Union finance budget 2011 - 12 highlights

• AC restaurants serving liquor and AC hospitals with more than 25 beds under service tax.
• Service tax on air travel to be increased.
• Customs duty on raw silk reduced from 30 to 5 per cent.
• Legal services to be expanded to business entities.
• 20% export duty for iron ore.
• Custom duty on Pet Coke and Gypsum to minimized to 2.5%.
• No new tax exemption limit for women.
• Mandatory levy of 10 pct on branded garments.
• Budget estimates for 2011-12 projects- Rs 9,32,440 crore.
• No change in Central excise duty rate. Base rate on excise duty raised from 4% to 5%.
• Surcharge rate reduced from 7.5 percent to 5 percent for domestic companies.
• Hike in exemption IT limit from Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 1.8 lakh.
• New series of coins with new rupee symbol expected.
• Simplify tax collection procedure.
• 1 million UID cards to be distributed per day shortly.
• Targeting to reduce deficit to 4.6% for the upcoming fiscal year.
• Plan and Non-Plan expenditure to be increased by 23%.
• BPL pension eligibility age limit reduced.
• Group formed to monitor corruption;will start implementing from 62 dept. in first phase.
• Amendment of Indian Stamp Act shortly.
• Simplified form 'Sugam' for small tax payers.
• Rs 1.64 lakh crore for Defence.
• Rs 1000 crore to build judicial infrastructure.
• Group of ministers to sort out Environmental concerns.
• 1000 crore for improvising judiciary system.
• Rs 8,000 cr to Northeast.
• 60 schemes for SC/ST to be implemented.
• Rs 100 crore for Ladakh.
• Rs 150 crore for Jammu.
• Pension amount increased for 80 years and above.
• Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme eligibility revised from 65 to 60 years.
• Rs 200 cr grant to IIT Kharagpur.
• Rs 20 crore to IIM Calcutta.
• 50 Crore to muslim universities in different states.
• 58,000 crore for Bharat Nirman Schemes: FM
• State Innovation Council in each state to be set up.
• Remuneration of anganwadi workers increased from Rs 1500 to Rs 3,000 per month.
• Independent debt management office to be established.
• Rs 1.6 lakh crore to be spent on social projects.
• Current a/c gap a concern due to composition of FX flows: FM
• Establishment of national policy on psychotic drugs, narcotics.
• Tax free infra bonds worth Rs 30000 cr for PSBs proposed.
• 15 mega food parks to be set up.
• Infrastructure spending increased by 23%.
• Rs 30K crore tax free bonds to be provided for railways.
• Financial assistance to be provide to Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata metro projects.
• Allocation under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana to be increased to Rs 7860 crore.
• Promote organic farming.
• GDP manufacturing, targeting 16-25 % increase in next 10 years.
• Rs 300 cr to cultivate pulses in rain-fed areas;Rs 300 cr for the promotion of farm product cultivation.
• Provide Rs 6000cr for PSU bank recapitalization.
• FM: Micro finance companies to be provided with Rs 100 crore equity funds.
• Extension of NBS for urea to be analyzed.
• Home loan limit increased.
• Rs 300 cr for improving pulses production.
• Rural infrastructure development fund to be raised to 180 billion Rupees for the coming fiscal year.
• Grant 1% interest on home loans upto 50 lakhs.
• Mortage Risk Guarantee fund for rural housing to be set up.
• Rs 5,000 cr to be provided to SIDBI to meet priority lending targets.
• Rs 2000 crore for warehousing facilities.
• Rs 2,000 cr for manufacturing facilities.
• Allocation of Rs 6000 cr for some PSU banks.
• Only registered FII's to be associated with Indian MF industry.
• Rs 40,000cr to be raised via disinvestment.
• GST bill to be introduced in current session.
• Extension of NBS to cover urea under review: FM
• 500 crore proposed for empowering women.
• Micro finance institutes proposed for 100 crore.
• 300 crore to be provided to NABARD.
• FBI to regularize banking amendments.
• Ensures better delivery of urea, kerosene.
• FII allow to trade amongst themselves.
• FBI policy to be regularized.
• Public Debt Management Bill to be introduced in 2012.
• Pranab sees Budget 2011-12 as transition towards a transparent and result-oriented economic management.
• Public sector undertaking to be increased.
• Direct transfer of cash subsidy to downtrodden.
• Average inflation and current account deficit to be minimized by next year: FM
• Strong proposition to fight against corruption.
• Pranab seeking Lord Indra's blessings to get good monsoon.
• Remarkable record for last fiscal year.
• Improvise the governance.
• Govt. to reconsider ecological concerns.
• Tremendous growth in exports-29.4%.
• Food inflation down from 22.2% to 9.3 %. But still is a major concern, says FM.
• Budget to ensure more transparent economy.
• Focus on supply side issues in agriculture.
• Pranab: Work on food inflation.
• Stabilize the macro economic situation.
• Budget 2011 approved by Cabinet.

Review: Don't miss True Grit

                                                    

Upon receiving his only Oscar -- and that, too, for sentimental reasons -- John Wayne, world's most beloved cowboy, bellowed, "Whhhhow, if I had known this, I would've put that patch on thirty-five years earlier."

Jeff Bridges , for one, won't have to say that. For, he's not a first-timer at the Academy's and moreover, is tipped for another nod, for his reprisal of Wayne's Rooster Cogburn in True Grit -- adapted from the original novel on which the 1969 Western was based.

And because the Coen Brothers' True Grit goes back to the root source itself, the film turns out to be wildly different than the Wayne masterpiece and in doing so, the Coen Brothers establish their status as filmmakers of keen intellect. Having said that, here's a quick word to Wayne buffs -- Jeff does his own bit as the Marshall and gives the one-eyed Rooster new characteristics, a raspier voice and cool corpulence, leaving you convinced that he knows no Wayne, maybe he's not aware of that rugged swagger, that he's never seen the legend's True Grit in his portrayal of the famous role.

The two Roosters don't match at all; neither in their appearance nor manners and they even wear a patch on different eyes -- Wayne on left, Jeff on right -- giving credence to a growing idea that Jeff's Rooster looks closer to the mythic Western hero than to Wayne.
                               
In keeping with director Joel and Ethan Coen's interest in religion, True Grit opens with the Biblical epigram, 'The wicked flee when none pursueth'. The 14-year-old Mattie (Hailee Steinfeld), in hot pursuit of her father's killer, hires the services of Rooster (Jeff) who she's been advised is the best -- certainly amongst the best -- man to do the job. Having palavered Rooster into supporting her cause, of course by offering him money and joined by the Texas ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon ) the three embark on an adventure that she would remember, with fondness and gratitude, decades later.

In an early scene, Mattie, the tough daughter who's sworn for retribution, accosts Rooster for help and when he shows no interest, she reminds him, "They tell me you are a man with true grit." In the true sense, it is Mattie who displays real grit, refusing to let impossibilities of hunting down a notorious outlaw weaken her resolution. Steinfeld plays Mattie with inward conviction and stands her own throughout.

While revenge and God's grace on the right-doers are the dominant themes of True Grit, one could say the film is equally about special relationships that you forge along the way. They may not be relationships of blood, neither are they long-term or old enough but they last a lifetime. And beyond. Such as the one between Rooster and Mattie.

Does Deepika look hot in Dum Maaro Dum item song?

 The pictures of Deepika Padukone's new item number in Rohan Sippy's Dum Maaro Dum are out, and the actress looks quite hot in them.

The look, of course, is a result of many hours well spent in the gym.

But is she as sexy as Malaika Arora Khan'sMunni and Katrina Kaif's Sheila Ki Jawani?

 Initially, Dips was supposed to wear a short skirt for the song but her dance movements looked very awkward.

The actress apparently requested Rohan Sippy to consider a change of dress. So designer Anahita Adajania Shroff changed her mini to hot pants with tassels.

Even though Deepika only has an item number in the film, she's the film's poster girl, much to the annoyance of leading lady Bipasha Basu.

The film also stars Abhishek Bachchan, Rana and Prateik Babbar.

And The OSCAR goes to......

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards have been announced. There were quite a few surprises and many more expected nods. Here's a quick glance at the winners, listed in bold:

Best Picture

Black Swan
Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin

The Fighter
David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg

Inception
Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan

The Kids Are All Right
Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray

The King's Speech
Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin

127 Hours
Christian Colson, Danny Boyle  and John Smithson

The Social Network
Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin

Toy Story 3
Darla K Anderson

True Grit
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Winter's Bone
Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin

Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem
Biutiful

Jeff Bridges
True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg
The Social Network

Colin Firth 
The King's Speech

James Franco
127 Hours

Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale 
The Fighter

John Hawkes
Winter's Bone

Jeremy Renner
The Town

Mark Ruffalo
The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush
The King's Speech

                               
Actress in a Leading Role

Annette Bening
The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman
Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence
Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman 
Black Swan

Michelle Williams
Blue Valentine

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams
The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter
The King's Speech

Melissa Leo
The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld
True Grit

Jacki Weaver
Animal Kingdom

Animated Feature Film

How to Train Your Dragon
Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois

The Illusionist
Sylvain Chomet

Toy Story 3
Lee Unkrich

Art Direction

Alice in Wonderland
Robert Stromberg (Production Design); Karen O'Hara (Set Decoration)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Stuart Craig (Production Design); Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)

Inception
Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design); Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)

The King's Speech
Eve Stewart (Production Design); Judy Farr (Set Decoration)

True Grit
Jess Gonchor (Production Design); Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)
                                 
Cinematography

Black Swan
Matthew Libatique

Inception
Wally Pfister

The King's Speech
Danny Cohen

The Social Network
Jeff Cronenweth

True Grit
Roger Deakins

Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland
Colleen Atwood

I Am Love
Antonella Cannarozzi

The King's Speech
Jenny Beavan

The Tempest
Sandy Powell

True Grit
Mary Zophres

Directing

Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky

The Fighter
David O. Russell

The King's Speech
Tom Hooper

The Social Network
David Fincher

True Grit
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Documentary Feature

Exit through the Gift Shop
Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz

Gasland
Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic

Inside Job
Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

Restrepo
Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger

Waste Land
Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Documentary Short Subject

Killing in the Name
Jed Rothstein

Poster Girl
Sara Nesson and Mitchell W. Block

Strangers No More
Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

Sun Come Up
Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger

The Warriors of Qiugang
Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Film Editing

Black Swan
Andrew Weisblum

The Fighter
Pamela Martin

The King's Speech
Tariq Anwar

127 Hours
Jon Harris

The Social Network
Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film

Biutiful (Mexico)

Dogtooth (Greece)

In a Better World (Denmark)

Incendies (Canada )

Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) (Algeria)

Makeup

Barney's Version
Adrien Morot

The Way Back
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

The Wolfman
Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)

How to Train Your Dragon
John Powell

Inception
Hans Zimmer

The King's Speech
Alexandre Desplat

127 Hours
A R Rahman

The Social Network
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)

Country Strong
Coming Home
Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey

Tangled
I See the Light
Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Glenn Slater

127 Hours
If I Rise
Music by A R Rahman; Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong

Toy Story 3
We Belong Together
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Short Film (Animated)

Day & Night
Teddy Newton

The Gruffalo
Jakob Schuh and Max Lang

Let's Pollute
Geefwee Boedoe

The Lost Thing
Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)
Bastien Dubois

Short Film (Live Action)

The Confession
Tanel Toom

The Crush
Michael Creagh

God of Love
Luke Matheny

Na Wewe
Ivan Goldschmidt

Wish 143
Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing

Inception
Richard King

Toy Story 3
Tom Myers and Michael Silvers

Tron: Legacy
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague

True Grit
Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey

Unstoppable
Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing

Inception
Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

The King's Speech
Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley

Salt
Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin

The Social Network
Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten

True Grit
Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects

Alice in Wonderland
Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips

Harry Potter  and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi

Hereafter
Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky and Joe Farrell

Inception
Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

Iron Man 2
Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

127 Hours
Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy

The Social Network
Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Toy Story 3
Screenplay by Michael Arndt. Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich

True Grit
Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Winter's Bone
Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Another Year
Written by Mike Leigh

The Fighter
Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson

Inception
Written by Christopher Nolan

The Kids Are All Right
Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg

The King's Speech
Screenplay by David Seidler

Tanu Weds Manu – Movie Review

 “Tanu Weds Manu” for the most part seems confused about its backdrop and essence. The cast delivers dialogues with a sometimes Bihari and sometimes Punjabi accent. From the music to the dialogues, from the characters to the story, there is no clear orientation to the film. It also tries too hard to capture the Dilli feel that seems to be the trend but in the bargain it ends up being an obvious case of ‘wannabe’.

The first half of the film is tediously stretched trying to establish the fact that Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and Manu (R. Madhavan) are poles apart. It does pick up momentum in the second half but then again climax ends up to killing the fizz. Tanu is the rebel without a cause from Kanpur and Manu is the NRI doctor from Delhi. Manu has buckled under parental pressure to get married and follows them obediently from city to city looking for his bride. Tanu on the other hand believes that a degree from Delhi University makes her eligible to live a life of rebellion. To Tanu this means disagreeing to marriage, changing boyfriends every month and getting drunk at weddings. True to her character, she has a boyfriend who sends thugs to beat up every potential groom her parents manage to import. Manu happens to be one of them. However, Manu falls for her despite her vices and dysfunctional attitude and thus begins a crazy ride complete with weddings, eloping and of course song and dance.

Unfortunately for Kangana Ranaut, all her flaws are exposed while trying too hard to walk in the shoes of her ‘rom-com specialist’ contemporaries. Her dialogue delivery and diction seem obviously flawed, even to the most untrained of ears. I don’t know how comfortable she was playing the part, but she definitely makes the audience uncomfortable.  Although she does find a better mark once the bindas girl act is done with. Madhavan manages a fairly decent performance, his silence at times expressing much more than his dialogues. Even though the shy blushing groom act is overdone, he manages to hold his ground. But the man who takes the cake is Jimmy Shergill (playing the role of Raja Avasthi). Known for playing the good boy; Jimmy shows us his bad boy avatar is this film (glimpses of which we saw in “A Wednesday”). Seen majorly is the second half, Jimmy essays a brash and rowdy character with surprising ease. Overall the film does have its moments but the lack of chemistry between the lead pair and a plethora of wannabe elements pull the film down.

Verdict: I would watch it once, if I had nothing better to do.

THE FIGHTER IS A KNOCK-OUT

When documenting a true tale through film it can be challenging to keep the audience engaged. Just like the protagonist, "The Fighter" overcomes any such hurdles. David O. Russell, along with his perfect star cast and talented script writers delivers a box office knock-out. 

The brilliance lies in the manner of documentation. While following the sequence of Mickey “Irish” Ward’s life, O. Russell manages to maintain an air of mystery. He gives enough fodder to follow the story but unravels certain details later. Mickey at the age of 31 hadn’t won a single worthy title despite his talent. Trained by his idol and brother Dicky and with his mother (Melissa Leo) as Manager, he lives in the shadow of his brother’s legendary win against Sugar Ray in the boxing ring.

Entangled in the web of family, he gets pressurized into a losing and painfully embarrassing battle in the ring which was supposedly, his come back fight. The glaringly bad decision is the last straw and his frustration leads to a fall out with the two. Many relationships come into play during the course of the movie that influence Mickey. One of them being the girlfriend, played to raw, subtly crude perfection by Amy Adams.

Mickey’s equation with each one changes throughout, and the nuances have been captured without getting into unnecessary details. That’s what keeps you enraptured apart from Bale’s outstanding performance of course. The lengths which he has gone to for his physical appearance are evident, which aids the acting. But oh the acting! He maintains the goofiness of Dicky, with a pinch of remorse for his failure, through his crack-addiction and sober states, with his affection for family and boxing permanently evident.

Walberg certainly makes a good ‘Fighter’ but it’s his supporting cast that make Mickey and the movie a winner. As he struggles with emotions, injuries, crime and acceptance he grows to understand his needs and finally emerge out of the shadows.

The fact that its based on a true story doesn’t rob it of humour, which is effortlessly weaved in through dialogue and mannerisms or sometimes just a pregnant pause. Boxing is obviously omnipresent but what makes it different is that the whole package lends more dimension to the life of a boxer, other than that of just sheer passion.

Shakti New Stills

Allu Arjun Marriage card

Rana and Abhisekh Bachan's Dum Maro Dum

Rana and Abhisekh Bachan's Dum Maro Dum Trailer.This is the Rana's debut movie in hollywood.Bipasa is the heroin the movie is based on drugs mafia in Goa.

World Cup Schedule

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 match schedule India match dates
Groups:
A: Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada, Kenya
B: India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands
Schedule:
Saturday 19 Feb – Bangladesh v India, Dhaka
Sunday 20 Feb – New Zealand v Kenya, Chennai
Sunday 20 Feb – Sri Lanka v Canada, Hambantota
Monday 21 Feb – Australia v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
Tuesday 22 Feb – England v Netherlands, Nagpur
Wednesday 23 Feb – Pakistan v Kenya, Hambantota
Thursday 24 Feb – South Africa v West Indies, New Delhi
Friday 25 Feb – Australia v New Zealand, Nagpur
Friday 25 Feb – Bangladesh v Ireland, Dhaka
Saturday 26 Feb – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Colombo
Sunday 27 Feb – India v England, Kolkata
Monday 28 Feb – West Indies v Netherlands, New Delhi
Monday 28 Feb – Zimbabwe v Canada, Nagpur
Tuesday 1 Mar – Sri Lanka v Kenya, Colombo
Wednesday 2 Mar – England v Ireland, Bangalore
Thursday 3 Mar – South Africa v Netherlands, Mohali
Thursday 3 Mar – Pakistan v Canada, Colombo
Friday 4 Mar – New Zealand v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
Friday 4 Mar – Bangladesh v West Indies, Dhaka
Saturday 5 Mar – Sri Lanka v Australia, Colombo
Sunday 6 Mar – India v Ireland, Bangalore
Sunday 6 Mar – England v South Africa, Chennai
Monday 7 Mar – Kenya v Canada, New Delhi
Tuesday 8 Mar – Pakistan v New Zealand, Pallekele
Wednesday 9 Mar – India v Netherlands, New Delhi
Thursday 10 Mar – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Pallekele
Friday 11 Mar – West Indies v Ireland, Mohali
Friday 11 Mar – Bangladesh v England, Chittagong
Saturday 12 Mar – India v South Africa, Nagpur
Sunday 13 Mar – New Zealand v Canada, Mumbai
Sunday 13 Mar – Australia v Kenya, Bangalore
Monday 14 Mar – Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Pallekele
Monday 14 Mar – Bangladesh v Netherlands, Chittagong
Tuesday 15 Mar – South Africa v Ireland, Kolkata
Wednesday 16 Mar – Australia v Canada, Bangalore
Thursday 17 Mar – England v West Indies, Chennai
Friday 18 Mar – Sri Lanka v New Zealand, Mumbai
Friday 18 Mar – Ireland v Netherlands, Kolkata
Saturday 19 Mar – Australia v Pakistan, Colombo
Saturday 19 Mar – Bangladesh v South Africa, Dhaka
Sunday 20 Mar – Zimbabwe v Kenya, Kolkata
Sunday 20 Mar – India v West Indies, Chennai
Wednesday 23 Mar – First quarter-final, Dhaka
Thursday 24 Mar – Second quarter-final, Colombo
Friday 25 Mar – Third quarter-final, Dhaka
Saturday 26 Mar – Fourth quarter-final, Ahmedabad
Tuesday 29 Mar – First semi-final, Colombo
Wednesday 30 Mar – Second semi-final, Mohali
Saturday 2 April – Final, Mumbai

I Am Number Four: Answer to Potter, Twilight?

Building a motion picture franchise can be a tricky business. Ask the makers of Daredevil, the Hulk movie, The Losers or Kick-Ass. And this is just in the very recent past.

So with the Harry Potter  series coming to a close this year and Twilight being put to bed not long afterwards, Hollywood has got to be wondering where its next mega-franchise is going to come from. This weekend, a contender opens on movie screens around the world that seems designed to fill the void left by the boy wizard and those chaste vampires.

I Am Number Four appears in cinemas around the world on the heels of some level of controversy relating to the book it is based upon, and the way in which that book was written. Having acknowledged that fact right at the beginning, I am not going to consider it again for the rest of this review. Instead I am going to focus on what director D J Caruso, writers Alfred Gough & Miles Millar, and star Alex Pettyfer got right.
                            
The movie opens with the killing of a kid hiding out in a remote jungle, doesn't matter where, doesn't matter how -- suffice to know that he was the last one standing between the evil Mogadorians and Number Four (Pettyfer), one of the survivors of a destroyed planet called Lorien. So basically John Smith (Four's alias) is an alien. Naturally the Mogadorians are aliens too but whereas there doesn't seem to be any outwardly visible way to distinguish the Loriens from humans, the Mogadorians are hulking brutes with gills, piranhaesque teeth and fierce tattoos subbing for hair on their heads.
                          
Now this is an origin story so John has a guardian, Henri (Timothy Olyphant), a quiet but deadly warrior who offers cryptic bits of information about John's origins and always initiates a 'pick up and run' anytime John draws attention to himself and his otherness.

With Number Three dead (because the Mogadorians have to kill these nine survivors in a particular order) John's life is in danger. But this is a movie so naturally John cannot remain in hiding for too long (consult the boring parts of Harry Potter 7 for how that strategy actually plays out on the big screen), so he decides to go to school in his new home of Paradise, Ohio and quickly picks up a pet (an adorable beagle that needs to be seen to be believed), a sidekick (Callan McAuliffe) and a love interest (Glee's Diana Agron).

And that is about all I am going to tell you.

The director has a decent ability to surprise the viewer within a scene (think about that car accident at the beginning of Disturbia ) and he gets ample opportunity to make things go bump in the dark during this movie. The film's pacing is a bit off in the first half and it appears that both director and leading man are struggling to pin down the character of both John and the film. But once things kick into high gear the film moves along very nicely.

Like I said earlier in this review, this movie is 'designed' to be a franchise starter and so it offers up enough tonal and thematic familiarity so that potential fans can 'get' what they are in for as soon as possible.

The reason this movie will feel like the television show Smallville in parts is because the writers also masterminded that show. The fact that the hero's home planet bears nomenclatural connection to the famous car from the Back To The Future series cannot be coincidental -- that franchise's executive producer Steven Spielberg  is a principal in the studio that produced I Am Number Four.
                                            
There is even a battle sequence set in a high school corridor that will remind fans of a similar battle sequence from the first ever Star Wars  movie.

All told, the principal players in I Am Number Four do a decent job of pulling together various elements to fashion an engaging-enough origin story for John and the surviving members of the nine. The book series is expected to run over six parts and whether moviegoers buy tickets will decide whether more movies are made to improve upon the promise of this first episode.

Alex Pettyfer has limited range but an engaging presence on screen. Also, in a departure from a lot of other young actors he does 'dark and dangerous' a lot better than he does 'warm and fuzzy'. In my book, that is something worth rooting for. Too many chocolate heroes will eventually give you a stomach ache.

Review: LBW is worth a watch

                                           

A film like LBW (Life Before Wedding) springs a pleasant surprise on the viewer. The film on today's generation and their viewpoints does not come sugar-coated. Director Praveen Sattaru has made an honest attempt to depict the life of two couples in this well-presented, technically good debut film. Partly shot in Dallas, US and Hyderabad, the film strikes a perfect balance and makes for worthwhile viewing. 


The story is simple but the screenplay is arresting. Rajesh (Rohan) and Radhika (Chinmayee) live and work together in Dallas. They are the best of friends but when Radhika professes her love to him he doesn't react positively. In the meanwhile a friend of his Varun (Asif) walks into their lives. 


After this incident, Radhika gets friendly with Varun. Rajesh asks his mother to fix his wedding. But when the wedding is fixed he has doubts and wants to get back with Radhika! 
                                             
Meanwhile in Hyderabad, Rishi (Siddhu) meets Anu (Nishanti) and starts liking her. They go out together but she can't stand his smoking and lies. His friend Jai (Abhejit), a quiet guy, takes Anu into confidence and both fall in love. Jai gets a job in the US and goes there. Anu's parents fix her wedding. Will the two pairs of lovers unite?


The opening scene of the film has a few friends discussing love and marriage and these two stories come up. This opening scene is not impressive leaving one wondering about the film but a few minutes later the film picks up steam and one is glued to the proceedings as the stories are juxtaposed while being narrated in flashback. 


It's interesting to see how they are narrated and how the love angle is developed. They are presented naturally and it's refreshing to see the newcomers perform well. Director Praveen has ensured the film is a slice of life about the the youngsters and their perceptions, reactions, perspectives and emotions. In that sense, the film is relatable by the audience particularly the youth. The film does tend to drag a bit in between, though.


The newcomers are fresh, impressive and immensely natural. One can hardly say it's their first film. Abhejit, Rohan, Chinmayee, Nishanti, Asif, Siddhu have substantial parts which they have played well. Chinmayee looks quite glamorous too in her outfits. It is heartening to see totally new faces act as though it was their third or fourth film. These actors have a long career ahead of them. A fat American who is always eating and another girl who is always sleeping provide comic relief.
                                      
Praveen's script is the backbone of the film. The songs (mostly in the background or situational) and the background score are effective. Fine camera work and locales enhance the film. Technically the film looks good. The dialogues in Telugu and English are apt and in sync with the script. Life Before Wedding doesn't look like Praveen Sattaru's debut film too.

To sum up, Life Before Wedding is realistic and definitely worth a watch. It's a pity that it didn't find a multiplex release considering it's a multiplex film.

7 Khoon Maaf Review: A blood-chilling dark thriller

Priyanka Chopra starrer ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’ is a film that is bound to give you the creeps mostly for its blatant theme and bone-chilling storyline. A woman who has smelt blood is like an injured tigress desperate for a kill and Priyanka Chopra is the real tigress of this breath-taking caper which will have you at the edge of the seat for most part.
Director Vishal Bharadwaj adeptly breathes life into the story of Ruskin Bond but faces the intricate complexities of converting a short story into an exhaustive screenplay. Hence, the screenplay has its flaws but they are overshadowed by the powerful performance put in by Priyanka who does a brilliant job.
The mood of the film is dark and scary and the haunting background score adds to the sinister aura making your heart skip beat at times. The film belongs to Priyanka and she magnificently rises to the occasion by splendidly portraying the 7 stages of her life.

Her 7 screen husbands right from Neil Nitin Mukesh to veteran Naseeruddin Shah have been given almost equal importance and screen time. Young Vivaan Shah shows promise and dishes out a commendably thunderous performance.
Though Priyanka’s husbands have been shown ill-suited to her thereby lending her an opportunity to slay them, the reasons why she kills them are not convincing enough and this is where the film falters a bit.

Priyanka Chopra has easily given her best performance in 7 Khoon Maaf. Vishal Bharadwaj adopted this film’s story from Ruskin Bond’s short story Susanna’s Seven Husbands. He made a wonderful film with that little substance on hands which shows his prowess as the director. Priyanka plays Susanna Anna Marie Johannes in 7 Khoon Maaf. Susanna’s life of 35 years span is shown in the film and in that time she marries as many as seven times.

Vivaan Shah is a revelation in this film. Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Irrfan Khan, Aleksandr Dyanchenko, Anu Kapoor and Naseeruddeen Shah played Priyanka Chopra’s six husbands in 7 Khoon Maaf. We leave alone the seventh husband’s name as it would spoil the fun. 7 Khoon Maaf is an engaging movie with its share of dull moments and illogical scenes.

Despite the flaws, Vishal Bharadwaj’s screenplay holds the attention of audience and keeps them glued to the screens. Second half drags a bit in the middle and the reasons for murders doesn’t seem convincing enough. Few stories aren’t written well or else 7 Khoon Maaf might have become a masterpiece. Saying so, it is a brilliant movie as is and is a must watch to all the movie lovers.

Yet, despite some minor flaws, the film is gripping, blood-freezing and intensely watchable.