Show me the money...!

“I love you!” he was totally high. The drug was showing its effect.  He had eaten his food down to the last morsel, drank 3 full whiskeys and smoked marijuana.  “Shut up!  This is not you, you’re high right now.” “Don’t worry baby, I still love you”.

                       Two Minutes and 31 seconds later

“What the hell! What happened to Nitesh? Why is he unconscious? What happened with us?      ” Calm down, you just calm down first.  We got to figure out something and help Nitesh.”        “Wait, I had a vision, I was in jail, was in for seven years”.           “What? You too?”, “What do you mean by you too?” “I was hallucinating too, I was very happy, and I was flying high on success.”          “What about you?”   “I was running, actually I was being followed. Followed by the police. “

Nitesh: 24, B.com, final year, New Delhi.  Chain Smoker, drinker and a near successful web hacker.

Ronit: 23, Graduate in Chemical Engineering, IITK, New Delhi. Unemployed.

Prakhar: 22, College Dropout, New Delhi. Wannabe DJ.

Himani: 24, Diploma holder in Fashion Technology, New Delhi.  Struggler.

A fun loving group with one common motto, to have unlimited fun! Then what the hell happened?

“What happened? I blacked out! Aah! My head hurts! “ “You mean you didn’t have any vision?” “What vision? I was unconscious.”  “I don’t get this. I think somebody is trying to play us.” “What did you eat last?” “Pepperoni”  “Me too” “Nitesh?” “I don’t know. I don’t remember anything.” “He was drunk, don’t you remember?” “That’s it, Pepperoni was adulterated” “Don’t be a douche, no chemical can make you see the future” “How do you know it was the future” “I don’t know. It’s all a hunch”

“Guys, what are you all talking about? We were normal a few minutes back, we fell unconscious, and I don’t know why and when I wake up I find you guys arguing over some kind of vision. Can somebody explain things to me?”

“HANDS UP! This is the police, no one shall try to move or I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger!” “Wait sir, this must be a mistake...” all four were scared. “Shut up, who amongst you is Nitesh?” “S... Sir, it’s me. What’s the matter?” “You’re under arrest” “What??? On what grounds?” “Here is the arrest warrant, in case any of you demand for it” “Sir, this must be a terrible mistake, I haven’t done anything”  “No baby, we’re criminals and we like to arrest innocents! Now keep your mouth shut and come with us”, the police officer snarled.

                       ……………………………………………………..

“So, Mr. Hacker, your dream run ends here, you planned to rob a bank and you ended up in jail.” The officer said to him while sending the evidence file for compilation.

In the meantime: “This calls for celebration! We did it. He got arrested.” , “I can’t believe we carried out the task so easily” “But yaar, when are we getting our dues?” “Mr. X had sent e-mail stating that we’ll be getting our shares as soon as Nitesh gets arrested” “Whoever it is, he planned well to rob a bank and led the police to Nitesh, and now we all will have enough money to survive”

“Game over Mr. X!” “Wh..What? What are you talking about?” “Yes Prakhar! Your game is over. You are Mr. X”, the officer again was standing at their gate. He had found out during the compilation that Nitesh was not the one he was actually looking for. “Are you insane? Are you telling me that I hacked into the bank website and virtually robbed ten lakh rupees? Nitesh is the culprit; he is the genius behind this virtual robbery, not me!” “Good story, but I don’t buy that, I’ve enough proof against you. Nitesh is a freeman, you have to come to police station for further investigation” “Oh yeah? Let me see the proof then.” “I.. I’ll be back in a minute guys.”, Ronit tried to move shakily.  “Wait!, this can’t happen. I don’t believe this. It’s you Ronit, it’s you!” “You bastard! How can you even think I did this? I don’t even know a single h of hacking!”Ronit got crimson red on hearing all this accusation “Then how come it’s your email id on the transfer account? You have the money, you scumbag!” Prakhar had only one chance to prove his innocence.  “Then how come he has proof against you Prakhar? Explain this!” He just lost it.

“Cuz the computer used was mine, they matched the IP address, you were at my place that night.” “I can’t believe I trusted you both and misunderstood Nitesh. Cuz of you both, I became the part of the plan for your rescue but the real culprits are you both. Officer, arrest both of them, as they tried to cook evidence against Nitesh and made me the part of their plan!”, Himani was almost in tears.

“You’re wrong Himani! It’s Nitesh, he is playing with us.. He did not even had a vision!” “Shut up, that was all fake, we all know that, we had poisoned his whiskey, if you remember, and we had to enact our lines exactly after two and a half minutes. Moreover, if Nitesh would have robbed the bank, he wouldn’t have got caught for this silly IP address match. He is a professional, not a criminal.”

“Enough of all this, you two, follow me to the police station and Himani, Nitesh would be here any moment, sorry for the inconvenience caused.” , Officer was convinced this time.  

                ……………………………………………………….

“You got the money?” “Don’t worry; it’s a matter of 30 seconds. I’ll get it transferred in our account and the figures of his account won’t change. And yes, you acted well.”, Nitesh was in all grins. “Shut up, you were lying on the floor for no reason, and the water in your whiskey bottles was visible. I was afraid for those two could have noticed it too. You hacked and robbed a bank in the easiest and the most dangerous way.  And, you say I acted well. But the most scary part was giving the police a little piece of evidence against you! ” “Done, we are millionaire now! Kudos to our planning. And by the way, coffee tastes good.” “Does it? I’m afraid by time you finish it, you won’t be able to enjoy the happiness money gives.” She passed a sinister smile. “What do you mean? Have y…y..you…” , He couldn’t even complete his sentence before the devil knew he was dead.

‘I’m set now, the sole owner of ten lakh rupees! ‘, Himani thought. As soon as she went to the kitchen and lit the bulb, the whole house was abrogated by the pondering blast

.

 Nitesh had kept the gas on.

What happened to the fun loving group consisting of talented guys? Two got arrested and spent the rest of their lives in the prison for the money they didn’t rob and they never knew where it was and two killed each other for the money that was destined to quench their group! And people think money brings happiness!  Somehow , they were discussing their future, and it happened, at least, in early stages. That’s God for you.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Oliver Stone's 1987 film "Wall Street" had taken it's viewers into an exotic world. 23 years later, Oliver Stone returns with it's sequel. Apparently this is the first ever sequel Stone has directed. First movie was a huge hit as came at time when financial news was just a news for everybody and suddenly there was this movie on banking that looked like thriller. This time there's nothing exotic about it anymore. Its based on the nightly news on unemployment corporate downsizing.

But, it is that rare sequel that took its time-23 years and not only it advances its story but also has something new to say. Stone and his sawy writers Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff, have crafted a tale that takes advantage of viewers' newfound knowledge and cynicism. Stone has cast his movie well with Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin and Carey Mulligan to attract younger viewers, and Michael Douglas' return as Gekko can't help being a major lure.

The story settles quickly on young proprietary trader Jake Moore (LaBeouf), who just happens to be in love with Winnie Gekko (Mulligan), Gordon's estranged daughter. Despite Gekko's attempts to warn Wall Street of the economic downturn and stock market crash no one takes him seriously because of his early crimes. Then Gekko tries to rebuild his relationship with his daughter who always accused him for her brother's suicide. In the mean while, global economy is on the verge of disaster, Jake, a young Wall Street trader joins hands with Gekko on a two tier mission.

Can you win two Oscars playing the same role? An actor rarely gets the opportunity to revive a breakthrough role in a way that allows him to rethink the character and to reflect on where fatal flaws once lay. Douglas does this brilliantly. LaBeouf is top notch. He nicely balances his character's idealism and shrewdness. Mulligan and Brolin deliver strong supporting roles with attention-grabbing characters.

Stone has tried a different way of direction this time. His camera work can be either praised in a great manner or people might be turned off. Either ways, no one can ignore the class he has put in the movie. As stated earlier, camera work is glittering and glossy. Background score is scintillating.

To conclude, I would just say that go for it to experience Gordon Gekko after 23 years and of course the class of Stone in a movie on finance, thrill and banking and the brilliant camera-work!

My Rating: 8/10

Thanks & Regards

ROAD RASH

Category: Impossibly Impossible




What is the most unique thing about Varanasi? Your reply would be any of these: paan,saari,ghaat,morning street breakfast,thandai,temples etc. Some would also dare to say Malls. So, i request all of you to go through this
incident before you make up your mind..


Once upon a time on a very hot, busy and normal afternoon I was driving my way through the traffic to drop my mom at her workplace. I accomplished my initial task of dropping her successfully. Then, I plugged in my earphones, browsed through the songs available in my music library and took a U-turn to drive back home. While returning I got stuck in the traffic jam at three crossroads.  


                              
        " I walk this empty street on the boulevard of broken dreams
           Where the city sleeps and I'm the only one and I walk alone "


I increased the speaker volume so that I could enjoy the song in a better way and by the way, Billy Joe rocks! The traffic wasn't moving, I was all sweaty and started feeling exhausted. Then suddenly, a policeman came{ lets call him P1} and snatched my earphone and shouted that why am I not moving. I got startled and scared. I said I can only move if the car ahead of me starts moving. P1 then again shouted and asked why am I not moving even when the car behind me is honking continuously. I felt amused and said i could've moved if the car ahead of me had given me any space. He then got furious and took out the key from my Activa and ordered me to park the vehicle in the corner. 'Meri literally fat gayi!' I enquired about my mistake he said he would give my keys back only if I park my Activa in the corner. I did. I had to.


I parked Activa and just when I was about to turn back I was welcomed by three banarsi dudes who also were told to park their super-bikes as they were trying to conquer the world just by overtaking every vehicle in the traffic. They said that if I really want to get my activa back I should call my dad so that he could come and settle scores with the policeman. I know that was not an option for me! They, then started walking away and I was left with four bikes with no keys and two policemen guarding them. I too, to prevent sunburn, went under a shade waiting for any miracle to happen! Suddenly, the traffic jam got even worse and our bikes were to ported to another place to make way for others. P1 came shouting at us so we could move our bikes but he found no one! So he took out the keys himself and started moving every bike one by one. I was watching everything but was too scared to do anything. Then, suddenly i saw those the other three guys running and shouting as they had seen P1 putting in the keys. They all pushed him and took away their bikes. He again screamed at them and started hitting my Activa in frustration. I assumed that situation as my only opportunity to run away from them. I too pushed him aside and started my Activa and tried to run away. But...




... There was a difference in my running and those three guys' running. They were experienced in doing this and were on bikes whereas I was a first-timer on a scooter. P1 went mad at this sight. He ran after my bike and hit me hard with his stick. I slowed down, and he tried to pull back by holding the backside of the bike. I applied brakes and turned it the other side. P1 fell down. He switched on his radio and shouted that a fatty was on a run on silver Activa.
Dunno why he did that! I didn't steal anything, I didn't kill anybody and there was an order to follow me in the traffic jam! I was driving at a full speed. Suddenly I heard the police siren. I turned back and I saw a police jeep following me.


I know I was screwed for no fault at all. I saw a narrow colony and without giving any second thoughts I turned my Activa into the colony. Those bastard policemen pulled over their jeep outside the colony and asked two bikers to give them a lift and follow me. Those Rascals overtook me and I was again stopped! A rush of fear went down my whole body. I was shivering badly. P1 came near and hit me hard with his stick. He did it again! I couldn't withstand any more pain. I ran over my Activa and without noticing I ran over the feet of P2! That's it! Game over. P1 and P2 both threw their sticks on me. Bang! Bang! My head and my back were so much in pain. I drove madly with nothing but Hanuman Chalisa in my mind. 


I reached home fortunately without any policeman following me and I just fell on the floor and tried to calm my nerves! I cursed my luck for being followed by the police and getting numerous beatings and I thanked god as I had got another incident to share with you so that you get a good laugh reading my bad writing skills and hilarious but terrifying incidents!






PS: I hope you got the answer to the question asked in the first para! If not then you're a true Banarsi cuz I too don't know! :P 

Lafangey Parindey

What do you expect from a love story now-a-days? Should it be different? Should it be unique? Should it be one of a kind? But how many times have you come across a love story that is different or unique? You'd say none! I wouldn't disagree. But, Lafangey Parindey somehow doesn't go down as common love story.  


She, a wannabe figure skater, cannot see. He, a bare-knuckles street-fighter, doesn't need to. But both Pinky Palkar(Deepika Padukone) and Nandan Kamtekar(Neil Nitin Mukesh) have their sights firmly set on a better life, a life beyond the mean backstreets of Mumbai.
One Shot Nandu, as he is called, fights blindfolded every week for Satta King(Piyush Mishra) and lays his opponent low with one blow, always wins.
Pinky, dreams of making it big by winning a reality show but an accident takes away her eye sight and then she is supported by Nandu to refocus her goal. Dekhne ko aankh nai keeda maangta hai. This is the lesson he gives to Pinky. She starts using her all sense organs to offset the absence of sight. Together they form an unlikely pair, but as fate had decided they fall in love and with predictable twists and turns and finally achieve their goals.


The movie is a predictable ride from the beginning, but the typical Mumbai lingo along with fine performances of specially supporting actors prevent you from looking at your watch and the ceiling. The first half is  slow and little boring but the skate dancing in the second half is the saving grace. Many scenes do bring smiles and laughs during the movie.


Neil Nitin is evolving. He has done extremely well. Deepika is finally learning to act. This is her finest performance to date. Piyush Mishra is exceptional. As stated earlier, the supporting actors have done a brilliant job. Music by R. Anandh is good. Special note for the song Man Lafanga sung by Mohit Chauhan. Choreography is top notch. Bosco-Caeser are sure to get many accolades for the skate dancing in the climax of the movie. Dialogues by Gopi Puthran are hilarious. Action and cinematography are OK. Pradeep Sarkar of Parineeta and Laga Chunari Me Daag fame surely has attempted a very different genre this time. He doesn't succeed, nor he fails. The movie is perfect mixture of entertainment and boredom. Seldom you get bored and often you laugh.


To conclude, I would say go for it, if you are looking for a complete masala Bollywood flick and some brilliant skate dancing. 


My Rating: 6/10


Thanks & Regards  


   

PEEPLI [Live]

                         



Bollywood is changing finally! Bigtime!! Makers are now finally shifting their focus on realistic movies rather than making movies having same old cliches and melodrama. Latest film to add in the list is Peepli Live. Produced by ever dependable Aamir Khan, the movie has no big name in the star cast but kudos to Débutante Director Anusha Rizwi's superb screenplay and direction and combining with monstrous marketing strategies by Aamir Khan this created waves worldwide.


The subject of the movie is simple yet thought provoking. As India moves to an industrialized economy, farmers are committing suicide. Self-serving politicians at all government levels have been unwilling or unable to do anything about this. While the movie might appear as a spoof on the farmer suicides but it ends up conveying much more and presents some shocking facts.


Peepli residents Natha(Omkar Das) and elder brother Budhia(Raghuveer Yadav)after losing their land to the bank for not paying up their loan take the jest seriously and decide to volunteer. Natha decides to commit suicide and it becomes a big news. Reporters Nandita Malik(Malaika Shenoy), Deepak(Vishal Sharma) and a local reporter Rakesh(Nawazuddin) along with others make it a big issue and eventually the positions of many ministers is at stake. What follows is a very well directed satire.


Anusha Rizwi has handled her directorial debut like a pro.The lingo is earthy and much humour is derived from the manner it is spoken by the characters. Anusha leaves no stone unturned to poke fun of vote hungry politicians. Acting Department is ruled by Omkar Das and Vishal Sharma. Expressions given by the former make his character very endearing and the dialogues spoken by the latter are hilarious. Raghuveer Yadav has enacted his role impressively! Nawazzudin is exceptional as the reporter whose conscience awakens. Shankar Raman's Camera work makes a good impact. Music by Indian Ocean is OK.


To conclude, I would say go for it if you really want to see bollywood coming of its age and of course because its an Aamir Khan Production.


My Rating: 7/10


Thanks & Regards 

Destined to be Friends....!

I have a normal routine. I wake up in the afternoon, have my breakfast at 2 p.m., take a bath at 3 p.m. and again go to sleep..I, then wake up at 7 p.m., have my lunch and surf useless sites on the internet( come on guys.. we know they are not useless) and then chit chat with my buddies through sms and social networking sites. As soon as the clock ticks 12 a.m. i get a notification that my mom has left the dinner in the kitchen and i need to eat it. At 5 a.m. i feel sleepy and then i see nothing but my bed. I lie down and i recall all the good i did the whole noon and night. The only thing i recollect is chatting with friends. I try to recall their names and their faces. Then i try to recollect the names of all those who are worthy enough to be given a 'really good friend' status. Finally, just when my eyes are on the verge of closing, i come across with one question: 'What the hell is friendship?'


People have their own ways of defining frienship. My take is not very different, i think friendship is nothing but a bond that a group of people share. It can be strong or it can be very strong and as we know every statement has an exception: It can be very very strong! That exception can only find its existense between two people. The way they communicate, the way they understand each other, the way they know what's cooking in one's mind, the way they miss each other but are not gutsy enough to speak about it(afraid of being called gay!) and finally the way they come to know how the other is feeling by just having a look into the eye! I'm sure everyone(including you) have that exceptional friend( and if not, then don't worry, i'm available).


Now the question arises, why am i talking about friendship when a lot has been spoken over it. The answer is very predicatble. I'm missing that exceptional friend of mine.


I entered my new classroom in my new school on 17th April, 2004( yes! i can never forget this date). New faces, new walls, new books, new environment and ofcourse new teachers( sorry for mentioning the word 'teacher' in this post). I was kinda afraid( naah! me afraid! eh?). Trying to sound studious i enquired about the topper of the previous class so i could go and get acquainted with him. Satwik Sharma, yes that was the name i was told. An ordinary looking guy with a semi-serious look sat on the first row. Little did i know that someday i'd get an opportunity of complaining god for not making him my blood brother. So, Satwik Sharma, an unsolved enigma he is, a person with a heart of gold, a person with the brain of all the brainiacs, yet a person with very ordinary looks.( that wasn't needed but then i don't want all of you to start praising him; makes me feel jealous).


Blame his luck or praise my destiny, he turned out to be my be neighbour. I was learning to drive scooter then, so i used to go at his place everyday, and chat for almost an hour. Such was his gesture, despite knowing the fact that i was a certified moron and really bad at studies, he never refused to talk or never made excuses for getting me out of his house. My bonding with him became stronger gradually, we started going to coaching classes together and i have to admit it guys, that was the period we used to have unlimited fun. Shouting on empty roads( ok, sometimes roads weren't empty and mostly the one shouting was me), driving Activa in the most crazy way we could ever think, stopping at unusual places and peeing, eating different kinds of shit at different kinds of road side stalls, sharing our daily routine with each other and yeah some times we used to discuss studies too( means he used to teach me whenever we used to have tests). Sitting with him in the class also was a different experience. It was only then i used to realize how intelligent he is. Just listening to his conversation with the teachers taught me more than the textbooks.
And yeah, sitting with him in the tests also helped me a lot.


Time passed, we went to three different coaching centers in three years, and yeah riding with him on all these days was an unforgettable experience, time came when we had to part ways. No, we did not go to different colleges. I opted for a college and he decided to drop an year to perform better the next year. Since, being labelled as genius by everyone, expectations were high from him. But, due to some reasons, his result was not upto the mark( as people say, but the fact was that his was better than almost of all us'). He could easily have got a very good college with his rank but he wanted 'better'. So, unfortunately we had to part ways( anyways i could never have managed the score he got), but we stayed in touch although i kept in mind not to disturb him as i really wanted him to get a better rank and college the next year.


Results out, he got a very prestigious institute and that was the day when i predicted, the teaching staff will soon come to know what a gem they have in their college. Years have passed, both of us have become mature( mostly me! and that too in a very little way) but our bond has only become stronger. Although our way of talking is still the same and so is everything. I look upto him for any problem i get stuck into and like always he is the man for my rescue. I share all my joys and sorrows with him and i wish our 'bond' becomes stronger exponentially.


See, someone has rightly said that the invention of short message service in mobile phones is nothing but a curse, one tends to think so much just because of normal sms chatting.


And then, again I wake up in the afternoon and i pass my day in the same way as stated above.