kms....planning to change all of them
• the NVH levels are really bad at high speeds...(beyond 80-90 kmph...it becomes really bad)
• The lack of power on hill ascents - had to switch off teh ACs in certain instance and could feel the engine going off-breath...
• The beige interiors are killer dust catcher....a major design flaw

Any other car which I would have loved to exchange thsi with?

When i bought this car, I did not have much options. but in last 2 years there are huge options in thsi range....I would have loved to test out the TUV300, Vitara Brezza, Honda BRV...

I hope that helps, in your decision....

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It has been now 3500 kms with my new car and I believe that it is  time that it deserves a review. I will try to remain to the point and unbiased and paint the right picture,

Model: Ertiga (ZXI)

Few Postives & things which I found worth mentioning:
- Spacious (For passengers)
- Good driveability (feels like a car)
- Powerful 1.4 ltr petrol engine, never found any issues pulling through high gradients
- Good road presence
- Good breaking (ABS)
- Good ground clearance

Few Negatives or areas where things can be better:
- Not so spacious for luggage (If you have 7 people then you need to have a carrier)
- Too much body roll (Even though it has a monocoque design)
- NVH levels could have been better
- Though AC is powerful but No ACC
- The gear shifting is improved with Suzuki standards but still could have been better
- Too much biege-acts like dirt magnet

Few things that could have added more value:
- Split last row sits
- Dark coloured floor carpet
- Automatic Climate control

Essential Fuel Efficiency stats:
- 11.6 Kmpl-11.8 Kmpl City driving (90% AC)
- 12.5 Kmpl - 13.5 Kmpl for long distance driving (70-80% AC)

Do I ever think that I should have gone for another smaller car or Sedan?
- Yes, I do only when I drive through the Mumbai traffic!

To know which other cars where on my list while I was making this purchase decision, please refer to my earlier blog:http://aapkareview.blogspot.in/2013/04/with-options-things-do-not-get-easy.html

4 movies and My country....

Bhaag Milka Bhaag,Lunch Box, Chennai Express, Satyagraha
Each of the above movies represents an unique expression of an individual to fight against the odds and look for that one moment of  glory, truth & love.
These 4 movies do reflect the mood of our society in its present form.
Today someone amongst us is trying to bring about a change in our country by changing the way we think and elect a leader.
On other hand there is this hunger of a sportsman to go on and on without any rest, to open the shop even during heavy rains, give their kids the best at the cost of their sacrfice, to drive that rickshaw even when it's killing hot or to start a venture which catches the eye of the whole world.
Then there are people amongst us who will run against all odds to bring glory for our society even when others have written them off. Lastly, there are people who still believe that hope for love never dies and will celebrate every small occassion to keep that flame of hope and love alive.

Now coming back to the movies (because this is afterall a review blog!); I will try to review all of them in just one sentence - reason being by now you might have watched all the movies....but in case you haven't then this crisp review might give you a reason to watch ( or avoid).

• Bhaag Milkha Bhaag: An amazing biography presented in an amazing way. Acting was best in class and so was the music. A must watch for the young generation to keep them inspired and aspired! (4****)
• Lunch Box: A very delicate movie, which touches the human emotion of yearning for love and warmth...Irfan is again superb.(3.5***)
• Chennai Express: A colourful movie, made to make you light and smaile....could have been made better.(2.5**)
• SatyaGraha: Another typical Prakash Jha - Ajaya Devgan combo...but what was new here was Amitabh Bachchan...amazing story  whic revolves around teh struggle that my country is going through and the fight that we are in....yes, knowingly or unknowingly it's our fight. (3.5***)

With options things do not get easy!!

"Too much analysis causes Paralysis" - this was prooved true in our (me and my wife) recent experince of buying a car.

My earlier car- the trusted Alto was more than 5 years old, and as we were moving to a new region, hence we thought of buying a new car.

Initially we went ahead with the thought process of buying a car which is dependable, not so common on the streets, has good after sales service and is not heavy on my pocket (Read mileage :)).

That's how we started our hunt for that perfect car !

The only hitch was- my knowledge about cars and the different options. This played as

a double edged sword. The moment I took a test drive, I knew what was lacking - as usual I had all the reasons to reject and that played a major role in our 3 month prolonged seacrh for the vehicle.

Below you will find the list of options that I had a look at and I will. Rather than giving a detailed review of each of the vehicles, I have tried to rank them down in different parameters.


Detailed scoring based on our judgement

Hope this will help you in your buying decision as well - though again it will be very
subjective.

Alas! we did not go for the Rank 1 (City) - rather we went for the Rank 2 ( Ertiga)!

Talaash - Finding the super natural way!

I find it hard to write a review for movies like these, since I am afraid that I might take away the "Thriller suspense" factor, which Amir khan had spoken about before the launch of this movie.

None the less, I will try this out...

Though the movie story line isn't much exciting or out of the world; but the screenplay and the actors have made it an amazing movie. Reema kagti after her debut movie Honeymoon travels, has done another good job, but there's definitely a lot more she could have done with the screenplay. The movie is able to build up a suspense through the initial 80-90 minutes but slowly the suspense factor fades away and at  the end it feels like "ahh! another supernatural movie!".


The story revolves round a police inspector who is not only investigating a suspicious accident case but also fighting a own personal loss of his only son. At one end he has this mysterious case and on the other hand he blames himself for the loss of his son, which keeps him awake night after night to find an answer as to how he could have saved his son . He finds himself in a tiring loop, searching for an answer in the present and the past . No other actor apart from Amir Khan and Rani mukherjee could have carried these roles with so much depth and intensity. Kareena kapoor and Nawazuddin Siddiqui have added zing to the whole screenplay.

Music is one of the most strong points of this movie. Ram sampath has used very unique and earthly tones, which gives us a fresh offering.  The movie is worth a watch, but only once! -after all it's a suspense thriller !!!

My Rating: ***

English Vinglish - Indeed a good one!

English Vinglish is a bright example how a simple story line can be presented in a very rich
and interesting way. The story revolves around an Indian housewife - Shashi (Sridevi) and
her yearning to learn english and earn the respect she deserves within her family.
Shashi, a housewife with two kids and a very busy husband, gets ridiculed by her family
members for not being able to speak english. But this is just one aspect, Shashi is an
'entrepreneur' as well and sells 'ladoos'.It's her story and revolves around how she stands
up and goes out all alone to learn english, make friends (the 'Learn English in 4 weeks' classroom is one of the major attractions of this movie)) and regain the respect that she
deserved.

One positive thing, the relationship between mother-in-law and Shashi has been shown in a
positive light !!
Sridevi has done an amazing job and so have the other actors. The songs are very meaningful
and melodious. the best part of the movie is its screenplay, it has a continuous momentum
which is neither fast nor boring.

I would recommend it as a must watch.

Rating: ****

Be Barfi!

Watching this movie sometimes reminded me of 'Sadma' ( the 80's movie starring Kamal hassan & Sridevi), sometimes it reminded me of  'Taare Zameen pe' and sometimes the romance of 'Kal ho na ho'.. this movie brought out a very mix feeling and the feeling of being "Barfii"...

Set up in the exotic location of Darjeeling, it is a story about a young chap called 'Barfi' (or should I say 'Murphy' !) for whom being deaf and dumb is not an obstacle at all...he enjoys life and love equally. He falls in love with a beautiful damsel - Shruti (Ileana) the first time, but it does not go well because of societal pressure. But that doesn't deter him, he enjoys his life and accidentally falls in platonic love for another autist girl - Jhilmil (Priyanka chopra). The most important thing across this movie is that it has been able to capture not only the relationship of Barfi , Shruti and Jhilmil; but it also captures other relationships like Barfi's relationship with his father, Jhilmil's relationship with his grandfather and the owner of the orphanage, Jhilmil's relationship with her caretaker, Barfi's relationship with his friend and last but the most interesting Barfi's relationship with the Sub-inspector.  A whole gamut of emotions is on play....

Ranbir kapoor and Priyanak chopra have done a fantastic job; I will not be surprised if this performance wins them a filmfare award or some critic accolades. Overall, the first half of the movie is a bit slow compared to second half, screenplay could have been made a bit more interesting. Pritam has given some good and fresh music specially the song 'Ala barfi'.

Overall I felt that this movies has a story line which is a bit 'hatke' from the normal comedy, romance and climax stories; hence people have welcomed it. It's in the same league as 'Pan singh tomar', 'Vicky Donor' but not in the leagues of  'Taare Zameen par' or 'Swades'.

It's a solid family entertainer and is a must watch for the family!

My rating: 3.5 star