Kannada Movie Jollydays Movie Review

Cast: Pradeep, Praveen, Vishwas, Deepu, Niranajn, Aishwarya Nag, Ritu, Spoorthi, Keerti, Rutika
Director: M D Sridhar

Cinematographer: Krishna Kumar
Music: Micky J Meyer

Jollydays movie review, and ask me how close it is to perfection, I will say it gets 8.5/10. This is my first Kannada movie review in my blog, but thought I will share with you my experiences of watching the Jollydays movie. I just loved watching the movie as well as reviewing it for you people! It’s a remake of the Telugu blockbuster hit movie Happy Days from the pen of Shekhar Kammula who is also the director of the film in Telugu.

Director M D Sridhar doesn’t go off the track and reproduces the original Happy Days in his Jollydays. One aspect of the film that keeps you stop blinking is that everyone can relate to the film especially the good old college days. If you are not reminded of the ragging, you will be reminded of the freedom-full hostel life or those that days you would have spent with friends teasing and ragging or the crushes you would have developed during those days. Every youth identifies him/her in the characters of Jollydays movie and the movie is successful in letting us all enjoy again the beauty of college life.

The director M D Sridhar manages very well to strike the chord with the emotions of the Kannada movie audience. The story line of the film might be thin but it runs fast on a very well written screenplay. Both on-screen as well as off-screen crew of the Jollydays movie supported the screenplay very much to make this a must watch to say the least. Jollydays movie is a heart touching experience and will certainly take you through a nostalgic feeling. If you have not experienced one, something wrong must be within you and not the movie.

Jollydays story takes off with first day of entering into an Engineering college, where the main leads start their life as engineering students, and the movies ends with last day and the farewell. Director churned in all of the teenager’s emotions in perfect proportions and takes one teenager’s life as example showing how his persona matures from the day he enters to a fighter who is willing to face the real challenges of the outside world, by the time he graduates from the college. Pictureperfect way of ending!

Coming to the technicalities: The cast chosen for Jollydays movie are new, but you agree that they are pictureperfect, because you will not see an actor in the film but see the character itself. Jollydays music is given by Micky J Mayer who has also given for the Telugu original and you would say he is apt for the Jolly Days movie. I will give 10/10 for the soothing background score and the peppy song numbers. Lyricist Kaviraj perfectly complemented Micky Meyer with his great nostalgia evoking lyrics. You will actually fail to figure out which song stands out, because all of them are so cool (probably after Mungaru Male I fell in love again with Jollydays music and songs as such). Indeed I was actually in trans for over 4 hours after watching the Jollydays movie, and no doubt the songs take 50% of the movie’s credit.

Camera work by Krishna Kumar is commendable and you will just love the places, he has shown on screen, and they are all from our own state Karnataka. Almost all of the artists performed close to perfect but special mention goes to debutante Vishwas who was outstanding. I reckon a bright future for this boy. Keep it up Vishwas!

Coming to flip side of Jollydays movie:
Weak story line (not every college goer come out with a partner heh?).

But, on the whole, Jollydays movie review outscores other Kannada movies currently in theaters and is a must watch film with loaded emotions, romance, friendship and some comedy too (defying logic though) and will find 100% favor with the youth and middle-aged people. It certainly going to break some records at the box office. Watch out!

PS:

Parents who have teenage kids may simply hate Jollydays movie for obvious reasons. I went along with my sil who has an 18yo boy and she didn't appreciate the movie as much as I could . So, make sure you have a perfect company .

Raaz 2 Movie Review

Raaz 2 or Raaz The Mystery continues (RTMC) is another film produced by Director-producer Mahesh Bhatt and is an directorial adventure of Mohit Suri. The main cast of Raaz 2 movie include Bollywood’s Kissing Baadshah Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut and Adhyayan Suman (Ah! You got it right Shekhar Suman’s Son). The genre of Raaz 2 movie is a horror-thriller and the film hit theatres all over India yesterday.

I had to admit that Raaz 2 movie may not be one great horror thriller of he Indian cinema, but it is still worth watching once and when you have a stretched weekend like this, you can definitely head to the theaters to watch Emraan Hashmi and Kangana Ranaut who are just outstanding.

Raaz The Mystery Continues opens with heroine’s narration about ghosts and guess you can't ask for a better opening than this for a thriller. Kangana played the model named Nandita Chopra and she ramps so gorgeously. Nandita falls in love with a documentary filmmaker Yash Dayal (Adhyayan Suman) who does TV reporting before breaking into direction. He directs a reality show named Andhvishwas (Yowzat! Now call it coincidence?) which opens to rave reviews and wins accolades from all quarters of society.

While the relationship between Nandita and Yash Dayal continues, she meets a weird painter artist Prithvi (Emraan Hashmi) who predicts her future through what he paints. She comes to know of a looming threat to her life but has all doubts to or not to believe about Prithvi’s predictions. But she slowly starts experiencing horror and Prithvi tries to rescue the girl. Yash is one who will not give to blind faiths (as his reality show is titled) or supernatural powers.

Now here comes the Raaz the mystery continues…
What’s that Prithvi foresee happening in Nandita's life? Whether what he’d foreseen all happen to Nandita? Will Yash believe the existence of possessions? Who succeeds in saving Nandita Chopra, Yash Dayal or Prithvi? Whether he succeeds in saving her life all form the rest of the movie and trust me you will like watching the movie.

The redeemable factor of Raaz The Mystery Continues is none other than Emraan Hashmi and this man is a load of acting smarts. I also loved Kangana Ranaut as much when she walked the ramp and as much when becomes possessed. She is another good factor in the film. Both Emraan and Kangana deserve an A rating for their brilliant performance. While Emraan slimmed down a bit you will see Kangana put on some extra kilos here and there, she's still carried herself beautifully.

Mohit Suri is successful and I would say the pre-interval session keeps you bite your nails off with loads of suspense and horror. Mohit Suri’s efforts behind the camera are wonderful; not too much of bloodcurdling but yes justified. However, Suri seem to have lost a hold and the second half film doesn’t live to viewer’s expectations. After taking to a good high during the first half, the second half falls and fails to take it another high. I would still reckon that a few scenes involving Kangan thrill you.

Adhyayan Suman didn’t inherit the acting and spontaneity of his father Sekhar Suman. His father should take interest in sending the boy to a dialogue and acting school and not a GYM. He needs to take some crash course on acting if he is serious of taking acting as his career. He still appears raw and in many scenes his expressions remain clueless and horrid. I still say the movie saw Adhyayan better with good screen presence after the interval. Emraan seem to have been sidelined and Adhyayan given more focus by the Bhatts. Maybe high time for Emran Hashmi to bid an adieu to his godfather’s camp and move ahead believing just in him. He’s certainly a matured actor and doesn't need anyone to back him up.

The music and the songs are very good (like you expect from any of the Vishesh Films and especially the song 'Maahi Ve' is one you will listen from everyone once the film is over) but I loved the re-recording part very much and it does keep you on the edge of your seats. The climax is not cooked in right proportions and it didn't taste good(I guess that’s the reason why Indian horror films fail to stand with Hollywood horror flicks). Just like any other Indian horror film it also fails to score a great finish.

Raaz 2 movie review will be given a B+ rating from me. And, let me tell you that you one take one slot of your weekend for this horror suspense thriller and you will not be disappointed. So, whats that you are still pondering? Get ready for some spooking this weekend, Raaz the Mystery Continues has those elements in abundance for you, and if you hit the theater without any expectations on the movie Raaz 2 you get your ticket's worth. If you liked my Raaz 2 movie review, make a comment on the post that'll let me know visit my blog often because I love to update you on the forthcoming films too.

**If you don't enjoy hair-raising sequences, please stay off the movie.

Nostalgia

Ever wondered how we survived growing the 80's and 90's?
We’ve not known what seatbelts are and how airbags look like, and most of us never had a chance of sitting in a car (if one came and was parked in front of a house I remember we thought they were too rich or someone from Mars to even talk) …

and moms gave babies to neighbors and were not protecting them in a hi-fi crèche or carrying them in prams …no …no …they’ve not been exposed to any lead-based colors…or those toys whose plastics could choke a baby or whose colors could be very harmful ……and no mineral water and no paper napkins (if a kid had a real bad runny nose, an elder one in the gang would wipe it off with her skirt or a frock …..and they didn’t know uttering chheeeeeeees or chhaaaaaaaas).

And for women or mothers.....
To open kitchen cupboard it wasn't any hassle …most of them are open type and even if they were closed type …..noone knew of the cockroach tabs or lakshman rekhas or locks …all they knew was cockroaches and rats living along with their families.

And tell about cycling? It was more of a free wheeling ….… and I recall three of us also cycled together. Moms were never worried of falls or injuries. So they didn’t tie head inside a helmet or pack knees inside a cap or cover elbows inside elbow pads,……if the mothers were creative they tied some rattle between 2 spokes so it made ratata sound and it made kids gleam with smiles …

kids were kept busy collecting so much stuff from roadside (I myself was so much interested in collecting bolts and nuts) and tried to build all sort of things … (there was no POGO MAD show that time) and they never knew of the malls that could make their Sundays.…

kids were as tough as one would imagine walking on walls climbing trees and then trying a free fall jumping down for the sake of fun…. we as kids had envious stamina to stay out in the sun and in the rain to play for hours together (I recall asking my mother for extension of 30 minutes every time and never kept a time), and played up and down the stairs coming home only for dinner (and there were no rules of table manners, and all we knew is to eat like a race so we had the thrill of a win).

we walked to and fro school, or if lucky sit behind a friend who pedaled his bicycle (we never imagined of existence of school buses that have air conditions and videos played).

no mobile phones yet all friends and relatives seem so connected …. God knew how?

we lost teeth, got cuts, burnt fingers, broke arms fractured legs, had bruises and bloody noses……yet no complaints that he pushed or she threw stone, and believed it was part of so much fun

we ate whatever in sight, sour unripe tomatoes in garden or the smallest of ber fruits of tree, mango buds, candy floss, sugary drinks sold roadside, this and that, …..still grew skinny fooling people around.

And, if someone had a mouthful of cake piece it was a loot from his mouth by a gang of 10, and surprisingly no one complained of an upset stomach or complained of germs...

sunday evening get togethers were mostly story tellings and I recall most of them to be ghost stories and narration of goried accidents.....yet we are the same senstive ones crying for someone's pain and feeling at someone's loss..

no Play Stations, no MP4s and MP3s, no Nintendo's, iPods, no video games, no cable TV, no chat-rooms, no internet, etc ... and real friends was all we’ve had!

we've never had any inhibitions to go call a friend to come out to play from his backyard and never had bodyguards,

we played teacher-students, doctors and patients, hide and seek, all repeatedly ……without ever getting bored.

…..then in 90’s we have seen advent TV with the famous Doordarshan and we’ve had

Siddharth Basu’s Quiz Time
Wednesday night’s Lucy Show
Sunday afternoon’s Alpha Plus by Derek O’ Brien
....and the long long series of Ramaanand Sagar’s Ramayan
And, how can we forget those news readers on Doordarshan like the ever charming Salma Sultana,
the moled Neethi Ravinder, the charming too much Rini Khanna (I remember her as Rini Simon too), the stiff seated Geetanjali Aiyer, the so capitivating Tejinder Singh....

Do you remember of Surabhi (countless times I would’ve replied to the question) and how can anyone forget the sweet smile of Renuka Sahane and Siddarth Kak’s ending of the program?

and those two songs coming as soon as the Wednesday Chitrahar breaks off (there were no ad wars)

…….Vicco turmeric,
Nahin cosmetic
Vicco turmeric ayurvedic cream
Or
Triiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiinggggggg...................Washing powder Nirma, Washing powder Nirma
Doodh si safedi, Nirma se aayi ..............Rangeen kapde bhi khil khil jaaye…

We’ve had that melodious Sare Jahan Se Achcha and Mile Sur Mera Tumahara ……as household songs and the latter featuring all of the Bollywood stars, and I still recall the song and its beautiful picturization (could anyone beat that? I doubt).

.....we failed in exams yet given another chance …….and there were no visits to child psychologists, psychiatrists or student counselors…….all we got is one or two scoldings by mother and father (and they were not worried of any suicidal attempts by kids).

....those were the days… when we’ve had enough freedom, achieved success, went through disappointments and took responsibilities……. while still respecting elders and every others…

I proudly belong to that generation. Are you too?……connecting to your childhood through this small post. If it at least reminded you of one childhood evening, I will be glad you are at least de-stressed and believe it would have put a small smile on your face.

Old is worth more than gold…

Is the mobile you are using legal or illegal?

Don’t worry, I am not taking on a brand survey of mobile phones. But, if you’ve gotten one from the grey or smuggled market, is it a branded one or one of the Chinese handsets?

Why?
The grey markets of every big city are glutted with more of Chinese handsets. So what? They pose a security threat. According to intelligent agencies, these used Chinese handsets would have been used by people with malicious intent like mafia or terror groups. The Karnataka government is contemplating a ban on such handsets that do not have IMEI or International Mobile Equipment Identity which is unique for every mobile. The handsets without the IMEI number must have been in the hands of antisocial elements and so it’s advised never to buy even it’s a cheapie. After all, you don’t like police people grill you the next day. Do you?

Unfortunately, to escape ban the makers are planning to introduce fake IMEI numbers. But you can still resist them asking for another set and you’d see the IMEI number featuring on that handset as well. Remember for each set it would be different and when these phones or handsets are outlawed never buy and land behind bars.

An IMEI number would come in 15 to 17 digits and when a SIM gets activated this IMEI number gets recorded with the service provider making it possible to trace the caller’s identity and even the location from where one makes the call using the handset. Even if you have lost the cell you can get it traced with IMEI number.

Where to see the IMEI number on a handset?
Under the battery usually IMEI number is displayed. It will be 15 to 17 digits with no letters or slashes. The first 15 numbers is very important.

In case you did not find IMEI under the battery, press *#06# on the keypad and the IMEI number gets displayed on the screen. You can jot down and save for future references.

For Motorola handsets, you need to press # followed by * followed by right arrow- all in very quick succession and you can see IMEI displayed on screen.

You can try all of these but your Chinese handsets cannot display one but might hold the danger of landing you in a Police station. So did you get what it means to have Chinese handsets with/without IMEI? BEWARE....college folks! Resist the temptation of throw away prices.