Deadman's Cellphone at Jagriti

I was very very excited when Jagriti opened in Whitefield, a theatre with actual plays that didn't take 2 hours to reach on a weekday evening!! I was even a Jagriti volunteer during their first season and the first play of this season was something I was looking forward to. That it was directed by Vivek Madan was icing on the cake and increased my expectations.
After a short weekend vacation and a hectic work week, followed by a malleswaram wknd (the kind where I drag E to spend time with my parents, usually involves doing crosswords, stuffing myself with food and watching mindless crime/detective TV serials if mom is around) and a awesome "Onam Sadhya", which deserves its very own post, we found we had time to go watch the last show of "Dead man's Cellphone".
The show was pretty packed, not house full but a very good turnout, the play itself left me feeling meh. The acting was fairly decent across the board, and the protagonist deserves a special mention for her energy and enthusiasm. The use of the AV to set the location of the scene was an interesting touch, even the suspension of paper and the clothes rack was unique, but the story itself didn't make me think or feel. In my opinion there were too many blackouts and the interval was entirely unnecessary.
It was however a good way to spend a Sunday evening, for supporting the arts and the local theater if nothing else!

New age for Kannada movies? - Lucia by Pawan Kumar

Its been a pretty hectic work week and after some considerable "asking" (aka periodic nagging) by E, I agreed to go for a mid-week evening show of "Lucia" at PVR.

Before I begin the review, let me talk about the "PVR director's rare", it is a new concept introduced by PVR where they showcase one movie that plays one show every day per week. Last week was the Pahadi movie called "When Hari got married", an almost home-video style documentary about a Dharamsala taxi driver's arranged marriage. Going by my limited experience, it seems these movies usually has subtitles and play in the smallest screen (screen 9 at PVR phoenix Market city) and the last time we were there there were about 7 arty-type people who were "oh-so-taken" with how "real" the movie was...

For Lucia however there was an almost full house, we still managed to get decent seats and armed with popcorn (you'll discover that's the mainstay for all my movie watching - good, bad and rohit shetty) we settled in to watch the movie.

Without giving away the plot, I'll say that the story grips you pretty much from the get-go. It does leave you utterly confused at times but with the promise of answers ahead you are compelled to keep watching. The acting is fairly good across the board, the main characters come across as familiar even though the actors themselves are not big names (atleast not ones I know, please don't kill me if they are kannadiga superstars!!).

I would watch the movie atleast once more, just to appreciate the nuances that in retrospect were excellent. 

With a strong storyline, good treatment, pretty female actors and a couple of item numbers thrown in, it should appeal to a large variety audience, I hope it does well in mainstream theatres as well.

You are so Opinionated!!

Now, that's a sentence I have heard over and over again for a large part of my life.

Yes, I am opinionated and have been since a very young age. The only gift age had brought me, is that I do change my opinion (rarely, very rarely) at times.

I've been reading blogs for about a decade now, and I am finally ready to share my opinions with the ether (in the hope that blogging is on its way out and most trolls would have moved to Twitter).

I hope to opine on everything under the sun and share my rambling thoughts here.