Central Court Hotel Delhi - Nirulas Potpourri

Central Court Hotel, New Delhi - Nirulas Potpourri

Recently, I went for dinner with friends at the newly opened Nirulas Potpourri Restaurant in N-Block, Connaught Circus. It is situated on the 1st floor where the previous Safari, Kohinoor and Shangrila restaurant of Central Court Hotel once existed. The evening turned out to be a major trip down memory lane as I reminisced about the wonderful times I had spent there with my grandfather.

The Safari restaurant used to be decorated with large murals of horses and hunting trips while the other restaurants were dimly lit and mysterious. There were huge pillars and the staircase turned anti clockwise. We used to sit at a table at the stage in front and order ice cream or Campa Cola. My grandfather used to tell me stories of the good old days when Central Court Hotel was a residence for British officers.

Nirulas Potpourri is by contrast a newly renovated brightly lit modern restaurant. I noticed that some of the pictures at the other Nirulas Restaurant in Connaught Place have been transported here. The pillars and paintings of horses were gone. Arches separate the three old restaurants that have been merged together. The old winding staircase has been broken down and made to turn clockwise while the windows now offer a great view of Connaught Place. Lucky bamboo plants have been placed around in true Feng Shui style.

We ordered some Tandoori food - Rotis, Naans, Rogan Josh and some other dishes. The food was good but not as good as the food I had tasted in the old Central Court Hotel decades ago. The waiter at Nirulas Potpourri told me that after the old owner died, the place had been leased out to Nirulas. Nirulas has also changed hands. A Malaysian guy bought it from the original Indian owners. He is paying Rs. 850,000 per month as rent for the place.

“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted. "

Sometimes, I wish things never have to change. But they do and most of the time it is for the better. Have you ever visited places or eating joints that you frequented in the past ? How has the experience been?

Namaste London and Shaka Laka Boom Boom - Movie Reviews

Movie Reviews of Namaste London and Shakalaka Boom Boom

I managed to catch two more flicks on the weekend - Namaste London and Shakalaka Boom Boom. Here are the movie reviews -

Namaste London - 1/10 - This is a typical kind of flick I dislike. A senseless wrongly made film about NRI's which is manufactured to cater exclusively to Indians abroad. All kinds of bakwaas about how great India is ...... firangs are bad. Really, there is nothing nice I can say about this film ! The dialogue and script were so unbearable I kept switching channels in between. The end was so predictable, Katrina Kaif leaves her English boyfriend at the altar and runs out of the church after Akshay Kumar. It actually tries to prove that forced arranged marriages are the right thing to do.

Shakalaka Boom Boom - 5/10. This is an ok timepass movie. The casting is good and so is the music. In this film Bobby Deol (AJ) and Upen Patel (Reggie) are competing to be the number one singer in New York (ha ha ha). Reggie is a talented, ambitious newcomer whereas AJ is an established singer who has worked hard to get where he is. AJ is afraid Reggie will become more popular than him and works hard to blacklist him. He befriends him and gets him addicted to alcohol while stealing his music compositions.

This film is supposed to be the biographical film of music director Himesh Reshamiyya .... I wonder which famous music director tried to prevent him from becoming famous ?? Upen Patel looks fab and shows great acting potential. Bobby Deol suits the role of the main villian perfectly. The only problem was the script - it was silly at times and confusing.

Did you watch Namaste London or Shakalaka Boom Boom ??

Spiderman 3 - Movie Review

Spiderman 3 - Movie Review

This afternoon, I managed to catch Spiderman 3 at PVR Rivoil in New Delhi, India. I had'nt booked my tickets in advance and to my dismay, I found the theater housefull (all tickets were sold). As we stood around wondering what to do, a tout approached me selling tickets in black. I dealt with him and purchased tickets that were priced at Rs. 125 for Rs. 200. I could not bargain much as the movie was about to start, but every buck spent was well worth it as the movie was fantastic! Here is my movie review of Spiderman 3.

Spiderman 3 - 9/10 - starringTobey McGuire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco and Topher Grace. This movie has a bit of everything - comedy, action, romance, drama, special effects, music and dance. The mix was simply too good.

The opening credits were well designed and had snapshots of famous scenes from the previous two Spiderman flicks. The movie starts with Peter Parker saying how wonderful life has been - crime is under control, he's getting straight A's and his love life with Mary Jane rocks. Later on, all hell breaks loose - Harry tries to get even for his fathers death, enter Sandman - a burglar with a sick daughter who is Uncle Ben's real killer, Mary Jane loses her Broadway job, Topher Grace is gunning for Spiderman's job at the Daily Bugle, a black spidery oily thing from a meteorite attaches itself to Spidey's suit and makes him evil, Mary Jane accuses Spidey of having an affair with a blonde model classmate in his science class and later kisses Harry who has lost his memory and lastly the black oily slick overpowers Topher Grace and turns him into an evil character called Venom.

The screenplay beautifully wove the storylines together. The script of Spiderman 3 was fresh and interesting. Special effects were awesome especially the creation of Sandman and Spiderman's fights over the buildings. Character development was rich. I loved Tobey McGuire's facial expressions. They were so funny, I laughed throughout the movie. I liked his new look and dance steps after he gets possessed by the evil slime and wears the black spidey suit under his clothes. The only negative point of the movie was the shaky 'NYPD Blue' camerawork which was used in a scene where cops were chasing Sandman onto a truck. It made me dizzy and I felt like throwing up.

I had heard from early movie reviews that Spiderman 3 was supposed to be about Peter Parker proposing to Mary Jane. However, this did not happen even though Spiderman tried so hard. The best part of the movie was the message it tried to convey -"It is better to forgive than to take revenge." Unlike most Hollywood movies that end with brutal violence, Spiderman forgives Sandman for killing his uncle in the end.

There is plenty of scope to create a Spiderman 4. With Sam Raimi at the helm I am sure it will be even better than the first three installments. I left the cinema knowing that I had got more than my money's worth. A totally 'paisa vasool' film !

So, how did you like my movie review of Spiderman 3 ? Are you planning to watch Spiderman 3 ?

Review of Looks L'Oreal Salon Karol Bagh

Review of Looks L'Oreal Salon Karol Bagh

I recently went for a haircut at Looks L'Oreal Salon at Karol Bagh in Delhi on the recommendation of a friend. The salon is located on Ajmal Khan Road near the Westside store.

I had my hair cut in layers in a V-shape from the back. The guy who cut my hair (he had longish blonde hair) did a wonderful job. Currently my hair looks like a better version of Priyanka Chopra's hairstyle on the left. The price for a haircut at Looks L'Oreal Salon is Rs.300 which is OK considering they did a great job. The only negative about the place is having to listen to sales talk about how L'Oreal hair care products are the best. They may be ok, but I ain't spending a fortune on them when companies like Garnier do the job just as well for one third the price.

Where do you do your hair ? Do you use L'Oreal products ?

Spicejet - Review of My First Flight

Spicejet - Review of My First Flight

Recently, I visited the tourist destination of Goa on my annual vacation. For the return journey, I had wait listed train reservations that did not get confirmed. As I had to urgently reach Delhi by Monday, I booked myself on the most conveniently available flight - SpiceJet. Here is a review of my first flight.

SpiceJet has two flights from Goa to Delhi - the 3.00 pm flight via Mumbai and the direct 5.50 flight. On weekdays, the tickets cost Rs. 3,500, on Saturdays it is Rs. 5,028 while the price on Sundays is around Rs. 7,000. Before leaving for the airport, I recieved a lot of advice from my friends -

1. Don't be afraid to ask
2. Puke in the sick bag
3. Don't take the window seat
4. Write your initials on your luggage
5. Use the trolley at the airport
6. Don't take the plants, we'll bring them along later.

I took a taxi to Dabolim Airport in Goa and the driver helped me load my luggage onto a trolley. I found the trolley real difficult to push, so I unloaded my bags and wheeled them along. I went through the usual processes - x ray security check for check-in baggage, getting the boarding pass, checking in luggage, security check for hand baggage, frisking and boarding.

The only 'Dhamaal' (controversy) that occured happened while boarding. The computer system was down so seat numbers could not be given. There was this wheelchair bound foreigner who was supposed to board first along with her family. Some drunk Delhiites could not understand why she was being allowed to board first and started hurling abuses, idiotic arguments about racism and shoved other foreigners including women and very small kids. I was so embarassed. These rude folks rushed to the back gate of the plane. Luckily, the Spicejet staff shut the back doors and made them wait an eternity before letting them enter.

SpiceJet has Boeing 737-800s with 189 seats. It has a typical cruise speed of 850 km per hour at 35,000 feet. As the flight was a no frills flight, I wasn't expecting much. On board, we were given sweets, cake and bottles of mineral water. The airplane departed and arrived on time - a short two and a half hours flight. I finally realised why job ads for airhostesses require tall people. Tall stewardesses are easily spotted through an airport crowd and from the back seats of a plane.

I loved the view from the window as the plane rose over the hills, sea and beaches of Goa. I thought I spotted the place we were staying at. It was located near the River Princess ship which was anchored off the coast of Candolim Beach. Here is a pic from Wikimapia. Later on there were just clouds. We reached Delhi at night. It was dark and the city lights looked very pretty from above.

On landing, I took the red Spice Jet bus to the terminal. It was then that the hot dry weather of Delhi hit me. I had to wait a long time for my baggage to come through on the conveyor belt. It was good that I wrote my initials on my bags as many people had black bags just like mine. I booked a prepaid taxi and headed for home.

About the Spicejet staff - they were polite and helpful. Things moved smoothly even for a newbie like me.

When did you take your first flight ? Which is the best airline you have travelled with ?

That's How It Really Works !!: My Vacation in Goa