What is with English?

English was my favorite language in childhood. When was just 2 years old, I would go up to my dad and ask him to teach me English. This was a story that my father would proudly tell, for a long time, to anyone who cared to listen. That aside, there was something about English that attracted me. And now it pains to see it butchered.

Consider the SMS language - have is spelt hv, ur is your, d is the, 4 is for and many more. Then there are the new acronyms - 2G4Y is too good for you, LOL is for laughing out loud, etc.

This kind of writing is not just used in SMS but sometimes also in official letter. I was appalled to see a official letter for my junior filled with the 'SMS language'. This was not just my experience, a lot of others in office faced this. This prompted the management to conduct a training on letter writing and email etiquette's for the freshers in the company.

Sad state of affiars for English. A English and Communication Skills program has been added by a few universities for the engineering students. I don't know if the same is done in othwer streams too. Good step to solve the issue.

Aaja Nachle

With great expectations I walked into a movie hall on Saturday evening to catch Madhuri Dixit's comeback movie, Aaja Nachle. Aaja Nachle is written by Jaideep Sahani, of the Chak de India fame and hence the expectation bars were raised a little further. Does it live up to the expectations? Yes, Madhuri does and No, Jaideep doesn't.

The movie is about the home coming of Dia (Madhuri Dixit) who returns to her town Shamali when she gets a call from her dying Guruji. He has left her the daunting task of reviving the Ajantha Theatre, where she learnt dance, which is now in shambles. The MP of Shamali Raja Saheb (Akshaye Khanna) has decided to build a mall by destroying the theatre. He challenges Dia to either generate interest for dance in the people of the town in 2 months or allow the mall to be built. The rest of the movie is all about how she gathers the people of the town and choreographs an extravagant Laila-Majnu dance drama.

The ups of the movie - Madhuri Dixit, Madhuri Dixit and more Madhuri Dixit. She is the life soul and everything of the movie. You keep searching for her in every shot. Remove her and her dances and the movie falls flat. Not only does she look drop dead gorgeous, she dances like as always - with ease and grace. She is, without doubt the best dancer in Bollywood. She looks a old, but then she plays her age in the movie so thats ok.
The last Laila Majnu sequence is visually amazing. Well shot and choreographed. Kudos to Vaibhavi for her choreography.

The downs - The script is a little boring. There is no mention of how exactly do the characters of the play or even the people of the town start liking and respecting dance. The story is too predictable and some songs are little out of place.

The support cast is good. Ranvir Shoery deserves a mention. Irfan Khan is wasted. Kunal Kapoor and Konkana don't have much to do. The transformation of Konkana is shot well. Music, except for the title track isn't nothing to write about.

All in all, if you are a hard core Madhuri fan like me, you'll like the movie. Else you can skip it.