Cricket this year

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Here you go up to world cup 2011
http://cricket.rediff.com/report/2010/jan/22/world-cricket-calendar-fixtures-schedule.htm

David Blaine on TED

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David Blaine: How I held my breath for 17 min

3 Movies of this weekend

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Finally after everyone else in the world I managed to watch Avataar and 3 idiots this weekend along with the much low key Rocket Singh.

Its interesting to see Hollywood and Bollywood's all time biggest grossers running at the same time. The other movies in the top two are again by the same set of people (James Cameron - Titanic and Ghajini by Aamir Khan).

I was thoroughly impressed by Avataar and not just because of the 3d circus. My experience with these kind of things have been that you are amazed for a while and then it all becomes ordinary. So, to say that it worked purely due to effects might be injustice to the overall movie. In any case I wouldn't have minded sitting another hour had they made it longer.

The much hyped "3 idiots" that managed to go beyond that hype was also a good watch. What struck me was the black and whiteness added to the grey shades of the story in the novel. Not in his wildest dreams Chetan Bhagat would have written a script like this where a God-like student is twisting everyone around him much like Krishna in Mahabharat. It was the filmy brain of the other guys that introduced the caricatured characters of Suhas, Chatur and Virus. A more subtle show would have left everyone disappointed. Who would be interested in watching how "Venkatraman Ramakrishnan" managed to get a noble while he could not qualify in JEE to get into IITs.

Rocket Singh was an honest effort to make a realistic movie. I liked it, not sure why others didn't. To end this, I will leave you with this quote from Rocket Singh

"Hum aise office me kaam karte hai jahan hamari speciality koi nahi dekhta. Aur jis cheez ka kaam se koi lena dena nahi wo sab dekhte hain and hum bhi wahi ban gaye hain - main ek joker sardar aur tu ek item girl"

Lucky charm for World Cup?

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I am probably going too far with this and possibly jinxing it, but the way Virat Kohli has been playing recently makes me wonder if he is the lucky charm India was waiting for before we could win another cricket world cup. For those of you who don't know, here is what I am talking about:

Youngsters spice up dull tournament
Kohli comes of age
Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli tons hand India series

He was the captain of U19 Indian team that won the world cup in 2008. I wonder if 2011 world cup would be known for Kohli making merry in the field and India winning the cup (irrespective!). Here's to a long shot :)