Cinderella Movie Screening experience...

We have heard a lot of fairy tales in our childhood.
Snow white, Aladdin, Beauty & beast and Cinderella are among the popular ones but my personal favorite is Cinderella.

It gives a wonderful message that we shouldn't be proud of our beauty or wealth and consider others as inferior. Luck can change anytime. A king can become a common man and vice versa.

The recent movie by Disney is inspired from the very famous fairy tale Cinderella sharing the same name. I was fortunate to watch the screening, thanks to Blogadda for providing the awesome opportunity.

The venue of the screening was Disney India, Mumbai.The show was going to start at 9 p.m.
I reached the venue around 9:15 p.m with one of my friend.

The screening started at 9:30.
Ella lives with her parents in a beautiful estate. Everything is perfect until her mother dies of illness.
Her father brings a widow as her mom who previously has 2 daughters.

Ella's father goes abroad leaving Ella with her stepmother and stepsisters.
Unfortunately her father dies leaving her alone.
Slowly her stepmother and sisters starts humiliating her and treats her like a slave.

Upset by their behavior Ella goes for a ride in the woods where she encounters a hunting party.
One of the hunters claims to be an apprentice named Kit who lives in palace.

Kit, who actually is the price of the kingdom falls for the mystery girl, Ella. When Kit’s father who is the king of the kingdom feels that he has very little time left, he insist him to find a princess who can be his bride, in an upcoming ball. Kit convinces him to call all the eligible maiden of the world.

The announcement of ball is made. Ella’s stepmother and sisters get excited on hearing it.
Ella decides to wear an old dress of her mom but her step family rips her dress apart as they consider her presence at the ball a disgrace.

A dishearten and upset Ella runs into the garden where she meets an old lady who turns out to be a Fairy Godmother. She uses her magic to turn Ella into a ravishing beauty with a gorgeous blue gown and glass shoes. She converts pumpkin into carriage, mice into horses, lizards into footmen and goose into coachman with a warning that the magic spell will last only till midnight.

When Ella enters the ball everyone is astonished to see her. Kit asks her for the first dance.
After the dance is over he takes her for a tour of the palace.
Slowly they fall for each other but unfortunately the clock strikes 11:59 forcing Ella to flee.
On her way to the carriage she drops her glass shoe.

Kit falls in love with her and asks his father for permission to marry her.
Unfortunately his father dies but not before granting him the permission to marry his love.

Announcement is made that the prince will marry the girl who fits in the glass shoe.
Ella is delighted on hearing it and goes to her room to get the other glass shoe, only to find her step mother already there. Her stepmother demands her to make her the head of the royal family when she becomes queen. When Ella refuses she breaks her shoe and locks her up in the room.

Kit asks his men to make every girl on the land, try the shoe. The magic of shoe rejects everyone till his men arrive at Ella’s house. The shoe rejects her stepsisters too. Disappointed when they turn to leave, a song is heard by them. It is Ella who is singing in her room. Kit, who actually disguised himself in the troop, comes out to investigate. The source of voice takes him to the locked room where he finds Ella.

The shoe fits in perfectly and Ella leaves with Kit after forgiving her step mother.
Ella and Kit gets married and are crowned king and queen.


I just loved the acting, particularly of Ella (Lily James) and her step mother (Cate Blanchett).
Great direction and effects. A must watch for all the fairy tale lovers especially Cinderella.


Also I would like to thank Disney India for the delicious snacks.

Looking forward to more such opportunities from Blogadda.

Most touching & powerful movie of the decade - Bhopal : A Prayer for Rain

                                                     Image courtesy : imdb                         

On the nights of December 2 and 3, 1984, the world's deadliest industrial disaster ever took place.

Over 5,00,000 people were exposed to toxic MIC (Methyl Isocyanate) gas leaked from Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal.

More than 3500 people died on the same night, 8000 were dead within two weeks and more than 8000 have since died because of gas-related diseases.

India is a country where the cheapest thing is life and the same happened in the case of Bhopal gas tragedy. It took years and years for the Indian government to actually provide some justice to the victims or their family.

Yes I have used the words "Some Justice" or "A bit of Justice" because of the fact that it is actually 20% of what all could have been done.

If such tragedy would have happened in USA or UK :

1. The top officials would have been arrested.

2. All the plants of the company would have been shut down.

3, A compensation of more than $10 billion would have been charged.

But as we know it's India and here the attitude is "Sab Chalta hai" ; let the common man suffer.

Anyways let’s now divert our attention to the other side.

There are people, institutions and organizations that have made efforts to bring this issue before the world and help victims get justice.

Lot of documentaries, short films and videos have been made on this ghastly subject.

All of them portrays the message in a very unique and powerful way but what touched my heart the most is the movie "Bhopal : A Prayer for Rain" .

Thanks to Indiblogger who gave me the opportunity to watch the special screening of it.

Story
A big MNC, "Union Carbide" makes its way to the heart of the city of lakes -"Bhopal".
Delighted by the arrival of a behemoth, people of the city, especially the lower class, builds hopes of getting a decent job. One of them is a rickshaw driver Dilip.
His present condition makes him try desperately to land up a job in the company and he finally succeeds in it.

Though people are given jobs but none of them is made aware about the safety measures taken while working.
A major accident leads to his promotion but also brings the safety standards of the company under the lens.
In spite of the utterly risky safety standards, everyone stays mum because for them their job is the most previous thing in the world.

Finally that auspicious day comes in Dilip’s life when his sister is going to get married.
But he never knew in his worst dreams that it will also be the last day for him and his family.
The negligence of safety standards finally leads to dire consequences when MIC gets leaked out in the city.

More than 3000 people die on the same night.
There is not even a foot space left in the hospitals which are packed with patients suffering from the unbearable pain caused by the deadly gas.

Thousands of people are still suffering from the side effects of the gas tragedy.

Cast

Dilip role is played by Rajpal Yadav which according to me is his best till now.
The Comedy king also gives a touch of humor to otherwise a very sensitive and serious role. Hats off to him for doing full justice to his role.

Tannishtha Chatterjee gets to play Dilip’s wife who supports him well.

Kal Penn as Motwani the journalist is just superb.
His timing and punches are bang on.

Mischa Barton as Eva Gascon is quite graceful.
Her interview with Warren Anderson in the car is a treat to watch.

Finally Martin Sheen as Warren Anderson fits perfectly into the shoes of the Chairman of UCIL. He carries the right amount of maturity needed for the role.

My Opinion

Overall 'Bhopal : A Prayer for Rain' is one of the most touching & powerful movies of the decade.
The film oozes reality in every scene. You actually feel as if you are witnessing the people suffer right in front of your eyes and experience every bit of their pain.
A must watch for every Indian.

The Director of the movie Ravi Kumar has taken a bold step by making movie on such a sensitive subject. Let’s support the cause and spread the message given by the movie as much as possible.

                           

                                                               Image courtesy : idiva

Official release worldwide on 5th Dec. Checkout more here

                                            Here is the much awaited trailer.

Rating -: 

Review of 2 States movie

She was insisting me to watch this movie from a long time as it was quite similar to our love story.
Though I am still to face her Hitler Dad who checks the payslip first and her mom who wants a cloned Alok Nath as her son-in-law, but it was quite a preparation.

And not to forget that my love story is no less spicy then that of Chetan Bhagat but that I will keep for someday later..;)

So coming back to the movie. These days a new trend is seen in Bollywood, where a popular piece of literature is been adopted into screenplays.
Chetan Bhagat's books have appalled the youth of India to a great extent. In the past his work like "five point someone" and "three mistakes of my life" when adapted on screen went out to be huge hits.

As I had read 2 States so was already aware about the story but how the real life is presented in the reel life was what excited me.Also as someone special was with me so the excitement increased manifold.
2 states was Chetan's best seller and its adaptation had great expectations. Does it manages to live upto the expectation, let's find out.

Unlike 3 idiots and Kai Po Che, 2 States is 100% adaptation of the book.

The movie revolves around Punjabi Munda Krish and beautiful Madarasan Ananya who meet each other at IIM A. Ananya with 22 proposals from IITians feels the same for every other. Krish protest against her attitude and this marks the beginning of their story.
Krish finally confesses that he can't just be a friend and Ananya rewards this with a kiss.

Love finds way into their life and a spicy romance starts on the campus. After having the fun the couple finally decide to commit and take their relationship forward.
But in India marriage is not only about the girl and boy is what they realize soon.
They decide to make their parents meet on their convocation which turns out to be a nightmare.

For a second I could see my parents meeting with those of my GF just to give me a heart attack.
Thanx to my GF who pinched me at the right time otherwise I was about to see World War 3.

Nwys back to the story, after the convocation the story embarks upon the journey of couple convincing each other's parents which is full of drama, humor and at last happy ending.

2 States is full on masala movie which has all the ingredients to make it a hit.
Though there are no such moments which pulls you out of the chair but it perfectly fulfills all the expectations that you have after reading the book. Also the music is rocking and good to ears which is an added bonus.

Shy & geek looking Arjun Kapoor does complete judgement to his character. Though it is tough for him to be in such avatar seeing his previous performances but he perfectly lends the required softness.

Amrita Singh is superb as the bold Punjabi mom who delivers the funniest liners of the movie with full composure.
Ronit Roy gives a powerful performance he is know for.

But it is Alia Bhatt who is the focus of the movie. Yet another superb performance after Highway.
Her beauty, innocence & vivacious personality brings life to the character of Ananya. Her refreshing looks and natural acting add to the charm of every scene.

Overall the movie is a good  entertainment, a one time watch for sure..\m/

Rating -: 

The Attacks Of 26/11-Movie Review

This is a guest post by Siddharth Gupta who blogs at The Standing Coin .You can follow him on twitter at @sidgsiddharth and at @thestandingcoin


NOTE: This review was also put up on IMDB(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2635622/reviews-17)

The Attacks of 26/11 is a movie directed by Ram Gopal Verma on the horrific and barbaric terrorist attack on the city of Mumbai and in essence, a proxy war waged against India, beginning on 26^th November 2008. Many expected this movie to be a dud or even worse, a disastrous rendition of an event that shocked us all. Contrary to all that, the movie is nothing like these descriptions and makes for a good watch.

The movie was more of a play-out the events drama, so the plot was not something that was woven out of thin air but rather the actual truth stitched together piece by piece. RGV uses an interesting narrative angle: The Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police narrating the incidents to an inquiry commission. This too was inspired from the actual commission which deposed Rakesh Maria(the actual JC at the time of the attacks). Nana Patekar essays the role brilliantly, as he not only acts, but embodies the character, flowing with it in a tone which is hard to describe but if I had to, I would put it this way: “ Aisa lagta hai ki he was the actual JC at the time of the attack”.

A young newbie actor Sanjeev Jaiswal plays the role of Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the terrorist who was captured and later hanged. Although I didn’t have my hopes riding on him, Sanjeev does a decent job playing the character. He has a mean look throughout the movie which tends to get a bit over the top at times but overall, is not too farcical.

Also, the highlights of the movie were: a. Due credits were given to all parties involved. Despite the hardcore media bashing it received post the attack; the Mumbai police had worked their level best last night. RGV encompasses all of this but also makes room for their errors. Plus, the movie is well crafted to ensure that the message (Terror has no religion) doesn’t die as the director sensitively handles the possible religious inflammation over certain scenes

Lastly, the flaws. The movie was a bit abrupt and short for me. For starters, it didn’t cover the shootings at Nariman House, Oberoi Trident and Taj adequately. The brave operation by the NSG which resulted in the extinguishing of the terrorists was omitted. Also, the role of the attack’s masterminds was just touched upon briefly and not detailed.

To end it, all I will say is this. The movie released on 1^st March 2013. 3 days later, nearly all shows at the cinema nearby are sold out. Mind you, this being a RGV movie, is a complete surprise after his recent debacles. So, this movie has something. Something that packs a punch.