Sarkar-Muze jo atcha lagta hai, may karta huun

Hamae jo aatcha laga, hum nae kiya!

Fri 9^th, 10pm, Taco Cabana @ Johnes and FM1960 intersection, Houston, Texas.

After a long day at office and 7 matches of rigorous volley ball, 6 desis planned for the final 10:30pm show of Sarkar played at W. Belfort Cinema some 35-40 miles from the above location. We had to drive atleast 70 mph average if we had to hit the cinema hall on or before time! And we all were like: Muzae jo atcha lagta hai may karta huun! That is, high spirits

We decided to trust the online review, star cast, story line and of course Ramu! After a quick partial dinner at taco cabana, I looked at friend driving the other car and in hindi filmi estyle said, “Boss, aaj bhagana hai!”. The other guy reverted back with more then expected enthusiasm saying, “Too bhagatae hai aaj fir!”. He smoked his tires, and within no time we were on Johnes, chasing each other crossing the max allowable speed, which is 45mph! Exiting johns and entering B-8 took us atleast 10 minutes, due to traffic, lights and bad road (for those not aware, many roads in US suck!). For obvious reasons, we decided to take the toll way instead of hitting a light every another mile. I had this other car following me.

Johnes was gone; we were now on hwy290 before entering B8. 290 being a 4 lane highway, we immediately poured 20 more mph and in no time we were in the left most lane overtaking all possible vehicles, trailers and 16 wheelers. To add on to our spirits, I played DUS! “Hey now hey now…” was banging in the SUV, ppl having a party time inside, while I realized, I am missing the exit for B8! Obviously the traffic hated me when I changed 4 lanes to exit in B8 within 3/4^th of a mile at near 75 mph. Poor friend who was close trailing me all the way just managed the narrow exit!

Time should be 10:12, we were in B8 now. I have not seen many trafficking tickets gifted on B8 so I decided to speed! 75…80…. 85…. X…..x…..xx….100…105…! Dang! The relative stand still traffic on B8 made way for two crazy vehicles, driving for what seemed to be more important then the lives of 2 lead developers, 2 lead support engineers, and 2 project managers. Jokes were cracked, new tracks were played, lanes were changed, and we had real party time inside! I paid more attention over the road then on the speedometer, but we easily crossed 110 at more then couple of instances.

Time was now “10:30” and we were still looking for the “West Beltfort exit”. It didn’t require much intelligence for me to realize that we have “actually” missed the exit; however I didn’t expect the worse case to be true! I pulled at the nearest Toll-service booth and asked for direction. The lady handed over me a map that clearly indicated that we have traveled at least double the required distance!!!! Damn, none of us was drunk but we still did it. 12 eyes had 6 individual reasons for not finding the exit! Time was now slipping faster then before, music stopped, mood changed, jokes were cracked but sarcasm prevailed. Optimism followed the mood, both took a U turn, phones started ringing, alternate plans were discussed … Somewhere deep, we still had our faiths in Indian theaters and the concept called as Indian standard time.

Another 15 minutes of sensible driving and we were finally in front of the movie theater. The time was now 10:55 and we were told that the show started at 10:45. All of us decided to take the 10 minute miss and enter the near full movie hall. We got the 4^th row and there we were, watching the grand Batchan duo in all their glory over the wide screen of W. Belfort!

Some one from the other car was interested in a RCA(root cause analysis), but we meet each other only at interval, till then the movie almost calmed him! We all entered the hall with mixed feelings, but all exited at 1:00am with only one feeling, “It was all worth it”!

On our way back, we were more relaxed and some part of Subash Nagare was running in every one’s blood! At around 2:00am, other car meets a minor accident. Our car again stops at Taco Cabana for the early morning Breakfast! The (same as before) lady at counter welcomed us. (Probably saying, do you guys have better things to do then frequenting a taco shop on a week end?)

I know I was supposed to write a review on Sarkar; but all I have to say is: After doing whatever I stated above and considering the fact that all of us are still happy about the night spend, the movie’s got to be real good! For detailed cast by cast and scene to scene review, just check any of the already posted 100’s of reviews on different websites. But even better, shall I suggest, just go to the movie hall and watch it! And yes, do not do what every one else did … comparing it with God Father and other God Father derived movies. Just enjoy the action, Cast and drama while you are in the dark hall!

Bottom line:

Crazy driving + missing exits + missing the start + lot of galis from friends + a minor accident + max ticket + gas + toll = Paisa Vasool!

Parineeta

Another great movie from the makers of Mission Kashmir, Munna Bhai, 1942 and Parinda. It feels really nice to see a non Sharukh, non Yash, non Karan, non Farah movie doing so well. 100's of reviews are already posted about how good this movie is. However here are few words from another motion picture addict.

After we were out, a friend asked me: "What does this word Parineeta mean". Since the movie was centered around a lady whose name was Lolita, I said good question! Parineeta means "Married Women" (in Bengali I guess). What a pick for the title. Sounds very poetic... I was wondering if the same title had been in hindi, its sound would have been so "tharki"! Shaadi Shuda Aurat :D. Any way, it is Parineeta.

Other then all good things, here are some area of improvements (I hope Chopra Uncle reads this):

1. Vidya Balan: Just like Bhagyashree of MPK, she is the newest and the coolest find of Bollywood. Most people will love her from the very first reel. For me, she could not render the strong character and personality of Lolitta. Lolita and her character was the epicenter of the entire movie. I personally feel that she lacked the depth in expression that would have otherwise left the audience with tears at many instances in the movie. Nevertheless a very pretty face and a great debut; not bad for a newcomer

2. Sanjay Dutt: I must say he tried his best while playing as 60's NRI. "But" he was an perfect misfit for a Bengali family. With his huge body, semi bald head and wrinkles on his aging face, he was an odd one out. Finally I cannot imagine a Sanjay-Raima couple (elephant-ant kind of thing). I guess, after Munnabhai, Sanjay was an obvious choice for Mr Chopra.

3. The Ending: Though I personally favour happy endings, I think this particular movie could have done better without one (recollecting the success of QSQT, EDKL, Devdas and similar of its kind). Nevertheless the ending was very very filmi. So what if it made the audience smile. Chalta hai!

4. Howrah Bridge: Too much use of Howrah Bridge. We are bored of seeing Calcutta with the Howrah Bridge in the backdrop. In fact in one very romantic sequence, where they had this bridge in the background, it looked extremely crowded with people and traffic, polluting the mood of that situation.

5. Sporty Sunglasses: Saif is wearing a 2000's trendy sun glass in one of the sequence! Image

6. Sex: They could have done better with the sex sequences. Especially the ones with Sanjay Dutt. With Dutt being passive, Lolita looked greatly confused in her attempt to be proactive and bold. It really felt like these sequences were guided by strict censor guidelines. On the other hand, Saif's scene was greatly shot.

List of good things in the movie are huge. However here are my favorites:

1. Experience great music from Shantanu Moitra. His previous work was 99.9FM.

2. Songs blend seamlessly with the movie. They carry the movie theme even stronger. Without songs, this movie was an Art movie!

3. Saif's Father performed a great terror role! Also his mother did a great job by not been over emotional. Just the right emotions and required drops of tears.

4. Setups, Direction of Photography and overall graphical appeal including the vintage Moulan Rouge were all worth appreciation.

5. Great Direction. You are always glued to the seat waiting for the next scene.

6. Dress selections were really fantastic. I might include some of them in my wardrobe. Especially Sanjay's Kurtas! They look great on him.

7. I hate her face but Diya Mirza's opening sequence was really nice.

8. Rekha and all her charisma. She's still a killer. Again, her dress selection was great.

Bottom line:
Watch this movie in theaters. Ticket + Samosa + Chai + Gas + Time = Paisa Vasool