Kya Masti Kya Dhoom...

Hai Rabba...Nazar na lag jaaye but I think I havta start off by thanking the heavens for my fourth consecutive amazing weekend..And what makes it even more wonderful is that every time I've jumped the gun and said it couldn't be better I've happily been proven otherwise.

People at work usually crib that they are seldom able to reach me on Friday afternoons. Thats because i willfully play truant so that no one can spoil my weekend by loading me with some new work. But after 15 months, junta have started seeing through my game and it happened yet again last Friday. Left with no alternative but to finish the job at hand, little did i realise that it was 7 pm before I was through with work - by which time it was too late to leave for the few happening places. Rented 21 Grams since i had heard so much about it and settled down for some late night viewing...And my my, did the movie rock !! First things first....This is the second movie of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu the man behind that critically acclaimed Amores Perros. Having heard so much about this Mexican master, I had contained myself from reading reviews of 21 Grams so that i could feel and experience it myself.. And gotta admit, it was simply exhilarating.

Reviewing the movie without letting out plot details would be close to impossible but still i shall try. 21 Grams revolves around the lives of 3 people: Paul, a Professor who is dying of a heart ailment and stuck in a marriage devoid of happiness - Christine, a happy mother of two daughters devoted to her loving husband and Jack, a reformed ex-con whose one rash act changes the lives of all the three people irreversibly. 21 Grams would have been a great movie considering the meticulous attention to detail in the script, the superb performances and the high caliber effort of the technical crew - but what elevates this movie to a classic is the form of presentation.

For people who felt Yuva (inspired by Inarritu's Amores Perros) was novel in its narrative style, 21 Grams will have you dizzy. The non-linear chronology of events as they unfold on screen had me going mad for the first 12-15 minutes (to my credit, there were ppl who felt they did not know wot was happening for the whole of the first hour) Its almost like a jigsaw puzzle where images of the distant past, past and present (and a little bit of the future too) of the 3 different stories are shown in flash cuts (amazing editing work here) - while some of them drop into the mosaic and make sense, some do not atleast at that present moment.. But as the story unfolds you begin to realise that there is a method in the madness and things aren't as random as we assumed them to be - the pieces start falling in place and the tableau gets clearer while at the same time the single most intriguing clue is held back. While 21 Grams is as grim and dark as they come, there is a certain empathy that we feel for the characters that leads one to believe maybe there is hope somewhere down the line.

Of the starcast, Benicio Del Torro (Traffic) is riveting as the reformed con, Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive) is simply fantastic as the unfortnate Christine but the performance of the movie is from Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking) as the guilt-ridden Paul. Music is very sombre and fits the mood, editing is razor sharp and Inarritu's direction is mildly put, masterful. 21 Grams is clearly worth the usual 5 star rating which takes it to the next higher plane - where it stands a 9.950 on the Nadia (as in Commaneci) scale...And doesn't that say a lot !!

Saturday was THE BIG DAY.. My first visit to a test match venue. 6 hours of non-stop entertainment. I also caught up with the action on the field but trust me its a totally different thing watching a match live in a stadium. Got my face painted fully in the tricolor, waved flags, danced and sang and generally had a ball. If at all there was one complaint then maybe it would be that i would have enjoyed watching the match much more with probably AKAS or RA. Neway more of it in a photoblog once the snaps are ready...Saturday at the Chinnaswamy stadium had me so drained that i could not make it for dinner at Satish's. Looks like most of the SP junta met up and had a ball.. Avi and co then went on a drinking binge but thank heavens i wasn't there :-) I stayed back home and relaxed doing... u know wot.. yes, watching a movie.. Dhoom..Okie lots has already been written about this movie but jes to add my two cents worth, i thought it was totally paisa vasool..The stunts were cool, the bikes cooler and Esha Deol actually hotttttttt (shucks, never thot i wud come down ever to say these lines)..N btw, John Abraham wasn't hot.. He was jes wooden..Ufffffffff, u women have bad taste.

Sunday morning. Woke up at 8. Grabbed some breaka before leaving for Suchitra Film Society for a screening of Amores Perros. Had read the script online before and done enough research on the movie to appreciate and understand every single nuance in every damn scene. Considering this was Inarritu's first movie, i found it simply mind-blowing. Detailed review of Amores Perros is available here. However for people who might be interested in checking this one out, a small warning. Amores Perros is darker, bleaker and more depressing than 21 Grams and images of the dogs and the blood are still afresh in my memory. Definitely not recommended for the faint at heart.

Having seen enough movies, spent the evening by hanging out doing Diwali shopping for a few of my under-grads pals at the Forum. And yes, rounded off the weekend by completing my online Scrabble game with Shankar - Whew!! Close one that - Squeaked through by jes 3 points after leading by 50 odd.