Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I’m no Indiana Jones fan but after seeing the latest installment of the famed fictitious archaeologist’s adventure – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I won’t be as enthused as before. For the hardcore Indi-fan, I presume the movie will be a kinda letdown and would invoke that dreaded could-have-been-better feeling but for most of the Indian audience, all the action, the adventure, the chivalry, the banter, the chases and of course, the puzzle-solving and cryptic-clue-cracking will be more than enough to spice up a lazy summer evening. And from that perspective, Crystal Skull would rank as an enjoyable and watchable action flick this summer.

19 years after his last crusade/adventure hit the screen, Professor Henry Jones a.k.a Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is back in a brand new adventure. Presented by George Lucas’ Lucasfilm and helmed by Steven Speilberg (who were also involved in the earlier 3 Indiana Jones movies) the movie is set in 1957 at the height of the US-Soviet Cold War. It starts off with Jones being dragged out of Mexico by a bunch of Soviet comrades and hustled into a huge warehouse in Nevada (yes, Russians in the heart of US) and ordered to seek out a rare artifact. Led by iron-fisted and heavily-accented Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), the Soviets are searching for a Mayan artifact – a Crystal Skull – which will give whomsoever returns it to its rightful place its control, and of course, supreme power! Indi is betrayed by his old sparring partner but nevertheless escapes from the warehouse amidst a hail of bullets a la Hindi/Telugu movie heroes and even survives an Nuclear explosion later on! Back at Marshall College, he’s approached by Mutt Williams (Shia LeBouf) whose Mum and Uncle Oxley were on the trail of the Skull but are now lost and need Indi’s help. They’ve mailed a crypt-o-gram which Indi must solve to get to the Skull’s location. Their quest leads them to the remote jungles of Peru and across the vast waterfalls of the Amazon, right into Inca/Mayan heartland where the Skull will finally unlock a long-hidden secret.

Arun Sarin steps down as Vodafone Chief – Indian Media is "shocked" & "stunned"

On Tuesday May 27th 2008, there were reports that Arun Sarin was to step down as CEO of Vodafone:

Arun Sarin, the chief executive who safeguarded mobile company Vodafone’s dominance among mobile operators by expanding into emerging markets, announced his departure on Tuesday, saying he had achieved all he had set out to do. He will be replaced by his deputy, Vittorio Colao, in July.

Analysts welcomed the smooth transition at the top of the world’s largest mobile phone group by revenue but said that it had come slightly earlier than expected. [Reuters]

Later the same day (and even today) News channels on TV were reporting the same and associating exclamations such as “stunning” and “shocking” with it! E.g.: “Arun Sarin — stunned the corporate world by stepping down as the CEO of one of the world’s biggest telecom company” [Times Now]. I wonder what is so stunning in that? Sensational-ism? Gather-Eyeballs-ism? Sarin had achieved what he had set out to do – make Vodafone one of the biggest Telecom companies in the World (It is the biggest in terms of revenue). He took over when Vodafone was facing turbulent times and with his stratagem of consolidating into emerging markets and reducing tariffs and introducing new revenue segments. He spearheaded Vodafone’s takeover of Hutchison Essar last year which turned out be his biggest success.

Citibank & Delhi Metro Ad [Familiar Face]

I’m sure many of you would have seen the new advertisement from Citibank for its co-branded credit card in partnership with the Delhi Metro. The ad is getting popular by the day and most of it is due to the catchy jingle and the sorta-cute storyline. Though the ‘swaying-people’ conveys a pretty bad picture of the Delhi Metro – that it is wobbly and motion-sickness-inducing as opposed to its swanky and state-of-the-art image – the co-branded nature of the campaign is brought out very well. The tagline – No panga. Sab Changa – is also kinda zany!

But the main intention of this post is not about the jingle or the storyline but about one of the character in the ad. The guy who hands over the credit card at the head of the queue and who is shown at the fag end within the metro train swaying to and fro, reminds me of a certain Ankit from MTV Roadies Season 4. See the pic here and tell me they aren’t one and the same:

I’ve captured the pic on the left from the ad and the pic on the right is courtesy pbase.com. Now I may be wrong but somehow can’t shake off that uncanny feeling that they’re the same guy. I guess there is no sure-fire way to know. Unless of course, the ad-makers owe it up themselves . See the ad after the jump and decide for yourself. And puhleeze….don’t ask me who the singer of the jingle is! (Its Ram Sampath acc. to info on the web)

TGI Friday’s opening in Hyderabad

TGI Friday’s, the not-as-popular-as-its-competitors-McDonald’s-or-KFC American Restaurant chain is opening its newest branch at Hyderabad. I had noticed its “Coming Soon” banner at the under-construction Mall opposite L V Prasad Eye Institute on the Banjara Hills Rd #2 (the same mall which is to house the Cinemax Multiplex)

My knowledge of TGI Friday’s is limited to its nomenclature expansion – Thank Goodness Its Friday. Apart from that, I just know that it had been operating in Delhi for quite a long time now and also had branches in Bangalore & Noida. Have no idea on what kind of food it serves or what its signature line is or what the prices are going to be! Of course, one can visit its website to know all of that…and maybe more! I just know that the junk-food-eaters n’ multiplex-movie-watchers will soon have a new place to ‘hang out‘. When? Let’s say in about 3 months time. Of course, the mere fact that its just a kilometre away from moi workplace doesn’t mean you’ll catch me there

Birthday Wishes – May

Ah! Wishing time again. Been a while since I’ve done it. Here goes…

Wishing a Very Happy Birthday to Venu Mavayya, Ramesh Babai, Sarfu, Chinnu, Ravi, Satya, Madhu, Akhil, Tapan, Rupali, Sridevi, Phani and Rakesh. These are the Taureans and Gemini‘s who are celebrating their birthdays in the month of May. As is wont of me, a collective wish for all!!!

AdLabs Multiplex opens in Hyderabad, finally!

The much-delayed AdLabs Cinemas has finally been thrown open to the public in Hyderabad. Named ‘Adlabs Goldspot’ (there used to be a Gold Spot factory at the same location where it is now), it opened its three-screen multiplex on the 23rd of May.

Adlabs Cinemas, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and India’s leading entertainment conglomerate, has made its much-awaited entry into Hyderabad with a three-screen 1045-seat multiplex spread over 45,000 square feet within GS 24 Carat Mall in Ameerpet.

The new Adlabs property will have three world class viewing screens with a total seating capacity of 1045 seats, seven food kiosks, a convenient parking facility, crystal-clear DTS sound, superior Xenon projection systems, plush seats and the widest screens in the city. As far as location is concerned too, Adlabs has an edge being located in the heart of city and sharing space with the biggest Big Bazaar in India.

[Press Release]

There were rumours earlier that it would open with the Pawan Kalyan starrer Jalsa, but it didn’t! And as CtrlAltDel over at FreeHyderabad Forums rightly pointed out, it opened with the animated movie Ghatochkatch. Apart from that, it is screening Jannat, Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian, Dhoom Dhadaka, Kantri and Bujjigadu – Made in Chennai.  Tickets are priced at 100 bucks and there’s no convenience charges (which is Rs. 15 per ticket at PVR!). Online booking is available at its website and one can also choose the seats. There’s also a mobile booking application available for booking over GPRS.

I’m gonna catch Indiana Jones – The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull there….hopefully

Manchester United it is!!!

Yes!!!

Yes!!!

Yes!!!

It is Manchester United!!!

Manchester United win the UEFA Champions League!!!

Manchester United beat Chelsea 6-5 on Penalties; after 120 Minutes of exhilarating football produced only a 1-1 draw.

Scored for Manchester United: Carlos Tevez, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Ryan Giggs, Nani, Anderson
Missed for Manchester United: Christiano Ronaldo (saved by Petr Cech)

Scored for Chelsea: Michael Ballack, Juliano Belletti, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Salomon Kalou
Missed for Chelsea: John Terry (blasted wide), Nicholas Anelka (saved by Edwin Van der Sar)

Ahhh! If you’ll now excuse me, I gotta get some sleep (hopefully)!

UCL Final – Manchester United Vs. Chelsea – who will win?

I Say Manchester United

[Update: And it IS Manchester United]

The match has kicked off at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium even as I write this. Man U are playing with Rooney and Tevez up front with Ronaldo out on the flank. Chelsea employ Drogba up front with Cole and Malouda for support. Both teams have their best 11 on the field. Let’s see who play more together as a team.

Also read: Manchester United Retain EPL