WEIRD FASHION TRENDS AROUND THE WORLD

TOP 10 WEIRD FASHION TRENDS AROUND THE WORLD

1. HITLER CHIC-THAILAND

Earlier this year, the city of Bangkok has been invaded by Hitler. If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard anything about that, it’s because this invasion has been into the world of fashion. Nowadays, Bangkok is said to be experiencing a veritable Hitler-mania, with the image of the infamous German leader appearing in cartoon form, on T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters, you name it. Ronald McDonald? Yes, Bangkok has a Hitler version of him in as well, together with Hitlerized pandas and even the Teletubbies. Foreign correspondents explain that this modern trend can mostly be chalked up to ignorance rather than underlying fascist tendencies of the young people of Thailand, no different than the treasure trove of ethnic and homophobic slurs that is a typical internet message board here in the West. It appears that no matter where you go, kids are just always going to be stupid, and while we’re on the topic.

2. SOUTH AFRICAN METAL HEADS, BOTSWANA

From: Botswana At the risk of generalizing, heavy metal has usually had problems with attracting audience members of African descent. Lately though, classic, old-school metal fashion—of the leather and chains variety—has dominated the counter-culture movement in the Southern African nation of Botswana. Walking down the street in big cities and small villages, the Botswanian metal heads, clad in an entire cow’s worth of black leather, create a peculiar sight in the country known primarily for its wildlife parks. To them—as the Southern African metal warriors explain—metal music and the culture surrounding it is all about power, strength and freedom, which means that they thankfully haven’t discovered Korn yet. It’s also why many of them give themselves nicknames like Demon or Gun smoke well, THAT and no one ever having the guts to call them out on it.

3. MEGGINGS, ALL OVER THE WORLD

Trends for male in Fashion World are not much less than woman, an example for this is the “meggings"- male correspondent to leggings which is highly in trend into the lanes of Tokyo, Paris, London and New York. Initially the introduction of leggings in female fashion world was a hot button topic, and now this trend is extended for the males too. Printed meggings are very popular among the dancers, choreographers, fashion designers and many more such cool professionals. According to Lindsay Lohan leggings are versatile, awesome and leopard printed leggings are amazing and so are the meggings for men.

4. ELF BOOT, MEXICO

It is a part of the Elven Outfit. These boots are long, pointy and sort of asinine looking, and were in trend in Mexico. Because of this the cowboy boots with stretched tips again came in fashion among the young generation of southern Mexico. It is kind of a trend when the male dress up to get interest of females, but at the end becomes a reason to laugh at. It is really a bombshell trend, then also can be seen in the feet of TV actors, stage showers etc.

5. GOTHIC LOLITAS, JAPAN

Not to be confused with the Western meaning of the term, the Japanese “Lolita" is an extremely broad fashion subculture that emphasizes cute and stylish Victorian-era clothes. It’s “Gothic" sub-style, probably the most famous of the group, is in turn all about darker, gothic aesthetics which in the hands of misinformed Japanese teens basically boils down to “faux-vampire fashion as understood by a 15-year-old." Also: “umbrellas." As in, every other picture of a Gothic Lolita on GIS shows them holding an umbrella because without one they would all apparently look silly.

6. EYE JEWELRY, NETHERLANDS

You know what body part often gets overlooked in the world of fashion? The eyes. Sure, you can paint around them or change their color with contact lenses, etc., but how often do you see some actual, serious fashion being done on the eye itself? Almost never, because that is a terrible, terrible idea. Well, the Dutch seem to disagree. A new technique that allows small studs made from precious metals to be inserted into the eye was developed more than 8 years ago in Rotterdam, giving teenage girls everywhere an alternative to dating black guys to anger their parents. The Dutch claim that the procedure is perfectly harmless, while eye specialists argue that it is insane; also: potentially dangerous. But, come on, what is a little eye bleeding or risk of impaired vision when you get to wear a tiny, near-invisible heart or half moon in your peeper? Don’t answer that. But while we’re on the topic of eye-related horrible ideas.

7. FACEKINI, CHINA

Sometimes new trends in the Fashion world arise due to the needs of the people, an example for this is the introduction of “Facekini". A simple way to keep away from the harmful rays of Sun is to avoid going out, or to put on a good quality sunscreen. But the residents of China found a new way to protect themselves by wearing face-kini, according to name it is a shielding head mask wore by the beach-goers.

8. MANBA, JAPAN

Japan keeps coming in light, while talking about some peculiar fashion trends. Another example of unusual trends is the Manba. It is a craze very common among the young girls of Japan, who normally date men who are style crazy. Manba is a little varied form of the very famous Ganguro culture which basically accentuates strong makeup and dark complexion. Girls following the Manba trend normally coat their complete face with deep and dark brown, with two circular marks of white color around their eyes and silver light colored hair along with wishy-washy makeup and dazzling attire.

9. EYE TATTOOS, CANADA

Being an intense practice, people go for eye tattooing for enhancing their aesthetic appearance and the improvement of vision. In this the white part that is cornea of the eye is tattooed. It is medically prescribed method for the persons with scratch marked eye tissues. There are various methods of tattooing of eye, also various options for the success and medical safety of the procedure exists. Tattooing of eye is practice from approximately thousands of years and is now again in trend in Canada. In this process the dye/ink in inserted in the white portion that is Cornea of the eye using some syringes and injections and designs are made.

10.BAGEL HEADS, JAPAN

Getting injected a saline into the forehead to get a bagel/doughnut type shape on forehead is not an easy task. Being such a painful job to get such shapes, people of Japan promoted the trend called as “Bagel head". It is a kind of Body modification technique initiated in Canada and highly encouraged by the Japan’s Fashion World. The process is basically a swelling distortion caused by the saline drip. Media channels ambiguously asserted it as “Japan trend". People here get this done on their forehead during special occasions like subversive fetish gatherings. For this, the person’s forehead is to be injected by a medical 300-400cc saline for about duration of 2 hours, and to change the designs the swelled part is sometimes given a down turn at the center.

Auluck:: A Seasonal Fruit for Fabulous Skin

Eating for Beauty: A Seasonal Fruit for Fabulous Skin

  The guava tree at my great grand-parent’s house in Bangalore drove me crazy. As the tree bore fruit, the strong-sweet smell around the house was intoxicating and all I ever wanted to do was climb the tree to grab one of the green-yellow fruit. The only catch was that after just a few bites I’d get this unexplainable stomach ache that drove me nuts for the rest of the day.

That didn't deter me. Instead it was like I was addicted to the fruit. I loved the creamy flesh and only a ripe guava would have that bite from the seeds. I loved the way the hands smelt after all the juice had oozed all over it. And like clockwork, every time I’d see a ripe guava, I’d climb up the tree and bite into the fruit and within minutes the tummy ache would begin. Week after week, I’d suffer but giving up on that ripe guava never occurred to me.

It wasn't until a few years later that my grandmother figured that it wasn't really the fruit but the seeds that didn't work for me. So each morning, instead of waiting for the guava tree-stomach ache drama to unfold, she’d scoop out the seeds from a few guavas and set them at the breakfast table.

You see, she was a great propagator of the fruit. Being rich in Vitamin A and C, this tropical fruit is great for the skin and hair. You can actually call it a powerhouse of nutrients – folic acid, potassium, copper and manganese all help regenerate skin cells and combat hair loss problems. So much so, that several cosmetic companies use it in a number of hair and skin treatments and creams. She’d make packs with the fruits - mashing up seeds and pulp with a bit of honey and apply it all over our faces, and even make a pack out of the peels by mashing it in a mortar and pestle and then adding a bit of turmeric and milk. (Natural Beauty Recipes for the Festive Season)

Guavas are also a great source of Vitamin K, which helps in treating skin discoloration and problems like dark circles, acne irritation and redness. Using to fruit as a scrub helps in improving the skin’s complexion and also removes impurities making it look young and fresh. Guava contains an antioxidant called lycopene that helps in shielding your skin against the damaging UV rays. Since it contains about 80% of water it helps in keeping your skin hydrated and supple. Being a rich source of Vitamin C, guava is a fruit that helps in promoting hair growth.

Eating the guava raw or with a bit of chaat masala wasn't the only way she’d feed us this fruit. She’d jam it, make murabbas with it or sometimes even juice it. It wasn't until I was older that I realized, there were about a hundred other ways to use the guava. While buying guavas, make sure you pick firm ones without any blemishes or soft spots.

When you’re using them in a dessert make sure it’s ripe – the white guava (on the inside) turns almost yellow when it’s ripe whereas the pink guava (on the inside) turns a lighter shade of green – and both the varieties of fruit will be slightly soft to touch. If you want to hasten its ripening, it’s a good idea to keep it outside in a brown paper bag, otherwise if you’d like to hang on to it for a few weeks before you eat them, store them in refrigerator away from any other fruit. 

From souffles to crumbles to even vegetable curries - just so much could be done with the fruit. But my favourite way of using up ripe guavas has always been making a fool. What’s a fool you ask? A fool is any fruit puree mixed with whipped cream and a bit of sugar. Served up like a souffle, it’s a low effort dessert that gives terrific results each time. It barely takes any time to make, and keeps well for a day or two. Make and see for yourself.

Guava Fool

Serves 6

Ingredients -

4 ripe guavas

200 ml whipping cream

1/4 cup icing sugar (or more according to how sweet the fruit is)

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Method -

1. Wash and dry the guavas. Chop them without removing the peel and add to a blender. Blend until you get a nice puree. It will be gritty because of the seeds, but don’t worry, that’s exactly what you want. Keep aside in the refrigerator for about 2 to 4 hours.

2. When you’re ready to serve, whip the cream until you get firm peaks, add vanilla (optional) and icing sugar.

3. Fold the whipped cream into the fruit puree and immediately pour into individual serving cups. Serve chilled.

Auluck: Oreo Biscuit Cake

 Super Easy 5 Minute Eggless Microwave Oreo Biscuit Cake

 

Hungry for a cake, but lazy to make an elaborate one? Here's a quick and easy recipe for a semi-homemade cake, so to speak.

Ingredients :
1 large packet and 1 small packet of oreo biscuits (19 pairs. 38 biscuits in total)
1 cup milk (240 ml)

¾ tsp baking powder OR ¾ tsp Eno

3 tbsp sugar


Method:
Crush the biscuits roughly.  [Do not remove the cream]. Transfer to a blender. Add the other ingredients and blend into a smooth paste.
Grease a microwave safe dish liberally with butter, oil or ghee. [You can also line the base with parchment paper/ butter paper to get a clean top while inverting. Please use good quality parchment paper. I first greased the bottom and sides and placed the parchment paper like so:









]

Transfer the cake batter into the dish. Microwave for 5 minutes [in regular microwave mode]. You will see some moist spots on the top and sides. That's fine.
Do not touch the cake for atleast another 15 minutes, you want to let it cook with the heat trapped inside.

[If you wish to invert the cake, let it cool for 30 minutes. Check this post for more tips. If you have used parchment paper to line the base, you can invert it in lesser time. ]

You can top the cake with sugar powder. Just take some powdered sugar in a strainer and splash it all over the cake.

Perfect for a last minute (oops last 5 minute) snack! Happy New Year!

Update : Made this with Oreo orange creme biscuits.  Loved the subtle orange flavour. This time, I used baking powder instead of eno. And the lines on top - that's Nutella!

Thanks to the internet for letting me know you can make cakes with biscuits! I experimented with my favourite Oreo cookies and now I have a quick cake recipe.

Auluck: Social Media Marketing-SMO

What Is Social Media Marketing?

What Is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites.

Social media itself is a catch-all term for sites that may provide radically different social actions. For instance, Twitter is a social site designed to let people share short messages or “updates” with others. Facebook, in contrast is a full-blown social networking site that allows for sharing updates, photos, joining events and a variety of other activities.

How Are Search & Social Media Marketing Related?

Why would a search marketer — or a site about search engines — care about social media? The two are very closely related.

Social media often feeds into the discovery of new content such as news stories, and “discovery” is a search activity. Social media can also help build links that in turn support into SEO efforts. Many people also perform searches at social media sites to find social media content. Social connections may also impact the relevancy of some search results, either within a social media network or at a ‘mainstream’ search engine.
Social Media Marketing At Marketing Land

Marketing Land is the sister site to Search Engine Land that covers all facets of internet marketing, including these popular topics within social media marketing:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Pinterest
Google+
Linkedin
YouTube
Social Media Marketing How To Guides & more!

At Search Engine Land, we occasionally cover social media news with a search angle, you’ll find all of our most recent articles related to ‘social search’ here:

All Social Search Related Stories

More Social Media Marketing Resources

Search Engine Land and Marketing Land produce three conferences dedicated to digital marketing strategies and tactics for professional marketers: SMX, the MarTech Conference and the SocialPro Conference series.

Many of our SMX events have topics that cover social media. There’s also our annual event entirely devoted to social media. Check out the site to learn more: SocialPro Conference.

Subscribe to our weekly Social Media Marketing digest and Marketing Day daily recap newsletters, with the latest articles from Marketing Land and Search Engine Land, as well as the day’s news sources all over the web.

Auluck: FAMOUS STREET FOODS OF INDIA

TOP FAMOUS STREET FOODS  OF INDIA

Chole Bhature: Delhi, The capital of India is one of the best place to have street foods, Delhi offers variety of road side food and stalls. Chole bhature is a Punjabi dish but very popular in major urban cities of India. Delhi is well famous for best chole bhature,  commonly eaten for break fast or snacks other famous road side food from Delhi are rajma chawal, prathe and most famous mouth watering snacks item chaat.

Poha-Jalebi: Indore, The biggest city and commercial capital of the state called “heart of India” Madhya Pradesh. Indore is most popular for its culinary rang and well known for wide range of namkeens, samosa, chaats, lapsi and the best one bafla. Poha-Jalebi is the best street food and the specialty of Indore served with sev & nukti and with jalebi. Indore felt proud of the poha and jalebi being the best in the world.

Litti Choka: Patna, The most famous dish and the soul food for people of Bihar, Jharkhand  and eastern Utter Pradesh. Litti Choka is looks like dal batti of Rajasthan but its completely different in taste as well as in recipe. The traditional dish of Bihar is made with sattu, grinded gram nut or chana served with chokha made out of potato, brinjal and tomato and a bowl of melted pure desi ghee. Litti Chokha is the best breakfast, lunch and dinner and one of the most important delicacy of Bihar cuisine. Never miss the chance to taste it on streets of Patna.

Aloo Tikki: Lucknow, The most popular snack dishes aloo tikki typically served at road-side tracks from stalls in Lucknow and all over India. aloo tikki is one of the most mouth-watering delicacies within the street food of  Uttar Pradesh. The North Indian snack is made of boiled potatoes and various spices served hot along with sauce. The dish vary from city to city with different name and forms like ragda pattice in Mumbai, Aloo chat etc, The royal cuisines of Lucknow, galauti kebab is a kind of road side food which is also one of the most famous food in streets of Lucknow. Other popular street foods in Uttar Pradesh included Bhel, pani puri, sev puri, dahi puri,jhalmuri and Puri-Subzie.

Vada Pao: Mumbai, The Indian version of burger and most popular road side food straight from the heart of Maharashtra. Vada Pao is the most loved and ultimate staple food item, consists of a fried potato dumplings called vada served in a bun, pav with condiments such as red or green chutneys and fried green chillies. The famous vegetarian fast food dish is native to Maharashtra few other are misal pav,pav bhaji, pav-sample, dabeli, batata wada and kande pohe.

Kachori: Bikaner, The royal state of India, Rajasthan is well famous for its awesome cuisines and delectable street foods. Its famous Bikaneri kachori and popular mirchi bada are the most favorite amongst the locals, and found in almost every street shop or stall. The desert state also known for its most popular dal-baati-churma, pakores and mawa, famous desert from alwar.

Dabeli: Ahmedabad, The most popular street food originate from the Kutch region of Gujarat and travel across street of Mumbai, Pune and other cities of India. Dabeli is a very popular and fantastic spicy snacks item made by boiled potatoes with a special dabeli spices and putting the mixture between the pav.

Egg Rolls: Kolkatta, Egg Rolls are one of the most popular of all street foods in Kolkata. A  fried egg wrapped inside a paratha served with chutney or sour dipping sauce in many roadside stalls. Another famous street side food item in Kolkatta is phuchka or golgappa.


Akki rott: Bangalore, The specialty of state is akki roti, A spicy bread made from rice flour and server with coconut chatney. The delicious street food is one of the most popular and common tiffin snack quick to make and tastes so good. The specialty of food street in banglore is dosa, there is a huge variety on dosa served here, other food items are sambar,rasam and curd rise.

Idli Sambhar: Chennai, The most favorite south Indian dish, common as breakfast item and served with combination of chutney and sambar. Sambhar which tastes so good with idlis and vadas is made with tamarind and pigeon peas. Idlis and vadas sambhar are the best food in the streets of Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Mirchi Bajji: Hyderabad, The famous Hyderabadi style mirchi bajjis is a common snack or appetizer, stuffed green chili fritters. Though mirchi bajjis are found with different stuffing’s from at different regions in India but Hyderabadi style mirchi bajjis are the best one to have. Hyderabad is also famous for its Biryani, dosa, idli and Bonda.

Auluck: MAHABALESHWAR – TOURIST SPORTS

MAHABALESHWAR – TOURIST SPORTS

    

MAHABALESHWAR – TOURIST SPORTS

Mahabaleshwar  – About Mahabaleshwar

 Mahabaleshwar is a beautiful city in Satara district in the state of Maharashtra (India). It is a hill station located in the Western Ghats range. With one of the few evergreen forests of India, it served as the summer capital of Bombay province during the British Raj.

 Located about 120 km (75 mi) southwest of Pune and 285 km (177 mi) from Mumbai, Mahabaleshwar is a vast plateau measuring 150 km2 (58 sq mi), bound by valleys on all sides. It reaches a height of 1,439 m (4,721 ft) at its highest peak above sea level, known as Wilson/Sunrise Point.

 Mahabaleshwar includes three villages: Malcolm Peth, Old “Kshetra” Mahabaleshwar and part of the Shindola village.

Mahabaleshwar is the source of the Krishna River that flows across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The legendary source of the river is a spout from the mouth of a statue of a cow in the ancient temple of Mahadev in Old Mahabaleshwar. Legend has it that Krishna is Lord Vishnu himself as a result of a curse on the trimurtis by Savitri. Also, its tributaries Venna and Koyna are said to be Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma themselves. An interesting thing to notice is that 4 other rivers come out from the cow’s mouth apart from Krishna and they all travel some distance before merging into Krishna. These rivers are the Koyna, Venna (Veni), Savitri, and Gayatri.

• Tourism in Mahabaleshwar

• Old Mahabaleshwar

The old Mahabaleshwar is about 7 km from the Mahabaleshwar and there many places where international tourists can visit specially temples (4500 years old) with examples of old Indian architecture. Beautiful sceneries, natural view from Old Mahabaleshwar is something unique and one of the tourists attractions. Some of the natural views named by the British, who made their holidays in these places during the British Raj.

• Krishnabai temple

Krishnabai temple is situated aside by Krishna river where Krishna river is worshiped. Krishnabai temple is built on the hilltop overlooking the Krishna valley and was built in 1888 by a ruler of Ratnagirion the Konkancoast. The temple consists of a Shiva Lingam and a statue of Krishna. A stream of water falls from a cow-face on a water tank which is knwon as Kunda in Hindi.

• 3 Monkey Point

A route to Arthur’s Seat in Mahabaleshwar there is a natural sculpture of the stones which portraying 3 monkeys of Gandhi ji. So, the 3 nautral sculpture of stones named as 3 Monkey Point. This point can be figure out easily in the valleys.

• Arthur seat point

Officer Sir Arthur Malet (1806–1888) (Not to be confused with British born actor of same name), who sat here and gazed at the Savitri River, where he lost his wife and children in a tragic ferry mishap.

• Venna Lake

Mahabaleshwar has become one of the most popular tourist destination and honeymoon spot for the newly wed couples coming from all over the world. Venna lake has been surrounded by trees on all sides. Further, it is also a pilgrimage site for Hindus and Venna Lake is source of attraction for the international tourists. Tourists can find some budgetary hotels where you can have a view of the Venna lake and famous market of Mahabaleshwar.

• Some other places to visit in Mahabaleshwar

View point

Kate’s Point – Kate’s point is located to the east of Mahabaleshwar and is famous for its view of two reservoirs, Balakwadi and Dhom. The point is around 1280 mts high.

Needle Hole Point / Elephant Point – This point is located near Kate’s point. It is natural rock formation and there is a hole between the rock, that’s thr reason behind its name “Needle Hole Point”.

Wilson Point – The name is given after Sir Leslie Wilson, who was the Governor of Bombay from 1923 to 1926. It is 1439 mtr high and the highest point in Mahabaleshwar.

Pratapgad – It is a fort nearby Mahabaleshwar built by Shivaji Maharaj and popular in History of India as Shivaji Maharaj defeat & killed Afzalkhan who was the Commander of Bijapur.

• Some budget hotels in Mahabaleshwar:

• Hotel Vyankatesh
• Hotel Shreyas
• Krishna Continental
• Regal Hotel
• Girivihar Hotel
• Hotel Dreamland
• Park Plaza Mahabaleshwar
• Valley View Resort

• How to get there?

By Road

Mahabaleshwar is located about 32 km from Wai. It is around 260 km from Mumbai, the state capital. The nearest major city is Satara, around 45 km away, and is 120 km from Pune. Mahabaleshwar is connected by the National Highway 4. Bus services by state-run MSRTC and private organizations connect it by buses from Pune, Mumbai, Sangli and Satara.

By Rail

Nearest railroad is Satara, around 53 km. Nearest major railway junctions include Pune (120 km), Miraj (170&km) and Sangli (165 km). Private cars and cabs, as well as state-run bus services are available in these locations to Mahabaleshwar. Also, a Rail station named Diwan Khavati on Kokan Railway near Khed gives a route of 60 km via Poladpur to Mahabaleshwar not so frequented though.

By Air

The nearest airport is Pune International Airport, serving the city of Pune, about 120 km from Mahabaleshwar. Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport of Mumbai is 270 km away.

Auluck : The Jungle Book Movie review

The Jungle Book review: Thank you Disney  for this intelligent and nostalgic visual spectacle 

Director: Jon Favreau

Writers : Justin Marks (screenplay), Rudyard Kipling (book)

Stars: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley

Rate :  4/5

The Box Office:

The Jungle Book opens in US on April 15^th courtesy of Walt Disney. It starts its overseas rollout on April 7^th in some territories before slowly expanding around the world over the next two weeks. It will be playing pretty much around the world by the weekend of the 15^th, with a Japan release set for August 11th. That’s ironically one day before the U.S. release of the next one of these Disney “live-action version of an animated film” movies, Pete’s Dragon, opens in America and much of the world.

The film is, of course, the latest in a series of live-action adaptations (or live-action sequel/prequels) of their popular animated features. It comes on the heels of Alice in Wonderland, Oz: The Great and Powerful (yes, not technically from a Disney toon, but it still counts), Maleficent, and Cinderella.

The Mouse House has been full-steam ahead in this newest little quasi-franchise, greenlighting a Tim Burton-directed Dumbo, a Bill Condon-helmed Beauty and the Beast, and new versions of Mulan, Pete’s Dragon (coming in August) and a Reese Witherspoon Tinker Bell movie along with an Emma Stone-led Cruella de Vil movie. I’m sure I missed a few, but you get the idea.

All of these films have been varying degrees of successful, and this summer’s Alice Through the Looking Glass will be a test case as to whether these films can be sequel-ized. But back to The Jungle Book. The film will open three weeks before Captain America: Civil War and six weeks before the aforementioned Alice Through the Looking Glass and hot on the heels of the unexpectedly massive Zootopia.

The film’s biggest selling point will be its world-creating animation, shot and animated not in the jungles of India but Los Angeles studios using the kind of technical wizardry that helped create the likes of Avatar, Gravity, and The Life of Pi. Pre-release tracking has this one pegged at a $60-$65 million debut weekend, and I imagine the flood of (spoiler?) positive reviews two weeks before opening will only send that figure up accordingly.

The Review:

Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book is every bit as visually splendid as you’re hoping it would be. I could spend the next paragraph explaining in detail how the film was constructed. Just know that nearly all of what you see during its 105-minute running time is created via animation and motion-capture work. My four-year-old son was entranced from beginning to end, totally unaware (save perhaps for moments of animals talking and singing) that anything was amiss, and hell if I am going to spoil the illusion for him.

The greatest strength of this new-fangled “live-action” adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s novel (or more specifically, the 1967 Walt Disney animated version of said novel) is not just its effects work but rather the sheer believe-your-eyes achievement. Yes, there are moments where the camera goes to incredible places and gives us impossible perspectives (the opening seems like a live-action recreation of the vine surfing from the animated Tarzan), but there is just enough restraint to achieve the idea that what we’re watching is “real.” Favreau and company make the effort to maintain a hint of plausibility concerning how the picture is shot and edited.

As a result, the gorgeous (shot by Bill Pope) film feels “live action real” in as impressive fashion as, yes, Avatar, Gravity, and The Life of Pi. This is next-level wizardry, with just enough story and emotion to avoid feeling like a technical exercise. I am not going to say it’s as revolutionary an experience as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but the fact that said all-time-classic came to mind should give you an idea of how engrossing this movie quickly becomes. It’s an unmitigated audio/visual knockout. It looks gorgeous in 3D, but I imagine it would look just as scrumptious in 2D as well.

As far as the story, well, you only get the “bare necessities” (sorry). This new film adds some attempted emotional beats and something of a hero’s journey arc that takes bits and pieces from Babe, The LionKing, and Tarzan. That will only be a (very slight) problem when Disney decides to use this technology to give us a “live-action” Lion King movie.

The story concerns young Mowgli (Neel Sethi, giving a remarkable reactionary performance as basically the only flesh-and-blood thing onscreen) as he is forced to flee his forest home after he is marked for death by the insidious Shere Khan (a deliciously cruel Idris Elba). Although initially guided by Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), he eventually finds himself in the company of a friendly (if conniving and self-interested) bear named Baloo (Bill Murray). Murray and Kingsley play off each other quite well as dueling surrogate dads and Chris Walken adds late-in-the-game charm and menace as a rather ginormous King Louie.

It was during Louie’s big scene where my son got the most frightened (a temporary and non-perilous situation), and I will admit some glee at my son having achieved the “freaked out by Christopher Walken” rite of passage. Yes, we do get renditions of the animated film’s two iconic songs, and yes the film does have its fill of exciting and intense action sequences. But despite the periodic escapes (and a blisteringly awesome climactic battle) that pepper the film, the overall feeling is more lackadaisical than a conventional action movie. The emphasis is on watching Mowgli and his animal compatriots talk with each other as opposed to fighting with each other.

There are some intense moments (the film doesn’t suffer fools regarding its PG-appropriate action and peril), but the film applies the Beauty and the Beast formula of interchanging a dark or dramatic scene with a light or comedic scene. The first act is comparatively grim as Mowgli struggles with his forced exile, but Bill Murray’s Baloo shows up right when the proceedings are getting a bit glum. Murray is this film’s comedic shot in the arm, equivalent to Robin Williams’s Genie in Aladdin or Mark Hamill’s Joker in (the obviously not Disney) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

All-in-all, The Jungle Book is a remarkable achievement and yet more reason to be optimistic about Disney’s “turn an animated classic into a live-action feature” sub-genre. I could quibble about the thin plot or the cribbed-from-The Lion King thematics, but the picture works precisely as intended. It’s a thrilling and visually splendid bit of popcorn entertainment that walks just enough on the wild side to make kids think they’re getting away with something.

It is also another fantasy winner for Jon Favreau who has somewhat unassumingly established himself as a genuinely successful “indie-to-blockbuster” triumph. He crafted a genuine holiday classic in Will Ferrell’s leggy blockbuster Elf and then basically created the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man. This one is closest in spirit to Zathura, and I mean that as a compliment. The Jungle Book works as both a fine stand-alone piece of action fantasy as well as a worthwhile companion to its animated predecessor.

Auluck: Jacobinte Swargarajyam movie review

 Jacobinte Swargarajyam movie review:Old wine in a refreshing new cocktail

Rating: 3.5/5

Family entertainers, an age old success formula of mainstream Malayalam cinema, is always a safe bet in this industry as movie makers over the years have used Malayali’s sentiments for family attachments to great successes on screen. Vineeth Srinivasan, on his fourth directorial venture ‘Jacobinte Swargarajyam’, has woven this old formula into a refreshing cinematic experience, showing discipline while handling dramatic situations in the movie.

The movie, based on a true story, follows the life of an NRI businessman, Jacob, and his family who are settled in Dubai and visualises how closely knit family relations stick together at times of crisis. The director has used his observations to good effect as the strong relationship bonds inside Jacob’s family members and their informal homely behaviour was captured with shots that impart warmth and positive vibes, like the feel of an early morning coffee.

Renji Panicker dons the title role of Jacob, a righteous business entreprenuer and an ideal family man, while Lekshmi Ramakrishnan portrays the powerful role of Jacob’s wife Sherlyn, a lion hearted woman. Nivin Pauly, other lead actor of the movie, essays the role of Jacob’s elder son Jerry while Sreenath Bhasi, Aima Sebastian and Stacen play Jacob and Sherly's other kids, Abin, Ammu, and Chris, respectively.

The growth in Vineeth Sreenivasan’s direction skills are reflected on his characters as each of them have an identity and importance in the movie. The entire cast of the movie do justice to their roles and debut actor Ashwin Kumar needs a special mention for his imposing screen presence as Murali Menon, a rude businessman.

The movie gradually progresses into more captivating situations with effects of global economic recession prompting an ungraceful fall of Jacob and his family from their financially secured happy lives to survival struggles of an ordinary human. It is at this point that Jerry, with the support of his clear headed mother, steps up in life and starts everything again from scratch to sustain their family, which forms the crux of the movie.

By glorifying the economic and infrastructural development of Dubai and simultaneously ridiculing Kerala’s pot holed roads, Vineeth Sreenivasan, the scriptwriter, seems to have ignored how the blind notions of profit motive development and corporatisation of natural resources is wrecking our natural ecosystem worldwide.

On the other hand, being cautious to avoid many scenes in the movie from slipping into over dramatic clichés, he is without doubt improving as a director with every movie. The editing team also needs to be appreciated for their crisp interventions between shots of emotional intensity, thus allowing a smooth flow to the move. The songs of the movie, composed by Shan Rehman, might not make imprints on the heart, but the movie just might.