I read this (or got this forwarded to me) and it got me thinking! Ofcourse, am not a paid writer for cricinfo, so i dont have to be politically correct!!http://www.cricinfo.com/decadereview2009/content/story/440770.html
If you’re from the subcontinent and you don’t know a thing or two about cricket, even the autorickshaw guys will mock!! They may not know the technicalities, but they are updated all the same! Our gang was a little on the extreme, favourite passtime (after playing the game ofcourse and sitting down drippy and tired!!) was a modified word building game.. building cricketer names! So ofcourse its no surprise one of the first blogs of the decade should be this!!
Well if it was the 1990’s the choice would have been extremely difficult – with Sachin and Lara the gods with the bat, Mcgrath, Warne, Donald in their prime, Akram, Ambrose, and a few others either in their last few years before hanging up their shoes or settling in to the demands of international cricket! Special mention to Sachin and Lara towards the end of the decade where they won games single handedly with a relatively uninterested team or the sheer lack of quality bowling attack (not to mention match-fixing!!) Sachin though is my god, Lara, Warne et al are very difficult to overlook by all means!!
This decade – the 2000s is a relatively easier choice, not to undermine the achievements of many!! The forward mentions a few names. Through this blog, names are mentioned in no particular order. Starting at home – Virendra Sehwag had an amazing decade, with sheer domination terrorising every bowler who rolled his arms over.. He clearly redefined what one’s attitude can do to his game and the team as a whole! He brought a weird sense of stability.. Rahul Dravid “The Wall”… His achievements always overshadowed by the more worshipped players in the team.. Anil Kumble – his sheer dedication and consistency and the never let go attitude.. Laxman – for his rare strokes of genius.. Ganguly – attitude, aggression and the hunger to win.. And the God himself – Sachin Tendulkar – enough said!!
The once brothers in arms – Pakistan. Muhammad Yousuf, a.k.a Yousuf Youhana, consistency, work horse like, though not known for his attitude.. Inzy – its amazing the time he has to play a delivery, again consistency and managing such a unit is never easy… Don’t think anyone else warrants a mention here.. Moving south – War torn hidden pearl - Lanka.. Sanath – redefined hitting hard or hitting out, for some reason was also successful in tests.. Sangakkara – to me the best SL ever produced, and arguably the second best keeper bat.. Murali – for the sheer record if not anything else.. Vaas – probably the Walsh of this generation..
Further south – Down Under – No list is complete of 3 players from here is not mentioned.. Ponting – what a decade he has had, no one can question the dominance in terms of record or presence at the crease.. Somehow I don’t like him!! I cannot put my hands on why! I don’t think I can ever!! He is questionably a great great batsman.. but I never can judge why I don’t like him… Moving on to a step ahead, Gillie and Hayden have been the most entertaining cricketers ever in 2000s save only for Sehwag (occasional brilliance of Gibbs and Gayle eliminated) The most daunting one day opening ever, Hayden went on to prove a point in tests with Langer most part of the decade in tests also.. Gilly proved what an asset he is at no 7??!!! Wow what depth they had.. and enjoyed.. one mention to his sportsmanship (albeit, I have a grudge on the Sachin incident leafed upon (mentioned but albeit very tangently!!) in his book!) No one in the English camp did steal my fancy.. (Pietersen was the only one who was close, but next decade if he plays enough maybe!!)
And then moving west (no new Zealander ever caught my fancy, forgive me!) to SA – Polock bowled his heart out.. Gibbs (who I put my bottom dollar would be the man to reach 200 in ODI!! Not to mention Gayle and his floyambant attitude!) whose sheer dominance is unparalled but for Hayden and Sehwag!! (too damn difficult to choose there!) ABD and Duminy only flowering and may warrant a place in 2010s.. But to me, the un-paralled would be Jacques Kallis.. who bowled his heart out and batted ever truly. Only to be masked by a team who made it a habit to be unsuccessful in almost all big events when the world was watching (and hoping probably!!) that they shine like the Sirius!! Never happened in the decade that went by.. He probably stole the show with batting and bowling.. ever so reliable, ever so consistent!! To the list mentioned above, this was not easy… but he did record his presence more than anyone else.. saddening-ly not on world cricket, for no mistake of his!!
A decade bygone – and my humble thanks to all those who entertained us, who may or may not have a mention here!! You conquered hearts, stole more!! Who play, I pray continue… Players to watch out for in the next decade – Tyagi, Virat Kohli, Gambhir, Yousuf Abdullah, Umar Akmal, Mohd Aamer (probably??!!), Duminy, AB De Villers, Al Cook, Haddin?? And many more to come… Fingers crossed, lets hope you entertain and rock!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 03, 2010
No Idiot Business this!!
Bogged down by a lot of travelling, functions, leisure and catching up on work (and ofcourse Matthew Reilly’s new book), I couldn’t manage the necessary time or motivation to go watch a movie in over a month!! Almost every one around made me feel miserable about this, particularly in a time when 3 idiots was running!! I had been catching dough on this movie (coz honestly I was looking to replace my worn out Dil Chahta Hai dvd with a new movie) as it was much expected by all alike
So I finally decided to take the plunge in the new year and go watch the movie. For someone who had taken the pains to go to a cinema to watch some enthralling pieces of art like “Shortkut: The con is on” or “Sunday”, movies that should not be seen on even your worst hair day, 3 Idiots was like eating Vada Pav on a rainy day!! Though I generally do tend to sensibly keep my expectations down prior to watching a bollywood movie, this one struck all the right chords in increasing that expectation. I do not know if this elevated levels of expectation is the only reason I felt like “I did watch a movie better than most releases in the year.. Combined.. However, was this movie worth the attention it (is) generated(ing)”
The feel of the movie was good, certain scenes were really moving!! I presume that one of the minds behind the movie must have written the mid part of the movie, from lets say 80 mins odd to about 100 mins just prior to Kareena ala the runaway bride scene, after staying up a full night watching the Hum Saath Saath Hain genre of movies. This part of the movie somehow was so totally different from the other sections of the movie. Even during the interval I wasn’t enthused about the popcorn (I was then thinking it is such a big queue for popcorn, should I go stand now!!) but during this part I was so enthused about the popcorn that I literally had to be stopped by the doorman (he wouldn’t let me out since I didn’t have the tickets, and getting back to the seat and getting it was too much effort!!). But the part where Maddy talks to his dad and Sherman clears the interview were touching
The movie’s call to overhaul the education system cannot be ignored. I thought I was a victim of the “quote the book” clan though my field of expertise is so far removed from the concept of the movie. The system as an outer shell I felt was still the same. No insults to the numerous engineers, MBAs, CAs and other professionals that India produces, am sure they learn to apply what they read, without which India will neither be one of the fastest growing economy nor would Indians abroad be in positions that they hold. The system though lacks application oriented learning and testing of minds and that is an irrefutable fact. However, I do not think the message was conveyed that strongly and somewhere in the melodrama it was not as hard hitting as it could have been. The emphasis could have been on this in the sections where during a Mumbai flood, the hero delivers a baby using a vaccum cleaner!! Wasn’t necessary in my humble opinion!
The movie moves about in the same way DCH did, the music not as good though couple of songs are good and the re-recording complements the feel of the movie. Comedy was slapstick and not as mature as DCH, and emotional sections were clearly not even close to that masterpiece. Probably the reason I did not like the movie was a personal issue… probably that I kept pitting it against DCH in my mind, which may not be a good thing to do!! Unfortunately, to me that was the last bollywood movie that I can put a hand on my heart and I say I love everytime I watch it!! A cult, a breakthrough, an eye-opener, a true out of the skin feeling for the time and age day that movie released!! If on a scale of 5, I’d have give DCH a 10, I’d probably give 3 Idiots a 4. Which in other words might mean, that I was 200% satisfied with DCH, whereas 3 Idiots was probably 80% satisfactory. For someone who wants to go watch the movie I would say this: If you have watched any B’Wood movies in 2009 and thought it was worth it (even including kaminey, paa, etc!!) then 3 Idiots is a definite watch!! Else, wait sometime will the “Official DVD” is out and then go watch it. Don’t watch it on tv till then pls. Good movie for sure
So I finally decided to take the plunge in the new year and go watch the movie. For someone who had taken the pains to go to a cinema to watch some enthralling pieces of art like “Shortkut: The con is on” or “Sunday”, movies that should not be seen on even your worst hair day, 3 Idiots was like eating Vada Pav on a rainy day!! Though I generally do tend to sensibly keep my expectations down prior to watching a bollywood movie, this one struck all the right chords in increasing that expectation. I do not know if this elevated levels of expectation is the only reason I felt like “I did watch a movie better than most releases in the year.. Combined.. However, was this movie worth the attention it (is) generated(ing)”
The feel of the movie was good, certain scenes were really moving!! I presume that one of the minds behind the movie must have written the mid part of the movie, from lets say 80 mins odd to about 100 mins just prior to Kareena ala the runaway bride scene, after staying up a full night watching the Hum Saath Saath Hain genre of movies. This part of the movie somehow was so totally different from the other sections of the movie. Even during the interval I wasn’t enthused about the popcorn (I was then thinking it is such a big queue for popcorn, should I go stand now!!) but during this part I was so enthused about the popcorn that I literally had to be stopped by the doorman (he wouldn’t let me out since I didn’t have the tickets, and getting back to the seat and getting it was too much effort!!). But the part where Maddy talks to his dad and Sherman clears the interview were touching
The movie’s call to overhaul the education system cannot be ignored. I thought I was a victim of the “quote the book” clan though my field of expertise is so far removed from the concept of the movie. The system as an outer shell I felt was still the same. No insults to the numerous engineers, MBAs, CAs and other professionals that India produces, am sure they learn to apply what they read, without which India will neither be one of the fastest growing economy nor would Indians abroad be in positions that they hold. The system though lacks application oriented learning and testing of minds and that is an irrefutable fact. However, I do not think the message was conveyed that strongly and somewhere in the melodrama it was not as hard hitting as it could have been. The emphasis could have been on this in the sections where during a Mumbai flood, the hero delivers a baby using a vaccum cleaner!! Wasn’t necessary in my humble opinion!
The movie moves about in the same way DCH did, the music not as good though couple of songs are good and the re-recording complements the feel of the movie. Comedy was slapstick and not as mature as DCH, and emotional sections were clearly not even close to that masterpiece. Probably the reason I did not like the movie was a personal issue… probably that I kept pitting it against DCH in my mind, which may not be a good thing to do!! Unfortunately, to me that was the last bollywood movie that I can put a hand on my heart and I say I love everytime I watch it!! A cult, a breakthrough, an eye-opener, a true out of the skin feeling for the time and age day that movie released!! If on a scale of 5, I’d have give DCH a 10, I’d probably give 3 Idiots a 4. Which in other words might mean, that I was 200% satisfied with DCH, whereas 3 Idiots was probably 80% satisfactory. For someone who wants to go watch the movie I would say this: If you have watched any B’Wood movies in 2009 and thought it was worth it (even including kaminey, paa, etc!!) then 3 Idiots is a definite watch!! Else, wait sometime will the “Official DVD” is out and then go watch it. Don’t watch it on tv till then pls. Good movie for sure
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