30.04.10 / Cricket / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)
ST LUCIA: The Indian team might have
flown over the proverbial Seven Seas to arrive in beautiful St. Lucia; it might
have been trapped in a hazy, sleep-induced world in the clouds too, for well
over 24 hours, to complete its journey across the globe.
All that is,
however, nothing: it has to travel a much, much larger distance now; the
distance that has crept within the team itself as the IPL battle intensified
inexorably, both on and off the field.
After all, the players were
at each other’s throat till just a few days ago; in fact, they looked like
bitter foes, if not sworn enemies, before they united again as Team
India.
Luckily, nobody was slapped publicly; luckily, no tears of
shame were shed either. Importantly, the underlying animosity between two
players – two competitors really – didn’t spill out of television sets either.
So the ugly truth behind the so-called glory of sport shall continue
to remain a hidden secret.
But how will the Mumbai Indians and
Chennai Super Kings forget their final clash last Sunday? Can Zaheer Khan and
Suresh Raina banish the angry glares that were exchanged as they switch into
their avatars as Men in Blue? Can MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh break the silent
tension that erupted between them in the heat of the moment?
Well,
they are all professionals, highly paid ones at that: they are expected to fight
against each other, or spar as one, as per the colour of their outfits. They
have to rise above the last battles too and be prepared to start a new one, a
totally different one, as this is the World Cup.
Especially, as the
team will be carrying the additional baggage of memory here: it failed to get
into the semifinals of the last T20 World Cup; worse, in the 50-over World Cup
here too, it couldn’t even get past the first stage. The players now need to
show that they are worth all the money in their banks.
The format,
thankfully, has been made to ensure that the likes of India are not thrown out
at the start itself; more comfortingly, they will start their campaign against
Afghanistan on Friday. These war-torn men might feel like strangers here;
indeed, they might even wonder if they belong when they finally step into the
spotlight.
But India have faced the ignominy of losing to Bangladesh
on a similar stage; they know that T20 gives even the outsiders more than an
outside chance. One blistering knock is enough to rattle up a total that can be
beyond the reach of millionaires too. Captain Dhoni will be cautious, if not
wary.
He won’t take chances and will unleash his arsenal of
big-hitters, right from Vijay to Raina to Yuvraj to Yusuf straight away. Gambhir
and Dhoni will play the role of mentors, even if it is not a favourable word
right now. The wicket is expected to be slow, bringing Harbhajan and Jadeja into
play. Zaheer and Nehra should take care of new-ball duties.
The
X-factor, however, is the early morning start; the short bursts of showers that
St Lucia is currently experiencing can also complicate lives. India would just
be hoping that they won’t be caught on a wet wicket, or a slippery turf;
otherwise, they will be embarking on one of their longest, and most painful,
journeys possible.
30.04.10 / Cricket / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)
PROVIDENCE: Nathan McCullum proved he
can hit big sixes just as well as brother Brendon as New Zealand beat Sri Lanka
by two wickets with a ball to spare in a thrilling World Twenty20 opener on
Saturday.
Scorecard
|
Match in Pics
New Zealand,
needing three runs to win with two balls to spare, saw McCullum, better known as
an off-spinner, loft fast bowler Lasith Malinga for six over long-off.
Man-of-the match McCullum’s superb shot saw New Zealand finish on
139 for eight in reply to Sri Lanka’s 135 for six
It capped a
memorable day for McCullum, whose unbeaten 16 came off six balls.
He’d earlier taken the new ball – just as Kiwi off-spinner Dipak
Patel had done at the 1992 World Cup – and returned impressive figures of one
wicket for 17 runs from his three overs.
By contrast younger brother
Brendon, one of the world’s most dangerous batsmen in this format, was out for
nought when pulling Angelo Mathews to midwicket as New Zealand’s run chase got
off to the start all their fans would have feared.
Defeat for last
year’s losing finalists was tough on former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene
who made a typically stylish 81 off 51 balls – but this time in his debut as an
opener – including two sixes and eight fours.
Runs were hard to come
by in this match, with the next best score on either side the 42 made by New
Zealand opener Jesse Ryder.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara won
the toss and elected to bat in humid conditions.
But the dangerous
Tillakaratne Dilshan, player of the tournament at last year’s World Twenty20 in
England, and Sangakkara himself could only manage seven runs between them.
However, debutant Dinesh Chandimal helped Jayawardene revive the
innings in a third-wicket stand of 59 before he was caught in the deep off
Nathan McCullum with the total on 103 for three.
Jayawardene fell in
the penultimate over and again Nathan McCullum was involved, taking the catch at
deep mid-wicket off paceman Tim Southee.
After Brendon McCullum’s
exit, New Zealand rebuilt their innings through a second-wicket stand of 62
between Ryder and Martin Guptill (19).
New Zealand fell behind the
run-rate after Ryder was bowled by off-spin star Muttiah Muralitharan and they
needed 20 off the last two overs.
Oram was bowled off the first ball
of the 19th, by Chanaka Welegedara and next ball Gareth Hopkins was run out to
leave New Zealand 177 for seven with 10 balls left.
The target then
became 10 off six.
Nathan McCullum took a single off Malinga’s first
ball and the bowler then missed an easy chance to run out New Zealand captain
Daniel Vettori off the next, with McCullum striking a boundary off the third
delivery.
Vettori was run out off the fourth but, importantly,
McCullum was on strike and ready to seize his moment of glory.
30.04.10 / Bollywood / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)
At the very start of the film, Sajid Khan pays his respects to several notable names of the 1970s and 1980s, who redefined Hindi commercial cinema. And that gives you ample idea of what to expect from HOUSEFULL, which, very frankly, stresses on wholesome entertainment like those wonderful entertainers made by Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra, Feroz Khan, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, K. Raghavendra Rao, Narendra Bedi, Ravi Tandon and Brij. No wonder, films made by these icons have tremendous recall value even today.
The two things you expect from HOUSEFULL are non-stop laughter and non-stop entertainment. That’s because the promos of the film have already given you an inkling of what to expect from this film. Besides, Sajid Khan swears by wholesome entertainers, so it’s only natural to expect HOUSEFULL to bring the house down.
We loved Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra’s movies because they transported us to a world of make believe, into a fantasy world, keeping us thoroughly entertained for those 3 hours. Obviously, we never questioned the logic then because we knew that entertainment was the keyword. HOUSEFULL takes the same route.
HOUSEFULL entertains majorly at places, but it’s an uneven ride. Uneven, because the pace dips at several places. It’s not a rip-roaring laugh-riot or a non-stop laughathon that one expects it would be, since the focus is on emotions and drama as well. Even the climax, I am sure, will meet with diverse reactions. It will have its share of advocates and adversaries.
Final word? The actors are top notch and so are their performances. Wish the script would’ve been equally super. Yet, despite the hiccups, HOUSEFULL should be lapped by moviegoers in a big way because the audience is starved for that solid entertainer with big stars for more than two months now.
HOUSEFULL narrates the story of Aarush [Akshay Kumar], the world’s unluckiest man. Being jinxed, he believes his bad luck can vanish if he finds true love. In this quest for true love, he gets married to the daughter [Jiah Khan] of a wealthy businessman Kishore Samtani [Randhir Kapoor]. But there’s a twist in the tale…
Enter Sandy [Deepika Padukone], who falls in love with Aarush. But complications follow thereafter as Sandy’s brother, Major Krishna Rao [Arjun Rampal] and Hetal’s [Lara Dutta] father, Batuk Patel [Boman Irani] enter the scene. How Aarush and his buddy Bob [Riteish Deshmukh] come out of this mess forms the crux of the film.
Like HEYY BABYY, HOUSEFULL has a story to tell as well. It’s not merely an assemblage of funny sequences or a mere montage of comic scenes. But some of the funny sequences are sure to make you flex your facial muscles wide. Note Akshay’s intro, or the sequence involving the vacuum cleaner, or Akshay getting a pet home, or the entire Chunkey Pandey track in Italy. Simply howlarious!
Sajid balances the dramatic moments well. The Jiah Khan sequence soon after the marriage is very interesting and so are the sequences in the second hour, when Arjun and also Boman land up at the mansion. The comedy of errors is truly funny at times and also the gay angle, which has been injected in this half. It may not be as memorable as the Kantaben track in KAL HO NAA HO, but is funny nonetheless. Talking of dramatic sequences, the ones between Akshay and Arjun are fantastic, especially the lie detector test, which is amongst the best sequences of the film.
Director Sajid Khan knows his fundas right. He packs just about everything to entertain you for the next two hours, but the screenplay could’ve been tighter. While the pacing is slow in the first hour, it’s the second half which has a lot to offer. Overall, Sajid jumps into the big league of film-makers who make films for the masses and successfully at that!
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music is pleasant. Vikas Sivaraman’s cinematography is top notch. The locales of Italy are mind-boggling.
Every actor in this film takes the film to the next level. Akshay underplays his part beautifully. All those who felt that the actor tends to get loud or needs to be controlled will change their opinion with this film. He’s the soul of HOUSEFULL. Riteish is incredibly natural. I’ve often felt that Riteish is one actor who doesn’t give you an impression that he’s ‘acting’. Though the story primarily revolves around Akshay, Riteish stands shoulder to shoulder with Akshay in this one. Arjun Rampal is fantastic. Post OM SHANTI OM and ROCK ON!!, HOUSEFULL is yet another film that taps Arjun’s talent to the maximum.
Deepika is a surprise. She carries her part with amazing confidence and again, post OM SHANTI OM and LOVE AAJKAL, HOUSEFULL is the film that would make people notice her talent as well as beauty. Lara is a seasoned player when it comes to comedies and she’s too good yet again. Her scenes with Riteish in particular and also with Boman are first-rate. Jiah is a revelation. Although she doesn’t get much scope, she manages to register an impact nonetheless.
Randhir Kapoor is very good. Boman Irani is excellent and is amongst the driving force of the second hour. Chunkey Pandey is sure to bring the house down. He is exceptional. Lilette Dubey is competent, as always. Malaika Arora Khan is alright.
On the whole, HOUSEFULL is not a complete laugh-riot, but is an entertainer all the way, targeted at the hardcore masses. What really works for the film is its massive star cast, gripping second half and also the skilled performances by each and every member of its cast. The audience is starved for a good commercial entertainer and HOUSEFULL should bring HOUSEFULL boards back outside cineplexes.
