Jodha-Akbar movie review

Here is it what I think of this epic love story.

It wasn’t really planned, the plan was to watch the marathi movie *Mumbaicha Dabbewaala*, but when we reached Ganesh Theater, we found out they weren’t showing it. So we zipped off to Eternity Mall, to watch Jodha-Akbar. I was reluctant to watch this movie, because I believed that the movie’s grandeur would hamper its pace, and end up making it a yawn-fest. Well the movie starts with Big B’s narration. The part before the intermission is a bit slow, but after the break it does pickup pace. Acting wise everybody is spot-on, and none of the actors seemed out of place. Of course Hrithik was excellent as he got maximum footage, and Aiswarya did her job well. No complaints, their chemistry is also quite bonding. There were times when Hrithik’s character had to show incredible angst and he acted in a way he has never acted before. There is only one problem, mannerism. To spot this, watch Dhoom-2 and then watch Jodha-Akbar, and study closely Hrithik’s mannerism, and you will understand what I am trying to say. His mannerisms are quite similar. Not that they are inappropriate but they seem a bit repetitive and slightly out of place (subjective). The grand war scene is good in terms of bollywood, but not furious like it is done in some Hollywood movies. When you do watch the movie, do follow Sharifuddin’s character. Because at the end of the movie, when akbar forgives him, he suddenly forgets all his villainous instincts, which seems weird as he is shown damn treacherous. But as I said these are subjective interpretations, so overall the movie is without much fault. What could harm the movie is its pace and Urdu dialogue delivery. There were times when the slow pace and heavily cryptic Urdu dialogues induced me to yawn, and bored many around me, forcing some to make funny interpretations, something hard to avoid in such period flicks. Still in spite the fact that period flicks are not my favorite, this movie was satisfying if not hypnotizing. Is it worth watching it in theaters? Yes, because only a large screen can do justice to the grandeur and splendor of a fine interpretation of Mughal era under Akbar, which seems quite real. The sets/scenarios are great and A. R. Rehmaan’s music is just brilliant.

New additions to my biking gear

These are pics of new stuff that I have added to my biking gear
(Click on images for larger view)

1st pic-->Thats an elbow pad

2nd-->Thats close-up shot of the elbow pad

3rd->>Thats the Knee Pad

4th-->These are wrist protectors, they don't fit over my current pair of gloves! :-(

Here are some tips for people learning to lean a bike.

For some people leaning a bike is difficult. There are various reasons given for that, things like, cannot shift so much weight, fear of sliding, etc.

The fear can be overcome mentally, but to overcome the physical problem of leaning a heavy bike there needs to be a correct approach.

Different people have different approaches, here is mine.

Keep in mind I am not referring the whole process of leaning, because even though I lean decently, still I cannot write down the process since it comes instinctively thanks to experimenting leaning on bicycle for 7 years.

Ok, enough of that.

So when you aim to lean,

Decide the right speed (to complete the lean)—this is purely instincts, comes after riding the bike for long periods.

Decide the right line, meaning on which side of your road (your lane) you want to take the corner, is it left or right—choose right for high speeds and left for low speeds for left-hand corners and vice-versa for right-hand corners

Then lean the bike, use counter-steering (google to find exact meaning), avoid front brake use (while leaning), regulate throttle and if necessary use rear brake. That’s it!

This method is similar to mentioned by others. I still think, one thing that can be added, is the importance of using your legs to lean a bike, i.e. if you are trying a left-handed corner, and can’t pull the bike to the left side then you should try pushing instead of pulling i.e. you should push the bike to lean using the right leg instead of using the left leg to pull it. Most riders do this instinctively (again!), but not all. So that would surely help. Of course, while leaning there are more parameters that are to be considered but I haven’t found anything new other than what biking manuals say.

And one more thing, to get comfortable with the weight of your bike, you can do this. Sit on the bike, keep it straight, no need to start it up, now put one foot down and try to lean it to that side, this gives you fair idea of the weight and makes your hands and legs comfortable to the bulk of the bike, repeat this for the other side.

Disclaimer: Please wear protective gear while riding. And in no way is this blog or sanket kambli responsible for readers actions as an after effect of reading this post. Use it as pointer, as this is not a biking manual, it is just a source to enhance your knowledge. Practice safe riding, and riding experiments should be done on empty roads, not on heavy traffic routes.

Here are some tips for people learning to ride a bike-1

These tips are based on my experiences while riding, so are not from some professional racer.

While riding you suddenly spot a speed breaker or a pot-hole and can't avoid and have to ride over it.

Do avoid pressing the front brake too much to slow down, use the rear brake more. Of course this is not compulsory but preferred.

The reason for advocating less front brake use *only* in this case is that when you press the front discs, the front fork(shock-absorbers) compress or *dive* and so when in this state, if you go over a speed-breaker or a pot-hole or speed breaker you will hear a *thud*

This sound is because the front shock absorber has been depressed to its limit.

I don’t think it harms the bike radically, though I will try and find it out.

The above experience is based on having disc brakes at front, I don’t know if drum brakes make the front shocks behave in such manner, even this I will check it out.

Of course having tech like Anti-Dive would change the scenario.

Yamaha Gladiator Type-SS

Yamaha Gladiator Type-SS will soon burn Indian roads...but...
gladiator maybe best in class by its sheer performance...
still it may never be popular for the following reasons...in no specific order..
>it doesn't have the minimum 150cc motor to be called sporty bike....
>its brand visibility and/or promotion(ads,etc) is not upto the mark....
>service center's have to increase in numbers
>and lastly there has to be some way to convince people that buying a yamaha doesn't turn out to be their mistake in terms of after sales service and the company doesn't fold up its operations in India...till then the likes of HH, bajaj, TVS will rule the popularity charts....

Click below to read the bike's review at one of India's best biking websites!!!!

Test Ride/Review of 2008 Yamaha Gladiator Type-SS