The end of life as we know it. We didn't see it coming, that's for sure. I mean, who plans for an Apocalypse? But you know the really funny thing? It wasn't something big and horrible that did us in. It wasn't nuclear war or a deadly virus or a comet crashing into the planet. It wasn't over-population or global warming. I wish it was. You know, something... lofty and magnificent, something worthy of exterminating most of the human race.No. In the end, it was none of those things. We simply ran out of gas.

In the year 2012, the gasoline ran out. You could almost hear the giant sucking sound as the last drop of crude was pumped from the earth. Within a year, the reserves were gone, too. We were supposed to have 20 years of gas left. That's what the experts said, and... they were wrong. Detroit was still churning out gas guzzlers even as the wells went dry. You'd have thought we could survive without gas. But the end of gasoline meant the end of electricity, nuclear power. There's coal, but you still need trucks to deliver the fuel. No electricity means no refrigerators, and that means spoiled food. In days, grocery stores were picked clean. Within weeks, there was looting, rioting, and chaos.

The government had a plan, but it was too busy trying to stop the violence. When they finally declared martial law, it was already too late. Civilization collapsed into anarchy. The smart ones moved south... until they realized that millions of other smart people had the same smart idea. All those people in one place fighting for the same shelter and food. It was a bloodbath. Within three years, more than 2/3 of the world's population had starved to death, frozen to death, or slaughtered each other. The American Dream became the American nightmare.


Wow, now that's some deep thinking. The way it is told, you are compelled to think about the possibilities of such a scenario. It really seems possible. But I believe by that time we'll have electric transport system. So, transporting coal won't be a problem. Other alternate energy sources may come handy as well. So, maybe this Apocalypse can be averted after all.

End note : Another movie - The Mist - delivered another power-punch thought. Check this -

People are basically good and decent. We're a civilized society. Sure. But just as long as the machines are workin' and you can dial 9-1-1. But you take those things away, you throw people in the dark, you scare the shit out of them; No more rules. You’ll see how primitive they get.

The prize is - 3 movie tickets for the upcoming magnum-opus movie - 'Jodha Akbar' , one ticket for each of the 3 winners. Well, this contest is open for bloggers of Bangalore, Karnataka only - for the time being. If you're not in B'lore, don't loose heart. Some other contests are in pipeline for a wider audience.


Now that you know what the prize is - let me tell you how to get it. It's very simple. All you have to do is -

• Write a post about this contest on your blog. There should be atleast one link to [my] this post on your blog-post.


• Drop a comment here with the link to your above post. This will give you '1' point


• To gain extra points, subscribe to my 'email feed update' for latest posts. After you confirm your subscription, you'll get '1' more point.


• Add me to your 'BlogRoll' [permanent link to my blog on your sidebar], with anchor text 'genius @ play' and url ' http://geniousatplay.blogspot.com '. Mention that you've done this on a comment here. Gain '1' more point. Loyal readers will gain this advance '1' point every time they participate in any contests here.

Well, that is all. The more points you have, the more is your chances of winning this contest and viewing the 'piece of history' [i.e., the movie 'Jodha Akbar' :)]' at PVR, Kormangala on opening weekend, free of cost. Now, how simple is that? So, what are you waiting for? Start blogging. 'Coz this contest ends on 14th Feb '08 , 12:01 PM. If you have any doubts, contact me.

* There must be atleast 10 participants for the lucky draw to roll. So, ask your friends and family to participate as well.

I haven't seen Juno yet. The synopsis of the movie seems good and I'm gonna watch it tonight. But the other two movies - they just suck. First I watched 'No country for old men'. The first frame itself gave me an impression that it's gonna be a real slow movie. And after watching the 'highway murder using blow pipe' [or something like that], I was pretty much sure that this movie is gonna gimme some headache. And wasn't I right? Couldn't bear the movie for more than 45 mins. Within that time, I was bored to death. Deleted it then n there.

There will be blood was a tougher nut. It's frame rate was even slower than the last one. That explains it's runtime of almost 150 mins. Another huge headache. On my patience test - it lasted for 35 mins. Just couldn't bear it any longer. I just quipped then - 'This movie is worth a Oscar'. And, wow. It's really nominated for the same. Irony. More of it - both these movies have got nominated in some 7 / 8 different categories. Weird.

It's always been like this. The movies that are highly acclaimed are the worst I've ever seen. Biggest example being - Black. This movie created such a tremor nation-wide. Everyone reacted as if this is the greatest movie ever made. But frankly, I was on the verge of tearing off every single hair on my head while watching it. Some mental movie.

As I've always said - critical acclaim should never be your reason for watching a movie. Critics are just a bunch of retards. Maybe, my taste is not as good as them or I don't have enough Grey cells to understand the beauty of such movies. But then, if I need to utilize my brain while watching a movie - what's the use of it? I mean, movies are meant to entertain us, right?

Best movies that I watched

• Bourne Ultimatum. The best bourne / spy movie that I've ever seen. You won't get bored even for a single second. A detailed review here


• 300. Surely one of the best 'graphic novel' adaption. Excellent look, action sequences and rock in the background. Must watch.


• Die Hard 4. Frankly, I'm not a DieHard franchise and haven't scene any earlier installments either. But this movie made me buy the earlier part DVDs. Mind blowing action. And lots of tech talks too.


• Resident Evil 3. Year of sequels, I guess. The best of RE series, till date. Some awesome zombie action. Much better than 'I am Legend'. Review of the two here and here


• Life in a Metro. Truly an amazing movie. Depicts the life of Metro citizens as it is. FP Review

Another couple of movies that are worth a mention are Chak De India and Shoot 'em Up

Worst movies that I watched

I saw more crappy movies than good movies. So, picking out the worst 5 is harder than Best 5. Anyways, here they are -

• No Smoking. Worst hindi movie I've ever seen. I was feeling like smacking my head on the monitor.


• Gandhi My Father. Donno what critics saw in this movie. I just couldn't bear it. Got a huge headache by the end of it.


• Cheeni Kum. Another acclaimed movie that I just hated. Even Nishabd was better than this. Atleast, Zia Khan was worth a watch. :p


• Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Preity disappointed me big time. Senseless plot and not so 'happening' nach-gana.


• Hostel 2. Hostel series is always over-rated. Just hated this one as well.

Some other big disappointments are - Harry Potter 5, Aaja Nachle, Bhool Bhulaiya etc. I know almost 60% people loved these movies, but they failed to impress me. HP5 was worst of all HP movies. Aaja Nachle wasn't worth Madhuri's comeback vehicle. And, Bhool Bhulaiya was complete hotchpotch for me. Attempting comdey, horror, suspense, musical - al at the same time had its cost.

Best Hindi Songs

• Tum Se Hi [Jab We Met] - Amongst the best lovey-dovey song of all times.


• Bol Naa Halke Halke [Jhoom Barabar Jhoom] - The only saving grace of that movie is this song. Hum along.


• Ke Bin Tere [Aggar] - Mithoon's music rocks the chart, once again. Awesome lyrics. Sang with passion.


• To Phir Aao [Aawarapan] - Great music. Similar to Atif Aslam genre.


• Alvida [Metro] - Put all the passion of a heart-break and sing this song.

Best Applications [Desktop / Web]

• Orkut / GTalk / Blogger. Grouped them all together as otherwise this list will become google dominated. They effected our lives like nothing else ever did.


• Netvibes. Maintaining the feeds of different sites / blogs was never this easy.


• VLC Media Player. The best media player there is. Plays all formats of media.


• Picasa. Both the Desktop application and the web album. Made photo album management so easy.


• Firefox - still rules the web scene, IE7 not-withstanding.

My Best Posts

• Harry Potter 7 : Spoiler - Most viewed post of my blog that brought me more than 1500 visitors on a single day.


• My Best Friend's Wedding - The book series closest to me.


• How safe is your office. It's time to sit up and revive your safety measures.


• Gals love spoilt playboys - The dark secret is out in the open. Learn why you can't get that girl of your dreams.


• Everything back to cricket. The postmortem of India's Cricket craziness post Chack De India and T20 win.

This is what I can think of right now. Lemme know what was best in 2007 according to you. Leave your list as comment. Or mention just any one thing. NJoy. :)

The movie starts with the usual escape bid of Alice, which turns out to be her clone. She's now a sophisticated human weapon with high-psychological abilities and can control things with her mind. A little bit of supernaturalism, huh ...?? Anyways, the story doesn't make much progress this time. All you get is - Alice destroys Umbrella Corps' American facility and is on her way to the headquarters [next movie], along with lots n lots of her clones. She now knows that her blood is the cure to virus spread. 4th movie seems highly promising.

Things to watch out for in this 3rd installment is the awesome action sequences. The best one is when the convoy of survivors reaches Vegas. Can't describe it in words. Just edge of the seat, breath-taking action. Mila gave a great performance. All those maneuvers and free form fights reminded me of Prince of Persia game. Specially the Twin blade throat cut is Wow. Check some snapshots below.






[ Click photo to Enlarge in new window ]

And oh, the cinematography is just beautiful. Some great camera work and visual effects and every frame of the movie just comes alive. Never knew it'd look so good even when the world is a barren land. :p Go watch this movie - theater or get yourself a DVD.


Ahh. Welcome. Another comedy crapper of Akshay Kumar. He's now so adapt to these roles that he almost sleep walks through out the movie. He's became repeatative. Still, he manages to make us laugh. But, how many are having hearty laugh and how many are laughing just for the heck of it, is doubtful. I mean, some people in the theater were laughing their heart out even on lousy jokes. Akshay is like the new king of comedy for the masses and not laughing to his jokes is like dis-respecting the king. So, laugh anyway. Secondly, people don't want to be disappointed by a Akshay Kumar movie. So, they console themselves by enjoying every possible 'funny' scene. Thus, Akshay is now a safe bet for any producer. Public will make sure that his movie is not a flop by saying 'Wah Wah' even if they didn't really like it.

That said, let me tell you that Welcome is not a bad movie either. It's good for time-pass. And if you're watching it second time, it's gotta be for Katrina Kaif. She's hot like hell and more pretty than ever. There's not even a single frame where she's anything less than an angel. Anyways, the movie. It's again copy of some Hollywood movie, [Forgot the name]; just as all Nadiadwala movies are these days. It's full of forced comedy, with just a few exceptions. Whilst the 'stirring in hand' road accident scene was 'forced', the 'crematorium' scene was really funny. All that confusion surrounding the dead body was really situational comedy that makes me laugh. Climax was again very cliche' with all the chaos. I just hate that 'life in balance on edge of cliff' formula. Firoz Khan is totally wasted here. Nana gave a few nice performances. Don't have high expectations. Go watch this movie just to relax.


And, some off-topic [non-review] observations here. We watched Welcome in Rex theater. It's a blot on the face of Brigade Road. Even my little home town cinema hall was better than this. Still, Rex makes a huge profit every week; thanks to it's location and seat-availability. Situated at the prime location of Brigade road, the heart of the IT city, and surrounded by so many MultiNational retail-chain marts - Nike, McDonald, CafeCoffee Day, Pizza corner, Barista, Planet M and many many more. The biggest crowd puller of the entire city. If anyone wants to see a movie, the nearest option is Rex. Though Inox [@ Garuda mall] is not very far, tickets for current show is rarely available there. Thus, Rex is doing a brisk business, even-though it lacks in service quality.
Moral of the story : It doesn't matter who you are or how u are. What matters is - where you are. :)

And oh, I went to Rex almost after a year. Last time, I was there on my B'day with some friends - watching Dhoom 2. That was one of the most happy day of my life. While watching 'Welcome', I was remembering that dear friend who got separated by time and distance. Some memories - die hard.


Anyway, one more movie that I watched just today is - Saawariya. This movie was among the most eagerly awaited movie of the year; but when it released this Diwali - all the critics just ripped it apart. I didn't get a chance to watch it a until now. And, am I again angry on those headless silly critics? :@ This movie isn't half that crappy as it is made out to be. In fact, in some sequences, it touches the heart. Specially the climax. Every one can identify with this, remember their 1st broken heart. Maybe all the sets look artificial n stuff, but still the movie doesn't deserve the bad treatment it got. I atleast loved this movie. What do you have to say? Cast your opinion in the poll alongside or leave a comment.

Well, in a word, it was just OK. I'm baffled what all this big talk is about? It's just another run of the mill movie; a typical bollywood sob story; how a man fights for his family, a living and makes it big one day. What's so great about it? The same story's been told several times earlier. You can anyway choose to watch this movie for the rare look of WS. U know, not the usual six pack dude look U get of him in his other movies. He's just a normal struggling guy next door, with a vulnerable face and some sort of desperation. You'll identify with him, but would wish that U aren't in his position; but when he gives some witty answer or succeeds in the final frames, U'd see yourself in him. I specifically liked the scenes where he gets his job confirmed and says - "This part of my life - is called - happyness".

Next movie - Rumor has it. I had never heard anything about this movie. Took it's DVD just 'coz it had Jennifer Aniston staring at me from it's cover. :p I had earlier bought the entire Friends series DVD just 'coz of her. Actually, I started watching Friends 'coz of her, but then gradually started liking everything about the sitcom. Anyway, sadly I didn't come across many movies of her. There are just a very few, I guess. So, didn't want to miss this one.

Well, this one also was just OKies. Unusual story about a girl trying to find her real identity who evidently ends up sleeping with the man, whom she suspects to be her real father, who had earlier slept with her mother and grand mother as well, thus continuing 'family tradition'. Creeepy, huh? Apart from this, there's nothing special to talk about. Even Aniston disappointed me. She didn't look good enough in this one. Now I'm not sure whether I'd like to watch 'Break Up' just 'coz of her. Even Mark Ruffalo gave better performance than her.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Aaah. One of the most talked about movie of this year, one that gave the no.1 chartbuster song. Being a Priyadarshan - Akshay Kumar movie, I too had big expectations from this movie. Vidya Balan was an added Ooomph attraction. After finishing the movie, I was like - "Am I destined to watch only OKies movies this week ...??" There's nothing good about this movie, except for maybe the 'HareRam' song which is played at the end, when credit titles roll. What were they trying to make? Comedy, horror, suspence or psycho thriller? It all got jumbled up and at the end, You are left wondering what was this about? Thankfully, there wasn't a running chaos scene for climax, as is usual in a Priyan movie. Think of Hera Pheri, Hulchul, Hungama, Bhagam Bhag, Dhol [can't recall the name of rest of his movies] - climax of every movie had this chaotic scene where every single actor of the movie is chasing someone or is being chased, creating one hell of a chaos. Thanfully, I didn't have to bear that in Bhool Bhulaiya.

Performance wise, Vidya Balan is good. Shiney is over-rated as always. Akshay is now getting boring with constantly doing the same gags. Rajpal Yadav and Paresh Rawal are totally wasted. The best thing about this movie was perhaps - Amisha Patel. She looked really stunning even in normal day to day clothes. One scene where I almost died out laughing was when Akshay draps the saree of Paresh's wife as Dhoti and then is talking to Amisha while Paresh's wife is reacting to what he said, thinking that he's hitting on her.

Yesterday I watched 'I Am Legend' at PVR. I actually had a lot of movie options to choose from - Hitman, Beowulf, Superbad, Dus Kahaniya. But I picked this one 'coz of Will Smith. The movie poster was impressive. A lone man and his dog, with a runies of a city and a broken bridge in the background - that was appealing to me. The catch-line "The only surviver is not alone" was just passe. Anyways, this movie was a total disaster, not even OKies. It was just carrying forward the Resident Evil crap, minus smokin Mila J. Those roaring zombies gave me a splitting headache. Some comments flying at the end of the movie - "That Dog Samantha acted well" , "Legend, my a**. This must be called "I am Jhand [crap]".

Next movie - Speed. Not the Keanu Reaves movie, but the Bollywood one, just to kill time. The name is used just to confuse you. It's a poor blatant copy of 'Cellular', just as 'Qayamat' was of The Rock, typical Baweja thing to do. A miserably disgusting movie. If you're anyway opting for it to watch Tanushree or Amrita or Sophia sizzling on screen, you're gonna be disappointed again. They are virtually non-existant here.

Alright, enough of crappy and OKies movies. Now couple of nice movies that I watched. 'Devil wears Prada' and 'Thank you for smoking'. Devil wears prada is a great time pass. Meryl Streep playing Miranda is just mind blowing. She's playing this 'Editor in chief' of fashion magazine Runway and looks every bit of it. She can give every mid-age lady and even some fresh faces a run for their money. She makes you hate her and reminds you of your boss. Great work. Anne Hathaway, playing the rookie Andrea gets into the character like a second skin. Even with her Donald duck looks, she looks impressive. And even Emily [played by Emily Blunt] leaves a mark with her nagging and oh, she's hot. ;) Even during her 'incubus of viral plague' scenes, she looks cute with her red nose tip. :$

Watched 'Thank you for smoking' fresh off the bed this morning. I had thought that this one is some documentary on ill effects of smoking. But thankfully, it was a great comedy [ dark comedy, perhaps ]. You'll never get bored watching it. If nothing else, it'd atleast teach you a lesson or two in communication skills. Nick Naylor is just one hell of a lobbyist. The way he plays with word and makes a wrong seem right, it's just spell-bounding. You wish you could do that. His final words in the movie - "Michael Jordan plays ball, Charles Manson kills people. I talk. Everyone has a talent". Ata Boy. Surprise package of this movie was Katie Holmes. Tom Cruise is a lucky man. :D

Alright, back to Jade. I did a little Google search and found out her Official Unofficial Website. There's her bio, pics, video n stuff. Hmmmm. She looked just 'above average' in the pics. Not that HOT or smokin. So, what was all this fuss about? [Google blog search returns some 10,000 results]. Maybe, it's because she's in gaming industry which is conventionally thought of as Guys' playground. I guess it's like reacting to a lady who suddenly finds herself in Men's loo. Turns out, it was much more than just reaction. There was an explicit cartoon strip of Jade trying to sell the 'Game' using her sexuality. That created a lot of controversy and resulted in Ubisoft suing the forum Something Aweful. That cartoon has been sinse removed from that forum, but it is still doing the rounds of the net and it landed on my PC as well. Some people are calling it 'freedom of expression', some are condemning the strip. Well, I think the strip is of bad taste. Jade certainly doesn't deserve this. Some jerks came up with this idea just to gain attention. To hell with them. :@

Glimpsed at some video interviews that Jade gave for the promotion of the game. Have a look below -



More exclusive videos at VLOG

Jade exudes a lot of enthusiasm and confidence. She's a tight slap on the face of those perverts who think that hardcore gaming is not a gal's cup of coffee. Jade visualized it, produced it and now marketed it so well. Hats off to her.

• Check out Photo Gallery of Jade - Jade Raymond - Assassin


• Check out details of the game - Assassin's Creed - Quick Look.

This is the best song ever composed for a sitcom. You'll start humming it within few seconds. And if you know the background of the song [ie, the circumstances of the song], you'll feel it playing within you. Check the lyrics -

Teri yaadein, mulaqatein, wo raatein, aur baatein;
Teri saanse, wo baahein, ub mujhko yaad aaye.
Tere bina mera jiya, sataaye kyu piya,
yaadon ne teri mujhpe, ye zaadu kiya re.

Teri saanse, wo baahein, ub mujhko yaad aaye.
Wo aadao, ki ghataaye, mere dil ko chhuu jaaye.
Pyari, ye duniya saari maine, hai tujhpe wari,
dilne, mere dilne tujhse yaari, ki baazi haari re.

Mere khayalo mei, (khayalo mei ....), bus tuum.
Meri Nigaho mei, (nigaho mei .....), bus tuum.
Waapas aa jao... mere paas, tum sadaa, waapas aa jao.
Mere paas, tum sadaa ....
Suuna, mera jahan, bhuula mai hu kaha, jana hai janeja, tera rahu...
Piyaaaaaa .................... (piyaaa.....) .........
wapas aa jao.
Mere paas, tum sadaa, wapas aa jao.
Mere paas, tum sadaa -
Piya tera ziya .... (Piya tera ziya...) .....
Piya tera ziya .... (Piya tera ziya...)
Tuuuu hai kahaaaa ....?

Tera karu intezar, tu mere dil ka karar,
Itna hai aitbar, maanunga naa mai bhi haar.

Simply touches my heart.

If you've seen the serial, you must be knowing the character of Akash, the hero of the serial. But more than him, I like Dev. He's more close to me than any other character portrayed ever on any media. Whenever he's sad and the 'Fir kissa wahi ho raha' plays in the background, I feel like crying alongside him and give him a hug.

For latest [6th Dec] episode of 'Love Story', check this - Watch TV. Use the search term 'Love Story' in the search bar at the top right corner for a full list of all available episodes. Do watch the serial - online or the conventional TV way.

As if only Boxing wasn't enough, there's WWE. People are nothing less than wild beasts there. I really don't know what protections the fighters take before entering the ring or technicality involved in these 'sports'. All I see is one fighter punching the other with all his might, puffed blackened eyes, bloody noses et al. The little biology I've studied tells me that one hard blow just above the ears or on lungs could prove fatal. When so much risk of life is involved - why the hell is it allowed to take place by the govt. And, why the hell is it called a sport? Is there any sporting attitude involved? The fighters are in the ring to kill each other. Have you ever seen a boxing or WWE fight ending with the two sides shaking hands? There's no component of sport here - except for the audience.

Audience - that's another thing that baffles me. How can anyone enjoy these fights? You gotta be inhuman to love to watch a man bleed. This reminds me of Gladiator games during Roman times. Slaves were used as Gladiators, pitted against each other, royal soldiers, lions and what not...!!! The game always ended with the Gladiator being killed in the field and all audience hooting at it. Romans have indeed left their legacy behind. Though we don't have gladiators now, we have new forms of the same - Boxing, WWE, BullFights et al. Do they deserve to be called sports? Isn't it a blot on the face of sporting spirit around the world?

The 1st season of Indian Idol produced Abhijt Sawant and Amit Sana. Abhijit's debut album was instant hit, 'coz of the initial hype of the 'Indian Idol' concept, and of course his melodious voice. He was brand ambassador for SET and one mouth freshener product, appeared in a soap for Ekta Kapoor, and I hear he playback sang in a movie of which I'm not sure. Recently his 2nd album rolled out but is not finding many takers. Radios are playing his songs once every thousand songs, if not worse.

Yet, he is the most successful Indian Idol ever. Amit Sana got lost in the crowd after his consolation debut album. So is the fate of Indian Idol of season 2. I don't even remember his name. And why only Indian Idol? Several other clone reality TV talent hunt shows were launched alongside. Fame Gurukul, Sa Re Ga Ma, Voice of India et al. How are their winners faring? None of the winners of such shows have made a headway after the initial break. Touqeer Qazi and Ruprekha Banerjee of FG, Debojit Chatterjee of SRGM - all are forgotten names. Only winners who have made it big are Shreya Ghosal, who emerged from SRGM long back and Sunidhi Chauhan, who was winner of 'Meri Aawaz Suno' way back in 1999. But they are, by large, the exceptions.

For all other reality TV talent 'stars', their 15 minutes of fame seems to have evaporated as quickly as it came. These faded stars are a sore reminder that this success and hype can be transitory, unless they have strong lobby or try to make it big banking on their talent and not the media glare - which keeps shifting from one winner to the next.