Year: 2012

Men In Black 3 | Movie Review

It’s been a long time since I watched the Men In Black movies, but from what I remember, the first one was really entertaining while the second one was a bore. I believe the third installment of the series, 15 years after the first movie, falls somewhere in between the first and the second. Its entertaining on most occasions, but is also a bore at times.

Director Barry Sonnenfeld’s Get Shorty (1995) is one of my favorite films. He is one director with talent. In MIB3, thanks to Will Smith’s amazing coming timing, Sonnenfeld creates few amazing moments between Agent J and Agent K (both young and old). But the script, written by Etan Cohen, lacks the required punch to make this a classic. There are moments in the film which made my self question if I was watching a Hollywood film or a Bollywood one. Not all aspects of the script are not explained clearly as well (either that, or I didn’t get them :P). The screenplay tends to lose pace in the second half, and that’s when you tend to yawn. Nevertheless, some neat direction, apart from the acting, saves the film.

Will Smith shines as Agent J. As already mentioned, his comic timing is just perfect, and its a treat to watch him. Tommy Lee Jones has minimal screen presence, and is good in his role. Josh Brolin is perfect as the younger Agent K. Instead of trying to imitate Tommy Lee too much, he comes up with his own version of Agent K, which I thought was pretty impressive. The rest of the cast was alright.

On the technical front, music by Danny Elfman could have been better. The re-recording though was very good. Cinematography by Bill Pope is pretty decent. Most scenes were shot for the 3D effects, which honestly, weren’t anything great. Editing by Don Zimmerman and Wayne Wahrman is alright, except for some patchy work towards the end. The art and set decoration is pretty impressive. The flashback episodes looked very real. The graphic work is also pretty impressive. Production values by Columbia pictures seemed a little on the low side.

Overall, an average film. It could have been way better, but is not. However, thanks to some good acting, its watchable. Give it a shot at your leisure.

Acting: 8/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 6/10
Technical Aspects: 8/10
Is it worth your time and money??: If you’ve liked the MIB series thus far or if gross alien stuff doesn’t freak you out, then yes. You may watch it for Will Smith.

Verdict: 7.5/10

 
 
 

4 Seasons | Restaurant Review

Place: 4 Seasons 
Location: Opp. RTA Office, Tolichowki 
Cuisine: Indian 
Meal: Dinner (with couple of friends)

Wanting to try a different place, we drove to Tolichowki to drop in at 4 Seasons. I’ve heard quite a lot about this place, and wanted to check out if it was worth the talk (I was aware that this was a place famous for its non-vegetarian food, but still). So here we were on a Thursday night at about 9:30 PM. To our surprise, the place was packed and we had to wait for about 15 minutes before we got a table.

Ambiance wise, the restaurant has nothing much to offer. The place was brightly lit and looked pretty clean. Once seated, a chilled bottle of water was placed on our table along with these huge, heavy, laminated menus, which had pictures of almost all the dishes in it. All the pictures looked pretty tempting. Me and my vegetarian friend ordered a Sweet Corn Soup, Paneer Tikka and Sautéed Mushrooms, while my other friend ordered a Chicken Kalimirch Kabab and Goan Fish Kabab for himself, and a couple of cold drinks

The soup was served in about ten minutes. It was thick and full of vegetables, just the way I like it. My friend had trouble though. He thought the pepper served on table was stale, and informed this to the waiters, but their attitude was totally ungracious. This was quite a turn off.

The starters were served pretty soon. The quantity of Paneer Tikka served was very good, and it was presented well. But taste wise, it was just alright. The paneer seemed over marinated, and it could have been grilled better.

The Mushroom was very good. Tender mushrooms, perfectly baked and sautéed. Yum!

For the main course, we ordered a Kaju Vegetable Curry, Paneer Naan, Garlic Naan and a Vegetable Biryani, and a Chicken Biryani.

The Kaju Vegetable Curry turned out to be nothing but Vegetable Korma. We struggled to find cashew-nuts in it. There were a couple of par-boiled potatoes, but on the whole, it was a decent korma. The Paneer Naan was similar to a stuffed kulcha, and pretty good. The Garlic Naan was alright.

We were expecting an awesome biryani, but it wasn’t anything great. There was lot of cinnamon in the dish, which gave the rice a very strong flavor.

On the Non-veg front, my friend liked the Kali Mirch Kabab the best. He was disappointed with the fish and the biryani.

Overall, an average meal. The food was decent, but what put us off was the terrible service. Apart from the soup incident, the starters dishes were cleared even while we were still not done with them. The prices were on the higher side as well (a chocolate shake was priced 120 bucks), and there is not much to choose from for the vegetarians. We thought the bottle was complimentary (like most other places these days), but later realized that we were expecting too much. Fortunately though, there are no taxes.

On the whole, except for the laminated menu, there is nothing so special about this place. Give it a shot if you please.

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 5/10
Ambiance: 6/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 2010/-

Verdict: 6.5/10

Veggies 365 | Restaurant Review

Place: Veggie 365 
Location: Madhapur Main Road
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner (with family)

De Thali, which I loved the first time, turned out to be a disaster the second time around, and so is the case with Veggies 365. Since I was very much impressed with the place the last time (review), went with my parents and bro on a Sunday, promising them some good food. Alas!!

We dropped in at about 8:30 Pm, and the place was pretty much empty. We sat ourselves at a table for four, and were attended to after about 10 minutes, asking if we wanted regular water or bottled water. We asked for regular, and were served hot water (in summer). We asked for some ice, they didn’t have any. Hoping that the bottled water would be chilled, we asked for it, but that wasn’t cold too.

Anyways, we had a Snapdeal coupon (buy one get one), so ordered four Thalis – Amritsari Tadka, Parantha Gali, Ghar Ki Thali and Flavours of Dakshin. They had a new starters menu, ordered Honey Chilli Potatoes.

The starter was served in about 15 minutes. Battered French fries, deep-fried, and sautéed in Honey and Chilly sauce – this should actually taste yum, but unfortunately it wasn’t. The battered potatoes were hard, and there was no chilly in the sauce, just honey. It tasted decent, but a disappointment nevertheless.

After a while, the thalis were served one after another. The first one was Dad’s Flavours of Dakshin – 1 Masala Dosa, 1 Utappam, 1 Idly, 1 Vada, Coconut chutney, Laal chutney, Rice, Sambhar, Rasam. There was no Rice, but a Gulab Jamoon in our platter. The Idly and Utappam tasted alright, Dosa was soggy, and the Vada was made with spoilt batter. We informed this to the waiter, but he had no clue of what we were talking about.

Next came Amma’s Parantha Gali – 1 Aloo Parantha, 1 Pyaz Parantha, 1 Paneer Parantha, Dal Makhani, Green chutney, Salad, Raita, Gulab Jamoon, Butter cube. Except for the Paneer parantha, which was very hard, the rest tasted good. The Dal was decent. Best thali of the lot.

Next came my Amritsari Tadka – 1 Chur-chur Naan, 1 Kulcha, Kadhi, Paneer subji, Chole, Rice, Salad, Raita, Gulab Jamoon. This I though had the least quantity of food compared to other thalis. The Paneer subji tasted decent, better than the last time, and the Chole was alright. The Kadhi was very sour, and so was the Raitha.

The last one served was my brothers Ghar Ki Thali – 3 Phulka, Bhindi Pyaaz subji, Aloo Subji, Yellow Dal, Rice, Papad, Salad, Raita, Gulab Jamoon. This one was pretty decent, but the size of the Pulkas could have been better.

Overall, an average meal, but a disappointment all together. The service on this night was horrendous. The place got full as the night progressed and they just had 3 guys to attend to about 15 tables. It took about 15 minutes for the bill to arrive, and another 10 minutes for the payment to be processed. When we spoke to the owner about the Vada, he informed us that the cook wasn’t in and that is the reason the thali wasn’t good. Why serve it when you can’t?? I said ‘This is one place I am definitely coming back to’ in my last review. I take back my words.

Food: 6.5/10
Service: 5/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Meal for 4: Rs. 551/-

Verdict: 6.5/10

Cafe Nandini | Restaurant Review

Place: Cafe Nandini 
Location: Jubilee Hills Checkpost 
Cuisine: Indian 
Meal: Dinner (with amma and bro)

Wanting to go to a no frill place, dropped into Nandini on a week day for dinner. Similar to Sandarshini or Swathi, the place is more of a tiffin center with an air-conditioned dine in. The restaurant is pretty neat and the ambiance is decent. The place was pretty much empty when we got in, but eventually got full as the night progressed.

Amma wanted to have South-Indian food, so she ordered a Masala Dosa for herself. Me and bro ordered a Nargisi Kofta with Stuffed Kulcha and Tandoori Roti.

The Masala Dosa was served first, in about ten minutes, with the regular chutney, sambhar and Imli chutney. It was crispy and tasted good, but I thought the batter was a little sour. The sambhar was decent enough.

It took forever for the rest of the food. After repeated reminders, and more than 30 minutes, the Kofta, Roti and the Kulcha were finally served. I’ve had the Nargisi Kofta once here before, and this one looked very different from what I had the last time. It had two kinds of gravy’s with paneer kofta balls. It seemed like they were out of the gravy masala midway through, and tried to make up something to fill the dish. However, it tasted pretty alright. A little oily though.

The Stuffed Kulcha was soft and very good. One of the best Kulcha’s I’ve had in recent times. The Roti was decent as well.

To finish it off, we ordered a Jeera Rice, making sure that it wouldn’t take long to be served. It came with biryani gravy and tasted fine.

Overall, a decent meal. The food was tasty and the quantity was on the good side. But for a low fare place, the prices were very high. The Roti was 20 bucks a piece while the Jeera Rice costed 90 bucks. The service too was not so great for it took an eternity for the food to be served. Give it a shot when possible, but don’t expect anything great.

Food: 8/10
Service: 6/10
Ambiance: 7/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 338/-

Verdict: 7/10

Department | Movie Review

I was so not interested in watching Department, but here I was for I wanted to see how bad it could be. Plus, I had this review to write. Two and half hours of comedy and torture, together! RGV has gone nuts!!

Honestly, Department shouldn’t have been such a bad film. The script, written by Nilesh Girkar, is pretty decent, and if handled properly, it could have made a pretty good movie. But Ram Gopal Varma just does the opposite and brings to screen a lazy dull boring film. He doesn’t manage to extract the best out of any of his cast. The screenplay is tediously slow, and at times starts to test your patience. RGV has this knack of picturizing a scene in slow motion while making it effective, but in this movie, all such scenes seemed totally out-of-place. The slow motion climax fight and the overused stunt camera work are just a couple of examples of where the film went wrong. On the whole, RGV disappoints!!

On the acting front, no one shines. Rana can’t act for nuts. One wonders how he made it into Bollywood when he can’t even survive in Tollywood. To be fair to him, he tries to act, but he needs to realize that its something physically impossible for him to do. His voice is the only saving grace. Sanjay Dutt looks like a stone and has a straight face throughout the film. It was as if he was reading lines of the script with no expressions. Amitabh Bachchan over does his part and was totally wasted. I don’t think an actor of his caliber should even do such kinda roles. Anjana Sukhani is pretty good, while Lakshmi Manchu is alright. Vijay Raaz was too loud, Abimanyu Singh looked dumb. The best act probably was by Madhu Shalini, for she atleast tried her best to create the oomph factor.

On technical front, it’s a disaster. Music by Bappi Lahiri, Dharam-Sandeep and Vikram Magi is mediocre. It was the most pathetic and horrendous background score I’ve heard for any movie in my life so far. I don’t have words to describe how bad it was. Cinematography by FXS team (Ravichandran Thevar, Siddhartha More, Zaryan Patel, Sapan Narula and Harshraj Shroff), shot using small cameras was good initially, but every shot of the movie being shot at odd angles made it lose the effect. Editing by Vinay Abhijit was again mediocre.

Overall, a disappointing film. Ram Gopal Varma has definitely got the talent, no doubt about that. But he seems to ditch it and tries to make some dumb-ass films at times. Department just happens to be one of those films. Can the real RGV please stand up??

Acting: 5/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 4/10
Technical Aspects: 5/10
Is it worth your time and money??: I so wanna say yes for I want you to go through what I went through. But I’ll be nice and request you to stay away from Department. RGV has gone bonkers, and so will you if you do go watch it. Stay away!!

Verdict: 4.5/10

Relish (Mumbai) | Restaurant Review

Place: Relish – International Veg Cuisine
Location: Prem Court, Tata Road, Churchgate, Mumbai
Cuisine: Continental
Meal: Lunch (with a friend)

I’ve been meaning to write this review for over 6 months now. Relish was my favourite restaurant while I lived in Mumbai. Located in between Churchgate station and Marine Drive, Relish is a nice fancy restaurant. It’s brightly lit and is full on most occasions (which can make it quite loud). It’s got a huge menu, all vegetarian. From Italian to Mexican, Indian to Lebanese, they’ve got it all. And the best part is that they are all reasonably priced.

I was here with a friend back in December 2011 for lunch. Though I’ve had it before, I wanted to have the Veg Kaukswe (Indonesian curry served on a bed of buttered noodles) again, and also wanted to try their Mushroom Melange fondue (Delicately flavoured melted cheese with sautéed mushroom, dipping bread and assorted seasoning). Our appetite was quite limited that afternoon, but we still decided to go for both.

The Kaukswe is the best noodles I’ve had so far in my life. The curry was yummy, has this sweet and sour taste and tastes awesome with the buttered noodles. Season it with the crushed peanut served along, squeeze some lime juice, and it tastes splendid!!

I was having a fondue for the first time in my life and had nothing to compare it with, but I thought this one was excellent. It was just like mentioned, awesome cheese sauce, perfectly sautéed mushroom and crunchy dipping bread. Adding the spices served and some chilli flakes to the cheese sauce made it taste even better. Yum is not the word.

I’ve had their pizza (Spicy Indiana) before and it is perfect. Their German Potatoes, Baked Nachos, Lasagna are all equally good.

Overall, an awesome meal. The quantity of food served was exceptional and we were struggling to finish what we ordered. The service is very good, and their prices include all the taxes (except 5% service charge). This is one restaurant I would suggest to anyone living in or visiting Mumbai. I wish they opened up in Hyderabad.

Food: 9.5/10
Service: 9/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 588/-

Verdict: 9.5/10

Jalpaan | Restaurant Review

Place: Jalpaan 
Location: 4th Floor, Oasis Center, Somajiguda 
Cuisine: Buffet 
Meal: Lunch (with bro)

One of my cousins had recently requested me to review this place. For her sake, and wanting to try out a new place, here I was with my brother for lunch on a Sunday. Walking in, the place had plush decor, was dimly lit and had a nice feel to it. We were asked to choose between the buffet or a-la-carte, and we decided to go for the buffet.

We were seated at a table for four, and the soup and starters were served at the table. For soup, they had Tomato Shorba and Sweet Corn Soup. I decided to have the latter while my brother opted for the Shorba.

The Sweet Corn was thick, but was very sweet and even adding tons of pepper didn’t help. The Shorba on the other hand was also sweet, but it also had the right amount of spice. I liked it better than the Sweet Corn.

For Starters, they served Aloo Katliyan, Grilled Cottage Cheese, Sheekh Kabab and something called Crispy Konjee Veg.

The Aloo Katliyan were par-boiled potatoes, sliced and spiced. They were alright, but pretty much bland. The Paneer was tender and very good. It was very well grilled and tasted yum. The Sheekh Kababs were very dry, while the Crispy Konjee turned out to be crispy vegetables which were pretty decent.

On the Indian front, they had Amritsari Masala Paneer, Methi Makai Malai, Veg Kalapuri (I suppose it’s Kohlapuri) and Dal Jalpaan.

The Paneer gravy was very good, but it had huge chunks of raw paneer which had no flavor. The Methi Makai Malai was the best of the lot. It was creamy, and I could tell that the methi used was fresh. Yum. The Kohlapuri was equally good. It had that a nice tangy flavor to it. The Butter Naan served on table was very soft and made the curries taste even better.

On the Italian front, they had Tossed Spaghetti and Penne Arrabiata. The Spaghetti was good and had a nice basil flavor to it, but was a little under-cooked. The Penne on the other hand was horrible. The arrabiata sauce was very thin, and the penne was overcooked.

They had Veg Soft Noodles and Manchuria on the Chinese front. The Noodles were very bland and had absolutely no flavor. The Manchuria was something similar to what I cook at home, burnt. The sauce was decent though. For rice, they had  Methi Chaman Biryani which was pretty alright. I thought it would have tasted better without the sweet corn.

They didn’t have a live counter, but had crispy noodles, Karara Palak Chat and make-yourself Pani Puri on the buffet. The Pakora Chat was decent, Pani Puri horrendous.

For desert, they had Moong Dal Halwa, Kheer, Strawberry Ice-cream and Chocolate sauce. The Halwa and the Kheer were one of the best deserts I’ve had at a buffet. The Halwa was full of ghee, not too sweet, just perfect, while the Kheer was creamy and awesome.

Overall, a decent meal. But apart from the Indian food, which was excellent, the rest was just average. Compared to Jiva Imperia down the road, the spread was quite small, and is also more expensive. The service is decent and the ambiance good. It’s something you can give a shot once, but I still prefer Jivas.

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 8/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 314/-

Verdict: 7.5/10

Sahib Sindh Sultan | Restaurant Review

Place: Sahib Sindh Sultan 
Location: 5th Floor, City Center, Road No.1, Banjara Hills 
Cuisine: Indian 
Meal: Dinner (with family)

For dinner on my brother’s birthday, it was a choice between Siaa in Jubilee Hills and Sahib Sindh Sultan. We decided on the latter, called and made a reservation. We dropped in on time and were cordially guided to our table. The place is designed like a railway station with a train compartment on it. The compartment is very bright with tables for four, while the station  is dimly lit with a rustic touch to it. We were seated inside the compartment, whose interiors very well done. It almost felt like we were inside a train, but for the movement.

We started off with some mocktails. I had a Holiday Isle (Peach juice with Vanilla Ice-cream), mom had a Sindh Tandai (milk and crushed almonds, flavored with saffron and cardamom), and my bro had a Sahib Ka Panna (ripe pineapple roasted on charcoal pulped and combined with cumin). Dad had a cocktail.

My mocktail was creamy and alright, but it wasn’t cold. The Badam milk was excellent and the Panna was decent, but nothing great.

While we enjoyed our drinks, bread-sticks were served with three types of chutneys/sauces.

For starters, we ordered Gul Gulshan Aur Gulfam Ke Paneer (Mildy spiced paneer decked with green peas, mushroom and dry fruits, char grilled). For the second starter, the waiter suggested we try the Makai Motia Seekh (Soft vegetable seekh kabab with paneer and sweet corn niblets). We were informed that it would take a while for the food to be served while placing the order.

After about 15 minutes, the kababs were served. They looked delicious and tasted delicious. Served with mint chutney, they were as good as the kababs we recently had at Rubaiyat.

The other starter was served soon. The paneer was very soft and fresh, and tasted yum along  with the stuffing in between. I couldn’t taste any dry fruits, but it didn’t matter.

We took our time to decide on the main course and finally ordered Palak Malai Kofta (Soft malai koftas stewed in a gravy of cooked spinach and nutmeg) and Pista Kaju Aur Badam (Pista, kaju and badam simmered in a gravy of onions and tomatoes with spices) along with portions of Malai Reshmi Paratha, Pudina Paratha, Methi Paratha and Stuffed Kulcha. For rice, we ordered Aloo Aur Wadi Ki Tehri (Amritsari wadi and potatoes combined with basmati rice).

The Pista Kaju Aur Badam, their specialty dish for vegetarians, was excellent. Though the tomato onion gravy was spicy, the nuts gave it a slight sweet taste, and on the whole, it was delightful.

The Kofta too was delicious. The palak gravy was creamy and sapid, and the kofta balls were a little hard, but still good.

The rotis here are one of the best I’ve had in town. The Malai Reshmi Paratha was as soft as butter and melted in my mouth. The Masala Kulcha, though not heavily stuffed, was very soft. The other two parathas were pretty good as well.

Like other places I’ve been to recently, the biryani was a little disappointing. The waiter did mention that the wadi, or the pakoras would be smoked, but we thought they were smoked to the extreme. It was good, but after having some delicious stuff, this didn’t match our expectations.

Overall, a sumptuous, yummy meal. We were so stuffed towards the end that we didn’t have any place left even for the paan. The quantity of food served was pretty decent, but being a fancy restaurant, the prices were pretty fat. I thought the drinks were not worth the money, but the rest of the food, probably barring the biryani was excellent. Though the ambiance, the royal service, and the yummy food partly justify the prices, it’s not a restaurant for fortnightly visits, but one for special occasions.

Food: 9/10
Service: 8.5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 4: Rs. 2663/-

Verdict: 8.5/10

 

Sandarshini | Restaurant Review

Place: Sandarshini 
Location: Masab Tank, towards Banjara Hills Rd. No. 1 
Cuisine: Indian 
Meal: Dinner (with family)

Dropped in at Sandarshini last week for dinner. I’ve already written about this place back in July (review), and love their North-Indian Thali. As already mentioned, it’s not a hi-fi place, but one with decent ambiance.

I had a Thali for myself, while my brother ordered a South-Indian mini meals. Mom had a plate of chapathi and dad had a Masala Dosa.

The North Indian Thali was as good as the last time. They served the same stuff as the last time – Tomato soup, Paneer Butter Masala, Channa Masala and Mixed Vegetable, Pulao, Rice, Dal, Rasam, Sambar, Curd, Raitha, Gulab Jamoon and Ice-cream. All the subjis were decent, while the dal and rasam were excellent.

The South-Indian meals had the same stuff, minus the subjis, and came along with cabbage curry. It was pretty decent as well.

The Chapathi was nice and soft, and was served with a spicy kurma.

I did mention about their Masala Dosa the last time around. It was served with tons of butter on it, and was crispy and yummy. The sambar served along was very good.

Overall, a good meal. The service was a little off this time around, but otherwise, we had a good time. Give it a shot sometime.

Food: 8/10
Ambiance: 7.5/10
Service: 6.5/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 124/-

Verdict: 8/10

Ishaqzaade | Movie Review

Ishaqzaade

Ishaqzaade is an example of how a film without a proper script can get ruined. Its got some amazing chemistry between the lead pair, but like many other films these days, doesn’t have the script power to give them the boost.

Director Habib Faisal (writer and director – Do Dooni Chaar, screenplay and dialogue – Band Baaja Baaraat) had a promising story line at hand, but unfortunately, he doesn’t convert it into a promising script. Ishaqzaade, though predictable, starts of really well. Kids of  the rival Hindu and Muslim families, fighting initially but slowly falling in love. This half of the story (the first half) is very good, pacy, and has some amazing moments. The chemistry between Arjun and Parineeti is perfect, and you have an ideal interval bang. And then starts the trouble cos the latter half goes haywire, and Faisal loses it all. So you have a pretty much boring second half which ends with one of the most ridiculous and clichéd climax ever. Nevertheless, the film is entertaining and every character, though mostly clichéd again,  is very well sketched. The dialogues are very well written, and the screenplay is pretty neat. Only if he had come up with a better script, he would have had a definite winner at hand.

On the acting front, Parineeti steals the show. She has a very meaty role and she takes full advantage of it. She is a total firebrand and looks absolutely b-e-a-utiful (I have a new favorite actress). She breathes life even into a dying script. Arjun Kapoor makes a very good debut. He looks very raw, but to his advantage, the character needed that rawness. He still has a long way to go though. The rest of the relatively new cast is pretty good.

On the technical front, music by Amit Trivedi is very good. I am love with the title track and ‘Pareshan’. The background score could have had a little more punch to it. Cinematography by Hemant Chaturvedi is fantastic. Editing by Aarti Bajaj is good. The film barely crosses the two-hour mark. Production values by Yash Raj are, as usual, good.

Overall, an entertaining film. Plus points are good performances and Parineeti. A dull second half and the cliched climax form the other extreme. It’s not a movie you need to run to the theater for, unless you wanna watch the gorgeous/pretty/beautiful Parineeti scorch the screen.

Acting: 8.5/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 5/10
Technical Aspects: 8/10
Is it worth your time and money??: Hmm… That’s a tough one. I guess yes, for its got some awesome performances by Parineeti, and even Arjun. Give it a shot at your leisure.

Verdict: 7/10