KANK IS NOT JUNK !!

After reading so many poor reviews of KANK, finally decided to have a look at it myself. And I think its not as bad as it is made out by the media. May be it lacks the evergreen look of KKHH or elegance and grace of K3G, but KANK is good, in its own way.

I think for the first time Karan Johar has tried something different and a subject thats out of the book and thats why these poor reviews. I think , the problem is not with the movie but with people who cant see Shahrukh or Rani betraying their spouses, because they haven't donned such roles till date. As his favourites Shahrukh and Rani are getting older as years pass by and he cant send them to college again, KJ needs to find new stories for them and here he does pulls out one for them. The story is like any other movie where the lead hero and heroine are in love, the only difference is that they are married.

SRK is a footballer whose career is cut short by a leg injury and whose wife Preity is less caring about their family and more concerned about her fashion magazine or he thinks so. On the other hand, Rani is married to Abhishek, who is not a bad husband, yet they are unhappy. The movie is all about a bonding that arises between Rani and Shahrukh. He meets her for the first time in a park on her wedding day. As an unknown person in her life she shares her unhappiness for a few minutes. And then 4 years later they meet again. This time around their family life is under threat. As they try to save their falling apart marriages, they fall in love with each other. In each other, they find what they couldnt find in their spouses.

KJ sensitively deals with the whole issue of extra marital affair in a new angle. He portrays Shahrukh and Rani as people who are into an affair under circumstances where their marriages have failed. He raises the question of "What if one meets the right person one is looking for after marriage? KJ's magic really shows off in scenes where Shahrukh and Rani are together. Right from scene one where they are together, till the climax the movie reaches a different zone when they are together. Carefully choosen words and expressions make it a delight to watch them together. Though slow at times, he never loses the grip on the story. His timing is perfect in some scenes. Once again he proves that he can handle multicast films with ease. Music, Choreograpahy and Camera work are the other positives of the movie.

On the negative side, i think movie could have been trimmed a bit. And unlike his earlier movies its a bit slow and drags a bit.

Coming to the starcast of the movie, though his magic is fading, Shahrukh is OK in the movie. Perhaps overacts in some scenes, but even then he does justice to his role. Rani is the pick of the lot. Like me, KJ once again shows his soft corner for Rani. She gets the maximum screentime and excels in her role as unhappy married woman who falls in love. Her eyes does the talking in scenes where she doesnt talk. Her smile, well what can i say about that. It makes me forget everything else (Needless to say I am great fan of her) Abhishek is good, and better than Shahrukh. His role is meaty and his performance is A class. Preity has nothing much do in the movie. But whatever her roles offers her she does it with conviction. Hats off to Big B for his performance as "Sexy Sam". He is truelly a SUPERSTAR, even at this age. Kirron Kher, as Shahrukh's mother is also OK.

All in all its worth watching KANK, may be once. If you are in love, just watch it once and u realise what the movie is all about. Unhappy couples keep off this movie, or else this may well be the final nail in the coffin.

Think, i will give it 4 out of 5.

Sunday Special...

The best trips are those which are never planned. It started off as a thought and ended up as a great trip.

Engineering Exams are finally over. And the last man to finish his exams in our gang Dilip, arrived from Bangalore after writing his 1st Year Engg exams. The rest had finished theirs and yours truelly is of course the most free person on earth these days.

Finally after many days, woke up at 7AM (hadnt seen that time of the day since a fortnight i guess) and got ready for the trip. Like me are my friends, though i had told him to reach karkal previous night itself, Dilip was still sleeping in Mangalore. Had to wake him up by calling him and told him to reach Bajagoli at 9.30. Deepak was to join us there too.

Me, Priya, Sandeep and Sudhir started off from Belthangady. Since 2 Ds didnt reach Bajagoli in time had to pick them up from Karkal. Finally, "Super Six" started off after breakfast and shopping food stuffs, our first stop was Hanuman Gundi a.k.a Satannabi Falls. A picturesque falls and a great place to visit during rainy seasons.

Since the start was delayed we hadn't planned to visit Kudremukh but later on changed our plans. Drove straight to K'Mukh, now a ghost city. KIOCL, that Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd has stopped working after the Supreme Court order banning mining activities in the Kudremukh National Park. Our good friend Arun (who was Sandeep's classmate) was our tour guide there. He arranged lunch for at Co's Guest House(thats the first thing we look for, FOOD). From there, we went to a hill to catch the glimpses of the Western Ghats. And finally to Lakya Dam. Amidst this a brief stop over at Arun's house for a tea break.

Needless to say with 2 digital cameras we clicked lots of photos(If i develop all the photos, I am sure i will go bankrupt)

Had a great time till then, but the best was yet to come. Our car (Grand Old Amby) broke down on the way back just a few KM from the dam. Tried everything but the clutch wasnt working fine. While Sandeep went back to Arun's house to get the tool box, we tried to stop a couple of vehicle and tried to fix the problem but it didnt. Then came a twist the tale, 10 men driving 5 bikes appeared from nowhere and asked whether our car needed a push. They were from
B'lore and on their way to Dharmashtala. We obliged, one of the guy drove our car and Deepak replaced him on their bike. Bus aur kya ? Hamara Car aage aage, Paanch bike pichche pichche. They helped us reach home without any hitch. Can't imagine the situation if they hadn't arrived. But as they say, ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL ! Another great trip for me.

"Had fun ?" one of friend asked on return. Well, a picture they say, is better than 1000 words, so, uploaded the photos into my YAHOO PHOTOS. I think the link must have reached you by now, if u havnt recd still do mail me..

A Marriage, A trek and A hunt

No, No its not the name of any new hollywood movie. Its the summary of events of today, July 10th, 2006.

First the marriage - I along with my cousins Sudhir, Nanditha, Ganesh anna & Deepak attended one of our family friend's wedding in Chickmaglur. Caught up with friends from Bangalore there. It was a reunion of 6 of us who had been to Amarnath yatra last year. Also roamed around a bit in the dusty city of Chikmaglur and visited the golf course there. More time was spent of chatting and pulling each others' legs.

And the trek - (though i cant call it a true trek) - After lunch while Ganeshanna left for B'lore, Deepak suggested that we visit Mullayyanagiri. Its the highest peak in Karnataka. Since we had a vehicle we could reach the top of the hill easily. The scenary on the way to the hill was breathtaking. It was chilly and windy at the top there. Not many people come there during rainy seasons. There is a temple at the top of the hill for which we need to climb
around 300 steps. We somehow managed to climb these steps. Speedy winds, rain and fog made our climb a bit more difficult. Since i weight just above 50kg, my cousins were worried that i might just fly away due to heavy winds. By the time we went up and came down we were freezing and wet. Somehow got into the car and reached Chikmaglur.

On our way back visited a park (obviously to give some work to our digital camera) and Cafe Coffee Day (which actually hails from the city, it has its Regd Office here)

Now the Hunt - Well, the actual fun began here. This hunt is not about hunting wild animals. Its hunting of leaf called Marvala Paan in Konkani(Marasev,in Tulu and Mara Kesuv, in Kannada) This leaf is actually used in Konkani Cuisine (I think GSB people eat many leaves which even goats and cattles refuse to eat). Its grows between trees in the coffee estates. We had marked the places where we found these leaves, so as to pluck it on our return journey. The hunters (other three, excluding me - thats bcoz i dont like eating this leaf) Our hunters
did a good job (as evident from pics) and enjoyed the Marvala Panna Dangar at home.

All in all a great day..

Deep, Deep, Deep !!

hey, its not the jingle of Tajmahal tea bag. Its all about 3 people who are closest to me, DEEPAK, SANDEEP & DEEPTHI. I enjoy a lot with them . They are just too good people, lucky to have them as friends. Had a great week last week where all us had great fun at Kuntalpady. Thanks for being my friend Deeps ! :)

Was back at my school Anugraha in Ujire with sudhir today, after 10 long years. Caught up with old teachers.

Remembered King of Ghazal Jagjit Singh's beautiful song
"Yeh daulat bhi lelo, Yeh Shohrat bhi Lelo,
Bhale Chheen lo mujhse meri jawani,
Magar mujhko lauto to bachpan ka Saawan,
Woh Kagaz ki kashti woh baarish ka Paani"

My school :)

Infy AGM coverage in TOI and Businessline

My questions and quotes at Infy's 25th AGM have been reported by TOI and businessline. Here's the link

TOI - http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JQkcvMjAwNi8wNi8xMSNBcjAwNzAw&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

Businesline - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/06/11/stories/2006061101660300.htm

Enjoy.......

Infy's Silver Jubilee AGM

Investing in shares, today, has become a easy way of making money or people think that way. Gone are the days when people used to hang on shares for years and decades and pass on the shares to their Gen Next. Companies like Reliance, Larsen & Toubro have had shareholders who never sold their originally alloted shares. The passion of holding on to the shares for such long period is slowly but surely on the decline.

Personally, though I invest in shares to make money, there are a few shares to which I am sentimentally attached. So much so, that I don't sell it at all. And the list in headed by none other than Infosys Technologies Ltd. I must admit that its truly a "Powered by Intellect, Driven by values" company. Its annual report is a must read for everyone who is in the investment fraternity. If any company pioneered the good Corporate Governance in India its
Infosys. If I go on listing the "Firsts" standing to the credit of Infosys, my blog will look like one being sponsored by Infosys.

Attending Annual General Meetings(AGM, in short) of companies gives us an opportunity to meet the top management, interact with them on a one on one basis. During my stint at Bangalore, attended lots of such AGMs. But no other AGM arouses a passion like that of Infosys.

This year's AGM was held on 10th June 2006 at NIMHANS convention centre, Hosur Road, Bangalore, and more importantly it was the 25th AGM of the company. Me and my friend Narasimha Shenoy are regulars at Infy AGMs, this being our 4th AGM together. This time we were fully equipped to "shoot" the Infy's top management. While I was ready with my digital camera to shoot, while NS was ready to shoot some tough questions at the AGM.

I always loved front benches when i was in college, same here, somehow got into the auditorium and got a seat in the third row from the front. As always, the Chairman's address was great. So was CFO Bala's powerpoint presentation of Financial performance of the company,loaded a mix Bollywood n Kannada Songs. As someone rightly said later on, Bala can infact try his luck at The Great Indian Laughter Challenge for his great sense of humour.

Shenoy fired his questions regarding Investment in Mutual Funds by the company and Loan to China subsidiary. I dont remember the answer he got as I was more busy clicking his photos. I decided to ask about NRN's retirement regarding which there was a report in Businessline newspaper. I thought someone before me would ask, but no one did. Got the opportunity at the nick of the time and asked my question. I highlighted the fact that ours was the only company in India which gave an opportunity to physically disabled shareholders a chance to be there at the AGM by providing them a vehicle with pick n drop facility from their doorstep, free of cost. NRN thanked me for highlighting the fact and answered my question regarding his retirment patiently. My quote rightly found its place is next day's Times of India and Businessline newspapers, Yahoooooooooooo...... !

Icing on the cake was our meeting Mr. Vallabh Bhansali of Enam Securities, one of the top most Investment Bankers in India, who complimented both us speaking well.

All in all a great day in life.

The webcast of the AGM is available at http://www.infosys.com/investor/agm2006.asp
Catch me at sometime around 2 hours 29 minutes.

Fun Na

This one word sums up the whole movie, Yash Raj Films' "Fanaa". Being released with much fanfare, this movie is Kajol's comeback movie, co-staring her is Aamir Khan and the movie is being directed by Kunal Kohli.

Movie starts of well, especially if u are a Kajol fan. She plays a bling girl. She's vivacious and her screen presence it too good to be matched by any actress of genre. Aaamir is a tour guide who falls in love with her. The problem with the movie is it has a great starcast with a poor story. The director tries to mix romance n patriotism and sadly fails in both. The plot is so hilarious, that even a B-grade film has a better story in them. Dont want to share the story on my blog (Not b'coz of copyright problem but because i want people to be fooled by watching the
movie, just like me today)

Let me come to the few good things in the movie. The music and Cinematography. Sadly it ends there.

Aamir and Kajol are not the only two who are wasted in this movie. It has Lara Dutta, Shiney Ahuja, Kirron Kher who dont have more than 15 minutes of role put together. Tabu plays a cameo to perfection. Rishi Kapoor is a treat to watch. Aamir is a class apart, though his role is not well sketched he has done a good job. Kajol is good in her come back movie but doesnt have much to do. But their talent has not been fully utilised.

I think its high time that Adi takes up direction once again. We deserve more movies like DDLJ and Mohabbatein . As for Kunal Kohli, he use to sit and criticise every other director in Chalo Cinema. I thought Hum Tum was a great movie, and thought he had improved in his directorial skill, this comes as a shock. I think he better sit at home rather than directing these LATPUT movie.

A movie with such high expectation is not even worth its salt...

The never ending journey.

It seems stock markets have forgotten what downtrend is. When it reached 9K i was so excited that i wrote a blog. Now, i think it was a bit too premature on my part to put down my feelings. If i start writing blog on Sensex at every 1000 points upward movement, then i need to find more time and more words from dictionary to explain the never ending upward movement of the markets. Keep going up.. No blog on this till it reaches 15K

Sandeep, a photogenic face

When you are one of the smartest guys in the gang (Smart matlab, dekhne me smart), and why not get yourself caricarutised, I asked sandeep at Forum Mall on his visit to B'lore (incidentally that was his birthday) during October last year. It was then, we met ace caricature artist, Prakash Shetty, (formerly with "The Week", and now a freelance artist), there who drew a caricature of Sandeep. Here's the man with a cartoon of himself. Thanks PS, u did a great job.

Life at KP

Its what we call fondly call Kuntalpadi. This time i was there for teru. A new laptop and 2 digital cameras made all the difference this time. From morning to late night, me and my gang was all busy with exploring the laptop and digital camera. Needless to say, there was lots of Ismailing and clicking all the way.

Karkal Teru

One of the most eagerly awaited events for me is the the Car Festival at Karkal. Its the time to have fun with cousins. This time quite a few were absent, but that did not take the fun away from the festivities.

Okli on the day following the Hod Teru, was a never forgetting experience, with heavy rains lashing the streets of the town as the God's procession started from the temple in the evening. In short, full gammat. Nicer of the photos clicked are

My first blood donation.....

I donated blood today. Its the first time i am donating blood. You dont feel the pain at all, just a little bit of weakness. I think everyone of us should voluntarily donate blood.

Seeing my personality, he first checked my weight and then told me to eat something. After we returned , the person at the blood donation centre asked me where i was working etc.., just to take my eyes from the injection. That reminded of my childhood, when doctor used keep talking to us before giving injection. The blood pouch is kept at a place where i cant see ( thats because some people faint seeing their own blood)

Anyway, the other good things about blood donation apart from that it saves someone's life is:

1. Can go home early for a couple of days sighting weakness. (My boss doesn't my blog even after repeated requests, so no worries)
2. Eat and drink (juice ofcourse) before and after donation.


Seriously, i am really feeling great this day...

Sania Mania...............

The lastest pin up gal of Indian sports was in Bangalore for the Bangalore Open. And how could i miss an opportunity to see her ? Me along with two of my colleagues Ganesh and Ramesh where there at the KSLTA tennis stadium on VALENTINE DAY to see her. (I hope that the word in Capital Letters stresses why we choose that day) and then there was Dilip Shenoy (in pic) to accompany us. Dilip was there at 3pm, the first person to reach the stadium (even before the players) was treated with puffs and tea by the ticket vendor, we were told.

We three reached at 5.30pm straight from our office. (needless to say leaving pending work behind) Sania's match had not yet begun. We were lucky to get the front seats. Since we reached there from office, we could not bring huge Sania posters. Who was the opponent ? I dont know. Nor was I interested in scores. We were there just to WATCH HER, play ofcourse.

Coming to the match, she hit the ball really hard. She's a bit too erratic which along poor serves are her handicap, which fails her against good opponents. Actually we were lucky, she lost in singles the very next day. Frankly, All 4 of us were not interested in her playing style as much as watching her. She did lot of nakhras like throwing rackets.

Coming to the true point, she is damn beautiful. Perhaps more beautiful than she looks on screen. A great day and A Valentine Day worth remembering !!!!

THE 10K......

Well done BSE. I never thought I would see 10K so soon. If things happen is such fast time then i think i need to make a posting every month on Sensex scaling a new high.

The greatest thing this time was that i was actually on the trading terminal to watch that magical figure myself. Thanks to my office which posted me to Goa Branch as a stop gap arrangement. But the saddest thing was i was all alone in the office to see such a landmark event.

I must admit it seems that working in Stock Market related job is the next big thing after IT related job these days. Keep going ahead BSE, I love u.......