where is the party?

I was brought up in Bangalore and have seen it emerge as one of the most 'posh-est' cities to reside in (India). For me, one of the indicators to this has been my evolving movie-watching experiences. From my pauper-student days to the present. Innumerable multiplexes have sprung up all over in the last 4-5 years and stand-alone theatres are soon becoming a thing of the past. The tickets are priced at anything as low as Rs. 100 (on weekday mornings alone) and go up to Rs. 500 (Gold Class). When Avatar released last December, the tickets were a vulgar Rs. 1000 ( US $22) in the opening week in a couple of multiplexes and after 2 weeks , reduced to Rs. 450.  Reason - 3-D & the Cameron-hype of course!!! Soon after, 3-Idiots was released during Christmas and guess what, the prices did not reduce!! Rs. 350 for the first 3 weeks. Daylight robbery in short.You'll be amazed at how crowded every multiplex is despite the sky-rocketing prices. Forum mall on Hosur road stands the highest risk of collapsing under its own weight soon.

I'm tempted to believe that most movies make atleast a third of their profits from the movie maniacs in Bangalore alone. Although not maniacs, my friends & I also contribute heavily to this billion dollar industry. I have friends from my schools, college, office, neighbourhood etc and in the last 1 and 1/2 years, have watched  a zillion movies in the pretext of 'spending time' with each other;-D I watch movies very animatedly. I rarely take them seriously and when you read more, you'll see what I mean. I'm certain to attract a whole lot of brickbats for this post - I shall try to dodge! On a serious note, take the whole thing as a joke will ya?!

Don't fall off your chair in shock. Yes, for a movie-basher, I do watch an awful lot of movies. Apologies to Arkansas Patti & Agnes, they may see stars whilst reading this post as most of them are Indian movies. But you can share your views on movies or any funny experiences with me.. :-)

Here we go ----(random order). I'm not adding any links. You can go to IMDB.

## Happy smileys indicate higher tolerance and enjoyment levels. It does not qualify as a must-watch. Dull smileys is to convey that I wish I had the sense to skip it.

:-( Rab ne bana di jodi -  I like SRK (that in itself is enough to attract a dozen curses my way I assume) so I was hopeful it might be  OK. I went for this one the very day it got released. I wish I had slept at home instead. Torture-oh-torture, maha-bore! No, I didn't like the much talked about credits either.

:-) Slumdog Millionaire - Aside from the oscar hype, it was one of the 'love stories' I actually liked.

:-( Angels & Demons - Someone please explain why Tom Hanks was chosen to play Robert Langdon. I forgot the actual story after I watched this!

:-) Ghajini (Hindi) - Don't ask why, I got scared watching this movie & couldn't sleep properly. The villain haunted me. Surprising considering I had watched the same movie in Tamil earlier (which had the s-a-m-e villain playing a double role at that).

:-( New York - Very youthful and good-looking cast.The end. All 3 looked like they were shooting for an advertisement.

:-) Wake up Sid - Just for Sid Mehra and the breezy music, nice! Oh & really nothing to dislike in this movie.

:-( Ajab Prem ki ghazab kahaani - someone rightly called this movie 'ajeeb prem ki wahiyaad kahaani'. I concur.

:-) Avatar - 3D , Visual Effects ,was phenomenal I accept. At any rate, I'm not breathlessly waiting for the sequels.

:-( Kurbaan - Yet another terrorism related-shukranallah movie. Give it a rest guys. For the love of inter-racial harmony and all that jazz, puh-leeeez!!

:-) My name is Khan - I have always liked SRK (even when he overacts), but shifty eyes and practised pregnant pauses does not qualify as Autistic acting!!! This movie is worth watching only because Karan Johar finally broke free from his habitual 'love your relatives , parents and neighbourhood donkey' mould!

:-( 2012 - Sudden friday evening plan with my neighbours. I really liked this movie. I mean, whatever little I saw of it. I slept blissfully throughout the second half;-D Thank God for small mercies. I don't think I missed much.

:-) 3 Idiots - Good for a few laughs but give me Chetan Bhagat's 'five point someone' anyday. It was atleast more human and less godly. The movie was so preachy & contrived I lost interest towards the end. Have no clue why Aamir Khan and his other Khan cousins have this narcissist tendency.

:-( Love aaj kal - I liked only the pretty Brazilian lady. She never spoke, never acted and never disappointed ;-p

:-) Paa - I loved it. Watched this with my mom bunking office ; my dad doesn't like BigB too much these days so he skipped this:-) Arundhati Nag was classic, like wine.

:-( He's just not that into you - With a title like that, I don't blame you for wondering who would even go to watch this!!

:-) Public Enemies - I will change my name to 'venkatesh devi rama rao' but will never criticise a Johnny Depp movie in any forum. Hero-worship , scorched and blinded by admiration it is!!

:-( Did you hear about the Morgans? - Breezy romance is alright. Hugh Grant is bearable in scenes. That aunty better stick to her soap - she's soppy and well, I doubt even old men found her appealing!

:-) Ice Age 3 - Shame on you if you missed this one!!

:-( Ayirathil Oruvan(tamil) - Having read 'Ponniyin Selvan' recently, I watched this with sky-high expectations. I can't even say they came crashing down. As I really didn't even understand the Tamil dialect in the second-half.

:-) Rocket Singh, Salesman of the year - Ranbir Kapoor was bright! Not a brilliant story or film, but definitely not boring.

:-( Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - The only good thing that came out of this movie was - I re-read all books from 1-7 for the nth time!

:-) Kaminey -I love the way marathi sounds you know. I really want to learn the language. 'Guddu, kithe Guddu'..Oh man, I should shift to Maharashtra!!

Check that out. I'm sure I've seen a few more , but I am not able to recall. Other than 4-5 of these, I watched all others in the theatre. When I was reading the newspaper about the recent awards ceremonies, I realized I seem to have watched a record number of movies this year! Usually the number could be counted in just one hand. I don't want to get started on all the food that I eat while watching movies. Makes me rue -- What a collossal waste of money! No wonder my dad says that even if my friends & I stop watching movies for a couple of months, multiplexes will run into huge losses in Bangalore. The reason I wrote this post is so that I read and re-read and think twice before watching any movie this year :-) It isn't like I'm starved for things to do otherwise. I'm usually happy in my own company also. So, henceforth please add your comments in my blog for any random post also with a tag 'no lostworld no..stop watching movies in multiplexes; here read this book instead..' :-))

Well, my current mood is quite like the song 'right round' (Flo rida). I dunno about yours, but my head is spinning like a top!! :-S