Dinesh Kamath's cartoon created directly on computer

Dinesh Kamath's review of movie 'From Paris With Love' published in Newsband

From Paris with Love is an action film starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers and directed by Pierre Morel. The screenplay was co-written by Luc Besson.
The plot of the film is interesting. James Reese (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a personal aide to the U.S. Ambassador in France. He leads an enviable life in Paris. He has a beautiful French girlfriend. But his real passion is his side-job as a low-level operative for the CIA. He is assigned partner to special agent Charlie Wax (John Travolta). First, Reese has to have Wax released from airport detention by the French Customs. Wax does not want to surrender the cans of his favourite energy drink to the Customs. Wax even verbally abuses French Customs. But Reeve places a Diplomatic Mail sticker on Wax's luggage containing the energy drink and this makes Wax immune from Customs and Quarantine requirements. The tins actually contain pieces of Wax's personal stainless steel pistol. He has been sent to Paris to investigate a drug ring, as the result of an overdose of a niece of the Secretary of Defense. During the investigation, Wax reveals that there was no overdose and that his goal is to trace the money back to a circle of Pakistani terrorists. Evidence leads them to the terrorists. There is an armed confrontation in which most of the terrorists are killed. Wax and Reese learn that the terrorists plan to infiltrate the US Embassy with explosives hidden beneath their burqas. Reese learns that the terrorists are targeting a summit. He also discovers that his fiancée, Caroline (Kasia Smutniak) is a sleeper, assigned to live with him. When Caroline is confronted, she shoots Reese, hitting his shoulder, and escapes through a window. The last remaining terrorist tries to attack a US motorcade and Wax destroys the vehicle with an AT4 rocket launcher. Reese finds Caroline at the summit. She attempts to detonate her vest, forcing Reese to shoot her in the forehead, killing her. As Wax leaves Paris, Reese escorts him to his plane. Wax offers a full-time partnership. The two then play a game of chess.
The best thing about the film is John Travolta's endearingly over-the-top performance. Everything's fast and furious, the good guys rarely miss, and the bad guys rarely hit. The romance between Rhys-Meyers and Kasia Smutniak is effective. After only a couple of scenes you get convinced that these two are lovers. The film has John Travolta doing a slightly different version of his character from the film The Taking of Pelham 123. The character Wax is shown as a wild man. He doesn't follow protocol and gets thing done in his own way. Reece, on the other hand, is uncomfortable. He's not a man of action. He is a thinker. He likes chess.
Thus From Paris With Love is an action movie, in which a realistic secret agent, whose job consists mostly of planting bugs and maintaining his cover as a personal assistant at the US embassy in Paris, teams up with a secret agent whose job consists mostly of killing dozens of people a day and getting laid.
The movie depicts Reece as orthodox while Wax is shown as a liberal man. Wax appears like a rogue agent and it appears as if there is a method to his madness. Reece is made to follow Wax's crazy orders and sacrifice his principles and also the love of his life. He doesn't jeopardize his career by trusting his conservative instincts. Both Wax and Reece form a perfect pair of crime fighters. The film shifts admirably from Reece's calculated world of leisurely-paced moderation in the first act to Wax's shoot-'em-up lifestyle in the second. Their contrasting methodologies are perfectly illustrated. In the beginning there is conflict between the two heroes. But gradually there is no conflict since Wax is right and Reece is mostly wrong.
Thus From Paris with Love is a film which has a plot-line involving drug dealers and terrorists who are tackled by two terrific heroes, one of whom is orthodox while the other is liberal. The movie is interesting and hence deserves to be watched. So don't give the film a miss. Do watch it!

Dinesh Kamath's review of film 'Letters To Juliet' published in Newsband

Letters to Juliet is an American romantic comedy film starring Amanda Seyfried, Chris Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gad Garcia Bernal and Franco Nero. The film is directed by Gary Winick.
Who doesn't know Shakespeare's Juliet? She's a girl who killed herself at the age of 13 over a boy she had known for a matter of weeks. Her story cautions the lovers of today and teaches them as to what can happen if the love goes wrong. Writing letters to Juliet is a good idea. The film depicts characters who write letters to Juliet who doesn't fail to given them romantic advice in return. Young Sophie played by Amanda Seyfried and elderly Claire played by Vanessa Redgrave are two characters in the film who share interest in writing letters to Juliet. They are two major characters in the film.
The film depicts New York where Sophie is a fact checker for the magazine called The New Yorker and is engaged to hot chef Victor played by mega-hot Gael Garcia Bernad. He is a wrong guy for Sophie. The two travel to Verona as a pre-honeymoon. At Verona, Victor starts searching for new Italian food supplier. Sophie moves around 'Juliet's balcony' and watches lovelorn women writing letters to Juliet. Here she happens to get her hand at a 50-year-old letter written by Claire in which she talked about how heartbroken she was for jilting the Italian man who was her one true love.
Sophie then contacts Claire. The two then drive around the Italian countryside. They have Claire's grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) too accompanying them. Charlie doesn't like Claire's idea of searching for a man whom she hasn't seen for last 50 years. The name of the man is Lorenzo (Franco Nero). Charlie wonders whether Lorenzo even remembers Claire. But the two females treat him with total scorn and continue with their search. But Sophie and Charlie fall for each other while Claire finds her Lorenzo.
Now I'll write a few words about the characters of the film. Amanda Seyfried as Sophie Hall is great. It is she who finds 'Juliet's House' with weeping women writing letters and leaving them there. She follows a young woman who takes the letters, and while helping her the next day, she finds a 50-year-old letter and decides to write back, leading her to meet Claire, the woman who had written the letter. She then embarks on a journey with Claire and her grandson Charlie to find Claire's long lost love. Claire not only finds her love, but Sophie too becomes Charlie's love interest. Chris Egan as Charlie Wyman, Claire's unpleasant grandson, has also done a good job. He appears grumpy. He claims to have a good heart, like his father. Charlie soon develops a relationship with Sophie, and he becomes her love interest. Vanessa Redgrave as Claire Smith-Wyman, the girl who wrote the letter to Juliet 50 years before, is another lead character. Sophie meets her. Claire is a kind woman and develops a close friendship with Sophie as they search for her Lorenzo, her long lost love whom she fell in love with when they were fifteen. Her parents did not approve of him, and they separated. Franco Nero plays Lorenzo Bartolini, Claire's love interest and long lost love. He met her when they were fifteen years old, in Verona. Claire's parents did not approve of him, and soon they were separated. His son and grandson are both named Lorenzo Bartolini, and they work at a grape vineyard. Nero, for your information, is Redgrave's real life husband and the love story between their characters is nearly autobiographical. Gael Garcia Bernad plays Victor, Sophie's chef fiancé. He is constantly busy and barely has time for Sophie. Most of the time during their visit to Verona, he is away in some other town while Sophie helps Claire and Charlie. He is even interested in Juliet's secretaries' kitchen recipes. The film also has Lidia Biondi as Donatella, one of Juliet's secretaries, Daniel Baldock as Lorenzo Jr., the older one of Lorenzo's sons, Milena Vukotic as Maria, one of Juliet's secretaries, Luisa Ranieri as Secretary, one of the four original Juliet's secretaries, Marina Massironi as Francesca, another one of Juliet's secretaries, Ashley Lilley as Patricia, Charlie's cousin who has the same name as his ex-girlfriend and Oliver Platt as New York magazine editor.
The film Letters to Juliet features plenty of beautiful Italian scenery and food. It is a romantic comedy set in a beautiful location. In the movie, Sophie and Claire are shown as gazing up at the stars or moaning about what misery life without love could be. If you are this kind of person, then you should certainly watch the movie which will release on 22 October 2010. It is just meant for you!

Dinesh Kamath's ambition to become a successful Editor of newspaper got fulfilled

Dinesh Kamath (above) as Acting Editor of Newsband

In newspaper Newsband, I am a Senior Sub Editor and next-in-rank to Editor K R Bhat. Hence whenever K R Bhat is absent I play the role of Acting Editor or Editor. My ambition to become Editor of a newspaper got fulfilled when I got the opportunities to play the role of Acting Editor of newspaper Newsband not once or twice but more than 60 times. I not only played the role of Acting Editor but I also proved to be a big success as an Acting Editor. Now an Acting Editor is as good as Editor and I'm happy that I got the chance to display my prowess as a Newspaper Editor time and again. I played the role of Acting Editor of Newsband whenever the Editor of the Newsband, K R Bhat, went on leave. Bhat had taken two weeks leave twice and he had gone on one week leave more than four times. You can say that Bhat was absent more than sixty times and every time when Bhat was absent it was I who played the role of Acting Editor and many Readers of Newband appreciated the way I performed my duties as an Acting Editor. In fact, the copies of newspaper Newsband got sold in bigger number than usual whenever I was the Acting Editor. There were times when I brought out the newpaper on time in spite of the fact that I had very less staff working under me. I brought out the newspaper on time in spite of tremendous pressure on me. In spite of the pressure, I would bring out standard and high-quality newspaper. I displayed my abilities to control my staff in most competent manner during the absence of Editor and during my reign as Acting Editor (which is as good as Editor). As an Acting Editor I wrote editorials which were greatly appreciated by the Readers. In fact, I have written so far more than 300 Editorials during my career as journalist and every time I wrote an Editorial the Readers were impressed and they praised me. I also proved my prowess as a writer of political, crime and general news items. There were many readers who appreciated in a big way my ability to write excellent news items. Another thing is since I have in the past played the role of successful Reporter I knew exactly how to handle the reporters working under me whenever I played the role of Acting Editor or Editor. So now that my ambition to not only play the role of Editor of a newspaper but also become a successful Editor got fulfilled, my only ambition left is to become not only a Publisher but also a successful Publisher. The day this ambition of mine gets fulfilled, I will be the most satisfied man. I thank those many Readers of mine who came forward and congratulated me whenever I as an Acting Editor brought out the newspapers. They told me that the newspapers I brought out were very readable, of the best standard and worth more than the money they paid for them. This reaction of the Readers has more than satisfied me. Now what is left to be seen is whether I manage to make my dream of becoming Publisher get materialized. Bye!

Dinesh Kamath taken unaware

Ashok Dhamija, the photo journalist of Newsband, clicked the photograph of Dinesh Kamath while in pensive mood. The photo was clicked just after staff meeting at Newsband newspaper office ended.

Dinesh Kamath's cartoon created on computer

Dinesh Kamath's cartoon on 'Puno and Fena' created directly on computer

Dinesh Kamath's cartoon on 'Puno and Fena' which he created directly on the computer

Dinesh Kamath's article on Raveena Tandon that was published in 'Newsband'

Raveena Tandon is slowly and surely making a comeback on the small screen. She has already generated quite a stir by stepping into a few talent shows. She wants to write a book on children who participated in the reality show. She was so much impressed by the performances of the little contestants that she couldn't stop herself from keeping coming for the show. If Chhote Ustad is a case in point, then the cookery show, Kitchen King, is another show where Raveena has shown her talent. Raveena will be seen in quite a few similar shows apart from being a regular in Mumbai's social functions. This National Award winning actress is slowly getting on her feet when it comes to her acting career. She is getting back to her acting career but it need not necessarily be Bollywood. She is looking for more meaningful projects right now. She might be biased towards arty films right now. Raveena is keen on being part of few TV projects because she is making a comeback on the small screen. She has also recently done a Bengali film called Laboratory which is based on a work of Rabindranath Tagore. She is not keen on doing movies with jhatka-matka anymore. Every actor goes through a phase and so did she. At that time, there were these dances that she used to be known for. But she has grown out of it. She likes doing unconventional, serious and message-based cinema now. Raveena, the 'mast, mast' lady returned to the small screen with “Amul Chhote Ustaad - Do Deshon Ki Ek Awaaz.” The show, produced by Saibaba Telefilms was a singing competition that brought together young singers from India and Pakistan. Raveena will also be seen on silver screen with her film Agni.
Raveena is an avid supporter of a variety of social causes and has been an active participant in many social awareness and campaigns. She has also shaken a leg to her famous 'Mast Mast' song on the special Qawwali episode on the show.
Celebrities' writing a book is the latest fad. Raveena, who has lived a colourful life is not chronicling her very interesting life and times, but is all set to write a book about her experience on reality shows. She is very serious about her stint as an author and will look to pursue her passion for writing in the near future too. Many publishers have approached Raveena. But Raveena is not in a hurry to tell all just yet.
Raveena and singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya were guests of honour at 'Natraj Gopi Krishna Nrityotsav 2010'. It was a unique event that was staged by many celebrated artists from all over India. The event was an amalgamation of Rasa, Bhava and Taal which was well gifted with rhythmic footwork, gestures and postures.
Just recently, Nawaz Modi Singhania, wife of Mumbai-based industrialist Gautam Singhania unveiled her first solo exhibition in the capital. Titled 'Movement, Dance and Speed', the artworks in the exhibition were created by Shilpi Chawla. Raveena was invited for this show. This was her first show in Delhi. She didn't know much about the city. Hence it took her some time to know more about Delhi.
Raveena has been getting a lot of offers from Bollywood, but she is occupied with both her kids and therefore, it becomes very difficult for her to take time out. She doesn't want to ignore them. However, she has signed three movies and some projects for the small screen. Shooting has already begun, but it's not that easy for her to go for shoots. Her children keep calling her on the sets and she tries to rush back home.
Raveena has also been attending a lot of social functions. She felt nice about the fact that she could catch up with her friends who had lost contact with her over these years.
Thus this powerful actress has created a niche for herself in the mainstream cinema but at the same time has been extremely applauded for her performances in flicks like Satta and Daman.
Raveena's fans are very eager to see her back on the Big Screen ant that too in a big way. At least I feel that she won't disappoint her fans. Good Luck, Raveena!

Diensh Kamath's Review of the film 'The American' which was published in 'Newsband'

The American is a 2010 American thriller film directed by Anton Corbijn and starring George Clooney, Thekla Reuten, Violante Placido, Irina Bjorklund and Palol Bonacelli. It's an adaptation of the 1990 novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth. The film has George Clooney as Jack, Violante Placido as Clara, Thekla Reuten as Mathilde, Paolo Bonacelli as Father Benedetto, Irina Bjorkhund as Ingrid and Johan Leysen as Pavel.
The plot of the film is interesting. Jack is a hitman who is living a cool life in Sweden which suddenly is quickly shattered when men come to kill him. Jack makes it out alive and hides out in a small, beautiful Italian village awaiting instructions from his contact on how to proceed. He's given a job that requires him to build a special kind of rifle for an assassination. However, his life remains in danger and Jack's paranoia becomes more intense throughout the film. In the village, he becomes friendly with local priest Father Benedetto and develops a romantic relationship with a prostitute named Clara.
Clooney who plays Jack has an innate charm and only he could have played a character as cold and aloof as Jack. He rarely smiles. He barely even talks. He uses his tremendous talent to convey the complex emotions of his character. Placido makes things more vivacious the moment she appears on the screen. Her chemistry with Clooney is excellent.
In this movie, every aspect down to the bullets fired is restrained and measured. The director Corbijn has indeed succeeded in holding the audience's attention. He has succeeded in making an interesting action-thriller. He has depicted excellently the tense moments, brief chases and gunfights. He shows the psyche of the hitman who wonders whether he should live or die when he feels that death is about to close in on him. The film belongs to both Corbijn and Clooney. The film meanders at its own pace and walks perfectly in line with its protagonist's emotional state.
George Clooney has assumed two names in the movie. One is Jack while the other is Edward. While in Sweden, Jack gets too cozy with a woman and when his cover is blown he has no choice but to flee. His boss Pavel insists that Jack lay low in a small mountain town. That's where he adopts the name Edward. Thus he is Edward for the priest, Father Benedetto and a local prostitute, Clara.
The film has some tense and shocking moments like when Jack is out with his lady but winds up in a gun battle with those assassins or when he is trying to elude a team of Swedish assassins who are aiming for his life.
The director has made an attempt to show Jack's softer side when his relationship with Clara goes from pure business to genuine emotion. The scene where the priest tries to make Jack accept what he's done and forgive himself is nice to see. Then there is another interesting scene depicting Jack going to a mechanic for gun parts. Jack's stealthy client, Mathilde, also sparks some interest. Another plus point of Corbijn is he knows how to capture the best of the best in terms of the European landscapes and the actions. Jack is shown as always busy. One minute he is in his room working on the gun, the next he's in the midst of a sexual romp with Clara and then he's looking over his shoulder at a possible Swedish assassin.
Clooney, Reuten and Placido are nice to look at as are the sprawling countryside views and even the beautiful custom-made rifle. Director Coribjn and screenwriter Rowan Joffe have coordinated excellently to make the movie very interesting.
The film The American has received a mixed to generally positive response from critics. The film is beautifully shot and it is emotionally restrained. It is an unusual spy thriller with an excellent performance by Clooney. The film is gripping owing to smart directing and a strong central performance. It is a thoughtful, intelligent, austere and contemplative film. The film is a masterpiece which should be watched by the lovers of action cinema. The film will be shown in Navi Mumbai theaters from 1 October 2010.

Dinesh Kamath posing with award winners and staff

Dinesh Kamath is to the extreme right in this picture.
From Left to Right are Nandkumar Thakur (Sub-Editor, Aaple Nave Shahar), K R Bhat (Editor, Newsband), Saumitra Kulkarni (Best Student), Sheetal Bankar (Best Artist), Mani Mistry representing 'Children of World India Trust' (Best Social Institution), Subhashchandra Shetty (Father of Best Sportsperson Tanishka Shetty), G Mohiuddin Jeddy (Best Journalist) and Dinesh Kamath (Sub-Editor, Newsband) during the award ceremony on the occasion of the daily newspaper Newsband's 3rd Anniversary along with its sister publication 'Aaple Nave Shahar' which was celebrating its 16th Anniversary at Urban Haat at CBD, Navi Mumbai. The event was graced by State Excise Minister Ganesh Naik. The photo was clicked by Ashok Dhamija, Photo-Journalist of Newsband.

Dinesh Kamath admires Shobha De and James Caan

The first picture above is of beautiful Shobha De. The second picture is of handsome and dashing James Caan while he is portraying Sonny Corleone as acting Godfather in the movie 'Godfather'. In the inset of third picture is James Caan as he appears today.

The two persons I admire most are Shobha De and James Caan.

I admire Shobha De because she is a wonderful writer and also looks beautiful. She writes in a very sophisticated style and I just enjoy reading any of her works. She is the first Indian who succeeded in becoming a prolific English novelist. She is compared with the best American and British novelists. That is a thing of pride for all Indians. She began as a model after which she became an eminent journalist and next she became the author of many books. I've been following her career ever since I was in college. I am impressed by the progress she has made as a writer. She is in her sixties today but yet she has managed to retain her youth as well as beauty. She still writes as brilliantly as she used to do in the past. I am looking forward to reading more and more works of great Shobha De.

I am an admirer of Hollywood actor James Caan simply because of the way he played the role of Sonny Corleone in the movie Godfather. Only he could have played that particular role so convincingly and so brilliantly. He could display accurately Sonny Corleone's hot-tempered nature, flirting tendencies, violent behaviour, loving abilities, leadership qualities and, most important of all, his powerful military mind. He managed to portray Sonny Corleone just the way he was described in the novel Godfather written by Mario Puzo. He did play an anti-hero but I loved the way he lived and died for the kind of love he possessed for his family. I don't think any other actor can play a character who is equal to or better than Sonny Corleone. So brilliantly did James Caan portray Sonny Corleone in the movie Godfather. Hat's off to him!

Dinesh Kamath's Cartoons

Cartoonist Dinesh Kamath (above)

I had created the following cartoons in the year 1997. I had converted all these cartoons into a book form and copies of this book got sold out in quite big number.

Dinesh Kamath's Cartoons on 'Dan and Family'

Dinesh Kamath's Cartoons on 'Egg and Apple'