Jolly LLB - Watch it

Both Jolly LLB and Special 26 are in a way an indictment of our legal system in contrasting styles. While I enjoyed both movies, I think Special 26 is a much better film and manages to keep you engaged right till the end. I am not a person who like to appreciate a film for anything but how well its story line is conveyed. A lot of friends like movies for their songs or the photography – but I would rather watch a good National Geographic documentary than clap for a Pi. Having said that I think you should try and watch Special 26, except for a few badly inserted songs as such the movie is good. Jolly LLB gives you a glimpse of the life of small court lawyers, judges and our great police system. But unfortunately it has to give in to the ‘idealistic’ notion that poor people and small time lawyers can get justice in India. They should have tried to portray reality as it exists – this is where I would like to fault the movie. Except for some songs and the unbelievable scene where Amrita Rao a small town girl comes to co-habit with her boyfriend Arshad Warsi (well in an earlier scene she does not allow him to kiss her – something which happens in small towns regularly) – I think it is better than watch a bird brained story from Yash Raj films just because it has Anushka Sharma, Katrina or a 50+ Shahrukh trying to play a Armyman (something he did when he was at the start of his career on TV)

Morachi Chincholi - great place to visit

Must write about my visit to Chincholi Morachi. It is around 50Kms from Pune off Nagar Road and is famous for its peacocks. Well there are a couple of places which you can checkout –

http://www.morachichincholi.com/
Or then
http://www.chincholimorachi.com/
We stayed at the first place ie Mayur Bag and opted for the overnight package. We reached late on Saturday and missed seeing the peacocks. We soon found out that we were the only ones staying overnight as currently there are only 2 cottages ready – one a “Tree cottage” and a normal cottage. Around 4 cottages are being built.
The tree cottage is great only issue being that the toilet is below and the room upstairs and can be a issue at night. There are modern facilities like TV (cable) and even a DVD player – but I am sure these can be given a miss during the overnight stay.
• Food is decent and a vegetarian and offers a good change.
• Service is again decent
• The nature is great – especially if the sun is not too strong.
• Tree House is great
• Don’t expect the peacocks to follow a timetable this is nature and also enjoy other flora and fauna.
• Children’s play area is good there are also a few Hanging chairs and hammocks for adults around the Campus.
• Drinking and non-veg is not allowed.
While a lot of people visit the place for a day trip, a overnight trip is a great stress-buster.
They say in the summer you will see a lot of peacocks, but then they don't dance. Winters and rain is the recommended time for a visit.

Great restaurant for Fish eaters.

When I classify fisheaters I put them into 2 types, 1 fisheaters – those who genuinely enjoy fish and some others who are comfortable with ‘seafood’ in fancy restaurants. For some time now in Pune the lack of the first type of restaurants has meant that I had to frequent the second type more often.
The only one I had visited was in Deccan and near the bus depot and I don’t remember the name – maybe because the experience was not the best. Others like Mahesh lunch home probably started as a fish eatery but then is a wannabe fancy seafood joint.
So recently when someone mentioned a fish restaurant in the city, I was not too hopeful – as I could not imagine what was a good fish restaurant doing in Shaniwar Peth / Narayan Peth. But then I decided to travel the long distance just to take a chance – so bored I was with the other type of seafood.
This is a hardcore eaters place – clean but no fancy decoration, just a line of tables and benches – in the classic udupi fashion in Mumbai.
The Menu has many parts – but we focused on the fish part and gave the chicken and veg part a complete miss. You can go for A la carte or then a fish thali + a la carte. Our family had parts opting for both options and you can also go either way and try the other next time around.
The food is good and more importantly authentic goan / maharashtrian kokan / karwari and should satisfy a good fish eater.
Great items to try – Bangda Karnataka and Pomphret Pedavan. Tandoori crab was good – but then you will have patience and strength to break the shell with your hands and teeth.
The owner is helpful with suggestions and you can listen to all of them – but follow your heart (or should I say toungue). It is next to Kanyashala in Narayan Peth / Shaniwarpeth.

Movie 'Review' - New York

Let me say at the outset, I am not a Yash Raj films fan. The last movie I like liked was Hum Tum. And now comes New York. Though the movie is based on the “persecution complex theory” the basis of itself is questionable, the conclusions are sensible and practical.
The story line is good and well managed and even the end does not get hysterical. Though the average fan does not like Katrina to die – but I think gone are the days when a hero’s dying at the end made or broke films. I would have liked a little more unpredictability in the story line (say a Arlington Street). But then it is not bad for a Hindi film.
As far as acting is concerned, all the actors have done a good job in my view – yes even John and Katrina. For me this movie is definite see.

IPL II semi final Line UP

The IPL

A lot has been said about IPL and even the king of pain Raja has been brought back. he is probably offering a unemployment discount.

1. Kolkatta Knight Riders sucks – as a team lead by a combination of 2 self proclaimed dons and one sulking don would.
2. All other teams are doing ok.
1. Mumbai Indians have been let down by their inability to finish and some poor captaincy from the master blaster, the batting order changes made Mumbai Indians like me cry
   
2. Rajasthan Royals continues to be pushed by Warne and the results of his motivation on a team of limited capabilities is obvious.
3. Deccan Chargers are better than Bangalore, but then have a poor bowling attack. Bangalore wins matches on and off – but is not reliable
4. Punjab is also a decent team but is obviously missing Shaun marsh who could have taken them over the line
5. Chennai differentiator is “Uncle” Hayden and they will sleep if he fails in the knockout rounds.
6. Delhi stands out, but hope they are not delivered a knockout punch that some of these people are capable. Viru Baba hope you take the team over 300 runs in some match.
   

My prediction for the Semis Delhi, Chennai, Rajasthan and Deccan

PS - can some one tell me where I can buy a Mumbai Indian T-shirt, not sure an Ambani is running this franchise.

Barbeque Nation - Good food but ...

This Feb 14 we had planned for a family outing at Barbeque Nation on Nagar road. A slight delay in booking and a 50% booking only policy meant that we were left to try our luck. But then our early lunch habits meant that we more or less assured of a seat or so we thought.
Unfortunaltely the gods had conspired and the route we took had load of traffic jam and we reached the place only at 8:00 pm. Our heart sank, when we saw the long line of cars outside the restaurant. But we were somewhere on the waiting list and were asked to wait for 15 minutes for some new on dinning tonight.
We sat there and waited only to hear people coming after us discouraged to wait and told how people were waiting from 6 pm for a seat !!!
Well luckily for us, a family decided to have their dinner elsewhere and we got a seat within 10 minutes of arriving at the restaurant. Now for the actual review.

Ambience - I would rate it good, seating area is large with large free areas, looks modern and has a certain signature (probably common across the chain) look. There was live music and though we were near the singer, the music did not seem too loud.

Food - For me the most important past. "Apparently it is a concept - which if I describe in plain English - 10 Starters and a Buffet comprsing of Soup, Main course and dessert.

Starters - as the best part, it is a mixture of Veg and Non veg and within Non Veg - chicken, Fish and Mutton. The spread is good, but then there is a weak point - I would have preferred a smaller choice but maybe outstanding taste (instead of the good taste on an average that I got). I liked the Prawns, Sheekh Kabab and Mushroom the best. Potato and Paneer were below average.

The soup was OK and the main spread disappointing and seems like a afterthought.

The desserts are great - both the spread and the quality.

Pricing - for dinners it costs rs 450 per person. The drinks though are costlier than what they would cost you in the Taj.

Service - It seems to be good as long as the starter routine lasts. However the moment you want a selected dish like say in our case the fish, it can take for ever. They took very good care of our little one's peculiar eating habits - I would rate the service good for that alone.

In short I felt the place was good - but then pity the ones who were waiting from 6 pm. One look at that place and the slowdown seemed like an illusion.

Madagascar - following in the footsteps of sequels

Frankly this movie was a huge disappointment but the whole trip to the movie was the best experience we had - a bit of contradiction.
First the movie - the story line is extremely weak and luckily they keep it short and sweet. Fun part is restricted to the "King", the monkeys and the penguins.

Only people like us who were taking their kids for their first movie (and subsequent movies) will enjoy the movie.

Rahul Dravid and other old men

Finally Rahul Dravid has scored a century, for this a lot of people especially ex-cricketers like Ravi Shastri will say things like how you cannot forget the 10,000+ runs etc. Sir – an Indian cricket team has place for 11 best people only, there is no obligation to carry baggage for so long. Especially in these days when cricketers make such a lot of money at the international level - tolerance for non-performance should be minimal.

Yes Dravid – I have to use this harsh term and it is you who has brought it on yourself.

The second innings brought back familiar memories of failure. It is high time Dravid retires or is then kicked out. Laxman and Tendulkar are next in line. But will their egos allow them to take the correct decision or then will the Indian team have to suffer their seniority

OLD MEN in cricket

The Indian Test Cricket Team is full of OLD Men and it is time for them to GIVE WAY. Unfortunately no one likes to give up even when they stutter and totter on their way to their crickting grave.

KUMBLE the Old man no 1, look at his performance over the past few series and you will see that performance does not count. Instead we are asked to rely on his supposedly "RECORD". Well the record is great but it is worn out and needs to be replaced. Kumble should set an example by putting in his papers immediately.

This will inspire Laxman, Tendulkar to follow.

Sourav Ganguly meanwhile is setting the stage for a political career by appealing to the Bengali sense of justice by saying he was discriminated against. But then if you look it the other way - he has heaped injustice against a Bengal player Saurabh Tiwari (and the India team as a whole) by staying too long.

In the end it is just not how good these people are but then how good will be Suresh Raina, Viraat kohli, Rohit Sharma, Saurabh Tiwari and amit Mishra in their places.

The Movie without a end

While I love movies which have some amount of suspense and especially loved the way it was built into a Movie we saw recently "Via Darjeeling".
But then what disturbed me the most was that the director did not give the movie a ending and in true NFDC style left it to our imagination. The movie is great and you will love it if you like the other ones from the Vinay Pathak / Rajat Kapoor factory but then it could have been better if there was a conclusion which was used to drive in some message.

Any way Rs 175 for the ticket and I am still wriggling my hand.

group stage runners up go ahead, while winners head home

The quarterfinals have been turned on its head. First Germany beat Portugal and then Turkey beat Croatia.
Portugal have been victims of their own success in the recent tournaments when they have always made the semis. Their overconfidence meant two stupid decisions on the part of their coach Scolari - resting the core of the team against the swiss which lead to a 2-0 loss and showed that if a few players were taken care of the Portuguese were vulnerable and Scolari's mid-tournament announcement that he would leave them.
But I will not discount the improvement shown by germany driven by Schweinsteiger. With their current form and pedigree, the title is not a dream.

Turkey and Croatia match was between 2 similar teams, which croatia lost and turkey showed phenomenal presence of mind in scoring another last minute goal.

So what next - Netherlands V/s Russia will see a close fight and Spain V/s Italy looks slightly loaded in favour of spain unless Luca toni is replaced by an accurate striker or then he discovers his touch

Euro 2008 Quarter Finals, last of the remaining group matches

QuarterFinal 1
Portugal V/s Germany
Portugal have lost their momentum with their second string losing against the Swiss. Germany on the other hand have no momentum at all after their first match and are lucky to be in the quarters.
While in normal circumstances I view a loss of momentum with great alarm, in this case I fancy that Portugal's chances against a totally lacklustre Germany. I don't think Germany's past reputation of getting the most of their limited abilities can save them this time.

QuarterFinal 2
Turkey v/s Crotia
While my money is on Croatia, I think the match will be too close too call.

Euro 2008, Semi Final line up Prediction Portugal, Italy (Germany), Czech and Netherlands

Euro 2008

Group A

I would consider Switzerland to be very unlucky! They were done in by the injury to Alexander Frei, which put him and effectively them out of the tournament. He was very impressive in the short time he was on the field and the foul against him should have landed the Czech player with a Yellow card atleast. But in that match the Swiss faced the impossible task of having to overcome bias from the Italian referee in addition to their limited abilities. But I think if it was not for the former they could have still given the Czech’s a shock. But with the last minute goal by Turkey, they are out of the tournament probably a little earlier than they should have been.

Portugal are clearly one of the best I have seen in the tournament and look dangerous with C Ronaldo in full flow and others like Deco, Carvalho and others doing well.

The Czech team lacks good goal scorers and appear quite mediocre, they will be lucky to make it to the second round and it will depend on their match with turkey. Both the team have been extremely lucky to win over the Swiss, but then have to fight it out amongst themselves to determine who is best amongst the not so good.

Group B

Germany look set to qualify, but it will be a toss between the Poles and the Croats. Germany have also been impressive and can be dangerous as they can win tournaments even when they are not impressive at all.

Group C

The group of death, I think Italy and Netherlands have a good chance of going through. France have been as dull as they were during their first round world cup exit in 2002. Romania retain the right to upset everyone’s calculations.

Group D

Spain and Sweden look to be good, Russia can be a threat to Sweden, but were completely undone by the Spanish forwards.

The Spanish forwards have looked impressive and they along with Portugal and The Netherlands are the most impressive at this stage.

Euro 2008 - Highlight of the week

What is arguably the greatest and most competitive inter-nation tournament in the football world starts on June 7, 2008.
For your schedule and other details visit the official site.
http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/

the matches are at 6 pm CET ie 9:30 IST and 8:45 CET ie 12:15 IST. So the interested ones can actually catch atleast one match per day.

Of course as the Q/F onwards is going to be at 12:15 IST, catching them will be a challenge. But then 2 of the 4 are on weekends and so is the final.

I will post my views in the coming days and want you to post your comments.

Gavaskar and Tendulkar and the Mumbai Indians

Over the years I listened and read as Gavaskar went on praising Tendulkar. He did not require any reason, just a mike in hand was enough. I was so sick of it that I had stopped paying attention to his ramblings.

But finally after 3 close defeats suffered by Mumbai Indians (which according to me was a result of a aging Tendulkar unable to come up to grips with his falling batting standards and non-existing captaincy aptitude.), Gavaskar finally without alluding to Tendulkar did criticize the failings of his captaincy.

A great man's greatness lies in knowing when to fade away from Limelight. Unfortunately even with his fitness failing Sachin Tendulkar does not seem to recognize this. Poor GUY may GOD grant the Nice Man strength to recognize that it is all over.

Tendulkar as a Captain - IPL match Mumbai V/s Punjab

I managed to see the last part of Mumbai Indian' second innings in its IPL match versus Punjab XI and followed the Punjab innings on cricinfo.
It managed to reinforce what has been my view for some time, Tendulkar is not a good captain (it is an understatement - he actually is a lousy Captain). While some may say, Mumbai lost the match only by a run, look at his mistakes which allowed the Punjab team to score atleast 30 more runs-

• The bowler selection today was horrible - two young spinners were selected, they each gave away 40+ runs
• Pollock did not complete his fourth over a poor decision considering his economy rate in the 3 overs he bowled was 4.66
• He did not bowl Jayasurya and kept Andre Nel on the bench
  

He panicked and went for a run which was not there and that was the end.

It is high time Tendulkar admits that he can never be a good captain and let Pollock captain the Indians.