Posted in Book Reviews

Oh Yes I’m Single! And so is my Girlfriend!

By Muskan Mehndiratta

About Author: Durjoy Dutta( born February 7, 1987) is an Indian author who writes romance fiction. He graduated from Delhi college of engineering and then went on to do PGDBM in marketing from Management Development Institute. He has co-founded Grapevine India publishers. He is the author of 6 runaway bestselling books. In 2009, he was recognized as a young achiever by the Times of India, he was also chosen as one of the two young achievers in the field of media and communications by whistling Woods International in 2011. In 2012, he was one of the recepients of the Teacher’s Achievement Awards, joining the likes of Ranbir kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Prahlad Kakkar among others. He has also spoken in various TEDx conferences in colleges across India. He was one of the highest selling Indian authors in the year 2011.

So I finished reading a very long story by Durjoy Datta and Neeti Rustagi. The name of the book is “Ohh Yes I am Single .. And so is my Girlfriend”. I have turned into a big fan of this guy after Chetan Bhagat. I am happy that people did justice to him and his book. He writes same kinds of love story every time but he changes the approach of narration which makes it different each time he writes.

OYIAS is about a boy who isn’t good looking in his school days but as soon as he steps out of school, there’s a slight make-over in the looks and it is when the series of girlfriends begins. The story is about how he falls in love with many girls. And he tries to find out which is the real love which he should continue for long and which to dump. At last, he ends with Manika. He has a friend Siddharth whose love stories are no less than his. A break up with Natasha breaks Durjoy’s hope for a good life ahead and he goes into depression. This is when Manika comes back in his life whom he dumped before starting the relationship with Natasha. Now, how Manika came back into his life, how she managed to come to live with Durjoy in spite of having a boyfriend she really loved, how she manages to bring Durjoy out of depression.


Durjoy Datta has amazed me once again. His narration skills are awesome. Very different from all others. He fixes the plot so perfectly that you can never doubt that its a fictional story and you’ll believe that its his true story. About this book, I am still doubtful whether its fiction or its a true story. And if its fiction, then I think I should learn from Durjoy how to connect a fictional story with the real life. I would suggest everyone of you to read all the books from Durjoy. But I have a problem with him. The title of his books has nothing to do with the matter in it. He keeps fancy title to attract youths but the story inside the cover page is totally different from the words inscribed on the Cover page. And this story is seriously very long. He could have made it short. It turns boring at places but still it wins in keeping you stick to it. I rate this book- 3.5/5.

Posted in Tech Reviews

Samsung Galaxy A51

By Muskan Mehndiratta

The Galaxy A51 is a very adorable phone. It’s slim, ergonomic and fabulous looking, has a remarkable display, and awesome software. In order to keep them relevant, Samsung refreshed its Galaxy A-series phones for the second time in the last one year. The Galaxy A51, which we will be talking about, is the refresh of Galaxy A50s, which itself was an upgraded version of the popular Galaxy A50. So, what has changed? Just as the last time, Samsung is consolidating the key strengths while tying up a few loose ends. These Galaxy A-series phones have never superseded rivals in terms of specs, but have still managed to stand apart from the competition, thanks to the refined experience they offer. This time, however, the competition is stiffer than ever before. The Galaxy A51 will be up against the big guns including the Realme X2 Pro and Poco X2.

● Design And Build :
Design is where the Galaxy A51 absolutely nails it. The phone is just the right size and shape and looks extremely appealing. Be it the rectangular camera module, the slick two-texture gradient design on the back panel, 7.9mm slim profile or the circular punch hole – the little things add up to make a huge difference. In fact, even with the more premium and expensive Galaxy S10 Lite lying around, we were drawn to the A51 just because it’s so much lighter and so much more comfortable to handle.
The body is still entirely polycarbonate and not real glass or metal. We’d strongly advise that you shouldn’t let that deter you. Samsung bundles a good quality, transparent protective case in the box. The A51 retains 3.5mm audio jack, has a USB Type-C charging port and has a dedicated card slot. The fingerprint sensor is under the screen and it’s optical -type, and it feels faster and more reliable than what we had on the Galaxy A50s. The face unlock is a definite improvement and with options like ‘Lift to wake’ and ‘Double-tap to wake’ enabled by default, it’s quite convenient to trigger – if it doesn’t naturally kick in, that is.
● Display :
The screen is once again awesome. AMOLED displays are no longer a rarity in the affordable and mid-range segment and nor are they exclusive to Samsung, but Samsung’s panels still have an edge when it comes to calibration and quality. The Galaxy A51 has a sharp and agreeable full HD panel. You can opt between ‘Natural’ or ‘Vivid’ color profile and also fine-tune the white point. It also has an awesome dark mode and an awesome always-on display (that also pins select GIFs). Outdoor visibility, under direct sunlight, is fine as well. The bottom line is that when it comes to the display quality, you are getting the very best with the Galaxy A51.

● Performance and Software :
The chipset powering the Galaxy A51 remains the same Exynos 9611 as on Galaxy A50s, but the base variant now starts with 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage.
PUBG and other high-end games we tried were playable, but the performance can’t hold a candle to the aggressive Snapdragon series-7 and series-8 chipsets that are available in the same budget. If you are not into gaming, you will most likely be satisfied with the day-to-day usage experience, but we noticed that UI transitions weren’t always snappy. The refined One UI 2.0 software (based on Android 10) more than makes up, though. In our opinion, it’s the most refined custom interface when compared to the alternatives you’d get in the same budget. And it’s one primary reason why you should consider buying the Galaxy A51 over spectacularly specs-heavy rivals.

● Camera Performace :
Samsung Galaxy A51 has quad-rear cameras and a 32MP selfie camera on the front. The rear camera quartet is steered by a 48MP primary camera and also includes a 12MP wide-angle shooter, a 5MP macro camera and a 5MP depth sensor. Phone cameras in this price range are far from perfect and it must be kept in mind that no matter what you choose, compromises will be involved.
1) The Galaxy A51 can shoot well-metered and well-balanced shots in outdoor lighting.
2) The wide-angle camera can give you a wider perspective, but distortion is often visible around edges.
3) The macro camera is fun to play with and performs quite well in proper lighting.
4) Indoors and under artificial light, the Galaxy A51 doesn’t falter with metering, but the details aren’t all that great.
5) In low light, the images get softer still. The phone has a night mode that you can use to enhance performance.
6) The selfie camera does a fine job outdoors or in properly lit indoor settings.

● Battery :
Phones these days rarely default on battery backup, and the Galaxy A51 doesn’t disappoint when it comes to mileage. The 4000mAh battery on our Galaxy A51 can comfortably last for an entire day. The fast charging is rather too conservative. 15W charging isn’t fast enough in the day and age and for the asking price Samsung’s 25W USB PD charger would have been more appropriate.

These strengths alone make us want to forgive all its flaws, but they need to be addressed as well. Our Main peeve points are the chipset, which stills falls short from a gaming perspective, and the not-so-fast fast charging. Yes, the price seems a bit steep, but it can’t be discounted that the experience that Galaxy A51 offers is quite premium and unique, even compared to the specs-heavy online exclusives. As far as offline-first phones like Vivo S1 Pro and Oppo F15 go, the Galaxy A51 blows them out of water.
So, should you buy it? If you are not into gaming and are willing to make a few compromises for a more refined software experience, you should seriously consider the Galaxy A51 as an option.
The Galaxy A51 isn’t perfect, but it’s surely something ‘different’ and in a pleasant way.

Pros…

• Excellent design
• Gorgeous display
• Awesome software
• Samsung Pay (NFC)
• Dedicated card slot

Cons…

• Mediocre chipset
• Fast charging isn’t all that fast

Posted in Movie Reviews

The Platform

By Srishti Bansal

I recently watched this movie named The Platform. The movie was a great distraction from this monotonous life which we all are going through. So i thought of reviewing this classic movie. The movie was released on 6th September 2019, the director of the movie is Glader Gaztelu-Urrutia. He is a from Bilbao ( Spain). He has directed many movies like : The house on the lake , Las horas muertas, Crash.

The storyline of the movie The Platform, revolves around a person named Goreng, a man with principles and has recently been send to prison. He awakes in a concrete cell number 48 (forty eight) and he also discovers that he has roommate who’s name is Trimagasi ,a old man , he is been sent to jail due to a charge of murder. Trimagasi explains each and every rule of the prison and the functioning of it. The prison is a tower style facility in which the food is delivered through a platform, that travels from top to bottom. At each level it stops for a limited time so that the inmates can eat food and after few minutes the platform automatically shifts to lower level. The inmates on the bottom levels only get to eat the leftovers by the inmates on the upper levels. There is another rule in it that you cannot hoard any kind of food item otherwise as a penalty the cell will be heated or cooled to fatal extend.

This is a bit of description of the movie but as you go futher you will be introduced to two different characters, these are two women named Miharu and Imoguiri. Now here you will notice a bit of a sensuousness between Miharu and Goreng.

As you move on further you will encounter many brutal scenes and how in order to survive people become ruthless and practise cannibalism in order to survive. The movie is a absolute nightmare that how hunger can turn someone into a beast. It also give a beautiful message that everyone should help, value and share with one’s fellow man.

This movie has got 7 out of 10 rating and is also available on Netflix. The movies has also one “Goya award for the best special effects” and “Gaudi award for the best visual effects”. Altogether, in my opinion, it is a inspiring movie with a social message which one should watch.


Posted in Series Reviews

Four More Shots Please!! Season-2

By; Muskan Mehndiratta

Four More Shots Please Season- 2 Amazon Prime Web Series Review. In this video, I’ve shared my thoughts about this web series.

Starring – Sayani Gupta, Kirti Kulhari, Maanvi Gagroo, Bani J, Pratiek Babbar, Niel Bhoopalam, Lisa Ray, Milind Soman, Samir Kochhar, Prabal Punjabi, Shibani Dandekar.
This summer, get refreshed because the ladies are back!

About Four More Shots Please Season- 2
Umang, Damini, Anjana, Siddhi – Four best friends will cuddle up again and tell the world to sit up and pay a little more attention to what women truly want. Girls will always be girls around their girls– the problem remains simple yet complicated and funny to each other. They will make new mistakes but love each other a little more fiercely and choose themselves over society and expectations..

Posted in Book Reviews, Reviews

IF I STAY

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By- Samyukta Narayanan

This is story about Mia, seventeen year old girl who gets into a car accident with her parents and her 10 year old brother. She survives the crash but is unconscious in the hospital and in critical condition. However, she is able to see and hear everything around her, even her own body.

The story revolves around her making the decision to stay and live or let go and die.
This story by Gayle Forman is told in a serious of flash backs where we get to see that Mia is a normal teenager, living in Oregon, with a bright although conflicted future ahead of her. She is a brilliant cellist with the prospect of going to Julliard, across country in New York, once she graduates.

She has a boyfriend, Adam, with a common passion for music, albeit opposite genres. In fact, if it weren’t for music they probably wouldn’t have got together, Mia starts noticing him stare at her while they practice. Her with cello, him with guitar. Adam’s future is also on the rise but in a very different direction. He is the lead singer/songwriter of a rock band on the verge fame.

If I Stay is a reminder of how short and innately sweet life is, and about how at the end of the day, or at the end of your life, the one thing you are always going to want to hold on to is the cherished memories of the people you love. The people who make life worthwhile.
Also, the writing of If I Stay by Gayle Forman is simply lovely.

Forman takes teenage love, teenage emotions, teenage dreams and writes about them in a way that is accessible to every age, and is still believable. The language is beautiful, the pacing perfect. The novel brings a reader through a vividly emotional description throughout Mia’s coma after the tragic incident of her family. Not only was the plot magnificent and original, the way that Forman captured a teenage girl’s struggles throughout family death and personal conflicts made Mia seem like such a realistic character with such genuine and heartbreaking emotions.

Forman’s diction really leapt off the page and will leave the reader in tears as the story progresses. I had particularly enjoyed the final scene in where Mia makes a concluding decision benefiting to herself, yet the emotional struggle of Adam asking her to stay had anchored Mia and brought her back to the reality.

Ultimately, this was a worthwhile read that kept me intrigued, as Forman’s character struggles really hits home for a teenage girl. I’ll strongly recommend y’all to read this novel.

Posted in Book Reviews

“Waiting For The Mahatma” by RK Narayan.

By Muskan Mehndiratta

RK Narayan is best known for his work based on the quaint South Indian town of Malgudi. His novel, “Waiting for the Mahatma” which involve various types of people from a fictitious town called Malgudi, are a delight to read. “Waiting for the Mahatma” is another realistic novel set during the freedom struggle days. I was surprised by noting RK Narayan handling a romance genre in his novel. However after reading this novel, I am amazed how well he brings out the emotions in romance as well. This novel is a stunning representation of freedom struggle movement and its impact on the lives of numerous Indian people.
The novel is about a boy of age around twenty called Sriram. He lives with his grandmother in Malgudi. Sriram tries to explore the outside world himself to figure out what interests him the most. He is drawn towards a beautiful and patriotic girl called Bharati in a local festival. He tries to woo her and comes to know that she is working under Mahatma Gandhi for the freedom struggle. He somehow manages to sneak into the freedom struggle movement even though he has no clue initially what it is for. The story unfolds as the experience of a conservative guy entering social life and his romance with a bold and beautiful girl.

Sriram deserts his old grandmother and travels across different villages of rural India along with Bharati to spread the message of the Mahatma. His encounters with different set of people like the shopkeeper who sells foreign imported biscuits is amusing. Sriram comes in contact with a terrorist called Jagdish and the consequences of his associations with him have been realistically portrayed. At some point of time both Sriram and Bharati are destined to be shut in jail indefinitely. Whether Sriram could get the acceptance of Bharati to marry her and whether Mahatma approved their marriage are interestingly narrated.

The best aspect of this novel is the capture of the simplicity of the India and its citizen prior to gaining independence. The ongoing freedom struggle which alters the lives of different people like Sriram makes one feel about the numerous citizens who were forced to abandon their families for their country. The comedy of errors associated with the death of grandmother are thoroughly enjoyable. The novel also provides an insight into the minds of cunning people like Jagdish who manipulate and drag others into their troublesome ways. Having Mahatma and Netaji as characters in the story adds credibility to the story.

Though the backdrop of the story is freedom struggle, R K Narayan makes it relatively light through his impeccable narrative style. The caring grandmother and the shopkeeper Kanni are characters one can easily find in Indian villages even today. I enjoyed the novel as much as any other novel of R K Narayan. The manner in which he brings out the subtle emotions associated with romance is brilliant. I doubt whether any of the present Indian writers have the capacity to match Narayan. This novel is a must read for anyone who wants to delve into the lives of Indian citizen before independence.

Posted in Movie Reviews

ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES

                                                                                                By Muskan Mehndiratta

All the Bright places is a 2020 American teen romantic drama film, directed by Brett Haley, from a screenplay by Jennifer Niven and Liz Hannah, based upon the novel of same name by Niven. It stars Elle Fanning, Justice Smith, Alexandra Shipp, Kelli O’Hara, Lamar Johnson, Virginia Gardener, Felix Mallard, Sofia Hasmik, Keegan-Michael Key and Luke Wilson.

“All The Bright Places” may tackle a few dark issues, but this teen weepie about two hurting souls is drenched in warmth and compassion. Adapted by Jennifer Niven and Liz Hannah from Niven’s best selling young adult novel, Haley’s feature contains all the necessary ingredients for success that films like “The Fault in Our Star” and its ilk have undeniably cute reads adept at conjuring cheers and tears, a solid soundtrack and a pass-the-tissues third act— yet its pure beating heart and humanistic undertones make it somewhat of a standout.

That said, audience might want to exercise some caution as content dealing with suicide, grief and mental health, while handled with an extremely sensitive touch, might be triggering for those who feel compromised. while out running one morning, Theodore Finch (Justice Smith) spots classmate Violet Markey (Elle Fanning) silently contemplating jumping of a bridge. She’s been withdrawn and grief-stricken since the death of her sister a year prior. Finch Hops up on the ledge, offering Violet a hand and an unspoken pledge that she is no longer alone in her struggle. He too can relate as he’s looking for reasons to stay alive, scribbling them down on a fleet of color-coded Post-Its that polka-dot his bedroom walls.

Though the filmmakers never never specifically nail down a clinical diagnosis, Finch’s apparent manic depression casts a long shadow over all aspects of his life. Finch’s erratic behaviour– causing destruction and ditching class for elongated stints– at their high school has earned him the nickname “freak.”

Their lives change when their geography teacher assigns them a travelogue project that has the students wandering all over Indiana (Ohio stands in as the filming location), chronicling wondrous sights off the beaten path. The duo bond through these activities, logging local attention like the highest point in the state, a backyard roller-coaster, a shoe- covered tree and an interpersonal chalk wall display.

His affection encourages her to embrace life, while her presence provides him a tether to the living. However, as one of them ascends into the light, the other descends into a darker place. Blessedly, characters don’t always respond in perfect postcard or predictable ways, which keeps things from traversing into afterschool special territory. Finch and Violent don’t do and say the exact right things when called for. It never crosses Finch’s mind that he shouldn’t give Violent a potential death scare when she’s already witnesses her sister perishing. Finch doesn’t verbalize his issues properly to people who could help, like his guidance counsellor (Keegan Michael Key) and older sister (Alexandra Shipp). Violent doesn’t bring her concerned dad (Luke Wilson) along when she’s frantically searching for Finch. Still, the filmmakers take precautions to avoid manipulative devices. The shedding of tears may be unavoidable, but atleast it’s earned catharsis. One of the subtler aspects of the story telling is the context of their geography assignment, which is a metaphor for locating the sources of their pain and shining a light on those patches.

Its also refreshing that this doesn’t play out in expected ways with both characters fixing each other. Those sentiments aren’t healthy and true to reveal life. The filmmakers are interested in showing different facets of grief where one is able to heal and the other is lacking those same capabilities.

Cinematographer Rob Givens’ saturated approach resounds in scenes that unabashedly embrace romantic overtones, basking the two leads in the warm glow of the golden hour, or the soft low light of their rainstorm smooch. It also stands strong in sequences where their emotions become cooler, rougher around the edges and more difficult to define. Suzy Elmiger’s cuts allow for the performers to guide the rhythm and flow of the scenes.

Still,”All The Bright Places” would be nowhere without Haley’s vision and deft ability to deliver all of the feels. He finds places to let his bright intellect shine, perfectly crafting heartrending melodrama through tonal placing that’s never cloying nor disgustingly saccharine.

Posted in Book Reviews

Everything is fu*ked: A book of HOPE by Mark Manson

By Padma Dolma

New York times and International best selling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fu*k, Mark Manson.

Title: Everything is Fu*ked. Author: Mark Manson published: 14 May 2019. Genre: Self help book. Publisher : Harper One

Picture by Padma Dolma

The hope is described as Nihilism in the book he writes that telling yourself important is a lie. Acknowledging and appreciating our existence must create the hope.

“Hope cares only about the problems that still need to be solved. Because the better the world gets, the more we have to lose. And the more we have to lose, the less we feel we have the hope for.”

To create hope in our self the either thinks we must have these three things

  1. Sense of control (feeling like we’re in control of our lives)
  2. Belief in the value of something (something worth striving for)
  3. Community (being part of a community valuing what we also value)

Without these three Mark writes that to understand why we are suffering through such crisis of hope today, we need to understand the mechanics of hope, how to generate it and how to maintain it.

Than comes the ‘Sense of Control’, the author writes that the self control is an illusion.The war between the two brains, you must be thinking brain fight means IQ tests, but in the book Everything is fu*ked tells us the research of many physiologist, scientists on the behaviour of our brain. He describes the two brains ,feeling and thinking brain must act together to make the person as living as possible if either one is shut down the other one would overwhelmed the human actions and can isolate him from the rest of the world and he’d loss the importance of others presence in his life.

Our values the second necessary thing to generate hope. Author describes the values with the example of Issac Newton being a social freak and an absentminded kid who had stayed his entire life searching answers for his curiosities and never once understood the importance of being surrounded by loved ones he died as a loner and his discoveries remain hidden to the world, collecting dust.

The third necessary thing community. He has explained this necessity in the fourth chapter of the book where he writes about religion as a leverage to people who think they had failed their lives and living their lives wrongly without making their dreams come true. He writes that God’s value slowly shifts and becomes the preservation of the religion itself: not to lose what it has gained. And there the corruption starts. To maintain the status the people toss aside the movement, the revolution and the values that defined the religion, that becomes organizational level narcissism. He believes that the only thing that can ever truly destroy a dream is to have it come true.

He writes about Nietzsche who believes both beliefs of ardent nationalists and anti – Semites to be stupid and offensive and he strictly believed in the value of a person’s deeds, nothing else no system, no race, no nationality.

The book mostly talks about the hope being generated automatically by our feeling brain but making it look like that we think it’s the only support system to live your life but that’s a lie you tell yourself. Also tells the unbreakable desire of human being to be more happy to be more lively, all we need is to have inner peace and he tried to analyse this desire by giving examples.

Picture by Padma Dolma

This is a philosophical book to every reasons that has crushed your hopes and dreams and believes.

Posted in Book Reviews, Reviews

The Diary Of a Young Girl

By Simran Kaur

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Image Courtesy : Amazon.com

This book named, The Diary of a Young Girl is also known as , The Diary of Anne Frank . This is book is all about the diary of Anne Frank. This book is written by her on her own life as hiding from 1942 to 1944 during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War 11. Anne Frank was a German born Dutch- Jewish diarist and the thing is this book is one of the World’s best known book.

During World War II, a girl (Jewish) named Anne Frank and her family were forced to hide in the Nazi occupied Netherlands. There was a shopkeeper there in Netherlands named Kraler. The shopkeeper hides two jewish families in his attics. Anne Frank had a habit of keeping a diary with her, about the everyday life of their family in Nazi’s Netherlands and the threat of Nazi’s as well.

This book is also written in Dutch language, not just dutch again this book is translated into 70 languages.More than 30 million of her diary has been sold and about in 60 countries this book has been published.

The Diary was retrieved by Miep Gies and he gave it to Anne’s father, as he was the only survivor after the war was over.

The important characters in the book were,
Anne Frank – a thirteen year old girl , and received a diary which would change the world. Mr. Frank – a man who will do anything to keep his family safe.
Mrs Frank – Wife of Mr. Frank.
Margot – Anne’s older sister.
Peter – son of Van Daan’s .
Mrs. Van Daan – Wife of Van Daan .
Mr. Van Daan – He helped Frank in hiding .
Mr. Dussel – a dentist.

If I talk about myself, I liked the character of Anne the most in the book , as she had a lot of courage.One can see her astonishing bravery. Her behaviour, the way she made it feel happy sometimes is just amazing .
Anne Frank’s writing style was easy to read. Her way of writing is basically proffessional and journalistic too. Her tone in the book feels like anger, irony and humor . Her writing style at the age of 13 was liked throughout the world after the war when she died.

People who love mysteries, people who has an interest in reading historical things related to war. It also contains some sad portions also, it’s heart- touching beautifully written book . I recommend everybody to read this book as it doesn’t contain any fictious story it’s truly based story.

Posted in Reviews, Series Reviews

ASUR: Welcome To Your Dark Side

By Saakshi Sharma

Just finished watching this psychological drama on Voot, one of the budding Netflixes of India. And this is one of the finest thriller drama I’ve come across in a very long time by an Indian director.

Asur is a 2020 Indian, Hindi-language crime thriller directed and co-produced by Oni Sen. The series stars Arshad Warsi and Barun Sobti. It is set in current times and revolves around serial killings. Arshad Warsi made his web debut in this series.

Brilliant stuff. Slightly ahead of its time I believe. Its dark, grim, gritty and gripping. A great mix of Indian mythology, techniques and science. The background score is almost haunting, something that will stay with you for long especially during credits. 

The postmortem scenes have been so well elaborated that you feel like standing straight and take a note, you learn! One feels like going back to chemistry classes and pay ATTENTION!!

The story keeps you engaged till the very end. The murders have been very well connected. So connected that it plays with viewers mind. However, it ends abruptly; atleast not in a very well explained environs, which is slightly disappointing.

Some questions are left unanswered – why the murderer (s) cut the first fingers in every murder (its not a spoiler; worry not). One of the killing in the last by normal people is again not explained; may be the producers will explain in next season…

Notwithstanding a little ambiguity, the series is a must watch. Every single actor has impressed the audience with their work. It doesn’t look like they are ‘acting,’ but as if they are living their characters.

More than established names like Arshad Warsi, you will notice that Barun Sobti stands out on his own. The character played by him has shades; goes through hallucination and yet stays very very strong in eyes of the audience.  

I would rate it at 4.5 out of 5 or a minimum 8 on a scale of 10.

Image courtesy: @MyMovieRack