Month: February 2006

Movie Review: Mangal Pandey

Title: Mangal Pandey
Language: Hindi
Starring: Amir Khan, Amisha Patel, Rani Mukherjee

I was pretty dissappointed with the film. Its a pity that Amir chose this as his come back film after a long break. I found too many things wrong with the film that I am not going to spend time talking about the actual story (you’ll find plenty of this on the web). Here are a few of my peeves…

  • What was the point of Amir Khan’s long hair? There were a number of people around with short hair in film. So it was not like long hair was the trend in those days. Besides as a soldier in the British army there is no way he could have grown his hair so long. It just didn’t fit in, not to mention that Amir looked pretty odd wth his long hair!
  • What was Amisha Patel’s character doing in the film? A complete waste and not needed for the film.
  • Most of the songs were uneccessary and were nothing great. The producers could have saved some money by hiring someone other than AR Rehman.
  • The British guys in the film kept speaking hindi. It was annoying to say the least because it wasn’t easy to follow either.

A few positives of the film: Amir Khan’s acting as Mangal Pandey was impressive. Toby Stephens, the British officer was excellent. Rani Mukherjee handled her small role perfectly. The sets and background score were very impressive as well.

Salman sentence

Salman Khan the hindi film star has been sentenced to a one year jail term. Sanjay Dutt has already been to jail. Salman is headed there. Monica Bedi is already there. The Hindi film industry in particular seems to be in a constant battle with the law and law makers. Thankfully, the regional film industry has stayed clear of this kind of mess. Well, at least so far…

Didn’t cricketer Pataudi have a similar case against him? What came of that?

Top 10 reasons for Dick Cheney’s shooting-gate

10. This was meant to be a warning for Iranian President Mr. Ahmadinejad!
9. He was preparing for a long battle over Iraq.
8. He saw Mr. Whittington watching Bin Laden’s video on his Ipod and thought he had his man.
7. He was sick of hearing Mr. Whittington complain about escalating medicare costs.
6. He was convinced by intelligence reports that Mr. Whittington was actually a duck.
5. He was under the influence of a lame duck President.
4. He was so frustrated after hunting for 8 hours with no success.
3. He had always dreamed of giving the US troops in Iraq a demo.
2. Now that Alito was on the Supreme Court he felt he could do whatever he wanted.
1. He was sure Mr. Whittington was carrying WMDs.

India win in style, Again!

India seems to have made winning (while chasing a target) a habit (well, almost! 🙂

Brilliant innings by Dhoni at the finish, a superlative display of batting from Sachin and the continuing good form of Yuvi, saw India through. The Indian bowling is still its weakest link. Its great to see India experiment. I won’t be surprised if Chappell rolls out some of the newbies (Munaf, VRV etc.) in the next series against England in place of Zaheer and Agarkar.

A couple of questions come to mind after last night’s match:

Why was Agarkar replaced after bowling a decent spell?
What was the thinking behind playing Zaheer Khan as super-sub?

Aussies in trouble?

The unpredictable Sri Lankans pulled off a convincing victory in the first VB series ODI. The Aussies are under serious pressure for the first time after the Ashes. It should be an interesting second ODI. The Lankans will need Jayasurya to fire in order to challenge a determined Aussie side. Its amazing how a team like the Lankans can transform into a threatening unit after so many repeated defeats!

Second ODI: Pak vs. India

India won in style. A terrific batting performance by the Indians. With a score of 100+ for no loss I thought India would experiment and send in Kaif or Raina at number three. But Dravid wasn’t taking any chances and wanted to square the series I guess before experimenting further. Viru was run out to a freak through that landed on the stumps. Viru had only himself to blame for not running fast enough. He ran the third run slowly not expecting a direct hit. He was batting at his best and seemed set for a century. Sachin looked to be in very touch until succumbing to his nemesis Adur Razzack (I can’t understand why Sachin gets out to this guy so often).

Pathan continues to be “happening player” contributing with the bat or the ball or both. He gave India a fine start by taking a wicket of the second ball of the match and then followed up with two more wickets later. The rest of the bowling was good in patches. India made up for it bowling deficiencies by effecting as many as four run outs.

If India have to fancy themselves of a chance in the next world cup the field and bowling has to improve significantly. Viru’s fielding is very suspect. Zaheer and Sreesanth are weak links in India’s fielding. Both of them throw extremely well but aren’t the best when it comes to pick up and making diving stops. While Viru’s batting is a huge asset, these two might find themsleves out of the World Cup team if they don’t tighten their fielding or dramatically improve their bowling. Strangely, Agarkar had a bad day in the field though in general he is an excellent fielder. Yuvraj, Kaif and Raina are simply electric in the field and truly exciting to watch.

With the series squared the next ODI should be more interesting. Pak was completely outplayed in this one. Without Shoaib Akthar to provide the sizzle, Pak’s bowling appears very weak.

Thoughts before the second ODI: Pak vs India

Viru has been struggling in ODIs. With the kind of form that Dhoni and Pathan have shown and with Romesh Powar most likely in the team, it might make sense to revise the batting order. I think Dhoni should open with Sachin followed by Yuvraj. The rest of the batting order should be decided based on how the match progresses. I think the key lies in interspersing the hitters (Dhoni, Viru, Pathan, Romesh) with the steady types (Dravid, Kaif, Sachin who btw capable of both roles). Might make sense to give Dhoni, Sachin and Pathan the first half of the 50 overs while Viru and Romesh are saved up for the second half. Dravid and Kaif can play the steadying hand on an as needed basis.

Feels Good: My suggestions are being heard!

Two of my suggestions on this blog have been heard!

1. Adding Romesh Powar to the Indian ODI team. He has had a great domestic season and can provide the fireworks needed in the last 10 overs. Considering that all our bowlers go for 50+ runs in their 10 overs, his bowling is decent bet too.

2. Attapattu opening the innings for Sri Lanka. In the crucial game he seemed to have taken the plunge to open and sure enough SL won convincingly over the Proteas.