Author: sandeepadnani

Sandeep Adnani is the Amazon #1 Bestselling Author of ‘The Codes of the Exiled Rogue’ , ‘The Origin of the Exiled Rogue’ and ‘The Prophecy of the Exiled Rogue’ eBooks. He nurtured this metaphysical and transformational fiction idea for over six years before publishing the first part in July 2019. All three books of ‘The Exiled Rogue Series’, a trilogy about the purpose and meaning of life and beyond, are Amazon #1 Bestsellers in multiple categories. His first book, The Codes of the Exiled Rogue was declared an Award-Winning Finalist in the Fiction: Visionary category of the 2021 International Book Awards. His second book, The Origin of the Exiled Rogue was an Award Winner in the Science Fiction: Alien/Space category of the 2021 American Fiction Awards. It was also an Award-Winning Finalist in the Visionary Fiction category of the 2021 American Fiction Awards. His third book, The Prophecy of the Exiled Rogue was an Award Winning Finalist in the Fiction: Visionary category of the 2021 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest. The omnibus of the trilogy, The Exiled Rogue Series, won the Silver Medal at the Global Book Awards 2022, in the Metaphysical & Visionary Fiction category and Gold Winner at the ABLE Awards in 2024 in the Book Series category. Embarking on new genres, he has seven new stand-alone books in the offing. In 2021, he completed writing a futuristic sci-fi-romance which he is currently querying. The unpublished manuscript was a finalist for the Writing Award in the 2022 Page Turner Awards. He finished writing a mystery novel in 2022 and an Alternate Fiction novella in 2023. He has published three non-fiction novellas in the YOU DECIDE series. He is currently working on an illustrated children's book. He changed careers from the advertising/media industry and is now a mental health counsellor in Melbourne, with bases in Mumbai and Dubai as well.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2014)

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Excessive, shocking, loud, crass, filthy rich, mind numbing, sense dumbing are the words that come to mind when I think of this film. I wanted to check into rehab after it, that’s how abusive it was, along with its 3 hour length.

Martin Scorcese is such a crafty story teller, that not only has he captured the essence of the story and era, but he makes you feel it with all your senses. The end result may not be entertainment, or a film where you enjoyed every scene, but EVERYONE will take one, or more scene(s) home with them.

Leonardo Di Caprio has done a variety of roles in the past, but this one surely stands out as one of his best. Exceptionally unpredictable, he does with ease what we couldn’t even imagine as a fantasy for ourselves. Other actors lend able support as the many elements in his life, ranging from crazy and eccentric to the loyal girl next door.

There were many scenes that were censored, but there was enough to let you guess what you missed, mostly because of their graphic nature. One very erotic scene was surprisingly not cut, as it was important to the story.

Watch it only if you can see it for what it is, a real story which is as far removed from reality as possible. I could not digest the fact that this is not fiction 🙂

3/5

The secret life of Walter Mitty (2014)

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Director and principal actor Ben Stiller plays an usual character in this ‘day dreamer’ film. He has a habit of zoning out of his not so confident and awkward life situations into bizarre and comical scenarios of the same. The result? Constant, unpredictable entertainment for the audience!

The twist in the plot is when he has to go on a challenging chase across exotic locations to save his job. The line between fantasy and reality blurs here, and we are constantly guessing if it’s real or not. The film has a lot to do with photography and as such appears as a beautiful montage of aesthetic rare pictures itself. 

There are many profound statements which are made, one about true beauty really stood out. The film is so unique because it dares to confuse and entertain audiences at the same time. Its comical approach belies a sensitive and layered view of Walter Mitty’s life, and the people involved in it. Ben Stiller embodies a stone faced character whose eyes may seem glazed on the outside, but are steeped in vivid imagination on the inside.

It is a light and fun film to watch, with stunning cinematography. Be prepared for spoof like moments in a visual treat of a collage!

3/5

Dhoom 3 (2013)

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Sorry this review is late, it’s the last one of the year and I could have saved a lot of people time and money, but I guess some divine force was protecting me, until yesterday.

Aamir Khan mentioned he did this film because he liked the script. I would like to see ‘said script’ and ask him squarely, “Why did you do this film?” Frankly I am shocked that he agreed to do it. I guess screen time was the carrot they dangled in front of him. Batman himself would be envious of the motorbike that Aamir has, and his set up would rival that of Iron Man.

The film was flat from the beginning. Basic story telling had taken a back seat. Where was the complication? The motive was so weak. There were fundamental, gaping holes in the screen play, logic was not meant to take a back seat here, but it did. The heist and everything about it lacked reality.

Touching the 300 crore mark as I write this, it makes you wonder why such films do well and other really good ones don’t. The film was well shot, the choreography and spectacle scenes were great to watch. But you don’t take anything home with you, except the feeling that you have been cheated. Aamir is expected to perform well, but here it seemed like a clear recipe for spinning money, which worked. The action scenes are laughable though the effects are decent, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Aamir has done better and more varied work in the past, this time round it was average. Abhishek and Uday are mere props. Katrina has 3 songs and 3 scenes I think, great dancer, that’s it. She also had a hell of a time at ‘the wake’. A joke you will get if you sit right till the end. In which case you also have my condolences.

2/5

Good bye December and 2013

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What an interesting second half of the year this has been! A lot of writing! Falling in love with the Minions. Completing 3 years in Mumbai. 20 questions. Floating Infinity @ level  57. The Phantom of the Opera. Janmashtami & the Good News. Ganpati & Saying Goodbye. Meeting Kunwar ji. Internal Dialogue. EATC. Reiki. Keep the chin up soldier. 20 years. Multiple birthdays. The 35th. Ram Leela. My Namesake. Spanish. The Cathartic night. The desert, the sea, the stars and the skies. Chicago. Xmas eve @ level  122. 10 questions. Dedications. Koffee, Tea, Triffle. Dubai x5. A Resolution.  YJHD on DVD! Thankful for the year gone by. Excited for 2014. A very special year heralding many milestones and happy moments. Keep all of us safe God. Good Health everyone! 

Mahabharat (2013)

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Director Aman Khan who also made the animated film ‘Krishna’ in 2006 brings us this tale in 2013. The interesting approach was to have the character’s facial features match the actors who were doing their voiceovers. The tale is known to all, but it was compressed well to fit the 2 hour film format, covering all the highlights.

It is very expensive to make good quality animation films, and takes a lot of time. When Hollywood releases such movies, their estimated production budget can be anywhere between $100 – $150 million dollars. The aspect which suffers here is the very unfinished and amateur animation which we are forced to consume. This could very well be a rough draft brief to an animator, but alas, it is the finished product.

There will not be a market big enough for such a film, though ‘Bal Ganesh’ and ‘Ganesha’ were a rage with children. I understand why much money couldn’t be pumped into the film to give it the look it deserved. Close up shots show us major faults and lack of expressions, such important details for an epic like this.

It can be educational for children, but even the stellar voices cannot save the film for adults.

2/5

The boy who loved

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When we speak of Lily’s Love that protected Harry, we tend to overlook that it was not only that person’s love at work. What Lily did for Harry was what any mother would do, cast herself in front of a danger that would take her life instead of her child’s.

The love that I am speaking of, started much before Harry came into existence. It started when a socially awkward Severus Snape fell in love with a young Lily. The night Lily died saving Harry’s life, we can say one form of her perished, but another very significant part lived on.

If Snape’s unrequited love died with Lily that night, Harry’s story would have turned out very differently. It was Snape who actually showed what love is all about, even if the other person didn’t know it existed. He saw Lily in Harry’s eyes, and though was not fond of him as he was much like his father James, Snape played his part extremely well, till the end.

The protection therefore was provided by everyone else, the unwilling Dursleys, the caring Weasleys, Harry’s many friends at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall, Dobby and others who fought with the Order and of course Albus Dumbledore. He was instrumental in seeking out Tom Riddle, a most unfortunate credit to his name, amongst his many merits.

But the one person who had lost everything dear to him and protected in the name of a memory was Severus. It is said eyes are the window to the soul, and part of his died seeing Lily’s lifeless gaze the night Voldemort cast the killing curse.

Much is spoken of the love that binds two people, the love between parents and children, siblings, friends, but what of the unrequited kind? That is the clear hero of this tale.

Oldboy (2013)

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Based on a Korean film, this is a twisted tale of vengeance. The term ‘slow poison’ takes on a new meaning when a man is locked up in solitary confinement for 20 years. He is released by his captor on a bizarre quest to find out why he was punished in the first place.

The warped ways in which the human mind can plot a revenge, in the most disgusting manner, is the crux of the film. While the violence is gory and brutal, the mind games and final plot revelation are the true horrors.

Watch if you enjoy this particular genre, it disturbed me more than it entertained.

2/5 

The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

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The journey of the dwarves continues in the second part of The Hobbit trilogy. The first part was heavier on the eyes with more cgi action, this time round the drama and dialogue quotient was high, which made it easier to watch.

Long at 2 hours and 40 minutes for a 3D film, it is an effective bridge between the first and third part. Smaug probably got a bit too chatty, but the scenes were crafted well, treasures rolling all over, keeping the audience entertained. The escape scene of the dwarves, action scenes between orcs and elves, the spider encounter, were some of the highlights.

A lot of scenes conjured up ‘Harry Potter’ moments, showing us how much J.K. Rowling may have been inspired by Tolkien’s writing. There was grandeur, there were small moments, which entertained and occasionally tickled.

3/5 

Delivery Man (2013)

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I would like to clarify that this movie is nothing like the Hindi film VICKY DONOR. Yes, there is the similarity of a sperm donor, but that’s it.

This movie is based on a Canadian film named ‘Starbuck’, (see how much difference one ‘s’ makes at the end?). Director Ken Scott made that in 2011 and did the Hollywood version starring an appropriately aging Vince Vaughn in 2013.

With the trivia out of the way, I think it would be safe to say the film walks a tight rope and gets to the other side very well. It could easily slide into being mediocre, but keeps the emotional quotient high via believable performances and screenplay. Yes its pretty black or white, with no gray areas, but I guess that was the safest route.

The result? A sensitive film which speaks of family values, love, paternal feelings and modern day parenting challenges.

3/5