Today I saw a wonderful Malayalam movie after a long gap. It was Salt n' Pepper. The title is very apt for the movie which is basically telling how life goes on with some amount of sadness and lots of fun without which life will be boring, same as in curry without salt n' pepper will be bad to eat. The movie has a fresh story line with nice script and timely dialogues. All the characters in the movie has done exceptionally well. The movie is a treat for all classes of audience and it attracts the viewers like a whiff of fresh air.
Salt N Pepper is a love story of two people facing a mid-life crisis. The characters played by Lal and Shweta Menon's has given amazing performance and is the major attraction of this movie. Baburaj's timely humor as a cook, Shyju Khaled's brilliant visuals, Bijibal's music and Suresh Kollam’s art direction are other highlights of the movie. The title shows with the display of delicious dishes of Kerala. Ashiq Abu has narrated the story in a plain and convincing way and there is no gimmickry in it. Also the performance of Asif Ali (played as Manu Raghav) and Mythili (played as Meenakshi) are note worthy and have given a good boost to their own careers I guess.
I strongly recommend for watching this very fresh movie.
I am going with 4 out of 5 for giving people like us who live outside Kerala a taste of Kerala.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Review: Cowboys & Aliens
Today I saw Cowboys and Aliens, which I think is a waste of time and money with an unimaginative story of aliens invading earth in far east place just for Gold. i don't know Aliens are so found of Gold or what :)
I have nothing to write about the movie as performances given by its actors especially Daniel Craig is absolute mockery of acting. Harision Ford as usual tries to give some life to the movie but fails due to the lack of heart int he movie, i.e, Script.
I go with 1 out of 5 as I don't like to give less than 1 for any movie.
I have nothing to write about the movie as performances given by its actors especially Daniel Craig is absolute mockery of acting. Harision Ford as usual tries to give some life to the movie but fails due to the lack of heart int he movie, i.e, Script.
I go with 1 out of 5 as I don't like to give less than 1 for any movie.
Singham : Review(Hindi)
Today I saw the remake of Tamil Singam which was performed by Surya. This Singham is a exact replica of Tamil version. I like the movie very much and especially the performance of the hero and the villan which are played by very talented actors Ajay Devgan (playing the title role Bajirao Singham) and Prakash Raj (playing the role Jaikant Shirke) respectively. I liked the way the movie is treated with some Bollywood touches. The six pack show of Ajay Devgan is very good and the stunts are thrilling and will keep you tied to the seats. The expressions and dialog given out by Prakash Raj is really really very good. He is a multi talented actor who can handle any language with ease and even if language is a barrier it will be filled by his natural expressions for the role. Really hats off to Prakash Raj. Coming to Ajay, he has given 200% to this character and really makes a statement with his action scenes. There are in between some songs which are not so good. The story is griping and keeps you seated for the whole time of the movie. All characters have done exceptionally good but with the exception of new comer heroin Kajal Agarwal, who needs more training of the sorts for keeping her place in this field.
I will go with 4 out of 5 for this accelerating movie.
I will go with 4 out of 5 for this accelerating movie.
Friday, July 29, 2011
New features - Java 7
Java 7 release candidate is now available for download from JDK7 website from July 28, 2011.
This release of Java has some pretty usable features that are very good. I am listing down 7 of the new features that I found very interesting to use in our day to day working code.
Did you know previous to Java 7 you could only do a switch on char, byte, short, int, Character, Byte, Short, Integer, or an enum type (spec)? Java 7 adds Strings making the switch instruction much friendlier to String inputs. The alternative before was to do with if/else if/else statements paired with a bunch of String.equals() calls. The result is much cleaner and compact code.
Previously when using generics you had to specify the type twice, in the declaration and the constructor;
In Java 7, you just use the diamond operator without the type;
If the compiler can infer the type arguments from the context, it does all the work for you. Note that you have always been able do a "new ArrayList()" without the type, but this results in an unchecked conversion warning. Type inference becomes even more useful for more complex cases;
Tired of repetitive error handling code in "exception happy" APIs like java.io and java.lang.reflect?
When the exception handling is basically the same, the improved catch operator now supports multiple exceptions in a single statement separated by "|".
Sometimes developers use a "catch (Exception ex) to achieve a similar result, but that's a dangerous idea because it makes code catch exceptions it can't handle and instead should bubble up (IllegalArgumentException, OutOfMemoryError, etc.).
The new try statement allows opening up a "resource" in a try block and automatically closing the resource when the block is done. For example, in this piece of code we open a file and print line by line to stdout, but pay close attention to the finally block.
When using a resource that has to be closed, a finally block is needed to make sure the clean up code is executed even if there are exceptions thrown back (in this example we catch IOException but if we didn't, finally would still be executed). The new try-with-resources statement allows us to automatically close these resources in a more compact set of code.
So "in" will be closed automatically at the end of the try block because it implements an interface called java.lang.AutoCloseable. An additional benefit is we don't have to call the awkward IOException on close(), and what this statement does is "suppress" the exception for us (although there is a mechanism to get that exception if needed, Throwable.getSuppressed()).
There are quite a bit of changes in the java.nio package. Many are geared towards performance improvements, but long awaited enhancements over java.io (specially java.io.File) have finally materialized in a new package called java.nio.file.For example, to read a small file and print all the lines (see example above).
java.nio.file.Path is an interface that pretty much serves as a replacement for java.io.File, we need a java.nio.file.FileSystem to get paths, which you can get by using the java.nio.file.FileSystems factory (getDefault() gives you the default file system).
java.nio.file.Files then provides static methods for file related operations. In this example we can read a whole file much more easily by using readAllLines(). This class also has methods to create symbolic links, which was impossible to do pre-Java 7. Another feature long overdue is the ability to set file permissions for POSIX compliant file systems via the Files.setPosixFilePermissions method. These are all long over due file related operations, impossible without JNI methods or System.exec() hacks.
The first new instruction since Java 1.0 was released and introduced in this version is called invokedynamic. Most developers will never interact or be aware of this new bytecode. The exciting part of this feature is that it improves support for compiling programs that use dynamic typing. Java is statically typed (which means you know the type of a variable at compile time) and dynamically typed languages (like Ruby, bash scripts, etc.) need this instruction to support these type of variables.
The JVM already supports many types of non-Java languages, but this instruction makes the JVM more language independent, which is good news for people who would like to implement components in different languages and/or want to inter-operate between those languages and standard Java programs.
This component is similar to the one provided in the JXLayer project. I've used JXLayer many times in the past in order to add effects on top of Swing components. Similarly, JLayerPane allows you to decorate a Swing component by drawing on top of it and respond to events without modifying the original component.
This release of Java has some pretty usable features that are very good. I am listing down 7 of the new features that I found very interesting to use in our day to day working code.
Did you know previous to Java 7 you could only do a switch on char, byte, short, int, Character, Byte, Short, Integer, or an enum type (spec)? Java 7 adds Strings making the switch instruction much friendlier to String inputs. The alternative before was to do with if/else if/else statements paired with a bunch of String.equals() calls. The result is much cleaner and compact code.
public void testStringSwitch(String direction)
{
switch (direction) {
case "up":
y--;
break;
case "down":
y++;
break;
case "left":
x--;
break;
case "right":
x++;
break;
default:
System.out.println("Invalid direction!");
break;
}
}
Previously when using generics you had to specify the type twice, in the declaration and the constructor;
List<String> strings = new ArrayList<String>();
In Java 7, you just use the diamond operator without the type;
List<String> strings = new ArrayList<>();
If the compiler can infer the type arguments from the context, it does all the work for you. Note that you have always been able do a "new ArrayList()" without the type, but this results in an unchecked conversion warning. Type inference becomes even more useful for more complex cases;
// Pre-Java 7
Map<String,Map<String,int>>m=new HashMap<String, Map<String,int>>();
// Java 7
Map<String, Map<String, int>> m = new HashMap<>();
Tired of repetitive error handling code in "exception happy" APIs like java.io and java.lang.reflect?
try {
Class a = Class.forName("wrongClassName");
Object instance = a.newInstance();
} catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
System.out.println("Failed to create instance");
} catch (IllegalAccessException ex) {
System.out.println("Failed to create instance");
} catch (InstantiationException ex) {
System.out.println("Failed to create instance");
}
When the exception handling is basically the same, the improved catch operator now supports multiple exceptions in a single statement separated by "|".
try {
Class a = Class.forName("wrongClassName");
Object instance = a.newInstance();
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | IllegalAccessException |
InstantiationException ex) {
System.out.println("Failed to create instance");
}
Sometimes developers use a "catch (Exception ex) to achieve a similar result, but that's a dangerous idea because it makes code catch exceptions it can't handle and instead should bubble up (IllegalArgumentException, OutOfMemoryError, etc.).
The new try statement allows opening up a "resource" in a try block and automatically closing the resource when the block is done. For example, in this piece of code we open a file and print line by line to stdout, but pay close attention to the finally block.
try {
in = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("test.txt"));
String line = null;
while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println(line);
}
} catch (IOException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
} finally {
try {
if (in != null) in.close();
} catch (IOException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
When using a resource that has to be closed, a finally block is needed to make sure the clean up code is executed even if there are exceptions thrown back (in this example we catch IOException but if we didn't, finally would still be executed). The new try-with-resources statement allows us to automatically close these resources in a more compact set of code.
try (BufferedReader in=new BufferedReader(new FileReader("test.txt")))
{
String line = null;
while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println(line);
}
} catch (IOException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
So "in" will be closed automatically at the end of the try block because it implements an interface called java.lang.AutoCloseable. An additional benefit is we don't have to call the awkward IOException on close(), and what this statement does is "suppress" the exception for us (although there is a mechanism to get that exception if needed, Throwable.getSuppressed()).
There are quite a bit of changes in the java.nio package. Many are geared towards performance improvements, but long awaited enhancements over java.io (specially java.io.File) have finally materialized in a new package called java.nio.file.For example, to read a small file and print all the lines (see example above).
List<String> lines = Files.readAllLines(
FileSystems.getDefault().getPath("test.txt"), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
for (String line : lines) System.out.println(line);
java.nio.file.Path is an interface that pretty much serves as a replacement for java.io.File, we need a java.nio.file.FileSystem to get paths, which you can get by using the java.nio.file.FileSystems factory (getDefault() gives you the default file system).
java.nio.file.Files then provides static methods for file related operations. In this example we can read a whole file much more easily by using readAllLines(). This class also has methods to create symbolic links, which was impossible to do pre-Java 7. Another feature long overdue is the ability to set file permissions for POSIX compliant file systems via the Files.setPosixFilePermissions method. These are all long over due file related operations, impossible without JNI methods or System.exec() hacks.
The first new instruction since Java 1.0 was released and introduced in this version is called invokedynamic. Most developers will never interact or be aware of this new bytecode. The exciting part of this feature is that it improves support for compiling programs that use dynamic typing. Java is statically typed (which means you know the type of a variable at compile time) and dynamically typed languages (like Ruby, bash scripts, etc.) need this instruction to support these type of variables.
The JVM already supports many types of non-Java languages, but this instruction makes the JVM more language independent, which is good news for people who would like to implement components in different languages and/or want to inter-operate between those languages and standard Java programs.
This component is similar to the one provided in the JXLayer project. I've used JXLayer many times in the past in order to add effects on top of Swing components. Similarly, JLayerPane allows you to decorate a Swing component by drawing on top of it and respond to events without modifying the original component.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Review - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
After Dil Chatha Hai phenomenon (I should say phenomenon), this movie comes near to creating the same ambiance and euphoria between three friends in the reel screen. The film starts with a proposal by Kabir(Abhay Deol) to Natasha (Kalki Koechlin) and ends with the three buddies on the run from bulls of Pamplona in an attempt to show of freedom from all attachments especially professional, emotional and social.
The film is shot mainly in the scenic background of Spain which is I should say one of the most beautiful countries int eh world. The story line is basically a bachelors party trip to Spain by the three buddies played by Hrithik Roshan (Arjun), Abhay Deol (Kabir) and Farhan Akthar (Imran). They have planned to have three adventurous sports chooses by each of them and the rest of them should participate in the same, but the sport will be a surprise and they should do it. On the course of the movie the three friends come to know each others problems in life and help each other to find a solution. And in the last scene of bull run they decide to what to do in the life if they still live after the bull run. Also one thing is that don't get up from the seat when special thanks for Naseeruddin Shah is shown because after that only my favorite song shows up and also what is the climax. :)
The film is very eye catchy for its beautiful background and the performances from the actors. Katrina Kaif who plays Lila is very much justifying her role int he film and each of them has their own importance in the film. The songs are just very good especially the last song which is shown when names come on display. I loved watching the movie and is going with 3.5 out of 5 for the same. It brings back the memories of our friends and wish to have a trip along with my dear friends like this but not as bachelors but along with family.
The film is shot mainly in the scenic background of Spain which is I should say one of the most beautiful countries int eh world. The story line is basically a bachelors party trip to Spain by the three buddies played by Hrithik Roshan (Arjun), Abhay Deol (Kabir) and Farhan Akthar (Imran). They have planned to have three adventurous sports chooses by each of them and the rest of them should participate in the same, but the sport will be a surprise and they should do it. On the course of the movie the three friends come to know each others problems in life and help each other to find a solution. And in the last scene of bull run they decide to what to do in the life if they still live after the bull run. Also one thing is that don't get up from the seat when special thanks for Naseeruddin Shah is shown because after that only my favorite song shows up and also what is the climax. :)
The film is very eye catchy for its beautiful background and the performances from the actors. Katrina Kaif who plays Lila is very much justifying her role int he film and each of them has their own importance in the film. The songs are just very good especially the last song which is shown when names come on display. I loved watching the movie and is going with 3.5 out of 5 for the same. It brings back the memories of our friends and wish to have a trip along with my dear friends like this but not as bachelors but along with family.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Today I watched yet another anticipated movie of the year worldwide in 3D. And its worth every penny send for seeing this movie as the final part in this franchise ends with a high note but on the other hand we won't be able to see the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends in a new movie. But they have made sure that there legacy will last for long. The 3D part of the movie is good but not that spectacular as was in Avatar movie. As all the movies in this franchise is mostly shoot in night and some darkish background the 3D is not so effective but the scene in which Lord Voldemort is killed has used the 3D effect to maximum. In the last installment we see that many of ?Harry's friend's die but for a good cause fighting for Harry. This movie is about how Harry tries to kill Voldemort by destroying his three things that keep Voldemort alive. The villain played by Voldemort will be remembered for long as a very gifted villain with his skillful use or wands. As a whole its great movie to watch but it feels slow pace at times. The last scene which is shown after 19 years of killing of Voldemort is unwanted with the context of the movie.
I give 3 out of 5 for this last installment of this Harry Potter franchise.
I give 3 out of 5 for this last installment of this Harry Potter franchise.
Friday, July 15, 2011
New Ford Fiesta 2011 Launched
After long waiting Ford finally let the wraps off the much awaited Ford Fiesta on 14th July 2011. The All new ford fiesta comes with state of the art petrol and diesel powertrains with more power and at the same time delivering much more fuel efficiency. Looks of the new Ford Fiesta is futuristic and there are many first in this segment for the car. Some are like voice activated Bluetooth enabled service which helps in making calls just by speaking the contact names or playing a sound track favorite to you by just humming it etc. The other first in class feature is intelligent steering technology along with cruise control. Fuel efficiency is touted to be at 17 KMPL for Petrol and 23.5 KMPL for Diesel powertrains which is very good. The prices are also laid down pretty well and as as below.
The price list is from Ford India website and are for ex-showroom in Delhi.
For knowing more regarding price in your city please go to Carwale.com or Gaadi.com website.
Ford India Website link for the same is "New Fiesta"
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Mumbai Blast: Names of the dead and injured
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has released a document listing the dead and the injured at the serial bomb blasts at Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar.
13th July 2011_ Name & Figures of Dead and Injured
13th July 2011_ Name & Figures of Dead and Injured
Mumbai Blast Helpline Numbers
Please see below the helpline numbers for Mumbai Blast victims and other assistance.
India ISD code is +91 or 0091
Mumbai STD code is 022
Please add the STD code before the specified number for dialing from anywhere outside Mumbai in India and add 009122 for dialing from any where in the world.
Hospitals:
KEM (022-24136051)
Nair (022-23085379)
Harkishandas (23855555 / 30095555)
Saifee (22 6757 0111)
Police Management Place (Mumbai Metropolis)
22621855
22621983
22625020
22641449
22620111
Infoline
1090
Alert Citizen
22633333
22620111
South Area Manage Room
23089857
23089855
23070505
Central Area Manage Place
23710505
23720505
23712081
24140909
23750505
West Region Management Place
26552195
26412021
26457900
26572299
East Area Control Room
25233588
25233534
25222121
North Area Manage Place
28850918
28854643
28877544
Armed Police Control Room
24146778
24140909
India ISD code is +91 or 0091
Mumbai STD code is 022
Please add the STD code before the specified number for dialing from anywhere outside Mumbai in India and add 009122 for dialing from any where in the world.
Hospitals:
KEM (022-24136051)
Nair (022-23085379)
Harkishandas (23855555 / 30095555)
Saifee (22 6757 0111)
Police Management Place (Mumbai Metropolis)
22621855
22621983
22625020
22641449
22620111
Infoline
1090
Alert Citizen
22633333
22620111
South Area Manage Room
23089857
23089855
23070505
Central Area Manage Place
23710505
23720505
23712081
24140909
23750505
West Region Management Place
26552195
26412021
26457900
26572299
East Area Control Room
25233588
25233534
25222121
North Area Manage Place
28850918
28854643
28877544
Armed Police Control Room
24146778
24140909
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Review - Double Dhamaal
First Dhamaal movie was very much enjoyable and had a good script to back it up. But this sequel Double Dhamaal is not at all near to the first one. It is enjoyable in parts but as a whole it is a film that has no basic backbone. Script is not at all there in this movie and it is a group of some fun scenes. Sanjay Dutt, Kangana Ranaut, Mallika Sherawat all are just not justifying their roles and their performances are par below average. Especially Mallika Sherawat who doesn't even know how to express feelings. Onoy highlight in this movie will be (if any) some good performances by Ritesh Deshmukh (Roy), Aashish Chaudhary (Boman), Arshad Warsi (Adi) and his dithering moronic brother Jaaved Jaffery (Manav). I will go with 1.5 out of 5 for the movie.
Saturday, July 02, 2011
Review - Transformers 3 : Dark Side of Moon (3D)
Today I saw the much awaited Transformers 3 and after seeing it I thought that it was not that great movie in the Transformers franchise. It has stunning visual 3D effects but it was too much autobots and decepticons, around 60mins of the movie is fighting scenes which makes us bored. Too much is also not good :). There is no great story for this type of movies but lot of creativity goes into making this kind of 3D movies. The strength of Transformers is its special effects. There is some places that are made to feel like bringing some drama to the movie but fails terribly. In the 60 minutes fighting scenes we will forget who is fighting who and who are the good guys.
But 3D movie is a pleasure to watch just because of its its making but as I told earlier too much is bad.
So I go with 2 out of 5 stars just for the sake of 3D effects.
But 3D movie is a pleasure to watch just because of its its making but as I told earlier too much is bad.
So I go with 2 out of 5 stars just for the sake of 3D effects.
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