Review time

1. Wings of fire -
This is the biography of ex-president of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam written for him by one of his colleagues. The book has been divided into sections of his life. The first section is very nicely described glorifying his birthplace of रामेश्वरम and his near and dear people. I am really very excited to see रामेस्वरम now. He talks about the simple ways of life of people in that period who had great minds, thoughts, instinct togrow and make progress and help India develop into a great nation.

The book then steps into his life as an engineering student. He tells us how he wanted to pursue a career as a pilot, but couldn't make it there. However, with the help of his mentors and teachers, he gained extensive knowledge in aerospace engineering. He tells us how his teachers and two of his closest friends inspired him to attain new heights.

As a bachelor of engineering, he had excellent opportunities at hand. His association with Prof. Vikram Sarabhai has been put down very nicely and you immediately start admiring Prof. Sarabhai, if not till then. The book then gets you involved into the Indian space research program with details of development of the concept, resources, skills, people and finally, the satellites, SLVs and world class missiles. The passion in the minds of those great scientists is undoubtedly commendable and respectable which has made us possible to see India as world's 2nd best military power.

Finally, he describes his role as the head of the defense research organization of India. The book can be considered as an excellent guide or handbook for want-to-be managers. It is a very good read for young engineers and scientists of India, and also for people who love this nation from the bottom of their hearts. The book stands on this one big foundation of patriotism. Dr. Kalam has sown a very powerful seed, it is upto us now to water the seed and fertilize it and make our country the most powerful nation in all respects.
Rating: * * * *

2. Bhool Bhulaiyya -
I would call this as a very nice come back by Priyadarshan. The talented director had largely lost his way after Hera Pheri and it seemed that he would never return. The major success of Hera Pheri lured him into making similar movies with Paresh Rawal as one of the lead actors in each of them. But none turned up to be even close. All movies were full of बक्वास.

But the promos of Bhool Bhulaiyya itself were very catchy and me and my wife at once decided to take a big risk and watch another of Priyadarshan's creations. And the movie starts off, like all of his earlier ones, in a village somewhere near U.P./Bihar. However, the storyline also starts right there. The suspense about a lady haunting a very old हवेली in the village catches you immediately. The supporting starcast is almost the same which Priyadarshan has used in his earlier movies but they have been properly confined to their respective roles throughout the movie, including Paresh Rawal. Shiney Ahuja and Vidya Balan, who are supposed to stay in the haveli have acted nicely as a wouldbe couple who has come back from US to get married in India. Shiney is the prince of the village and the heir to the हवेली. He is a non-believer in ghosts and laughs the haunting story out. Amisha is shown as the adopted daughter of Shiney's uncle, Manoj Joshi, and is supposed to be in love with Shiney. The family also knows about this and thinks Shiney would agree. But, with Vidya marrying him, Amisha gets upset. The haunting starts to increase by the day and strange and weird things start happening in the हवेली. Shiney and Vidya, being educated people, decide to take up the matter and dig it out.

It then that they come to know about a story of a king of the हवेली who is the fore-father of Shiney. He used to like a female bengali dancer in his दरबार who in turn used to like the poet of the दरबार. When the king came to know about it, he slayed the poet which led to the suicide of the dancer. But the dancer wows to revenge her love's death and supposedly haunts the हवेली. Being unable to believe in this story and looking at the happening incidents, they find out that Amisha is mentally upset.

And then enters the Hero, Akshay. His entry was hugely applauded in the theatre and I was amazed by the magic Akshay has on people. He's a psychiatrist and starts his investigations which give him a very different viewpoint. The story has been very beautifully taken from a comedy note to a serious and suspense story. Priyadarshan is successful in keeping the public glued to their seats till the end. The performances are very good, especially Vidya Balan. In all, the movie is a must watch - good job Priyadarshan.
Rating: * * * *

3. Om Shanti Om -
This is Farah Khan's second movie as a director and also her second movie with KK. It is about a junior artists love for a herione which makes him take birth again - yes, its about rebirth. It starts in the 70s era with KK as a junior artist who likes Deepika. One movie shot finds her surrounded by burning huts (similar to Mother India) and KK jumps in like a real hero and saves her life. She also likes the person in him but is secretly married to a bigtime producer, Arjun Rampal, and is unhappy. Their marriage is a secret to the public. But now she is fed up with it and is also expecting. Arjun is freaked out with this news as it is not what he wants now. He is looking forward to a big project "Om Shanti Om", which now wont be completed since its star, Deepika is pregnant. So he kills her and flees, but our real hero, KK, sees this and tries to save her, but in vain. He also dies in the fire. But he takes birth again to revenge Deepika's death.

And from this point, the story kind of loses track. Farah could have shown it in a much better way. But she has given undue importance to minor details to maintain the comedy in the movie, but it ends up making the movie just a normal flick. The lack of experience can be seen here, though I think Subhash Ghai had equal experience when he made Karz. But that one is one of the major milestones of Indian cinema. KK is shown to be the son of a leading actor in his second birth with an unnecessary foreign accent and style. Instead, she should have shown him to be what he really is at this point of time, or at least as Abhishek, a starlet who has juust started acting. The reappearance of Deepika is random and the climax is all the more random. As for the performances, Deepika looks verry cute and lovely with her innocent looks and should continue to do so. KK seems to have acted in this one just for the sake of it. His Chak de was better. Rest all are average. In all, Farah Khan should not remain as a director of Main hoon na type movies, but should make progress.
Rating: * *