Iron Man 2 - Entertainment Today footage

I can't wait to watch Iron Man 2, without doubt, the movie of the year. The promo footage from ET has made me less patient than ever. There is the much hyped Monaco F1 race track sequence and Iron Man's flashy appearance on what looks like the American Idol show. Tony Stark is no Bruce Wayne. Subtleness is not a word which he is aware of. Stark doesn't even know that the word exists. :)

By the way, if you have not received the memo, Iron Man 2 features the arrival of his wing man, the War Machine. The less flashy, more brawny version of the red and gold suit does the job for the latter. Not to mention, the colossal firepower the suit offers. For us, that's twice the metal action.

Movie of the month - Archives - November - 2012

Another disaster movie from the director who made a career out of making disaster flicks. Roland Emmerich returns to repeat the success of Independence Day and Day After Tomorrow with 2012 - a visual effects filled apocalypse movie based on the theoretical end of the world expected to take place in year 2012.

Forget the fact that John Cusack is the lead actor. Who pays attention to the hero of an Emmerich movie? Even if you intend to, you may not get the time to take your eyes off all that breath taking CGI. The budget is in the $200 million range.

Breathtaking rendering - beat that Hollywood

So you thought Hollywood had the best CGI ever. So wrong. This CGI flick put together by PanTural (never heard of that name) will give the Hollywood visual effects companies a run for their money and some real huge complex. As for car buffs like me, it gives millions of goosebumps. The rendering has rendered me speechless (pun intended). There is so much happening onscreen in every second and even if the cars are stationary, they look like they are doing 100 miles per hour. Boy oh boy, do they look a billion dollars! It took this wizard 110 days to complete this project and it's totally worth it.

The soundtrack was the only part which disappointed a bit. Not that the soundtrack is weak, but the fact that it was lifted from some of popular movies like Transformers, Terminator 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean. That steals away a bit of originality from the package. Excellent soundtrack choices by the way.

The plot is pretty Hollywood-esque with bits borrowed from Spiderman 3 and The Day the Earth Stood Still. The cars are impressive whether they are motionless or blasting past at neck-breaking speeds. The line-up includes a white version of KITT Attack mode from the Knight Rider TV movie and the Shelby Mustang GT 500 looks all brawny in the attire. The Chevrolet Camaro joins the pack, kicking up the muscle car quotient a notch. The rest of the team is pretty ordinary with the Jeep Grand Cherokee and an outdated VAZ 07. But those two look dashing despite their age. Surprise package - a full blown Apache gunship monitors the proceedings from above.

The fury unleashed by these machines on the track make us forget for a long while that these are just cars. I know that I shouldn't be saying "just cars". That's a derogatory term.

They transform into beasts on wheels towards the middle of the video. The Camaro and the Cherokee breaks away from the shackles to get some rubber to burn on that track. The rest of the crew join in the show-off which concludes in an explosive finale of crash and burn.

One of the best CGI mini fests that I have ever seen, this one even packs an added punch with the making of the video pre-end credits. One must hand it to this guy wherever he is. This is brilliant. Beat that Hollywood.

Movie of the month - Archives - October - Blue

What if Michael Bay made a Bollywood Movie? It'll look a lot like Blue. All of Rs.80 crores as budget to splurge on bike chases, underwater action sequences, explosions, shoot outs, classy production values, breath-taking locations, hot stars, stunts, effects, camera crew and writers brought down from Hollywood and racy trailers which promise a full blown slick actioner. Scored by A.R Rahman and sound designed by Resul Pookutty, Blue also features Kylie Minogue's performance. The promotional budget of Rs. 20 crore is enough to produce a multi-starrer in Bollywood. I'm betting my Diwali on Blue.

Spada Codatrona Promotional Video

Codatronca - This is not Gotham City from Director Kobayashi on Vimeo.

The Batmobile wannabe car's promotional video is a CGI fest with truckloads of inspiration from the Speed Racer movie. The Tronca has Corvette underpinnings and that is not that so unpleasant a news. So will we see one in the Batman sequel? No. Batman drives Lambos.

Bollywood Diwali Specials - Blue

Genre: Action Thriler

Director: Anthony D'Souza

Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan, Lara Dutta, Katrina Kaif, Rahul Dev

Music Director: A. R. Rahman

One line summary – An underwater treasure hunt with action sequences borrowed from Deep Blue Sea, Torque, Bad Boys 2, and a lot of Hollywood flicks.

Release Date: October 16

Bollywood Diwali Specials - All The Best: Fun Begins

Genre: Action-Comedy

Director: Rohit Shetty

Star Cast: Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu, Mugdha Godse

Music Director: Pritam

One line summary – Another fun filled carnival like Golmaal Returns with action and comedy.

Release Date: October 16

Diwali movie review - Wake Up Sid

Wake Up Sid for the Hindi movie audience is a combination of elements borrowed from Lakshya, Waqt and Dil Chahta Hei. It’s Lakshya without the war, Waqt without deaths or lectures and Dil Chahta Hei without three love affairs. But the absence of these doesn’t turn the tide against it. This is a youthful movie which has the nostalgic flair of Rock On. You might not have been wannabe rock star in your younger days, but at some point of time you were a lazy, wayward, irresponsible person with no clear plan about the future.

Whether or not your dad has a shower manufacturing company which feeds your appetite for pizzas, parties, branded wear and luxury SUVs, you were not worried about the future. That’s what makes Wake up Sid universally appealing. Debutant director Ayan Mukerji’s craft is definitely into character development. The characters are absolute delights to watch. Be it the buddies who hang out with Sid or his parents who are in different tracks to correct their son. Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma live up to their lead actors tags. Sid’s transformation from rich spoilt brat to poor loser and poor loser to upcoming winner is believable and Ranbir scores high on that regard. Konkona Sen on the other hand has a more grounded character to play which she does with all her charm. Anupam Kher did give a shade of Amitabh Bachchan’s character from Waqt, but his character chose to go by a more realistic route to guide his son. Supriya Pathak’s mother-act was a one which many mothers would find themselves associating with. For the first time ever, a non-actor like Kashmira Shah was cast in a role which suits her and she didn’t make us cringe this time. Rahul Khanna’s cameo was so well blended into the storyline that he almost gives the impression of a significant character.

The tracks though they are not Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s best, are pretty good with Iktara being my personal favourite. It’s the co-existence of contrasting characters which makes Wake Up Sid thoroughly watchable. It may not make you laugh till you cry or make you cry till you run out of tears. Neither will it prompt you to hold your lover’s hand while you are watching it. It’s actually a simple movie with a relevant message. But the message is so skillfully merged with the romantic premise and the nostalgic factor that you will never classify it as a preachy movie. That’s exactly why Wake Up Sid is a must watch.

Diwali movie reviews – Do Knot Disturb

I did not deserve this. I’m not a bad person. Why God, why? I just wanted to give every Diwali movie a fighting chance and ended up losing 2 hours and 25 minutes of my life forever. David Dhawan-Govinda team used to be so good at slapstick comedy and now they have redefined that genre into a piece of film making with screaming, squealing, incomprehensible dialogues. All that the viewer could make out from the speakers was noise and lots of it.

Govinda was at his comic worst in Do Knot Disturb and Riteish Deshmukh had no clue as to what’s going on. He tried to make something out of this mess and in the process made it messier. Sohail Khan dropped in once in a while with the cry boobie-punk act which was probably the only palatable performance. Rajpal Yadav is wasted with another overacting part.

Coming to the ladies, Sushmita Sen should join a gym and fix an appointment with a beautician or a plastic surgeon. She looked downright disastrous in this outing and I seriously doubt whether the costume designer had some serious ill-will towards the once-dazzling actress. As for Lara, she was the only saving grace with her looks – killer as always. But the comic timing that she is known for was nowhere in sight.

The movie wound up with another silly climax to be added to the long list of silly climaxes in comedy movie history. All right, point noted that it’s a comedy movie and it should be silly. But shouldn’t there be some kind of a sense of satisfaction before the curtain falls, that it was a fun-filled two and a half hours? It did not happen in this case.

I should have listened to what the poster on the theatre door said – Do (K)not Disturb.

Bollywood Diwali Specials - Acid Factory

Genre: Action Thriller

Director: Suparn Verma

Star Cast: Fardeen Khan, Danny Denzongpa, Irrfan Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Dino Morea, Aftab Shivdasani, Dia Mirza

Music Director: Shamir Tandon, Gourav Dasgupta, Bappa Lahiri, Manasi Scott

One line summary – An edge of the seat thriller with erased memories, heist, murder and fear thrown in.

Release Date: October 9

Bollywood Diwali Specials - Wake Up Sid

Genre: Romance/Comedy

Director: Ayaan Mukherjee

Star Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Rahul Khanna, Konkona Sen Sharma, Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher

Music Director: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

One line summary – A romantic comedy on a lazy, irresponsible young man’s journey to find his life’s purpose.

Release Date: October 2

Bollywood Diwali Specials - Do Knot Disturb

Genre: Comedy

Director: David Dhawan

Star Cast: Govinda, Ritesh, Deshmukh, Sushmita Sen, Lara Dutta, Sohail Khan, Ranvir Shorey, Rajpal Yadav

Music Director: Nadeem-Shravan

One line summary - A comedy of errors on extra marital affairs with a cast who has had a successful run in the comedy genre.

Release Date: October 2

The NeXt Generation is here - Reva NXG bullies all at Frankfurt

For all those who knew that an Indian company named Reva Electric Car Company existed: the Reva electric car will have a stunning stable mate by 2011. Take a look at the image. It’s the Reva NXG that broke cover at the Frankfurt Autoshow and the name is an obvious hint at the “next generation” design.

It doesn’t require too much of scratch marks on your head to realize who designed this tiny monster. Dilip Chabbria’s lines are all over it. From the colour scheme to the grey inserts, the huge mesh-design plate in the fascia, DC’s trademark swooping lines, and the cab forward stance; NXG is DC all the way.

As for the pricing, it’s steep for a small car. 23,000 euros is not a tiny sum for a tiny car. NXG is claimed to be better than the current car as it offers 125 miles range and 80mph top speed. The looks are tempting, but as the wise man once said, looks can be deceptive too. Whatever the case may be, I just hope the design is maintained till it makes it to production.

My take on the Summer Blockbusters

Terminator Salvation

Director: McG

Theatre visits: 2

What’s it about: A continuation of the Terminator story, set in a war-torn 2018, with a grown up John Connor and the Resistance fighting Skynet’s robot army. Contrary to expectations, Connor isn’t the decision maker of the Resistance fighters, but one of the lead soldiers. The appearance of Marcus Wright, a drifter who goes on to do his part in the war for humanity’s survival, forms the core of this post apocalyptic action fest. The android-human relationship comes into play and the question of making choices is a major theme followed.

Whistles: Sam Worthington’s Marcus Wright, the post apocalyptic world, the gritty realism in the frames, excellent sound design, cinematography, exceptional production designing, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cameo (though it was CGI), the terminator machines (especially Mototerminator), Christian Bale’s aggression as John Connor, the twists and turns (a bit predictable but delivers).

Boos: Christian Bale’s performance looked similar to his role as Batman in TDK, the death of Sam Worthington’s character, human element subdued a tad.

Verdict: Excellent effort from McG. Makes it hard to believe that this was directed by the same guy who directed Charlie’s Angels and its sequel. Regardless of its failure at the box office, I think this is a better movie overall when compared to the other robot actioner, Transformers 2.

Sequel Suggestions: Reduce the budget to $150 million, take some consultation from James Cameron, bring back Sam Worthington and send Christian Bale to an anger management class. The dissemination of the audio file of his verbal assault was one of the reasons why the movie’s popularity nosedived.

My take on the Summer Blockbusters

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Director: Stephen Sommers

Theatre visits: 1

What’s it about: An elite team of covert operations specialists chosen from around the globe fight to wade off a megalomaniac weapons manufacturer and his mad scientist. The movie tracks the rise of the Cobra terrorist organization and is the first live action feature film based on the G.I. Joe toy line/comic series.

Whistles: Finally a live-action movie on G.I. Joe, Joseph Gordon Lewitt’s Cobra Commander, special effects in pieces, the chase scene in Paris, Marlon Wayans’ Ripcord (I was surprised to see that he was good.), Snake Eyes, connecting flashbacks, Storm Shadow-Snake Eyes duel, Arnold Vosloo’s cool-and-cold Zartan, the hotties Sienna Miller and Rachel Nichols, the cliffhanger.

Boos: Relentless pace, terrible and unpolished CGI in many sections (I doubt whether they actually spent $175 million making this movie or not), Channing Tatum’s Duke, Breaker (is he gay?), failure to cash in on major action sequences, the illogical scene of polar ice packs sinking (ice doesn’t sink in water…even toddlers know that)

Verdict: Not bad. I’m forced to like it as I love the G.I. Joe characters so much. Stephen Sommers disappointed. I’d like to see a sequel though with more characters and some quality special effects. Gore Verbinski is my recommendation for the director's chair.

Sequel suggestions: TF2 league CGI, more screen time for Joseph Gordon Lewitt, Arnold Vosloo and Dennis Quaid. And give Brendan Fraser a major role. He has immense popularity in the Asia Pacific. How else do you think Mummy 3 survived? Bring in some actors from other nations in guest or major roles. The latest incarnation of G.I. Joe proclaims it as an international team anyway. Put that line to good use.

My take on the Summer Blockbusters

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Director: Michael Bay

Theatre visits: 3

What’s it about: Sam becomes the unwilling hero as he wants a normal life without being in the midst of a robot civil war. But the Decepticons especially Megatron and his master the Fallen find him a high-profile target as the location of an energy source gets embedded in his mind accidentally. At the hands of the bad guys, it can bring the world as we know to a quick end - "end of world stuff" as the movie guys call it. So for Sam, Autobots and the military it’s battle time with more fights, explosions and twisted metal as the fate of the world rest on them.

Whistles: Bigger with more robots and a greater dose of action, better CGI and sound, more dialogues for the robots, stunt choreography, Optimus Prime’s speeches and fights, Bumblebee’s antics, the military hardware parade, Megan Fox’s glamour quotient.

Boos: Avoidable sleazy references, 50+ bloopers, no character development, tiny climatic battle between Optimus and Fallen, no fights for “weapons specialist” Ironhide, perverted Wheelie, things that Megan Fox had to do, weak dialogues, abundant plot holes.

Verdict: It’s an “all nonsense, keep your brains at home” summer actioner. So don’t think, just watch. Pop-corn muncher’s delight and do rush to an ear specialist after the show.

Sequel suggestions: Script, dialogues, attention to detail in the plotline, cohesiveness, continuity – there are many areas to look into. And keep those sleazy dialogues to a minimum. At times it gets indigestible. Don’t even think about loading up some more robots and some more action to garner audience. Take some time to chat with the executive producer, Steven Spielberg for some bright ideas. Spielberg had suggested that "a boy and his car" should be the focus of the film. It would be better if his idea is kept in mind while brainstorming about the sequel.

My take on the Summer Blockbusters

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Director: Carlos Saldanha

Co-director: Mike Thurmeier

Theatre visits: 2

What's it about: Rifts form in the unlikely gang of the mammoth, the sabretooth cat and the sloth. Diego and Sid part ways with Manfred as he has got his own family now. Sid wanders off into a treacherous prehistoric world under the ground and the rest follow to save him. A smooth talking-crazy weasel named Buck who inhabits the same place joins them in the rescue mission.

Whistles: Laugh riot all the way, thrice the fun and humour, action-packed (I can’t believe I just said that. But it has so much of action), the new entry – Buck (a mix of Jack Sparrow and Tarzan), amazing detail in animation, Scrat (how could we forget him!) and She-Scrat

Boos: Nothing much to boo. Some may argue that it doesn’t have the soul of the first movie. The statement is right. But doesn’t really matter if you are in the mood to watch a fun flick.

A big boooooo for making it the last movie of the series. We can’t get enough of the unlikely gang. Can we have one more?

Verdict: Watch it and when it comes out on DVD, own it. It’s a sure go for kids and kids at heart.

Sequel Suggestions: Please…please…please…make one. Bring in Buck too. Not as part of the family, but as the 911 emergency response for the gang synonymous with trouble.

My take on the Summer Blockbusters

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Director: Shawn Levy

Theatre visits: 1

What’s it about: The museum night watchman starts a new company and moves on with the good money. But the news of his friends being packed off to the Smithsonian Museum makes him put on the watchman’s uniform again to bring them back to where they belong. To make that job a ride through hell, an ancient Egyptian ruler resurrects (courtesy: the magical slab) with plans to take over the world. Watchman puts together a team of new friends from the Smithsonian Museum to spoil the party and to save us all from doom.

Whistles: Bigger with the Smithsonian Museum as its backdrop, the funny men brigade, the laughs, bubbly Amy Adams.

Boos: Gets a bit boring after a while. Stiller looks tired of the role.

Verdict: A clean family entertainer. Got the laughs and the gags. Kids will love it.

Sequel suggestions: Ask Stiller whether he is interested; let’s not have the story revolving around that magical life-giving gold slab and try not to make it look like a reworked script of the first and second movies.

My take on the Summer Blockbusters

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Director: Gavin Hood

Theatre visits: 1

What’s it about: The past of the claw wielding Wolverine which was not clearly explored in the X-Men movies. It’s about his troubled relationship with his brother Sabretooth, the betrayal that he faced from the woman he loved, his involvement in the Weapon X programme and how he got the Adamandium claws from the one person who he hates the most – Col. William Stryker.

Whistles: Hugh Jackman, the last fight with Deadpool, Liev Schreiber’s Sabretooth, Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson, the action sequences, visual effects in some parts.

Boos: Visual effects in some sections, not gripping enough, not in X2 league

Verdict: Good watch. Needs a sequel with tighter script.

Sequel suggestions: We don’t need the sequel to be too dark, but do give Wolverine the intensity that his character demands. Trace his history on how he continued his journey before he reached that cage fight in X-men. Hire a CGI team who can blend the effects seamlessly with the real footage.

Bumblebee Transforming Costume - Can I have one of these? Please...

Grabbing a Bumblebee Transformer from the toy store after a fist fight with a toddler is not exactly the kind of act which will find approval from your girlfriend. She'll be giving you the "what the..." look for buying a "toy" and for quarrelling with a kid. I forgave mine for being unaware of what Transformers is all about. But even if I buy the Ultimate Bumblebee toy with all the light and sound bonus, it will still be light years away from the one in this video.

It isn't a toy actually. It's a costume and the video was shot at a Chevrolet dealership in Mexico. That's not all. The best part is that it transforms into the car. It actually transforms. Just like in the movies, or let me rephrase it, just like the toy. The dude inside all that plastic must go through a bit of trouble to get it right. But it is convincing enough for a gawk.

There are some major shortcomings. They have used a repainted Optimus Prime helmet instead of Bumblebee's head. But that's not a big deal. Is it?

Who needs it on Halloween? I do.

Wikipedia discoveries - Thomas Jane's (The Punisher) debut movie

Thomas Jane who donned the trench coat and the skull T-shirt as revenge-driven vigilante Frank Castle in 2004’s The Punisher, had made his debut in a Telugu film, Padamati Sandhya Ragam. The movie which was released in 1986 starred Vijayashanti in the lead role. Thank heavens; it wasn’t one of her butt-kicking action movies. East meets west cultural differences formed the crux of Padamati Sandhya Ragam.

Thomas Jane went on to take up leading and supporting roles in many TV series and movies. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Face/Off, Boogie Nights, The Thin Red Line, Deep Blue Sea, Magnolia, Original Sin, Dreamcatcher and The Punisher are some of his noted flicks.

In The Punisher, FBI agent and ex-Delta Force operative Frank Castle turns into a vigilante to avenge the death of his family. Jane played the role of the titular character who declares a one-man war on the mob which brutally wiped off every member of his family. The Punisher is the property of Marvel Comics and is one of the most admired comic book heroes primarily due to his troubled past and his agenda to adopt violent ways to ensure that justice is served.

Speed Breaker - From which angle do I look like.....?

Things that you stumble upon while browsing...

Often the surprise that runs across your screen keeps you hooked in a good way. The rest can even give you a nightmare.

Thankfully, the one which I encountered was a treat. It's a neat site called myheritage.com. No culture-tourism boredom this is. They must rename the site with immediate effect. It has some interesting imaging tools for morphing, celebrity resemblance comparison and the like. Just for the fun of it, I tried the tool which compares your uploaded image with the images in the site's celebrity image database. The system gives you the list of celebrities who you have a resemblance to. In went an old image from college days and after a couple of seconds the results were out, that too with the percentage of similarity. Take a look.

Jawaharlal Nehru – 72%
Rajiv Gandhi – 71%
Matthew Mc Conaughey – 67%
Ayrton Senna – 56%
M. Night Shyamalan – 56%

Honestly, I don't think I look like any of them in this pic. About the close contenders one and two, it's quite ironic to add that I was in a long Kurta when this pic was taken. Both Nehru and Rajiv chose it as a preferred attire. Number three - I'm neither a fan nor a follower. Number four - not a fan, but have heard a lot about his skills behind the steering wheel of an F1 car till the moment he died. Number five - was a fan, not anymore and please don't tell me that I look like him.

P.S - I uploaded another pic of mine and the list generated had no resemblance to the previous one. So don't fly too high if your result says you can be a Brad Pitt double or an Angelina Jolie twin.

Wish someone got these garbage out of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

"Watch it lady, the glaze is blinding...my eyes, my eyes!!! I can't see a thing"

Old footage – Come on Michael, you get millions as budget and you can’t shoot some new scenes instead of stuffing in footage which we have already seen in your previous flicks? We have seen that same aerial shot of the US Navy fleet in Pearl Harbour, Armageddon, and Transformers. Adding a dozen CGI protoforms to the visual doesn’t make it any different. Call Pentagon. They’ll be glad to help you out. After all, you are the unofficial advocate of the US military. We know that you have their number on speed dial. Use it.

This isn’t over yet. What about the VFX shots carried over from the first movie? The Autobot arrival visuals in TF1 stepped in to show the arrival of Decepticons in TF2. The shot of the Predator UAV from the first movie made its way too. Where the hell is all that money going? $200 million is no small sum.

Perverted Wheelie – The R/C truck lookalike starts off as a perverted Decepticon and ends up as a “licensed to be a pervert” Autobot. He is too much obsessed with Megan Fox and as the movie progresses she seems to like him too. That includes the way he holds on to her legs with his spoilt mind busy at work. I opted for a more decent way of putting across what he actually did. If the impact of that statement on the reader isn’t convincing, then I’d say, watch the movie and you’ll comprehend with utmost clarity.

Skids’ gold teeth – I haven’t got complaints of racism and stereotyping when it comes to Skids and Mudflap. So what if they speak like the hip-hop crowd? It isn’t that bad. But the gold teeth took things a bit too far.

Shia Labeouf’s constant screaming – Once you get out of the theatre, you’ll remember a few lines from the movie. But more than any of them, the ones that you will remember with vivid imagery will be Labeouf screaming out “Optimus” and “BumbleBee”. It sounds cool once or twice. But we can’t take it all along. All right, he needs the Autobots when the bad company turns up in full force and with the frequency with which explosions happen around him, he has to scream. But it gets on our nerves after a while.

Megan Fox running in slow motion – This is not a TV series on lifeguards with perfect bodies. This is not Bay Watch and that means there is no urgent need of a hottie running in slow motion and that too in the middle of a war. By the way, the ladies will be very keen to know which brand of lip stick Megan Fox used while filming. No matter what she does, it still shines like wet paint. If a full blown battle in the middle of a desert can’t rob the lip gloss of its shine, the fairer sex may be very much interested in buying it even if it costs a king’s ransom.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - "Yeaaaah" and "Wow" Moments

Sideswipe slicing Sideways in half in a clean sweep as if the latter is made of butter. The skater somersaults over Sideways who is in his alternate mode (an Audi R8) and flings his sword right into the front of the Decepticon. As he comes down he reconnects the sword back to his arm while he is airborne. Tasty part, the baddie is still on the run and the sword is still thrust deep into his hood. A bit of physics here. Since Sideways is fleeing in the opposite direction of Sideswipe, the forward motion of the car makes the whole process of cutting it in half much more easier for the Autobot. All that he had to do was to stay still with a firm grip on the sword. (Thank you Einstein) Don't miss Swipe's bragging, "Damn, I'm good". Yes, you are Swipe. Yes you are. More of similar antics in TF3, please.

Optimus Prime’s intro. He is a sight to behold, be it in robot mode or truck mode. Prime uses his privileges as the Autobot leader to good use. For the Shanghai battle, he is airdropped from a C-17 military transport aircraft. As the jet circles the night skies of Shanghai, the cargo door opens up giving us the first glimpse of Prime in his truck form. He drives out into sheer nothingness and freefalls into the urban warzone miles below. The Autobot leader transforms mid-air into his robotic form, deploys the parachute to slow down the fall, cuts off the chute cables, lands and transforms back to the truck form, all in a matter of seconds. None could stop us from whistling and cheering him on.

Bumblebee’s intro scene. He goes right through the garage door, transforms and pulverizes a section of Sam’s home while killing the furious robots in the kitchen. What followed was twice as much fun as Bee gets scolded for his annihilative pest control techniques. The way he tries to reason with Sam, that too without saying a word and his expression of despair of having messed it all up, were thoroughly enjoyable. No wonder everyone loves him so much.










Bumblebee’s melodramatic act when he realizes Sam is not going to take him along to college. After watching that scene, how many of you didn’t wish you had an alien robot in your garage?

Optimus and Bumblebee gate crashing Megatron’s “let’s take Sam’s brain” party. Technically it wasn’t gate crashing as Optimus landed right into the middle of it crashing through the roof while Bee chose to break in through the wall as he couldn’t find the gate.

Optimus Prime’s fight to the death. The Autobot leader took on three of his rivals with so much brute force and power that we knew it wasn’t going to end well. After being hurled away by Megatron’s energy cannon attack, he picks himself up, spits out some metal teeth and goes full throttle again. That’s precisely what his real life counterparts (read action heroes) would do. The twin sword fight to the death saw him taking off Starscream’s arm and ripping apart Grindor’s head. The final battle with the Fallen came nowhere close to this devastating brawl which culminates in Optimus’ death. Theme hunters, here’s your line, “If I’m destroyed, so shall you be.” Did I just steal KARR’s line from Knight Rider? Yes, I did with all the legality, as it was the same voice actor who lent his vocal cords to Optimus and KARR – Peter Cullen.

Bumblebee drawing out the spine and tail of hyper-aggressive Ravage in one clean pull. Must I say, he does so in slow motion? Reminded me of a gluttonous kid who wipes the ice candy stick clean. It doesn’t end there as Bee uses the spine-tail combo as a whip for sometime lashing it out at an impending Decepticon.

The formation of Devastator. We didn’t know which vehicle was forming which part of the giant Decepticon. None of us really cared as we were more dumbstruck by what was happening onscreen. The near 30 second assembling time was sheer breath taking.

BumbleBee again, kneeling down hopelessly and noticeably heartbroken as the paramedics pronounce Sam dead. This may not necessarily qualify as one which evokes excitement or generates applause. But the scene was one of the few real gems in this explosion-laden quarry. P.S. I love the quarry!

Optimus Prime encore, taking off to the skies powered by Jetfire’s parts. The war cry in the first movie was “Autobots, roll out”. In TF2 as he lifts off, Optimus gives us the new battle cry, “Let’s roll” and the crowd erupts.

Four times the charm, Optimus emerging from behind the Sphinx, shaking off the jet engines and striking an Arnold inspired pose, all in slow motion.

The weaponry that’s on show during the 30 minute climax. I don’t even know the names of all those military gear which rallied past during that half an hour of combat. Fighter jets, bombers, hovercrafts, airborne gunships, UAVs, aircraft carriers, frigates, missile launchers, tanks and the inevitable Humvees – the list is endless and I wouldn’t dare to speak about the rest of Uncle Sam’s garage machinery in the movie. This movie could double up as a recruitment drive video for the US Armed Forces. Bay makes it all look so damn cool. The big question is, what more will be on display in TF3?

Dus bahane karke le gaye dil...10 good excuses to adore Optimus

Here they are. Those 10 lines which sound cool when spoken by Optimus Prime. Dialogue courtesy : The Late Show with David Letterman

10. Jergens lotion leaves my hands silky smooth.
9. Do you have these khakis in a size 114?
8. My perfect night involves a pint of Haagen-Dazs and season three of “Sex and the City.”
7. Man, do I love me some ‘taters.
6. It was so hot in Central Park today, I saw a squirrel rubbing sunblock on his nuts.
5. You seemed a little pitchy, dawg.
4. Brody Jenner has added you as a friend on Facebook.
3. Live from New York…It’s Saturday Night.
2. My parents wanted me to be a rabbi.
1. All the slammin’ shorties in the house say “yeah.”

I'd love to have line number 4 as an added feature on my social networking website account. Number 10 and 4 are personal favourites and number 1 is delivered by Optimus with all his charisma.

Ryan gets the power ring

This was brewing for quite some time. At first it was the speculation of a spin-off series on Wade Wilson/Deadpool from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Then the Green Lantern project gained momentum and now Hollywood's latest heartthorb and charmer, Ryan Reynolds has landed himself the role of the Green Lantern. He got the power ring, beating the likes of Jared Leto, Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake.

For Ryan, it's a quantum leap from the role of a sidekick to a mainstream superhero. Ryan isn't new to the superhero genre. Prior to his role as the wisecracking mercenary in the Wolverine actioner, he had worked with Wesley Snipes in the vampire slayer filck, Blade: Trinity. He was also associated with the Flash movie project which got shelved later.

The DC comics adaptation will have Martin Campbell as the director. Campbell has a line of specatacular action movies to his credit. The Mask of Zorro, Golden Eye and Casino Royale being some of them. Each of his movie has either launched or relaunched an actor to superstardom. If the Lantern movie gets its share of followers, then definitely Ryan will be coming across the workload of a Hollywood moviestar and that's what every actor in Hollywood aspires for.

Speed breaker - Taj Mahal wannabe

As promised, here's the pic of the mosque at Karunagapally, Kerala which owes its design to Shahjahan's Taj Mahal. I was so much in a hurry that I couldn't get the name or details of this mosque. That's right on top of the must-do list next time I take a trip via that route.

Post TF2, non-critical advice to Michael Bay

"Are you listening or should we borrow your megaphone to make you listen?"

Watched TF2. Totally awesome. The bots, the battles, the military hardware, the cars, the detailed CGI, the package was stunning and as you promised before filming, TF2 was Bay'os. But I guess, success has gone into your head. An invasion in there as well, Mr. Bay? Brace yourself for some useful unapologetic comments. If it makes any difference, I'm a follower of Bay'os. Here it goes.

Please don’t take us for granted. Just because we like the characters and the action, you can’t ignore the fact that you are making a movie and not a trailer. Bloopers account to an all time record of 50+ in Revenge of the Fallen. Some of them can be disregarded as insignificant. But even if we forget the insignificant ones, we just can’t forgive the continuity errors. We do like your “love me or hate me, I just don’t care” attitude. At a time when everyone’s getting all stressed up about making action movies darker and grimmer, it’s good to have someone like you who insists on making it more fun. No one can make pyrotechnics look good on screen like you and no one can replicate the visual style of your frames.

Don’t listen to your critics. But do listen to those who swear by you and put down their money for your movies. They happen to be the only line of defense which comes in between your career and its doom. My word of advice will be, take a break from Transformers for a while. Work on a couple of projects with Bruckheimer and then come back. Meanwhile someone can try their luck with Optimus and company. If you are too possessive about the franchise, then stay but make use of the executive producer’s directorial prowess. Spielberg has a profound knowledge of the sci-fi/action genre and will always have some ideas on how to make the audience pay attention, without blowing stuff up non-stop.

Revenge finds its way to India

Finally after all those days of prayers, uncertainty and impatience, Transformers landed on Indian theatres. From July 10, around 260 movie theatres opened to sounds of explosions, screeching tyres, metal clanging, and Shia LaBeouf’s shouts. Did I miss something? Yes, Megan Fox and all those war gear which will make every guy out there whistle and pant, joined the bandwagon in Michael Bay’s robogasmic extravaganza.

I couldn’t catch a show on the first day, though that had been my intention since the day I knew that the 2007 blockbuster would have a sequel. So I opted for the next best shot – second day’s first show. 10 minutes late, thanks to the traffic and I missed the amazing Shanghai battle sequence plus the opening credits. Show-goers remarked that I had missed an awesome fight, especially Sideswipe slicing Sideways in half. Had seen it in trailers, but missed it on the big screen. So I’ll be watching the movie once more or may be twice more. Yes, I do understand the twitching eyebrow. But sample this reasoning, it’ll be another two or three years before we get to see these bots in action again. 2011 or may be 2012 is being considered as a prospective release date for the third movie. So I have plenty of time to relax my ear drums after the three-time watch.

I’ll key in my thoughts post the “three times the charm” antic.

Funny video of Optimus Prime in The Late Show with David Letterman - totally hilarious

After a long tough day of saving Sam Witwicky and battling the Decepticons, Optimus Prime decided to take an evening off to entertain the tele audience. Stand up comedies still have a decent number of viewers. Probably, Prime is thinking of making some quick dollars for a new paint job.

I laughed so much after seeing this video of Optimus Prime in The Late Show with David Letterman. It's absolutely hilarious with Optimus Prime reading out lines which are totally not his cup of tea...err...oil. "Ten Things That Sound Cool When Spoken By a Giant Robot" section of the programme where Letterman introduces Optimus to deliver some silly one-liners is a delight to watch. The way he enunciates each one of them in his characteristic voice is an absolute treat. Save the applause for the brilliant marketing team of TF2 and of course the CGI experts who rendered Optimus specifically for this show. Brilliant sound editing and sound design as well. The way he walks in carefully so that he doesn't knock something over and the panache with which he played it off does make the whole thing click. Letterman, as always played along with his charm and sense of humour. I know that you won't miss to appreciate Peter Cullen for lending his voice to the Autobot.

Transformers 2 Forest Battle scene

There are times when you are confused whether to praise a technology or to denounce it downright. The efforts of a sting journalist wannabe (less offending term for someone who shoots a movie in theatre) has resulted in this Youtube video of the forest battle scene from Transformers 2. Keeping my moral values at bay (pun intended) let me get down to business. This one is an absolute thrill ride with giant robots taking on each other in a fists-and-guns fight. The cinematography has improved as the camera has been pushed back giving us a clear idea on who is beating whom. Proof that sometimes Michael Bay listens to his critics. In the first movie, the shots were so much in close-up that it was impossible to make out what was happening. I see that Optimus is more badass this time in the stunts department. He rips apart every Decepticon in sight as if he won't get another chance to do so. The twin sword act is one to behold as the Autobot leader takes on three baddies simultaneously The way he lets us all see the contents of Grindor's head is nothing short of a rocking piece of action. Michael Bay promised Bay'os in TF2 and he has given us just that, in abundance.

Revenge rules

The release of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs hasn't succeeded in cooling down the excitement generated by Transformers 2. While the Ice Age sequel took home $41 million in its opening weekend, Transformers edged it out at $42 million in its second week run.

The movie has generated enough gold at the box office to green signal a sequel. But since it is made on a budget of $200 million and as an additional $150 million has been spent on the marketing, it's still far from breaking even. On a trivial note, the marketing budget of TF2 is exactly the same amount which the makers had spent on making the first movie. As of today, Optimus Prime and company have skillfully cut themselves a neat share of $593 million and that too within a mere 12 day span. In a few days it'll be surging past its predecessor's $708 million which ironically is the amount that TF2 needs to break even. The Autobots better be quick in their box office war tactics as the spell of Harry Potter will be luring away a huge number of moviegoers from July 15.

Random thoughts on the new Potter flick

Adding Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to the "Must-see movies in July" list is like the whole experience of being mugged. For me, that is. An equivalent of being forced to do something as you have a gun pointed at your head or a knife getting close and personal with your neck.

I'm not a follower of either the books or the movies which followed suit. However I can appreciate a movie which is good. A couple of them were entertaining with their inherent sweetness coupled with a sense of adventure and magic. But as the series progressed the frames turned darker and grim. I don't mind that since I do enjoy dark movies, as long as they are gripping. Point to note is that Harry Potter is children's literature. But somehow the failure of the second installment of the "kids element preserved" Chronicles of Narnia has given us all new insights on what the audience, kids and adults alike prefer more. Darkness, grittiness and complexities surrounding their favourite characters, just for the sake of it.

I did watch some of the movies and while some directors managed to make it entertaining, others brought in the pseudo complex themes. With Half Blood Prince, the crew has gone ahead and shouted that very same line that you hear on the release of every sequel, "this one is huge, this one is more complex, this one is the best in the series." If you say so. I won't be judging those lines with a movie ticket.

Whatever thoughts I may harbour in my mind, the new movie is definitely going to break some box office records and will prompt a gang of critics to speak volumes on the its excellence. No one will be interested in betting against that.

0 to 167 kms in 4 hours

When I decided to go for a full blast 150 km trip from home to Trivandrum seldom did I know what was in store. Hours of convincing acts, before parents said yes. It’s difficult to make them understand that you are old enough to travel on your own. Considering the fact that I’m yet to put some decent miles on the odometer, they have a point. But as applicable to all humans, a hyper-excited mind is deaf to anything which goes against its wishes. I’m human.

What’s with all the excitement? The sights that caught my fancy en route during several trips did made me enthusiastic for a bike ride with scheduled pit stops. Pit stops which would function as “pic” stops too. I even went through the trouble of memorizing the names of all the places where I’d get down and shoot. But as the wise loser once said, man proposes, God disposes. And He did dispose it all.

Rain rain, go away, come again another day. But the rain gods were involved in other jobs and chose not to listen to my prayers. Drenching me at times with showers of blessings. With a backpack which weighed twice as much as I was when I was born, definitely my spine was in the interest of quitting. The less said about the least offending butt. I must say this - it went numb.

The list of good subjects which demanded to be shot is endless. A dozen damaged cars and trucks of all shapes and sizes filled up the sides of the road, which would make anyone scared of going beyond 30kph. A mosque which bears a close resemblance to the Taj Mahal, the rusted shell of a van, half buried in the mud, a deteriorating barge which still stood above the water as waves lashed out on its rusted sides, and miles of tree and coast lined roads craved to be photographed. I had a plan for each one when we drove past them previously. All went down the drains along with the rains. I was more worried about kissing the roads in a bad skid than about putting my eyes and the camera’s capabilities to the test.

That doesn’t mean that I didn’t shoot at all. A couple of frames did make their way onto the camera’s sensor. A few clicks at a beach and a quick stop pic of the Taj Mahal look alike mosque, that’s all.

A couple of close calls and hours of silent riding made up the trip which took all of 4 hours. Please don’t ask the receiving party on how I looked at the end of the road trip. It wasn’t the best way to turn up at any place. Thankfully, no one judged.

Transformers sequel erupts

So while proving its worst critics terribly wrong, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen raked in a massive $108 million in its opening weekend in US. This event launches TF2 to the top of the 2009 releases opening weekend toppers list. Michael Bay's bombastic robot wars movie has been lapped up by audience from around globe with equal fanfare. Within a span of 6 days it collected a quickfire $419 million in total. $214 million is the current figure at the US box office. With aggression it is chasing down the box office figure of every single movie which released in 2009. In a few days Star Trek, Angels and Demons will be bowing down before Tf2's victory run. If the pace is maintained, it could very well pose a threat to the elite $1 billion movies as well. Watch out Dark Knight!

Ugliest cars in India - Mahindra Xylo

If there is one car which will give a manatee good company on land, then it's the Mahindra Xylo. No complaints on the kit that the sedan-(b)eater has on offer, no issues with the fit and finish and the price is really tasty. But as a looker it still is miles away from what is perceived as a good looking MUV. I do understand that it's a cruel comparison, but it looks as if it's been inspired by a manatee. Cruel as in cruel to the gentle sea mammal.

The front end is neat and classy. But as we go beyond the front door, things start losing way. Designers, haven't you heard of a space filler called a wheel arch? The plain and almost creaseless section under the third row window is dull. It's like a huge blank on a poorly done magazine page, equivalent to a white space. The resulting effect is that of an over-blown balloon. Just like it's tough-guy brother Scorpio, the rear end is where the plot is completely lost. The creaseless theme continues below the rear license plate as well. The single ridge isn't the solution to the clean metal sheet treatment.

Sedan-beater? I'll say yes, considering the 17,000 bookings in the register. Best-looker, definitely no.

Stunning frames

A contrasting sky with dark rain clouds forming the lower section and the feather-white clouds filling up the portion above. This in turn imparted the image with two different colour schemes - blue above and a yellowish tint below. The Stunner made up the foreground and the evening sun's rays struggling to make their way through the dark clouds give the pic an end-of-a-roadtrip feel.

Revenge is coming to US tomorrow

Finally the big day is here. In a couple of hours from now, the biggest movie of the year will hit theatres in Uncle Sam's land. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen did please the Queen's countrymen in the UK with a blistering opening weekend of £8.35m. With ease, it beat the records set by this year's summer flicks Terminator Salvation and Star Trek. The takings were a bit lower than the record breaker - The Dark Knight, which stood at £8.6m.

The foreign market cash count right now is a total of $19 million. Almost $14 million of this total comes from UK, Ireland and Malta. The rest can be attributed to the fans in Japan. Still unimpressed? Point to mark, it's barely 4 days since the day it set the first theatre screen on fire.

As for the US opening weekend predictions, expect the three day rake to be in the range of $80-100 million. Keeping my fingers crossed, as I don't want this to be a humiliating failure like Terminator Salvation.

Ugly Duck-kitt

So I missed the first episode of the new Knight Rider. Most probably it was the 2 hour pilot which was all over the web right after its NBC telecast in the US. A decent looking Kitt and a stylish attack mode made the pilot quite digestible. So in order to catch the first season episode I set the timer on the TV to 10pm , Friday, Star World. I knew what was coming. From the first season opener, they had turned the Kitt into a monster. Not a compliment. In the attack mode t indeed looked like an ugly monster.

The style of the pilot episode car was replaced by rice boy creativity. A cross between a drag racer and a dump truck, that's what the upgraded attack mode was. They took a good looking car and turned it into a heap of scrap. The supercharger on the hood looks more like a trio of PVC pipes glued together than of anything to boost the power. The side scoops look atrociously ugly. Who designed this thing? Drag racer ambitions translates into rubber band profile front tyres and dough nut wannabe rear tyres. To finish off - a spoiler which goes all the way upto the heavens with no purpose but to make the car look garish. And what's with the neon lights? The neon glow looks so cheap and down grade. It's a car for god's sake, not a diner from the 80's.

The transformation scenes look good though. Not of Transformers league, but close. It's an entirely different matter that I just hate what it transforms into.

If by any chance you liked the car in the image, the credit goes to the photographer. He must have had a tough job finding a less disturbing angle.

Ugliest cars in India - Tata Indigo XL

Two reasons - the rear door and the boxy boot. The Indigo was not the right follow-up to the the beautifully designed Indica hatchback. The boot of the Indigo looked more like an attempt to add more luggage space, by someone who had no idea on the looks of the parent car. However the car was a wise move from Tata as it became a huge hit with its low price, cheap maintenance and practicality.

The rocking success made Tata go one step further and do the unthinkable. An increased wheelbase, luxury amenities, a name which obviously refers to its size and it was time to say, "Hi XL". The misproportionate looks continued, but this time with more vigour. What's with that mile-long rear door? They could have added a panel in between the two doors which is the standard design feature of most limos. Sprinkle some creases, curves and plastic inserts on the panel and that will make it less boring. That requires re-tooling, but of course not as much as what was done for the rear door which can also double up as a fortress gate.

I'd rather choose to say "Bye XL". The manufacturer chooses to call it a luxury limousine. It has acres of space inside and the luxury car ingredients. Still, it doesn't qualify as one. Point acknowledged, that it's cheaper than many sedans in the C-segment. Will that part make the brand conscious buyer turn to the XL? The answer is a big NO. Or an over-ambitious "may be".

"Look ma, a long Indigo" looks don't help. Who'd choose to pay a premium for a luxury car which hasn't got too many distinguishing features from the so-so budget sedan next-door? Or let's make it worse, it looks exactly like the city cab at the next intersection.

A word to Tata. Either make a proper stretch limo or don't make it at all. A "limo" which is mid-way between a short wheelbase sedan and an executive class saloon isn't the right way to (Indi)go.

T1 may be Can'ned by CanAm

So you thought the Caparo T1 is the closest that it'll ever get to an F1 car. You were so right. Let me modify that phrase a bit. You "were" so right. Confused? Continue reading.

What you see in the image is the Hulme CanAm, a supercar from the land of the Kiwis. It shamelessly borrows a lot from the T1 when it comes to styling. To the casual onlooker, CanAm looks exactly like the T1. Even the promotional car colour is the same. The low stance lends it loads of grip and the highlighted F1 car feel. The F1 racer inspired styling continues bumper-to-bumper. The narrow nose, the chunky side panels and the high set spoiler contributes to the toned down F1 machine looks.

CanAm's power and torque figures will make the T1 run for cover. 600 Bhp in power ratings and 600 Nm of torque, all of which are drawn out from a huge 7 litre V8 Chevrolet engine. A six speed gearbox mated to the powertrain makes sure that all that numbers are put to good use on the road. Speed freaks will be amused by its projected top whack of 320kph.

At $700,000 the CanAm isn't in the same price range as the T1 which retails for around $500,000. However the elite buyers of the CanAm will consist of those who find the 575 Bhp power and 420 Nm toque of the T1 quite less. Point to note is simple and clear. Every good thing comes at a price. This just happens to be pricier.

Carbon on a roll

Pack your bags, Fords and Chevys. You are about to be dismissed from the highway patrol team. Crown Victorias may go back to the taxi business or take up under cover jobs with the Feds and Impalas may do whatever they are suited for. Yes, the recession has taken its toll on everything in sight. But that’s not the reason why these old ladies are being shown the door. We have a new gatecrasher in town – the Carbon E7. A whopping 10,000 cars have been ordered by various police departments in the US. Interestingly, the cops are willing to wait for four years till they take delivery.

The name Carbon E7 suits a carbonfibre bodied sportscar. But the subject is not one. It’s a built-for-the-job cop car. While the Crown Vics and the Impalas have to be modified to suit their high voltage job profiles, the E7 comes factory-fitted with all the equipment needed for the action. Being a strongly built machine, it can multi-task as a car chase terminator too.

Powering this enforcer is a 3 litre turbo diesel which churns out all of 300bhp.A six speed automatic gear box transfers all that brute force to the wheels and with a 0-60mph figures coming at 6.5 seconds. A top speed of 155 mph will make the E7 remain in the rear-view mirror of those with too much of need for speed. Cops won’t have to break the chase with stops at the gas station too, as the E7 is a frugal machine. So inter-state chases will be a non-stop breeze.

The oldies have all the time till 2012 to plan their less eventful future. Cabs get to be part of high-octane chases only in movies. Not in the streets. Bad luck ladies.

Q n A

Every year a minimum of 10,000 new species are discovered from the deepest of forests and the depths of oceans. Scientists believe that there are thousands more to be brought to the list. If no one has any qualms in accepting that fact, then why can't they believe that aliens exist?

The vastness of outer space has not been seen or measured by the best technology available with us right now. We have limited knowledge on the planets in our solar system and the universe. Based on that limited knowledge we pass judgments and follow guesses. Educated guess is a nice-sounding usage in this context. Those educated guesses have told us that there are thousands of solar systems out there, each comprising of stars and planets. So can't atleast one of those planets have intelligent life forms?

Aliens is a term which is so much cliched nowadays. But let me use that word. Just like we send out probes to find more on other planets, just like we collect samples form other planets, can't aliens too drop in on planet Earth to study it more? Wouldn't they be as curious as us to study the dominant species on the planet, efforts of which are better known as alien abductions? Why do we find it hard to believe that we are not the only inhabitants of this universe? Proof is required to support this statement. But isn't it not just unfair but also a stupid move from us not to give it a chance of probability? That too at a time when we have evidence which hints life on some celestial bodies in our vicinity.

To all those who are still find it difficult to believe, let me remind you that five hundred years ago everyone found it difficult to believe that the earth was spherical. Lucky for them, they aren't alive to shamefully take back the idea which they followed blindly. When Galileo suggested that the sun was at the centre and the Earth revolved around it, he was subject to trial and was condemned by the Church and the society. Do we have to be referred to in history as the stubborn society which despised and neglected chances and probabilities?

The image above is one of the most recognised posters of all time. Followers of the X-Files TV series will be familiar with the poster from Agent fox Mulder's office wall. I guess, the image puts things in perspective more than any words could ever do.

Ugliest cars in India - ICML Rhino RX

The Toyota Qualis would have made it to this list if it were still around. But Toyota pulled the plug on that breadbox-on-wheels MUV a long time ago. Do we miss it? Well, not exactly. It was a remarkable MUV which redefined a segment with its quality and packaging.

Toyota began its innings in India with the Qualis and it did complete justice to the bulletproof reliability associated with the company. So no one really bothered about the Jurassic era styling. Later the Innnova drove into the showrooms and our car parks, effectively replacing the Qualis.

Things were looking good and then this one came into the picture. Meet ICML Rhino RX - the exact relica of the Qualis. That excludes the superb engine and the fit and finish levels. One more similarity, the Rhino is as unreasonably priced as the Qualis. The logic in this copycat-act is a mystery. If they had to copy a design to save costs, couldn't they have picked a better looking vehicle?

It must be admitted that Rhino is a bit better than the Qualis when viewd from the front. Head-on, the rounded headlamps and the bumper design are reliefs. That doesn't save the rest of the package. There are the usual style-savers like two tone paint jobs, stickers and a list of new colur schemes. Is someone forgetting the fact that these are dated ways to save face? More dated than the two-decade old design itself.

Ugliest cars in India - Honda CR-V

Another Honda and this is something that I really hate to do. I have said this before. Honda makes the best engines. But one way or the other they give the rest of the world lots of arguments against their sense of style. Some automobile mags call the new CR-V a revolutionary design. I agree. It is revolutionary, but only if it means tasteless. The softroader which it replaced was a conventional looking city slicker which had the stance of an SUV and the mannerisms of a sedan. That design was in need of replacement and the one which came to fill its shoes made us all pray that Honda hadn't replaced it at all.

Now let us get down to business. What is that front end all about? To be specific, the grille which comes right below the Honda emblem. Is it a space filler which the designers chucked in to fill up the plain space between the bumper and the headlamps? Looks so to me. The glass house is another distraction. The slanting profile of the third window isn't exactly a tasteful touch. May be it is a match which suits a car with a styling package like this. I don't wish to say anything at all about the rear end.

But here's the catch, it's a Honda. For buyers who know the reliability which comes free with that insignia, that pretty much ends all doubts and comments on its styling.