Goal review

Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal is a complete and utter drag, and a case in point against thoughtless derivative sports films, a trend threatening to grow following the success of fine films like Chak De! India and Iqbal.
Goal is a very callous film, one that raises an extremely bizarre perception of anti-Asian racism in the UK. While the concept of Aston Villa not playing their top striker simply because of 'colour' might have been plausible in the 1950s, today's Britain is one of extreme diversity, where Sahas and Ronaldinhos are heralded just as much as Rooneys.
In sport, it's doubly so. I remember signing up for cricket sessions at University and -- while I'm no S Ramesh T -- the English lads, gleeful at an Indian joining, scribbled my name optimistically in the first-string sheet. English sport positively thrives on getting the best from all over the globe. Outside of Lewis Hamilton, the UK hasn't had a homegrown world-class hero in years, but this doesn't stop them from picking top players and making them their own.
Is the film a rip-off? The question is inevitable, the answer even more so. Sure, every sports movie is. But here director Vivek Agnihotri -- who last massacred The Usual Suspects to make his Chocolate -- while picking significant plot-points from the decidedly middling Goal, even riffs off bits from the completely undeveloped desi sports genre, with moments from the aforementioned Chak De (SRK's [ is reproduced near-verbatim) and Iqbal. There's even a wet Dhoom 2 [, if you so wish to call it.
This is a how-do-you-count-the-ways kind of bad film. The dubbing is hideous, with characters often appearing more adept at ventriloquism than soccer, not moving their lips -- as a result, you don't know who's saying what; not that it matters much.
The 'ensemble' cast isn't one to speak of, with less than a half-dozen players getting speaking parts, while the rest of the team skulks around anonymously in the back of the badly-painted bus. The ones who do get to talk are severely underwritten -- save for Raj Zutshi's garrulous Sikh, who aces a few one-liners -- but this is clearly not a team you can care about.
For one, they aren't British. This dogged Southall United Football Club is supposed to be a band cobbled out of Brick Lane butchers and Southall softies, and while we're told these kids were born and bred there, it doesn't seem ruddy likely, with not one of them even trying to attempt an accent. Instead, they speak in Bombay-Hindi, their eyes opening wide as they look at a bunch of big banknotes with the Queen's head on them. "Pounds," they say with awe, one awestruck footballer after another, giving you enough time to roll your eyes between players. That is, of course, when they aren't being pissy drunks.
And then there are the pained subplots. Boman Irani -- who acts very well indeed, simply because it's hard for him to do otherwise -- frowns in the middle (presumably for being in this film) of these inane morons, penance for once having Geoffrey-Boycotted (read: vanished and ditched) his team during their potentially finest hour.
Arshad Warsi [, an irritable Pakistani diner-walla, is also required to glare balefully and pretend to be focused, while his wife goes from pregnancy test to baby in the course of what must be football's longest-running tournament.
John Abraham plays bratty super-striker Sunny, looking out for himself, free of all kinship towards Southall, or India, for that matter. It seems justifiable, him having lived in the UK all his life. Yet there is a strain of unexplored jingoism through the film -- imagine a cricket film with Monty Panesar getting dirty looks at the local Gurudwara -- and his actions are given some bizarre psycho-babble roots in his father's past. Honestly, years of familial strife could have been avoided had Daddy told Sunny about his past, instead of waiting for well-timed happenstance.
Bipasha Basu -- in absolutely the single most moronic role of her career -- plays Warsi's sister, an incompetent physiotherapist who applies lotion on the nostrils of a man with a smashed septum. Of course, this could be because the bimbette is utterly smitten with Sunny, and makes use of these extreme close-up shots to tell him she cares because she's a doctor. And, um, that she's 'bahut sexy.' No kidding. She follows this up with, 'you're pretty sexy yourself,' in staccato Hindi, and giggles.
I could go on and on -- a la this most predictable of movies -- but I'm hoping you get the idea by now. While the matches are competently shot, the football itself is unspectacular -- save for a neat panoramic shot introducing us to the Manchester United grounds -- and the matches bore, simply because the team doesn't grab your interest. If there is one scene in this whole film you find unpredictable -- save for John Abraham driving his Porsche down the wrong side of the road and resultantly getting zero traffic -- tell me. I liked the 'Pammi's Hair Salon' sponsorship gag, sure, but this was ditched sooner than you could spell R-e-e-b-o-k.
In the mood for soccer? Switch on Man-U TV or Futbol Mundial. For a sports film? I hear the Chak De DVD is fun. For John? Dhoom, No Smoking, Karam -- take your pick.
Just chuck this Goal। It's infuriatingly ironic for a soccer film to be this lame.
Raing:


source:rediff.com

Saawariya trailer

watch this...

The rushes of Saawariya, which stars debutants Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor are out for everyone to see. One can’t miss the magnificent sets, the whole SLB feel, and also…the well toned bodies of its main leads!

Although Ranbir has always been lean and fit (according to Kapoor standards!), the same can’t be said about Sonam. The actress actually lost 30 kilos for her role in Saawariya. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the director of the film says, “It is absolutely true that she weighed 85 kilos, and has lost about 30 kilos for her role in the film.” Way to go Sonam!

According to reports, Sanjay gave Sonam the script of Saawariya when she was assisting the director on Black. This took Sonam completely by surprise as she didn’t think she would fit the role of the heroine as she was overweight, but once she was finalized for the project; there was no looking back for the young actress! She worked hard on her body and lost weight; as is visible in the promos of the film!

We are certainly looking forward to watching both the upcoming stars in Saawariya when it hits theatres on November 9th. The guys may be waiting to drool over Sonam and her well toned body but personally, and I speak on behalf of all the girls, I’m dying to see Ranbir Kapoor as the lad looks super fit in the white dhoti!

Chak de....does it all right

Starring

shah Rukh Khan	.... Kabir Khan
Vidya Malvade	.... Vidya Sharma
Sagarika Gatge	.... Preeti Sabharwal

Director : Shimit Amin
Producer : Aditya Chopra ‘Chak De India’ is a beautifully made film that makes you laugh, makes you cry, gives you goose bumps, and stirs up patriotism inside you. It is a film that every lover of good cinema must watch.

It is heartening to see Yashraj Films move away from their stereotypical mushy romances and sentimental family dramas. Sports, in itself, is not a popular genre in Bollywood. On top of it, ‘Chak De India’ has no love angle even though it has Shah Rukh Khan playing the leading man alongside 16 new girls. Despite so many odds, ‘Chak De India’ turns out to be a riveting film. Reason – excellent writing (by Jaideep Sahni), well etched-out characters, brilliant performances (by Shah Rukh, Shilpa Shukla, Sagarika Ghatge and Chitrashi Rawat) and, last but not the least, superb direction by Shimit Amin .During this ‘Chak De’ ride, you go through myriad emotions. You empathize with the pain of the protagonist, cherish the clashes and camaraderie of the girls, and you are filled with an uplifting, charged-up feeling as you see the underdogs rise to the occasion.

Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh), the best centre-forward in Indian hockey team, misses the crucial, last-minute penalty stroke against Pakistan and is blamed for the Indian team’s defeat in the finals. So much so, he is labeled gaddar (betrayer) by his own fellow countrymen. Disgraced and dishonored for one momentary failure, Kabir Khan leaves his parental house with his mother and disappears into oblivion.

seven years later he appears again, not as a player but as a coach of a bunch of girls in whom even the Hockey Federation has no confidence. Kabir Khan has just three months to coach and train these girls for the Hockey World Cup in Australia.

The girls come from all over India – Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, North East and other states.

On the outside, Kabir Khan is very strict with the girls. Through his toughness he wants to instill discipline and integrity in the team, something which is significantly missing.

Within the team, there is hardly any camaraderie. There are usual girlie fights and arguments. Somebody is egoistic, somebody too self-centered, somebody is hot-tempered and somebody is simply naïve.

Using very unconventional methods, Kabir Khan manages to create a team spirit among the girls. But some differences remain, only to be sorted out in the World Cup tournament in Australia, which the team must win to make India proud. But Kabir Khan is fighting for more than pride for India. For him the victory would bring redemption (for his momentary failure 7 years ago) and reclamation of his lost honour. And when that moment of reckoning does come, he looks on with disbelief in his teary eyes.

‘Chak De India’ is not just a sports film. It is replete with myriad emotions. And the best part is that Shimit Amin tells the story very realistically, making it all the more believable. He also doesn’t bring any unnecessary dramatization into the story.

The movie has a number of intelligently conceived sequences. For instance, a sequence when the girl’s hockey team has to prove their mettle against the men’s team. The girls lose by a narrow margin, but they get an applause and salutation from male players. Or another sequence when the girls bash up a bunch of eve teasers. These sequences and the last portions of the second half – when the crucial matches are played – evoke a flood of emotions inside a viewer.

A constant thread of humour runs through the film’s narrative. The humour is vernacular, and genuinely funny at that. The funniest of the lot is the rustic Haryanavi girl Komal (Chitrashi Rawat) and the hot-tempered Punjabi girl Balbir Kaur (Tanya Abrol).

After a long time – perhaps since Swades – Shah Rukh gives a substantial reason to write something about his acting. The superstar doesn’t go overboard in his performance in ‘Chak De’– there is no quivering of lips and no heavy breathing. Using his facial expressions and intense eyes to his advantage, with utmost conviction SRK plays a man simmering and seething within. Undoubtedly, this one is a praiseworthy performance from the King Khan.

SRK isn’t the sole focus of the film. Ample footage is given to the girls. Shilpa Shukla (as the egoistic Bindia) delivers a laudable performance. She maintains a snooty, high-headed demeanor throughout the film. Sagarika Ghatge (as the attacking forward player Preeti Sabarwal) is convincing. Vidya Malvade (as the goalie) plays her part well.

To conclude this review, let me say objectively that ‘Chak De India’ surpasses the expectations that I had begun to have from Yashraj Films of late. A great deal of credit for this gripping film should go to director Shimit Amin, who never lets the technicalities, the cinematic style (or still better the visual beauty) overtake the essence of the story.

At the end of the day, ‘Chak De India’ is a deeply touching film that offers plenty for you to carry home with.

Do yourself a favour, go and see this film. It is a must-watch.
rating:3.5/5

TERROR in HYDERABAD

Hyderabad has always been a peace loving city.People from diverse religious,communal,ethnic backgrounds live here like people would live in one big family.It has an age old history of communal harmony.All kinds of kings ruled it and they all had one thing in common,they were peace loving and there views were secular.It was a perfect a place for others to emulate.IT in the city is booming.Lately it has become a target of a number of terrorist organisations.

Fortythree persons were killed and 46 injured in two separate explosions that were set off at around 7.30 pm on Saturday 25th of august in a bustling eatery in the crowded Kothi area in central Hyderabad and in Lumbini Park abutting the Hussainsagar Lake. This is by far the bloodiest attack in Hyderabad.Police have recovered more than a dozen bombs fitted with timers from several places in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad on Sunday.



A bomb that was found with a timer to go off at 9.30 pm on Saturday was defused. An unexploded bomb was found in the Lumbini Park. The police took into custody at least
25 persons suspected to have links with the terrorist organisations. Police arrested a
person who had allegedly assisted the perpetrators of the blasts, while teams, scouring

the sites for clues, claimed to have discovered vital information about the attack.
Forensic experts who combed the blast sites of Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Bhandar

in Kothi, believe that Neogel-90, an ammonium nitrate-based explosive, was being

used in the two bombs. The chemical was mixed with small metallic iron balls used in

bicycles and was set off by a timer.

Denying that there was any laxity in following up on

intelligence reports, police said the two

places were checked every alternate day

as is the norm and Lumbini was checked on Friday. However, experts point out that the security placed at Lumbini was nominal and not qualified to deal with arms and bombs. They also pointed out though there were metal detectors, the culprits managed to smuggle the bomb into the open air theatre which means that the security was not alert enough. In the case of explosion at Gokul Chat Bhandar, the bomb had been placed on an ice cream machine, about five feet above the ground, to cause greater impact.

And this information technology hub is still trying to recover from the shock of the worst-ever terror attacks in the southern state.
Refusing to bow down to the terrorists, a large number of citizens took part in a candle light demonstration at Lumbini Park