Inside Out | Movie Review

Inside Out

After dealing with toys, bugs, monsters, fish, cars, rats, robots, dogs and superheroes, Pixar now makes a movie on human emotions. And boy, it was fun to figure yourself Inside Out.

Directed by Pete Docter (who had earlier directed two of my favourite Pixar films Monsters, Inc. and Up), Inside Out showcases the story of five emotions inside the head of an eleven year old girl, Riley. Joy, who happens to lead the pack, wants to ensure that Riley always stays happy and joyful; but she doesn’t realize that Riley can’t stay joyful if it were only up to her. Yes, Joy is important, but what’s the fun of Joy if you’ve never experienced Sadness; or for that matter, Fear, Disgust or Anger. While it might seem too intellectual, Pete does a brilliant job of portraying this message. Young kids in the theatre were appreciating almost every scene, and their Joy made sure it was apparent. There are tons of moments in the movie; be it mother’s interactions with father’s emotions, or the reactions of a young boy’s emotions when he bumps into a girl, it’s all depicted beautifully. Screenplay is simple yet effective.

Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, and Mindy Kaling bring Riley’s Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust to life. I especially loved Black as Anger.

Music by Michael Giacchino is enjoyable, and editing by Kevin Nolting is neat. While the 3D effects aren’t spectacular, no qualms on the CGI work.

Is it worth your time and money?: Irrespective of whether you like animation or not, it’s time to put aside your Disgust, Fear and Anger, and go watch Inside Out. I’m sure even Sadness will experience Joy! 😀

Worth mention: The beautiful narrations; and the islands.

Acting: 9/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 9.5/10
Technical Aspects: 9/10

Verdict: 9/10

PS: I loved this pic!

Inside Out - Feelings

Flavours of TMH | Restaurant Review

Place: Flavour of TMH
Location: Taj Mahal Hotel, Rd. No. 92, Jubilee Hills
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner (with amma and dad)

As mentioned in my previous reviews of Taj Mahal Hotel (Narayanguda; SD Road), amma and dad happen to be fans of TMH. So when we got to know that these guys opened their new branch in Jubilee Hills, there was excitement, which eventually made us drop by for dinner on a weekday. The place looked fancy when compared to the other branches, and pretty busy, mostly because of the large number of stewards and waiters.

They had huge hard-bound menus, and it took us a while to digest their offerings, for almost every item of their South Indian fare was priced exorbitantly. A single cutlet which costs less than 50 bucks at any other TMH in town, was priced at 90 (+taxes). Anyway, I ordered it for amma, apart from the Ghee Karapodi Idli for dad, and Chole Bhature for myself. I also wanted to try one of their continental offerings, so ordered for Cottage Cheese Satay.

While we wait for our food, we had to shift tables for the mats on ours were stinking, thanks to the food stuck onto them which wasn’t cleaned properly. When we informed this to the steward and waiters, all they did was stare at the food stuck onto the mats and smile, instead of cleaning them. When we moved to a different table, they began to treat us as new customers and again came to take our order. Total chaos it was!

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Ghee Karampodi Idli

Once things were sorted, our food came by. Dad seemed to like the idli. I tasted the sambar, and it was pretty decent.

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Veg. Cutlet

The Cutlet came in next, with some chips and the special sauce. The cutlet tasted good, as it should have been. However, the sauce wasn’t up to the mark for it was too thin and lacked expected flavour.

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Chole Bhature

I ordered for Chole Bhature mainly to compare it with what is offered at Chutneys. And it was comparable. While the Bhature was a little thicker than I’d prefer, the chole tasted tangy and yummy. The quantity too was sumptuous.

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Cottage Cheese Satay

The best part of the meal unexpectedly turned out to be the Cottage Cheese Satay. Six large chunks of paneer perfectly marinated in spicy peanut based sauce served with more peanut sauce; yummilicious. The paneer was super fresh and the peanut sauce was finger licking good. In fact, I asked two extra portions of the sauce, it was that yum.

Overall, a good meal. Almost every item tasted good, with the Satay turning out to be the best. On the downside, the service was terrible. They had about 20 people waiting tables, which made the place crowded. And there was absolutely no coordination among these guys. The guy serving water at the next table won’t attend to us cos it wasn’t his table, it was that bad. All this in addition to the inordinate pricing. Yes, the restaurant is in a prime location, but you can’t be unreasonable. The prices of their South Indian fare is almost 15-20% higher than the surrounding Chutneys or Minerva Coffee Shop. And surprisingly, everything else on the menu was reasonable. Bottom line, unless you’re coming in for the North Indian or Continental fare, it’s better to visit the other TMH in town.

Food: 8.5/10
Service: 5/10
Ambiance: 7/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 551/-

Verdict: 7/10

PS: We realized after reaching home that they billed us incorrectly. It was supposed to be around 800 bucks but they billed us only for 551. Again, this shows how incompetent their service was.

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ABCD 2 | Movie Review

ABCD 2

There is no lack of dancing talent in India, and our dance reality shows brought this talent to our living room. The ABCD franchise takes this one notch further and presents this talent on a global scale.

Scripted, directed and choreographed by Remo D’Souza, ABCD 2 showcases the story of an underdog dance group who make it large at a global hip-hop competition. The choreography part of it is perfect, no qualms on that front, but the storytelling and direction are extremely mediocre. While ABCD established characters and then sought dancing, ABCD 2 barely establishes any; they are all just there and you are supposed to know them. This doesn’t help in the audience connect with the dance group on an emotional level. Remo did try to infuse Indian spirit to get that connect, but that’s only towards the latter half. Another failing point of this unnecessarily long 154 minutes dance film is excess melodrama. Every scene is exaggerated to an extent that you almost start giggling. The dance sequences too get boring after a while for there are so many. ABCD 2 proves for sure that any body can dance, but not everyone can direct.

Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor put their best foot forward and perform exceptionally well in almost every dance sequence. They give the professional dancers a run for their money, but they barely act. The professional dancers, in fact put up a better act than them. Prabhu Deva is good and performs with ease. Dharmesh and Raghav’s acts are commendable.

Music by Sachin-Jigar is foot tapping, as required. Cinematography by Vijay Arora is perfect; he ensured that all dance sequences look spectacular on-screen. 3D effects are worth mentioning. Editing by Manan Sagar is mediocre; this kind of movie can’t be over 2 hours long, and Manan should have ensured that.

Is it worth your time and money?: Well, it’s a difficult question. Yes, the dance sequences are spectacular, and the leads put in great effort (but barely act). But the storytelling fails miserably. The movie length doesn’t help either. Bottom-line, give it a watch only if you have nothing better to do (and if well choreographed dance sequences turn you on).

Worth mention: The dance sequences.

Acting: 8/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 6.5/10
Technical Aspects: 7.5/10

Verdict: 7/10

Dil Dhadakne Do | Movie Review

Dil Dhadakne Do

Given that I loved Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (which happens to be the second review I’ve ever written), I’ve been waiting for Dil Dhadakne Do for a while now. And yes, it was worth the wait!

Scripted by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, Dil Dhadakne Do showcases the struggles of a dysfunctional high-society family of four – the Mehras. Kamal and Neelam are an unhappy couple celebrating their 30th anniversary on a cruise with family and friends. They are more concerned about their prestige and image rather than the welfare of their kids, Ayesha and Kabir, both struggling to discover their own identities. Zoya does a brilliant job on the direction front to bring this family to life. The quirky narration makes you connect with the Mehra family pretty soon. There are tons of moments in the movie which showcase the realities of wealthy families, and she does it in a charming way, without it ever getting preachy. The light-hearted humour infused into the script is worth a mention. Screenplay is spot on, and so are the dialogues penned by Farhan. My only concern was with the hurried climax; after sitting through for almost three hours, you’d expect something better.

Anil Kapoor is absolutely brilliant as the self-made Kamal Mehra. This is the Anil I grew up watching, the one who owns the role. Shefali Shah is equally good as Mrs. Mehra. Priyanka and Anushka perform well. Rahul Bose is good, and so is Farhan in his brief appearance. But the real star happens to be Ranveer Singh, who comes up with an impeccable act. Be it his mannerisms or antics, this is a breath of fresh air. His performance in the medical ward episode is exceptional.  Aamir Khan entertains as Pluto Mehra. The rest of the ensemble cast is perfect.

Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is melodious. Almost all the songs are awesomely picturized, which brings me to talk about the cinematography. Carlos Catalan, take a bow. Be it the beautiful landscapes of Turkey, or the single shot sequence for “Gallan Goodiyaan” song, they were spectacular. Editing by Anand Subaya and Manan Mehta is alright.  Special shout out to Bosco-Caesar for brilliant choreography.

Is it worth your time and money?: Oh yes. While ZNMD dealt with friendship, DDD talks about family relationship. Acting and cinematography are definite plus points of this lengthy movie. I’d recommend watching it with your families; for all you know, it might help you open up to them a bit more.

Worth mention: Acting and cinematography.

Acting: 9/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 8.5/10
Technical Aspects: 8.5/10

Verdict: 8.5/10