Karthik Calling Karthik... oops wrong number!!

Just got back from Karthik Calling Karthik - a prime example of a concept that is kinda unique but suffers due to poor execution. The film was also a tad too long - the second half dragged - they could have wrapped up the movie in 1.5 hours.

The movie is about an average guy, Karthik (played quite well by Farhan Akhtar) who takes a lot of shit from his boss, his co-workers, his landlord and basically everyone in his life and is invisible to the lady he adores from afar Shonali Mukherjee (played by Deepika Padukone). He is almost on the verge of committing suicide one day, when a phone call from himself, changes his life. Karthik starts calling Karthik regularly and changes his life for the better. He commands respect at his workplace, manages to successfully woo his lady love and stands up for himself. Life progresses very smoothly until he lets Shonali in on his secret about getting calls from himself. She persuades him to see a psychiatrist (played by Shefali Shah who has now changed the spelling of her name to Shiffali or something) but the calls start getting nasty as Karthik did not want Karthik to tell anyone about these phone calls. He now wants to wreak havoc in Karthik's life. What happens when things start getting ugly? Will Karthik ever get a break in this lifetime?

The premise of the movie is really unique and could have been really well done if the story moved a bit faster and if the direction was a bit more taut. Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is immensely enjoyable (am still humming "Uff teri adaa, I like the way you move" in my head). For once, I liked Ms. Padukone in a movie - she acted and showed a hint of an actress emerging from behind the pretty face (in all her other movies, I never fully believed that she was the character - a bit like Hema Malini - in every movie save a couple, she was Hema Malini). Farhan Akhtar was good - seems like he is fortifying his acting career with yet another solid performance after Rock On and Luck By Chance. However good the lead pair are, they still cannot save the movie from the weak second half and uninspired direction.

All in all, my recommendation is to wait for the DVD and save your movie money for something else.

2 nights of dismal performances

American Idol sucks this year - so far we have had performances from the top 12 ladies last night and the top 12 guys tonight, and almost everyone sucked big time. There is no one here that blew me away. The girls show a lot more potential than the guys. If things don't improve SOON we are going to have the worst season of Idol ever.

That said, on the plus side, Ellen is not bad on the show. She is doing better than I thought she would. Kara seems less verbose this season - I liked her but thought she talked too much. Randy is completely redundant as ever. And Simon - we're so going to miss him. He calls a spade a spade - he was completely irritated with the performances tonight as he should be. They better start looking for a good replacement for him - it's not going to be easy.

On a positive note, there were some performances that sucked less than the others (okay - I am being a bit too harsh - there were a few that were good). Among the girls, I like Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami, Janell Wheeler (though I do admit that she was bad - I think she can do better), Katie Stevens & Katelyn Epperly (I think she will go far if she chooses her songs well - has a good voice). I also liked Siobhan Magnus. Among the guys, I liked Casey James - he actually was good. I think Joe Munoz and Lee Dewyze have potential and Aaron Kelly could be the next Archuleta - David Archuleta has the far better voice but I mean that Aaron could be the one to tap into the teens/tweens fan base - he has one of the better voices this season but needs to believe in himself.

Here's hoping that the next few weeks are much much better. On a side note, Thursday's American Idol will feature performances from Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta from last season.

Lift Kara De

When I came across this new chat show called Lift Kara De hosted by Karan Johar, I must admit that the first thought that crossed my mind was Wow - yet another talk show. I finally found some time to watch a few episodes today and am utterly moved by each and every episode I've watched courtesy youtube.com.

A celebrity is invited to the show to meet his/her biggest fan (believe me - the fans they show are completely loco and will stop at NOTHING to meet their favourite star) and do a good deed in the process. Auditions are held in different parts of the country to narrow down the thousands of fans to 3. The top 3 fans of the celebrity then compete in a contest and whoever wins gets to come and meet their idol. There is a twist however, the amount of money generated by the winning fan is then multiplied by a certain number and the star donates that money to a deserving individual and changes his/her life.

Each episode I have watched this far has me dissolving in a puddle of tears and completely thankful to God for everything I have been blessed with in my life. I watched the shows with Kajol (she gave Rs. 800000 to a strawberry picker from Panchgani who made Rs. 30 a day to support her family and needed medical treatment but couldn't afford it) and John Abraham (who donated Rs. 1000000 to a family from Kerala that lost their house to the tsunami and were completely debt-ridden) this far. The people whose lives are to be changed forever do not have a clue as to why they are brought on the show - they are told that they are to appear in a documentary - and when they do find out what they are getting, their joy and surprise and complete gratitude is palpable.

It's a good watch to help put our lives and "problems" into perspective. So watch it if you have the time - but make sure there's a box of tissues handy because you're going to need it.

Valentine's Day - a fun watch

The hubby, my brother who is visiting (aka as the third wheel) and I went to watch Valentine's day on Valentine's Day. The boys were a bit hesitant (and I do not blame them for the movie had the worst critic reviews ever - one critic gave the movie 0 stars) but I insisted so we went anyway. I wanted to watch the movie because it basically reads like a Who's Who of Hollywood with Kathy Bates, Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, the man of the hour Bradley Cooper, the two Taylors (Swift and Lautner), Jessica Alba, the immensely talented Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Emma Roberts, Jamie Fox and Gary Marshall staple Hector Elizondo.

The movie is an ensemble romantic comedy with snippets from the lives of various Los Angelinos and what happens to them on that particular Valentine's Day. Without giving too much away, of the various storylines, I enjoyed the ones with Anne Hathaway & Topher Grace, Julia Roberts, and Emma Roberts. Absolutely did not like the 2 Taylors and their plot-line - but oh well, they cannot all be winners. All in all I had a decent experience. The movie kind of reminded me of Love Actually but the stories in Love Actually were a bit more detailed with the characters more fully etched out because they did have the luxury of time. While there is not that much detail paid to the fleshing out of some of the characters, Gary Marshall did a good job. Of all his movies, Pretty Woman still remains my personal favourite but this is not bad by any means. It's a tad too long but with this cast of characters I guess everyone needed some screen time.

Anne Hathaway is coming into her own as an actress. Every time I watch a movie of hers, I am more enthralled with her acting skills (I wasn't always a fan but I loved her in The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada, Rachel Getting Married and Passengers). Jessica Alba is quite the opposite - every time I watch her in a movie, I am left completely unimpressed (the male of our species will violently disagree as has been my experience whenever we have discussed JA). I liked the twist Bradley Cooper's story had. Ashton Kutcher did a decent job, as did Jennifer Garner and Emma Roberts. Julia Roberts did not have much to do. Everyone else in the movie did a pretty good job.

So my recommendation is to watch the movie if you want a light breezy uncomplicated movie (it's by no means a theater must watch - you can wait for the DVD too).