And, you thought I was gonna put one more mushy lovey-dovey post, hehe but no ! I am gonna spare the world more misery this one time :P. Basically, as it panned out, I saw the Indian and the western Supermen this week, so it puts me in an enviable position to compare the two larger-than-life heros and how even Aliens are susceptible to dat one human weakness, Love :). And as this is my century of posts, it had to be titled Love afterall, the universally-acclaimed ultimate salvation :P.
Well, to put the context in the spin, I joined my firm BCG on 3rd July. And these guys have pampered our incoming batch of consultants like hell, fattening the guinea pigs before the knife falls in one swift, smooth arc :). We had been put up at the Hilton, a swanky 5-star, with all the pooh-paahs u associate with such richness [its true really, richness breeds more prosperity and then some more !], and the rest of what followed went in a similar vein. I know this mite sound cliche, but the best part of working at BCG is that they really care for their ppl., and I have seen enough to know this relationship is their to stay [I hope for a long, long time though :))]..
Okay, now cutting back to the caped and the masked ones :), I saw Superman first, on the day I landed in Mum [talk abt. my motivational levels :PP], dragging myself through the rains with the IIMC junta :). Directed by Bryan Singer, the Guy who helmed The Usual Suspects and more importantly X-men I n II, the second one touted to be the bestest comic book movie evvah, so with soo much pedigree at stake, I really walked in with sky-high expectations for the digitally-dressed Brandon Routh, the new teen-throb. Well, the movie started decently with a meteoric Superman returning after 5 yrs to his adopted home after his failed tryst to lookup his parents ended in ashes, and a evil-looking Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor finally fashions the ultimate weapon on Humanity, Superman's home crystals. And u r thinking, wow, nice pretext and all-dat, and in walks the 1st disappointment, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, and the 1st thought you have is, why would the most powerful man on earth, the Man of Steel, fret over this plain jane [okay ! keep the daggers in about beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and all dat :), but let it be fer nw :)] . And then, the story nose-dived into a tale of love, anxiety where as it is with most things, the good triumphs over evil, and the credits nosedived in with Superman flying to glory for some 5 minutes of screen-time, but prolly Mr. Singer forgot dat post-Jurrassic Park, flying people donn impress us at all, anymore, comeon, even Indians are flying world-class nowadays. So, barring the ever-menacing Kevin Spacey, I see no reason as to why should one fret over watching Superman return to our beloved earth ? And if you havent, trust me, you are better-off not shelling whatever it costs at your friendly next-door cinema house :).
Okay, now cutting back to the caped and the masked ones :), I saw Superman first, on the day I landed in Mum [talk abt. my motivational levels :PP], dragging myself through the rains with the IIMC junta :). Directed by Bryan Singer, the Guy who helmed The Usual Suspects and more importantly X-men I n II, the second one touted to be the bestest comic book movie evvah, so with soo much pedigree at stake, I really walked in with sky-high expectations for the digitally-dressed Brandon Routh, the new teen-throb. Well, the movie started decently with a meteoric Superman returning after 5 yrs to his adopted home after his failed tryst to lookup his parents ended in ashes, and a evil-looking Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor finally fashions the ultimate weapon on Humanity, Superman's home crystals. And u r thinking, wow, nice pretext and all-dat, and in walks the 1st disappointment, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, and the 1st thought you have is, why would the most powerful man on earth, the Man of Steel, fret over this plain jane [okay ! keep the daggers in about beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and all dat :), but let it be fer nw :)] . And then, the story nose-dived into a tale of love, anxiety where as it is with most things, the good triumphs over evil, and the credits nosedived in with Superman flying to glory for some 5 minutes of screen-time, but prolly Mr. Singer forgot dat post-Jurrassic Park, flying people donn impress us at all, anymore, comeon, even Indians are flying world-class nowadays. So, barring the ever-menacing Kevin Spacey, I see no reason as to why should one fret over watching Superman return to our beloved earth ? And if you havent, trust me, you are better-off not shelling whatever it costs at your friendly next-door cinema house :).
Three days later, I walked in to watch Krrish with the IIM-A crowd, and lemme put it first over, after the movie, I aint surprised it has already grossed upwards of 75 crores. Its a neat, handsome package, full of all the typical Bollywoodish ishtyle prepped up with Hollywoodish slickness, which makes for a wholesome, raapchik (if I may use dat word) entertainer. And, then there is Miss Chopra, and she would have made some Lois Lane, if only :). With a Paycheckesque story, Hrithik really steals the show with the verve and the sincerity he brings to each scene of his, and its hard begrudging his success, he truly deserves every iota of it. Read someplace, Papa Roshan is gonna make a sequel again, I hope we get to see some Alien stuff once more, something on the lines of it was destiny that made Jadoo give powers to Rohit in the 1st place, or even further, something related to the guy who invented the "Om" machine itself !
Interestingly Brett Rattner, the guy who directed X-Men 3, and whose earlier ventures include Rush Hour 2 and Bad Boys - 2, was supposed to direct Superman Returns and Singer was supposed to do X-Men 3 as well. But, Singer traded movies due to his comic-love, and the two franchises traded soul for zing. But, in the end while Superman ended with too much of a soul mebbe, X-men 3 ended in a wham ! Wish, Singer had stuck with X-Men, we would have one bad movie less than, I guess :).
Ranjan
P.S. I am shuttling between Delhi and Mumbai faster than a Concorde, but thanx to my firm, I now have a post-paid Hutch connection, which allows me to call anyone from anywhere in India at Rs. 1 / Min., and hence, I can stay in the loop :). Taz then !
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