Piyush Naik's Blog, page 2

FACE THE REVIEW: THE BANKSTER

About the book:

Bestselling author Ravi Subramanian, a master storyteller of financial crime and winner of the Golden Quill Readers Choice Award, returns with his most gripping thriller yet.

Bankers build their careers on trust, or so everyone thinks, till a series of murders threaten to destroy the reputation that the Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) has built over the years. Who is behind these killings, and what is their motive?

When Karan Panjabi, press reporter and ex-banker, digs deeper, he realizes that he has stumbled upon a global conspiracy with far reaching ramifications a secret that could not only destroy the bank but also cast a shadow on the entire nation. With only thirty-six hours at his disposal, he must fight the clock and trust no one if he is to stay alive and uncover the truth.

About the Author:

Ravi Subramanian an alumnus of IIM Bangalore, has spent two decades working his way up the ladder of power in the amazingly exciting and adrenaline-pumping world of global banks in India. It is but natural that his stories are set against the backdrop of the financial services industry. He lives in Mumbai with his wife Dharini and daughter Anusha. In 2008, he won the Golden Quill Readers Choice award for his debut novel, If God was a Banker.

To know more about Ravi, visit http://www.ravisubramanian.in or email him at info@ ravisubramanian.in. To connect with him, log on to Facebook at http://www.facebook. com/authorravisubramanian or tweet to @subramanianravi.

My views:

The Banster is a thriller revolving about the bank ‘GB2’. It is narrated in a great way. It has easy language; the scenario is explained well so you get the feel of what exactly is happening. But this sometimes acts opposite. Many a times you don’t connect with the book. The part when Karan comes in and solves the crime is the page turner part it keep you engross in it.

But I have a problem. There are many characters. Many sub-plots. And many things going at the some time which causes a little confusion. The length of the book is also long; it should have been a little shorter. The characters are not well defined so you don’t connect with them.

In end what you think turn out different but it didn’t left the effect it should have. It feels like an ending of a crime television series. The author has done a lot of work before writing it. But still it misses something.

My rating:

I would give it… 3/5.

Face the Review: How about a SIN tonight?

About the BOOK

In the biggest casting coup of the Hindi film industry, five top stars are signed up for a new movie: Shahraan—a living legend still lamenting the loss of his first love; Reva and Neev—newcomers allied in a common journey; Nishani—the celebrity kid who must avenge her father’s untimely death; and Kaash—the actor harbouring a secret love from his past. As their intimately intertwined personal stories take centre stage, the industry’s underbelly is left exposed for all to see. By the time the curtain draws to a close, the gossip-hungry media has enough fodder on its plate to last a lifetime.

Novoneel Chakraborty, bestselling author of A Thing beyond Forever and That Kiss in the Rain, unveils the grime behind the glitz, the insecurities and compromises, in a world where aspirants come prepared to strike a Faustian bargain. A beguiling tale of love, ambition, jealousy, and betrayal, How About a Sin Tonight? will leave you asking for more.

About the Author:

Novoneel Chakraborty is the writer of two national bestselling novels, A Thing beyond Forever and That Kiss in the Rain, which have been devoured by thousands all over the country. They have also appeared in numerous bestsellers’ lists at different points in time since their releases. One of his articles, ‘My Mother’, has appeared in a book compilation titled Woman: Many Hues, Many Shades, alongside other veteran Indian authors. A full- time writer, he has written a story and a screenplay, scheduled to go on the floor soon, for a two-time National Award-winning Bengali filmmaker. He is currently working as a scriptwriter on two Hindi film projects. He also pens ‘NovoSphere’, a popular blog on life and inspiration, featuring one-paragraph stories. Posts of NovoSphere have featured in various national and international websites.

He lives in Mumbai.

My views:

The cover is awesome It makes to buy the book. The book has been narrated very well. I just love the way Novoneel has done the narration. There are some of the superb lines in the book. The characters are described very well. You can feel their love. Pain. Anger. Hate. And everything. The book takes you to an exciting journey of 27 years. Each character is linked very well there are twists and turns which makes the book surely a page turner.

The thing which I didn’t like is the Nishani’s story part it felt a little stretched. And I think timeline should have been included as the characters crosses the paths with each other sometimes you get a little confuse.

My rating:

I would give it 3.5/5 you should surely read this one.

You can buy the book by this link,

http://www.flipkart.com/sin-tonight-8184000316/p/itmd9fw3gzeabprn

What’s wrong with today’s young minds?

Many of our elders think about this question but I think we the youth of today should be the one who should think about it. I would point out some of the things which today’s youth want, what they should have want and what they get.

 

FAME:

Anybody and everybody want to make a ‘Name’ of them. But today the ‘N’ in name has changed to ‘F’. We all want ‘Fame’. We want people to be our fans. To get that fame we could go to any level. We will go to Roadies, Indian idol, DID and many other shows even if we don’t have the talent. Just because they can give us Fame and Fan following.

But.

We will not help the old lady living nearby. What will we get by doing that? Will people recognize us? Will some random person come to click a picture with us? The answer to above questions is a NO. But that old lady will say well about us. She will remember us in her prayers. By helping her or anyone who needs help we will create a name for ourselves. But we want the ‘Fame’ not the ‘Name’. We want people to remember us in there minds not in their prayers. We want people to have a picture of us not a place in their hearts. But trying to get the Fame many creates fun about themselves and Fame goes a lot away even they feel ashamed to show their faces.

RELATIONSHIP:

We all want a beautiful person to hold our hand to walk with us. When we have a beautiful girl/ handsome boy with us we can make our friends jealous. Being single is out of fashion. But why do we need a relationship. Just because our every friend is dating someone. Just because it creates an impression of you. Just to fulfill our physical needs. Everybody’s reason is different. We’ll spend hours in a single day talking with that person.

But.

We will not talk to our parents. They are old. They don’t understand our generation. They are not funny. Reason might be anything. But the relationship which we have with our parents can never be changed by the relationship with hottest guy/girl. If we would talk with our parents they will defiantly understand our generation. They are also funny just we need to open space with them to let them talk freely. By trying to get a beautiful face we miss to get a beautiful heart. We miss the precious movements which we should have share with our parents. We miss to learn something good from our parents.

DATING AND SISTER:

Every boy today wants a beautiful girl. So that he can put their picture together on facebook show the world. Make his friends jealous. Hold hands and walk with her in garden. Go out to a movie.

But.

We don’t want our sister to date someone, to love someone, to walk with someone. Why just because she is our sister. What about the girl who you walk with isn’t she a sister of someone? Everyone has a sister and every sister has a right to date a boy just the same way her brother is dating another girl. Many boys try to stop their sisters from dating if they see their sister walking with a boy alone in garden they will hit that boy. Doing this they not only break their relationship with their sister but they also commit a crime. Which later leads to jail.

SIX-PACK ABS:

When SRK showed his six pack abs. it became a trend. Every boy joined a gym, just to get the body, make some muscles and get that six-pack abs. why do they do that? Because girls will like them! Their chances of dating a beautiful girl will increase.

But.

They will not protect a girl who is troubled by eve teasers. They will not fight for her. They will not protect her. Then what is the use of that body? Just for show off. They should protect a girl. This makes them a real man. Not having a body like Salman can make them a real man.

CAREER:

Engineering and Doctor are the only career option. At lest in India. Everyone wants to be that, if not then their parents want them to be that. Parents here play an important role. If anyone wants to become a cricketer his parents will tell him to get a degree of engineering or doctor and then do what he wants to do. Just think if you want to become a cricketer and your parents tell you the same. So you’ll get the degree by the age of some 22. Then when are you going to play for the nation by the age of 30?

But.

We will not do what we want to do and make the people who run tuition to crack the IIT and AIPMT richer. If we chose the career of our interest we would succeed more. We would earn more. We would enjoy our work. We should speak up with our parents and tell them what we want to do. Or regret is what we’ll left with, for the whole life. If we kept on doing this thing which we are doing. No other Sachin Tendulkar will come. No other Steve jobs will come.

So what we should do:

Instead of trying to get the Fame we should try to get the Name. If we are spending six hours talking with our love we should spend the same amount of time with our parents. If we have a body like Salman, we should fight for the right. If we have a talent we should pursue it as a career. It all depends on us. The time we start thinking…it will be the time we start changing. The change will not only happen in us but it will also happen in our nation.

Face the review: barfi

Story:

The story revolves around the three main characters. Their lives, their love, their problem and how they tackle with it is the story… since I don’t want to be a spoiler I’m not writing the story and would request you to go and watch it yourself.

Performances:

Ranbir as barfi shines on the screen. With his each movies he is showing his acting skills and improving. His expression are treat to watch. His comic timming is perfect.

Priyanka has done an extraordinary work. She portrays her character so convincingly that you don’t feel she is acting. She gets into the skin of the character.

Illena is good in her role.

Direction:

Anurag Basu has done a masterpiece here. He never lets the movie go out of his hand. The cinematography is awesome. The story written is very good. He has shown many details of the life of mute and deaf people.

Music:

Pritam has given a great music and you enjoy listing to the songs.

My views:

The movie is good. But at points it feels long. It could have been made a little short. The scenes are beautiful and make you laugh. But if you are a fan of those kinds of movies which has great dialogs and stylize action you should not go. As you will not like it. If you want to watch a good refreshing movie then only I would recommend you this one. The sceanes between Ranbir and Priyanka are beautiful.   

My rating:

3.5 Out of 5….. Do watch it.

FACE THE REVIEW: and then it rained….

STORY: I’m copy pasting the synopsis as I don’t want spoilers. And. Waste the time. Efforts. Imagination of the author.

“It’s better to let go of someone who loves you…

than keeping him in… love with you when you know

you cannot be with him forever…”

This is what Aarti had told Aman a night before she left him forever…with nothing but those memories of the rains.

Rains have always been a part of Aman’s happiness..! His first bike ride…his first gold medal…his first kiss… it has rained on every occasion!

Rains have always been SPECIAL! And he believes that all bad things in his life will come to an end with the rains.

Nagpur…That is where Aman Sarin has lived all his life. That is where he dreamt that someday he would be the next big thing in Bollywood.

After moving to Mumbai to pursue his education his life is nothing short of a fairytale…he has what most teenagers want…a great group of friends…the charm and the popularity…and to top it all a hot girlfriend.

They say life is a vicious circle of sorrow and happiness. So what happens when Aman’s fairytale goes wrong? What makes him the guy whom everyone hates…when once he was the guy everyone adored?

Will Aman put back the pieces of his life and rise above all else? Will his dream of filling SRK’s shoes ever come true?

But most importantly for Aman…after a rough summer… Will it Rain Again?

About the Author:

Gaurav Dashputra is currently completing his medical education from Dr.D.Y.Patil University in Navi Mumbai. Originally from Nagpur where he finished his schooling, he now lives in Mumbai where he plans to settle down. But most of the odds are against that.

And Then It Rained is his debut novel. He has written two plays for his college festival and is gifted with a great sense of humor and wit which has always helped him be a crowd pleaser.

Gaurav loves to swim and was a national gold medalist in his school days. He is a huge foodie and loves to eat. He is a huge movie buff and a diehard fan of Bollywood movies. He pretty much watches everything. If you see a mysterious black Santro on the streets of Navi Mumbai post-midnight you can pretty much be sure it’s him. Stop him, ask him to pull over and say hi without hesitation. And if that sounds a little bizarre.

You can subscribe or find him on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/gauravdash007

My view:

The story is good. The main character Aman has been described very well. But I find very less use of supporting character. The best thing in the story is the twist. This is where you relate to the story. And connect the dots why the main character is doing all this. When the twist comes you get to know the real meaning of the theme line “It’s better to let go of someone who loves you… than keeping him in…love with you when you know you cannot be with him forever…”

It’s a lengthy book but you don’t get bored reading it.

I would appreciate the author for trying something different than usual college love stories. This is the first book which I have read without a bestseller tag. Means I have read it when it was released. I would like to see that tag very soon.

The only thing which I did not like is its cover… This might be because I had seen the previous covers. But…I would like to advice to change it

I’m looking forward to read more books from Gaurav.

STARS: I would give it 4 out of 5.

You can buy the book here,

http://www.flipkart.com/then-rained-9380349572/p/itmd8h5vdty9hzx6

FACE THE REVIEW: ek tha tiger

STORY:

Salman Khan (Tiger) is our best spy. In his each mission he kills someone. Now he is sent to a mission where he is said to observe. He meets Katrina Kaif (ZOYA) he falls in love. Then there is a twist. That’s all. Nothing to tell much about the story.

MUSIC:

music of Salman’s movie is nearly always good. But. This time it’s below the line. Only one or two song is good to hear. Nothing much. The music used for action sequence is also not much good. Only the title theme is good.

ACTION:

I have a big problem here. The stunt man used for Salman is first of all thin. Which clearly shows Salman has not done the stunts. Secondly the face of the Stuntman is visible in most of the fight, run, jump and all that sequences. Katrina has done good job in some action which she got.

MY words:

overall the movie has nothing in it. It is inspired from MR. and MRS. Smith. As usual Salman has the same look which you had seen in his past three four films. If you haven’t seen Spiderman, superman, wonder women watch the movie as you get to see them all in Salman and Katrina. Hancock is also there. The train sequence is ridicules. Either YashRaj should have named the movie Tigerman. So that it would be little believable. Or they should have made it a raw action movie. With some good story. Salman has done ok job. Katrina looks beautiful. That is why she was in the movie. The locations are beautiful. The only two reasons’ to watch the movie are Katrina and locations. If you are a girl then go for Salman. And yes there is a shirtless scene of Salman which is unnecessary. There are overall four twist in the movie. Two goes well other two falls flat.

STARS: I would rate it 1 out of 5. Half for Katrina and other half for the beautiful locations.

Corruption…..can we really live without it?

Since last one year we all are watching that Anna is trying to stop corruption, or yog Baba is doing something for it.

But can we really leave without corruption? Big question.

Today we can’t live without it.

Many will say we can and we should stop it.

If you get caught by a traffic police in some square what will you do?

Go to the RTO office and pay the fine OR pay the officer and go to your work.

What will you do if you don’t get admission?

Waste a year and repeat the exam and get good marks OR pay the donation and get the admission.

These are only some question in which we can’t avoid corruption as we have a lot of work to do. We can’t waste our times by following the procedure, going to RTO, wasting a year, and so on….

We want everything fast. And. To get everything fast we have to do corruption.

Just imagine the situation.

You’re caught by the traffic police. You have to go to take admission and only half an hour is remaining for the admission to get close. If you don’t get in there in half an hour you will waste a year.

And.

If.

At that time the traffic police said, “No sir, we don’t take money. Go to RTO and pay the fine.”

The RTO is at an hour distance.

What will you do?

The answer is simple- CORRUPTION.

But this doesn’t mean that we should do corruption. I’m not saying we should do it.

I’m just showing an image of what we are used to. And. If it stops how can we get used to it.

Corruption is bad. We have to pay thousands to get the birth certificate, or any other certification from government office which is ridiculous.

We should stop it…but right now we should try to get used to not doing corruption.

Or.

The day it stops you will get a lot of trouble.

Say no to corruption NOW…or you will have a big trouble when it STOPS.

Anger….it can make you… it can break you…

One minute. One incident. One mistake. And. The guilt for the whole life.

This is what describes the anger better. You would think ‘I can never do anything wrong…even if I’m angry.’ think again. Many times you control anger sometimes it controls you.

That sometimes could be like a nuclear bomb in your life. The effects would be disastrous.

Anger is the thing which we all have. You may be rich, poor, child, old, anyone and everyone has it, what so ever. Who so ever. A time comes when we lose our calm and that minute. That second. That movement. Our life changes. Relations are broken. Life could be taken.

We even have a lot of techniques to control it. Like counting to 10 and many more.

I think we should take it out rather than keeping it in you. As if you keep it in you it is not malnutrition it is nourished and when it reaches at the peek it burst out like a bomb.

It’s not necessary that the person on who you are angry would be the victim. Anyone in front of you would become a victim of it.

You might leave that place and go on a drive. But do you think it would help… No… your brain would be in that emotion and you might hit someone on the road.

It’s better to take it out in any form. Might be watching television, writing, sleeping, anything.

Many won’t agree on the above line…

If a father beats his child the child fears but…he even gets angry. Later on the father might talk with the child like nothing has happen. But the angry remains in him. Maybe after 20 years the angry which was in it would burst out on the father. And. It would hurt…hurt a lot.

May be a friend who is angry on some other friend would not speak it out and keep the flame in him. One day. The flame would turn in a wild fire. And the friendship would break.

So either speak it out. Throw it out. Work it out. But don’t keep it in.

You can use anger for even your benefit. One child would be angry because the other child of his class got the first rank and he got the second. He could use that anger in studying hard and getting the first rank. As that flame of anger would keep the spirit in him alive to score above. But this happens less. Today we hear one school child killed other for so and so reason. The root cause is anger.

Just remember after the movement of anger. You might blame the situation. Blame on other person. Blame on time. blame on anything.

But.

The loss has happen. The relation is broken. The trust is shattered.

You can’t have it back….

Anger is bad…it could harm you…

Think before you get angry…or you would not be able to think again.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES: REVIEW

 

The story: the story is set 8 years post the dark knight movie. The city lives in peace because of the Dent. Who lost his life saving the city, Batman is not seen in all these years. Bruse Wyane is weak and has isolated himself in his house. But now a terrorist Bane has arrived in the city to finish it. Will the dark knight come and save it? Or he is too old to fight the powerful Bane? Will the Dark Knight Rise? Find out yourself…

MY THOUGHTS:

If you are able to see this one, then you’re one of those lucky ones who would have live through the era of harry potter and a mind blowing trilogy of batman. This movie is a treat to watch. The action is awesome. The one thing you would want to watch is the automobiles and weapons batman uses they are cool. If you compare joker with Bane then it would be unfair. Joker is an intelligent kind and Bane is the powerful one. Despite of being a good movie there is something missing… with the dark knight the expectations were much high. Nolan has not disappointed but still you would miss the Joker. You can experience the same whistle and all when batman comes as they are in any SRK or Salman’s entry. Apart all, the story is the highlight of the movie. The end is the best part. Do not listen it from you friend. You would miss the thrill. Experience the end and the answers to the question will the dark knight rise?

My rating:

I would give it 3.5 out of 5…. Do watch it.