#TheLifesWayReviews KOTA FACTORY @TheViralFever #KotaFactory #Drama

Hi Friends,

Yesterday I binged watched the Kota Factory as it's only 5 episodes which go for about 3 hours 15 minutes and totally fallen in love with the overall story and brought back so many memories from the times when I was preparing for my engineering entrance exams from New Delhi and not from Kota like the TVF's Kota Factory's protagonist Vaibhav Pandey played by Mayur More. Ranjan Raj plays Balmukund Meena who welcomes Vaibhav into his world of IIT preparations and becomes one of the best friends. His acting is superb and brings a lot of soul to the whole series. 

Kota is showcased to be run by two major coaching institutes where Maheshwari Classes is number 1 and if you don't get admission there then you join Prodigy Coaching classes. Vaibhav comes to Kota and joins the Prodigy after being rejected admission by Maheshwari Classes and starts in the lowest batch A10. He is introduced to Uday Gupta played by Alam Khan and Shivangi Ranawat played by Ahsaas Channa by Meena. Slowly as he starts his journey he is helped and motivated by Jeetu Bhaiya who is Physics Teacher at Prodigy Classes and the actor behind this role is Jitendra Kumar. In real life, Jitendra is an IIT Kharagpur graduate and moved into movies and web series. 

Kota Factory not only focusses on the various subjects and the nitty-gritty behind those subjects but also coming out from the home environment to stay in the hostels and PG's where the basic necessities is also a struggle despite the amount of money provided by the family. As the friendship develops, Vaibhav and others not only learns a lot about life but also about the IIT preparations. This web series doesn't only show the competitiveness between students but the mental state of aspirants who are spending 1-2 years of their life in Kota and how it impacts the rest of their life. The 21 Days plan is really awesome and you will definitely enjoy watching this web series. 

The dialogues spoken by Jeetu Bhaiya really hits you to think a lot about your own life whatever stage you are in. I really loved watching this web series and want to see it once again especially the parts of Jeetu Bhaiya. Even when Meena says ''Kabhi Kabhi Milne aur saath rehne mein farak hota hai, Dosti hai koi revision thodi na, joh Karna hi hai'' and this dialogue made me cry. It reminded me of several times when I had to leave a lot behind and just go where life took me. That's the biggest reality of life which we need to accept that change is what will keep you moving forward and accept it as soon as possible and make it a way of life. 

There is not only serious mode in this web series but also when they get to relax for 5 days during the Class 12 practicals time and it brings that they are still kids who are handling the pressure of the world. It is the time when Meena falls for Meenal Parekh played by Urvi Singh and Vaibhav for Vartika Ratawal played by Revathi Pillai whom we saw recently in Special Ops as Kay Kay Menon's daughter. These moments are really great as it will bring back all the memories of first love from your school and college days. 

Kota Factory is a comedy-drama created by Saurabh Khanna and Tamojit Das. The songs are created by Karthik Rao and Simran Hora. Cinematography is done by Jerin Paul and a lot of drone shots really bring a lot of great shots of Kota, Rajasthan. The overall production value is great and all actors just fit in their roles and the story is great with a lot of drama, comedy, and motivation. Also, the whole series is shot in Black and White till the end and really brings back nostalgic memories automatically.

I don't know whether there will be a Season 2 of the series but I am hoping that it will happen sometime after the lockdown as the end result of getting into the IIT is not shown but I am sure even these 5 episodes you will want to see again and again. Go for it if not seen to date. The same is also available on Youtube as well as TVFPlay. RATING 4.5/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts and subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel too where contests will be held in the month of July 2020. Namaste!

#TheLifesWayReviews AARYA @DisneyplusHSVIP #HotstarSpecials #Aarya #Thriller

Hi Friends,

Aarya is the latest web series launched on Disney + Hotstar online platform and marks the comeback of Sushmita Sen after a gap of 10 years. Aarya has a good storyline with a lot of twists and turns. Sushmita Sen hasn't aged and seems extremely fit to be in the role of mother of 3 children, two being teenagers. I watched the whole series on the day of the launch i.e. 19th June 2020 on Hotstar Digital Platform but didn't get the time to write the review to date.

Also, I found the 9 episodes to be running too slow and it would have made it more thrilling if the speed of the serial has been increased 10-15% as I got disinterested in the series in the first 2 episodes which I watched at the regular playback speed and when I increased the same to 115% then it was working more and kept me on the edge of the seat. 9 episodes in total will take around 7 hours 45 minutes to finish and you can easily binge-watch them on the tour of Rajasthan and the first few episodes are more like marriage ceremonies of the big fat wedding.

The web series stars Chandrachur Singh which also makes a comeback as Jay Sareen, husband of Aarya Sareen played by Sushmita Sen. Namit Das as Jawahar and Ankur Bhatia as Sangram who is the younger brother of Aarya. These 3 persons are handling the business once run by their dad Zorawar played by Jayant Kripalani. Sikandar Kher as Daulat is Zorawar's, right-hand man and later helps Aarya in all her tasks to run the business. Alexx ONell plays Bob with which younger sister of Aarya, Soundarya is getting married played by Priyasha Bhardwaj. Flora Saini also plays a small role of Radhika/Rads as a lover of Zorawar. Sohaila Kapur plays the ex-wife of Zorawar. Sugandha Garg also makes a comeback as Hina but got nothing much to do as the fiancee of Sangram. Maya Sarao plays Jawahar's wife role as Maya. Maya, Aarya, and Hina are best friends in the web series.

The story revolves around the greed of getting rich despite Jay's warnings to Jawahar and Sangram led to the murder of Jay in front of his son. The reign is then handled by Aarya as she overcomes all kinds of challenges and fighting the cause to keep her family close despite several threats from the police and the Shekawat played by Manish Choudhary whose heroine they tried to take and become rich. She herself tries to find the person behind the murder of her husband Jay which keeps you glued to the screen. Sangram runs the operation from jail and ACP Khan played by Vikas Kumar tries to find the culprit. The overall story has many elements which you will like as the fighting spirit of Aarya and the selfish tendencies of Jawahar while all the hell comes loose and there is chaos all around. I really loved the acting of Vishwajeet Pradhan as Sampat - right-hand man of Shekawat. The story tells an emotional part of the afterlife of kids as their father dies and how each one of them tries to handle the situation despite their loving mother and other family members. It's a real struggle inside their hearts, mind, body, and soul and showcased greatly in this web series. Veer (eldest son) is played by Viren Vazirani, Aaru (daughter) is played by Virti Vaghani and youngest son Adi is played by Pratyaksh Panwar. Veer's love interest Pallavi is played by Gargi Sawant.

Some of the issues showcased are just introduced in the story to accommodate everything like ACP Khan to be gay as there is no development of character or something and there is no focus on the same too afterward. Also, the love with the old Bollywood songs is just like as showcased in the Karan Johar's movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil where it was introduced just to match someone's from the production house thinking it will suit the audience and they will like it and here also in this series there are long sequences of the old Hindi songs. It's not like I didn't love those songs but it doesn't make any sense in today's world of web-series unless you are advertising them for SAREGAMA's Carvaan Music player. 

Overall, this web series has a huge star cast with great sets and cinematography and they have kept the ending open so as to make another season. It is not announced yet but in the days to come - it will be as the web series is getting good response from all the fans of Sushmita Sen including me. The web series is produced by Ram and Amita Madhvani along with Endemol Shine India and is based on Penoza a Dutch Drama series by Pieter Bart Korthuis. I also liked the background music done by Vishal Khurana and the story is written by Sandeep Shrivastava and Anu Singh Choudhary. Aarya is directed by Ram Madhvani himself along with Sandeep Modi and Vinod Rawat. Watch it this weekend on Disney Hotstar. RATING 3.5/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts and subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel too where contests will be held in the month of July 2020. Namaste!

Brown-hooded Kingfisher @SANParksKNP @SANParks #KrugerNationalPark #SouthAfrica

Hi Friends, 

Sometimes in life, you wonder that you shall have the higher zoom camera to capture the beautiful birds which are far on the branches or are flying high in the skies. A similar experience happened to me when I saw this beautiful Kingfisher bird which was sitting far high on the branches of a tree inside the Kruger National Park. 

Kruger National Park is filled with so many different kinds of birds and you need a good telephoto lens so that you can reach them from far far away. It's always good practice to rent the equipment if you can't own the same. 

Brown-hooded Kingfisher is almost the size of Cape Sterling which I shared photos earlier in my posts and weighs just 60 grams. You will be able to find them near any water source especially rivers inside the Kruger National Park. 

In the end, Kingfisher is one of the beautiful birds with a loud and harsh voice. You will find them in pairs maximum else it also roams alone. People also say that it showcases the most dramatic courtship displays in the mating season. All the photos are taken using Nikon D7000 and Sigma 70-300mm Telephoto lens inside the Kruger National Park in South Africa. 

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts and subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel too where contests will be held in the month of July 2020. Namaste!

Impala @SANParksKNP @SANParks #KrugerNationalPark #SouthAfrica

Hi Friends,

Impala is found all over South Africa in all the game drives and all the national parks and they look really lovely in their beautiful and agile body. 

This photograph is my favorite as one of the Impala takes the center stage while others check out my next movement to start running from the spot. This led to a great photographic capture as the sand creates the stage like a podium and the grass in the background created the others in far watching the performances. 

The beautiful Impala can run at its maximum speed of 80km while 60km is general. One fun fact is that they are also called as McDonald's of the Bush as they are readily available for the carnivorous animals to hunt them easily. 

Because they have dark brown lines on either side of their bottoms and one in the middle of the tail, making it look like an M logo just like on McDonald's stores all around the world. If you ever make it to South Africa, do check them out at the Kruger National Park and enjoy this beautiful animal and if you are lucky enough, you will see them getting hunted by the Leopards and Lions. All the photos are taken using the Nikon D7000 and Sigma 70-300mm telephoto lens. 

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts and subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel too where contests will be held in the month of July 2020. Namaste!

SHIMLA MIRCHI @NetflixSA #Movie #Comedy #ShimlaMirchi

Hi Friends, 

Shimla Mirchi is a situational romantic comedy and a light-hearted movie that you can enjoy with your family. Shimla Mirchi stars Hema Malani as Rukmani, Rakul Preet Singh as Naina, Rukmani's daughter, Kanwaljit Singh as Tilak, Naina's father, and Rajkummar Rao as Avinash. The movie also stars Shakti Kapoor, Kiran Juneja, Kamlesh Gill, and Dharmendra in a special appearance along with Ramesh Sippy. The movie is written, produced, and directed by Ramesh Sippy himself and was distributed by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. The movie was released in theatres on 3 January 2020 and was soon available on Netflix's online platform and app. 

The movie is really great to watch once during these lockdown times as it brings light-hearted comedy and the acting of Hema Malini needs no introduction. It's really a pleasure to see her live on screen in this movie and Rajkummar Rao has acted just like he does in every movie - perfect to the character. Rakul looks beautiful and her screen presence brings a lot of cuteness and charm on the big screen. The songs are okay but not worthy of remembering and the music is composed by Meet Bros Anjjan. You should definitely watch the movie this weekend on Netflix's digital platform. The story is not so different as it shows the love story of a boy fallen in love with a girl and works as a waiter at her restaurant despite being fully educated and a third angle is introduced when the mother thinks that the boy loves her but the situation is used just like it used to be in Priyadarshan movies but overall you won't waste your 2 hours watching this fun ride in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. RATING 2.5/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts and subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel too where contests will be held in the month of July 2020. Namaste!