Thursday, 16 January 2014

Dhoom 3 Review

Dooming the audience

Rating-2.5/5

Released just a few days before Christmas, Dhoom 3 made it's way to the theaters, dominantly spread across all screens and show timings. Popularly known for being a cop and thief chase thriller, there is a shift of pattern in Dhoom 3, the genre somewhere seems to have moved from thriller to drama, wherein cops can’t get a hold of the obviously visible thieves before them. The movie is majorly characterized by clown masks, BMW bikes and Western Bank of Chicago. Making reference to the first two movies, the series has always showcased a major influence of the antagonist; it continues to follow the same trend, the only difference being this time the antagonist doesn't appear to be physically as strong and powerful. Unlike John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan fails to create that charismatic impression. Times where the antagonist is seen in softer moods, Aamir Khan manages to gain a huge applause. From trying hard to hold stern robber expressions to being the lead performer for Great Indian Circus, altering his speech at various points to meet the plot requirement and singing melodious songs for Katrina Kaif on the streets of Chicago and Switzerland, Aamir Khan’s half succeeded effort is commendable. Talking about the rest of the cast, like most of her other movies, Katrina Kaif’s role continues to be brief, with barely 5 dialogues in the 172 minutes long movie, she continues to appear in songs as the ‘Asian Goddess who can move like liquid and electricity’. Abhishek Bachchan successfully pulls off the character of a so called intelligent cop whose called upon to Chicago to solve the clown mystery whereas Uday Chopra does what suits him otherwise, a street side bugger turned sidekick. The best aspect of this movie is the location, Aamir Khan’s getaway on Chicago waterfront and the conclusion of the movie set on a dam is a visual treat, these are the scenes to lookout for.  Other than the location and Aamir Kan’s performance in the movie, the Video Effects deserve an appreciation, probably the best video effects Bollywood has seen in a longtime. Even though some scenes are meant to have a thrilling effect they turn out to appear comical, especially for the audience coming from Christopher Nolan movies. The plot is rather mainstream with anticipated twists and turns to it, the most notable change in the movie from the last two parts is the shift of target audience, Dhoom which is more like an Indian version of Fast Furious seemed to have shifted from the youth to the masses. Not only the youth, but families and migrants can understand and relate to the movie in some segments.     

Saturday, 11 January 2014

Political Support for Hatekar pours in

Political Support for Hatekar pours in
Reference
Newspaper- The Hindu
Date- 8th January,2014

 Inorder to express their agitation towards the suspension of Professor Neeraj Hatekar, students from various departments at Mumbai University's Kalina Campus with placards in their hand and chanting slogans held a protest at 8.30 am on Wednesday, 8th January,2014.
To strengthen their fight, Mayank Gandhi from AAP, Amol Matele from Rashtrawaadi Party joined the protest. Whereas, Shiv Sena and Dharamraj party also extended their support virtually.

 Dr Hatekar, a professor of Econometrics in the university's economic departments was suspended on Saturday, weeks after he went public with allegations of mismanagement by Vice Chancellor Rajan Welukar and blamed him for the downslide in the university's academic status, at a press conference last month. AAP's Mayank Gandhi said, "The Vice Chancellor has violated every rule by suspending Neeraj Hatekar. It's not justified." 
To further demonstrate their disappointment, students from the eco department bunked the macro and developmental economics lecture which was scheduled from 9 am to 1pm. On having the Vice Chancellor Rajan Welukar's presence in the Pheroz Shah Mehta Bhavan which is the Politics department at Kalina campus, the students gathered around the department in a pursuit to talk to Welukar but he chose not to face them. To add to their support, they've requested Dr. Mashelkar, the invited chief guest for the graduation convocation ceremony to not show up for the same which will be taking place  on Sunday.
 "Dr. Mashelkar's support would strengthen our fight against the suspension, By requesting him to not show up, we have asked for his support"  said, Amogh Gadabe, Research Assistant at the Eco dept and activist .

Following the rally, a sign campaign has also been undertaken by the students. A hard copy and soft copy signature indicating support has been signed by around 800 students from various departments at Mumbai University.