Keeping Up With The Kandasamy's

Last week Thursday saw the premiere for the much anticipated local movie "Keeping Up With The Kandasamy's" and I was one of the fortunate few to get a pre-screening of the movie before it's official release date on March 3rd. I went into the screening with a my mind made up on what the movie would be like as we've become accustomed to what to expect when it came to local productions but I left astounded at what I saw. 

Keeping Up With The Kandasamy's was nothing like what I expected and really was a great and enjoyable movie. The production was top quality, story line was brilliant as well as the acting. It featured a host of well known actors and actresses as well as introduced us to some new ones. Directed by Jayan Moodley, the story is loosely based on a forbidden love between the children of neighbors who do not see eye-to-eye in the suburb of Chatsworth. The mothers played by Jayaloshni Naidoo and Maeshni Naicker are central to the story line, where they were once close friends but now foes, but put aside their differences to try and separate their kids, played by Madhushan Singh and Mishqah Parthiephal, who are madly in love with each other. Jayaloshni was teacher of mine in high school, so it was great seeing her on the big screen. 

The movie offers light-hearted comedy with the added Durban twist, and is certainly a must for all. Jayan says this movie is a love letter to Chatsworth and it's just that, while this tale does depict a story of two families its also an ode to the township where Indians were shunted to back in Aparthied but the area flourished because of the togetherness and perseverance of the community. The movie showcases many of the local attractions in Chatsworth, giving the audience an experience like they've just visited the place. 

It was a great night out at the movies, and getting to meet some of the stars of the production was pretty cool too. Overall it's one of those feel good movies that you know isn't going to win any major awards but leaves you feeling happy inside.  I'm no Barry Ronge but I'd give the movie a scintillating seven, be sure to pre-book your tickets now!

Bucket Seat: The new BMW 7 Series

Couple weeks back BMW lifted the covers on the much anticipated new 7 series, being the flagship model from the German manufacturer, a lot of what the car has to offer now will be filtered into future models. The car has changed a lot from concept stages which is sad as I quite liked the look of the Vision, it was bold and different where as the new 7 doesn't look that much different from its predecessor, okay it is slightly bigger and bolder but not striking like the concept. Guess I'm just upset about that part. 

But its good to see BMW didn't drop most of the gadgets and cool stuff, hand gestures are a real thing, touch control aircon, laser lights, remote control park which is damn cool! The body structure is made from a new carbon fibre re-inforced plastic compound that has reduced weight of the car significantly, almost by 130kgs! An all new engine line up which includes a 740e plug in hybrid.

Being bigger, the cars comforts levels have been improved with increased space for passengers. Staying on the inside, as always there will be a host of interior trims, colours and textures to chose from. There is an executive lounge option for the car that comes with automatic 4 zone air conditioning, electrically adjustable seats with massage functionality with a foot rest. Other features include a fold out table, extra cup holders and a removable 7" tablet that fits onto the center console and controls all the functions stated.

Anyway as cool as the back may sound, its up front is where the action is. Gesture control as mentioned before is a big one, for now it's limited to things such as audio control and phone calls. The infotainment screen is now touch sensitive so you can control it like an iPad. Standard iDrive toggles will still be available if you chose to still do things the old school way.

There's still loads to this car that I haven't even begun to talk about and I'm sure there's more we will learn about it as we wait for local launch which could be early next year. As much as I am disappointed with the cars exterior design, there's no denying that they have made up for it in abundance every where else. Like I said, most of what we seeing here will be phased into the BMW's of the future as BMW Group's Senior Vice President, Adiran van Hooydonk said "At BMW we believe the future can be predicted most effectively if we're helping to shape it. The primary objective in the development of the new car was to create a vision of modern luxury and to exceed our customers expectations."