Ra-one viewed and reviewed

Ra-One viewed and reviewed here.. there are a couple of reasons I wanted to watch Ra-one. I had not seen any Shah Rukh Khan movies in the past so many years on big screen. The last time I saw him on the screen was in Om shanti Om. The other being Rohini was crazy about Chammak Challo!

So here goes my review for the movie.

Remember you are going to watch a super hero movie. Which movie based on a superhero had any logic invested in them? Let the thrills begin and keep going seem to be the motto there.

Also remember that you are going to watch an Indian super hero movie. The movie is made by an Indian.. is in India and is based on a game hero that is an Indian. So why do you cringe, if the droid-hero has a few pixels of H(e)ART in him?

By all standards of super hero movies made in the USA, this movie falls short.. but by all standards of super hero movies made in India, this movie has its own standing.

Chitti took the cake with Robot. G.One takes the pie with Ra.One.

The story line is about average.. a lot of hamming done by SRK as Shekar . He didnt have to be the nerdy tamil geek scientist. At the same time as G.One when he said he would protect you, you do believe it.. there were some attempts at Steve Martin (read pink pantherish) type humor. All these nag a little in the back of your head.. because now the director/story teller is attempting to put some logic where there can be none. Kareena looks good and is surprisingly tolerable. I didn't cringe like I did every time Aishwarya Rai came on screen in Robot. The kid also does not grate on your nerves, unlike the kid "Rehaan aapse bahut pyar karta hain" from Fanaa.
The sidekicks played a minimal role and did what they had to..The special effects are good. The villain Arjun Rampal has exposed another facet of his talents .. This guy can be menacing.The climax was again technology vs human brain ..

The concept of a game hero stepping out of the gaming world into our world to finish off a game is brilliant. Today when you think its cool to have a relationship with your Phone a.k.a Siri, why is it difficult to conceive a world where technology and humans actually can meet.
A.I has proven to be very powerful today with machines being automatically controlled, Surgeries performed by Robots and planes flying on auto pilot. Today we have no problem trusting our lives to these machines.


In one of the reviews on Ra.One I read somewhere that the characters are not 3-D but only 2-D .. If you are watching a movie based on game heroes.. I am surprised you look for  3-D traits in game heroes.
This is not a movie for the person who wants to laugh with P.G wodehouse. This movie is for when you want to step out of your real world into another world and believe its possible.
Go watch it once.. have fun and come back. Don't watch it expecting Shakespeare to fly into space and rewrite star wars and star trek.

Identity Crisis Resolved

It's not the first time.. and I am sure it will not be the last time. Every party that I attend, where the majority of the attendees speak one common language, have made my origins a source of their jokes.. of course with the disclaimer that they hoped, I didn't feel bad.. which I don't because I don't consider myself as any more of a malayalee, than I would consider myself a maharashtrian. Having grown up in a cosmopolitan environment, I never had to defend my people or my language. It was but natural that all my friends didn't have one region or one language to unite us. There were a variety of topics to keep the conversation up.

The reason I felt enough to blog about it is that now I have a few questions about my identity. I didn't grow up in Kerala, so I don't know what the people there joke about..I didn't grow up as Maharashtrian, so no idea what the jokes there are like. My parents never encouraged talking about other people or grouping them as far as I can remember.

It is only after moving to the US, that I have become very conscious about my identity. I used to introduce myself as a mumbaiite, originating from Kerala. My husband always tried to set me right.. but I never realized how right he was until now.

But just to get the little facts about Malayalees that I know..

a. We do not all have an accent. If we do, its an accent most south indians for whom English was not the primary language share between themselves.
b. We do not all have a chai kadda..Even then, we are the most enterprising lot and educated lot .
c. We are all not non-vegetarians.. there are some of us, that don't eat meat or FISH and I am one among them and proud to be so.
d. We do not generalize and group people based on where they originate from. Everyone is welcomed with open arms.
e. Not everyone knows who or what shakeera is.. so STOP asking.
f. We have some wonderful cinema, that gets overshadowed by the movies made by bigger movie industries. Infact most of the hindi movies now are a remake of their very successful malayalam movies.

Today I sign off being very proud of being a Malayalee..I am a Malayalee, who grew up in Mumbai. I hope my daughter grows up as an Indian who grew up in America.

Adios.

Pineapple Cake recipe

I have been trying to get the recipe for pineapple cake..

this version is eggless.. I am using a product called ener-G egg replacer.

I had found a basic yellow cake recipe that worked for me.. and am making modifications to it, to get pineapple flavors in as well as using egg replacements..

So here is the cake recipe... This will make one 9 inch / 2 6-inches..

2-cups plus 1 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising) (Swan's cake flour)
1-teaspoons baking powder
¾-teaspoons baking soda
1/2-teaspoon salt

3 tsp ener-G egg replacer  You should get this in any grocery store.

4-table spoons water

1-cup diced canned pineapple along with the canned juice.
1 stick (1/2- cup) unsalted butter, softened
1-cup sugar
1-teaspoons vanilla extract
1-cup buttermilk

DIRECTIONS :

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare cake pan

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

In another bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl

Beat in egg replacement ( mix the egg replace with the water )

Beat in vanilla.

Beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture looks curd like).

Stir flour mixture till combined.  
Pour batter into a well greased and floured pan.. line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. 

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

For Frosting

2 cups heavy cream

2 table spoons icing sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat everything in a chilled bowl and with chilled beaters.

Keep in the fridge for a few hours.

Cut up the cake, layer with frosting and pineapple pieces

Layer the cake slices

Do a last frosting with whipped cream again

Pop it back into the fridge for some time

You can take it out and decorate it as you please…