what the ME thinks!

Shane Watson just hit a four off Munaf. Australia are 50/0, 200 still away but I can already see them in the semis. So its gonna be the first time in 31 years that a team from the sub-continent fails to make it to the last four of a major tournament…damn the sub-continent! Its India whom I’m worried about. We havent beaten Australia since Jan-2004! Not beaten them in a do-or-die match since 2000 when Yuvraj Singh blasted his way into int’l cricket. Not had a successful run chase against them since 1998, when Sachin was on top of his game (the two back to back hundreds in Sharjah, remember?). India are going down. Nothin’ seems to be working…

Dunno what Chappell-Dravid are upto…They are not being able to motivate their players. Sehwag is getting out in the same manner, again and again. Tendulkar once again looks unsure about his job-whether to attack or defend. Yuvraj-Dhoni are sitting pretty on their last year laurels. Kaif is the usual himself. All this is rubbing on the others too like Raina. Pathan is very very very confused. The team management seem to have got all the living fast bowling greats to speak to him. And excess of anything is bad, especially advice. RP-Sreesanth have lost their touch. Harbhajan is ineffective. He’s never been the same bowler after that amazing 2001-series against the Ozs. Performers like Kumble and Ramesh Powar either dont make it to the team or have to stay content with carrying the drinks and warm the benches. The team is in shambles and the tour of South Africa is next…! They’ll murder us!

Well, we cant carry on like this forever. I mean, the South Africa tour is an important tour and the 2007 WC is just 10-11 months away. Somebody do something, QUICK! I am always in favour of the shock treatment. It always works for us, I mean have a look at Yuvraj and Laxman. Throw them out of the team for sometime and bring ‘em back later. They always come back as better players. One who needs it bad is Pathan. He needs a break. It would be hard on him and the team but we need Pathan to get away from all the madness, think about his bowling-alone and spend a lot of time in the nets. The way our batsmen are going about their job there is simply no way we will make any impact in South Africa. So instead of completely destroying a talent like Pathan’s why not simply rest him. I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again-Kaif doesnt deserve to be in the team. Not only he isnt good enough he also isnt growing as a batsman. One has seen Yuvraj and Sehwag grow in stature but Kaif seems to have stagnated after that wonderful knock against England in the Natwest trophy finals. I’d like to see more faith and confidence shown in Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa, Gambhir. Laxman should be reinstated in the team for his experience and class, atleast for the SAF-tour. Harbhajan too needs a kick on his ass. He isnt getting the wickets. Powar for the time being is India’s best offie. And he can bat too. Wonder why is he being ignored…Kumble should be brought back too. He’s in form and effective and easily makes more runs than Bhajji. So what if he’s 35? He’s getting the job done, isnt he? As for Dhoni, I can see him slowly getting back in form but just to make sure, get Dinesh Karthick as the extra wkt-keeper for the SAF tour, just to add a lil’ pressure. The quicks? Munaf is doing his job. If only he had a lil’support from the other fast bowlers…Sreesant should get to tour SAF. RP Singh? Nope. He needs to go back to the drawing board and sort out his faults. Agarkar? A big yes. We would need two more quicks. Would like them to be Punjab’s Gagandeep Singh and Bengal’s SS Paul. And if Chappell really wants to experiment and try out some youngsters, he should have a look at Haryana’s Joginder Sharma. He has played a couple of ODIs, can bat and bowl. Dinesh Mongia should also make it.

Ok, so now the Aussies are 111/1 with Shane Watson consolidating his position at the top of the batting order. Australia are scoring at over 7 runs an over! The ICC Champions trophy is over for India…so my loyalties now shift to NZL and WI. Hopefully one of them will lift the trophy. Chappell must ofcourse be watching the match but his mind must be wondering whats in store for him and his team…

The first movie I saw in a theatre, as far as I can remember, was Subhash Ghai’s ‘Saudagar’ at Pune’s Westend theatre. Was in there after some 15 years and could hardly recall anything. My school bus used to pass by it and I remember myself, face pressed against the window, carefully reading the movie’s name on the hoarding outside Westend, wondering why Hindi movie names were written in English! Quite strange were the movies taglines too. One I’ll never forget is ‘Dil hai ki maanata nahin’s one-a journey into a women’s heart. I didn’t quite understand it then, still don’t!

Anyways, the movie which marks my return to Westend and watchin’ movies in theatres was Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Don’. And what a huge let down it was. A weak screenplay from Farhan Akhtar and to top it all, SRK’s performance falling flat on its face. FA’s story idea was good but it wasn’t translated into an equally good screenplay. A thriller is supposed to keep you at the edge of your seat throughout its runtime and ‘Don’ doesn’t do it, at all. FA has improvised on the original Salim-Javed script (which was ‘inspired’ from a Hollywood B-movie ‘House of Secrets’). You are all excited to see SRK as the Don, awaiting some kinda spectacle. 15 minutes into the movie and you’ll start wondering what the heck are your doing there, this cant be the movie you were waiting for. At most you can call it a lil’ better than plain boring. It’s just not masaledaar enough. I’ve said it earlier and I’ll say it again; I liked FA’s story but definitely not the screenplay and the execution. SRK gives it all to Don but he ends up a distant, a very distant second to the Big-B. He goes completely over the top when playing Vijay. And he looks old too. Priyanka Chopra looks like a million dollars (especially in the ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ song) and her acting skills are getting better. Nothing exceptional but she sure is on her way to join the A-list comprising Rani, Priety and Aishwarya. Isha Koppikar cant act. Same for Arjun Rampal. Good looks and voice and that’s it. Om Puri and Pawan Malhotra are wasted. But Malhotra should be doing more such kinda movies. Not much in there for him as an actor but he’ll get recognition, and slowly ‘n’ steadily the good roles will trickle in. Boman Irani rocks! I’d say he’s the star of the show, the new villain no.1 of Bollywood! Pawan Malhotra should go his way. BTW, FA ended the story with a sequel in mind. So if only somehow Don becomes a hit! But then I am bad at guessing BO results. I still cant understand how ‘No Entry’ and ‘Biwi No.1′ became such huge hits!

Still interested in watching ‘Don’? I think it would be a better idea to go out and rent the original AB-starrer. Will be worth the effort, time and ofcourse money. So forget about FA’s Don, DONt watch it!

P.S. Paanch and Black Friday have been by censors and the courts and will release before the end of the year! Anurag Kashyap has begun working on his new movie-No Smoking. Saw Dhoom-2’s trailor during the intermission. Didn’t like Dhoom-1 so am not really looking forward to the sequel. Kabul Express looks interesting…even Guru. But the ones I’m waiting for are ofcourse Paanch and Black Friday!