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By Sonny Chatrath
Occasional Actor &
President
Air-Savings.com

If you have been noticing, remakes of successful Bollywood movies from the 80s and 90s is on the rise. Some are extremely successful, and some are terrible flops.

If you have watched RGVs Sholay, or the new Umrao Jaan with Aishwarya Rai you know what I am talking about.

Some films are just painful to sit through in part because of the poor script and the rest because the new actors can’t hold a candle to their peers. Don is an exception to the rule.

New Agneepath Debuts

I was looking forward to the new Agneepath with Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Zareena Wahab, and others.

I was so anxious, that I arrived at the theatre about 10 minutes before showtime to make sure I didn’t miss even a second of the film.

Once inside the 200-seat theater I was relieved to see that I was one of just two souls in the theater. But given that today was a working day, and a rainy, dull, boring one at that, it made sense.

Or it may be that people were expecting someone like me to review this film so that they could save their precious $8.50. ;)

For those who are planning on downloading and watching this, I would recommend just bite the bullet and go watch it in a theater.

Blows You Away

I promise you the experience will blow you away. Not that the producer is paying me to make this statement.

For the benefit of our readers, I won’t draw parallels between the old Agneepath with Amitabh Bacchan.

Let’s treat this film as a whole new film, because most of us were too young back then to remember the original and bias is not always a good thing.

I will be honest, I am a big fan of Hrithik, Priyanka, and Sanjay Dutt because they are fine actors, and bring their own unique qualities to the screen.

Rishi Kapoor did his first negative role as the girl-trafficking, drug-pushing Rauf Lala and he did a phenomenal job.

It is sad that women in Indian cinema always play second fiddle to the male leads.

Without further ado I present my review of Agneepath.

School Master Dina Nath Chauhan lives with his family in Mandwa, a small coastal village where he teaches primary school kids. He is popular with the locals, and about to start his own salt mill.

The Local Zamindar/former ruler of mandwa hates his guts and wants him dead. He calls his son Kancha (Sanjay Dutt) from Mumbai to come and help him get rid of Dina Nath. They frame him for raping and killing a disabled school-girl and hang him immediately.

Vijay, his son, knows his dad is innocent, but can’t save his father. He leaves Mandwa with his mother and lands at Mumbai by boat, where he commits his first crime by killing a cop.

From that point the film picks up speed, and several new characters are introduced into the film.

Rishi Kapoor plays Vijay (Hrithik Roshan’s) mentor.

There are several plots, and sub-plots running simultaneously. Some of them don’t make much sense.

I will let you watch the film instead of giving the whole story away.

I did have several issues with continuity of the film.

In my opinion, they cut Vijay’s childhood part short, and also failed to show the part where his mother disowns him.

Also, the young neighbor Kaali (Priyanka Chopra) is introduced without telling us who she is; it does take a while for people to figure that she is the neighbor’s daughter who has been in love with Vijay right from the start.

Kaali’s outfits look like they came out of one of those premium designer stores, she doesn’t look like she lives in a chawl.

Sanjay Dutt Rocks, Hrithik Intense

Sanjay Dutt shines as a villain.

I think Kancha will go down in history as one of the best villains in a Bollywood film.

He is Scary, Ruthless, and Ugly.

This is the first time I have seen him do a negative role.

Hrithik is one of the best actors in Bollywood, because he is always in character.

It is rumored that he locks himself in a room two days before the shot so that he stays in character.

His intensity is unbeatable.

Priyanka Chopra brings charm to the screen, but for some reason her existence doesn’t make any sense.

I wish they came up with more meaningful roles for women in Indian Cinema.

This film like other Bollywood films is Male Centric.

Zareena Wahab is perfect as Vijay’s mother.

The supporting cast also deserves recognition, especially the kid who plays Vijay as a child is gifted.

Chikni Chameli – Hot

Lately all Bollywood films are promoted with an item song.

This film had “Chikni Chameli” which was a pleasant distraction, and Katrina Kaif looks hot as hell.

I am sure the producers spent a pretty penny on that song.

The whole Agneepath album is very melodious.

Melodious Music

Ajay-Atul have done a good job composing the music.

The director did take some cinematic liberties, like the time when Vijay Picks up Kancha,  (I mean all the way over his head) after being stabbed multiple times and throws him on the ground.

I am sure you will watch that scene and chuckle. Sanjay Dutt is like a mini mountain compared to Hrithik, yet Hrithik whips him like miracle whip.

And then there are the tear jerking moments of the film, which are an integral part of any Bollywood film.

It is moments like these that make Bollywood films family friendly. After all they have to think about all the unclejis, and auntijis who will sob, and sniff.

The cinematography is above-average, and Mandwa village looks beautiful.

Indian Cinema has really come a long way from those over the top films of the 80s and 90s in the sense that level of acting has improved tremendously, and even with the few flaws in continuity, and script the overall product is great.

I highly recommend the new Agneepath. It has the potential of becoming one of the biggest releases of 2012.

Related Posts:
Old Agneepath Review

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Despite powering dozens of tablets including the Amazon Kindle Fire, a new survey shows Android’s market share in the tablet market at just 39.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Something must be seriously wrong with the Android software if so many vendors including Sony, Acer, Asus, Samsung, Motorola etc are struggling to get some momentum for their devices.

So far the only way most Android Tablet vendors have been able to move their devices off the shelves is by repeatedly cutting prices to a few hundred dollars below comparable Apple iPad models.

But for those price cuts, Android’s marketshare would have been still lower.

Global Tablet OS Marketshare

The only Android tablet that’s gained some traction so far is the cheap $199 Amazon Kindle Fire.

Apple has been able to keep its tablet prices obscenely high because the competition has been unable to get its act together.

iOS Still Numero Uno

Apple iOS continues to be the tablet king with 57.6% of the tablet market in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a recent survey put out by Strategy Analytics.

Apple shipped 15.4 million units in the fourth quarter compared to 10.5 million units by all the Android vendors combined.

Global tablet shipments hit 66.9 million units in full-year 2011, surging 260% from 18.6 million in 2010.

It seems consumers are increasingly going in for tablets in preference to netbooks and even entry-level notebooks or desktops.

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If it’s the Intel Science Talent Search competition you can be sure there’s a sizable Indian-American contingent among the 40 finalists.

For the 2012 Intel STS competition, seven Indian-Americans made it to the finals.

The Intel STS is a prestigious pre-college science competition held annually.

The finalists are considered to be the next scientific leaders and expected to help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.

The 40 finalists will gather in Washington, D.C. from March 8-13 to compete for $630,000 in awards with the top winner picking up  $100,000 from the Intel Foundation.

The seven Indian-American finalists and their science projects are:

* Sayoni Saha (Gretchen Whitney High School, Cerritos, CA)
A Doll That Looks Likes Me: A Study of Self-Concept in Children with Down Syndrome Continue reading »

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The United States filed a consent decree Wednesday for permanent injunction against Indian generic drug manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Ranbaxy – Failures Galore

The U.S. Department of Justice statement said the government uncovered several problems with Ranbaxy’s drug manufacturing and testing in India and at facilities owned by its U.S. subsidiary, Ranbaxy Inc.

These problems allegedly include:

* Failure to keep written records showing that drugs had been manufactured properly

* Failure to investigate evidence indicating that drugs did not meet their specifications

* Failure to adequately separate the manufacture of penicillin drugs from non-penicillin drugs in order to prevent cross-contamination

* Failure to have adequate procedures to prevent contamination of sterile drugs

* Failure to adequately test drugs to ensure that they kept their strength and effectiveness until their expiration date

The U.S. government has also determined Ranbaxy submitted false data in drug applications to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including backdating of tests and submitting of test data for which no test samples existed. Continue reading »

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Dear God,

Have you lost it completely?

Never mind. That was just a rhetorical question.

We find it so distressing that your callous indifference to the most basic elements of quality has reached epic heights.

That you could allow such a loathsome and disgustingly crude item number like Chikni Chameli to see the light of the day can only mean Satan is now the guiding hand behind your actions.

Art is obviously no longer your domain!

Shocked as we’re at the ugly spectacle of Chikni Chameli, we confess it’s not a complete surprise considering the person at the center of that perversity.

Katrina – Sheer Agony

Of all the horrid Indian starlets we’ve had the misfortune to behold, this British import Katrina Kaif has the least class.

Be it in her dance moves, her acting, her gait or her talk, Katrina Kaif is a monument, God, to your folly.

Garbed in as little attire as possible, the woman thinks, in deluded fashion, surely, that thrusting her tits forward, obscenely shaking her derriere and crudely spreading her legs wide, is the acme of seductive moves.

Mon dieu, seductive it is not.

Slutty, it most certainly is.

In a sane world guided by a wise hand, creatures like Katrina Kaif would not be within 100-feet of a camera.

We have not the slightest doubt that your Indian acolytes, whose reckless ceaseless breeding has raised their numbers to 1.2 billion, will love the Chikni Chameli item number because it’s in the nature of those savages to embrace filth of any kind.

The trashier it gets the tighter their embrace.

Dear not-so-almighty, we pray that the Satanic influence on you abates soon.

Your most skeptical former devotee,
SI

Related Stories:
Agneepath (1990) Review – Nauseating Piece of Shit

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Apple iPhone – let the idiots sneer and let the havenots lust for it.

The iPhone is a juggernaut whose momentum shows no sign of slowing.

With over 180 million units sold and several hundred thousand apps built for it, the iPhone continues to delight new users every day.

The current 4S model is the fifth iteration of the iPhone.

A few hours back, Apple announced its fiscal first quarter, 2012 results and the iPhone numbers were staggering. Apple sold over 37 million units in the quarter.

iPhone and related products and services yielded Apple $24.42 billion in the latest quarter.

We’ve used the iPhone since July 2008 (first the 3G model and later iPhone 4) and for the most part we’re satisfied customers.

Here’s a timeline of iPhone sales on a quarterly basis since its launch on June 29, 2007:

iPhone - Most Successful Phone in History

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