Restaurant Review - Open Affair (Bandra)

Sitting compactly on the booming strip of restaurants in Carter road’s very own khau-galli, Open Affair is hard to miss with its huge glass windows, behind which assemble a line of chefs dipping scrumptious skewers into the tandoor. The multi-cuisine menu boasting of Italian, Indian and continental is a smart attempt to fit right in & to possibly compete with the neighboring eateries right from Kareems (which is very popular for its Kebabs) or Crepe Station which is famous for its crepes, omlettes etc. 'ek theer do shikhar' kind of a funda i guess! :p

Movie Review - Turning 30 ! ! * Gul Panag , Purab Kohli

Take a walk in any metro of the country and you will come across gazillions of single, career-minded independent women who despite being on the wrong side of 29, inching slowly towards the dreaded 3-0, seem to be taking life in their stride, unabashed by the sneers of the nosy aunt in the neighborhood.

Whoever said ‘30 is the new 20’, definitely knew what she was talking about, because in the 21^st era, life of a single-30-year old isn’t a big taboo. Offcourse there are social & emotional pressures but camouflaged by self aspirations, supportive friends & family, a couple of years can be easily bargained for.

Starring Gul Panag, Purab Kohli, ‘Turning 30’ is Naina’s journey as she grapples through life in the face of her 30^th birthday. Does Director Alankrita succumb to glossy filmy affair or does she manage to deliver coming-of-age cinema?

Movie Review - "Anaganaga O Dheerudu" (Telugu) *Siddharth, Shruti Haasan, Lakshmi Manchu

Disclaimer – This post comes from an author whose knowledge of the language isn’t expert. Although I could understand most of what was going on-screen, I did find it a little difficult to catch up with some of the dialogues. So, my review is purely based on my approval and liking of the concept & narration, performances and other production values.

For someone who grew up watching Beauty & the beast, Lion King, Snow White among other animated Disney flicks, Disney’s new venture ‘ANAGANAGA O DHEERUDU’, offering a chance to reconnect with childhood fantasies of the handsome prince and the ‘happily ever after’ ending was more than welcome. That it was being done in Telugu as a commercial fantasy film was the cherry on top. So, let's indulge in the four magic words: Once upon a time or in this case ‘once upon a Warrior’

Twitter Film Awards - Celebrating Bollywood, Twitter Ishtyle!

The New Year is upon us which marks the dawn of cinema awards frenzy in Bollyland. In between all the expected ones & very few unexpected ones, it’s about the films but hardly ever fair! Power awards are given so that the AC in the hall is running, choreographed latkas, matkas & definitely lots of jhatkas, seeti-taali in full sync, and if ever king’s & their men don’t fit in any category, simple solution - new category is created so that Khan & Kapoor take home a mandatory award or two! While we, the mango people muse over how & when did the beautiful black lady lose her morals!

Happy Birthday A R Rahman - List of my favourite ARR songs!

In honor of India’s own Oscar Award winner Allah Rakha Rahman!

The music maestro celebrates his 44th Birthday today! Happy Birthday, A.R.Rahman!

On the day, A R Rahman received the Golden Globe Award; I decided that, I would post my favourite Rahman songs. He won, but I failed to complete my post. Then I told myself if he went on to win the Oscars, I would definitely blog about it. I still failed. Today finally on his birthday, I am adamant to finish the list.

How do u start pulling up a few favourites from the discography that is as versatile as Rahman's? He's got it all covered - from techno, carnatic, blues, bollywood, broadway & when I sat down to scribble the immediate recall tracks, I had over 30+ in less than a minute. 

Restaurant review - WTF! Versova, Mumbai. 'Where's The Food?'

Given my knack for writing random incidents/experiences coupled with my fixation for trying out new restaurants I had been coaxed into writing restaurant reviews on multiple occasions. But sadly never gave in as judging food is clearly not one of my greatest talents. Eating out is meant to be a fun experience and I could hardly ever be judgmental about it to put in a page or two describing food. But my visit to this particular eating joint left a bitter-sweet taste & since I’m still thinking about it 24 hrs later, I thought it deserved a note. So here goes…

Movie Review - Band Baaja Baaraat * Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh

Beginning of 2010 saw Yash Raj films branching out onto the small screen with couple of television series aiming for wholesome family entertainment. One of the ventures, Rishta.com was about two college friends played by Shruti Seth & Kavi Shastri, who come together to start a matrimonial agency. As two individuals with contrasting personalities, the serial attempted to highlight the chronicles, nuances of new-age relationships and the concept of the age-old matchmaking/arranged marriages in a humorous albeit honest way. The series worked favorably, captured prime-time slots on Sony channel and Isha, Rohan became household names, youth icons. When the series reached its finale, disappointed fans drew out petitions to continue the show & if reports are to be believed plans for season 2 are in place.

However, in the interim, creative’s at YRF worked on the same context, took it to the big screen and presented ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’. So does the big screen output impress me just as much?