Film Review: SHAMITABH

Dhanu SHAMITABH Bachchan

The film has enough meat to run for maximum 45 minutes, no more!

Venkat was keen on seeing the film immediately on release as Dhanush is an excellent actor. I couldn’t but agree with him and so tagged along on Friday to watch the 10.15 pm show at Cinemax Sion.

THE STORY

Dhanush (Dhanush) is a famous actor in Bollywood and is on his way to receive a prestigious best actor award. As he gives his speech on stage, we get to know his life story in flashback. Dhanush was born mute with a fiery passion to become an actor since childhood. His widowed mother makes and sells bhajias for a living while Dhanush tries to run away from home many times. He finally gets to go to Mumbai when his mother passes away. 

He makes many rounds of film studios only to be thrown out again and again. It’s quite by chance that he meets Akshara (Akshara Haasan) who is an assistant director. He persuades her to give him a chance to act. She’s completely impressed with his skills despite his being unable to speak. But her boss refuses to cast an actor who is a mute. 

She speaks to her father who is a surgeon and they decide to experiment with a new treatment on Dhanush. He travels all the way to Helsinki in Finland where they fit a chip in his throat. Now he can lip sync with the words he can hear through a hearing aid from a person who is connected to him via a wireless device – something in the lines of Blue Tooth. All that is left is for them to find a guy who has a good voice, someone who is ready to remain with Dhanush 24/7. They find Amitabh (Amitabh Bachchan), a drunkard who lives in a graveyard. After much persuasion, Amitabh agrees to become Dhanush’s “voice”. Watch the film to see what happens when the “voice” refuses to co-operate when Amitabh becomes jealous of Dhanush’s success. 

MY PERCEPTION

The film has an excellent storyline with two great actors at the helm. Dhanush is as good as Amitabh Bachchan. The South Indian actor has given an excellent performance as he auditions as a mute. Amazing!

What’s even better was the child actor who has played Dhanush’s role when he’s in school. That kid has given an equally impressive performance. His teacher challenges him to perform a sequence of a kid who’s just lost his mother. You have to see the film to see how well the child acts. A special kudos!

All that said, the film has enough meat to run for maximum 45 minutes. It’s been prolonged to 2 ½ hours with many songs and repeated scenes that were completely unnecessary. Of these, “piddly si batein” is simply absurd and is all about using a loo. Can you believe that the whole song and dance is around a pot? Utter crap! Yeah, the pun too!

Akshara Haasan has a good role and she is alright. She has a very long way to go before she becomes a good actress. 

The end was simply disgusting. I won’t talk about it as I don’t want to give out any spoilers to those who might want to see it despite the review. 

I like a film that inspires or entertains or makes one feel good. This one does none of these things. It definitely is not worth Rs. 230 per ticket that we spent. A waste of good money! 

VERDICT: Watch Shamitabh at your own risk

*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy 
*****Super 

Blog Tour: WRONG, FOR THE RIGHT REASONS by Ritu Lalit

Wrong 

For The Right Reasons

by 

Ritu Lalit

The Blurb

Shyamoli Verma’s timing is wrong. In her late twenties, she finds that her marriage is irrevocably broken. She comes back to her parents with her pre-teen son and an infant daughter, only to find that she is unwelcome. 

Independent and brash, she decides to bring up her children and also get a divorce without any support from friends and family. 

Written with wry self deprecating humour, this is the story of a divorced woman's quest for love and security.

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The Story Told In Pictures 

Meet the Author

Ritu Lalit is a corporate slave turned fiction writer. A voracious reader, she is a gold medalist post graduate in English Literature who spent most of her childhood in remote areas in the northeastern parts of India, lying on grassy hillsides daydreaming and reading books.

She loves spinning tales, but no longer has her captive audience as her children grew up and flew away from the coop. Her three dogs don’t pay much attention. She began writing in the vain hope that the characters she creates will listen to her, even do her bidding.

She has five books out in the market, A Bowlful of Butterflies, HILAWI, Chakra, Chronicles of the Witch Way and Wrong, for the Right Reasons. Her fifth novel, His Father’s Mistress is coming soon.

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Travel: CECIL HOTEL @ MATHERAN

I have always stayed at Cecil Hotel during my trips to Matheran. We have checked a number of hotels here, and feel this place is total value for money. We called them and booked our rooms in advance. 

Varda in the open space below our rooms

Cecil Hotel is set in a sprawling property with old buildings. The rooms are large with high ceilings and can easily accommodate four people. They allot you rooms as per requirement. There’s an attached bathroom and a dressing room to boot. 

There’s a veranda running outside the rooms with a railing. Then there is the sit-out beyond that, with the garden full of plants, trees and a few flowering shrubs. The place is quite rustic and that just adds to the charm. They have 20-odd staff working at Cecil Hotel. These men are friendly and helpful. 

The package includes stay, breakfast, lunch and dinner at Rs. 1400 per person. It’s a pretty good deal. They have a huge dining room that has tables and chairs to seat fifty people. By Mumbai standards, the room can comfortably seat a hundred. Breakfast is served on the veranda outside the rooms along with piping hot coffee or tea unless there’s too much crowd. In such a case, they serve it as a buffet in the dining room. Lunch is served at your table and it’s a set menu. It’s the same with dinner. There’s an old-fashioned brass bell outside every room, to call for room service. 

Gujarati Thali

The food is in the style of a Gujarati Thali most of the time, though they do serve Pav Bhaji or Chinese Fried Rice & Manchurian Gravy on some nights. They also try to please the customers by making something special if we tell them a few hours in advance. 

A section of the dining room

The place is silent and calm, all the time. There’s a section of garden with swings and see-saw for children. There’s a badminton court and one can borrow racquets, shuttlecock, badminton balls, etc from the office. They also have indoor games like carom and chess. Yeah, all olde worlde! 

Venkat

There were four dogs that hung around, obviously fed by the staff. They were quite friendly and were helpful in chasing away the monkeys that run amok in the area. There were also a couple of adorable kittens that lived in the kitchen. 

Two of the friendly doggies

It’s the best place to unwind, I would say! 

Monkeys

Monkeys on the railings outside the veranda. The one on the left is eating a kulfi that we gave him

Travel: A TRIP TO MATHERAN

A view on the way to Matheran

This is probably the sixth time I am going for a holiday to Matheran, a hill-station close to Neral near Karjat. We were six of us in the family who left home at 6.30 am on Friday to catch a local train from Sion station to Kurla. From there, we caught a fast train at 7.12 am to Neral. 

Venkat, Vinny and Yours truly in the toy train

We reached Neral at about 8.15 and booked tickets on the toy train. We had vada pav for breakfast as we waited for the train to leave. It left a few minutes late and we chugged out of Neral on our way to Matheran. The train runs across hills and valleys throughout the journey that is supposed to last two and a half hours with two stops in between. Ours took a good four hours to reach Matheran station. 

Water Pipe is one of the stations on the way to Matheran

While it wasn’t the most comfortable of journeys, the view more than compensated for it. Travelling across a vast amount of greenery, we were also entertained by a number of monkeys that came close to the railway track foraging for food, especially close to the stations. There were a couple of them with little babies clinging to them. When we threw some berries, they rubbed away the salt and masala with both their hands before popping them into their little mouths. They are just too smart and intelligent I must say!

He's dusting the salt-masala off the berry before popping it into his mouth

It was almost one o’ clock when we got off at Matheran. While there were two men from Cecil Hotel to carry our luggage, we trekked up the gentle slope for another half an hour before we reached there. 

He's all set for a ride. Isn't he handsome!

Matheran is a hill-station where vehicles are not allowed and they are very strict about it – not even cycles. The peace and silence that hit you is simply amazing. Our hotel was situated in a remote corner where even the horses didn’t disturb us. It was just us, a few more guests, the hotel staff, a few dogs and monkeys spread over a large territory. 

A veg-fruit-spice market that had been established in 1919

While the youngsters went riding one day, Venkat and I walked to the market. We walked for about a couple of kilometres, just getting a feel of the place. Imagine not having to look over your shoulder every few seconds while walking! No bikes, rickshaws, cars, cabs or buses to knock you down or blow your ears off with their honking. There were restaurants, a bar, bakeries and shops selling leather handbags, Kolhapuri chappals, hats, cane baskets and more. And of course, there were a number of hotels offering different packages. We stopped at a bakery to have a fresh scone dripping with cream and hot tea. Both were delicious. 

That's me on the hand-drawn rickshaw

Horses walk next to people while there were a few hand-drawn rickshaws – this was something new as they weren’t around the last time we visited the place – that can carry one person at a time. I was beat by the time we finished the round of the market and so we opted to take a rickshaw each back to our hotel. 

Varda, Vinny, Pratika & Viggy

Evenings were fun with Viggy playing the guitar and singing along with Pratika. The rest of us lounged around listening till dinner. After dinner, we played a few rounds of carom and also took walks around the garden. The silence seeps into your very bones and brings about a much needed peace. 

He was too cute and had to be caught on camera

We had breakfast at the hotel on Sunday morning before we began our walk down to the taxi stand. It took us 40 minutes to trek down the gentle slope with monkeys for company. The return home was swift with a stop for lunch at Vashi and we were home by late afternoon. 

That's Venkat as we began our trek down to the taxi stand on our return journey

Two days of bliss, yummy vegetarian fare that I didn’t have to cook, sunrises and sunsets to please the most difficult of people and loads of family bonding! I couldn’t ask for a better holiday. 

Film Review: BABY

Mumbai’s cynical audience broke into spontaneous applause thrice!

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher, Kay Kay Menon, Rana Daggubatti, Sushant Singh, Taapsee Pannu
Director: Neeraj Pandey

Venkat wanted to see this film even before it’s release. But I didn’t want to see a picture with the title Baby. That was before I got to know that it was directed by Neeraj Pandey who has also helmed films such as A Wednesday and Special 26. Then Venkat, Vinny and I decided to catch it at Cinemax Sion on Tuesday. 

THE STORY

Feroz (Danny Denzongpa) heads a secret Anti Terrorist Squad of twelve members. It’s a trial venture to last for five years and hence he has named it Baby. Four years ahead, the number of members has come down to Feroz plus just four, the rest having been killed during operations. But their success rate is too good. Ajay (Akshay Kumar) manages to uncover a plot for bombing a mall in Delhi. It is thwarted by him and Jai (Rana Daggubati). During the mission, they get to know that more bombings are lined up in the main cities of India. While chasing Bilal (Kay Kay Menon) and terrorist leader Maulana (Rasheed Naz) across Nepal and Saudi Arabia, Ajay and Jai get into deeper trouble along with Priya (Taapsee Panu) and Shukla (Anupam Kher). Will they get back alive? 

MY PERCEPTION

The film was very fast-paced and interesting. Every single actor fitted his/her role and has performed perfectly well. The best part was that the film had only half a song, that too in the background. 

Danny Denzongpa has given an excellent performance as Feroz who heads the Secret Squad. Akshay Kumar looks fitter than ever and is simply awesome as Ajay who balances a secret and dangerous career with a loving family. Anupam Kher’s role is small yet very good. The boy who plays an engineering student was simply amazing. Taapsee Pannu’s fight sequence was a pleasure to watch. 

The audience broke into spontaneous applause at least thrice during the course of the film, which is saying a lot. 

I only wish they had come up with a different title. Baby sounds so innocuous. 

VERDICT: All-in-all, a very good and intelligent film that’s worth a watch. 

*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy 
*****Super

Blog Tour: CANVAS OF DREAMS by Jaya Siva Murty

Canvas Of Dreams

by 

Jaya Siva Murty

MY REVIEW

I loved reading Canvas of Dreams by Jaya Siva Murty. I couldn't shut down my phone until I finished reading at 2.45 am. It was completely un-put-downable. 

I like the way the author has weaved the plot around dreams – nightmares actually. Riya has bad dreams every night. The 32-year-old has lost her husband Siddharth of barely a couple of years. She is an art curator who goes to Singapore on work. Most unexpectedly, she meets Ryan, the love of her life. Only it does not appear likely that they could rekindle their relationship.

She returns to Mumbai to set up her own gallery, encouraged by her best friend. Artist Rehaan enters her life. To begin with he is very rude. Soon, he patches up and gets close. Is he the man for her?

Riya tries to find love amidst the shattered remains of her broken life as she creates a niche for herself in the world of art. Until the end, the author keeps you guessing who Riya will end up with. Good one, Jaya Siva Murty!

I must congratulate Jaya on the way she has woven the fabric of the story and how it revolves around art. A lot of research has gone into the art world, but has been presented in a subtle fashion, making it a joy to read the book.

I could relate to Riya’s fears so well as they are quite real. Her determination to stride ahead and make something of her life is what makes her an endearing character. What she undergoes could be possible in just anyone’s life. Quite impressed with the way the characters have been etched.

I can’t think of a better title than CANVAS OF DREAMS for this book. It’s ‘oh so perfect’!

Kudos Jaya Siva Murty on your maiden venture - looking forward to reading more of your work!

The Blurb

Riya seems to have lost everything—the man she loves to another woman, her husband to death and her soul to fear.An unexpected meeting with her first love, Ryan, stirs up long repressed feelings but also allows her to move out of the long shadow of the past. Unburdened, she feels free to pursue her dream of opening an art gallery and the handsome and intriguing artist Rehaan. But memories of her marriage refuse to fade away and then suddenly, Ryan shows up in her life again. Now, Riya must find the courage to reconcile her past and present.For Riya, life is a canvas of dreams. Can she distinguish between reality and fantasy?

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Watch It 

Canvas of Dreams

Meet the Author

Jaya Siva Murty is a business writer and social media manager from Visakhapatnam, India. Fascinated with the written word since the age of ten, she would file away her poems and short stories in a secret diary, till some were finally published by ‘Times of India’ and ‘Savvy’. She has written for the Economic Times and now provides India-relevant stories for a Hong Kong based magazine. When she’s not designing content for websites, or writing technical blogs and articles for clients worldwide, she spins yarns with unusual twists and turns through her works of fiction.

Jaya holds a business management degree and has taken creativity lessons at Stanford University. ‘Canvas of Dreams’ is her debut foray into novella writing.

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Blog Tour: ANGELIC BEATS by Sarita Singh

Angelic Beats 

By 

Sarita Singh

The Blurb

Buy @

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Meet the Author

The author, Sarita Singh, is a post-graduate in chemistry with a post-graduate diploma in mass communications. Born and brought up in Panipat, Haryana, she has been married to a doctor and is blessed with a son. The author is a state civil services (allied) officer, who has also taught in various institutions earlier. Reading and writing have always been a part of Sarita Singh who used to write her diary from a very young age. Like many others, she too loves gossiping and enjoying with friends and family as she loves spending time with them. The author believes in a few optimistic thoughts: “I am alright, I am happy where I am now, but I wish to be somewhere else. And I will try for it.”

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