The weather last night in Delhi was straight out of a Hollywood romance.. cold but not chilly, windy not dusty..and leaves falling from every single tree covering New Delhi in its dense foliage.
So roomie @nitinsgr and I decided to venture out for a short trip at midnight, after a home movie session and inspired by the weather that would make any biker want to just get out and feel the road. Our initial plan was to cover the ring road.. but after watching the mayhem of trucks on the ring road well past midnight, we decided to take the right turn into Chankyapuri from under the Moti bagh flyover. And boy what a decision it was.. we all know that Chanakyapuri is one of the most beautiful parts of Delhi, and at night it just turns on the magic several notches up.
By the time we reached Connaught place after falling in love with Delhi a few hundred times over it was drizzling! The point at which one has to thank the weather gods for knowing exactly what one wants out of a ride. We decided to take a break at the only midnight place to be in Delhi. Panditji’s paan place outside Claridges.. It was raining by this time.
Standing by the golden yellow vapor lit roads, under heavy drizzle..I think just re-discovered why this city really means to me.. and I tweeted
“Dilli shehar nahi, ek shauk hai”
Well what more do I say? wet and energized from the short about 40km spin through empty, tree lined city.. I hit the sack curled up like a baby.. Another day lived, the way I wanted..
A few days back @enbose from CNN-IBN came home to our flat an recorded a neat hour or so of footage .. and then produced a decent show which was borderline negative of about social media users.. and then yesterday they took it too far .. re-use of footage happened.. and two jokers who call themselves tech experts gave me and my roomie an advice .. “go out, talk to ppl, talk to girls” – “get a life” .. well good advice, only problem is, I already HAVE ONE!
Edit—
Let me introduce joker who called me a loser,( name calling is the new male bonding thing ) .. @ankitv, and as far as the latest update goes.. we are planning on catching up over beer . yes yes ber solves all the worlds problems, Obama knows too yaar
And yea, @enbose is as cool as the character in the clip, she likes this clip too
Edit—
I am so shy only..
So now that I’m the guy who dos not talk even to the roomie.. let me hide my better than average verbal skills and start what I am supposed to do.. Watch the trailer below. and look around the blog if you came looking for a sociopath.. you ain’t finding one ; )
Well you know she is a rockstar, she is pretty. curvy and strong.. and sexy as hell!
My Royal Enfield Electra that is, as you already know. fondly called Goddess. She climbs mountains like a goat, gallops when the temperature dips to near zero, and munches on highways as if it’s chocolate. She has been getting my uninterrupted attention for the three years of her life.. And then she met a pretty girl .. and decided to, ahem “unfriend’ me.. these chicks I tell you
Let me introduce the second heroine of this story. Aparna .. (@aparnaandhare). She is a rockstar in her own right. She rides a Royal Enfield in Mumbai, is probably as comfortable behind the camera as she is in front of it, and yea jumps into most things that scare the bejeeses out of most people. Especially those Giant wheel, Columbus kinda things.
This is her show at the Mahindra Great Escape..
So while @aparnaandhare was in the mountains for a wedding, we decided to take the bullet out for a short ride out of Delhi.. Neemrana was decided for the ease of reach and the fact that we could go and come back in a day
The night before saw fog thick enough to prevent one from walking, let alone riding. So the next days early morning start was looking bleak, but we planned for it anyway. As we could not get another bike for aparna, we decided to share Goddess. And at 7 am in the morning, delhi was under a white carpet of fog as I set out to pick the lady up frm her JNU residence. She was waiting, alpinestars donned, camera and tripod in hand. And we start…
Two more riders joined us from Mahipalpur and three bullets set out for a journey that was not going to end this smoothly..
Aparna took the reins from mahipalpur till the first break. About 60km through crazy truck traffic on the Jaipur expressway. Me sitting pillion, (not the best place to be for a touring biker) half anxious, half impressed with the pretty lady’s exceptional riding skills. I heard her Mumbai sense of traffic screaming WTF? as cars overtook us from the left, trucks swerved and switched lanes at high speed, and cows crossed us with no concern whatsoever. By now, I was getting used to sitting behind a lady rider.. enjoying the attention she was getting from passing cars who realized that the bullet that just zoomed ahead was in the hands of a girl, complete with mehndi on her hands..
looking over th rider's shoulder
The sun came out shining, and it was one easy ride till Neemrana. With no fog, it could have been done in about 2.1/2 hrs or so.. We reached the fort. I had to beg and plead for a chance to ride as Goddess got comfy with her new rider and vice versa. reaching fort Neemrana was a disappointment. The fort was nondescript to say the most. So the three bullets decide to go to the bauli nearby.. and click some pictures. The terrain was getting challenging now, and a bad patch of slush with water filled in it. I step out to watch as Aparna gracefully steered Goddess through.. gracefully..
I walk across and land up at the bouli. With bystanders going into mild shock as the rider of the bullet took of her helmet and did that thing girls do with their hair..And I smile.
So Aparna ,Vikas(The vintage bullet guy with a penchant for really really sexy old machines), Rohit(Retired something, but diver, rider, photographer..), Vinod(Another Shutter maniac) and I spend time at the bouli trying group pics like this..
the gang
Inside the Neemrana bouli
Then we set back .. and Vikas takes us to this restoration place – AMI Impex at Shahjanpur where legends of yester years wait to be brought back to life.. BSAs Harleys and Hondas with rich history behind.. We leave after an hour of drooling over aged rusted metal,
metal metal metal
vintage harley
The royal Enfield Legend: The flying flea.. world war II veteran
After filling up our two wheel crazy brains with rusted metal shots..and some tea later. aparna refuses to giv me the bike to ride and we head out to dharuhera crossing beyond which we stop for a late lunch at Prem da dhaba.
I grab the keys back .. now it is my turn to ride… And begins the most interesting part of the trip!
And we reach Mansear, slow down to let traffic pass near IMT and Goddess screeches to a halt. dead still.. I kicked her back to life and she did, only the wheel refused to budge!
Real wheel stuck, and refusing to move and inch! With the help of the passerby, we push the bike to the shoulder and park ourselves by the railing. Time to think! Our co-riders have sped away and were supposed to be meeting us at a point ahead. The sun was looking tired, and about to set..
As I pulled out my spanner, I called Vishwas (@vishwasma ) as usual.. the first call when my bullet hitches goes to him. And we discuss what could be wrong. He suggests I take out the rear wheel and unjam the brake after consulting with gurunandan.. and I sit down to remove the wheel..
and then I see the hell that happened at the hub!
The chain stay bolt had broken. The hub had thn spun anticlockwise by about 30 degrees and the chainstay bolt’s cut face was glowing bright in the dim light.. The brake lever was up an inch from where it shud have been, with the brake link sitting right in front of the rear axle. There was no point in opening her up now.. it was beyond what I could have fixed. While I think of solutions, Aparna calls up Royal Enfield Service to know if anyone can help.. my battery was down by now and phone dead.. Wah! Murphy in full form..!
Of course, It is NCR and nobody is doing on road service.. do they? I dunno!. So option number z to be exercised. Flag down a tempo.
(now trust me on this one. I am a master of tempoing/trucking/train loading bullets by now , Vishwas is too ) So loaded Goddess, and Aparna decides to join her on the back!and pulls out her ipod .. By now Vikas has called and arranged for a workshop at 32nd milestone, which we reach almost after an hour.. 20km!
So at 32nd milestone, while we fix goddess Vikas takes us to this coolest bike place where Rd350s are being restores in hordes. @aparnaandhare test rides one and loves it.. and we sit and chat endlesslesly about bikes, cars and mountains. By Now Goddess is back to life, I try her out, and we set out.. making plans to halt at a relatives place for a drink and dinner.. but plans are well, just plans
Plans go down the drain again.. as less than 20km down the road, at the Gurgaon toll plaza, as I move into the bike lane.. Goddess stalls again.
Exact same exact same problem! This time, the hub was in better shape, probably because it had stalled at a slower speed. With mad traffic trying to almost run into the toll plaza. Again, with the help of a passerby, I push Goddess off to the shoulder. By now I was losing patience.. and rider or no rider, a girl traveling with you deserves a better end to a day than hauling bikes around in tempos.. So backslaping biker buddiness was thrown out of the window, an empty meru cab was flagged down and @aparnaandhare sent to her jiju’s place without her consent.. (sorry again, little old fashioned.. only little) while I, phone less waited by the road for the next tempo.
One comes along in half an hour and refuses to go, then comes a other and another.. and i decide to probably sleep by the bike if needed.. ad the last ray of hope pops up in about another 15 minutes.. they agree to carry me and the bullet and I take her straight home.. where she is still parked, waiting for me to be free enough to take care of her.. Goddess deserves a little punishment for treating a girl badly, and yeah.. @aparnaandhare’s theory that Goddess likes her better and didn’t want to ride with me anymore stands ..
(girls always win don’t they biker or not)
But yea, what would have that ride been without all this? what is a trip without a snag? and who knows best but a bulleteer.. and no matter how pretty or manicured, a girl who calls herself a bulleteer is sure to know this too, first hand this time.. So cheers @aparnaandhare.. looking forward to seeing your liz (A royal enfield electra 5s) and riding alongside with Goddess, some day .. The bullets might like each other’s company..
but I still think @aparnaandhare’s bullet is a guy ..
I was privy to an email conversation between my good friend Peter of Freespirit Adventure
who is also on twitter at @peterfrancon, and my bullet friend and touring buddy Vishwas – @vishwasma on twitter..
And seeing how much of enfield gyan Vishu has gained from Guru Nandan and how much of his writing style actually fits the bullet blogger mould.. I had to blog this for you.
And also helps that @vishwasma is way too lazy to do any such thing as a blog..
Read on ..
——————————
Hey Peter,
Thought the White sticky oil needed more description for one to truly understand what was happening.
There sits a black cylindrical box underneath the seat called the breather box. It’s function – to collect excess oil that sometimes spills out from the crank as the piston pushes down and in some cases/models put it back into the engine through the timing case.
If the oil leaking of the air filter is More whitish, gluey that oily and is not very persistent/continuous – You have just returned from a ride where you accelerated to hard (chasing cars? climbing mountains?). The input to the Box was greater than it could handle and hence the overflow. Not really mission critical.It will stop with time, air filter is the only guy really threatened. If you are very particular, you could get the breather box cleaned/emptied. No personal experience with this, i have just let it run.
(The whiteness Of the oil is a reaction of hot oil with Air and vapor!!)
If the oil leaking of the air filter is More oily and less white (more red/black) – It could be trouble. Yours is one of the those bikes in which the breather box was suppose to put the oil back into the engine through the timing case. This is a highly experimental concept at Royal Enfield.
(Ok, if you are not dead of boredom already, wake up, below text requires concentration and imagination)
Inside the timing case the washer (a tiny roundish blue-black fellow) I was talking about exists. The function of this washer is to stop the oil pump (that circulates the oil) from creating enough pressure so that fresh oil from your oil slump (where you put the oil) is NOT sent back into the breather box (through the path which was suppose to bring in the excess oil collected in the breather box into the timing case !!).
If the washer is conked, the oil pump will continuously pump oil into the breather box and cause a continuous splurge of oil out of the breather, into the air filter and onto the silencer. As the oil burns on the silencer, you will look like a smoke machine.
This does not stop with time. You risk low oil levels.
The timing cover is the right hand ride of the bike (see attached photo). Please don’t get too adventurous with it. It best to leave it to a Mechanic.
If you figure that the cause was something other than either of the 2 mentioned, please let me know. Lot to learn!!
The cafe racer from Royal Enfield showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo: 2010.. It was an obvious showstopper. I still dont understand the rear placement. The guy who worked on the design is a good friend of mine.. will introduce him here someday. As of now, he is nowhere online sadly!
Polka dots for company for this racy Enfield
Check it out from all sides. Will it hit the market? The executives say 2012. And is a definite foreign market release like the classic was
Check the front fenders
Great sporty looks..
I love it.. what do you think? But still I think it will not work well if released in India..somehow
The 500AVL slid to the right for half a second, as she lost speed from a steady 100kmph, in a futile last attempt to steady her I wrestled her to the left of the road and slammed the brakes. She lifted the front wheel a bit
“..ture”
and we hit the ground.
The crashguard landed first, my hands still on the handlebar. The massive enfield 500 with its enhanced 22 litre tank that held about 20 liters of petrol fell on its right.Then, it started to slide on the road on its side, carrying massive momentum with it. I felt an excruciating pain on my back as my thick cotton fabric belt took my weight. My left arm lost grip of the fallen bike which stopped sliding and my body slid about 2 meters ahead of where the bike stopped. The helmet slid off my face once I stopped moving. And as it left, dragged my pair of spectacles with it, I cud feel a burn on my left cheek.
I got up the moment I stopped moving. And looked out for @vishwasma who was pillion to me on his beloved 500. He was seated on the ground. His face had a few drops of blood and he was sitting upright on the road. I looked out for oncoming traffic and there was none. Vishwas got up on his feet.. First words came out of my mouth without any effort
“Dude how bad?”
“Quite”
“You are bleeding from your nose”
And I realized I was too. Relieved that we were both better off than we could have been after what just happened. Got on our feet and went about our business of dealing with crashed. crashes, which as experienced tourers, are trained to deal with..
I checked myself for damage. My face had a fancy cut on the left cheek. Almost looked good. (See where my focus lies) My jacket was torn on the right elbow. And as I took it off, my left shoulder hurt. I could see my right and left elbows had a few inches of skin missing and they were dripping blood. My jeans was torn at the right knee, and revealed another large wound dripping a few drops more blood than my elbows protected by my tough corduroys. (My leather riding jacket was in Delhi.. will talk about this further down) ..
The little finger on my right palm bled too, and the nail was scratched. I found my spectacles crashed on the ground near my metal belt buckle that had given up..My abdomen had scratches from the belt as i was dragged on the ground before the buckle gave away.
Vishwas was already cleaning his knee wound with water. His Cramsters had kept his upper body safe. I followed suit and cleaned up my wounds. Wiped off with cotton and applied antiseptic powder from our first aid box..
Then happened a six sigma operation as Vishwas says!
8.00 am
The bike is up on two wheels, the luggage is taken off. A transporter rickshaw stopped on the way and the bullet loaded.
8.20 am
The bullet arrives at Trissur railway station. The porters are the first to catch hold off in any such event, give them the money, the petrol in the tank, and the bike loads in no time.
8.45 am
Picked up a taxi from trissur station as Vishwas completes the formalities to send the bike back to bangalore
9.10 am
The bike is packed, payment made. The head porter paid and reminded to load it and that the petrol is a gift for them.
9.30 am
Luggage and us loaded in the taxi, and we head towards a hospital
9.45 am
Arrive at hospital, clean wounds, apply dressings, take X-Ray, walk around the hospital in my underwear paying bills and getting medicines. Get a go ahead
10.40 am
hit the road home like this
Red and White Christmas
And that was what my christmas day was like in 2009!! Red and white!!
There are a few things that we learned (As usual) from this crash..
1. Safety gear is most important as we tour. My jacket was not a riding jacket, it would have saved more skin. The helmets did, though Vishwas was wearing my
2. Neither Vishwas nor I had a good feeling about this when we started. We are deep planners, and this was an unplanned trip. NEVER go unplanned if you are the planning kind. And always, always listen to your gut
3. Nerve is all you have when you are faced with a crash. Presence of mind is absolutely critical. One needs to deal with crashes with clinical precision.. Emotions are not allowed in a battle zone
4. Something is there to watch over the two of us.. we have battled it out with roads in the most hostile of places.. I have felt the force field around, more than once..
5. You are safest on your own steed when on a long ride. You know your bike inside out, and that makes a big difference in catching the signals your bikes send your way…
So guys be safe as Vishwas and I have literally ended 2009 with a bang! truly fitting to a biker
……………………………………………………………………..
PS: We grabbed our vacation back from the disaster. Including a trip to varkala after two days of rest. And the day before Vishwas left for home mom decides to give some gyan
“You guys should get knee protection before your next big trip”
I am sure you have heard enough reviews and viewpoints already about one of the most anticipated movies of this year. Some say it will suck, some say it will be boring and predictable but everyone agrees on the part that it will be stuff we haven’t seen before. And that, is the right part!
Let me feed the cynic in you a bit. The story is nothing new, it is in fact predictably simple. There are no stars except the under utilized michelle rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi. There is nothing that can make you feel deep within or even move you to tears or laugh till your stomach hurts. There is no drama.. There is even some bad lines mouthed by the actors and some excess use of phosphorescence.. but ladies and gentlemen the film works…
From the moment I put on my 3D glasses and sat down in the cushy PVR Citywalk Audi 4, I did not move an inch from my seat. The perfect audience that had whistled and clapped when the 20th century fox logo turned on screen in 3D, fell silent and remained so till the lights came on for the 1.5 hr break. Jaws hurt as they hung open for most part of the first half, as presented before me was a world in full color, Pandora!.. The characters came alive from a world unknown and even through a weak storyline, they held their place by the pure visual mastery that James Cameroon has displayed again as he tells their story, scene by scene, set in a world which is nothing short of magical. There are creatures from another era, with colors never used before in such extensive canvas. There are the blue Na’vi, so real in their expressions you dont doubt for a moment that they are not real, breathing characters..and there are human beings, who are incarnations of evil except a handful with humanity still intact in them..they move emote and fight in front of your eyes and you gasp escape their arrows flying at you and forget to blink for long stretches!
The second half however makes one feel for the falling, as the human race does what they do best, which is conquer kill and exploit, and mercilessly displace the Na’vi from their home. We get the message that is not too subtly delivered, we are all interconnected! Yes, it draws heavily from the Gaia theory of existence. As the evil humans fail to understand the value of the knowledge and go after kilos of the physical wealth, it pulls a heart-string somewhere, for a brief moment. And then, it is war. We have clearly taken sides by now and we want our blue men and women to have their land back, we want them to preserve the real wealth that is the heart of their planet. It worked for me right here, where it made me feel for a race alien to me, against my own.
The film ends predictably, almost cheesy in the convenience with which it gets thing right. But hey, when you are on a roller coaster ride you don’t complain about those seat belts do you?
So as I left the hall with my friends and the hall came alive with tentative claps, I realized that the occasionally slow Avatar at the end of it a pure visual spectacle, of a scale that will be tough to match for a while. And it is a visual spectacle that should not be missed.. must watch, and must watch in 3D, IMAX if you can.. The story as I said before, is just a thread to hold the marvel together..
I am a fan of movies that can make me feel.. and something within me tells me if that is going to happen or not when the opening credits roll. With Rocket Singh, it made a little mark in my mind so quickly I almost felt skeptical. But then, I watch I wait..
Rocket singh unfolds like a little story your friend would tell you, about his first days of struggle in life. It is that coming of age film told from the point of view of a young sardar (Harpreet Singh Bedi) in his first job. A delightfully well scripted first hour takes you into the world of this unsure, inexperienced but full of grit young boy who you quickly become a supporter of, and begin to like. Ranbir in one of his most restrained and un starry performance of the few movies he has done, shines like the star he is, and makes you want your sardar to win. Shimit Amin tells this story so well, he gets you to react, to gasp, to clap, to sigh and to smile.
A capable supporting cast provides a meaty ensemble around Ranbir too. A supremely confident debut from the pretty Gauhar Khan (very well styled too, perfect middle class mumbai recpetionist) Santosh’s (typical frustrated maintenance engineer) Naveen Kaushik (The team lead) whose character could have had some more meat and the peon.. They are so onvincing in the characters that for a while it almost feels like a team movie and less a hero centric one. The padamse girl is well, just there..
And by the time Rocket Singh ends with everything working out well for all of the world, you feel happy even though you know that bits and pieces dont hold together even in the beautiful jaideep Sahni screenplay. Those lagged stretches however, dont let the film faulter. And at the end, you smile.. for your very own friendly nieghborhood rocket singh!
I wonder if this film will connect to the mainstream audience not used to the situations that are core to the film (some implausible too, but so well told that you’d forgive ), but it kept me riveted for three hours, delighted even in the crammed seats of PVR Saket with a bawling child for company. (more on that later) I am a total fan of shimit’s direction now and the music, just used in the right places, is so integral, you forget it was there!
The high point for this movie for me was that for the first time(?) A hero’s belonging to the community is just, chance! .. The guy could have been anyone, hindu, muslim,christian, sikh .. like any normal Indian guy. And I am a sucker for national integration, and I will be happiest the day we have a north eastern hero, just like that..
Rocket film is one of the nicest films I have seen in recent times.. simple, effective and loveable. One that can fill your heart!
How I love films that unfold so fast you dont get time to think.. Kurbaan starts off that way. The Avantika and Khan falling in love before you adjust your posterior against the cramped seats of PVR saket. And the story unfolds in short frames so beautiful you begin to sit back and start to have that nasty thing called ‘expectations’ creep up. Then it presents a beautiful Nauheed cyrusi with the right expressions on her short role.. a pretty and confident Dia Mirza and a little irritating Vivek Oberoi and a plot getting thick. You see Ompuri, Kirron Kher, your expectations hit the roof.. you start appreciating the brilliance that Kareena kapoor can be when she is given a meaty role. You start enjoying, the plot that still hasn’t revealed itself enough for you to take sides, you don’t know who is the hero. The feel is international, and the camerawork glitchless.. and then comes a twist and comes the interval.. You are left confused.. but your heart says you will like it.
You wait for the movie to roll again. You wait for that brilliant turn you have been expecting..and then, it falls, and how. Endless speeches on islam that we have heard enough. America, Iraq, Afghanistan.. ok thank you now go ahead.. and then comes turns and twists that are way too fabricated to be believable. actors struggle to hold on to the roles that have treated them so well so far. The movie goes ahead, digs a trench and buries itself deep. And as it ends leaving questions in you mind like “where is the bloody love story”.. it ends amidst some amateurish shots and acting.. and you say #fail
So here is what works for the movie.. Rensil D’silvas’s wonderful directorial debut. The strength of the actors, every one of them. Vivek is probably the weakest link with though. Saif is over shadowed as he underplays his character. Kareena shows how effective an actress she is. The warhorses Kirron kher and Om Puri are wasted though just their presence makes their roles seem longer. Dia Mirza is rediscovered ..
What doesnt work? the story.. Yes, Karan has the ability to write stories where the viewer cannot relate to anyone. Remember kabhi Alvida na Kehna where you were left wondering who should we like? Movies cannot be so diplomatic. They are enjoyable only when the audience can take a side and want the hero, heroine, villain or someone to win at the end of the day.. I dont want to like everyone..and the movie in its effort to stay neutral, spoils everything that has going for it. Kurbaan could have been a great film if only it was wrapped up well..
I cant deal with films that fail to make me feel.. this was one of them .. and like I said. If I want another 9/11 themed movie.. I would go back and watch ‘khuda ke liye’
We all make mistakes in life, the makers of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani too did.. but no that was in not in making the movie
You are Rajkumar Santoshi.. hit maker. When I go to watch your film, I know I will be entertained, like I was in RACE( now this is a mistake.. it was Abbas Mastan, like a commentor pointed out – But two references to RACE in the movie had got me thinking it was self referential ).. like the cult classic “Andaaz apna apna”, the powerful “lajja” and the reasonable “pukar” . But I also know you make “China Gate” and oops, “Halla Bol” .. but hey, for a true fan of bollywood.. quality/logic etc is never reason to not like a movie right? All we crave for is “entertainment”.. but entertainment too is a tough act.
APGK has everything going for it. Chartbusting music, a coup of a casting with the dependable and promising Ranbir Kapoor, and the luckiest of all bollywood beauties. Katrina Kaif herself. Both very pretty faces and does the jobs given to them more than well mostly.
But it failed for me at several levels from the first five minutes of forced establishment of characters..
I don’t intend to analyze this film because there isn’t anything to.. the failure as I said before, was in setting my expectation right.. The promotions just failed to tell me it was a David dhawan-ish, Priyadarshan-ish, mindless slapstick comedy train that was not meant to be romantic at all.. I, was in the mood to watch a bollywood love story with some humour thrown in.. not this. I think the marketing of this film is the culprit for the sadness I felt through the first half of APGK. I was disappointed with the highschool stage play like script and characters while trying to see some real romance happening. But all I get is out and out stupidity-forced comedy, and I am an idiot, that I still did not recognize what genre of film this was..
But once I did understand where this was going. I left my thinking beside and laughed like a lunatic at all the crazy over the top acting/slapping/ goof ups etc happening on screen. And trust me, the stupidity is pretty cute to watch.. the girls in the hall were testimony to the fact that the movie had sold itself to them.. orgasmic delight audible in their combined giggles everytime Ranbir cracked a joke on screen.. stupid maybe, but joke nonetheless..
So what is it that I came out feeling? “light” .. The movie is chaplin-isqe in its approach, and once you get it, you can bear it. Yes, only bear it.
But even through the meelee, you cant help but notice how capable Ranbir is as an actor, just holding even the worst written scenes tightly together with his sincere effort and pure talent.. and Katrina increasingly holds on her own on the screen, supported ably by her outrageously pretty presence and just adequate “acting” .. her accented hindi is almost her strength now, and those eyes do speak when they need to..
So should you watch it? Expect and Andaz Apna Apna, and go in.. it wont better it, but wont disappoint you either.. It wont touch you, except the music you wont remember a thing.. you will wonder how or why this movie was made.. but you will laugh through the second half, though forced, and come out feeling a little light, and with a grin. You might even ask “yeh kya dekhke aaya meine”
My craving for some bollywood style romance remains unsatisfied.. but I would fire the marketing guys if I was putting my money on this movie.. because the trailer is more romantic than the whole movie put together.. Set people’s expectations right yaar.
2/5
1.5 for Ranbir and Katrina together, and .5 for the amazing song/dance locations
Nithin David and his faithful machine that he fondly calls Goddess (a Royal Enfield Electra 5S) has covered the highest motorable roads of the world multiple times in their three years of friendship. Now he finds riding his alternate passion and here he shares his trip stories and his life ..
biker or not)
Comments