Top 10 Movies To Watch In May 2014

 

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Peter Parker is back to face new supervillains in this Spiderman sequel – releasing on May 1, courtesy a mystery company called Oscorp. Besides the usual cast of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, you will see Jamie Foxx as the evil Electro and Dane DeHaan as the Green Goblin.

2. Neighbors

To us at MensXP, any movie with Seth Rogen in it is a must-watch. And in this one – set for a May 9 release, he plays a new dad who lives with his family next to a frat house. He is pitted against frat boy Zac Efron when living next door to each other poses some unexpected difficulties.

3. Kochadaiiyaan

Rajanikanth’s much-awaited ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ finally hits the theatres on May 9. This animated period film, which also stars Deepika Padukone, will have Rajanikanth playing three lead roles. This movie is going to be simultaneously released worldwide in more than eight languages.

 

4. Hawaa Hawaai

From the man who gave us ‘Stanley Ka Dabba’ and ‘Taare Zameen Par’ (uncredited) comes this new movie called ‘Hawaa Hawaai’, releasing on May 9. A tribute to people who dare to dream, ‘Hawaa Hawaai’ has Saqib Saleem playing a skating coach who trains his protégé, played by Partho Gupte.

5. Vishwaroopam 2

Another Tamil movie that has been highly anticipated is ‘Vishwaroopam 2’ (May 9), or ‘Vishwaroop II’ in Hindi. Directed and written by Kamal Haasan, who also plays the lead role in the movie, this sequel follows from the original spy thriller film and also stars Rahul Bose, Shekhar Kapur and Waheeda Rahman.

6. Godzilla

Hollywood will never tire of some movie ideas – and Godzilla is one of them. This Gareth Edwards directorial venture is the fourth Godzilla movie, releasing on May 16 – and is highly anticipated because this is the first movie Bryan Cranston will be appearing in after he became popular as Walter White in the show ‘Breaking Bad’.

7. X-Men: Days of Future Past

 Probably the most awaited movie of this month, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ releases on May 23. Whenever an ‘X-Men’ movie releases, fans always discuss how epic it is going to be. However, this one will truly be the mother of epicness – with Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy AND Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, as well as all the other X-Men getting together to battle it out against extinction of the mutant race.

                                 

8. Heropanti

 Tiger Shroff has a lot of critics to prove wrong on May 23 – when ‘Heropanti’, his debut movie, releases. A romantic action movie about girl-meets-boy, fall in love, girl’s father opposes and hero has to battle a thousand other odds to get to his love, ‘Heropanti’ will also star newbie Kriti Sanon, Sandeepa Dhar, Vikram Singh and Shireesh Sharma.

 

9. The Xpose

If you missed the chance to watch ‘The Great Gatsby’, you can go watch this cheap Indian rip-off (stylistically). Himesh Reshammiya is back with this period thriller – and who should be making a debut in Bollywood with this one but Yo Yo Honey Singh? This is one of those movies that you may love or hate, but you definitely cannot ignore. ‘The Xpose’ hits theatres on May 23.

10. Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi 

The last week of May does not have any promising movies set for release – however ‘Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi’ may just be worth a watch. The movie is about a boy who has nothing going for him, but has big plans of becoming a restaurateur. Starring Siddharth Gupta and Simran Kaur Mundi, this comedy film releases on May 30 and is just the breezy stuff that can make for a good summer watch. 

 

 

 

Inside 'Mannat', Shah Rukh Khan's luxurious mansion

One of the most expensive residential properties in Mumbai, Shah Rukh Khan's Mannat is luxury re-defined.

 The actor bought the old heritage structure from a trust. The building is deemed important to the townscape and hence exempt from demolition.  

Mannat overlooks almost half of Mumbai and is situated on Mumbai's Bandra area with the perfect view of the Arabian sea. 

      

     A file picture shows SRK performing Diwali puja with his little children Aryan and Suhana and wife Gauri.

 Shah Rukh stays with his wife, three kids and his sister in Mannat. 

 A file picture shows the family performing Diwali aarti at the dining area of the house. 

 After buying the heritage building, the actor created a six- storey building which is an extension of the bungalow. 

 

Mannat's boasts of a huge library and study where many of the photo shoots of the actor takes place. 

 SRK's residence also has a gym, a swimming pool, a mini theater and huge basement car-parking area. 

While entertaining others in Mannat, the bar and the sports room on the third level of the house are utilized.

The ground level is the living room where M.F. Hussain%u2019s sketch is hung and is surrounded by collectibles from all over the world. The next level is the couple%u2019s private area to the house which consists of bedrooms and guest rooms. The third level is used for parties and entertainment of guests. 

                                                                                                                                             

It's Karl Marx's Birth Anniversary today. Here are five things you didn't know about him...

1. He once famously said, "All I know is I'm not a Marxist."

He is reported to have said this at a conference for Marxists which he had gone to attend. However, incensed by how they had twisted his works, he had said that if these are Marxists, then he's not one.

2. As a student, Marx was a social butterfly and his father had to bail him out when he was in university because he had racked up an enormous debt.

3. A self-proclaimed champion of the working class, he never once in his life did a labour job.
A holder of various degrees, no university allowed him to teach as he proclaimed himself to be an atheist. His writings in a radical newspaper got him expelled from Germany. He married Jenny, a baroness, who loved him and was devoted to him. They moved to Paris, from where he was expelled again due to his writing. On their return home to Germany, they were expelled again after he insulted the church and the government.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/karl-heinrich-marx-germany-revolutionary-socialist-economics-marxist/1/359075.html

The couple moved to London, where they stayed for 30 years. They had six children. Marx also had a child from a mistress. The Marx family lived in dire and abject poverty. He tried to find gainful regular employment only once - as a clerk in a railway office - but was turned down because of his illegible handwriting. Living in abject poverty and deep in debt, three of his children died of malnutrition or lack of proper care. Their condition was said to be so dismal that he couldn't afford to buy a coffin for one of his children. Soon, Jenny also died and Marx was left with only two children. Later, he looked back at his life with regret and said, "You know that I have sacrificed my whole fortune to the revolutionary struggle. I do not regret it. Quite the contrary if I had to start my life over again, I would do the same. But I would not marry."

4. He lived a painful life

Despite his good humour, Karl Marx did not keep very well. He had liver problems, rheumatism, sciatica and had frequent headaches, toothaches, insomnia, hemorrhoids. He also suffered from a disease that made him break out frequently in carbuncles, or boils. Sometimes these boils would cover his whole body or would be limited to his leg or genitals causing him great pain until they went away. During these episodes, he couldn't write anything and simply had to wait for them to heal before he could carry on with his projects. Perhaps it was this that led him to say, "The only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain."


5. Marx had suffered a nervous breakdown at the age of 19. Perhaps he never recovered his mental composure after that.
Perhaps that is what led author Saul K. Padover to say this about Marx in his book Karl Marx: An Intimate Biography:
"In private life he is a highly disorderly, cynical person, a poor host; he leads a gypsy existence. Washing, grooming, and changing underwear are rarities with him; he gets drunk readily. Often he loafs all day long, but if he has work to do, he works day and night tirelessly. He does not have a fixed time for sleeping and staying up; very often he stays up all night, and at noon he lies down on the sofa fully dressed and sleeps until evening, unconcerned about the comings and goings around him..."

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/karl-heinrich-marx-germany-revolutionary-socialist-economics-marxist/1/359075.html

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/karl-heinrich-marx-germany-revolutionary-socialist-economics-marxist/1/359075.html

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/karl-heinrich-marx-germany-revolutionary-socialist-economics-marxist/1/359075.html

President felicitates National Awards winners in cinema for 2013

A musical gust of the soil seemed to send President Pranab Mukherjee on a nostalgic trip on Saturday evening, when he graced the function to felicitate National Awards winners in cinema for the year 2013 at Vigyan Bhavan.
This year, Bangla films won two of the big awards in the music department. Iconic singer-composer Kabir Suman won Best Music Direction (Songs) awards for the film Jaatishwar. Rupankar won Best Male Playback for the same film.

Rajkummar Rao shared the Best Actor award with Malayalam actor Suraj Venjaramoodu.

As the music of Jaatishwar played, President Mukherjee was seen enthusiastically tapping to the rhythm, the faint hint of a smile giving away nostalgia. The 61st National Awards function was otherwise as prim as the sarkari event is every year. Forty awards were handed out in the feature film category while 41 were given to nonfeature films.
Three awards were given to Best Writing on Cinema.
The country's highest honour in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, was unanimously accorded to poet-writer-filmmaker Gulzar. The award comprises a Swarn Kamal, cash prize worth Rs10 lakh and a shawl. However, what Gulzar took home was honour in the real sense. As he took to stage to collect his award from the President, he got a standing ovation that lasted nearly five minutes.

The veteran was so overcome with emotions that he could not speak. Anand Gandhi's Ship Of Theseus won Swarn Kamal for Best Feature Film.
Bollywood's Rajkummar Rao shared the Best Actor award with Malayalam actor Suraj Venjaramoodu. Rao's performance in Shahid won him the honour while Suraj received recognition for Perariyath. Geetanjali Thapa was awarded Best Actress award for Liar's Dice while Hansal Mehta won the Best Director award for Shahid.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Best Popular Film), Saurabh Shukla (for Jolly LLB) and Ganesh Acharya (for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) were among other Bollywood winners.

In all this, there was a sad note, too. A lady named Abha Khetrapal posted this on Facebook, the context being Shweta Ghosh's docufilm Accsex, which won a Special Mention: "It is a path breaking movie in which the issue of sexuality of women with disabilities has been raised... I was one the women with disability in the movie... But Vigyan Bhawan people have a problem with my wheelchair. They want me to leave my wheelchair at the gate and walk till the seat. What else can be so ironic?
The woman who was a part of this documentary is not allowed inside only because of her wheelchair."

RARE PICTURES FROM INDIA'S FIRST ELECTION IN 1952

Indian elections are world's largest exercise in democracy. Its an example of exemplary management and the trust of people in the election mechanism. During the first election in 1952 the task of running elections was on Sukumar Sen the first Election Commissioner of India. At the time of first elections 70% of voters were illiterate thus election symbols were used extensively. Over 2,24,000 polling stations were setup, even in the remotest areas. 22 million ballot boxes and 620,000,000 ballot papers were used, a million officers supervised the election.

Specially designed ballot boxes were used.

The first election commissioner running a mock election...

Ramcharan As Yevadu Coming On 12th January 2014

Ram Charan Yevadu