Generic Hollywood ‘disaster movie’ fare. Despite the special effects and the sounds, the movie is not moving, not engaging, not thrilling – not even a bit.

This is the kind of book I wouldn’t want to be seen holding publicly. There! I admit it. I’m sort of a snob when it comes literature. But at the same time, I have also stepped out of ‘snob territory’ to experiment with these kind of books.

My Friend Sancho is an entertaining read. The book is written in a very informal narrative, trying to awkwardly juggle between moments of grief and humour, yet never really going deep enough. After you’ve laughed your way through the pages, you realize that the whole book was a bit like listening to someone ramble on, punctuating their monologue with plenty of mirth inducing sarcasm.

I looked at the summary at the back of the DVD and thought that it would be one of those mindless comedies set in a prison but Greenfingers surprised me as a very sensibly and a sensitively made movie. I think Clive Owen is brilliant as the brooding, repenting but reserved inmate who turns over a new leaf slowly.

Having read the book about five years back, I had been wanting to watch this movie for a long, long time.

On its own merit, the movie is excellent. I am so accustomed to seeing Whoopi Goldberg playing flashy or hyperactive roles, the innocence and humility of Celine that Whoopi plays to such perfection is a revelation.

But the movie pales in comparison to its source. I know that its not fair that I expect a book to be condensed into a two hour movie and stay true to it, but I can’t help it. This book is one of my favourite books, and I felt that the movie did not carry the essence of what the book was trying to say. A friend of mine with whom I watched the movie suggested that had a female director made the movie, it would have turned out different. I am not sure about that but I do think that the movie is a good story/cinematic treat but the lack of character development and emotional depth is very obvious.

I liked this movie but I wasn’t just blown away by it.

It’s strange that in my country, controversies are generated by the most insignificant things.

When “Water” was being shot in India, it was all over the papers because of the protests and rioting. I don’t even understand why. The movie brings out the pathos and suffering of the widows of pre-independent India with such precision, I am amazed. How could such a movie offend anyone? Perhaps those who are offended are those who still live in denial, who allow themselves to get offended by the truth of our past and those who appoint themselves the moral guardians of a religion the foundation and interpretation of which itself many question.

I couldn’t watch this movie in the theatres because I was interning at that time and I was reduced to listening about it from friends. There was a mixed reaction overall and I now understand why.

Spiderman 3 does not have the raw edge of its predecessors – there are too many story angles that are dealt with too superficially. The villains are too soft and there is a lot of unnecessary melodrama which takes away the edge off of what could have been a gritty superhero movie.

Not convincing and not nail biting enough.

Movie drags in the middle and beats logic when you see the dad chomping merrily and making conversation while his family is lost and being preyed upon out in the wild.

Lots of fire, stunts and some mumbo-jumbo about deals with the devil.

That’s about it.

A truly forgettable experience.

I really don’t care if this movie is based on Indira Gandhi and generated controversy for all the wrong reasons, I shall remember this movie for the stellar performances of Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen, and the beautiful music.

Sanjeev Kumar is so restrained and yet so much expressive, it made my heart ache for the character’s pain and longing. Suchitra Sen is beautiful and poised, and even with the tinge of the Bengali accent in her Hindi, gives a believable performance as a woman torn by her desire, ambition and personal demons. I especially applaud how the character is been scripted in a “real” way, where the female protagonist is not portrayed as a stereotypical ruthless or vindictive woman just because she has ambitions of politics power and success. The movie does not also pass value judgement on her character and the decision she made to leave her family to pursue her other interests – and that highly impressed me.

As with all Gulzar’s movies, I love the way it ends.

One of the best movies I have seen this year!

Sajid Khan spent the first half of his career parodying movies and movie stars – I expected that a film directed by him would overcome the flaws that he would pick up on and rip apart during his hey days on the TV. But like all talk and no walk, Heyy Babyy is extremely a shoddy cinematic venture where none of its stars in the movie can save it when the plot is so weak. The movie at times reaches a point of predictable ridiculousness, that you are not laughing with it, but at it.

Avoid this movie at all costs if you are easily angered by stupidity on the silver screen.