A Weekendfull of MOVIES !!

After a boring and tiresome 5-day routine work in office, everyone wants to enjoy the weekend to the fullest. Do something out of the ordinary, go out and explore new places. But thanks to my overplanning skills, and not so interested homies, I had a weekend full of movies. I came across 5 movies last weekend and each one of them urged me to improve my planning skills for the coming weekends.

It started with “TASHAN”, whose trailers promised much more than it actually had. It was over hyped because of it’s glamorous star cast and stylish looks. But, the makers of the movie forgot that storyline is the most important thing for a movie to be successful. After her award winning performance in “JAB WE MET”, much was expected from Kareena, but apart from her short attire and perfect figure, nothing more was there to lookout for. The only saving grace was Akshay’s performance; else it was two and half hours of utter nonsense.

“JODHA-AKBAR”, was planned just 5 minutes before the movie’s starting time. The only good thing about watching a movie, which was released quite a few months back, is that you would have heard a lot about it. So, you know what to expect and what not to. The movie beautifully portrayed the silent love between jodha and akbar, which no one ever heard of. The sword fight scene between them is something to watchout for. The war scenes could have been better. Aishwarya, as jodha looks beautiful in the traditional costumes. All in all, the 4 hour long show was worth watching.

“GOOD LUCK CHUCK”, story of Dr. Charlie Logan, who in his pursue for true love, realizes that he is merely a good luck charm for girls. Whoever, sleeps with this unlucky chap, finds her true love in the next man she meets. And finally, when he finds his true love, he is running away from her as he is afraid of losing her. This fun filled movie showcases the essence of true love and testifies the saying – “Let the person you love free, if she’s yours, she will surely come back to you.”

“JUNO”, is story of a 16 year old high school girl, who gets pregnant and how she handles the entire situation. Initially she decides that she will have an abortion, but then she realizes that she can’t do that. So she decides to have the baby and give it up for adoption. And then, she finds a prospective couple who are looking forward for adopting a child. This is a movie showcasing different relationships in a very unique manner and something to watchout for.

“No Country for Old Men”, story of a psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, who murders nearly everyone in his pursuit of 2 million dollars. Chigurh's strange weapon for killing others is a compressed air gun, which actually is an oxygen cylinder. The movie is full of violence and blood, something not to watchout for. Movie’s abrupt ending makes the matter worse. Most of the things in the movie still left to be understood, if you do, please do me a favor.

I dream of IPL !!

Being a cricket fanatic, the feeling of sitting through my first cricket match in a stadium full of 60,000 people hasn’t sunk in yet. The joy of watching cricketers, the superstars and many more, performing in front of you, whom you only have seen on the small and big screen, was overwhelming. I realized the cricketers who have been worshipped by many, are so like us; they are just like any normal human being. While watching the game being played, I thought, Dude! We also play the same way, then what’s the difference, why are they earning in millions when we get nothing, except enjoyment for doing the same thing.

The match I’m talking about was the IPL’s inaugural match between Bangalore Royal Challenegers and Kolakata Knight Riders. The opening ceremony and Brendon McCullum’s knock made the crowd’s money worth. Opening Ceremony was a nice blend of music and acrobatic performances. The defining moment was the signing done by all the 8 captains.

Inspite of being injured and not being the part of the game to follow, the little genius Sachin Tendulkar hogged the limelight. There were constant cheers of sachin … sachin …around the ground and his mere glimpse made the crowd go ecstatic. Although the Challenger’s reply to Rider’s mammoth total was a bit disappointing, the crowd had it’s full share of fun with constant cheering and occasional Mexican waves. All in all, I had great fun and something which will be cherished forever.

The Kanpur Pitch Controversy !!

The third test match between India & South Africa got over 5 days ago, two days before the scheduled close. But the match related talk is far from over, thanks to the under prepared Green Park pitch, which has evoked a lot of criticism from experts of the game. This is not the first time that such a thing is happening in India, the same happened when Australia last toured India and played the last test match at an under prepared Wankhede pitch in Mumbai.
India, after losing the second test match in Ahmedabad inside 3 days and being the home team, were under a lot of pressure to win the third test and level the series. So, there can be a willingness on the part of curators to prepare a pitch favoring the home side. But certainly, as per ICC regulations, it doesn’t allow home country’s team management to ask the pitch curators to prepare the pitch according to the needs of the home team. The onus of preparing a pitch totally lies on the curators of the pitch, who are hired by the cricket board of that country. They can prepare whatever they feel is the best surface for playing cricket. It was quite obvious that an under prepared pitch will help the Indian more than their counterparts, because of the spin attack that India possesses. However, fast bowlers were also equally effective and all the batsmen had a terrible time fighting for survival on that pitch. The match was poised at stumps on second day. The decisive last wicket partnership happened on the third day and from there on, South Africa was doing the chasing. So, rather than cursing the pitch, the players should blame themselves for the defeat.
There has been no complaining regarding the pitch from either the South African side or the Indian side. The whole issue has taken an official status and being considered by ICC, because of the Match referee’s (Roshan Mahanama) letter to ICC’s pitch investigation committee complaining about the substandard Green Park pitch. If ICC finds the curators guilty and regards the incident as unfair play, then Kanpur might get banned from hosting international matches in the near future. But, most of the current cricketers feel that there is nothing wrong with the curators preparing pitch favoring the home team, the home advantage has to be there. Someone playing international cricket should be able to adjust to all kind of wickets and none can expect to get a batting paradise all the time. So far, only 1 test match featuring West Indies and England in Port of Spain has been abandoned because of the quality of the pitch and concerns over players getting injured playing on that pitch. Right now, the Kanpur under prepared pitch case is being investigated by the ICC and the future of Green Park is awaited.

Stage Set for IPL Kickoff !!

With barely a few hours to go for the inaugural match of the IPL T20 tournament in Bangalore, the 2 month long wait is almost over for all of us. This is going to be the first time when Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, captains of their respective sides (both are ex Indian captains also), will walk out together for the toss as the first match is between Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers. The match is going to be played under floodlights and scheduled to start at 2000 hours local time.
The 45 minutes long opening ceremony staring at 1830 hours local time is having performances from stilt walkers, aerial gymnasts, performers in a bubble suspended over the ground, musical trio of Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, presence of Bollywood Actors cum IPL investors ShahRukh Khan and Preity Zinta and a blend of fireworks.
The marking moment of the opening ceremony will be the gathering of all the 8 captains to take a pledge for keeping alive the spirit of game of cricket throughput the tournament. Bangalore is also boosted by addition of 12 cheerleaders from Washington,USA , who are supposed to be crowd pullers. All and all, the start off game is having all the ingredients to be an important landmark in World Cricket and let’s see what IPL has in store for all of us.

IPL - The Next Big Thing !!

Indian Premier League, more famously known as IPL, a league started by BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India), to counter the threat of Essel’s group rebel league ICL (Indian Cricket League). Both the leagues were created on the guidelines of successful club football leagues existing in other parts of the world, EPL (English Premier League) being one of many. Certainly, all the credit for popularizing club cricket in India can’t be given to BCCI. So far, ICL has conducted four tournaments and all of them have been a success for both the organizers and the players.
This was the first time players were auctioned in cricket, and not surprisingly they were bought from franchises for whooping amounts. Apart from cricketers becoming millionaires overnight, the biggest plus point has been the globalization of World cricket. Players from different parts of the world sharing the same dressing room, playing in the same team and passing on their skills to cricketers from other countries is certainly going to benefit all the players.
IPL has caused the big two public affecting forces in India, Cricket and Bollywood, to combine and work together. Bollywood actors have became a part of IPL as investors and as well as promoters. Because of the hefty amount of money involved in IPL, the crowd’s and media’s expectations have grown on an enormous scale. The amount for which the television broadcast and promotion rights were bought and the rate at which the tickets have been sold off indicate the ever growing excitement generated by this new concept.
With only a few days left for the IPL kickoff (IPL starts with a T20 tournament), it yet remains to be seen whether it’s a successful investment or not. Indian public is looking forward to IPL, but many questions remain unanswered, is it a big gamble, will all the investors be paid back, the Indian public which is quite used to supporting India will be able to make the adjustment and support a club side having players from different countries, IPL consists of 8 clubs which are based on 8 different cities of India will it bring regionalism into cricket, will it change the fortunes of young aspiring cricketers who can earn a lot while playing in this league and many more; considering all these, is IPL really going to be the next big thing in World sports ??

Shivnarine Chanderpaul-The Unsung Hero !!

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a West Indian middle order left handed batsman, who despite of having excelled in his field, hasn’t got all the accolades that he deserves. He possesses the most unique crabby technique in world cricket which proves that there is life beyond coaching manual. His technique allows him to be aggressive, defensive or play any kind of game according to the situation of the game. He is well adapted for all the three forms of the game.
After the retirement of Brian Lara, he has carried the West Indian batting on his shoulders for more than a decade. He also got the opportunity to captain his side, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to deliver the goods for a young developing West Indian side. So, he decided to quit the captaincy to concentrate only on his batting career.
On his last tour to England, he single handedly defied England bowlers, who didn’t even have a clue of where to bowl to him and how to get him out. Recently, he hit the last ball in an ODI for a six to steal victory from jaws of defeat for West Indies against Sri Lanka. This was only the fourth instance when a batsman has hit a six off the last ball in an ODI to win the game for his country ( others being Javed Miandad, Lance Klusener and Brendon Taylor), and it was the first time that a batsman has scored 10 runs off the last 2 balls to ensure victory.
His determination, dedication, concentration and willingness to bat for long, makes him a perfect role model for all tha aspiring youngsters. For his splendid run in England, he was one of the elite five to be awarded with the Wisden Cricketer of the year '2008.
He has done more than enough to be showcased along with the game’s greats, sadly though he still waits for his chance and keeps doing the good work for both West Indian and world cricket. Chanderpaul's standards are as high as ever, and even after more than a decade on the international treadmill, his love for batting remains undiminished.