Rockstar is that kind of a movie. It could've been much more than what it ended up being. I would love to say "spoilers ahead", but there is not much of a story to spoil. Ranbir Kapoor as Janardan Jakhar is a college guy, passionate about music but clueless as to how to make it big. He lazes around the college canteen, where its owner tells him - how can you be a great artist when you haven't suffered in life? He then goes on to quote a list of great artists, the ones posted in JJ's wall. JJ relents, decides he has to first fall in love, break up, feel the pain in order to become a better musician. Then the age old tale of falling for the girl, but only it isn't real the first time.

The initial 45 minutes are delightful in introducing the characters and how JJ tries to get close to girl just to fall in love. The neat and clean girl turns out to be a "junglee jawani" and they end up having fun watching cheap flicks in shady cinemas, boozing on cheap alcohol and what not, all before the girl's marriage. After the girl is gone, he is thrown out of his house and spends a few years playing and singing in Mosques, parties, Temples and all. Then he is slowly transformed into a bad-ass rocker Jordan - who shouts, screams, and in general is the black swan of JJ.

The second half of the movie is a drag - clichéd dialogs, repetitive scenes, grinding one's patience. Instead of a complete review which you can read on numerous sites online, here is:

What I liked

1) Fun filled 45 minutes at the beginning

2) Shades of Grey in the rockstar's life - having an affair with someone who is married and his sometimes forceful need to get physical

3) Decent performance by Ranbir

4) A mixture of different genres in the soundtrack. The Sufi song is great!

And what I didn't

1) Second half of the movie completely clueless!

2) Last 30 minutes a curse! Too many clichéd dialogs, scenes (including the class "Its a medical miracle!"), generally direction-less story telling

3) Did I say the movie is 160 minutes long? Let me say that again - 2 hours and 40 minutes.

4) Where is the soul of the rockstar? Pain is portrayed, but what about the process of how he writes lyrics, makes music. Even artists need preparation, you know.

5) People love an angry rockstar, but there should be another face too. Ranbir puts up his "I hate everything in the world" face for a better part of the movie, and it gets a bit too monotonous and boring

6) The crowd thronging him everywhere, girls falling heads over heels for him, everyone wanting a piece of him, etc seems a bit overdone. Doesn't happen the way its portrayed in India (and definitely not the way shown in the movie "Boys")

7) And the biggest letdown was that the movie was a letdown! I had high hopes, especially after enjoying the initial half of the movie. Too bad the team couldn't finish it off slickly as well.

Verdict
Rockstar - doesn't rock much. Enjoyable first half, avoidable second half. Great promise, poor execution. 6/10

My requirements:

• Small footprint
• Simple
• Easy to use (For a beginner like me)

So here are the nominees:

1. ELF-PHP (Extra Light PHP Framework)

This framework is built on the  MVC architecture for software engineering buffs, has good documentation, and will get you started in a jiffy. It probably has the most features compared to the others in this list, and the developer plans to add some more in the future release.

P.S: Grab the latest code from the repository.

2. Simple PHP Framework

It simple, its PHP and its a framework. Has comprehensive logging features, offers various modes for the server (local, production, staging, shell) and is actually being run in 40 different sites by the developer. Should be dependable. Needs documentation on various features though.

3. Ookuwagata (Not supported)

Other than having a unusual name, its a micro php framework for separating application logic from presentation. Development has been stopped by the developer, so don't expect support or documentation. For a more recent version micro paging framework, check out Sticks by the same developer.

4. Write your own micro framework!

This excellent post by Anant Garg gets you started on MVC framework basics, and tells you how you can design your own mini framework, and then implement your application using it!
Expect a more comprehensive review of each framework in the furure.

Here are my observations:

• Easy registration and setup. Self explanatory
• Web based and HTTP/XML API access
• Haven't faced any down time yet. Both web based, and API based submits work well
• Plans starting from as low as Rs. 100 valid for 2 months
• Maximum time taken to reach a recipient is just less than an hour. Average time is 5-8 minutes
• Web control panel, though confusing is pretty neat. Has all the options you need, and even lets you check status of your messages
• Comprehensive logging system which may be useful for some
• XML API for bulk submission - add multiple numbers to the same message, and a single submit. This is really what I wanted as the place I'm deploying my application won't be permanently connected to the internet. So instead of making 1500 individual submits, just one XML bulk submit will do
• Incoming messages supported - users can type "hi <username> <message>" and send it to 5676775 and you will receive it directly in your web control panel free of cost

Cons:

• Plan validity period is too short (at least for my requirement)
• No API to access incoming messages
• SMS rates are cheaper only in higher volume plans
• Maximum validity of any plan is 6 months

In all, I'd give it a 8.5/10. Really satisfied with the service so far.