Mere Baap Pehle Aap

Starring : Akshaye Khanna, Genilia , Paresh Rawal and Shobana. Oh ya and Om Puri

Story Line: A son tried to unite his widowed father with his true love

Story: The son(Akshaye Khanna) is an eligible bachelor, who seems to have a lot of love for his widowed father(Paresh Rawal). Soon we learn that, he has been quite naughty in his college days, driving a girl(Genilia) out of college. The girl wants revenge, and some silly scenes later, the girl realizes the enormity of her mistakes, reveals herself to the son, and thus starts a friendship.

The father’s friend(Om Puri) is also an eligible bachelor, whose role has been to create humorous situations . But they hardly move our lips. As the story progresses, we find that the love girl resides with her close friend’s mom(Shobana), who is a music teacher. This is followed by the revealation of the information that the father used to love the teacher. But he couldn’t marry her because of family constraints.

The son and his love find the facts and set about plans to reunite the couple. They succeed in doing so after every normal film drama. And after this they realize that their own friendship has turned into love.

So when the stage looks set for the finale with a double wedding, enters the father of the bride(Naseeruddin Shah). He prolongs the film by another half hour stating that either the son or his father can marry, not both. The loving son that he is, he reunites his father, forsaking his own love. Looking at the devotion of the son, the father of the bride agrees to a double wedding.

The End

Rating

Story : 6/10

Acting: 4/10

Remarks:

I really think that Genilia should consider another career. She is totally lost in this world, both in Tamil and in Hindi. Om Puri’s character is completely unnecessary(Plus that guy cannot do comedy). The audience could have saved half hour without the intervention of Naseeruddin Shah.

India – SuperPower 2020?

I have started to read the newspaper every day for quite some time, ie other than the sports page. Having always kept myself informed of the current President, Prime Minister, the ruling party and also a bit of other political things, i assumed myself to be updated. Only after having studied the press clippings have i realized my mistake.

For example, i didn’t even know of India’s position as a rising power. Until i read the papers. This activity has lead to a few doubts arising in my mind. Is India really as powerful as our politicians and media project it to be. Can it lay a serious challenge for world supremacy by the year 2020. Can we indeed become a developed nation as Dr. Abdul Kalam dreams by then.

My personal feeling is that, our gentle neighbor to the north, China poses a more significant threat to the US. Furthermore, the mutual enmity between the US and Russia might lead to Russia teaming up with China. As i understand, at present, India faces a huge dilemma. Should it align with the US, to whom it has been yielding under pressure for quite a while now. Or should it align with China and Russia, who as a team can wield a bat as heavy as Sachin used before his tennis elbow problem. I am not talking about a World War. Rather i am talking about diplomatic stances which is like the only path to survival.

I am rather new at commenting on such topics, but i do invite your comments as to India’s current position as a growing powerhouse.

F1 2008

The Formula 1 season is nearly halfway through, time has come to bet on the driver’s championship, and it takes no more than a quick glance at the results to note that this year has been the most competitive one in a very long time. The post Schumacher era had experienced a thrilling season finale last year which has been followed by a sensational mid season standing. Never have 3 teams including four drivers been billed as possible contenders for the divers championships.

The gap between current leader Felipe Massa and the fourth placed British sensation Lewis Hamilton is a mere 10 points. Robert Kubica in his BMW Sauber has been the surprise package this season. Considering their achievements so far, it can be safe to say that Ferrari once again look like the team to beat. They have won 5 of the 8 races, the other 3 going to Lewis Hamilton(2) and Robert Kubica(1). Heikki Kovalainen has been disappointing this season , partly due to his bad luck. He has only a singe podium finish, and his 4th place finish yesterday at Magny-Cours might be his much needed revival.

At this stage, when most teams would have chosen their numero uno, it is the toughest to predict for the Ferraris. Both the drivers are in a favorable situation to win the championship. This continuing dominance might be good news for the team championships, but is a disaster in the driver’s championship. You will only need to look back at the Mclaren duo of the last season to understand what i am referring to. For the second placed team BMW Sauber, it is clearly Robert Kubica, while for the Mclaren, it has to be Hamilton.

At the other end of the grid, Team Force India has been a failure to say the very least. Vijay Mallya must input a considerable amount of money into his R&D program for the car to be race contenders in 2010, when the Indian GP is likely to take place. His hope of being mid field runners at he end of the season is nowhere near being realized. He will have to go in for fresh blood next year. I know you will argue about the drive by Adrian Sutil in Monaco, but it was largely a race strategy combined with an extraordinary amount of luck which made them go so far.

Personally, i hope Kimi wins this year. I have my gmail id named after him(have been his fan since he came into F1 nearly 5 years ago!) and i also hope that he will cast aside his plans of retirement. Otherwise i hope Massa to win, because of his very determination to succeed after a dismal start to the season. Experts were talking of a possible Massa replacement at the end of this season. He has certainly made them to eat their words.