Reviewed: Twilight Saga (Books 1 & 2)

Twilight - The Saga, written by first-time writer Stephenie Meyer, is an unusual vampire-romance written for the now-grown-up Sweet Valley High Addicts.

Book 1 - Twilight

This is definitely my favorite book of the entire saga. The story goes that Bella (our heroine), an “unusual, accident-prone” girl moves to the town of Forks. She meets with Edward (the hero) in a class where they’re partnered. Soon she’s unable to get over the mysterious, spellbindingly beautiful Cullen family. By the middle of the book, they profess undying love for each other. Then comes Conflict in the form of James (a tracker vampire) who wants to hunt Bella for the sport. Hero saves heroine and they live happily ever after.
What I really like about the book, is the way it has been written. The language is simple and everyday and the fact that she uses first person (Bella’s point of view) to narrate this story gains extra marks from me. The imagery she evokes is wonderful vivid and dreamy. The characterization is also well done with Bella as the whiny normal human & Edward as this unimaginably beautiful, multitalented vampire. The author also takes a stab at changing vampire myth - burning when out in the sun etc.
This puts most romance books to shame. For me, Edward now joins the league of Rhett Butler & Heath Boscastle.
Bottom-line: This put a smile on my face :) Good for easy, light reading

Book 2 - New Moon

Continuing from the first book, Bella’s love for Edward continues to grow. Only this time around, he decides its time for him to leave and get FAR away from her because of the all trouble she seems to attract because of him. Broken hearted Bella, becomes a zombie, and Jacob Black (introduced in Book 1), along with her dad, decides to help snap her out of it. Jacob’s also got problems of his own - 1. He’s in love with Bella, 2. Sam is forming a weird cult thing that is taking his friends. Soon he realizes that he’s a werewolf and with it, that all the stories/ legends he was told are true - this means that Jacob & Edward are mortal enemies. Towards the end of the book, Edward reappears - he’s on his way to commit suicide because he believes that he cannot exist in a world that has no Bella (who he thinks has died). So Heroine saves Hero and Jacob’s heartbroken but still trying.
Hmmm.. The book didn’t up to the expectations that the predecessor raised. Jacob’s growth as a character is what leaves a mark. He’s warm, funny, strong and expected to be everything that Edward is not. This book, I think, does for Jacob what the first book did for Edward. After reading this one, readers will probably be entrenched firmly in 1 of 2 camps - Edward or Jacob.
Bottom-line: Read at the risk of falling in love with Jacob and finding out that Edward is kinda human and fallible.

And so he proposed

10 months can be a very long time especially if all you have to be together is a phone connection and 10000 miles inbetween.

10 months before this, given the setting we were in – a wedding - we spoke about getting married and decided it seemed like a good idea. Ever since, we kinda dealt with it like a business transaction – thinking through pros & cons of our actions, analyzing reactions, predicting situations, coaching/coercing the elders into thinking our way and the like.

Soon we were falling in love, with a voice. Sad to say, but there was a slight mental disconnect between the face and the voice. We had to meet. Even if it was jus to see whether there really was “chemistry”. It is a little scary when you think about it – what do you say when you finally connect the voice to the face? What if you don’t like the face anymore? Should that matter? What if it doesn’t work out after that the time and effort spent on Project: Wedding?

He came over the weekend. The first day felt a little weird because we were almost strangers.

And then when we finally had sometime to ourselves, he went down on one knee and said “I’m sorry that I didn’t woo you like you deserve but I hope I can make up for it with the rest of forever. Will you marry me?”

And so instead of the traditional solitaire, I got a beautiful Satya Paul saree ☺

I’m soo happy. Now we are to be engaged in Jan

Reviewed: Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Starring: Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Upen Patel

Guest Appearance: Salman Khan, Lord Jesus

Directed by: Rajkumar Santoshi

Verdict: D+

I don't know where to begin my review of the much touted superhit movie :( We saw the movie at Fame Lido, a now non-functional mall.

Quick run through of story: Small-town, 9 class fail, Prem (Ranbir Kapoor) is president of Happy Club. Happy Club's mission to keep everyone happy, leads to disastrous consequences. That when he meets Jenny (Katrina Kaif) and falls in love with her immediately. Needless to say, the bum turns to a new-leaf - hardworking and devoted to his lady love's happiness. Villainy strikes in the form of Jenny's "love interest" Rahul (Upen Patel) who is powerful politician's son. As with most movies, at the shaadi mandap, Jenny realizes she is in love with Prem and not Rahul.

What I hate about the movie:

Terribly contrived flick with next to no comedy or romance. It seemed like Ranbir forgot how to act. I still had to think really hard to figure out his 9 avatars through the movie. Katrina's acting skills have not improved much either. Upen's constantly constipated expressions compete with his need to deliver dialogue as stereotypical gay person. Salman's 15 sec of fame doesn't do much for him or the story line The songs have been fit in without any purpose or connection. The humour leaves much to be desired. The print promos were unbelivably misleading - I thought I was gonna watch a movie along the lines of Hum-Tum - a little animation/ comic-book transitions etc

What I like about the movie:

The wardrobe is young and hip AND totally wearable. The score is decent (if you don't think about them with context to the movie). Jesus's role as the Saviour :D The posters are wonderfully comic book styled (although there is NO connection with the movie)

Bottomline: There is no ajab or ghazab in this prem kahani. Watch at your own risk.