chickichik all the way - strictly for women

So last week i caught up with a list of movies... and like my post header suggests strictly chicky rom coms. The list as you can see above with the movie posters. So i will give a quick short review of each of these movies -

Bridesmaids - It's funny, it's typical but aren't all rom coms :) it's about two childhood best friends. one of them is getting married and so the other is asked to be her maid of honor and enter the bridesmaids and that's where it all begins. the maid of honor and one of the bridesmaids - the bride's fiances boss's wife..phew.. they start competing with each other as to who is the brides best friend. personal life disasters, joblessness, love found with a cop and finally it all ends with a perfect patch up between the two best friends. It always a happy ending but that's what makes it so exciting every time because we girls like to live in that perfectly romanticized world of ours. Touted as the Chick version of Hangover, i don't think it is anywhere close to that but its worth a watch anyway.

Crazy, Stupid, Love - I kept procrastinating on this one. In spite of hearing good things about this movie i somehow never felt like watching it all this while. Finally i did and it was quiet a fun watch. It's a Steve Carrell, Julianne Moore and hold your breath Ryan Gosling movie. Phew Ryan Gosling is hot or what. yes he is a bit too metro sexual for my liking in this movie specifically his styling and stuff but charming or what???? Mind blowing and hot. It's a typical Steve Carrell movie i feel, he is perfect in those losers gone wild kind of roles. But is a fun watch none the less.

Spread - Finally long pending, a 2009 movie, i had missed it when it had released. Ashton Kutcher movies - somehow i couldn't stand him earlier but over the years i have come to like most of his movies and therefore make it a point to watch all of it. Something about him is charming. Even though i think the movie does not have very great ratings and did not do too well but my friend Wittke had loved it and i knew it that if she liked it i would because our choices of romantic movies are just so similar and i wasn't disappointed. So well yes it was not the typical, everything is happy and gay at the end kind of a romantic flick but i really did like it only maybe because of the way it ended and because it wasn't after all so typical. All the way till the airport sequence it was perfectly in sync with any other rom com but then the last 10 minutes changed it all and it was superb.

Midnight in Paris - A Woody Allen movie, either you like his movies or you don't. and i love most of his movies except a few. And i love the way he makes you fall in love with various cities. In this one as is obvious from the title it's Paris. Oh how beautiful the city looks that you wish you were there that very moment. I loved the movie. Owen Wilson is fun as usual, i never mind a movie with him in it. Some how the concepts that Woody Allen comes up with are always interesting rather than the run on the mill stuff. This movie is about an engaged couple who have traveled to Paris and while they are there they discover the fact about their relationships. Both conceive a life different from the one they have together as better but they have been living in denial. From the start you figure somehow they just don't seem to fit well together but eventually figure where they stand in the relationship. It's a fun watch and i would not typically put this in chikichik only as this one has an appeal the men as well i think.

So well it was all in all a week well spent on some fun movies. Will definitely recommend catching up on all the above at some point.

Images courtesy: Google

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was one book i picked up because i had seen the movie minus the end of the movie and i quiet liked the movie of whatever i had seen and wanted to know where it finally went.


The book ended up being a simple read. It's from Bruno's point of view, the child who is oblivious of holocaust and the fact that his father served the Fury (Hitler). He had his own point of view to everything happening around him. Not understanding the seriousness of what was going on around him, He was happy in his idea of the world being perfect. He had to move with his family to Poland due to an assignment his father was put onto and that's where he meets his new friend on the other side of the FENCE Shmuel. Bruno wants to become an explorer when he grows up and since in this new place he does not have much to explore within the house he ends up venturing outside and begins a journey with Shmuel. While Bruno is his age and is innocent and unaware of everything going around him, Shmuel is that much more grown up after having seen the various atrocities and life changing events as part of a Jewish Family. Ironically they both share the same date of birth but still aged so differently.


From then on the book is about their relationship, about things that Bruno discovers but never understands and somehow the way the book ended completely took me by surprise and since i had not seen the end of the movie i was no where near expecting it. it shocked me, made me sad and wished it would end some other way but in the end when i think about it I guess the story ended just perfectly right. Any more than this i would give away the story :)


The movie also ended up coming again on one of the English movie channels last week after i was done with the book and so it was perfect timing and i have managed to complete both the book and the movie perfectly in sync.

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Happy Diwali :)

I found this picture on my FB. Apparently an image released by NASA. This is how India looks at night on Diwali.. it looks so beautiful. So i thought i would share this and wish all of you a very very happy diwali. May this year be a happy and prosperous one for you and your family.

It was a perfect Diwali for me spent with parents here at Noida. Even though i did miss my husband in all of this but nonetheless spending diwali at home has its own joys. all the mithai and various pakwans you get to eat just makes it so much more happier :) some fuljharis, some anaars, Saree, some photographs - all in all the day has ended on a perfect note.

Surprisingly this Diwali at least in and around my colony seemed to have been a lot more calmer than the previous years. Very few people were bursting crackers, instead even boys who get the most excited about crackers were happy with their anaars, chakris and fuljharis. All the kids here apparently are getting immensely influenced by their teachers at school who are teaching them the ill effects of bursting crackers and other fireworks. Glad at least some good sense has prevailed into people specially kids.

On that note, enjoy the holiday season everyone. Lots of love to all.

Image courtesy: Facebook

The Dewarists - I'm in love

Finally there is some original content on TV to watch. Something beautiful and mesmerizing and breath taking.


What intrigued me first was the word Dewarist as i had never heard of this word. So what did it mean or was it a term used for a certain clan and after seeing the promos i really couldn't connect the word to the content and therefore had to look it up.


Dewars happens to be a Scottish Whiskey brand. The origin of the word comes from the movement Dewarism started by the company and subsequent campaign based on that movement. The meaning of the word Dewarism below - 


DEWARISM: noun (u) A social, political and economic doctrine, based on the writing of Tommy Dewar, expressing the conviction that the journey of life can be enjoyed without giving up on the achieving of success.

Sir Thomas Dewar, a famous whiskey distiller and philosopher, believed success in life could be obtained without arduous work, as described in his concept of Dewarism.

Source: Urban Dictionary

You can read further about Dewarism and Dewars on Wikipedia. 

So Hence from there comes The Dewarists - People who represent this philosophy. The Dewarists was a movement that began in late 2010 as stage performances and collaborations of artists who stood and reflected the philosophy of Dewarism. And finally was culminated into the TV series now on Star World. They have an extremely good lineup - Vishal Shekhar, Imogen Heap, Zeb & Haniya, Shantanu Moitra, Swanand Kirkire, Indian Ocean, Mohit Chauhan, Parikrama, Agnee and many more....

The first episode was shot in Rajasthan and with Vishal and Imogen Heap. To me that episode was all about sounds. Imogen's obsession with experimenting with anything that produces any sound to me was an interesting way of discovering music and if you listen to the song then you would notice the variety of sounds in the song. 

The second episode with Zeb and Haniya and Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire to me was more about lyrics, the mood and fusion of languages. It was beautiful. 

What i like about this series is that its absolutely original in every sense. original content which one dies for these days on Indian Television and original songs being produced in the short journey of collaboration between these artists. Its part biography part collaborative, the entire episode and therefore is informative as well as entertaining. Also it to me is serving the purpose of a travel show as well as each episode is being shot in a different cities and locations. The show represents the flavour of that city as well shows various moods, people, places of that city. I am completely in love with the way the episodes are shot. The DOP must be mind blowing because it just seems like an hour long display of amazing paintings, its so beautifully shot.  

The Dewarists has an amazing sense of freshness that is immensely appealing. 

If i had to compare other musical programmes to this, then this would definitely stand higher above MTV Coke Studios India and MTV Unplugged India ( Unplugged of course has a few episodes of certain artists which are very good no doubt). Coke Studio India to me was a disaster after being used to Coke Studio Pakistan. I felt that somewhere the commercial mixed with the original there and therefore the collaboration got highly diluted bringing about a sad output. Somewhere the pressure of being Coke Studios probably led to that as the artists were trying to hard to emulate the way it should be done rather than concentrating on being natural. The Dewarists in spite of having their bit of commercial artists in it as well seems to infuse the best in them. 

It is a must watch for all music lovers because its a different and fun journey you would be going on. The songs created on the series are available for download from the Dewarists website and also if you have missed the episodes then you can watch the episodes on the Dewarists Youtube Channel. ENJOY!! 

P.S. - All the referred websites are linked in my post so you can click on them and go check it our directly instead of searching for it.

Image courtesy: Google

The Immortals of Meluha

The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Shiva Trilogy, all about how he moved on from being a regular Human to being called the GOD - 3 stars because to me it is not some great piece of literature.. but yes it is definitely a commercial page turner, one that made me turn pages as well.. what i like about the book is that it takes you back and updates your knowledge of the gods and your history. I finished this book in flat 3 days of night reading.. It is a very very simple read and therefore will engage a whole lot of readers who are not regulars and find getting into books difficult.. this book could be a good start.

I find it commendable that Amish could think of a concept like this and the fact that his writing is so easy makes it even more approachable for everyone to read his work. He has done a good job of making the book a complete page turner and i have thoroughly enjoyed it in that sense. All of us have heard gazillion stories in our childhood at least from our grandparents. I used to wait for vacations so i could hear stories and all that my grandparents did was tell us stories from Mahabharat, Ramayana, and the stories of all other gods. The fact that Amish made that his strength and came out with this is amazing.

My only put offs were the interaction between Sati and Shiva.. That sometimes seems downright corny.. Also the language of the book is extremely today and so having been used to expecting a certain kind of tone and manner from the gods.. :) it's a little weird to read stuff like 'yeah right' and 'for god's sake man' along with 'lord and highness'.. it just sounded a bit confusing in my head at least because i kept going in and out of time while reading this book. But that's just my personal opinion.Maybe the fact that history has been fictionalised and written in today's language has also therefore helped this book become the success that it has.

I have already moved on to the second part now - SECRET of the NAGAS and the fact remains that the first book leaves you wanting to know more.. I was lucky enough to start the first book once the second was already out but now even for me the third book would be quiet a wait as i know that the book will end in a way that would leave me waiting.


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Jaane Bhi do Yaaro - Jai Arjun Singh

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro by Jai Arjun Singh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was one of the few non fiction books which i could not put down. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I had been following Jai Arjun's blog for a while now since he reviews a lot about books and movies and some very interesting stuff. That's how i got to know that he was now writing his own book and to start with it was a very interesting concept of covering the background of an entire film. the history of the film, cast crew how it got to be made and finally where everyone related to the movie along with the movie itself stands today.

Jaane bhi do Yaaro is a historical movie in it's own right in the Indian film industry and while it always remained one of the most loved and funny movies for me to go back to, the thought of knowing about it was even more exciting as the star cast of the film (stars now cast then) is superb. All of them were in the making and trust me i would recommend this book to everyone. Jai has done a fantastic job of capturing the perfect nuances of the film, it's people and his narrative throughout the book keeps you going. It's extremely enjoyable very very informative and it was one of those books that i pre - ordered, waited for and finished in 2 days thoroughly satisfied.


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Persepolis

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Persepolis has been an enjoyable read. While i have heard a lot of the movie i still haven't watched it and on the recommendation of a friend picked up the book. It's an autobiography of the author Marjane Satrapi who is an Iranian and shares her growing up years with the readers in the first book and then her return to her country in the later years in the second book. While many would think that it is probably no great shakes as we have seen many such books written by or written about so many women from that region but what makes this book different from the rest is that the format of expression which is illustrations or comic strip style in itself is very sweet and different. Also in a very simplistic manner, i thought i could read a very honest and balanced point of view of the author of both her country and then later on Austria where she studied. Her exposure to various mix of westernization in her country to going to being a religious fundamentalist country to her moving out of the country and getting exposed to western culture yet again. All the mixed and the genuine reactions or agonies or surprises that we all go through our growing up years.

The fact that it is illustrated makes it an extremely fast and smooth read and also breaks the monotony of reading heavy handed autobiographies. Instead here is a very simplistic way of expressing and also informing the world about Iran from an insiders perspective who has seen both the worlds.

The next step is to watch the movie as well.


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