Tikka Town – Ramana's Musings

Chalk n Duster.

It has been almost four weeks since I had an outing with my friend Ramesh and he simply got fed up. Using the excuse of another visiting friend’s presence just now in Pune, he twisted my arms to go out with him for lunch and a movie and I am glad that he did.

The lunch at Tikka Town’s latest outlet in Viman Nagar, a neighbouring suburb of Pune, was simply out of this world and the movie was well worth the two and a half hours spent inside the multiplex.

The film is studded with extremely capable actors. Did you notice my choice of the word ‘actors’? Yes, capable actors, not one of them a star as the term is generally understood. All of them come up trumps with their performances with some excellent direction and camera work.

What makes me give just a 3/5 rating for the film is the very noble but weak storyline. The story is all about commercialisation of school education and tough management vs good teachers and their students. The climax of the quiz show could have been handled better but was very interesting nevertheless.

Chalk N Duster is a movie worth going to if you are the emotional / sentimental type who enjoys soft storylines and high morals being advocated.

Kya Dilli Kya Lahore.

Despite having assured gaelikaa in a comment in her blog post that I would see the film,I almost did not make it to this movie because of sheer laziness. First my usual movie going companion could not make it due to totally unavoidable reasons and the alternative, a dear friend disappeared yesterday to Mumbai but when my first option contacted me late last evening and suggested that we go this morning, my laziness disappeared and I arranged everything to enable my exit from home early in the morning for a morning show and lunch out.

I am glad I did.

The entire picture of an hour of forty-five minutes revolves around two main characters with two almost cameo roles who come in to add spice to the tale. I had never seen any of the four before in any movie because my seeing Hindi films have restarted just about a couple of months ago. And I was impressed by all the four. The director, is also new to me and what direction!

The story line is taut the characters and dialogues totally believable and superlative performances with excellent camera work completes the grand experience. Gulzar‘s presence is unforgettable as I have followed his passion over decades. A puzzling aspect of the film is why it was shot entirely in Fiji when the story is based in the India Pakistan border! Similar locations can be had in many parts of India.

Rather than review the film here, let me leave you with a very unusual review in a leading Indian daily to give you more information. Suffice it to say that the film gets[rating=6] from me.

There were four viewers inside the theater but two were busy canoodling and so only the two of us really saw it. A pity. I hope that it does much better in other theaters.

And I would be remiss in my duty if I did not praise the excellent food that we had at Tikka Town, a restaurant run by a friend.

Broken City.

It is Russell Crowe season and when Mark Wahlberg is thrown in as a bonus, I could not resist the temptation. I had seen the former in another film just a few days ago!

I saw Broken City yesterday as part of an indulgent lazy day for myself.

To start with, I landed up at the multiplex half an hour before the start of the film and spent 25 minutes in a cafe having excellent Capuccino and Curry Puffs. I did this exact thing just about a year ago and it was like déjà vu!

Cafe Coffee Day has come a long way during the interim and now offers free Wi Fi! I think that I should go there more often and do some of my blogging there! If I can get myself a tablet, that should be possible.

The film was gripping and if instead of New York we can have Mumbai, this story can come alive in our part of the world too. Both the actors who had persuaded me to see the film did not let me down. For those who like Crime flims, this is a good see.

I followed the film with lunch at a new restaurant called Tikka Town in a mall called Inorbit.

Had some delectable biriyani, assorted kebabs and rounded it all off with some great gulab jamuns. Sorry, I was too hungry to take photographs of the food!

The lazy indulgent day continued when I returned home for a nice two hour siesta!