Heroes

I hated X-files. I couldnt understand what was the fuss about aliens on this planet.... i hated all science fiction based serials and movies... i just could'nt digest them.
When i heard about 'Heroes', my first reaction was that this is not for me. My niece Shilpa got me the entire season 1 videos, and i was hesitant to watch it. In fact, i guess i copied only the 1st 11 episodes, as i was convinced i would never watch it, and even if i did manage to watch one, i wouldnt like it.
A day came when I was really bored, and had really nothing to do.....so i thought why not. And guess what, i picked up the 11th episodes to watch... because it was titled as 'Six months back'.....
i was entirely confused by the going-ons...... but what ignited an interest was the way the serial moved... traversing across the stories of the multiple characters, and trying to tie them together.
Some weeks later i was even more bored, and i thought i will try 'Heroes' again.. and this is where i realised i had watched the wrong episode first. And from then i was hooked on. Once i complete the 11 videos, I had..... i was desperate for more..... and thankfully my broadband and an internet site came to the rescue allowing me to watch online videos for free. And thats how i completed all videos for season 1.
'Heroes' is the story of several characters, who discover that they are blessed with supernatural ability.Almost all of these characters are blessed with only one specific power like flying, ability to time-travel, hypnotise, raw power, ability to walk through barriers, read other's mind, ability to figure out a person's location, hearing ability, re-generate and heal body parts, be invisible, paint the future and so on. One of them - Peter Pitrelli- is blessed with the ability to imbibe all the abilities from the heroes by virtue of proximity. He is one of the good heroes.
The main theme of episode 1 is the introduction of the heroes, and their special abilities, as also how the good heroes come together via circumstances to save the world from a predicted disaster triggered by one of the bad heroes.The villain in the piece is Skylar, who has the ability to understanding how things work, and uses that knowledge to kill the heroes and acquire their special abilities. And there is an indian connection too.. the story is triggered by an Indian scientist who predicts the existence of such people, and devotes his entire life to find such people..... and his son takes over his mantle after the father is murdered by Skylar.....
The 20 + episodes involve a gradual revealing of links between the heroes, and that seems to make up for a complex story. Add to that ability to time-travel, and things get more complicated. But you cant help being riveted, as the story unfolds.
At no point do you feel the story is letting off steam..... you cant wait for the next episode.. lucky me.. i had all episodes on demand.... so i was relatively luck not to go through agony of waiting for a week for what happens next..... like most others wud have...
Now i cant wait to watch season 2... i am told that the characters are all new...... and the so is the story line.. looks like i am not going to be bored for some time.
My advice is... watch it, if u havent... and if you have, i neednt tell you anything more.....

The Hamaal

bees saal pehele... i remember watching a movie called 'Its a Mad Mad World'. I am not sure i understood the plot of the movie then... or the humour... but i remember laughing a lot. Cant really tell whether the movie was good or a 8 yr old guy was ready to laugh at anything in the age where Doordarshan was the only boss.
Bees saal baad.... i happen to watch a bollywood movie called Dhamaal. Dont know if its a rip-off of the movie i saw 20 yrs back or not, but one thing that stands out as a common pattern is the fact that both movies involve loads of people looking for piles of cash buried under a W formed by coconut/palm trees. Apart from it, i do not recollect any commonality.
Thoough i do remember laughing at the hollywood movie (reasons still unclear), 20 yrs down the line... i just couldnt handle the stuff that Indra Kumar threw up in our face. To be frank, I didnt expect a sensible plot per se, bt what I really didnt expect was really bad jokes executed with the worst timing ever. The direction and story are really tacky.. and so is the acting cast.
Arshad warsi cannot breathe life into unfunny dialogues, but thankfully he is the only one who doesnt go over the top. Javed Jaffry's comic timing never surfaces. Riteish Deshmukh's attempts to make you laugh irritates you endlessly. Ashish Chaudhry needs serious acting guidance. Asrani is at his loudest best..... and Sanjay dutt is as bad as any one else.
The theme is relentless..... loud, loud, loud humour is the focus... never mind if people arent laughing...(well some in the theatre actually did though).. all the scenes seem to be wrapped up in a couple of takes... never mind if the joke wasnt executed properly.....as long as the noise factor was achieved, i guess Indra Kumar canned the shoot.
I was actually debating watching 'Darling' , inspite of it being a RGV movie, but then opted for 'Dhamaal' for Warsi. At the end, i thought i shud have opted for ' Darling'.. atleast if the movie was bad, i could go to sleep..... Dhamaal's loud sound didnt even allow me to sleep properly. And all i felt like coming out of the theatre was like the Hamaal.