Parvathamalai Trekking

Parvathamalai.  - Hill of Hills

Almost trekked four times, but every time this hill stresses me to limit. All the time, half-way through the path, I used to think "never again I'm going to trek this hill". Such stressful trek due to its steepness. But after few months, whenever some one plans to visit Parvathamalai, I raise my hands. That's the beauty of this hill. The Hill of Hills.. It attracts.

There are lot of blogs on how to reach the hill. From Chennai, one can reach Parvathamalai through Tindivanam-Tiruvannamalai Route or through Arcot-Polur route. The latter one seems to be good, considering the road condition of Tindivanam-Senji route. This time (Dec/2016), my spiritual partner whatsapp'd he wanted to trek Parvathamalai. Soon as I saw the message, I replied him with a NO. I did have some personal work on the day he asked for trekking and also my foot has recently developed some pains. I didnt want to take risk. But inside, I know i will miss trekking for sure. But then, one other friend (Reddy) opted to join, if my partner postpones the trip for a couple of days. The trip was postponed for his convenience and my schedule was free that day. Though I wanted to stay back, but cant resist. I said "I can also join". 

Later that day, I was speaking with one other friend (Ela) on a different aspect, and I informed him about the trekking plan and asked if he was okay to join. He did agree and roped in one more colleague (Bose). Already 5 of us for a car and no more invites. Except once, most of the time we trekked Parvathamalai during night time to avoid heat. Since its December and the climate was cool, this was a day time plan. And what more blessed we could be than ending 2016 and starting 2017 with Shiva's blessings.

Bose, Me and MSK

On Dec/29, we started around 5.30am from Chennai. Had a pit stop near Kanchipuram for breakfast. Talk and fun for the remaining journey, we reached Parvathamalai by around 9.30. This time, I wore sports shoe to keep my foot comfortable and decided not to carry any backpack. With two of us carrying backpacks, we stuffed a couple of water bottles in their bags. After parking the car, we started the 2km walk from the parking area to the foot of the hills. Parvathamalai stands majestic with a 400m crown on the top of her. On the top, Shiva resides in peace and silence. 

One things that stands apart from Paravathamalai among other places is that we can perform pooja for the Shiva ourselves. Go inside garbagraha, sit for sometime in the vicinity of Shiva - that means a lot. 

Ela in his standard Veshti. 

The hill starts with a 2km walk to the base and then foot-steps starts. Almost 1300 steps that can test your patience. Initially they are long paced and then short paced giving our calves time to accustom the path. On the way, around every 200 steps of so, there were shops selling lemon soda, water bottles, tender coconut, glucose, torch, snacks from paniyaaram till koozh. Most of them are seasonal shops, so ask the villagers near the parking area before trekking empty handed. If shops are there, we can just walk without carrying much luggage.

Mallikarjunar 

After 1300 steps, starts the hilly region with unorganized rocks that you need to climb at times. This will take another 1 to 1.5hrs to complete. Finally stands the 400m monolithic rock on which the temple is built. You can climb this using steps or the old adventurous route using iron grills/rods drill fitted in the rocks. The gadapparai paarai way of climbing. I'd prefer climing this adventurous way than steps, for this will ease up some muscle pain than regular step climbing. Also its quicker and entertaining to climb. Not to miss mentioning the chill breeze you feel when climbing this way. After around 4hrs, you can reach the temple to have a darshan of Mallikarjunar and Amman. 

Renovated temple

I too had a nice darshan and we returned back to foothills by around 5pm or so. On they way, we had some paniyaaram with red chutney. Cant resist. The only thing that tests our patience will be walking that 2km from foothills to parking area. There are some autowalas shuttling between parking area to foot hills. Get their number and call them during your return to parking area. That will ease up some walking distance. After refreshing near the parking area, we started our way back to Chennai. With a break for dinner, we reached Chennai by around 10pm. I really didn't think I could make this trip, but it all went so good and fine. When he calls, who can deny.

Some tips for first timers on how to prepare for the trek. Climbing the hill (normal paced with small break every 30 mins) would take around 3.5 to 4hrs. Considering that return will take around 3hrs, the total trek duration will be 7 to 8 hrs. Under normal conditions, you only need water now and then. Though shops are available throughout the path and near the temple, its best to carry one liter of water. If you plan to trek in night, torch lights are must. Along with water, plan to carry some fruits that can keep you refreshed now and then. Again, just one or two fruits, not dozens. Recently, lot of changes have happened in the hills. They have opened Annadanam hall in the top, so you can get food there. We didnt try yet, but I hope its functional. So dont pack much of food items for your journey. Even if food is not there, you can buy and eat some biscuits on the way till you reach down. Less weight on your back and belly is good for trek. Dont wear heavy cloth even during winter. Your body will heat up automatically while trekking. Lighter cloth is good. Slipper/Light weight shoes will be good, though bare foot is best. Never wear Woodlands type of hard trekking shoes.

MSK - gadapparai
climb

Earlier the gadappara paarai used to be a bit risky. But now with good hand support and concrete path laid at high risk areas, its no more risky to trek Parvathamalai. Also temple has developed a lot alongside came a donation counter. We have seen lot of kids and ladies trekking this hill. During our way down, few ladies were also trekking down. We all sat down for a break near a shady area. Happened to overhear (well, they were speaking loudly) their discussion. One of the lady said that her husband discouraged her from trekking the hill. He said she cant climb to the top and asked her to return after worshiping the temple at foot hills only. She way saying "Soon as my husband said I cannot trek the hill, I took it as a challenge to climb, and Im done now. If I cannot do it now, when can I..". She was visibly very happy for she succeeded in her challenge. She then called her husband and happily said "Im returning now. I did climb to the top and had my darshan". She was really proud of what she accomplished. In fact, she climbed bare foot wearing a saree. That was really more challenging. Somehow, I too felt very proud of her. When he calls, who can deny.

Shirdi-Nasik-Ellora Trip

After a long time, here is one other blog. On my recent trip to Shirdi. It was during June/July time frame, my better-half asked for trip to Shirdi. Soon I checked with some local travel organizers, but they said darshan is available only during August and September and asked a package of 9k per head, including airfare. I really dont plans small trips that far, so left it as it is. One good thing happened during the interaction was that I got a 3 day trip itinerary from them that had places to visit in and around Shirdi. During October, I got a call from the same travel organizer with ticket availability and asked me if I'm interested for Shirdi trip. If you are bit scared to explore new places all alone, it’s best to go as a group. Travels will suit fine. But if you seek some freedom, private space and flexibility, it’s best to have your own plans. This time, the organizers asked for around 12.5k per head. Having heard that, I decided to explore what the real rates are to plan my own itinerary.

Rooms we booked

Quickly checking for flight fares (2 weeks down the line), it was not that costly. It was costing 7k per head round trip. Even after one month the flight cost is almost the same. Confirming the plan with my better-half, I blocked the tickets. Booking the tickets is almost crossing half the well. Second half was to find a good accommodation. Makemytrip listed some 100 hotels near that place, starting from 400-6000 per night and most of them had availability. After snooping through a lot, I shortlisted on "Hotel Golden View", that was exactly opposite the Sai Temple on the main road. Makemytrip listed the cost as 2500+ taxes per night. I called up the hotel and enquired the availability/tariff. They also said the same rates. But since the trip is almost a week away, and Shirdi had lot of hotels with easy accommodation, I asked for deal. After few rounds of negotiation we settled down to an AC double room for 1800/- per day without breakfast. That sounded a fair deal for me. [PS: Don’t expect the same rates if you are going to book. Tariff varies purely based on demand. You can get the same room even cheaper during off-seasons]

Soon I enquired with them for Cab availability with the draft itinerary I already had from other travels. It goes like the below.

Day 1 - Land in Pune (10am) - Reach Shirdi and do evening darshan. Stay overnight in Shirdi

Day 2 - Travel from Shirdi to Nasik. Visit Triambakeshwar temple, Panchavati, Triveni Sangam, Kapaleshwar temple. Return to Shirdi.

Day 3 - Checkout by noon. Reach Shani Shingnapur, Renuka Devi, Mana Ganapthi temple and drop at Pune Airport by 8pm. Flight by 10.30pm

They asked 10.5k for my above package and came down to 9.5k finally [including toll/parking]. Meanwhile I got quote from another Cab operator in Shiridi, and the quote was almost same. Hence I decided to go with the Hotel cab itself.

Temple view from the Hotel

With all set, we left from Chennai to Pune. Driver was there on time [well, 15 mins late], but he came. A Red-Hyundai-Accent. After interacting with him in my broken hindi, he informed the car was the Hotel Owners personal car and he was his driver for around 15yrs. I think the hotel didn’t have registered travels as of now, but since I asked for Cab, and it’s a new hotel, the owner gave his own car and driver. The driver [Mr.Shaukath] was such a nice guy, he spoke less and interacted whenever required. He even brought his own lunch box and didn’t bother us for lunch, though I asked him every time for join us for lunch. Soon as we boarded, he switched on the radio in his car. It was all hindi songs and I said him to reduce/switch off the radio. Next three days, he never switched on the Radio.  A peaceful ride and lot of time to chat with my better-half. A small break in on the way to Shirdi in a local dhaba, we munched on some Vada-Pav and Misal-Pav and reached Shirdi in around 4hrs time. Deep inside I was really scared to see how to rooms would be like. Generally, rooms will look fantastic in Hotel's website, but in reality few will disappoint. But this hotel room, I need to say, it was exactly as in the gallery, tidy, had a restaurant, nice service and just exceeded my expectations. That gave a big relief and a great head-start for next two days travel. As I said earlier, the hotel is just opposite the Sai Mandir, and once you come out of the hotel, you can see the Golden vimana of the Sai Mandir.

I planned no-sight-seeing for the day. Only the Sai darshan was booked for 9pm that day. So, we had lot of time to relax and roam around. We went for a lunch in their restaurant. No so economic, but the quality was very nice. Tried all good North Indian Roti/Dal Fry/Jeera rice stuff and came back to room for a power nap. Thought we'll have a nap, but the local TV showing Kungfu Panda movie. Couldn’t resist switching off the movie. Watched it in full. By around 7pm, had a good hot shower, followed by a chai and started out to explore the temple. Internet ticket showed entry at Shani gate. So have to figure out where the gate is. Security personnel near the gates were too assistive and asked us to go for darshan even now if we want. Actually slot was for 8.45pm, and they let us in by 7.30 itself.

Internet ticket (200/- her head) bypassed the free-darshan queue to some extent and merged near the main temple entrance. Within 30 mins, we had a wonderful darshan (except the police guy near the Sai baba silently demanding money from everyone) and came out. The main agenda completed cool. No rush and sweat. It was a clean and satisfactory darshan. Then slowly, we roamed around the temple got pradasam (sweet boondhi), purchased laddu (20/- per packet), holy-ash (Udi), Milk Pedha and exited the temple. After a light dinner we set off for the journey ahead.

Triambakeshwar Temple

Driver informed us to be ready by 8am, so we can cover Triambakeshwar and other places in Nasik the next day. By 8am, we were ready and so was Shaukath. After munching on some Idlies with Sweet Sambar :), we set ahead to Nasik. It was around 3hours ride from Shirdi to Nasik. Credit’s to some 40kms of worst roads ahead. Finally we reached Nasik. First he took us to Muktidham temple. It was like that Jainese/Birla Mandir type all-marble temple hosting various hindu gods. After a darshan there, we set ahead to Triambakeshwar temple. By around 11.30, we reached the temple. Not to take much chances waiting in the queue, we went ahead with special queue (200/- head), that lead us to the main entrance directly. The nadai (sanctum door) was closed for pooja by that time, we had to wait some 30 mins. Waiting in the vicinity of Jyothirlinga for 30 mins was very good. After 30 mins the doors opened for darshan. It was like a 3-lingam in it’s aavudai, representing brahma-vishu and shiva. The lingam was not protruding out of it’s base, but inside, and they kept some face kind of top covering the base. The temple had a lush green mountain backdrop and it should be heaven to visit the place during rains. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFXtzD-4lYY]

Triveni Sangam - Nasik

Our main agenda during this trip was to visit Shirdi and Triambakeshwar and it’s done. Whatever we cover further is extras. After having nice cucumbers, lassi and Kachori’s near the temple, we posed for some 2-minute print photographs (40/- Rs) as memoirs. Our next stop was at Panchavati. After some 2 hours of journey, we reached Nasik Triveni Sangam, where two Mythical rivers Aruna & Varuna meet Godavari. I thought of having a dip, but then dropped the idea. We stepped inside to wash our feet, spent some time and came back. Near the Sangam was Kapaleshwar temple. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scJYUf_lOTk]. After a good Shiva darshan there, we felt a bit tired, and asked the driver to get back to Shirdi. After few hours, we were back to Shirdi. After relaxing for few hours, we set out for local shopping. My wife wanted to buy a small Saibaba idol. Rather purchasing road-side, we went to a big shop that had more varieties of statues. The shopkeeper kept us two Saibaba idols of the same size, weight and color - one priced around 150/- and other at 400/-. I couldn’t see or feel any difference between the two, but the shopkeeper said one was marble cut and the other is some chemical-powder-cut. The 400/- had "Krish" or some brand name embedded in the side of idol and that means authentic company product. I assume the road-side vendors might sell the other one claiming it as marble. After purchasing some accessories for the idol, we closed the shopping part.

Kapaleshwar Temple

During out way back from Nasik to Shirdi, our driver Mr.Shaukath was sketching the plans for our next day’s return journey to Pune Airport. He said us to relax in the morning and start by 1pm, visit Shani Shingnapur on the way and reach airport by 7 to 8pm. He also added that if we can start early, we can plan a visit to Aurangabad and Ellora caves. That was a nice proposal. I skipped Ellora from my original travel list because it was not on the way Pune. We need to travel 150kms away. But Shaukath said if we can check out early, say, by 8am, we can cover Ellora and reach Shani Shingnapur as planned.  Soon I checked out Internet for Ellora and amazed to find that the world's biggest monolithic, out of humanly, kailash temple was there. I thought it Ellora was should be some Jainese caves. This change of plan costed 2.5k extra on my regular package, but I was happy to pay for that. By evening, I met the hotel owner and he didn’t object much when I asked to accommodate this Ellora visit for 2k rather 2.5. He even charted down detailed plans on when should I start and what time we will reach the temple. He said me to visit Ghrishneshwar temple near Ellora. Since I didn’t know much about the temple, and I already cut down 500/- from the package cost, I said I would skip the temple. But he said it’s just on the way, and it’s a must-visit Jyothirlinga temple. So good guy he is, he charted down the following plan for me and also instructed his driver accordingly. On the way, in Aurangabad there was a mini Taj-Mahal built by Aurangazeeb, but we skipped it due to lack of time and we already had seen the original Taj Mahal.

Check-out - 8am

Ghrishneshwar Temple - 11am

Ellora Caves - 12 to 1pm [2 hrs]

Lunch, Shani Shingapur - 4pm

Pune Airport - 8pm [Flight - 10.20pm]

The next day, I checked out the hotel by 8 and started to Aurangabad. By 11am sharp, we reached Ghrishneshwar Temple. The temple was much like Triambakeshwar temple, except that it’s white and the deity was a black small lingam. Men have to remove their Shirt to enter the sanctum. There was no rush and we both could touch the lingam and get his blessing. There are priests who can help you perform abhishegam to Shiva yourselves as couple. I wish to do it, but we were running short of time, and we very nicely touched the lingam. So we thought of skipping the pooja. Considering the fact that we need to shell lot of bucks, to even get a glimpse of Kasi Vishwanath, this was a very very satisfactory darshan.

Ellora - Kailash Temple

Some more travel, we reached Ellora caves. It was a WoW sight for me, and I really couldn’t control myself after seeing the Kailash temple. I've read that constructing such a monolithic temple by carving out excess stones is humanly impossible, and I agree to it. Just Jaw Dropping architecture. I can proudly stand on the top of earth, point to this architecture and say to the rest of world "see what my ancestors have created.. I’m from their lineage". One should have this as must-visit place in India. After visiting the main temple and other Jainese and Buddhist caves, we headed to Shani Temple.

Shani Bhagwan - Shingnapur 

In Shani temple, the main offering to Shani Bhagwan is jaggery oil, and it’s sold in all shops nearby. I read in internet that shopkeepers outside will sell it for high rate and it’s better to buy it INSIDE temple premises. Soon as we parked our car in the lot, shopkeepers persuaded us to by oil from their shop and they said they are selling it for the rate specified by temple only. They even had rate boards with temple logo. Trusting that I bought 250ml oil for 150/- Rs. After entering the temple, I saw lot of oil counters and the rate was 70/- for the same 250ml. If you plan to visit Shani temple and offer him jaggery oil, counters are available inside the temple only. Don’t purchase anywhere outside. The temple was very free and had a good darshan of Shani Bhagwan as Digambara.

After Shani temple, we proceeded back to Airport with a pit-stop in a mall nearby airport for dinner. We were well ahead of time reaching the airport (7.45pm) and leisurely spent remaining time till departure. It was overall a very good trip with good darshan everywhere. Now some learning out of the trip

1. If I had gone with travels, my budget for two would have been ~30K. This trip costed 6-7k more, but gave the comfort of flexible planning.

2. If you are travelling from Bombay, first visit Nasik, then to Shirdi and then proceed to Aurangabad.

3. If you are planning to visit Ellora during return, it’s best to book return flight from Aurangabad to Chennai rather Pune. This will save lot of cost and journey time. Also you can spend more time exploring Ellora.

4. Negotiate good with road-side vendors. Near the temple, my wife wanted to buy a colorful chain. The shopkeeper said it’s 150/- per piece. Without much thinking, we asked it for 40/- per piece. He said a firm NO and we started walking away. Farther we went from his shop, he started reducing the price.. 120.. 100.. 70… 80.. and finally he said 55/-. If I had walked one more step, I could have got it for 40/- only. But okay, the craft is worth 50/-.  Similarly, photographers start with 150/- for an A4 size photograph. I negotiated one for 50/-. Snap in a point-n-click camera and print in a photo printer won’t cost him more than 15/-. But okay, let him have a chai..!! Big Blog. Now, let me have a Chai..!!

Moto X (2014) - Review

Replaced my rugged, really rugged, 3yrs old HTC Incredible-S and got a Moto-X (2014) on flipkart billion-dollar day. Thought of posting a quick review of the device. 

Pros

1. Performance - Excellent - Swift and highly responsive with 2.5GHz Quad processor and 2G RAM.

2. Display - Amazing quality while playing 1080p videos. 

3. Stock Android - No big OS customizations made by Motorola. Pure stock Android with few additional Motorola Apps. Seamless upgrade to Android-L in near future.

4. Speakers - Dual speakers on the front panel. Directly can compete with a Korean set on decibel aspects. But they aren't Stereo capable.

5. Camera - Good quality 13Mp cam. Very highly responsive. It snaps even before touching the screen. :)

Cons

1. Notification - No LED on the front panel. When the mobile detects hand-movement over the display, it displays notification messages on the screen. (Active display notification'aam). No blinking LEDs for missed call/charging etc.

2. Earphone quality - Poorest. My 150Rs road-side earphone was far better than Motorola supplied accessory

3. Audio driver - Poor. No proper surround/bass-boost tuning done. Music plays - that's it. (not even 10% quality compared to HTC's Surroud-System audio output. I miss my HTC badly now :( ). 

4. Finish - Very sleek on sides and smooth finish. Slips from hand easily. 

Moto X (2014)

5. External App dependency - With my HTC Sense UI, I always was able to sync Google, Corporate and Facebook contacts together in a jiffy. Moto has not done any tweaking in OS. He left the user to rely on third party APPs for such customizations.

6. No external SD support - Though I'm aware of this before purchasing, this is a big setback. I already filled 7Gb songs of the available 16Gb memory. 32Gb version wasn't available on flipkart.

7. Protruding Speaker grill - With iphone/HTC/other phones, the metal grill covering the speaker will be the same level of front gorilla glass. In Moto-X, by design, the speaker grill is slightly protruding outside, and can get stuck/scratched when taking the device from pocket.

Yet to see the battery performance and OS stability. So far, a charge holds good a day. Need to see over time and usage

Overall - If you get a billion dollar sale again in flipkart, the device is really really worth a buy (I got it for 22k) for it is equipped with the latest hardware spec. But, if you are planning to buy without offers (32k), Moto-X is not the one to look for. 

Highway - Movie Review

After a long time, I felt it worth writing a blog for a movie (Highway), and that too Hindi Movie. With my little "Idhar Aaao" Hindi knowledge, I rarely go about watching Hindi movies, but this one, pushed me to go. Sometime back one of my colleague sent me the trailer link of this movie. The trailer clearly outlined the plot of the story - no surprises. A rich girl, whose marriage is about to happen shortly, goes out a night with her fiance on a small road trip. Sudden sequence of events, she gets herself caught as hostage in a robbery. After knowing the girls political identity, the kidnapper takes her along on a road trip far north. The girl, who so far felt herself trapped in a marble bungalow, feels the journey close to her heart, like she got her liberty, the way she wanted. She enjoys every moment of the journey, falls in love with it and the driver. What happens next is the climax.

Only few movies present a good trailer. The other, only the trailer will be good. After watching this Highway trailer, the movie entered in my hit list. Today, I got the chance to watch it on big screen.  (AGS, Villivakkam). Here is my review.. 

Though the trailer was impressive and triggering, one main fact that pushed me to watch the movie was Alia Bhat. With her younger, tender and better look she stole the show in trailer itself. In big screen.. --STOP HERE -- 

Once a man who met Buddha on his way suddenly spit on his face. Ananda, the prime disciple of Buddha got angry on the man's act and asked permission from Buddha to slap him back. Buddha calmly said "The man wants to say something, but he didn't get the right words, so he spit on me". Saying that Buddha moved on. The next day, the same man, came running to Buddha, fell at his feet and started crying. Buddha again said "Even today the man wanted to say something.. but he didn't get the right word yet". Generally, words are so weak to express emotions. I'm in that man's condition now. I don't find the right words to express this story and put together a blog for it. Whatever I write, will be a miniscule of what I felt in the theater. Such a mind blowing theme and making.

In Tamil action movies, there will be a standard dialogue spelled by doctors when the villain or his adi-podi gets admitted to hospital after getting beaten from hero "naadi narembellam ratha veri yeri irukkaravanalla dhaan indha maadhiri adikka mudiyum".. Sameway, I feel a story of this cadre can be directed only by a guy who has emotions flowing in each of his vein. Otherwise, the story will go blunt.

If you have already watched the old tamil movie "May maadham", this movie is very similar. Nothing different. Just that in May maadham, the bride ends up with a photographer and here Alia bhat with a lorry driver. But the treatment is excellent in this Highway. This movie will certainly not impress masala fans. This is for those who love slow moving, dramatic, romantic, playing with emotions kind of movies. 

On the positive side, the movie was spellbound in total. The first half was good, and the second half, excellent. Alia Bhat - without any single glamour or vulgar scene, steals the show by her classic acting. She expresses every emotion easily. I dont know what to say further. Just watch it for her. Hero - A drop of water in a big rock can break it sometimes. Such is the character of the hero. He carries a drop of water in his heart, and when it breaks him down, it's amazing. 

Though I liked the movie in full, the scenes that I enjoyed most

1. Alia Bhat runs to Chandigarh bus stand to be with the hero again. Hell a lot of emotional scene, but the hero hushes her to stop speaking and stand a bit away. Watch her and his reactions.. Classy..

2. Both dont know what to do next - they simply travel.. On the top of the bus - Nice scene to watch, especially that snowy visuals

3. When Alia Bhat starts cooking in the house before climax - Hero's emotions remembering his mother. Bit overacting. but okay.

4. Alia Bhat sitting on a rock in the fierce river - Her expressions - Pure Ecstasy..

Me, being a travel lover, that too adhoc travel lover, felt this movie very closely relating to my nature. Many times I realized, life is not within the 3x3 cubicle working 9 hours a day and getting an amount credited by the end of month. Life is very very very big, beautiful and magnificent outside. Those who have tasted a bit of it will know what I meant. When you are you, doing what you want, nothing else matters. That moment, you will love to live or die. Both are same. It's pure bliss. This story, captures a glimpse of it through Alia Bhat.

Oh, forget to mention one other name. ARR. Genius. Music director wins when his music doesn't stand out separately. Music should be buried within the soul of the script, like the lup-tup of the heart.  ARR did that this time. No separate songs, except one that Alia Bhat hums and sings. Remaining goes within the scenes. Meaningful silences, Ghazals, BGM.. ARR carries the audience into the story.. HatZ off.. 

Flipsides? Yes, there are, but can be neglected. Just to state a couple of things here.

1. Alia Bhat escapes into that desert by night. This scene is one turning point of the movie, but shot worst. I guess its mostly Green screen. It didn't pass the right emotion to the viewer. Similar scene will be there in the movie "Croods" where the "guy" takes others to the top of tree and puts off the fire. Suddenly the sky will be exposed. That scene would be breath-taking to watch in Croods. Here it did not feel that great.

2. Climax - The climax was very apt for the movie, but somehow I couldn't feel it. It's my personal opinion. Guess it could be because of one lengthy justification scene before the climax. Alia Bhat's acting was excellent in that scene, but a bit lengthy, and without sub-titles I couldn't get it in full. I think she was firing her uncle, for sexually abusing her at younger age giving foreign chocolates. Second half of the movie was travelling with a good depth, and this pre-climax dialogue scene was not going well with the climax. It made the climax feel a little blunt, though it's apt. It would have been good if the movie ended 20 minutes before the climax, and left to the audience to decide the ending. Bala movie climaxes generally carry the weight of the story till the end. (Pithamagan - We don't know what will happen to Sangeetha, Nanda - Don't know what will happen to Surya, Paradesi - Don't know what will happen to his family).

Overall - SPELL BOUND. Thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Go for it, if you want to see how to emotionally treat a simple story line, and more for Alia Bhat's wonderful acting.