July, 2014 | I'm just a...

Oohalu Gusagusalade | Movie Review

Oohalu Gusagusalaade

Oohalu Gusagusalade happens to be one of the surprise hits of the year, and it is not without a reason. Well canned with a simple storyline, this movie is surely refreshing!

Scripted and directed by Srinivas Avasarala, the story revolves around a shy guy taking the help of his friend to woo his girl, little knowing that the friend loved the girl in the past. It’s an old story, yes, but Srini presented it in a very refreshing way. With relatively new cast, Srini excels in directing the first half. While he does pretty good in the latter half as well, I thought he failed to invoke emotions. The lead letting go of his love so easily, with a smiling face was lamentable. But now that I think of it, it might have been intentional to avoid the regular emotional scenes and show everything on a lighter note. Screenplay is very effective as well.

Shourya comes up with an exceptional performance as the guy caught up between love and family. He has ease to his acting, and is way better than any than the other breed of so-called actors. Rashi Khanna is really cute and puts up a fine performance. I’ve always liked Srinivas Avasarala’s style of acting and he doesn’t disappoint. Every cast member comes up with notable performances.

Music by Kalyani Koduri is pretty decent. While songs break the flow at a couple of instances, the tunes are really peppy. Stand out is “Em Sandeham Ledu”. Editing by Kiran Ganti is decent, and so is the cinematography by Venkat Dileep.

Is it worth your time and money??: Definitely yes. It’s a refreshing film with some fine performances. Though it lacked emotions, the flow of the film is great. A film not to be missed this season.

Worth mention: The cute little love story in the first half, and the climax scene.

Acting: 8.5/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 8.5/10
Technical Aspects: 7.5/10

Verdict: 8.5/10

Dwaraka (Lakdikapul) | Restaurant Review

Place: Dwaraka
Location: Hotel Rukmini Riviera, Lakdikapul
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner

Wanting to eat some yummy Biryani, I dropped into Dwaraka Lakdikapul a couple of weeks ago. Their Hundi Biryani, which I last had in their Ameerpet branch (now closed) happens to be among the best in the city. It’s been ages since I last came into Lakdikapul Dwaraka. Times have changed and so has the place, and here I was at the newly revamped restaurant inside Hotel Rukmini Riviera. Brightly lit, the restaurant had decent ambiance, and I made myself comfortable at a corner table for four.

For a relatively new place, their menu was in shreds with pages falling apart. To my disappointment, the Hundi Biryani was replaced with Paneer Hundi Biryani. Not wanting to experiment, I enquired about the Dwaraka Special Thali. I was informed it is North Indian Thali with an additional dish, and ice-cream. I went for it thinking what could go wrong with a thali. Alas!

Dwaraka Lakdikapul Restaurant Review — Tomato Soup

The Tomato Soup was served in about five minutes, and tasted pretty good for it was thick and creamy.

Before I finished the soup came the Thali. It had Paneer Butter Masala, Channa Masala, Mixed Vegetable, Bhendi Fry, Manchuria, Biryani and Gajar Halwa, and came along with a Plain Naan. Of the curries, while the PBM was decent, the other two weren’t great. The Manchuria was dripping in oil, and the Bhendi fry was cold and hard as rock. When I informed the waiter about the oil in Manchuria and showed it to him, he retorted saying Chinese dishes come with oil. Argh! The Naan was decent, but the biryani was terrible. When I asked for more Naan, I was informed that I would have to let go of the white rice in such case. I didn’t want the rice anyways, so asked for it and had to wait for about ten minutes. The Gajar Halwa was decent.

I finished a disappointing meal and was waiting for the ice-cream. But I was instead served the bill. Curiously, I asked if they forgot something, and everyone seemed clueless. I then had to demand for the ice-cream. After forever, Strawberry ice-cream was served.

Overall, close to a disastrous meal. Did I say I didn’t want to experiment? But for a couple of items, the thali was terrible. What was more surprising was the indifferent attitude of the waiters. For a small restaurant, they had a handful of waiter, most of them standing in the corner and chatting away to glory, unbothered about the customers. People at every table had issues with them. And for 165 bucks, the quantity served was minimal. I could have had an unlimited yummy thali for around the same price at Shanbhag. Bottom line, looks like I’m not coming back to this place again, for good!

Food: 6/10
Service: 4/10
Ambiance: 7/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 165/-

Verdict: 5.5/10

Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania | Movie Review

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Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge released 19 years ago, and 16 years since the release of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. They were good movies, alright, but I really don’t think they are classics in any sense. Dharma movies seems to think otherwise.

Scripted and directed by Shashank Khaitan, the movie kicks off with our engaged heroine, Kavya flirting around with the hero, Humpty. Soon, as expected, they fall in love, and the rest of the story is about how our beloved Humpty convinces Kavya’s dad about their love. Sounds familiar na? While Shashank’s take on the story is pretty good, it is too predictable, and you start to wonder if you actually paid money to watch a rerun of a bunch of films. The first half is well executed, and then he loses it. Direction isn’t great and the screenplay is absolutely shoddy. And the climax was too filmy even to be featured in a film!

On acting front, Varun shines big time. He’s got a lot of energy and this is apparent on-screen. Alia on the other hand surprises me. While she was pretty good in 2 States, it looked like she refused to act in this film. She has the same expression for most of the movie. She’s got the looks and the nakhras, but no, she doesn’t act. Ashutosh Rana is pretty good as Alia’s dad. He can actually groom himself to be the next Amrish Puri. Siddharth Shukla is alright. Humpty’s side kicks Gaurav Pandey and Sahil Vaid are really good.

Music by Sachin – Jigar and Toshi Sabri is more or less mediocre. The only songs I liked were “Samjhawan” and “Daingad Daingad”. But for in the climax, editing by Manan Sagar was alright. Cinematography by Neha Parti Matiyani was very good.

Is it worth your time and money??: It’s a timepass movie. But honestly, you can give it a skip unless you have nothing better to do. The only plus point is Varun, nothing more.

Worth mention: The gay episode in the second half was hilarious.

Acting: 7.5/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 5/10
Technical Aspects: 7/10

Verdict: 6.5/10

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes | Movie Review

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In my opinion, Rise of the Planet of the Apes wasn’t a great film. While I enjoyed a couple of episodes, I was left wanting for more. The more is delivered by the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, but…

A little into the near future, when civilization has almost gone extinct because of a virus, Caesar, our beloved ape, leads a new generation of intelligent apes. They soon realize that a bunch of humans with tons of artillery exist in nearby lands and need to access the forests to fix their power source. While most apes do not trust humans, Caesar does, and allows humans into their lands. The rest of the story is about whether his trust is reciprocated. Scripted by Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the movie has better storyline than its predecessor. There is much substance and better emotions. While direction by Matt Reeves is almost perfect, my only problem was with the pace of the film. Understood that the director was trying to convey emotions and make a point, but I was kinda perturbed with its snail pace. There were times it felt more like drama than an action film. I also quite didn’t understand the human storyline much.

On acting front, Andy Serkis is absolutely brilliant as Caesar. Though it is performance capture, you can actually see his face on-screen. He actually outruns his own performance as Gollum in the LOTR series with this one. Toby Kebbell also comes up with an excellent act as Koba. Jason Clarke is decent as Malcolm, while Gary Oldman is pretty good in his brief appearance.

Music and background score by Michael Giacchino is way better than the predecessor film. Cinematography by Michael Seresin is a definite asset. Editing by William Hoy is decent. While the 3D effects aren’t worth a mention, the visual effects were very good.

Is it worth your time and money??: But for its snail pace, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ain’t a bad film. If that doesn’t bother you much, give it a watch for Andy Serkis and the visual effects.

Worth mention: The climax fight. It was quite spectacular.

Acting: 8.5/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 6.5/10
Technical Aspects: 7.5/10

Verdict: 7.5/10

Bobby Jasoos | Movie Review

Bobby Jasoos

After The Dirty Picture and Kahaani, every movie of Vidya Balan releases with great expectations. While Bobby Jasoos isn’t as pompous or intense as the former two, it is definitely worth your buck!

Bobby is a beloved girl from a Muslim family of our Old City in Hyderabad, who considers herself to be a great detective. While solving a couple of petty cases in her neighborhood, she is called upon by a mysterious man paying big money, to find a couple of missing people. The rest of the story is about who the mysterious man is and whom does he want to be found. Scripted and directed by debutant Samar Shaikh, the story is kept simple and never gets too complicated. Showcasing the nativity of Hyderabad to the maximum, Samar brings out beautiful emotions from all his cast members. Direction is very neat, while the screenplay could have been little better. And ya, there is no real jasoosi in the move but for in the title, a disappointment.

Vidya owns the film big time and looks absolutely gorgeous. With this film, she once again proves that you don’t have to shed your clothes or have a perfect figure to look beautiful. Her expressions and smile in few episodes are priceless. Ali Zafar is great as the male protagonist. He had to downplay quite a bit to let Vidya take center stage, and he does it with ease. Arjan Bajwa is pretty good, while Supriya Pathak and the rest of Bobby’s family are perfect. The guy who played the role of Shetty, Prasad Barve, deserves a mention.

Music and background score by Shantanu Moitra are pretty good. While the first song was welcoming, the song in the second half was more like a speedbreaker to the film’s pace. Editing by Hemal Kothari is neat, and so is the screenplay by Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh. However, I felt that he could have captured more of Old City grandeur. Samar Sheik also deserves a mention for the dialogues in Hyderabadi slang.

Is it worth your time and money??: Yes. You might have already heard this before on various occasions – go watch the film for an amazing performance by one of the best actors in recent times, Vidya Balan! It’s no great film, but still enjoyable.

Worth mention: The entire episode before and after Ali Zafar talking to his abba jaan, and the message in the climax.

Acting: 8.5/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 7/10
Technical Aspects: 8/10

Verdict: 7.5/10

Ci Gusta | Restaurant Review

Place: Ci Gusta
Location: Kavuri Hills, Madhapur
Cuisine: Italian, Desserts
Meal: Lunch

As part of a foodie meet, dropped into this place last Sunday. Ci Gusta happens to be more of a dessert place also serving Italian food. Walking in, I thought the place was brightly lit and very nicely done. As part of our special meal, we were to start with frozen yogurt, head for starters and main course along with a drink, and finish with gelato and some more frozen yogurt. This was to be quite a meal!!

For Froyo, they had self-serve charged by weight dispensers right at the entrance. This was the first time I came across a self-serve dispenser in India, and was pretty impressed. After trying out all the available flavors, I opted for Forest Berry and Mango combo, topped with some nuts and Blueberry sauce.

I loved the Forest Berry the most of the lot for it had a very distinct flavor. The Mango also tasted pretty good but it wasn’t the best.

For starters, we were served with Chef’s special dishes: Potato Wedges and a some kinda Chicken starter. The wedges were tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce which gave them a nice flavor. I would have preferred them to be served with some kinda dips to add more taste.

We had to choose either for a Pizza or Pasta, and I chose for the latter: Ci Gusta Di Mafia, a creamy rich sauce pasta with tomato, garlic and broccoli.

I choose this pasta is for the cream, and to my disappointment, I found the sauce very thin with barely any cream. While it had nice flavor, a thicker sauce would have worked wonders. I would have also preferred more veggies.

For the drink, I opted for a Litchi shake which turned out to be pretty good.

Back to the desserts now. From a range of gelato, after tasting quite a few, I finally picked pannacotta flavoured gelato which turned out to be pretty yum!

And finally, to finish off the meal, we were to choose for Parfait of Caffetine. While Parfait was fruit flavoured frozen yogurt, Caffetine (I hope I’m spelling it right) turned out to be a coffee flavoured one. It was more creamy than the dispenser froyo, and the espresso shot gave it nice taste. It was good finish to the meal.

Overall, it was a decent affair. While I wasn’t really satisfied with the main course, all the desserts turned out to be pretty good. Though ambiance is good, the service needs to be improved upon quite a bit. On price front (in general), everything is on the higher side. I believe that quality of food needs to be improved by quite a notch for them to be worth the price. Also, while the desserts were good, nothing really left me in awe. Bottom line, I’m probably gonna go back for the desserts, but not for the food.

Food: 8/10
Service: 5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 350/- (As part of a deal)

Verdict: 7.5/10

Green Bawarchi | Restaurant Review

Place: Green Bawarchi
Location: Off. Indira Nagar, Kamalapuri Colony Main Road
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Take-away

Have you ever tasted Irani hotel Puri? If you haven’t , I suggest you try Green Bawarchi first for these guys serve yummy Puri Korma, available only in the mornings. Anyways, on this day, I was here to grab something for lunch, and opted for Vegetable Biryani. Oh, about the place, it’s a regular Irani Cafe serving Bawarchi/Paradise kinda food, focusing primarily on non veg delights.

Green Bawarchi Restaurant Review — Vegetable Biryani frm Green Bawarchi

Back to the Biryani. For 120 bucks, quantity served for superb, with it sufficing at least 3 tummies. On taste front, while it was pretty good, I felt that the masala was a little too much, which kinda made is spicy. It had a very strong flavor associated to it as well. The salan served along was decent, and overall, good food.

Being an Irani Cafe, Green Bawarchi is no fancy place. On the positive side, the food is usually tasty and very reasonably priced, so give the take-away a try.

Food: 7.5/10
Service: N/A
Ambiance: N/A
Meal for 1: Rs. 120/-

Verdict: 7.5/10

Chopsticks | Restaurant Review

Place: Chopsticks
Location: Srinagar Colony Main Road
Cuisine: Chinese
Meal: Take-away

I’ve been to Chopsticks a couple of times in the recent past but have been ordering the usual (Singapore Noodles, Veg-65/Manchuria and Shanghai Fried Rice), which taste more or less the same as they did a couple of years ago. As mentioned in my last review, quantity varies every time. Anyways, this time around, I was here to try something different. I read on Zomato that these guys serve good American Chopsuey, so decided to give it a try instead.

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American Chopsuey is supposed to be mildly sweet, but this one wasn’t. I kinda liked this for I’m not really fond of my food being sweet. Crunchy hot fried noodles were served separately and tasted yum along with the gravy. However, I could taste the oil oozing out for these noodles in every bite (Only while they were hot. Once they cooled down, they were very good).

I wouldn’t call it the best American Chopsuey, but it was close. Though the amount of fried noodles was great, I was disappointed with quantity of the gravy. For 130 bucks, it was much less in comparison to any of their other dishes. GIve it a try, and lemme know your feedback!

Food: 8/10
Service: N/A
Ambiance: N/A
Meal for 1: Rs. 130/-

Verdict: 8/10

Hari Balaji Dhaba | Restaurant Review

Place: Hari Balaji Dhaba
Location: Lane adj. Durga temple, Opp. Gurudwara, Ameerpet
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Take away

I was kinda bored with the same food everyday and wanted to eat something spicy. So I headed out towards Ameerpet to find good food. My first choice Dwaraka closed down recently, so I stopped by at this dhaba I once visited with my brother long ago. It’s on the first floor of a jewellery shop building bang opposite Ameerpet Gurudwara. The ambiance isn’t really great, so opted for a take away.

I ordered for Paneer Butter Masala, Masala Kulcha and Kaju Biryani. It took about 10 minutes for my parcel to be ready.

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Once I unpacked everything, I found the quantity of the curry to be very good while was a little disappointed with the rice. On taste front, the Paneer Butter Masala had too much garam masala which kinda ruined the taste. The paneer too wasn’t really soft. PBM at a dhaba is a metric on how good the food is, and the one at this place was disappointing. The Kulcha was alright.

Compared to Kaju Biryani of any other place, this one was boring. The number of cashew nuts were minimal, and the masala wasn’t really that tasty. To add to that, the gravy served along was terrible.

Overall, a sad meal. But for the Kulcha, I wasn’t really happy with anything else. The price I paid wasn’t minimal either. I’d probably give this place one more shot before I put it on my no-go list.

Food: 6/10
Service: N/A
Ambiance: N/A
Meal for 1: Rs. 250/-

Verdict: 6/10

Autonagar Surya | Movie Review

AutoNagarSurya

I believe any movie needs a strong plot. Even if isn’t conveyed on-screen, the director should know his script. Unfortunately, Deva Katta has no clue on what he wants to convey, and so Autonagar Surya is close to a disaster.

Set in the 1990’s, Surya is our rebellious orphan living in a union run colony controlled by mafia. Like any other movie, our hero fights the goons from the word go, so much to an extent that he lands up in jail for murder at an age of 16. The rest of the movie is all about him fighting more goons and murdering more people, this time without being arrested. Looks like Deva Katta was very inspired by Hrithik Roshan starrer, Agneepath. I initially didn’t get why he chose to showcase the story in the 1990’s, but later realized that if he portrayed such violence and atrocities in the current age, people would laugh at him. Dev Katta got so confused that he had no clue on what to do towards the end, resulting in one of the quickest climax in recent times. But for the dialogues, the direction and screenplay are pretty weak.

Did I say Naga Chaitanya improved as an actor in Manam review? I would take that back but for the fact that this movie was shot much before Manam. He is absolutely pathetic. Just like Ram Charan in Racha, he tries to imitate his dad and fails miserably. Any B-grade actor would have probably performed better. Samantha looks cute but is as good as a doll. There is a huge cast, most of them come up with average performances. Most disappointing was the characterization of Sai Kumar for he is totally wasted in a purposeless role.

Music by Anoop Rubens is mediocre with songs popping in between for no reason. Cinematography by Srikant Naroj is average while editing by Goutham Raju is pathetic. The film is unnecessarily long with a number of scenes which make no sense. Visual effects by my childhood buddy Asif Bhushan are neat.

Is it worth your time and money??: I don’t think so. Give it a month’s time and it’ll be playing on your television. It’s a different discussion as to whether it’s worth watching it on TV as well.

Worth mention: A couple of powerful dialogues being uttered by one of the most untalented actor in recent times.

Acting: 5.5/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 5/10
Technical Aspects: 5.5/10

Verdict: 5.5/10