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How was your festive season?

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Didn’t I tell you I’m going to let my hair loose and have fun this festive season. I did exactly that in the past three days. Loads of pandal hoppings, numerous rounds of street foods and a generous dose of ethnic wear made my festive season even better. I visited quite a few pujas here in Bangalore and had fun with friends and family. Let me share some photos today 
So how have been your festive time last few days???

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Movie Review: Bang Bang

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

How can I not watch this movie First Day First Show and how can I not review it. I have been waiting for this movie like many others and I grabbed the first chance to book the tickets the day bookings opened. Now hold on I know you all know I am a big fan of Hrithik and am absolutely crazy about him, and you do not expect an objective review on his film from me. But hold on guys that is exactly what I am going to do – give a brutally honest review for the movie. So read on.

So let’s get to the story first. ISS or Internal Secret Services of India is after the most wanted criminal Omar Zaffer (Danny Denzongappa) – who prefers to introduce himself as Zaffer, Omar Zaffer. With help of Hamid Gul (javed Jaffrey) he manages to escape from MI6 office in London after killing an ISS officer and practically destroying MI6 HQ. Zaffer feels the best way to disturb the impending extradition treaty, between the two countries, is by stealing the Kohinoor diamond and the thief must be Indian.  And as expected it gets stolen by the mysterious and not-so-secret Rajveer Nanda (Hrithik Roshan).


Back in Shimla bank receptionist Harleen (Katrina) leads a monotonous life and lives with her over enthusiastic grandmother. Rajveer encounters Harleenand instant chemistry fly between the two. Harleenis unaware of the true identity of Rajveerand fate makes her tag along with him in this run for life. Who is this Rajveer Nanda? Why did he steal the diamond? What he does with it? How Harleen feels for him and helps him is what all Bang Bang is about.

If you follow Hindi films – potboilers that is you will get the story line in the first few minutes but hold on – do you watch a movie to analyze story or get an experience?

Now coming to the part that I like to write about – MY EXPERIENCES. Okay before anything – can I just say Hrithik – I love you. This movie is a Hrithik Roshan movie and you hardly require anything else in it to make you fall in love with him over again.

But there is a big BUT. The director does some grave mistakes which make a worshiper of Hrithik feel bad – a tad little bit. For a good 20 minutes from the start there is no sign of Hrithik in the movie! How can you digest that!!! Even in an Imax where girls are screaming, whistling just for one look of the hero he is kept away from the screen apart from a 1 second slow mo shot. That Mr. Anand was a heinous crime. In a Hrithik movie the only thing audience wants to see is Hrithik and not scores of other characters taking up all the screen space.

He could kill you with those eyes alone
The movie starts a little slow with numerous scenes establishing Harleen, Hamid Gul, Harleen’s bank manager etc etc. but once Mr. Roshan gets in, he seizes the moment and all our hearts. He looks dapper, dances like dreams, kills like a terminator and charms everyone with his effervescent style. There is nothing that you can complain about once you look in those mesmerizing green eyes. Hrithik completely floors you with his charm and his performance. The film solely rests on his able shoulders. I can keep writing about how awesome he looks, how sexy his abs is, how poetic his dance is, but I’ll do that a little later.

Coming to Katrina, she talks and talks and talks and yes she looks hot in polka dot bikini tops and dresses. Apart from that I didn’t quite shift my eye balls from Hrithik throughout the movie. For her it’s like any other of her characters. The songs were already a huge hit and the moment Tu Meri starts you hear whistles from across the theatre. I wish my whistles had some sounds though. But yes Tu Meri, Meherban and the Bang Bang title tracks are whistle worthy. Meherban shot in picturesque Greece looks like a dream and it is hotness personified by both.  And when you realize that Hithik shot all of that with his bouts of severe headaches (when he was going through his health woes before his brain surgery) you feel how great the man is. Even in his worst times he looks like billion dollars. In the Bang Bang title track which is his tribute for MJ he almost reinvents the moonwalk. This song comes at the end of the movie and not a single person left the theater till the last shot of the song. So you can now imagine how nice it is. 

Hotness Personified – I say


The second half is what takes your breath away with stylized action sequences, car chases, a good amount of hero dosages and a breath taking kissing scene. I am in fact extremely J now to see HR kiss Katrina the way he did! It is one of the best on screen kisses that I have seen lately. It’s neither a blink and miss as in Dhoom2 nor any cheesy cheeky type. It is, as I said, hotness personified.

Fly boarding, jet skiing behind a sea plane, F1 car, fast bikes, super action sequence it offers an adrenalin rush. High on gloss, high on glamour Bang Bang is an action packed Bolly flick. If you start dissecting the movie with story, logic, philosophy blah blah then you are going the wrong way. It’s the official remake of Knight & Day and it fares quite nicely for me. I remember watching Knight and Day on a movie date with my husband – who was not my husband then. But I don’t remember much about the movie but I will never forget my Bang Bang experience. An experience of loving the man on screen every second, an experience of watching poetry in motion, an experience of being starry eyed like a school kid.

If I have to rate the movie I will do it in several steps. Story – 3 /5, Action 4/5, Direction 3/5, Drama 3/5 Songs 4/5, Dialogue 3/5 and Hrithik – a ten out of 5, his Bang Bang MJ tribute is timeless. In all I enjoyed my 150 minutes and at the end of it I wanted even more and asked why did it end? I can have more of Hrithik any day anytime.

BTW coming to my verdict – overall it is not the finest performance by Hrithik, honestly, but he does great justice to the role and is a master in this space. He is meant for these larger than life roles and Im extremely happy watching him. For me his best performances still remain Jodha Akbar, Kaho na Pyar Hai, Koi Mil Gaya etc. But Bang Bang scores high only and only because of Hrithik. So it’s a 4 star for me, including an extra star for my superstar! If you watch this movie you will fall in love with Hrithik – guaranteed. 

And look what i had got a few days back
Honest review I say and mind you I love him to death. 


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Are you ready for the Durga Pujas?

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Hello People. I have been going crazy with work all this while, and last month I couldn’t post as much as I wanted to. But this month I’ll keep my promise of blogging everyday. Guess what Durga Puja is here and I can’t wait to go out pandal hopping!

If you don’t know what Durga Puja is let me tell you briefly. It’s THE BIGGEST festival of Bengalis. We worship Goddess Durga and believe she comes to earth with her children – Lakshmi, Saraswati, karthik and Ganesha – during this time. It’s a 10 day long celebration and celebration is a mere little small word for it actually – it’s an extravaganza.



The city of Kolkata which is the capital of the state West Bengal is practically shut down for a week because everyone is participating in this extravaganza. It’s one of its kind festival and if you do not experience it you will miss something. All Bengali’s across the world try to get back to Kolkata during these ten days to experience the Pujo – as we call it.


And for those – like me- who are not going to Kolkata we celebrate Durga Pujo wherever we are. There is no dearth of Bengalis in any big city across the world. I had visited a Durga Puja in London some years back when we were visiting UK. Overseas the only difference is – they celebrate it over the nearest weekend and the delighting pandals are missing. Other than that in the heart of every Bengali across the world our Pujo is the same – fun time, bonding time and food time.

Bangalore, where I stay, is like half Bengal now with the ever growing population of migratory Bengalis. We have about 35 Durga Pujas which are being celebrated across Bangalore. So if you are a Bengali and missing home don’t be sad there’s lot over here to enjoy.  

The only difficulty is managing leaves from work. Actual Pujo and the celebrations starts from the 5thday which is called Panchami. And Kolkata shuts down from that day. But guess what I have been working till yesterday which was the 6th day or Shasthi, as we call it. But today onwards I do not care I am on leave and I am just waiting to go out.

It’s also a time when every Bengali lady is all decked up in her new ethnic clothes. I am taking out all my new sarees for am wearing only ethnic clothes for the next 3-4 days. This is the only time when you get to wear them. For a Bengali you start your year by marking the Durga Pujo dates and plan around it. Can you believe that!

We go crazy about everything during this time. Our kitchens also shut down and we tend to eat out. At this time there is no dearth of Bengali food around the city. Every big restaurant of Kolkata would have a stall in the Pandals. It’s the love for food that keeps Bengalis going. My cook is on leave too and I am eating out for the next few days too!

So I am going to do a Durga Puja post everyday starting today and share my look and the Pujas I am visiting across Bangalore. It’s 7 in the morning and I am trying to decide which one to wear for the mornings and which one to wear for the evenings – such a girly affair that is.

Okay now my FB timeline is now flooded with Durga Puja photos from all over the world. Everyone is in the frenzy. But wait guys I am joining the party soon – in a few hours to be precise.

Here are some awesome Durga Figurines and Pandals from Kolkata. Look at the creativity, lighting, decoration, crowd and food. It’s something you do not want to miss.I will elaborate on them in my later posts.

This is a very special Durga Puja in Kolkata called – Ekdalia Durga Puja. This year you can see the goddess and her children are all decked in 22 carat real gold jewellery sponsored by Tanishq – one of India’s biggest jewelers. Isn’t it amazing??

 

Here is the closeup, photos courtesy my friend Sukanta Sanyal
Look at the amazing Neon Lighting
Eco- Friendly Pandal being put up

Pujo Pandal in Kolkata – These are all temporary structures created over 1 month

Pujo Pandal in Kolkata

Pujo Pandal in Kolkata
AND here is the list of Durga Pujas being celebrated across Bangalore. Click the link here. 


So how are you celebrating Durga Puja? Which ever city you are you will find at least one Durga Puja being held. Check them out if you can. 


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Did you take up the Bang Bang Dare?

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Okay this Bang Bang dare has already become famous. Hrithik Roshan has been throwing a dare at Bollywood celebs and they have been quite a sport and have done quite nice. I specially loved the one by Ranveer Singh. This guy is quirky and is funny. Check out the video here. You’ll fall off laughing.

Tere liye Jaan hazir hai! Dil jeetliya duniya ka! RT @RanveerOfficial: My #bangbangdare ! Just for you @iHrithik :)) http://t.co/MHGSigwJYh
— Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) September 25, 2014




BTW did you know Hrithik also gave a Bang Bang Dare to all his fans. And me being me, took it up. So here was the dare. NO HONKING FOR THREE DAYS!!!



Now that in itself is a mammoth task if you are driving specially in Bangalore during office hours. But I am being a true fan and took up the dare.

I had done a post on Honking on Indian Streets earlier and if you wish to read it you can read it here

Now, I drive daily about 40-42 kms between home and office – Electronic City to Old Airport Road. If you are aware of the geography of Bangalore you will know that’s quite a distance and sometimes is agonizing to sit in the traffic. The route I take normally is the EC elevated flyover, Silk Board, Koramanagala Water Tank, Koramangala Ring Road to Old Airport Road. But last one week I am not taking the flyover – and that’s because of a very inane reason – I have not been to the ATM for a while and have absolutely no cash in purse. I am living of the plastic money! So I couldn’t pay toll for the flyover.

Day1 – Morning Drive on Day 1 of the dare was little hard. Every time my hands reached the horn I had to reming my self – Bang Bang!! Now what do you do when suddenly an auto rickshaw stops infront of your car to take up passengers and that too when you have like 3 seconds for the signal to go red! These are the times when you gotta honk! On any other day I would have honked till that guy moved.

It was difficult to resist honking on a lot of places – specially for BMTC Buses, Autos and two wheelers. I specifically hate the scooties and autos going at 20km speed when the road ahead is relatively empty and you don’t have space to overtake!

Evening drive is even a bigger pain if you hit the road post 5:30pm. It feels like entire Bangalore is in the Koramangala Ring Road. But I survived Day 1 somehow without honking.

Day2 – I left little early from home to avoid the peak traffic. I usually leave by 8AM but on that day I left at about 745 AM. It was relatively easy on Day2 and my mind was already conditioned to resist honking every time I wanted to.

Day3 – Morning drive was again relatively easy to avoid honking. And there came the rain in the evening. And if you know traffic in Bangalore you will know how pathetic it becomes. Rains and crazy traffic are like sisters joint at hip in this city. Cars don’t move they almost start crawling if not just stuck for hours. And guess what I survived that without honking too!!! That’s like an achievement for me.

Well now that 3 days of the dare is over I am thinking of continuing it as long as I can and as minimum as I can. I have no idea how much that minimum will be though. I have aready honked once I remember today morning when a lady on a scooty refused to move and was going at a speed of 15 km I guess. I had the divider on one side and an equally slow moving three wheeler delivery van on the other side. What do you do in such cases?

Are you also one who drives to work and honk? Take up the dare it might just calm you down a bit!

I’m infact happy to simply drive along without anyone nearby!



BTW did I tell you I bought the tickets of First Day First show of Bang Bang the day bookings opened in PVR IMAX!!! And guess what I am going all alone, last row, first aisle seat!! I am super happy.   


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Blog Adda Game of Blogs – Team By Lines Chapter 16

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu



Read the previous chapter here


CHAPTER XVI

As soon as Tara had left for Roohi’s school to pick her up, the two friends left for Aryan’s. His bungalow didn’t have any watchman instead a CCTV camera turned towards them, sensing the motion near the gate. 

“Who is this?” 

The sudden sound left them flabbergasted. The little box on the gate asked again – “Who is it?”

“Hi Shekhar here, Shekhar Dutta, your neighbor, and this is my friend Jennifer. We were hoping if we could meet you”, spoke Shekhar in the surveillance box. 

“Do you have an appointment?”

“I am afraid no… but it is urgent and we would be grateful if you could spare some time for us.”

“Ok come in,” said the voice and with it the gate opened just enough for the two of them to pass in. 

Aryan Ahuja opened the door himself. He seemed as old as Shekhar but looked a little distressed. 

“Hi Aryan, we were hoping to talk to you for something.”

“Come in please”, Aryan looked on both sides of the front door to ascertain no one else was present apart from the three of them.

The living room was exceptionally dark. Dark maroon thick curtains curtailed any day light that could pierce through. The living room boasted of a large LED screen. It wasn’t a normal TV but an exceptionally large screen. 

“How can I help you?”asked Aryan

“We saw your participation in ‘Message from Beyond’ and was wondering you have such great knowledge,” said Jennifer slyly and stared at Aryan directly in his eyes. The mention of the name ‘Message from Beyond’ unnerved Aryan, the anxiety was clearly visible in his eyes which Jennifer was quick to spot. 

“How do you know about Message from Beyond” he asked 

“We share the same passion Mr. Ahuja”, we are members of FOTA.”

“Ohh…”Aryan sounded little relieved.

“If I may ask, how do you know so much about them?” asked Shekhar.

“Let me clarify, I do know a lot about them. But I am trying to know more… beyond what you can know from books or the internet,” clarified Aryan.

“How is that possible? Where else do you get information from?” asked a surprised Shekhar

“I am an exobiologist.”

“Exo what?” asked Shekhar, blinking his eye.

“Ohh My God, really?” said Jennifer with a glint in her eyes.

Shekher gave a i-am-not-getting-you-two look towards Jennifer.

“Exobiology covers the search for life beyond earth and they study alien life form”, explained Jennifer

“Thank you,” said Aryan with a nod. 

 Shekhar kept staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Have you studied a live alien?” Shekhar asked in excitement

“They don’t roam around like stray dogs in Mumbai, else I would have”, replied Aryan with a sarcastic tone.

“I am sorry Aryan, forgive my friend, he is just too excited”, said Jennifer trying to calm him down.

“Have you seen or felt an alien around?” she asked this time with a deep voice.

“Not completely”, said Aryan

“I have”, she replied looking into Aryan’s eyes. She watched his pupils dilating with that statement of hers.

“What? Where? I hope it’s not a joke” stated Aryan in a jiffy

“I am serious, I saw at the FOTA conference here in Mumbai”, she declared.

“It was here!” Aryan looked concerned 

Ohh, so I am a step ahead of you two, Jennifer thought and felt proud of herself. 

“I am getting closer I sometimes get signals but sometimes it is all blank”, explained Aryan

“Signals?” asked a surprised Shekhar sounding concerned.

“Wait I’ll show you something”, said Aryan.

He took them to another room which was even more cluttered and dark. The only lights were from the several monitors. The effect was similar to that of a sci-fi movie laboratory were covert experiments were conducted.




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Update: Read the next chapter here.

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

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Flash Fiction – Who got the cookie?

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

The clank of the metal jar falling on the wooden floor startled Sia and Ella.


“Ohh…God… mom will be here any minute,  let’s clean it up”

They quickly picked up the cookies and stashed them back in the jar.

“The cookie crumbs!!!” alarmed Ella


“Wipe them… pick them up..”

“What was that sound?”asked mother from living room.

“Nothing… mama…”

“Hurry Sia… wipe them off” said Ella.

They could hear her approaching steps.

“What are you two upto?”

She looked around inspecting the kitchen floor.

“What did you two do now? What did you break?”

“Nothing” said the twins, together.  

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Written for Velvet Verbosity this week. And the word prompt for the 100 Word Fiction challenge was INSPECT. 
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