Mumbaiya Hyderabadi!

Bappi Lahiri (Alokesh Lahiri) passed away today at the age of 69. A legend, known for his versatility in composition, marks end of an era to songs that we grew, loved, danced and still continue to show up at the top of our favorites Here is my pick to the top 20 (not in any particular order) Chalte Chalte - mesmerizing song, a flowing, melodious composition demonstrating Bappi's range, excellent lyrics and equally well sung by Kishore. Amongst the best in Hindi Inteha ho gayi - My goodness, how do I describe this epic song (not sure if it shows up in other's top song list), but has mesmerized me for long in the way it is rendered, composed. Kishore and Bappida create magic in this song, with its varying pace I am a Disco Dancer - the defining song that everyone would have heard, swooned to. Vijay Benedict's rarely heard/fresh voice and the interesting lyrics, easy to remember and the mix makes this a song to hum for ages Ke pag ghungaroo baandh - One of the versatile, creat...

A day at the capital of Bahmani Sultanate Started from Home around 6:40 AM, with the map heading to Kamat hotel in Bidar for breakfast. Did a quick pit stop on the way for fuel. Reached Kamat around 8:50 AM. Online reviews werent encouraging, but had a pleasant experience. Though parking can get difficult during the day, was able to find a parking spot in front of the restaurant as it was morning and nearby shops havent opened yet. Good service, clean washroom, and decent South Indian breakfast. The waiter was proactive and quick in service.  Bidar Fort After a sumptuous breakfast, headed to Bidar Fort. We were the first to arrive around 9:20 AM. The car parking area was empty and was big enough to accommodate the normal rush on any day. Surprisingly, there was no entry ticket and this left me wondering why the Tourism Dept. isnt keen on generating revenue for better upkeep of the site. Entered the fort through Sherja Darwaza. Lovely photography spots near the entrance, to capture ...

Rajneeti is a high voltage political drama and a present day adaptation of the Mahabharata.The film protrays the evil mind games played in politics . Prithvi Pratap Singh (Arjun Rampal) and Veerendra Pratap Singh (Manoj Bajpayee) are successors of a strong political party. Prithvi is eager to take the top spot, but Veerendra turns out to be his opponent. When Prithvi is appointed as the head of the party, Veerendra teams with Sooraj (Ajay Devgan) - a young emerging Dalit politician, and the two successfully evict Prithvi from the party.Enter Samar (Ranbir Kapoor) who has absolutely no political aspirations, but is sucked into the world of politics due to the family political rivalry. Under the guidance of Brij Gopal (Nana Patekar), Samar and Prithvi start their own political party and contest the elections against Veerendra. What follows is an extremely compelling political drama, that should not be missed!   In Rajneeti, Brij Gopal plays a role inspired by Lord Krishna who guide...

Dont think many people really know or notice this place, we too accidently happened to see this atop Shangrila Plaza. Even though the plaza is centrally located there are sadly no takers,hence no shops or stores there. The restaurant is on the 7th floor and nicely done up. The red lighting compliments the ambience.There was live music and karaoke too. We were placed at a nice cozy area.We can get a good view of the city and the KBR park , which is just opposite the restaurant.The restaurant offers a multi cuisine menu and it is quite elaborate . We ordered some Parathas and Diwani Handi which were quite tasty and yummm.The prices too are reasonable and service quick. The only drawback here is once you finish your meal you have a waiting period till the tables are cleared and the cheque presented, which is not so fine a wait.Otherwise this place is good. The hotel owners kept coming and enquiring about the quality of the food and service which felt good.All in all a good experienc...

Director: Anthony D’Souza Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta Genre: Adventure/Thriller Running time:2 hrs 19 mins Release Date: October 16, 2009 Rating - 2/5 A multiplex experience of watching a limited edition of National Geo channel underwater sequences, thats what we felt after watching the movie. Contrast to what the the crew claimed there wasn't much of a shark fighting or scare, though the underwater sequences were shot well by cinematographer Pete Zuccarini, who has ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ to his credit. The story goes like this Aarav (Akshay Kumar) and Sagar (Sanjay Dutt) are good friends who own a fishing business and bond over fishing and boxing. Aarav, the richie rich man, is interested in a sunken ship called ‘Lady in Blue’ ,because it carries a treasure lost in 1949 when the ship sank on its way from England to India. Sagar is the only person who knows bout this and can find his way to the sunken treasure , but he has some emotional strings attached to...

Director: Pete Docter Genre: Comedy Running time:1 hr 30 mins Release Date: October 9, 2009 (India) Rating :****/5 Up is a comedy adventure about Carl Fredericksen who we first meet as a young lad, with a dream of being an adventurer, after he watches a news footage of the explorer Charles Muntz.This love leads him to Ellie, an extrovert adventure spirited little girl as compared to Carl who is quite and shy. They get married and share their lives together. Carl and Ellie often dreamt of taking off on an adventure in the wilds of South America just like their hero, Muntz. Carl and Ellie grow old never having visited the South American jungles. And then sadly Carl becomes a widower with just his lovely little house and his beautiful memories of Ellie to keep him company.As he grows older he is forced to vacate his house and go to a retirement home. But before they can take him, he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America.However he has an eigh...

Chettinadu delicacies that has wowed the taste buds of south find a new name in Hyderabad – Anjappar. Andhra which is known for its spicy choice of foods has another equally spicy choice through the delectable Chettinadu cuisine.Earlier, the only option for Chettinad food freaks in Hyderabad was Malgudi.Established in Chennai in the year 1964 Anjappar has about 25 outlets to date .It serves the best of Chettinadu fare that has been their hallmark across the world , and promises to give customers a homely dining experience. The menu has a wide range to choose from in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian spreads, that includes mouth watering sea foods too.We ordered Meals, butter rotis and Chettinad Chicken which were all really good though spicy.The portions are good enough and not heavily priced.Natukodi Rassam ,Anjappar Fried Chicken ,Muton Sukka Varuval with butter roti ,Natu Kozhi Biryani,Chicken /Mutton Kotthu Paratha are a must try here.The service is good though not exceptional. To...