Backbench Student Movie Review - Very Slow Movie

Director Madhura Sreedhar’s ‘Backbench Student’ is releasing today across the world. The movie has Mahat Raghavendra, Pia Bajpayee and Archana Kavi in lead roles. The movie is based on a real life story. Sunil Kashyap has composed the film’s music and Prasad G.K. has handled the camera. Let us see how the movie is.

Story :

The story of ‘Backbench Student’ revolves around Karthik (Mahat Raghavendra), Priyanka (Archana Kavi) and Chaitra (Pia Bajpayee). Karthik is a carefree youngster who does not take his education very seriously. As a result, he is left with 16 backlogs at the end of his engineering course. He has a romantic relationship with his classmate Priyanka. After graduation, Priyanka is forced by her dad to pursue M.S. in USA. This brings about a rift in the relationship with Karthik.

Meanwhile, Karthik’s parents (Sharath Babu and Pragathi) come to know about the backlogs and all hell breaks loose at home. A desperate Karthik now looks for a job to support himself. He happens to be a talented ethical hacker and he tries to put this skill to use. Chitra walks into Karthik’s life at this point and helps him secure a job.

Karthik and Chitra get romantically involved and just as their relationship is about to take off, Priyanka comes back from the US in search of Karthik. What happens to this triangle love story? Who ends up with whom? That is the story of ‘Backbench Student’.

Plus Points :

Pia Bajpayee looks cute and she has given a neat performance in this movie. Archana Kavi is good as the ‘girl next door’. Sharath Babu, Banerjee and Pragathi have delivered in a dignified manner.

Ali’s comedy track as an incompetent Project Manager brings much needed relief.

Minus Points :

‘Backbench Student’ is a badly made film. After a promising start, the film just nosedives and never manages to recover. The story is very predictable and screenplay goes for a big toss.

Mahat Raghavendra is a big minus for the film. His expressions are very wooden and his performance lacks conviction. A badly written character and some poor lines make matters worse. There is no spontaneity or chemistry in the romantic tracks and most of the scenes fail to register emotionally.

The movie’s climax is very bad and scenes have been needlessly stretched out. I never expected to see Brahmanandam in an irritating role, but that is precisely what has happened here. HIs character’s name is ‘Kareena Kapoor’ and his cell phone contact list has names like Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan etc! It is not funny. The character does not gel with the storyline at all.

Visuals go for a toss. Bad cinematography and poor choice of colours take the life out of the viewing experience.

Another big issue is with the areas of background score and re-recording. When a punch dialogue or a witty one liner is delivered, background score must do what its name suggests – stay in the background. Here, the loud background score just drowns out the dialogues.

Technical Aspects :

As I already mentioned, Prasad G.K’s cinematography is bad. There are many scenes where the focus is not sharp enough. Editing by Dharmendra (of Prasthanam fame) is surprisingly mediocre. Sunil Kashyap fails to make an impression as a music director.

Madhura Sreedhar disappoints in the direction and screenplay departments. He showed promise in his debut film ‘Snehageetham’ , but he has not been able to replicate that work again

Verdict :

Backbench Student is a badly executed and painfully slow movie. Poor writing, wooden performances and an irritating climax spoil the viewing experience.


Movie Rating....1/5

Read More

20 Tips for Lose Weight.....

 

1. Have you tried to give up sugar and havent succeeded? Instead of forbidding yourself certain foods - just eat less of them. If you must have sugar in your tea, cut it down from two spoons to one.

2. Ever notice how if you eat when you're ravenous, you tend to overeat? So try eating more regularly, even if it means more frequently. Eat an average of 5 small meals a day, instead of 2 or 3 large ones, where you stuff yourself.

3. Be conscious about what you eat . Keep a food diary and note down everything you eat. You may be shocked at the results.

4. Eat or snack only on the dinner table, not on the couch in front of your television. Once you make a policy out of this, you'll cut down on snacks tremendously. Don't get too comfortable while eating. Its always better to eat on the go. Always sit straight on the chair .

5. Make rules for yourself. If you experience cravings, give yourself ten minutes before you attack the refrigerator . In most cases, the craving would just die down and you'd walk away.

6. Drink a lot of water. This reduces hunger pangs and gives you more energy.

7. When you decide to finally attack your weight problem, you want it gone by the weekend. But realise that that is just not a realistic approach. If you want it off permanently, you've got to take it slow. It may even take up to a year to get to your desired weight - that's fine, because you've got more of a chance of maintaining it.

8. Join an aerobics class. It's more disciplined and it's always better to work out in a group.

9. Stay busy. Don't just sit around wasting time. Chances are your mind will wander to that delicious chocolate cake Partake in activities that are not conducive to eating. Join a singing class, take up oil painting or gardening - cultivate a hobby.

10. If you have to snack, try this. Put your hand in the packet of wafers and take out a fistful. Finish off whatever you get your hands on - and that's it.

11. Don't stack up on fattening yummy foods. Its easiest to control food intake if you just don't have it around. If you feel like chocolate cake, buy a pastry so it doesn't hang out in the refrigerator all week till you polish it off. Similarly, don't keep tubs of ice cream in the freezer. Buy a cup or two and eat it when the mood strikes.

12. When you reach for the refrigerator, stop and question yourself. Are you just bored or are you really hungry? In most of the cases the answer will be the former.

13. Stick little post-it notes on the refrigerator saying, Stop! Or Reach for a glass of water.

14. Buy clothes a size smaller and work towards fitting into them.

15. Don't beat yourself up or lose heart just because you've slipped up a few times. You need to keep a positive outlook and keep encouraging yourself.

16. Visualise how you will look without those extra kilograms.

17. Take up yoga.

18. Find new and different ways to measure how far you've come. Don't just stick to the weighing scale. Scout around in your cupboard and try on old clothes that are big for you're excellent motivation.

19. Find a partner to work out with or to support you. Enlist the help of a friend and go for activities that don't involve snacking. Take up tennis, go cycling don't just meet friends over lunch or dinner.

20. Get motivated. No one is going to lose your weight for you. You're going to have to do it all by yourself, and if the motivation doesn't come from within you, no amount of friends and family pushing you to lose weight is going to help.

Read More

Six Reasons You Should Drink More Water Daily

You already know it - Water is a basic need for the survival of human beings. It is also a great healer. Here are six reasons why you should drink a few more glasses!

1. Your Ultimate Mood Lifter! Water works as a natural remedy in many ways. It helps to relieve headache and back pains caused due to dehydration. Water keeps your body rejuvenated and fresh. So, have plenty of God's own drink.

2. Water Fights Age Lines You have tried so many anti-aging creams. Try water! It replenishes skin tissues, moisturizes skin and increases skin elasticity. Water is a must for a younger looking skin.

Read More

How Do Soft Drinks Effect Us?

More and more, many of us exchange drinking regular water with soft drinks. But soft drinks are not a healthy alternative, as we well know. But how unhealthy is it really? What potential adverse effects can drinking a certain amount of soft drinks lead to? This info graphic was prepared and summarized to get these important points across.

Read More

Jolly LLB Movie Update Review

After a gap of three long years, director Subhash Kapoor is finally back with Jolly LLB which is promoted as comical drama. Starring the talented Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Amrita Rao and Saurabh Shukla in lead roles, this movie is set to hit the screens on 15th March. As always, we have got you an insightful review well in advance. So let’s see how Jolly LLB is!!!
Story:
Jolly LLB has a very simple story with the movie starting with Jolly, a small time lawyer from Meerut who shifts to Delhi with an ambition to become a hi-profile lawyer. In Delhi, he continues to take up small legal cases and invariably ends up on the losing side. One fine day, his luck turns and he gets a chance to take a case where he has to argue it out against Rajpal (Boman Irani) who is one of the top lawyers in the country.
In parallel, Sandhya (Amrita Rao) a school teacher is Jolly’s love interest who steadfastly supports Jolly in his hard days and helps him make the right career moves. The rest of the story is about how Jolly manages to win justice for his client against the cunning and talented Rajpal.
Positive Points:
While a number of earlier movies such as Kyunki Main Jhooth Nahi Bolta, Damini, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, etc. revolve around courtroom cases, director Subhash Kapoor takes a different route and makes an effort to bring out the actual truth behind the court cases. All the courtroom scenes are very realistic and believable. Arshad Warsi handles his role of a struggling lawyer with ease and lives the character on screen. He is funny, witty and gels with his co-stars while giving tough competition to Boman Irani and is on par with him in their scenes together.
The other talent in the film, Boman Irani plays an arrogant and intimidating lawyer to perfection. However, the one other character that merits a mention is Saurabh Shukhla who plays the role of the judge. Saurabh gives one of his best performances and is a scene stealer in the movie.
Negative Points:
Jolly LLB is one of those movies which easily fails to reach up to the viewers expectations. The biggest drawback is that though Subhash Kapoor promoted the movie as a comical, mind you…it isn’t a comical. The movie lacks humor and there is none of it in the first half and a little bit (thanks to Saurabh Shukla) in the second half. One would expect a lot of humor thrown around thanks to the presence of Arshad and Boman in the film but it ends up with the characters being portrayed as serious personalities.
Amrita Rao is just about OK and is only there as an eye-candy. She gives an over-the-top performance and the romantic scenes between Amirta and Arshad could have been totally scripted out. Some of the movie sequences go on a tangent leaving the audiences confused and longing for explanations. Some of the characters such as Arshad’s bodyguard could have been completely deleted from the screenplay. Overall, the movie is stodgy in the first half, regains pace by the second half and turns into a boring sermon by the climax.
Technical Points:
Jolly LLB is more of a serious courtroom drama than a comical entertainer. The songs are absolutely average and go against the whole plot. The dialogues penned down by director Subhash himself are lengthy and get confusing at times. Anshuman Mahaley’s cinematography is decent as he depicts the court room scenes wonderfully. The background score by Sanjoy Chowdhary and editing by Sandeep Singh Bajeli is just about OK.
Verdict:
On the whole, Jolly LLB is a total somber affair than being an amusing one. Good performances from Arshad, Boman Irani and some nerve racking court room scenes are sure shot plus points. A slow second half and a dodgy climax spoils the fun. Finally, watch this movie without any expectations and you would be decently entertained. Would recommend a one time watch.

RATING..........2.75/5

Read More

Top 5 Fat-Burning Fruits For Weight Loss

The Top 5 Fat-Burning Fruits

Are you trying to lose weight? Now you can have your fruit and your weight loss too. Most fruit contains excessive amount of natural sugars that quickly converts into fat when eaten in excess. There are some fruits that actually work to help burn fat. Adding more of these fruits to your diet can help with fat loss. While fruit has many natural healing compounds, sometimes its sugar content can be a problem for people interested in losing weight. However, some fruits actually help you to burn fat. Here are my picks for the Top 5 Fat-Burning fruits.

Avocado: Loaded with healthy Omega 9 fatty acids (the same fats found in olive oil, olives, and macadamia nuts), avocados speed the conversion of fat into energy and boost the rate of metabolism.

Coconut: Coconut is rich with medium chain triglycerides (MCFAs) which increase the liver’s rate of metabolism by up to 30 percent, according to some experts. They also help keep you full so you’re less likely to snack on junk food. Coconut oil frequently aids the functioning of the thyroid gland. Coconut oil, coconut milk (not the low fat variety), coconut flour, and shredded (unsweetened) coconut all contain MCFAs.

Lemons: Excellent liver detoxifiers, lemons also alkalize our body. They may seem acidic based on taste but in the process of being metabolized by the body, they actually alkalize our bodily fluids and tissues. Maintaining the health of the liver is also imperative to the body’s ability to digest and burn fat, since the liver is one of the organs responsible for these functions

Grapefruit: Many studies confirm that grapefruit is an excellent weight loss food. In one study at Johns Hopkins University, women who eat grapefruit daily shed almost 20 pounds on average in only 13 weeks, without changing anything else in their diet or lifestyle.

Tomatoes: Packed with vitamin C and the phytochemical lycopene, tomatoes stimulate the production of the amino acid known as carnitine. Research has shown carnitine helps speed the body’s fat-burning capacity by one third.

How to Benefit:

It’s easy to reap the weight loss rewards of these fruits. Use full-fat coconut milk and oil in curries, smoothies, or baking. Try my Super Fat-Busting Green Tea Lemonade as a great way to reap the benefits of lemons. Enjoy a grapefruit for breakfast or as a snack instead of something sweet. Make your own fresh salsa or add tomatoes to soups, stews, salads, or curries. Make fresh guacamole with minced onion, garlic, lemon juice, and chopped tomato and cilantro.

Super Health Bonus:

Not only will these fruits help with weight loss, they have plenty of other health benefits too. Avocado helps prevent heart disease. Coconuts help prevent cancer. Grapefruit gives the liver a boost. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that studies show cuts the risk of heart disease by 29 percent.

Read More

Pawan Kalyan Become Car Driver

Power Star Pawan Kalyan and director Trivikram are currently working together for the film ‘Saradha’. As per the latest buzz being heard in Filmnagar, Pawan Kalyan will be seen as a driver in this movie. Apparently, his characterisation in the film is really cool and humorous.
Shooting is going on at a brisk pace. Samantha is the heroine in the film and Bollywood actor Boman Irani will be seen in a crucial role in the movie. Actress Nadhiya, who gained prominence as Prabhas’s mother in ‘Mirchi’, will also be a part of this movie.
BVSN Prasad is the producer of this family drama and Devi Sri Prasad is the music director. The film is expected to get ready for release in the second half of 2013.

Read More