Wake Up SID is a great wake up call: Ayan Mukherji

After a long lull at the Bollywood box office, moviegoers once again have a reason to back to theatres and finally cheer. This is the new wake up call not only for the audience but also for the movie makers. Its not about grand locations, huge startcast and great special effects but about stories which can be related to, which touch one's heart that ticks for all of us. Wake Up Sid is one such sweet and feel good movie, which has always been KJo trademark. There are movies which are entertaining, but there are some which are legendary and not by mere grandeur but by the content. This is the story of Sid (Ranbir Kapoor) who is filthy rich, extrememly lazy, unmotivated slacker from South Bombay (Oops Mumbai) whose life undergoes a series of changes after taking his final year college exams. Sid's world is changes from being rich, carefree, and without any responsibilities. The most important elements in his life are his friends, his camera, his car, and his Apple Macintosh and I-POD. His life changes when he meets a struggling writer Aisha played by Konkona Sen Sharma who is well read and intellectual who is looking for making identity of her own. Sid starts living with Aisha after a spat with his parents and Sid and Aisha find out that there are a lot of differences between them and they are exactly the opposite of each other. Eventually things turn out the way they have to and they seek completeness in each other and Sid finds a direction in his life in photography while working as an intern with the magazine which Aisha is also working. The characters are so real and so thoroughly convincing in whatever they do. Ranbir plays the typical south mumbai carefree guy with ease and Koko is wonderfully delightful in her ambitious Bong wirter who does everything her own sweet little way. The character of Sid makes you think about the many things we forget to enjoy in our busy lives rains for instance. All in all a must watch for all those guys n gals who have not found a purpose in life...just kidding a must watch for all.

Love Vinit

Apocalypto: Mel Gibson

I have that thing for epic movies....not that I like each and every epic movies but I generally am not very selective. But this one is in a different league I must say:-) Even though the movie is set in central america during the declining period of the Maya Civilisation it is what anybody can relate to. The movie is completely in subtitles as the language used is Yucatec Maya. This I guess would be the biggest challenge a director would have faced, to keep the audience engaged even when there is a language barrier. The film begins with an epigraph from Will Durant: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within. and more or less it sets the theme for the movie.Its a story of Jaguar Paw played by Rudy Youngblood who along with his native villagers is captivated for human sacrifice by Zero Wolf and his tribe. The story revolves aroung how Jaguar Paw manages to escape the clutches of being captive and manages to survive to come back to his village to be with his pregnant wife and child. Its how Jaguar Paw conquers his fears and overcomes every hurdle to go back to his village. The major plus for the movie is the costumes, cast and set designs. The casting is real maya decendents from Canada and USA and most of them had never faced the camera. The costumes look absolutely real and give the feel of Maya civilisation also a part of the deisgn was the arms and weapon design which is worth a mention. The sets were made for real and did not rely upon the multimedia to generate lot of authenticity. All in all a must watch for authenticity and story telling, but beware as the movie is graphic in terms of its violence content. Highly recommended for action fans as this has action but in a distinct unique style