You Are Probably Getting Robbed There

We Indians have got our own ‘little’ problems stretching from the form of Indian cricket team to the bad roads in our neighborhood. While as much as we enjoy to point them out, criticize, and cry, we are also pretty well endowed not to bat an eye of acknowledgment to anyone or anything (or any government) when something counter-nauseating happens to a larger mass (Not to one individual, mind you. We are very patriotic and proud that way), like the fact that road accidents in our city have decreased significantly in the last year, or that the petrol price has decreased considerably in the past few months (whatever be the reason, it has decreased for gods sake!!)

So, upholding that proud tradition, I would like to completely ignore the positive aspects of my previous line and cry about something else that has bothered me.

Dishonesty. In general. And the ones at petrol bunks in particular.

While dishonesty about our new look or shirt or dress is quite welcome, it is not so much the case when we are trading our Gandhian notes for services.  What I am about to say might sound familiar if you have a two or four wheeler (or even a three) and if you take that out to your nearest petrol bunk for refilling. If it doesn’t sound familiar, well, it is all the more reason to continue reading this.

So, has it ever happened that after refilling your tank with some amount at a petrol bunk, you notice the pointer on the petrol indicator just lying there, lazily dwelling the pits instead of springing up?

You know that you did not fill it with such a less amount that it wouldn’t have made a difference to the pointer. You wonder if the indicator is malfunctioning but that too would seem relatively less plausible after a while. You might then suddenly remember reading about the recent crackdown on petrol bunks, and wonder if it was a classic case of tampered dispenser unit, but those raids pertained to dispensing a shortage of hardly few milliliters. And also, you might be just too proud to believe that you were taken for a ride. So you pass it off.

OR else, you are not ‘too’ proud and relatively sensible, and slowly come to the striking, sinking realization that you have paid tax for your lack of attentiveness (or for the over dose of shyness/innocence) by just getting robbed, swiftly and efficiently.

While this happened to me once, a while ago, when I was too naïve to think of the world otherwise ( and also when I had just started using a two wheeler), I am now a self taught expert on recognizing the rampant conning at petrol bunks and would hence like to pass on this knowledge to other ‘once-me’ beings out there.

So how can one get robbed at petrol bunks?
Simple. You pay for innocence.

And how does this happen?

By the three common attention diversion tricks that ‘they’ employ:

Trick 1 You are poor at math or too stupid:

You say “bhayya ‘500’”

He has listened, and you know it. He takes the fuel dispenser, pumps out 200/- petrol and stops. He acts cool, and puts his hand forward to take money, and you are puzzled as you said ‘500’ and not ‘200’. And you convey the same.

He smiles. Makes eye contact, covers you up from the digital indicator of the petrol dispenser and says “Did you say 500? I heard it as 200”. And casually laughs (or can frown too, depends on the style of actor), and walks back almost whispering, in a way that you just hear it, but are not sure of what he said exactly, “I am putting it to zero, see” (it, here, means the digital indicator of the fuel dispenser unit)

And he doesn’t actually let you see it as he takes two steps directly in the direction of your field of vision and you are too shy to bend your neck and look at the indicator, or too kind to insult an unknown  random person’s honesty. Hence unable to recognize the obvious, you just end up putting your faith on the brighter side of human race. He pumps the petrol, clears your view of the indicator after about few seconds and shows you the indicator approaching 300/- mark.

But what he in fact does is, to just continue from the 200/- mark but fill it slowly from 200 to 300 in those few seconds, and then speed it up as it approaches the 300/- mark just as he clears the view for you, fooling you by acting as if he has started over from zero. This is expert stuff. Even though it is easy to recognize this immediately as the time taken to fill 300 rs worth of petrol is different from that of 100/-, one cannot confront now, thanks to self doubt.

This trick can be carried out for other denominations of say 250 (where they break at 50/- mark and continue from that and stop at 200, feigning a simple “initial 50+ final 200= total 250”) or at any other denomination depending on the gullibility of the customer and the talent of the one dispensing. 

2: The Card Trick

Just as you say “500” or “200” or even “100”

Gullible-me

He would make eye contact, and say, “cash or card?” (seriously card for 100 bucks?)

You would say “cash”.

And he would stare down right into your eyes as if you have spoken something blasphemous, and say “there is a 5% cashback on so and so card”, all the while going back to the dispenser unit and acting like setting it to zero and coming back to stick it into your fuel tank.

He continues blabbering about the card for a few more seconds if you have failed to break the eye contact and starts dispensing the petrol, and before you realize it, he has swiftly continued dispensing the petrol from where he left off with the last customer and NOT from ‘zero’.

And if you do move or break the eye contact, or refuse to make eye contact before he dispels the petrol, he would either set it to zero beforehand or give a sheepish grin and set it back to zero the second time acting as if the indicator was strangely acting of its own accord.

3: Give me some money

This seems to be a newly developed trick where two guys con. One handles the dispenser, one the money. The guy collecting the money is the key here as he asks the money from you, simultaneously as the other one is busy adjusting the dispenser indicator (acting as if setting the indicator to zero, but in fact he just leaves it unchanged from where the previous customer had left) and sticking the dispenser into your fuel tank.

And at this moment, if you are not attentive and are busy taking out notes from your wallet, then god bless! Extra paying time!

So, all these tricks are relatively easy to fend off, if only, one is neither too innocent nor stupid.

Considering my roots, I would like to conclude this “the engineering” way.

Hence,

Precautions:

1.       Do not fall into the initial trap of making eye contact. Be attentive and make sure the indicator of the dispenser unit is set to ‘zero’.

2.       Don’t be shy. Speak out. Confront.

3.       Don’t wear your dim wit hats

4.       Attention is key

5.       Pay only after you fill the tank with petrol.

Source: Friends and live observations.

Thanks! And Peace out!

PS: Special Thanks to all those who have found and read this post through indiblogger! ^_^ 

Guardians Of the Galaxy

"A bunch of A-holes"

First things first, Guardians of the Galaxy is fun. Ultimate 122 minutes of fun. It basically has everything that you want from a Marvel film- action, comedy, story, more action and more comedy (and for Indians, yes, there is also emotion).

Guardians of the Galaxy takes us deeper into the Marvel universe with this interesting plot and new set of characters- who are going to garner huge fan base after this one (I myself have got two new favorites Groot and Rocket). They have got a bit of the loveable Jack Sparrowish attitude that hugely works for them in their favor.

Bradley Cooper voicing over for Rocket and Vin Diesel for Groot- the only big names of this film- do an amazing job. And so does Chris Pratt playing ‘Star Lord’ (yes Star Lord, we have now heard about you) or simply, Peter Quill. Chris has surely got the right dance moves for the right tracks (as would be evident if you see the film).

The director, James Gunn, who I and many others have never heard of before, does well to make us remember his name with this film. He holds the movie together by bringing all the departments to punch over and above the expectations placed on them.

Like Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy too relies, and rightfully so, on comedy that will leave you in splits many times right through the film. Marvel seems to have perfected the art of blending comedy into action so well that they are outdoing themselves with each film. So Kudos to the creative team that works for Marvel- the writers, the directors and of course, the actors- for creating few of the best action/comedy movies in recent times.

And special mention to the soundtrack and Editing work! Oh My God! “Awsome mix Vol.1” is the star! The soundtrack plays at all the rights times, accompanied with editing that cuts through from one scene to another with such an immaculate comic timing that you would wonder if Tony Stark is the editor of the film.

"I am Groot"

Marvel is well and truly on a roll. If there is a formula to make super hero movies with right bits of everything in them, then Marvel seems to have nailed it. Watch this film with your friends or family over the weekend, just to wind off, and you would be thoroughly entertained.  

Finally, ‘I am Groot’  ‘I am Groooot’ ‘I am Groot’ (Translation: As original as superhero movies can get. Don’t miss this one!) 

A Simple Promise

From shock to grim hope, from grim hope to anger, from anger to more anger, and from more anger to much much much more anger, from that much anger to the unfruitful (or fruitful) sojourn for justice, and from that, may be, acceptance. May be not. Not for everyone, definitely.

That journey from shock to acceptance, that for most of us, is the toughest journey. It varies. Some of us take dwindling paths that envelope us, some of us set out on a lifeboats trying to cross the Atlantic, and some of us roll dead down on the slope from top to the bottom of a mountain.

But somewhere, in between or after that journey, we crave for justice. Because we deserve it. At least my friends do.

We want justice, because we believe in the fact that "everything" could have been avoided, if only those responsible were 'responsible' enough (Am I pointing at the dam officials who failed to give a siren? or the HP government who could not put a single caution board? Yes).

And as this craving for justice rages on, I am duly aware of the beautiful system that would hear our plight. Its not that I don't believe in it (as a matter of fact, I don't), it's just that Justice is something that is served rather very cold and in less quantity in India. (Remember Uphaar Cinema fire? Read this: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/uphaar-fire-victims-kin-demand-law-to-hasten-justice-540863 )

And I wonder. "Who are the people that we are really fighting against?"

Aren't we fighting a Cinema Manager? A construction engineer? A regular middle class dam official (or high end one)? An operator of a Siren? an officer in charge of patrol? Or even official(s) of the state government? 

Are these people, not one among us? Oh wait! sorry, "Were" this people not one among us once upon a time? Haven't time and ill disguised education took them from "one of us" to "one of them", "Convicts", "irresponsible humans who do not weigh any value to human life"?

Well, we know. They were, definitely (and hopefully), once, one of us: A student.  

Is it too much to ask this from each one of us?

In a similar way, I am pretty sure that students of today, would have their share of education, success and money and go on to become a manager or an engineer, or an official, or a public servant for some government. We could very well "be" in some of 'their' shoes in time.

And it is then, when few of us really make it to those places, that we have to remember what it takes to be on the wrong side of someone else being irresponsible, what it takes to feel helpless, what it takes to crave for justice. If we just promise to be careful and responsible in whatever we do tomorrow, wherever we are, however we are, we are delivering justice, we are at least avoiding someone else's cry for justice.

It is about us being true to ourselves each and every day. It is about avoiding this. It is about putting value to human life. It is about upholding our 'duty'. It is all about remembering this moment, and our friends.
It is about us making a simple promise today: We will never be one of them.  

Take care.

#JusticeForThe24     

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Bryan Singer finally returns to directing a ‘X-Men’ film with Days of Future Past. And with duds like ‘Superman Returns’ in his kitty since X2, fans would have been a bit little skeptic with this one. But with ‘First Class’ and ‘Wolverine’ reviving the X-Men franchise, huge expectations hardly left any room for further skepticism. And to be fair, the film had time travel and superheroes, it couldn't go wrong!

And thankfully, it doesn’t.

Days of future past acting as a sequel to both ‘First Class’ and the forgettable ‘Last Stand’, comes in with a simple, but extremely well written story. With the plot being predictable within the first fifteen minutes into the movie, the film rides on some engaging screenplay and powerful performances from the actors, and rarely does one witness both the aspects clicking so well for a superhero film.

The ‘Past’ enjoys the bulk of screen time, and rightfully so, considering the tremendous success that ‘First Class’ enjoyed. Hence, it leaves ample opportunity for James Mcavoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence to kick off from where they left as Charles, Eric and Raven. With the addition of Hugh Jackman, as Logan, to their band, things could only get better.

The film is packed with right amount of action sequences and humor. And when you have Logan around, you sure got some cheesy one-liners here and there. With the sides of Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique at the verge of rising through within their younger selves, the film makes you connect with the characters at an emotional level, pushing this film higher in terms of substance.

The cinematography too was perfect, capturing 1973 and apocalyptic future brilliantly well. Background score does well to intensify the action scenes and the whole movie in general. Days of future, it seems could do no wrong in any department.

The film has some great moments, and does not falter in its story at any point, putting this film into a separate league of high rated Super hero cult hits. If ‘First Class’ set a high benchmark for the X-men Franchise, ‘Days of Future Past’ does well to raise it further. Do not miss this one.

Of Waves, Wrath and Blunders: Election 2014

Waves of Promise, Belief and Sentiments:

India:

To put this win into statistical perspective, since 1984 General Elections, Bharatiya Janata Party is the only party to win the majority number of Lok Sabha seats on its own i.e obtaining the “magic number” without taking any alliance into picture.

This election result is as satisfying and as comprehensive as it can get for a National Party in a country which is spread across varied languages, beliefs, cultures and sentiments. To sweep away so many with the sheer promise of a model state previously developed, speaks volumes about what we, as a nation, are expecting from today’s leaders: Development. It is also a lesson, for few self-proclaimed leaders (You-Know-Who), that actions do speak louder than any number of sound systems installed at election rallies.

It is the wave of promise that has now, officially, got our undivided attention, and it is up to this BJP led NDA to deliver and show its critics that past discrepancies of a bygone age belonged to a different older version of its party.

Andhra Pradesh:

Time to work together

To put the result here in simple terms, CBN is for Andhra, what NaMo is for India. But the win for TDP has not been as comprehensive as one would have hoped for, as YSRCP have notched up, disturbingly and surprisingly, high number of assembly seats. And yet, by the sanity of the larger section, gladly, TDP sails enough to get over the majority mark.

Andhra Pradesh is truly fortunate enough to find itself at the hands of one of the most pro-development and sensible leaders of our time, CBN, at this critical time. More than anything, the state needs a stable government and a capable leader to pull it through post-division blues and the Modi-Naidu factor is a blessing indeed.  

Telangana:

The first government in youngest state of the largest democracy would be formed by a party which is riding on the wave of sentiment of people, and it deserves so. It has given itself to the cause of the state from the time of its inception, and it would be interesting to see how much of an impact it can create, now that their cause, after a long struggle, has been finally met. TRS party now bears the expectations and demands of a young state on its shoulders, and we can only wish and hope that the State and Centre work in tandem, and walk the state through it first few steps.  All the very best, TRS!

Wrath of the Indians

Now, now, now, ‘defeat’ never tasted so sweet. To a party which has

We had it coming!

concentrated more on political moves and less on administration pre and post General Election 2009, this result is nothing but a slap on its face for showing indifference towards larger sections of people by not addressing bulk of the critical issues. It has inadvertently put the nation back at least by a good half a decade in terms of economical growth. From appointing a ‘robotic’ Prime Minister to handling sensitive issues, it has done everything wrong in the last five years, and it deserved a complete route out from the country. And any hopes of forming a government in the new state of Telangana too were completely shattered by the men in Pink. It would be interesting to watch them uncomfortably hop around in the opponent’s seat for the next five (well even ten if NDA does well) years.

Blunders

Even a 10-year-old following IPL caught onto the “Ab ki baar Modi sarkar” line,

Fall from grace

except of course Arvind Kejriwal, not that he had to catch onto it, but a wise acknowledgment of its presence, would certainly have done a world of good for Kejriwal, for he defied sense and logic and took on NaMo in Varnasi, ignorantly hoping to repeat his battle glory against Sheila Dikshit. Rather than concentrating on a few MP seats, AAP has flapped its wings far and wide, without scrutinizing the merits of his party members contesting in over 400 seats, and the result must certainly have ruffled him. It has somewhere, in the last six months, lost its basic ideology of a common man contesting and has paved way for its own embarrassing defeat. Even with the consideration of ‘first-time’ tag associated to it, AAP would most probably have done a touch better had there been a better leader with strategy at its helm. From the highs of January to the lows of May, AK might find this to be a bitter pill to swallow. The best that AAP supporters and members can hope for is that, this general election has served as enough of a lesson for its party chief to plan and prioritize his future course of actions better.

All in all, for a common man sitting in Hyderabad, this election result is nothing out of the blue, and has fallen in line with the ‘obvious’. All that is left is congratulating the parties that have won, and wishing the best for them and their supporters, voters and members.

Now, it’s over to the Assembly and Parliament, where our real expectations and hopes ought to take a shape. For a better India! #JaiHindi

The None Of the Above anomaly

For now, not this one

In October last year, when the Election Commission first introduced the concept of ‘None of the above’ option for the general elections, I was so excited that, for a moment, I considered  endorsing a plain white flag in support of that option and start an election campaign of my own in constituencies stricken with “bad” candidates/options. Democracy never ceases to spread out and flex its muscles parading its presence from time to time, does it?

But the initial excitement was slowly replaced with rational, pragmatic outlook on the NOTA because as democracy does, and always will, it did not provide us with a satisfying complete meal here, but rather a humdrum Yeah-I-am-here-folks plate meal initially, which has to be subjected to thoughtful revisions before it can be considered to be thoroughly consumed by those seeking it.

The problem with None of the Above option too is simple, it is rendered pointless because of its clear gaping flaw: None of the above option cannot enforce a re-election in the case of it obtaining the majority of votes, i.e, the one who has obtained second highest majority, second to NOTA option, is the winner.

An argument can be made that NOTA option was never meant to be what-we-all-so-obviously-want-it to be but was only a means to culminate stats who were dissatisfied with those contesting.

But imagine this, how many of us (those like me), who, even though are dissatisfied, end up choosing from the lot rather than going for NOTA just to make sure that the vote does not go down the drain? So NOTA option does not even reflect that stat properly. In a way, NOTA’s presence this year round could do nothing but dilute the number of votes for particular candidates, and therein creating another problem for those few better-of-the-lot candidates contesting in elections. Hence, it serves practically no purpose for the 2014 General Elections just because it was introduced haphazardly without thoroughly examining the chinks in its armor.

But NOTA, if properly reviewed and implemented accordingly, in the coming years, can be the most powerful democratic tool handed to the common man in general elections, because it would then have the power to reject unworthy candidates, demanding and forcing political parties to field better leaders.

Till then, it is necessary that we ignore this option completely so as not to let our once-in-five-years democratic exercise to be a number in a pile of counter-productive statistical data. And as always, the best that can be done is to go through the list of candidates closely, scrutinize pros and cons of their promises and hope the best candidate represents you in the assembly and parliament.

Sin Vote Bank

I have read in The Hindu that out of 813.4 million registered voters, there are about 100 million new voters. 
Now this stat unnecessarily triggered few emotions.

Going back one year down the memory line, I look at an ultra optimistic myself (I still am, but just an optimist), where I believed and did not believe in few things. For example, I believed that there was a huge cast based vote bank existing in India and I Did Not believe that caste based vote bank existed among the urban voters, or to be more specific, I did not, for a second, believe that caste based vote bank existed in the urban youth. 

Well, coming back to the present day, The Naive Thinking Me's world has been thoroughly (and rightfully) rocked. Last few months of my personal experiences and observations have been a testimony to that. 

Caste. Caste? The name? The family line that we have been born into? Our ancestors? How trivial is that? If we closely (or to be frank just simply) reflect on the nature of these parameters that inadvertently influence things ranging from being a part of a fandom to taking sides during arguments to voting for any particular party, we would realize the pathetic hypocrisy we are all (Forgive me, I know that many of you give rat's ass about caste or cast-ism, but I am generalizing for the sake of convenience), at least many, are still a part of. 

To consider someone, or ourselves, to be a part of some superior higher class of human race, is an age old ignorance that has to be done away with. Just the idea that belonging to a particular caste is a source of pride, if anything, shows that we have not built on success stories for ourselves that we, as an individual, can be proud of. If only we can outsource half of the energy that is spent there on enhancing the individual skill set. If Only. 

What I am asking does not take much of our time or energy, its the simplest of things like talking to our friends on such issues, doing our bit in eradicating that thought from someone's head that can make a difference, at least somewhere in the 100 million new voters. 

Instead of just backing a politician that we have always respected (reasonably or unreasonably), we could look at the facts, virtues, positives, negatives aspects of all the politicians in the race and most importantly live in the present. It is so much better to soak in the existing sunlight and take battle sides fairly, rather than sulking in the shadows of former glory. 

The only blood that we actually share is that of our parents and direct siblings, and not with some leader, nor revolutionist, nor your close friend, who shares your last name. People are what they are and not what their names are. 

I somehow believe, with the existing trends that we are slipping away into (an not drawing away from) undeniable debauchery. Ten years from now, twenty years from now, when the fights move away from the presence of boundary lines on a map, we cannot blame some random politician for dropping a caste filled incendiary on us because we have let this live on. 

We today are letting the stub to swagger with us that could any day be lit up. Let us just give the existence of this disease a thought now before it consumes us up for good in times to come.

Let us all vote for someone who he/she actually is. 

Thank you
#LargestDemocracy #IndiaVotes #TheHindu #CasteBasedPolitics

300 Rise of an empire:

Like the many Greek and Persian ships, this movie sinks too, but only because it is battered away by the high expectations. If we can bring ourselves to the point of treating Rise of an Empire without comparing it with Gerard Butler’s epic, we have a movie that is definitely worth a watch.

Rise of an empire is not exactly a sequel or a prequel to the original 300. It rather tells an interesting tale of the origin of Persian and Greek war and the subsequent consequences which take place at the same time as that of King Leonidas’s battle.

So does it mean we have a winner in terms of the plot?
Sadly no, as the movie is plagued with an uninteresting screenplay writing that treads far too often into the shore of routine un-novelty in its plot.  

So does Rise of an empire, at least, have that cinematographic texture that we love?
Well, yes and no. Yes because it still has that 300 ‘battle feel’ attached to its cinematography but ‘No’ because the red and golden texture of 300 is replaced with Dark blue texture as most of the film deals with naval battles at sea. But Rise of an empire does have its own technical high points too with exceptional Slow-Mo moments filling the film at all the right places. The movie is also a victim of poor background score that doesn’t let us feel its presence till the last 10 minutes of the film.

But what actually saves this film from being an utter failure is the character of Artimisia, sort of right-hand to Xerxes. Eva Green as Artemisia steals the show from the greek warriors with her epic bad ass character. Simply put, evil and vengeance never looked sexier on screen than this. She basically carries the entire film. The presence of Artimisia takes this film all the way from being a “avoid this” to a “one time watch”.

To be very frank, I might just watch this film again for Artimisia :P

Do watch this one if you can stomach warriors slicing of necks and carrying them in hands (and also kissing them-the heads I mean- I mean kissing the head alone without the body attached to it).

Gore. 300 style. Good enough battle scenes. Artimisia. And sword battles. Worth a watch.

Highway

After Bhaag milkha bhaag, this is the only movie coming from the bollywood factory that I actually looked forward to watch. And my interest, initially, had got to do with only two factors: Imtiaz Ali and AR Rahman. 

And Highway happens to be the best of Imtiaz till date, not only because he managed to make a film from the simplest of concepts, but because he narrated that story with deep philosophy, reflecting some of the appalling complexities plaguing everyday lives.

This movie, simply put, is an emotional ride. If Student of the year introduced Alia Bhatt as an actress, then Alia Bhatt introduces, Alia the actress, in Highway. It is the innocence in Alia’s character that makes this whole story so believable, and also light-hearted.  She, along with Randeep Hooda, has done an exceptional job in portraying characters carrying scars of the past, in an unexpected journey (No, not the hobbit like adventure) through the picturesque settings of northern India.

But it is not just direction or acting that make this film such an experience, there is the AR Rahman factor showing its presence throughout the film. To compose music for a journey riddled with so many emotions is a tough job any given day, but the Mozart of Madras delivers as he always does. There are a few scenes where, Imtiaz just hold the frame, and the expressions and music speak the emotions. Kudos to the well written dialogues too!

There is only so much one man can do, sometimes, everybody has to kick in and in that process there is a good enough chance that they create something great, and for me, Highway did just that. It was an joyous watch for me. Loved all of the 130 minutes.   Do not miss this to take this ride of the highway ;) :D

PS: And I am forewarning you, not to take my word for this film, because I have always loved Imtiaz’s work, his brand of films like “Love Aaj Kal” and “Rockstar”, though which were ridiculed by many, remain for me as few of the well made films of bollywood.

Lone Survivor

I will always be glad that I found my way into the theater to watch this one, because this is one movie that I will remember for a very long time. There are movies that are entertaining, brilliant and meaningful, and then there are movies like Lone Survivor which retains all of those adjectives and boasts of two more in its ranks- Inspiring and Moving.

It tells the true tale of four Navy SEALs in a mission horribly gone wrong, in a way that leaves you back in the mountains of Afghanistan, even though you get back home. Cinematography and background music are two tools that took this narrative piece to an all together different level, so it is really not surprising to know that this film has got two academy award nominations for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. 

More than anything, I definitely needed to watch such a film. Know such a story. Experience such narration. If this is playing at a theater nearest you, don't miss this one.

American Hustle

Ten Oscar nominations. And the mystery continues. At least for me.

This must be the umpteenth Oscar celebrated movie that fails to echo the critics applause from the audience. No, the movie cannot be categorized as being a "hell ride" or a respectable "Avoid it" Film, but it was thoroughly disappointing, which might have been because of the over expectations that I threw on the film from the moment I laid my eyes on the Cast!

Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

Inspite of the predictable storyline, the movie does have few of those brilliant moments, where I was left to wonder the artistry with which some of these reputed directors bring out emotions such as 'Friendship', 'love' and 'jealousy' even in the most unimaginable of places. There are these dialogues, and these actors, who somehow don't just act but live the roles given to them, transforming these mediocre story lines on screen into a window that peeps into the lives of the characters portrayed.

Everyday con story. Dragging. Boring. Moment of brilliance with Exceptional acting.

This is not a film that you want to catch on the weekend, but might still be a good watch one year down the line at home.