Ek Tha Tiger - Movie Review

August 15, 2012

Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey, Girish Karnad, Roshan Seth

Director: Kabir Khan

To be fair, Ek Tha Tiger is a very different beast from recent Salman Khan starrers, particularly his last two releases, Ready and Bodyguard. Now that could be construed either as good news or bad news depending on what you thought of those films. For those like me, who weren’t fans of those blockbusters, it’s refreshing to note that Ek Tha Tiger isn’t an over-indulgent one-man showreel. Hallelujah, this film has a plot. Unfortunately, however, it’s a one-line, threadbare plot around which director Kabir Khan constructs the entire movie.

In a nicely done opening, with enough slo-mo shots for the fans to whistle at, we’re introduced to RAW agent Tiger (Salman Khan), who, in a gritty Jason Bourne-ish action sequence, swiftly dispenses with a turncoat agent, then dodges armed assassins through the cobbled streets and dingy alleyways of a busy town in Iraq. Back home unscathed, Tiger, who we discover is just as comfortable with a ladle as he is with a gun, bribes his boss (Girish Karnad) with homemade daal before begging for a new assignment.

Packed off to Dublin to keep an eye on a suspect missile scientist (Roshan Seth), Tiger falls in love with the old man’s housekeeper, Zoya (Katrina Kaif), even as fellow RAW agent Gopi (Ranvir Shorey) advises him not to get distracted from the mission he’s assigned to.

The romantic portions in Ek Tha Tiger are warm and fuzzy, the humor thankfully clean and light-hearted, but as a thriller set in the world of espionage, it’s ironic that the people least intelligent here are the intelligence officers themselves. The interval point reveals a twist that you’ll probably guess a mile away; the only ones caught off-guard are the supposedly smart super-spies.

In his last film New York, director Kabir Khan delivered a watered-down mocktail version of a terrorism story. With Ek Tha Tiger he appears to be going for James Bond Lite. The film’s screenplay packs more holes than you’re likely to find in a fisherman’s net, and the clunky dialogue is the sort you’d expect from someone whose only research involved going through back issues of spy-themed comics.

What doesn’t disappoint is the action in this film. Whether Salman’s sliding down stairs on an overturned table firing at goons in a crowded marketplace, or using his jacket to stop a speeding tram from crashing into a populated street, the more ridiculous the sequence, the more cheers it inspires. A climactic sequence involving our injured hero on a motorbike, an airplane taking off, and lots of explosions, seems straight out of the Dhoom films, but it’s so cheerfully silly it’s hard not to smile.

The film loses its pace during those pensive scenes in which Tiger must make a choice between head and heart, and in those portions where both protagonists must consider the implications of choosing love over duty. The over-simplistic Indo-Pak peace message is only further evidence of the fact that this film treats a serious subject lightly.

Salman Khan’s performance in Ek Tha Tiger is moody at best. He jumps into the action scenes whole-heartedly but seems lost in the film’s dramatic portions, looking subdued even, like the birthday boy who’s having no fun at his own party. The romance between him at Katrina Kaif is sweet, but almost awkward – this film could have done with a little more passion between its leads. Katrina, faced with a fair bit of action herself, commits herself to the role, but her character has a cardboardish edge.

Despite its obvious flaws, Ek Tha Tiger is far from unwatchable. It’s a welcome change from the harebrained films we’ve seen Salman Khan in lately, and for what it’s worth he’s playing a character and not himself for a change. The question you have to ask is – Is that enough?

I’m going with two-and-a-half out of five for director Kabir Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger. At best, it’s a satisfying watch. Just don’t go in with high expectations.

Ek Tha Tiger Box Office Actuals – Day 1

Ek Tha Tiger made 32.92 Crores over 3300 Screens across India. Needless to say the movie smashed all existing box office records ever made in India. What’s more? The movie is expected to be released on more screens from today. There is no denying the fact that Ek Tha Tiger is creating history at the box office.

Be it Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One with 25 Crores or Hrithik Roshan’s Agneepath with 23 Crores of Day 1 Collection, every biggie seems to be a simpleton in front of Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger. The movie might drop a little today coz of a working day but is sure to pick up by leaps and bounds during the weekend. Let’s see what more records Ek Tha Tiger Shatters.

Dhoom 3: Aamir rents a home in Chicago

Fatherhood for the third time has turned Aamir Khan into quite a home-bird. He wants to stay as close to wife Kiran and newly-born son Azaad as possible. Opting for a departure from his habitual way of working, Aamir has taken wife and son to Chicago to be with him for the 3-month schedule.

And now we hear from a friend of Aamir that the star, while shooting for Dhoom 3, has opted to stay in a rented apartment in Chicago with his family rather than a hotel.

Says the close friend of Kiran and Aamir, "Though Yashraj wanted to hire a suite in one of the best hotels in Chicago for Aamir, Kiran and Azaad but Aamir declined the offer. He preferred a rented apartment.

In this way, he cut down Yashraj's accommodation budget in Chicago for Aamir by nearly 60 percent. But the main reason why Aamir opted to stay in a rented place is the ghar ka mahaul. The homely environment is what turns Aamir on these days."

Aamir apparently told his friends that nothing gives him greater joy nowadays than to return home to see Kiran and Azaad waiting for him.

Says the friend, "The thought of staying in a posh intimidating hotel for three months upset Aamir. He loves ghar ka khana. In the apartment, where they're staying, Kiran is constantly cooking up interesting dishes."

In fact, so inspiring is Aamir's home-away-from-home system of working in Chicago, that we now hear that the film's other leading man Abhishek Bachchan has invited his entire family to join him in Chicago and stay together in a rented apartment.

Says a source, "Abhishek's wife Aishwarya and daughter Aaradhya are joining him soon in Chicago. Big B and Jayaji will follow soon after. They want to get some time together away from home and prying eyes."

With two of the principal actors of Dhoom 3 blissfully bonding with their respective families in America, it looks like Dhoom 3 will turn out to be one happy affair!

Civil Service Examination Preparation Strategy: Long-Term Planning

It is tough; no doubt about that. Hope some of the suggestions in this Long-term planning would help the candidates to plan out a strategy of their own who are planning to take a plunge. Instead of trying, gaining awareness by taking 1-2 attempts, prepare meticulously so that you achieve success in your first attempt and that too with high ranks.

Long Term Planning

Those who believe in long-term consideration, as ‘Civil Services Examination’ demands, planned study is the best way to prepare effectively. The first step is to outline the priorities based on: One, availability of time. Two, your requirements related to General Studies and optional subjects.  Three, if you are seeking guidance from any coaching institute and show much time goes into it.

As there is an expectation that continuing the reforms in recruitment process, UPSC is contemplating with an idea of changing the Main Examination pattern. So, keep an eye on the related news flow and the moment these get implemented, you should be ready to mould your preparation-plan according to evolving needs.

You have taken a wise decision to plan and prepare well before taking examination. Put in your best as if this is the only opportunity you have. Your aim should be ‘hitting the bulls eye’ not just to have a try. This is what topper like Nitika Pawar (AIR 18, CSE 2011) had done. When you are investing so much of your time and energy in preparing, attain that level that you don’t need more attempts to achieve this. Check out you requirements and decide how to move further.
Looking at the present scenario, adopting an integrated approach is must and you should start preparation with Main Examination in focus. By doing so, the Preliminary Examination Paper 1 gets almost covered and you will be in a position to face Preliminary Examination with confidence.
For Preliminary Examination Paper 2, you need to learn some mathematical/reasoning/linguistic skills which you can always plan along with your regular study-plan as mood changing activity.
Look at the constituents of General Studies and if any one is unfamiliar to you, require immediate attention, you should take these on priority to be familiar with the subjects. It is time to go for relevant, up-to-date study-material, books, magazines, syllabus, past years’ question papers and all that you require to begin preparation.
Be careful; Grab those books which cover static, traditional information on the areas dynamic in nature as many questions are being asked from these topics.
Civil Service Examination is all about making the right choices and you have to opt for particular pair of optional subjects. In recent years, Main Examination has become an optional subject’s play as General Studies is not contributing much to make an impact on overall aggregate.
The best solution is that you should undertake a serious evaluation before you decide your optional subjects and should clearly understand the specific requirements any particular optional subject demands.
Understand the examination requirements and achieve excellence in all directions. Growing knowledge level provides grasp over the subject and after a certain stage, you attain such comfort level that you start applying the accumulated knowledge effectively ensuring a better performance.
Understand the trends and current approach of UPSC and drift towards Application, Contemporary developments and Current Affairs. This requires updated content as well as a strong grip over basics since with solid foundation only you will be in a position to understand and advance with study-plan.
In the beginning itself, don’t go for Current Affairs Year-Books and books related to those areas where current developments change on day-to-day basis as by the time you approach examination, the information would be stale. Daily news updates from Newspapers backed up by Magazines will suffice the purpose in the beginning.
Make a group preferably with same optional subjects aspirants. As you start, you may encounter few problems which stop you from moving further. List out all your apprehensions, queries related to preparation and reach out to people you trust to get these resolved.
Choice relating to self-study or joining coaching institutes is absolutely yours. Not all in the merit-list had gone to coaching institutes. Every year lot many aspirants crack this examination based on self-study.
However, in the changing environment, if you really need to seek help from coaching institutes, you should plan it as early as possible. As they exhaustively cover the examination requirements, maintain a balance between traditional areas and contemporary developments which influence issues related to topics listed in syllabus.
If your decision is in favour of attending coaching institute, it is essential to devote at least 2-3 hours on revision and what you studied in class. It enables you to make note, enrich them with newly acquired knowledge and immediate follow-up gives you opportunity to spot some areas that require clarity or more expansion or additional information.
As examination requires an analytical approach, updated information with flow of original ideas, devote some time to practise presentation techniques which can give a competitive edge to the aspirants.

Christian - The Love War - Music Album Download

                                                   

Album : The Love War

Singer : Chrishan

Date : 12 Aug 2012

Genre : pop

                                                     Download Chrishan - The Love War

A Magazine Just For Ferrari Owners

Ferrari and Condé Nast will be publishing a magazine just for Ferrari owners.

This new publication, with its philosophy of going after a “very rarefied part of the market,” undoubtedly will be a magnet to upscale global advertisers.

Ferrari is bundling all of its previous publications under this new umbrella.

The magazine, which apparently has yet to be christened, will be published four times a year.

The first issue is due out this summer, with the second slated for the 2008 Paris Auto Show at the end of September.

Ferrari and Condé Nast have assembled some impressive journalistic firepower for this effort. The magazine will be directed by Editor in Chief Antonio Ghini, Ferrari communications and brand management director.

The staff will include Jason Barlow, who has served as contributing editor to the motoring section of British GQ, as well as Rebecca Smith, formerly of British Vogue.

Via edmunds

New Jaguar F-type to debut in Paris

The F-Type, Jaguar’s all-new aluminium two-seater sports car, will make its global debut in production form at the Paris Motor Show on 27 September.

The new F-Type is the spiritual successor of the Jaguar E-Type, one of the world’s most legendary roadsters and now a much sought-after collectible around the world.

The new F-Type will be available with a choice of three engines: two 3.0L supercharged V6 engines delivering 340 hp and 380 hp and a V8.  The model will feature an 8-speed auto gear box and Stop/Start technology.

Performance wise, it’s believed that the aluminium model will offer a top speed of over 180 mph (289 km/h) and a 0-60 mph (97km/h) range of under five seconds.

The new F-Type will go on sale mid-2013. The Paris Auto Show will run September 29 to October 14, 2012.

Ek Tha Tiger Shows Strong Advance Bookings at the Box Office

If you are a fan of Salman Khan and have been eagerly awaiting for Ek Tha Tiger‘s release we strongly recommend to book your tickets NOW. In fact you might already be late considering the fact that Ek Tha Tiger is already booked over 60% for it’s 1st weekend.  The remaining seats are fast filling and are expected to be sold out by tonight itself.

This beats all the previous records of advance bookings at the Indian box office, be it Shah Rukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om or Salman’s Bodyguard. The sure shot blockbuster, featuring Bollywood heartthrobs Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan is all set to rule the box office for quite some time. The only challenge that Ek Tha Tiger might come across is whether it will cross the 200 Crore barrier or not.

Needless to say all the theaters and screens are going to be full this week. Wait and watch what magic Ek Tha Tiger weaves globally.

Salman Khan’s Dabangg opened to a record weekend collection of 49.5 crores domestically. The film reached the 100-crore mark in exactly 10 days from its release on 10th September 2010.

His next blockbuster release was Ready, which entered the 100-crore club in a period of two weeks.

Bodyguard, again starring Salman, broke all records set by Dabangg, and opened to 100% occupancy at theatres. If the declared numbers are anything to go by, then Bodyguard reached the 100-crore line in sharp 7 days from its release on 31st August 2011.

Having said that, it would be interesting to watch how much time does Ek Tha Tiger take to earn 100 crores, given the fact that it is already being touted as a 150-200 crore film? Will Salman break all his previous records? Share your views and votes with us

Wikileaks hit by cyber attacks!

The secret-busting organisation WikiLeaks says it's been the victim of a sustained denial-of-service attack which has left its website sluggish or inaccessible for more than a week.

In a statement released late on Saturday, the group said the assault intensified around the beginning of August and has since expanded to include attacks against affiliated sites.

Denial-of-service attacks work by overwhelming websites with requests for information. WikiLeaks has said it's been flooded with 10Gbps of bogus traffic from thousands of different internet addresses.

Josh Corman, with online content delivery company Akamai, characterised that as "a bit larger" than attacks commonly seen in the past few years.

WikiLeaks, which has angered officials in Washington with its spectacular releases of classified US documents, remained on inaccessible Sunday.

Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux are engaged!

Los Angeles: Jennifer Aniston and boyfriend Justin Theroux, who have been dating since 2011, are now engaged.

Theroux proposed to the former "Friends" star on Friday, which happened to be his 41st birthday and was delighted when the 43-year-old actress said yes, reports people.com.

"Justin Theroux had an amazing birthday on Friday, receiving an extraordinary gift when his girlfriend, Jennifer Aniston, accepted his proposal of marriage," Theroux's representative told people.com.

The news comes just days after rumours of their split emerged.

This will be Theroux's first marriage, while Aniston was previously married to actor Brad Pitt.

They split in 2005 after four-and-a-half years of marriage, and Pitt is now engaged to actress Angelina Jolie

Not many can finish 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'

Most readers of 'Fifty Shades Of Grey' are men and they are unlikely to finish reading the erotic novel - even though many fans boast they consume the whole book in days or even hours, according to an electronic data.

E.L. James's novel is now the bestselling book in the UK since records began, with more than 5.3million copies sold in paper and ebook forms.

About 70 per cent of readers bought it in the electronic format, the Daily Mail reported.

But data collected by Kobo, the firm which makes ebook readers sold by WH Smith, showed that only 18,000 readers using the system who rated the book after buying it have finished it so far - just 10.5 per cent of a total of 170,000.

The data also suggests that about a tenth of the readers of James's novel are men and they are less impressed than the women who leave comments.

One fan complains about James's habit of using the expression "Holy cr*p".

Another simply says "You can tell it was written by a man," even though James - real name Erika Leonard - is a mother of two living in West London.

Kobo also allows readers to 'write in the margins'.

"Most people commented on Chapters 1, 5 and 23. But almost every chapter drove thousands of people to highlight passages," said Kobo executive vice-president Todd Humphrey.

Chapter 1 introduces heroine Anastasia in her interview with telecoms billionaire Grey. Chapter 5 brings the reader to his home for the first time. Chapter 23, towards the end, is considerably steamier, but none of these chapters ranks among the book's most sexually explicit

'Ragini MMS 2' to start by year end: Sunny

Mumbai: After Jism 2, it's Ragini MMS 2 for Indo-Canadian porn star Sunny Leone and she reveals that the shooting of the horror-thriller sequel will start in a few months.

"I love India. I am so happy I am here, I'll be staying here for a while. I have a lot of different projects coming up. Ragini MMS 2 is something we are going to start shooting by the end of this year," the 31-year-old said here on Sunday.

Taking about the preparations for Ragini MMS 2 and other projects, she said: "I'll be doing workshops here in India, I'll be doing them before Ragini MMS 2. I'll be taking dance classes, Hindi lessons, watching Hindi movies. It's like going back to school for me." 

Ragini MMS 2 is a sequel to Ekta Kapoor's 2011-film Ragini MMS which starred Kainaz Motivala and Raj Kumar Yadav. 

Meanwhile, Sunny does not feel any heat from established Bollywood actresses. 

"I don't like the word. Competition is something, unless it's in sports, it's kind of like a negative word, at least in my book. These women (actresses) work so hard. I know what goes into making a movie now," Sunny said. 

"I know all these different appearances and other things that we do, it's a business and on top of that you have a lot of fun. But competition, everyone is in their own league and in their own space," she added.

Unlucky? 6 medals amongst 1.2bn people!

India on Monday tried to look on the bright side after collecting just six medals and no golds at the Olympics, saying that the modest haul was a record and efforts were already under way to improve.

The country has a dire history at the Olympics, winning only one individual gold medal, in Beijing in 2008, and this year finishing a lowly 55th in the overall medals table, sandwiched between Venezuela and Mongolia.

But the government and media hailed the two silvers and four bronzes brought home by India, which has enjoyed rapid economic development over the past two decades and has a booming population of 1.2 billion people.

"India was unlucky as many of the players were placed in the top ten, some even fourth or fifth," Sports Minister Ajay Maken told reporters. "It is a proud moment for us as this is our best-ever medal haul."

He added that improved training programmes were now in place and that India should look to win at least 25 medals by 2020.

"Tally Ho: India returns biggest-ever medal haul at the Olympics," declared the Mail Today, while the NDTV station said the six gongs -- double the collection in Beijing -- had triggered nationwide celebrations.

But the Hindustan Times gave a more downbeat assessment, saying that it was a poor outcome for one of the world's most vibrant economies. Asian rival China, with a similarly vast population and growing affluence, brought home 87 medals.

"Even by the country's modest sporting standards, it is a story of under-achievement," the newspaper wrote in an editorial.

"To make a mark at the Olympics, we need to emulate countries at par with us economically, not the ones we've left behind."

Optimism over India's prospects in London 2012 grew after shooter Abhinav Bindra won the 10m air rifle in Beijing, making history as the country's first individual gold medallist.

Several government and privately funded schemes poured money into finding future stars, but the search turned up little to impress the world audience gathered in London.

Wrestler Sushil Kumar and pistol shooter Vijay Kumar won silvers, while wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, rifle marksman Gagan Narang, woman boxer Mary Kom and badminton star Saina Nehwal collected bronzes.

Bindra failed to get through the qualifying round.

India's hockey team -- which once dominated the Olympics with eight golds -- also showed no signs of returning to the top.

"It can't get worse, our hockey is dead," said former goalkeeper Leslie Claudius, who played in four consecutive Olympics from 1948 to 1960.

Despite the lavish cash prizes and jobs promised to medallists, the Olympics remains a low priority in a country obsessed by cricket.

One leading businessman laced his congratulations with a call for change.

"We are proud of our Olympic medallists, but enough of this humiliation of 6 medals amongst 1.2bn people," Anand Mahindra tweeted

In Pics:Grand Olympic Closing Ceremony on Aug 13, 2012

Closing Ceremony of London Olympic Games in London on August 12, 2012. Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Olympic Games.