Posted by Liju Philip | Posted in India, diwali, festival, hindu, hindu festival, holiday, indian festival | Posted on 16-10-2009


Wishing you and all your loved ones a very happy and prosperous Diwali.
Above picture source: 123greetings
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Wishing you and all your loved ones a very happy and prosperous Diwali.
Above picture source: 123greetings
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Wishing all you and your loved ones a very colourful, bright and happy Diwali. Am back in Singapore in the morning after a short one week trip back home to Hyderabad.
Every trip to Hyderabad opens a new perspective of how the city is developing by leaps and bounds. And then, i happened to fly through Chennai (Madras). Trust me, the Chennai airport is nothing better than a garbage dump. Its worse than a bus terminal in some remote part of India. The airport stinks, the floor is unclean, the toilets smelly. Its everything a metro airport shouldnt be. And, then I stayed overnight at the airport as i had to catch a connecting Kingfisher flight to Hyderabad in the morning. Not only did i battle sleep sitting on the chairs at the Chennai airport, but i also had a running battle with the mosquitoes.
…and then you touch down at the new Hyderabad airport (Rajiv Gandhi International Airport – RGIA) and its a charm. You almost feel as if you have touched down at some airport in Europe / US. Its beautiful, breezy, great customer service, lots of greenery and natural light, no hangers on and touts wanting to offer you their services as it happens in Chennai and a long queue of taxis waiting to take you to the city. Awesome.
Have taken some pictures on my new Nikon camera (ya, finally). Will upload them to flickr and share it here.
More to come…
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Leave your brains at home when you go watch this new Diwali Dhamaka. Yup, Om Shanti Om is a true blue entertainer, the kinds of which Manmohan Desai used to churn out in the 70s and 80s. Its a tribute to the 70s. To the cinema that we all have grown up on. To the cinema that is known to the rest of the world as ‘Bollywood’.
Am not writing the story here cos its been mentioned on gazillion other websites. SRK is in his elements here. The movie is a total mad cap, rip roaring spoof on the Indian film industry. No one has been spared. The Tamil film industry, Suraj Barjatya, Manoj Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, superhero movies and heck SRK has a few digs at himself.
A few not to miss scenes in the movie
* SRK impersonating as a Tamil film hero to impress Deepika. Its hillarious.
* The 30 second cameo by Akshay Kumar. Its simply mindblowing. You are sure to fall off your seats laughing. Watch his reaction when he loses the ‘Best Actor’ award to SRK.
* Deepika Padukone. Man, she is gorgeous. Is it only me who feels this way? I believe, she has an uncanny resemblance to Aishwarya Rai. But surely isn’t as icy and bland as Ash. Is it something to do with the fact that both are Kannadigas? Ahem. Meanwhile, those never ending legs of Deepika reminded me of Shilpa Shetty. And not to mention the generous display of her ahem…cleavage. Is it courtesy, the push up bra or is it the skills of the make up man on display or are those indeed real ??? Well, we surely are not complaining.
* The song with 31 stars and Dard-E-Disco. After seeing SRK and his rippling muscles, am indeed ashamed with myself
* Dont walk away at the end of the movie. For the first time ever, there is a parade of all the people who worked on the movie. Yup, the Light boys, Spot boys, Production designers, Asst Directors etc… everyone makes an appearance. Also look out for Gauri Khan, SRK’s wife and the producer of the movie. Man, she is another piece de resistance.
SRK had during the promotion of the movie said that every Diwali is his and he is not letting any competitor steal his thunder. I havent seen Saawariya, but honestly you must be really mad to clash with a movie like this. Its not a blockbuster. Its sure gonna be a monster hit. And i have a strong suspiction that SRK is gonna chew up the competition.
There were rumors that SRK sold the movie to Eros entertainment at Rs. 70 crores and made a cool 40 crore profit even before release. Am sure, Eros wouldnt mind paying that sum. Cos, this movie has surely got a 100 crores plus earning potential.
My rating *** (3/5) Watch it. You wont regret it.
Above pictures courtesy: SantaBanta
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Saawariya or Om Shanti Om? Its going to be probably the biggest Diwali ever for the Hindi movie industry. Saawariya is backed by the dollars and marketing muscle of 20th Century Fox. OSO is backed by the Energizer bunny of Hindi cinema, Shah Rukh Khan.
So, who will win? Well, we would know in the next 3-4 days. But one thing is for sure. All opening records are going to be smashed. We could probably see the biggest openings for a movie ever, this Diwali.
Am planning to catch Om Shanti Om this weekend. I can’t take the melodrama that Sanjay Leela Bhansali dishes out. Unless there are some extraordinary reviews for the movie. What about you?
Above pics source: SantaBanta
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