I am sure we all know what an ‘After-Party’ is. For those who are not aware of this term, the following scenarios will help you understand and relate to it better.
Scenario 1 : You have had a bad work week and want to vent out your frustration on a Saturday night but you realize that the pubs shut down at 12.30 sharp. However, you don’t want to go home.
Scenario 2 : Your group of friends met after quite a while and you are being asked to go home at midnight, however you want the nostalgia to continue.
Scenario 3 : You bump into a stranger and you make friends with him/ her instantly but you find out the lights come up and the bouncers are starring at you and wondering why you are not leaving yet.
Scenario 4 : You just discovered your appetite for drinking has just gone up by 10% but the bar is closed for that one last drink !
Scenario 5 : The DJ never played your song despite begging him/ her around.
Hope I have covered most of the common reasons on why Gurgaon deserves an After-Party. STORY has rightly identified this need on a Saturday Night. Westin, one of the star hotels in Gurgaon has managed to shed its luxury tag and make way for late night party seekers. There is no entry / cover charge on Saturday nights. Le Meridian (previously Pullman Hotel) used to attract quite a crowd earlier in 2015 with its pool side ‘I-Kandy’. However for reasons unknown, I-Kandy slowly faded away from the late night party scene.
STORY has high end ambience and is well maintained. One can view the entire floor from anywhere inside. They have an easily accessible bar. The smoking zone is restricted to the far corner and is good for conversations. It has a terrace which is often restricted for private parties.
Staff at the entry may be little extra cautious and strict in filtering out stags. They have a valet parking and a thorough security check for everyone’s benefit.
Staff at the bar and the bouncers are friendly. Drinks here are expensive, however you would get a Beer and a small Black Label for almost the same cost, so I would let you decide.
The DJs here (Majorly DJ Raney and his wolf pack) prefer to mix popular English tracks with Bollywood tracks and they make a great job of it too. And yes they do take requests and let you take selfies with them. Some of the Soi7 crowd that was loyal to DJ Raney follows him to his new workplace and that includes me too.
The women here dress fine as well as casual and don’t mind making new friends. There is a designated dance floor near the DJ console and the crowd enjoys dancing till late in the night.
Place starts shutting down by 4.30 am and by the time you hit the roads you get a feeling that you just witnessed a wild night thanks to STORY
In 2013, when I moved to Gurgaon from Hyderabad to work for a Wall Street bank, I was awestruck by the lifestyle this city had to offer. The day I walked into Striker, Gurgaon (a popular pub) in 2013, I knew it was going to change my life forever!
By VarunMannava, Dating Guru & Author of *Bestseller books
Gurgaon got the name Millennium city. Cyber Hub & Sector 29 make this name apt. Cyber Hub clearly gets the lion’s share of revenue when it comes to eat-outs and pubs in Gurgaon! Sector 29 is slowly catching up but needs more class compared to Cyber Hub.
So what do you do if you are single and want to find out the coolest hang out places between Monday to Sunday? Or a family person who is looking to get more than the boring conversational dinners?
Monday : The Wine Company, Cyber Hub
Wine Company has exotic Mediterranean ambience. They are located right at the ground floor and you can spot this as soon as you enter Cyber Hub. The staff at the entrance and at the bar are quite friendly. No big restrictions on Stags entry. Ladies get free wine and select cocktails on Monday nights. The place is dimly lit and has the front area for those who prefer to sit outside. Its got some nice wine-wisecracks in the washrooms. One gets the cheapest price on drinks in Cyber Hub. Try their Karari Roti in starters. They have a cool band playing till 10.30 pm post which the DJ takes over. The DJ plays the likes of ‘Barbra Streisand’ mix with less emphasis to popular songs and more emphasis to mixes. The women who visit on Monday are dressed fine and do not really engage in speaking to strangers. You can spot some in their work attire too. The dance floor is small and cute near the DJ console. The bouncers may get agitated if stags hit the dance floor which is understandable. Great way to wipe off Monday Blues. Place shuts by 12.30 am (Maybe open till late too, kindly check with the restaurant).
Tuesday: Sutra, Cyber Hub
Ok, Ladies night in Sutra has become more popular of late. With a regular ambience this is a huge place on the second floor and has a terrace area just like Soi7. Staff at the entry may be little extra cautious in filtering out stags. The free drinks here may be limited for ladies! The place is brightly lit on the terrace and is dimly lit inside. Drinks here are quite expensive. The DJs here mix it up with popular english numbers and songs from Bollywood, both old and new. The women here dress casually and don’t mind speaking to strangers. The place in front of the stage becomes the dance floor. Place shuts by 1 am.
Striker, one of the oldest hangouts (now opened up newly in South Point Mall) in Gurgaon is still able to sustain its regular/ loyal crowd as well as attract new and curious crowd on Wednesday Nights. With an ambience close to Hard Rock Café, this is a cute hangout where one can view the entire floor from anywhere. Staff at the entry may be little extra cautious in filtering out stags. Staff at the bar and the bouncers are friendly. It’s Latin Socials on Wednesday nights. The place is averagely lit and has a open area smoking zone which is the mother of all conversations. Drinks here are not as expensive as Cyber Hub but they are not cheap either. Try their Salt and Pepper chicken in starters. The band plays till 10.30 pm and then the DJ takes over. The DJs here prefer to stick to the popular track to the likes of ‘Bebot’ and ‘Lean On’. The women here dress casually and don’t mind making new friends or borrowing a smoke. There is no designated dance floor and that’s the best part. The whole place starts dancing in pockets. DJs take requests. Great way to hang out mid week while waiting for that weekend. Place shuts by 12.30 am.
Sutra, CyberHub- The Sufi Nights on wedenesdays is the major attraction. The more popular the band, more buzz it creates. Sufi lovers have a ball here. Place shuts by 1 am.
Thursday : Soi7, Cyber Hub
Soi7, one of the Youngest hangouts in Gurgaon is a heavy weight in attracting the best crowds not just from Gurgaon but also Delhi/ NCR. It takes pride in its loyal visitors and makes way for new visitors too. It throws anniversary parties like no one else and New Year party bash is the loudest in Gurgaon when it comes from Soi7. With a woody casual ambience this place is massive and has a bigger terrace area than the interior area. It used to sport a massive Kick boxing ring in the middle of the terrace area now its converted into additional seating. Staff at the entry may be little extra cautious in filtering out stags. They may charge cover for entry after 11 pm too. Staff at the bar and the bouncers are friendly. Ladies get select free cocktails on Thursday nights. The place is brightly lit in the terrace area and dimly lit inside. Drinks here are not that cheap, however they have the best brewed beer in Delhi/NCR. Try their Salt and Dimsums/ soft cor in starters. The DJs here prefer to stick to the popular track to the likes of ‘Lean On’ and ‘David Guetta’ with heavy preference to popularbollywood and punjabi tracks. The women here dress fine as well as casual and don’t mind making new friends or borrowing a smoke. There is no designated dance floor, the whole place starts dancing in pockets similar to Striker. DJs do not encourage taking requests.
Manhattan, one of the biggest hangouts on Golf Course Road, Gurgaon is good destination on a Friday Night. With a NYC concept ambience, this place has a portico like 1st floor view and dining available on first floor. Staff at the entry may be little extra cautious in filtering out stags. Staff at the bar and the bouncers are friendly. No freebies here. The place is dimly lit and has a small smoking zone which is good to strike conversations. Drinks here are not as expensive as Cyber Hub but they are not cheap either. Try their Pizzas. The DJ plays soft tracks till 10.30 pm and then the tempo takes over. The DJs here prefer to stick to the tempo of popular tracks. The women here dress casually and don’t mind making new friends. This place has the best dance floor in Gurgaon. The whole place starts dancing around 11 pm on the dance floor. DJs take requests. Special benefits for visitors who own a Harley Davidson. Place shuts by 12.30 am.
Sutra, CyberHub also usually attracts a lot of crowd on Friday nights. Open till 2 am.
Saturday : Sector 29 Market
Sector 29 Market, one of the newest hangouts in Gurgaon attracts college goers and young workforce alike. With a variety of options like DownTown, Lost Lemons, Adda and Striker all lying very close to each other, the party seekers are treated to low cost party going experience. DownTown has a sports bar kind of ambience while Adda sports a garage look. Lost Lemons is quite packed and popular here. Staff at all sector 29 pubs entry may be little extra cautious in filtering out stags. Staff at the bar and the bouncers are friendly. No freebies. The DJs here prefer to popular bollywood and punjabi numbers with some English numbers as fillers. The women here dress casually and may engage in talking to strangers. There are no designated dance floors. These places shut by 1 am.
Soi7, CyberHub also usually attracts a lot of crowd on Saturday nights. Open till 3 am.
Sunday : Try some of the new BYOB places in Golf course road and golf course road extension!
The Movie opens in a car stuck in a traffic jam and we get to see the 3 protagonists giving gyan on why honking does not help when you are stuck in a jam. Also we get to hear Gogo (Kartik Aryan) lecturing Chauka (Sunny Singh) and Thakur (Omkar Kapoor) on how risky it is to drink and drive. These are the only lines that the director Luv Ranjan expresses on National interest related topic. Luv Ranjan is the epxert in relationships and especially women’s behavioural pyschology rather than matters of national interest. Pyaar Ka Punchnama was a proof of Luv’s knowledge in 2011. Now he is back after 4 years with his team of writers to reinforce this fact. Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 does not disappoint. Infact it turns out to be bigger than the first movie. It is not connected to the first movie and yet with a slight deviation leaves a fresh image on screen.
Movie’s initial 15 – 20 minutes revolves either in bars or around protagonists sipping on a causal beer. This shoots a clear message that this movie is not to be taken too seriously and that it is targeted for the youth of this nation. Obviously the drinking age in Delhi is 25, so we are saying that the youth between 18 to 25 are just going to watch this movie as a movie and not be tempted to drink. Come on who are we kidding. Movie directors will tell you that they are only depicting what is happening in the society today. Well that is my slight introspection here. Lets move on to the review part!
The movie quickly moves into the phases where the men meet the women. Gogo meets his girl in a sitaution where Chiku (Nushrat Bharucha) gulps a quick mug of beer and tells him she might forget what he just said. Obviously! Chauka meets his girl Supriya (Sonali Sehgall) at a wedding in Meerut where she mentions that she will have her whisky with half water and half soda. Thankfully Thakur meets his girl Kusum (Ishita Raj) in a gym where she invites him over for dinner later that night. These are the initial happy phases of the movie where the men are blissfully ignorant of what the next 1 year is going to take them through.
The chemistry between the men as roommates is outstanding. These are no less than the Dil Chahta Hai type of frineds where one guy drives while the other two are drunk and one guy pays for dinner but does not expect the other two to payback etc. In such a thick friend circle when you introduce needy and demanding women, all hell breaks loose. However the friendship between the leading men stays intact till the end. That has always been the beauty of Pyaar ka punchnama movies.
The women in this movie are as dumb, mean, frustrating as they can get. But still they dont remind you of the characters in the first movie. One lady just cannot get over her childhood friend even after finding a loving boyfriend. One lady just cannot tell the truth to her parents about her boyfriend and keeps treating him as a friend while her parents use him like a domestic help. One lady is in just for the money and security although she keeps mentioning that she cannot accept money favours or gifts since its non negotiable for her.
What amazes me is that although this movie is very biased towards the men and highlights their suffering and shows women as the selfish creatures, the crowd in the theaters looked very balanced. The female audience were also laughing at the jokes whenever the male audience would burst into laughter. Applause to very good lines continues from the beginning of the movie to the interval block to the climax. The word climax reminds me of the Monologue that Gogo is infamous for. In the first movie his monologue goes on for 5 minutes, in the second movie his monologue goes on for 10 minues. Trust me this one is equally good and witty.
In the end the Men get a hold of themselves and dump their girls and realize that only mother’s love is unconditional. What a way to end the movie!
At the age of 34 if there is one thing that the legendary Roger Federer is doing right, it is following his passion and dream as sincerely and as honestly as he did when he took up a racquet and decided to explore the world of tennis in front of him. He must have picked up a racquet at the age of 7 or 8. That does not matter.
What matters is tonight. What matters is right now. What matters is what matters to him at the age of 34!
Now, thinking about other legends of the game, and other upcoming legends of the game, the arguments were very strong that the legendary king of Clay – Rafael Nadal would surpass 17 grand slams target in a jiffy. Well the fans forgot that Nadal is not going to grow younger unless he is Roger. Now as for the head to head contest, it does not matter anymore.
Talking about Djokovic who is looking to win his 10th Grand slam title at the age of 28, cooks his own food since he is allergic to Gluten. Now it did enhance his stamina and overall game but his game is so stressful that he cannot survive after returning all the balls his opponents throw at him.
What the future of tennis needs is someone like Roger who does not mind experimenting and inventing new shots / actions (SABR).
What the future of tennis needs is someone like Roger who can be a potential threat to the youngsters even beyond the tiring thirties
What the future of tennis needs is someone like Roger who can show child like enthusiasm to do what he wants to do.
What the future of tennis needs is someone like Roger who can be so down to earth even after achieving legendary status
What the future of tennis needs is Roger to win his 18th Grand Slam title tonight !
So imagine a world where mafias run their own rules, their own hotels, their own Codes, their own currencies (Gold Coin) ! Doesn’t sound so new but not having to deal with the Government or Cops. So much so that only a single cop shows up in the entire movie.
Mafia make the rules, Mafia break the rules, Mafia cover up bodies, Mafia party hard, Mafia exchange gun fire and also condolences. In a movie that celebrates contract killers and even worships them we get to see a determined, focused, slick Keanu Reeves who steam rolls his way to his peace. Many years since then, he gets disturbed by a young upcoming Mafia brat. Disturbed real hard and for no reason. Just arrogance. This shakes up the existing balance in Mafia. Keanu Reeves is the Boogeyman who snatches away the Mafia who can’t behave or don’t want to behave.
Wandering on thin ice script, Chad Stahelski the director keeps things very pacy and sleek. Do we need a reason for the best killer in town to comeback in form. No! From body cover up guys to cops to hotel managers, everyone is so excited that John Wick is back, and so are the audiences! As a movie watcher and the movie cast, you would find peace only till John wick’s puppy is alive. The death of the puppy causes so much rampage. John knows exactly where to go once his Mustang is stolen. The stolen car garage owner knows exactly who’s car it is just by looking at it even after many years. He also know all hell is going to break loose. The mischievous mafia bra does not realize who’s car he had stolen and who’s puppy he killed. Isn’t that premise enough for a mafia movie?
Keanu reeves is back with his Constantine and Matrix looks. He suits best in such roles. The silent and focused protagonist. The cool assassin. Michael Nyqvist as the Russian mafia villain provides the comic relief in many ways. Even at the time when he is going to be killed. William Dafoe as John’s best friend does a neat performance. He revolves around John like a satellite, saving him when in need.
This is a movie where you should keep your logical brain aside and enjoy the glorified violence. Because for John Wick, his enemies are not really dead unless he has shot them in the head, not once but twice.
Short films in India were generally being made to convey a short and sweet message. Different approaches being sought to convey different point of views. They used to be educative initially. Like the boring documentaries of political parties we used to watch before a feature film is screened in theatres. From that point short films have come a long way today.
More and more wannabe technicians, directors started embracing this medium to showcase their talents. Else they had friends who were so deeply hurt in love, that they wanted to convey those incidents to their immediate audiences. These short films were not far reaching and were restricted only to the internet.
Ganesh Kumar Mohan is patiently watching all this progress in the short film arena. He is primarily working for the IT industry. But he felt that his passion for movies had overtaken his contribution to the IT. So he decides to come up with this short film Oorukku 4 peru (O4P) which focuses on spreading awareness about the greed and cheat in Multi Level Marketing. This is his fourth film after Godavari,536 and Ramasamy.
O4P has come of age since it is a complete entertainment package. Ganesh Kumar Mohan wanted to convey his message but did not want bore his audiences. Today this short film has more than 7 lakh hits on YouTube. O4P revolves around 4 youngsters who want to earn big money and quick. They fall into the trap set by a MLM agent and try to pass the buck to a village dumb head who is a school dropout. However contrary to their expectations the village dumber stands up to logic and questions the MLM agent back and exposes his fraud. In short, villagers may not be highly educated but still they are street smart when it comes to money.
This short film boasts itself of not using any Tobacco / alcohol / drugs. Its not just this aspect which sets this short film apart from other numerous short films which start with a beer bottle rolling frame. This film is so matured and fits the mainstream cinema. There is so much thought process behind each and every shot in this film.(ex: They have replaced chandramuki & jothika with bhool bhulaiya & vidya balan in subtitles for wider audience). It is clear that every individual who has worked in this film wanted to give their best to register their name in this industry. They even end the short film with a title song just like any mainstream entertainer movie. (Though it is unfortunate that it is pirated in an MP3 dvd, it shows its popularity). The film has got huge appreciation from Director ARM and Director Bhagyaraj has appreciated Ganesh for his previous film 536.
You will find many people in India who are similar to the characters in this short film but you won’t find another short film that reaches anywhere close to this witty entertainer.
Ok. So what if I told you I am not writing this review. What if I told you it was Christopher Nolan who decided I will write this review. That too some 40 years ago. Infact this movie itself was Nolan’s own will some 124 years ago?
What Interstellar does apart from leaving you shell shocked on your seats is that it makes Gravity movie look like a mini episode or a commercial break. Interstellar has so much to offer compared to any other space fiction movies.
It is very difficult to understand the Astro physics concepts while you are trying really hard in the two dimensional way. Nolan comes up with 3 hour length movie to make us ‘Laymen’ understand the mysteries and secrets of TIME slippage. The darkness and amazing possibilities of a Black Hole. Only Nolan reserves the right to say “Science can be fun too”.Infact he also reserves the right to say “Science can be thrilling, entertaining, mystical, visual, logical, infinite…. “. The list goes on.
The script is placed way ahead of current time. Its not about finding another planet to survive. It is about HOW they go about finding another planet to survive. Movies like Oblivion, Wall-E, After Earth emphasized on life in space, whereas Interstellar goes on to tell just how difficult it is to space travel and establish an alternate earth like planet.
Apart from constantly gripping and entertaining the audience, Nolan is travelling on thin ice here trying to educate the audiences while moving the script ahead. Of course we will be reminded of his style of narration. For example, the Dark knight like endings where we feel a lot of adrenalin rush. There is so much left to explore in the space. The explorers travelling tend to live longer on their explorations than the mission that sent them there ! There is time travel too!
Mathew McConaughey landed the best movie of his career but not necessarily the best performance. He is there just because there is a family connect in the script. Family connect is crucial for his survival instincts up there in space. This is a thrilling role not a performance role and he does more than justice to it.
Anne Hathaway does a neat job. Watch her when she explains how Love transcends through Time and Space. She looks quite dumb naturally in that scene.
Matt Damon is a surprise casting and he does what he does best. Infact his role justifies Murphy’s Law -“What has to happen will happen”
Please don’t watch Anupama Chopra’s stupid review and rating on NDTV. Ofcourse she is bored because she is thrilled by dumb masala movies.
5 on 5 is my take for this spectacle with zero flaws ! As I said, flawless because Nolan had already watched this entire movie from a BlackHole up there in space somewhere.! ! !
The Lady In Red
She had a secret
Which her lips wont tell
But her eyes will
She had a Man
Standing by her side
He touched her
She didn’t resist
But her eyes will
She sipped on a drink
Her taste didn’t resist
But her eyes will
She was dragged to dance
Her feet wont resist
But her eyes will
The Lady In Red
She had a secret
Which her lips wont tell
But her eyes will
She looked at me
Her heart would resist
But her eyes wont
She wanted to run away
Which her toes would resist
But her eyes wont
She wanted to confide in a friend
Which her voice would resist
But her eyes wont
The Lady In Red
She had a secret
Which her lips wont tell
But her eyes will
She had a favor to return
which explains her compulsions
She would have been a teacher
But She was with him
Fulfilling his fantasies
Smiling while she did so
Even if she didn’t want to
What amazes her truly
Was that the world didn’t care
Even though it knew
But I did care
And would that make any difference
To the Lady In Red ?
Truth be told! This version of X-Men is quite different and bold at the same time. The plot revolves around X-Men (Good ones and the bad too) joining hands to go back into the past and change one single event that revolves around a character called Bolivar Trask. He is the brain child behind building sentinels that apparently would go on to save humanity. But ultimately the future becomes so dark that even X-Men cant save the world from these sentinels. Bolivar Trask does not hate mutants. He is only keen on the fight against the common enemy – Extinction. So he comes up with this genius programme and wants to build his sentinels with the capability of absorbing and adapting against any fellow mutants who try to destroy the sentinels. So one does wonder who will play this pivotal, ambitious and cold blooded antagonist?
Peter Dinklage is Bolivar Trask !
Now our mind has always been trained to believe that midgets are comedians in a circus or in a mainstream movie. They just run around trying to reach out for something on the table, make funny voices and faces. But in this movie we get to see a midget playing a serious villain for the first time. Peter Dinklage is pretty popular in the television industry for his acting capacity. However we get to see him perform so elegantly and sharply for the first time in a mainstream Hollywood movie, an industry that has personalities like Nicholas cage, John Trovolta who get to play villains just because they are tall and well built. Acting and conviction is hardly a factor for these tall men. Could we see such a transformation in Indian movies? Only time will tell.
Now, moving on to the plot and other characters, it looks like the writers have borrowed the storyline from the vintage Terminator series where men from future send messengers into the past. Hugh Jackman could be considered as one such terminator without the metal claws of course. Lot of importance and screen presence has been given to Jennifer Lawrence as well. Could be because is famous for tripping on the stairs en-route red carpets. Or it could be that the character she plays is the benchmark for sentinels of the future. Can someone tell me why this series is still called x-MEN when Jeniffer Lawrence, Halle Berry are all part of the mutant team ?
3D effects do impress. Especially the titles. And oh, there is comedy too. For instance it was Magneto who killed JFK. Ah, why dint the CIA think of that ? But wait, Magneto says he did not kill JFK because JFK was a mutant himself ?? See, I told you there was comedy. Jennifer Lawrence’s stunts were funny too.
So when you deal with science fictions its always tricky. The Matrix had first of its kind stunts and visual effects. Add to that they had oracle who spoke Indian ancient gyan. Matrix continues to haunt the science fiction movies that released after that. Avatar has a similar concept of body sleeping but mind wandering in a different form and shape but it made up for its stunning visuals and heart touching story.
Now why was I lost when I had to write a review for Transcendence? While I figure that out, let me start with what captivated me the most to watch the movie. Kick ass casting. We have Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy to name the best. Add to that Christopher Nolan is the executive producer for the movie.
The camera man for all of Nolan’s movies like Batman series, Inception Wally Pfister is the director of this movie, which according to me is the biggest mistake here. Sometimes human brain is the greatest canvas. Introduce a few new concepts, tease the brain with a few clues and it takes off with its own imagination. Now meeting that imagination is a difficult thing to do. Genius directors exceed this imagination. However when it comes to this movie, the director builds a great premise that promises to thrill you. So you wait patiently for the science fiction to take over and sweep you away. Even if the first half is slow it is still engaging. Sadly for Transcendence a great cast is wasted.
Johnny Depp disappears after the first 30 minutes and we see his face alone in the computer screens and you hear his voice. Half the time you are wondering whether he is a good guy or a bad guy. And the savers of the society from artificial intelligence, are they good guys or bad ? Everything becomes clear in the second half and trust me by then you would hardly bother to think about it. You would even wonder if you want to walk out in between. The movie ends in a manner that compels you to think that there might be a sequel coming up ?
Acting wise, Mr. Freeman does his part. He tries to be the legendary Mr. Fox from the batman movies, but his character does not give him the depth or the length to establish himself. Well you got the scarecrow playing a FBI agent but merely helpless. Rebecca Hall does a decent job but they make her walk the white pathway of the research campus too often.
Transcendence is not as transcending as the director would have wanted it to transcend.
Varun's Word 