Disappointing Movies in 2009

For my second post - let me post a few of the disappointing movies of the past year. Many might be surprised that the movie that was least up to my expectations was "PAA". I am not counting movies like "Deshdrohi" or even the new "Accident on the Hill Road" since my expectations were low from them and I do not call them disappointing at all :)

The 3 worst movies for me for 2009 were 1. Paa, 2. Jail and 3. Whats your Raashi

First let me start with Paa - my problems with the movie are :

a. Progeria patients do not grow beyong 4 ft. and we have a boy standing 6 ft. tall - just to accommodate one of the finest actors in the role, I would have loved to have the movie focus on the condition rather than politician.
b. I would have loved to see father-son chemistry but all we have is a boy who is in love with "people's behind" comparing their bums to others and cracking strange jokes with his father who somehow gets all the time to spend with this boy.
c. Amitabh in my opinion is one of the best actors in the world, it is totally wrong to put him under so many layers of make-up ( excellent make up though ) and to have everyone not see his expressions and just appreciate the job done by make-up artists. He has managed his voice well throughout the movie.
d. In the end - its gets so un-watchable to see the boy asking his parents to marry that too by going round n round his bed - some creativity.
e. Balki - great adman - but a director with not much substance ? cheeni was already kam but Paa misses cheeni, chai-patti and milk altogether and all we get is plain water :)

Now the second disappointment of the year : JAIL
For a change from his earlier movies - Bhandarkar's movie has a male lead, although it was hardly hitting than hard hitting. If Traffic Signal was bad - this is worse. There are so many typical characters in this movie - most  have been seen umpteen times in hindi movies. Neil is getting different roles but still has to show his caliber as an actor. Mugdha is the director's muse and gets a few meaty lines to deliver to prove that she is a good performer.

To say anything good about "Whats your Raashi" would be so difficult. The story is so plain - Ashutosh Gowarikar works hard but such a movie does not require so much honesty with the script and needed more improvisation. Its hard to imagine that the director of Swades and Lagaan made this. I think this is more closer to "Pehla Nasha" - the director's first movie.

This post was written sometime in the last week of december-09 - but posted almost a month later.

Bus Journey - Dhariwal Travels Indore

This is the first post in this blog - but straight to business - I am going to list out the worst experiences in travel, eating, shopping that I have faced.

This is just 2 days ago - i was to board my bus from Indore to Ahmedabad via Dhariwal Travels. I have known the route and specially asked them if the bus will indeed start on time - my reporting time was 7:30 pm. Also since there is a separate Bus stand for buses going via Dhar (Gangwal Bus Stand) I wanted to know if I could catch the bus there at a later time since I will get another hour to finish my work in the office but they informed me that this is a direct bus that starts from their office cum boarding point near Patel Bridge and will directly leave for Ahmedabad without any stoppages. They were convincing and I was at their office cum boarding point on time. The bus was to come in a cpl of minutes so I waited. Around 8:30 pm a bus came and they asked all the passengers (including those bound for Aurangabad, Gwalior etc.) to board it as it will take us to our bus.

Now this bus took us to Navlakha bus stand and there I found the Ahmedabad bus - I was told by the staff that the bus will start only at 9:15 pm. I somehow passed my time there and boarded the bus as it left at 9:25 pm. Now to my utter disappointment the bus went to the other bus stand (gangwal bus stand) to pick a few passengers from there.

The bus left Indore at 10:30 pm - a good 3 hours past my reporting time. I really was pissed off since there was no way for me to get my 3 hours back - I quietly tried to sleep.

Next up was the Window near me - somehow it wont close properly - It used to open every 5 minutes and it was a chilly night, my neighbor could not sleep as he had to close it every time.

I don't know why the maintenance of the bus is not taken care of, the buses are often painted well and the body work is done well - but why are the engine, window panes and broken seats not taken care of ? I understand its a low-budget and a last minute option for most people but a few basic facilities should be provided for and they should at least stick to the boarding time - I am fine (Not fine but its common all through India) with 30 minutes - but 3 hours is not acceptable.