Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - A Book Review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - A Book Review

I have just finished reading the .pdf copy of 'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows' that I had downloaded from Rapidshare last week. This is the original one as I matched it with reader reviews on the internet and the story fit perfectly. The best thing about reading a book in .pdf form is that no one in office can tell that you are not really working. Plus, I saved a good Rs.975.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 7/10. The main reason I decided to download this book was because of the hype and publicity surrounding it. I hardly read books otherwise. The Deathly Hallows is a good book and ties up the loose ends present in the previous six installments. There was nothing surprising in the narrative and I learnt that my earlier predictions about the book were spot on.

I wouldn't recommend this book for kids though, as the plot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is quite dark, violent and scary. It could result in nightmares for a couple of weeks at least. (I myself suffered for a few days). The only part of the book which I did not like was the Epilogue. I would have liked the life stories of the central characters to be different and less predictable.

This is how I'd rate the seven Harry Potter books that have been published -

- Deathly Hallows
- Sorcerer's Stone
- Prizoner of Azkaban
- Goblet of Fire
- Chamber of Secrets
- Order of the Phoenix
- Half Blood Prince

I am not giving any details of the plot of the book so that everyone can enjoy reading it. If anyone wants a .pdf copy of the book, they can email me at cyberkitty123@gmail.com. (only people from countries where the book is very expensive or people who want to read it secretly in office may do so).

Have you read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? What did you think of it?

Partner - Movie Review

Partner - A Movie Review

This weekend, the promos of the movie 'Partner' conned me into buying a ticket for the film. As the Blueline buses were off the road, my friends took a day off from work to accompany me. We decided to watch 'Partner' at Liberty Cinema, which is located in the crowded central Delhi area, to check out the crowd reaction. Plus, Liberty cinema is located nearby, which saved us from the transport havoc caused by the absence of Blueline buses.

As this was my first experience at Liberty theatre, and I thought I'd write something about it first. The prices of tickets were unbelievably low compared to that of the PVR's in New Delhi. We got balcony seats for Rs.80 a head. The cinema was quite big and the seats were plush and comfortable. The Dolby sound was amazing, the air conditioning worked fine and the toilets were clean. The best thing about Liberty cinema was the varied choice and low price of eatables. I bought a popcorn for Rs.20 and a large strawberry cold drink for Rs.15. About the movie, well, here goes......

Partner - 4/10 - starring Salman Khan, Govinda, Lara Dutta and Katrina Kaif. This film scores on four points only - the songs, colorful locales, charm of the lead pair (Sallu/Govinda) and the kid actor. Otherwise, this film is a mishmash of scenes which have no connection to each other. It seems that someone thought up some jokes and then decided to insert scenes to fit them instead of the other way around. The film has absolutely no script and just kept meandering along making up unconnected stories along the way.

In 'Partner', Salman Khan plays the role of a love guru who counsels folks on relationship issues. Govinda is a bumbling manager who visits him for help on wooing his boss - Katrina Kaif. Lara Dutta is a journalist, single mom whom Salman Khan falls for. In the end, both couples get happily married. The space in between is filled with unrealistic scenes, gay jokes and characters that appear and disappear without adding anything to the movie.

Surprisingly, the cinema hall was houseful. Most of the viewers in the balcony area consisted of families while those in the stalls were gay couples from the lower strata of society. The scene that garnered the most whistles was the one where Govinda jumps of a running bus. In Delhi, most people think it's real cool to dangerously jump off running buses, which is why the Blueline buses are in so much trouble. More about this issue in a later post.

Most irritating part of 'Partner' - were the 'in jokes', where instead of playing the character, Salman and Govinda make jokes about their personal lives and history. Also, the Aamir Khan lookalike scene was in bad taste. I know Aamir did the same to Salman in Fanaa but to take revenge for that scene was real uncool.

My Final Take - If you are a hardcore Salman Khan/Govinda fan then you can go watch this film, but remember to leave your brains behind. For others, this movie is an OK time pass film that you can watch on cable. For me, 'Partner' was by far the worst film I have seen in a cinema hall.

Have any of you watched Partner ? What do you think of this movie review ?

Life In A Metro - Movie Review

Life In A Metro - Movie Review

This weekend I watched 'Life in a Metro' on cable, this is what I thought of it -

Life In A Metro - 3/10 - starring Shiney Ahuja, Dharmendra, Irfan Khan and some actors with zero personality and little talent. This movie is about the lives and affairs of seven people in Mumbai. Visit wikipedia for a step by step account of the whole story.

There was nothing spectacular about this movie. All in all, it was a boring movie about the reality of how life sucks. I certainly don't want to be reminded of how humdrum life is. This sort of movie is OK to watch at home, if you have absolutely nothing to do. I definitely don't recommend it.

The moral of the movie - If you cheat on your partner, never ever tell him/her about it.

Ta Ra Rum Pum - Movie Review

Ta Ra Rum Pum - Movie Review

This weekend I saw Ta Ra Rum Pum on the illegal cable channel and Herbie Fully Loaded on Star Movies. Both movies are based on NASCAR racing, however that's where the similarity ends. While Herbie Fully Loaded was very entertaining, Ta Ra Rum Pum was a big let down !!

Ta Ra Rum Pum - 1/10 - starring Rani 'frog throat' Mukherjee, Saif 'mama's boy' Ali Khan, Javed 'boo' Jaffery and a few kids. Saif is a rich race car driver who meets with an accident and loses his confidence to race again. He get a job as a taxi driver to make ends meet. The movie was really long - more than 180 minutes. It was also filled with highly noticeable in-film ads of Chevrolet Aveo and Castrol which was very irritating.

The long shots (stock) of racing cars moving wildly around the track were cool, the only problem was they were interspersed with close ups of Saif looking real dumb steering a dummy car! Songs were not that great while locales were the same old foreign stuff. Acting was way below par, so there, absolutely nothing to look forward too! Saif should stick to roles where he plays the villain!

Did you watch this movie?

The Day I Met Salman Khan

It was a hot and humid day in New Delhi. I was late for work and so I half ran - half flew from the bus stop to my office. When I reached the building, my shirt was soaking with perspiration. Pushing my hair back into place, I headed straight to the watercooler for a drink.

As I bent down to fill a glass with water, I could hear whispers and giggles of 'Salman Khan Sallu Bhai'. My eyes rested on a pair of black 'Red Tape' shoes that were attached to a leg wearing blue jeans. My heart skipped a beat...no, two beats. I slowly lifted my gaze upwards to look into the questioning eyes of...Salman Khan.

Too bad though, this was not the real Salman Khan but just a colleague with the same name who has recently joined my office. I had always hoped to meet 'Salman Khan' someday. Today, I work just a few cubicles away from him.

Do you know anyone with the same name as that of a celebrity?

p.s. The colleague is cuter than the real Salman Khan.

Cheeni Kum, Swami, Shootout at Lokhandwala - Movie Reviews

Cheeni Kum, Shootout at Lokhandwala and Swami - Movie Reviews

This weekend I watched Cheeni Kum, Shootout at Lokhandwala and Swami on cable. This is what I thought of them.

Cheeni Kum - 4/10 - starring Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu. Amitabh Bachchan is the 64 year old owner/chef of a restaurant called 'Spice 6' in London. Tabu is a 34 year old customer who sends back an order of 'Hyderabadi Zafarani Biryani' claiming it was too sweet. Thus, begins the love story.

This movie has a good script and the title track 'Cheeni Kum' sounds great. However, Amitabh Bachchan was miscast in the lead role. He just does not look like a 'young at heart' old person who can steal the heart of a woman half his age. Plus, how can the head chef of a non vegetarian restaurant be a pure vegetarian - just does not make sense...you mean he has never tasted any non vegetarian dish he has cooked ?? There were a lots of other things that made no sense or sounded wrong in the movie.....

Shootout at Lokhandwala - 1/10 - starring the Bachchans, Sanjay Dutt and others. A boring violent blood and gore movie through which I flicked channels. Starts with the story of a policeman - Abhishek Bachchan who gets killed during the Sikh riots in the 1980's. Keeps getting more horrific with every scene. This is a typical 'Guy Flick' that certain guys watch to prove that they have a strong stomach.

Swami - 2/10 - starring Juhi Chawla and Manoj Bajpai. This movie is a film about Senior Citizens. Juhi Chawla and Manoj Bajpai play a rural south Indian couple who move to the city to fulfill thier dream of educating thier son and sending him to America. The story is ok but there are no songs in the film. Things move too fast and in sudden jerks. Characters age too quickly - kids and grandkids grow up at the speed of light. This movie was a bit too much.

Did you watch any of these movies ? How was your weekend ?