DISCLAIMER: This is my personal opinion, and this has no stake on anything that happens for the reader of this post. And..I am not part of any political or liberationist outfit..nor do I support or purport activism as a way of life....please understand....
ok....as the saying goes...a writer should be able to scribble on a variety of topics...this is definitely a *first* for me..
This is about the real life tiger Anton Stanislaus Balasingham...who is no more to grace the earth with his foot steps... this post is to just make people remember him for atleast the minutes they read about him....here....
Anton was a British National, who was a SriLankan by birth.
I am a tamil by geography..and this isnt a tamil-tamil bash that I am staging in blogger...this post is a tiny/small / petite tribute from a blogger who feels people need to know what the *real* Anton is all about..as much I know..
You might by now know that Anton Balasingham was a chief political activist and strategist behind the LTTE movement, whose tryst to get a free tamil eelam state is histroy....
Many people say that he was the one person who lent a lot of creditibility and respect to the LTTE as a movement, and the world looked up at this movement as a progressive liberation movement than opposed to a rebel group...
That way Anton Balasingham has done a great job of representing both sides of the war...and has always on record and action wanted a peaceful and negotiable end to the war..in the island nation...which sadly didn't materialze during his lifetime...I know for such a passionist...this would have been really hurting, but I would say he did his bit....and LTTE is looked at as a liberation group....and not as a terrorist outfit...they have their reasons atleast....
Anton was the brain child and strategist-in-chief for a lot of actions of the LTTE in the 1990s and 2000s..and helped transform the image of LTTE in the minds of the general public...and was a good oratorist and a rebel writer...capable of churning out inspiring speeches for its Leader-in-chief Velupillai Prabhakaran...
so lets salute the man fondly called *Bala Anna*, who was an inspirational face for a number of LTTE activists..and lets not forget..he was a visionary and a leader who needs to be saluted ....that is if you are sane ..and dont have a prejudice towards people and see people for what they are made of and not for what they are known as / for....
my 2 cents,
Rajesh
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
the realization
actually....me returning to this blog to post after quite some time....due to various reasons....but still I enjoy Blogger as much as I do a Chocolate-Chip Icecream.....:-)
no..no....that isn't the post about.....its about a mixed feel I have for the nation and its cricketing farternity......moreover, my blog readers wouldn't have noticed the cricket fan in me.....yeah..I am a great fan of the game.....but the last year and half....India's pathetic performance..never really inspired me to write on them....
but...now I have reasons to write about cricket though not in the most positive sign on earth!!!!....
Team India has just won its first ever test match victory in South Africa..in 4 tours ( 92, 96, 2001 and 2006)......Its a great achievement more so because of the manner the victory was achieved...they completely outplayed South Africa...
but if you keenly observe....the key players behind this victory were Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan....yeah....Sreesanth played his lifetime game...but apart from him...it has been the significant contributions from these four that I mentioned which changed the course of the game...whenever it looked like slipping SA's way....
This being a fact...consider this fact....*ironically* these four are doing a comeback into the Indian test team..courtesy Mr.Greg Chappell.....These were the four people whom greg wanted to be replaced with *young* blood.....and we have seen the disasterous results in the last year......and coincidentally...all the four have pulled their weight in this match to prove a point..hehe....
Initially I couldn't see light in the argument of my friend LNC...but I am getting to realize the folly Indian Cricket Administration have done...who knows who wants a back door entry into the team politics to ruin them????
let me not comment any further....its upto you to extrapolate these information and come to a conclusion whether we still need Greg Chappell..as a coach....
Reiterating my point.....Greg was keen and got all the four players who are experience personified - removed from the team on name of young blood to build a performing team...which we apparently failed miserably......
no..no....that isn't the post about.....its about a mixed feel I have for the nation and its cricketing farternity......moreover, my blog readers wouldn't have noticed the cricket fan in me.....yeah..I am a great fan of the game.....but the last year and half....India's pathetic performance..never really inspired me to write on them....
but...now I have reasons to write about cricket though not in the most positive sign on earth!!!!....
Team India has just won its first ever test match victory in South Africa..in 4 tours ( 92, 96, 2001 and 2006)......Its a great achievement more so because of the manner the victory was achieved...they completely outplayed South Africa...
but if you keenly observe....the key players behind this victory were Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan....yeah....Sreesanth played his lifetime game...but apart from him...it has been the significant contributions from these four that I mentioned which changed the course of the game...whenever it looked like slipping SA's way....
This being a fact...consider this fact....*ironically* these four are doing a comeback into the Indian test team..courtesy Mr.Greg Chappell.....These were the four people whom greg wanted to be replaced with *young* blood.....and we have seen the disasterous results in the last year......and coincidentally...all the four have pulled their weight in this match to prove a point..hehe....
Initially I couldn't see light in the argument of my friend LNC...but I am getting to realize the folly Indian Cricket Administration have done...who knows who wants a back door entry into the team politics to ruin them????
let me not comment any further....its upto you to extrapolate these information and come to a conclusion whether we still need Greg Chappell..as a coach....
Reiterating my point.....Greg was keen and got all the four players who are experience personified - removed from the team on name of young blood to build a performing team...which we apparently failed miserably......
Friday, September 08, 2006
Under Production..coming soon
My brain child....my home page has been a long pending dream for me....this is not a page what people would think it would be....*just an account of the self*. alas....I always wanted this to be a personal style statement, a portal that would be synonymous to meeting me in person!!!!!..thats what I wanted to give for online readers as well....a personal touch!!!!!....
so never cared about venturing into one until now....coz of a couple of reasons
a) I never knew any web designing language...(that aint required..I know)....to get a worthy page done.....
b) I didnt find a suitable host (read as a free hosting server)...which had a decent domain name....which I was comfortable flashing to my friends.....and others...;-)
so...as usual..when u google for something....u get some useful but new info from google...that way google never fails to impress me....when I was googling for some google group info...I found this google pages...which is a free hosting domain ala...geocities....
so created a portal for myself with my gmail id and their page creator software was so cool, offbeat and intutive that it swept me offf my feet completely and I ended up funding a concept from my brain for my home page in about a half hour...yes that what the time it took for me to conceive the idea for my home page.....and I churned out four pages in no time...mind u ...my page has all text and no graphics.....:-))....thats what I am ...a plain human being...;-) ... needless to say...I chose this google guy just because those two reasons for my long wait were nullified...;-)
so by 2 hours...a decent page (atleast I feel it that way!!!!) was well under production...and i have had this web page running for close to 3 months..now....but without making it public...coz...its still *under production*.....
am doing some much needed post-production work for my page currently and one can see the announcement of my page online in my blog very soon.....
please do return to check (even otherwise, I wouldn't leave you to rest in peace!!!..I would bug u to look at my page and comment on it....;-)...so dont worry for want of information.....Main hoon na!!!!....) for my page address....and comment on the same....
Coming pretty soon to a browser that you have chosen !!!!
Thursday, August 31, 2006
feeling YUCK....:-)
have been using my buddy SuSE Linux at office for my desktop for the past two months...completely...and have beeen completely....completely.....happy...almost the kind of ideal world one would always want to be..no hanging of your apps....no restarts every day.....
and yes now....I am plugged in back into the matrix, into the gory reality of the real world one would never want to be in.....yes...I am forced to use Windows as my desktop due to a work area compulsion....and I knew clearly, where I belonged..... I am sorry...my arguement mind not sound even logical for some people....coz they are too deeprooted into the matrix world ala claws of Windows....that they dont even realize and dont want to realize that there is a real world that exists in complete freedom....:-)
I am sorry for those who are bonded...I can only pity for them and try to help them out...lest they dont get to know the better world....seriously...every application sucks memory and processor speed badly.....I am not that much of a geek to comment on these aspects... but still I feel a GNU/Linux system does this memory management in a much better and efficient way......wow...a Adobe reader sucks big time with a Windows XP machine, add a Microsoft Office product to compete with it and the perennial memory drainer Internet Explorer and you do a F3 to top it allll......you are ready to go for an extended tea session with your colleagues..coz u wouldn't lose any productivity at this rate of the processing in a windows system....:-)
anyways...dunno how long this harrowing experience is gonna continue for me.....but nevertheless....firefox is the familiar face and the saving grace for me even in this MATRIX....;-)
Cheers,
Rajesh
and yes now....I am plugged in back into the matrix, into the gory reality of the real world one would never want to be in.....yes...I am forced to use Windows as my desktop due to a work area compulsion....and I knew clearly, where I belonged..... I am sorry...my arguement mind not sound even logical for some people....coz they are too deeprooted into the matrix world ala claws of Windows....that they dont even realize and dont want to realize that there is a real world that exists in complete freedom....:-)
I am sorry for those who are bonded...I can only pity for them and try to help them out...lest they dont get to know the better world....seriously...every application sucks memory and processor speed badly.....I am not that much of a geek to comment on these aspects... but still I feel a GNU/Linux system does this memory management in a much better and efficient way......wow...a Adobe reader sucks big time with a Windows XP machine, add a Microsoft Office product to compete with it and the perennial memory drainer Internet Explorer and you do a F3 to top it allll......you are ready to go for an extended tea session with your colleagues..coz u wouldn't lose any productivity at this rate of the processing in a windows system....:-)
anyways...dunno how long this harrowing experience is gonna continue for me.....but nevertheless....firefox is the familiar face and the saving grace for me even in this MATRIX....;-)
Cheers,
Rajesh
Friday, August 25, 2006
Need a Universal Remote a la *CLICK*
If I should say, that I had an overwhelming experience with insatiable Ideology that I love...for two full days....and my Ideology compartment in my brain godown is flooded with ideals and their reasoning!!!..... It would be nothing short of a *gross* under statement!!!!...
wow....:-)...
Take this for what I feel now.....
a) to meet 100s of people who share my same ideology and much more...at a single place....
b) to talk about my passion....nonstop for two days as though that is the only reason for existence in life!!!!!
c) to meet people like Richard Stallman, Eben Moglen face-to-face and interact/talk with them in touching distance.....
d) to understand and get to know a whole new meaning of what I have been knowing for 3 years now....and see people applying it in practice already!!!!....
so one should be able to understand the state of hallucination I should be in currently!!!!
absolutely thrilled...!!!! ter se....:-)
If there were a way of pausing my world at this moment and relishing and spoiling myself in this hallucination....I would do before the next heartbeat of mine executes itself.....without battering my eyelid.....I mean seriously...such state of mind away from all the distracting thoughts one will have is hard to come by!!!!
Thanks a ton to FSF, India for organizing this wonderful hallucinating camp (atleast for me).....!!!!!!
P.S... I had been to the International GPL v3 conference, held in IIM, Bangalore, by the Free Software Foundation, India. for the last 2 days...this has evoked such string emotions from my reasoning space!!!....:-))
wow....:-)...
Take this for what I feel now.....
a) to meet 100s of people who share my same ideology and much more...at a single place....
b) to talk about my passion....nonstop for two days as though that is the only reason for existence in life!!!!!
c) to meet people like Richard Stallman, Eben Moglen face-to-face and interact/talk with them in touching distance.....
d) to understand and get to know a whole new meaning of what I have been knowing for 3 years now....and see people applying it in practice already!!!!....
so one should be able to understand the state of hallucination I should be in currently!!!!
absolutely thrilled...!!!! ter se....:-)
If there were a way of pausing my world at this moment and relishing and spoiling myself in this hallucination....I would do before the next heartbeat of mine executes itself.....without battering my eyelid.....I mean seriously...such state of mind away from all the distracting thoughts one will have is hard to come by!!!!
Thanks a ton to FSF, India for organizing this wonderful hallucinating camp (atleast for me).....!!!!!!
P.S... I had been to the International GPL v3 conference, held in IIM, Bangalore, by the Free Software Foundation, India. for the last 2 days...this has evoked such string emotions from my reasoning space!!!....:-))
Sunday, July 09, 2006
SMS ARR to 6363 for World Space Radio
not sure what this is all about???.....Its the news that AR Rahman is signed as the brand ambassdor for World Space Radio. So what's the new(s) about this is what even I thought!!!!..just another multi million dollar deal...I thought...:-)
But then on seeing the ad bit on TV, I was impressed..if I should cut short the expression....It was so synonymous with what ARR is all about...rarely does a brand and its ambassdor gel well with the central theme of the AD.
The AD goes something like this....ARR is seen to be walking towards the camera and poses some probing questions like "what is music??"...and stuff...and a montage of visuals brush our senses...with some inquisitive music to aid it....and ARR suggests a way to realise the music in everybody..that is through World Space Radio....
I felt it was a wonderfully and aesthetically made ad campaign....
World Space has hit a jackpot with this campaign and they would surely reap the benefits for this....
:-)
But then on seeing the ad bit on TV, I was impressed..if I should cut short the expression....It was so synonymous with what ARR is all about...rarely does a brand and its ambassdor gel well with the central theme of the AD.
The AD goes something like this....ARR is seen to be walking towards the camera and poses some probing questions like "what is music??"...and stuff...and a montage of visuals brush our senses...with some inquisitive music to aid it....and ARR suggests a way to realise the music in everybody..that is through World Space Radio....
I felt it was a wonderfully and aesthetically made ad campaign....
World Space has hit a jackpot with this campaign and they would surely reap the benefits for this....
:-)
Corporate - A movie review
Saw Page 3 and was completely impressed by this technician called Madhur Bhandarkar...and decided that day that I will keep a tab on this guy's movies...and here I am with the review of his next offering CORPORATE.....and you know why I like this guy's movies??? its just because he strips the hell out of reality and shows the world in its bad gory...and I have always adored people who make realistic movies...and without a choice I have started liking these Madhur Bandarkar movies.....:-)
He is on target the second time around as well...albeit this time with a different story board....
The story is about corporate bigwigs - two in number....who want to outnumber one another in the number game called profit and thats the bottomline and they are ready to goto any extent to get their numbers intact...and what it does to a passive onlooker and her life....
Business people, though not publicly would appreciate this movie's realism and I am sure anybody in the business world would have done something or the other as shown in the movie...there is no escapade....as the director has brought almost everything a corporate bigwig would do to keep things moving....
The screenplay was neat and crisp....dialogoues a strong point in the movie...It was a clean movie through out...true to its objective....nothing much to crib about...Madhur Bhandarkar has meant business and has done that to perfection...I wonder what he is upto the third time ????
All the actors...have done their bit...it looks like the director and the story extracts the best out of every actor...and thats true with this movie....even the two office-boys who keep peeping into the story every now and then seem to have done an appreciable job..:-)
Bipasha Basu...excels in her role of a corporate lady....doesn't look one bit the Bipasha we know...credits to the crew for that...removing that big an image out of a supermodel like Bips is a thing in itself...her attire needs a mention...any corporate female would love to slip into any of those ALLEN SOLLY robes....they look awesome....:-) that too on Bipasha!!!!
Rajat Kapoor and all the main characters have done their best and it shows in the movie....If u r a bollywood movie fan...u might find it hard to digest the superlative content the movie has to offer....If u liked Page 3, u definetely are going to have a treat for your senses with CORPORATE....
profitable 2 hours 45 minutes for the maker...he must be smiling all the way to the bankers...is what I predict....so what up for the hat-trick delivery Mr.Madhur Bhandarkar ????
He is on target the second time around as well...albeit this time with a different story board....
The story is about corporate bigwigs - two in number....who want to outnumber one another in the number game called profit and thats the bottomline and they are ready to goto any extent to get their numbers intact...and what it does to a passive onlooker and her life....
Business people, though not publicly would appreciate this movie's realism and I am sure anybody in the business world would have done something or the other as shown in the movie...there is no escapade....as the director has brought almost everything a corporate bigwig would do to keep things moving....
The screenplay was neat and crisp....dialogoues a strong point in the movie...It was a clean movie through out...true to its objective....nothing much to crib about...Madhur Bhandarkar has meant business and has done that to perfection...I wonder what he is upto the third time ????
All the actors...have done their bit...it looks like the director and the story extracts the best out of every actor...and thats true with this movie....even the two office-boys who keep peeping into the story every now and then seem to have done an appreciable job..:-)
Bipasha Basu...excels in her role of a corporate lady....doesn't look one bit the Bipasha we know...credits to the crew for that...removing that big an image out of a supermodel like Bips is a thing in itself...her attire needs a mention...any corporate female would love to slip into any of those ALLEN SOLLY robes....they look awesome....:-) that too on Bipasha!!!!
Rajat Kapoor and all the main characters have done their best and it shows in the movie....If u r a bollywood movie fan...u might find it hard to digest the superlative content the movie has to offer....If u liked Page 3, u definetely are going to have a treat for your senses with CORPORATE....
profitable 2 hours 45 minutes for the maker...he must be smiling all the way to the bankers...is what I predict....so what up for the hat-trick delivery Mr.Madhur Bhandarkar ????
Friday, June 30, 2006
Superman Returns - A movie review
Have been quite busy all this week....I am moving out of wipro..so had a lot of formalities...to complete...but nevertheless...I did what I love the most...watch a movie...and here I am with my opinion of the movie!!! Return of the Superman...:-)
A long awaited movie...sure...has the elements of Fantasy stories...to take it far into the levels of X-men and Spiderman...but somewhere in between lacks the killer punch that would star-bolt such movies to famedom....
Yeah...I was kind of disappointed after the movie...no strong script presence...and it rains super heroistic scenes in Superman Returns at regular intervals...and thats it to marvel about in the movie....
I am still wondering and cant come to an understanding for all the logical reasoning that I learnt!!!...why on earth hollywood movies are trying to be bollywood-ish, while all our life-time we want to emulate hollywood-ish style of making superlative movies....
Its just not about Superman...even MI 3 gave more than a subtle hint of this stance...."too much of a sentiment" is not a safe ingredient for such action movies....because the protagonist starts acting according to his feeling instead of acting according to his thinking.... which hampers whatever left-over logic in the script
Superman Returns also suffers due to this predicament....why on earth do u want so much of dialogue in a superman movie....I am sorry...I felt the movie lacked direction in the literal sense....there is so much of potential for such movies to provide over-the-earth entertainment...and I am at dismay when they say 100 crores is the cost for the movie which had at the most 10 powerful fantasy scenes....why????
Brandon Routh defintely looks alike Christopher Reeve...but the Kent character was grossly under-developed....which was sad...:-(...
Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor was the only saving grace for the movie....on the acting front I should say...he was "magnificent"...if I should use only one word...:-)...real refresher of a role...after a long time...the big baddie is also a baldie in the movie...that adds the excitement to the sketch...:-)
the computer graphics really looked childish at places...according to Hollywood standards....particularly the scenes when Lex Luthor would launch a piece of Kryptonite onto the ocean aboard a ship looked unprofessionally graphical for a hollywood movie....what happened to the CGI we see in Hollywood movies??? I felt sorry for the movie....it was like watching an Indian movie...considering and giving due respects to the budgetary shackles for an Indian film....:-)
All these cribbing apart..did the movie have anything worthy..??? if that's what is ur next question....u have an answer....YES...the movie has some bright moments as well....the sound effects and the excitement in the fantasy scenes are too good...and just super-enjoyable....thats what one goes for in a superman movie....so please provide more of those...from now on atleast...:-)
Over all verdict would be : Superman doesn't do the Krrish act!!! KRRISH was much better on the merit of a better script and story to tell....I wonder what Krrish could have achieved with all the bucks that are at the disposal of a Hollywood director....will we ever graduate there???
A long awaited movie...sure...has the elements of Fantasy stories...to take it far into the levels of X-men and Spiderman...but somewhere in between lacks the killer punch that would star-bolt such movies to famedom....
Yeah...I was kind of disappointed after the movie...no strong script presence...and it rains super heroistic scenes in Superman Returns at regular intervals...and thats it to marvel about in the movie....
I am still wondering and cant come to an understanding for all the logical reasoning that I learnt!!!...why on earth hollywood movies are trying to be bollywood-ish, while all our life-time we want to emulate hollywood-ish style of making superlative movies....
Its just not about Superman...even MI 3 gave more than a subtle hint of this stance...."too much of a sentiment" is not a safe ingredient for such action movies....because the protagonist starts acting according to his feeling instead of acting according to his thinking.... which hampers whatever left-over logic in the script
Superman Returns also suffers due to this predicament....why on earth do u want so much of dialogue in a superman movie....I am sorry...I felt the movie lacked direction in the literal sense....there is so much of potential for such movies to provide over-the-earth entertainment...and I am at dismay when they say 100 crores is the cost for the movie which had at the most 10 powerful fantasy scenes....why????
Brandon Routh defintely looks alike Christopher Reeve...but the Kent character was grossly under-developed....which was sad...:-(...
Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor was the only saving grace for the movie....on the acting front I should say...he was "magnificent"...if I should use only one word...:-)...real refresher of a role...after a long time...the big baddie is also a baldie in the movie...that adds the excitement to the sketch...:-)
the computer graphics really looked childish at places...according to Hollywood standards....particularly the scenes when Lex Luthor would launch a piece of Kryptonite onto the ocean aboard a ship looked unprofessionally graphical for a hollywood movie....what happened to the CGI we see in Hollywood movies??? I felt sorry for the movie....it was like watching an Indian movie...considering and giving due respects to the budgetary shackles for an Indian film....:-)
All these cribbing apart..did the movie have anything worthy..??? if that's what is ur next question....u have an answer....YES...the movie has some bright moments as well....the sound effects and the excitement in the fantasy scenes are too good...and just super-enjoyable....thats what one goes for in a superman movie....so please provide more of those...from now on atleast...:-)
Over all verdict would be : Superman doesn't do the Krrish act!!! KRRISH was much better on the merit of a better script and story to tell....I wonder what Krrish could have achieved with all the bucks that are at the disposal of a Hollywood director....will we ever graduate there???
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Krrish - A movie review
Just came back after watching Krrish (First Day First Show) !!!
One Liner - Krrish 2 should come to satiate the half-filled expectations...
Krrish is a very very good movie...a clean movie in Indian standards...can even be called a cross-over movie...in the true sense...the huge bucks that have been invested haven't gone waste...:-)..yes...the technical brilliance of the movie is a cornerstone...though the visual effects were cartoonish at a couple of places!!
The Rakesh Roshan family has clicked the third time in a row...I should say!!! Krrish is a clean sequel to Koi Mil Gaya....
The biggest drawback of the movie...could be the fact that....KRRISH was touted to be a superman-ish character.....a fantasy one...but the movie doesn't do the needed justice to establish his credentials...as staunch as a hollywood movie would do....Agreed there are many scenes were he saves lifes and does hara-kiri...but the plot is more sentimental than fantasy material....thats one place where people will get disappointed...not for what it offers...but what people wanted it to offer.....but on account of pure merit of what the movie offers....it is bound to succeed with Indian audiences. Atleast the movie still seems Indian..which is its strong point I would say!!!
Onto the plot...
Krishna Mehra is the prodigy child of Rohit Mehra (from Koi Mil Gaya), who seems to have inherited supernatural powers from his father....albeit looking normal (unlike his father)...lives in isolation mainly due to the precaution taken by his grandmother Rekha (also from KMG). Dashes onto save Priyanka Chopra(Priya) on her Indian holiday....and befriends her and also promptly falls for her charm....which is returned from Priyanka Chopra as well...and the plot moves onto Singapore, where Priya resides...not before Rekha dusts the past - of what happened after the movie Koi Mil Gaya and before Krrish - before us and Krishna....and he vows not to use his powers lest his identity be revealed.....Come Singapore and his supreme powers are wanted at various places...and he becomes KRRISH, the masked saviour...(which has to be the way out in such movies)....some interesting scenes in this build-up of the character... and in comes the badman- akin to Hollywood movies...Naseerudin Shah...and his wicked plans to be the saviour of the world....which are leaked out by his security officer...which lead to some interesting scenes and to the climax, when Krrish flexes his muscles...and all ends well...
So how does the movie fare??? Actually very well done ...screenplay ...very natural at places... music gels well with the movie...direction...as much as is required...could have been better was the reaction at places...character sketches are ample and well developed and everything is natural for this fantasy film...which is very surprsing...doesn't look like a contorted story line trying to drive in some crazy facts...with unbelievable sick screenplay.....so in sum...a very good film for the family audience...
On to the characters....
Hritik Roshan as the protagonist of the movie...gets FULL MARKS for his emoting...action sequences..dance...all in all one of the most worthy hero material currently in Indian cinema...would love to see such movies of hritik like the hollywood flicks....the naiveness and the controlled emotions he shows in India and singapore...are really well captured by the director...the flying stunts he does gel well with physique...which is a great plus...for the movie...Dance...ahhh...hritik is godly at this...it comes so naturally to him...it looks like Prabhu Deva in hritik's physique...amazing movements..which makes the group dancers pale in comparison..which is a rarity for heros..:-)
Priyanka Chopra does her role perfectly as required...but infact has some acting to do...which she manages well....but she looks gorgoeus on screen..a major plus for the movie...:-)
Naseerudin Shah looks classy and perfectly fits the witty villian role...much like the baddies of Hollywood...I really enjoyed his performance...every bit of his nonchalant acting...Great!!!
Rekha - she ceases to amaze...and does what is required of her....
other characters dont drag and are short and crisp....
No major logical flaws in such a fantasy movie...is a creditable task in itself!!! The movie seems to be stuck between Hollywood and Bollywood...and it is evident that there has been some confusion in the mind of the director..to go which way....coz the movie has the liberty to go the hollywood way..but risking away from bollywood ways maybe suicidal for the success of the movie..which is bound to happen for any experimental cinema...and Krrish passes the experimental phase...and is bound to succeed according to me...if you remove the superman-expectations out of the movie...You have SUPERMAN that RETURNS next week (30th June) to the theatres!!!!
I would preferably expect KRRISH 2, to see the exploits of Krishna Mehra in saving the world(remember Neo does things effortlessly once he comes THE ONE in part 2...something like that..!!)...which would definetely be welcomed by Indian audiences....Are the ROSHANS hearing????
VERDICT : 4 out of 5 (coz KRRISH 2 is awaited)
One Liner - Krrish 2 should come to satiate the half-filled expectations...
Krrish is a very very good movie...a clean movie in Indian standards...can even be called a cross-over movie...in the true sense...the huge bucks that have been invested haven't gone waste...:-)..yes...the technical brilliance of the movie is a cornerstone...though the visual effects were cartoonish at a couple of places!!
The Rakesh Roshan family has clicked the third time in a row...I should say!!! Krrish is a clean sequel to Koi Mil Gaya....
The biggest drawback of the movie...could be the fact that....KRRISH was touted to be a superman-ish character.....a fantasy one...but the movie doesn't do the needed justice to establish his credentials...as staunch as a hollywood movie would do....Agreed there are many scenes were he saves lifes and does hara-kiri...but the plot is more sentimental than fantasy material....thats one place where people will get disappointed...not for what it offers...but what people wanted it to offer.....but on account of pure merit of what the movie offers....it is bound to succeed with Indian audiences. Atleast the movie still seems Indian..which is its strong point I would say!!!
Onto the plot...
Krishna Mehra is the prodigy child of Rohit Mehra (from Koi Mil Gaya), who seems to have inherited supernatural powers from his father....albeit looking normal (unlike his father)...lives in isolation mainly due to the precaution taken by his grandmother Rekha (also from KMG). Dashes onto save Priyanka Chopra(Priya) on her Indian holiday....and befriends her and also promptly falls for her charm....which is returned from Priyanka Chopra as well...and the plot moves onto Singapore, where Priya resides...not before Rekha dusts the past - of what happened after the movie Koi Mil Gaya and before Krrish - before us and Krishna....and he vows not to use his powers lest his identity be revealed.....Come Singapore and his supreme powers are wanted at various places...and he becomes KRRISH, the masked saviour...(which has to be the way out in such movies)....some interesting scenes in this build-up of the character... and in comes the badman- akin to Hollywood movies...Naseerudin Shah...and his wicked plans to be the saviour of the world....which are leaked out by his security officer...which lead to some interesting scenes and to the climax, when Krrish flexes his muscles...and all ends well...
So how does the movie fare??? Actually very well done ...screenplay ...very natural at places... music gels well with the movie...direction...as much as is required...could have been better was the reaction at places...character sketches are ample and well developed and everything is natural for this fantasy film...which is very surprsing...doesn't look like a contorted story line trying to drive in some crazy facts...with unbelievable sick screenplay.....so in sum...a very good film for the family audience...
On to the characters....
Hritik Roshan as the protagonist of the movie...gets FULL MARKS for his emoting...action sequences..dance...all in all one of the most worthy hero material currently in Indian cinema...would love to see such movies of hritik like the hollywood flicks....the naiveness and the controlled emotions he shows in India and singapore...are really well captured by the director...the flying stunts he does gel well with physique...which is a great plus...for the movie...Dance...ahhh...hritik is godly at this...it comes so naturally to him...it looks like Prabhu Deva in hritik's physique...amazing movements..which makes the group dancers pale in comparison..which is a rarity for heros..:-)
Priyanka Chopra does her role perfectly as required...but infact has some acting to do...which she manages well....but she looks gorgoeus on screen..a major plus for the movie...:-)
Naseerudin Shah looks classy and perfectly fits the witty villian role...much like the baddies of Hollywood...I really enjoyed his performance...every bit of his nonchalant acting...Great!!!
Rekha - she ceases to amaze...and does what is required of her....
other characters dont drag and are short and crisp....
No major logical flaws in such a fantasy movie...is a creditable task in itself!!! The movie seems to be stuck between Hollywood and Bollywood...and it is evident that there has been some confusion in the mind of the director..to go which way....coz the movie has the liberty to go the hollywood way..but risking away from bollywood ways maybe suicidal for the success of the movie..which is bound to happen for any experimental cinema...and Krrish passes the experimental phase...and is bound to succeed according to me...if you remove the superman-expectations out of the movie...You have SUPERMAN that RETURNS next week (30th June) to the theatres!!!!
I would preferably expect KRRISH 2, to see the exploits of Krishna Mehra in saving the world(remember Neo does things effortlessly once he comes THE ONE in part 2...something like that..!!)...which would definetely be welcomed by Indian audiences....Are the ROSHANS hearing????
VERDICT : 4 out of 5 (coz KRRISH 2 is awaited)
Friday, June 23, 2006
The career called Modelling
I just finished reading this helluva weblog....it is about models and the nemesis of drugs...and other related problems....I found it enlightening and worth sharing with others...who might not have read this!!! So here it is..jus follow the link..and u shd be enlightened!!!
Rashmi Bansal - Behind Pretty Pictures
Rashmi Bansal - Behind Pretty Pictures
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Open Source obsession
People around me, know this better...my interests in writing are on par with my obsession with anything that can be called - Open Source - in the true sense...
Open Source - what it means to me and how it emanates from the Analytical Reasoning section of my brain reads as follows....just to clear the misconception (that they have never doubted) people have about open source !!!
"a whole new approach to transparent and clean source code development which is *free* to use/modify/publish and when one means free, it is free as in 'free'dom. There is a very smart licensing mechanism to safeguard the interests and foster faith in people who are into this aspect of software development. This makes a very interesting proposition for people to move to this domain, free from the shackles of proprietary domain. One does not necessarily *code* to get into this world....there are a wide range of things one can choose to contribute as. In this open world...every single person is an important entity in this system. From the end-user who embraces and evangelizes open source, to the people who contribute to the development of the open source movement in one way or the other form a focal point hard to ignore...and the astounding aspect is that every person out of this system gets recognized and credited for the contribution, which makes one crave for more contribution....It is a win-win situation for every one around...such an ideal world is hard to believe but harder to live without.... particularily when the propreitary world's threat is consuming monstrous proportions for both business & personal users alike"
ok...I am not sure if one can follow that...not that it is too abstract...just that it was too wordy according to me...so try taking these in the place of the above one...
"A world where one gets to use software applications free of cost and one can change the way things work with the software, if one wills to and give it back to the society and help build a better world to live in"
And this bug bit me three years back and I got hooked on to opensource as a part of my work...when I started to use Linux as the OS of choice...and my colleagues though they were aware of the open source aspects of Linux...weren't too interested in this avenue...they saw Linux more as a powerful way to combat Microsoft....but then I went on to understand that Linux was just the tip of the iceberg called Open Source...there are so many things that open source consists of. Just that Linux acts as the most popular pupil of this talented master..!!!
More than getting into Linux, and becoming a geek, I was more interested in this Open source aspect of this thingy....and started exploring this and was pleasantly surprised to find that there are so many things to Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS), than just Linux...and that's what interested me most....
Coupled with the forceful nature of my other workplace..to use M$ software....I went further against the advocacy of the Redmond based Software giant's products.... and am still tuned to this...
so get to the end of this with this tag-line...(just reproducing some popular quote...definetely not credited to me!!!!)
"Get Liberated!! Reach the Source !!!"
Doesn't it sound philosophical and MATRIX-ian...yeah that's the beauty of open source...it syncs with so many other ideological things other than just source code!!!!
Open Source - what it means to me and how it emanates from the Analytical Reasoning section of my brain reads as follows....just to clear the misconception (that they have never doubted) people have about open source !!!
"a whole new approach to transparent and clean source code development which is *free* to use/modify/publish and when one means free, it is free as in 'free'dom. There is a very smart licensing mechanism to safeguard the interests and foster faith in people who are into this aspect of software development. This makes a very interesting proposition for people to move to this domain, free from the shackles of proprietary domain. One does not necessarily *code* to get into this world....there are a wide range of things one can choose to contribute as. In this open world...every single person is an important entity in this system. From the end-user who embraces and evangelizes open source, to the people who contribute to the development of the open source movement in one way or the other form a focal point hard to ignore...and the astounding aspect is that every person out of this system gets recognized and credited for the contribution, which makes one crave for more contribution....It is a win-win situation for every one around...such an ideal world is hard to believe but harder to live without.... particularily when the propreitary world's threat is consuming monstrous proportions for both business & personal users alike"
ok...I am not sure if one can follow that...not that it is too abstract...just that it was too wordy according to me...so try taking these in the place of the above one...
"A world where one gets to use software applications free of cost and one can change the way things work with the software, if one wills to and give it back to the society and help build a better world to live in"
And this bug bit me three years back and I got hooked on to opensource as a part of my work...when I started to use Linux as the OS of choice...and my colleagues though they were aware of the open source aspects of Linux...weren't too interested in this avenue...they saw Linux more as a powerful way to combat Microsoft....but then I went on to understand that Linux was just the tip of the iceberg called Open Source...there are so many things that open source consists of. Just that Linux acts as the most popular pupil of this talented master..!!!
More than getting into Linux, and becoming a geek, I was more interested in this Open source aspect of this thingy....and started exploring this and was pleasantly surprised to find that there are so many things to Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS), than just Linux...and that's what interested me most....
Coupled with the forceful nature of my other workplace..to use M$ software....I went further against the advocacy of the Redmond based Software giant's products.... and am still tuned to this...
so get to the end of this with this tag-line...(just reproducing some popular quote...definetely not credited to me!!!!)
"Get Liberated!! Reach the Source !!!"
Doesn't it sound philosophical and MATRIX-ian...yeah that's the beauty of open source...it syncs with so many other ideological things other than just source code!!!!
A new Me - the alter blogger
Yes...I should call this post that way only....!!! This blog has been online since december 2004 and I started this outlet system only to satiate my other interests than work....and have been pretty faithful with that ideology( I have never mixed my mainstream life with this exciting life) until today morning...when things seemed to have changed suddenly in a couple of hours!!!!
I have never written about my professional life, nor what I do other than blogging and reviewing movies...!!!! I *work*...as a software professional....a 'grist of the mill' stuff that I produce......nothing great!!! but nevertheless I can contribute something and have already - to the fraternity that I am part of....I wish to share that part of me as well, beginning from today...so you should be able to see a mixed bag of things that I will write on ...something relating to the IT fraternity as well, that I belong to...bread-and-butter stuff for me!!!
I have never written about my professional life, nor what I do other than blogging and reviewing movies...!!!! I *work*...as a software professional....a 'grist of the mill' stuff that I produce......nothing great!!! but nevertheless I can contribute something and have already - to the fraternity that I am part of....I wish to share that part of me as well, beginning from today...so you should be able to see a mixed bag of things that I will write on ...something relating to the IT fraternity as well, that I belong to...bread-and-butter stuff for me!!!
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Krrish - A Curtain Raiser
One of the most eagerly awaited Indian movies of 2006, this Krrish. Yep...as you would have heard by now, this is a sequel to the runaway hit "Koi Mil Gaya". Hritik Roshan sports the superman-ish character that one usually associates with Hollywood...and supposedly this is India's answer to Superman/Spiderman series...and I believe, if this succeeds (which I hope it should)...dont be surprised if you see sequels to this guy...like Krrish -2 !!!...because, if this fantasy is to the liking of the people of India...there is no reason such things shd not continue...and all that depends on the technical wizardy the movie can offer...coz...though Indian in the make, we would always match this movie with its hollywood brothers...as there is no benchmark Indian film for comparing this!!!..so hopes run high for this film...
last week I saw a spot on Vijay TV's MTP (Mathan's Thirai Parvai)...some exclusive shots of the movie's shoots in Singapore...they are looking cool and pep up the interest in the movie...Songs have become Hits already...so there's national interest in the movie I should say...(Tamil and Telugu versions are also getting released simultaneously)...
atleast I am ready for the movie...much like I expect any Shankar movie...this one's generated tremendous interest in me/public....
I hope for a super hit for Hritik...for the poor guy has put his heart and soul into the character...and seems to have paid off...he certainly looks like a super hero...when we can accept a petite, Toby Maguire as Spiderman...Hritik will definitely sell as Krissh....:-)
last week I saw a spot on Vijay TV's MTP (Mathan's Thirai Parvai)...some exclusive shots of the movie's shoots in Singapore...they are looking cool and pep up the interest in the movie...Songs have become Hits already...so there's national interest in the movie I should say...(Tamil and Telugu versions are also getting released simultaneously)...
atleast I am ready for the movie...much like I expect any Shankar movie...this one's generated tremendous interest in me/public....
I hope for a super hit for Hritik...for the poor guy has put his heart and soul into the character...and seems to have paid off...he certainly looks like a super hero...when we can accept a petite, Toby Maguire as Spiderman...Hritik will definitely sell as Krissh....:-)
Thursday, June 15, 2006
1000 Hits!!!
My Blog hit the coveted landmark of 1000 HITS just moments ago...and you know what my blog is listed as the first hit against my "name" search in google...which wasn't the case till sometime back..:-)...
So these two events have made my day!!!!....today
Thanks for everyone who visited my blog!!...I am not sure if anybody reads everything...except me...:-D...but atleast they visit...and know the existence of such a thing!!!....to begin with I am happy!!!...
Thanks again!!!!
So these two events have made my day!!!!....today
Thanks for everyone who visited my blog!!...I am not sure if anybody reads everything...except me...:-D...but atleast they visit...and know the existence of such a thing!!!....to begin with I am happy!!!...
Thanks again!!!!
Mission : Impossible : III - A Movie Review
ok...another MI movie....in 12 years...yes MI movies are made once in 6 years...:-)...just that much for the movie's credit...
You could be crazy to expect great storyline kinda stuff in such sequels...and as Murphy's SSS law states..."Sequels Seldom Succeed"....this one would cling on to word "Seldom" ...and will succeed, though not great in MI terms..:-)...
The movie...opens up with a clever screenplay of showing the climax and pepping up the audience...good... Philip Seymour Hoffman...is non-chalant in his ruthlessness...which is a great, great addition to the thrill factor in all the interrogation scenes between tom and the big baddie....actually, philip looks more "Ashish Vidyarthi-ish" ...than like a hollywood character....!!!
The familiar MI tune, is orchestrated very well...but I felt some variance to the tune, would have pepped up the background score...I wonder, what majic AR Rahman could have done to the solid base of the MI tune....I was disappointed at places with the background score...:-(..definetely ARR fares better...!!!
The story: Ethan Hunt is about to get married, and inbetween, he has to go to berlin to rescue a Intelligence agent of their group...takes off in a troupe of 4 people...a helluva techie gizmos and fundas intact...they trace the whereabouts and enter into the building without a problem!!!! and almost rescue the agent, alas...they find that she is injected with a detonator...and amidst a Helicopter chasing sequence, she dies...:-)...looks familiar for any bollywood, kollywood fan!!!... then he comes back home, marries his love, offbeat, and he finds a parcel for him from the dead agent, which reveals blatant secrets that his higher office is behind saving the baddie... and he travels to Rome to kidnap the baddie...does that to perfection...and enroute... the echelons of power take away the baddie typical to bollywood fashion and then Ethan Hunt is led to China...where his wife is kept as hostage...the baddie gives him a time race of getting the coveted target lest his wife gets killed...akin to our Vijayakanth's movies.....and it is a sentimental-cum-duty thing that he must accomplish...and guess what he accomplishes after some hungama in the climax...much like our kollywood heros....and SUBHAM at the end...:-)
So every indian knows and has seen hundreds of cop movies of this sort..and infact..if this was given to some Perarasu / KS Ravikumar, the movie would be much, much better....the only cushion this director had was, he was directing a big-time hollywood movie...and millions of bucks to back him up!!!! Pathetic is the word I can find for a ploy in the screenplay at the following instant "Just to say Tom Cruise can do efficient lip-reading during an important point of the movie...Inserted was a scene to tell people that he could lip-read, intruding in a Womens-only small talk by lip-reading over the glass window" This is schoolboyish screenplay, not expected/acceptable in hollywood movies of this big a stature...There are hundreds of subtler ways to tug in this info into the movie plot. There are too many drag scenes between Tom and his girl friend/wife..which is unwarranted for MI movies but needed for the senti-part of the movie...this is where you can figure out why Hollywood movies always outshine Indian movies...whenever indian movies harp on sentiment, a drag is imminent in the plot, which MI-3 couldn't avert, because it was much like an Indian Masala...:-)
....All said and done, the captain of this MI3 hasn't been unbearable...there were moments of brilliance and swift action...which definetely needs appreciation....particularily the vatican episode...was fantastic...the least to say...the screenplay was beautiful and crisp...every scene asthetically shot...I loved every moment of it...the berlin scenes were good...very good excitement...adrenalin starts rising in those scenes...but the same can't be associated with the Shangai scenes except for the tower-to-tower swinging!!!!...wow...what excitement it was...:-). The climax for such a built-up movie...should have been more exciting...thats the rule for such movies...and then both the baddies were knocked off in the most uncharacteristic fashion...TOM CRUISE not involved in both!!! Not acceptable!!!
On to the cast....
Philip Seymour Hoffman as the baddie has done justice to whatever has been offered to him...just a few scenes....the same as Lawrence Fishburne...both of these star actors have been grossly under utilized and their characters could have been better developed....no fault of theirs!!!The heroine of the movie was "yuck"...no real character depth, nor screen presence for the actor...I was unimpressed by the selection for the top-babe....but Maggie Q and the other agent in Berlin were much better...and their roles and emotion were far better...:-) Ving Rhames was seriously funny at times...out of this, there isn't much of any real character worth mentioning...!!
Overall Verdict would : Good..but could have been much, much better if the plot was lil less sentimental...there's the lesson Cruise/Wagner production should learn from...:-(
You could be crazy to expect great storyline kinda stuff in such sequels...and as Murphy's SSS law states..."Sequels Seldom Succeed"....this one would cling on to word "Seldom" ...and will succeed, though not great in MI terms..:-)...
The movie...opens up with a clever screenplay of showing the climax and pepping up the audience...good... Philip Seymour Hoffman...is non-chalant in his ruthlessness...which is a great, great addition to the thrill factor in all the interrogation scenes between tom and the big baddie....actually, philip looks more "Ashish Vidyarthi-ish" ...than like a hollywood character....!!!
The familiar MI tune, is orchestrated very well...but I felt some variance to the tune, would have pepped up the background score...I wonder, what majic AR Rahman could have done to the solid base of the MI tune....I was disappointed at places with the background score...:-(..definetely ARR fares better...!!!
The story: Ethan Hunt is about to get married, and inbetween, he has to go to berlin to rescue a Intelligence agent of their group...takes off in a troupe of 4 people...a helluva techie gizmos and fundas intact...they trace the whereabouts and enter into the building without a problem!!!! and almost rescue the agent, alas...they find that she is injected with a detonator...and amidst a Helicopter chasing sequence, she dies...:-)...looks familiar for any bollywood, kollywood fan!!!... then he comes back home, marries his love, offbeat, and he finds a parcel for him from the dead agent, which reveals blatant secrets that his higher office is behind saving the baddie... and he travels to Rome to kidnap the baddie...does that to perfection...and enroute... the echelons of power take away the baddie typical to bollywood fashion and then Ethan Hunt is led to China...where his wife is kept as hostage...the baddie gives him a time race of getting the coveted target lest his wife gets killed...akin to our Vijayakanth's movies.....and it is a sentimental-cum-duty thing that he must accomplish...and guess what he accomplishes after some hungama in the climax...much like our kollywood heros....and SUBHAM at the end...:-)
So every indian knows and has seen hundreds of cop movies of this sort..and infact..if this was given to some Perarasu / KS Ravikumar, the movie would be much, much better....the only cushion this director had was, he was directing a big-time hollywood movie...and millions of bucks to back him up!!!! Pathetic is the word I can find for a ploy in the screenplay at the following instant "Just to say Tom Cruise can do efficient lip-reading during an important point of the movie...Inserted was a scene to tell people that he could lip-read, intruding in a Womens-only small talk by lip-reading over the glass window" This is schoolboyish screenplay, not expected/acceptable in hollywood movies of this big a stature...There are hundreds of subtler ways to tug in this info into the movie plot. There are too many drag scenes between Tom and his girl friend/wife..which is unwarranted for MI movies but needed for the senti-part of the movie...this is where you can figure out why Hollywood movies always outshine Indian movies...whenever indian movies harp on sentiment, a drag is imminent in the plot, which MI-3 couldn't avert, because it was much like an Indian Masala...:-)
....All said and done, the captain of this MI3 hasn't been unbearable...there were moments of brilliance and swift action...which definetely needs appreciation....particularily the vatican episode...was fantastic...the least to say...the screenplay was beautiful and crisp...every scene asthetically shot...I loved every moment of it...the berlin scenes were good...very good excitement...adrenalin starts rising in those scenes...but the same can't be associated with the Shangai scenes except for the tower-to-tower swinging!!!!...wow...what excitement it was...:-). The climax for such a built-up movie...should have been more exciting...thats the rule for such movies...and then both the baddies were knocked off in the most uncharacteristic fashion...TOM CRUISE not involved in both!!! Not acceptable!!!
On to the cast....
Philip Seymour Hoffman as the baddie has done justice to whatever has been offered to him...just a few scenes....the same as Lawrence Fishburne...both of these star actors have been grossly under utilized and their characters could have been better developed....no fault of theirs!!!The heroine of the movie was "yuck"...no real character depth, nor screen presence for the actor...I was unimpressed by the selection for the top-babe....but Maggie Q and the other agent in Berlin were much better...and their roles and emotion were far better...:-) Ving Rhames was seriously funny at times...out of this, there isn't much of any real character worth mentioning...!!
Overall Verdict would : Good..but could have been much, much better if the plot was lil less sentimental...there's the lesson Cruise/Wagner production should learn from...:-(
Monday, June 12, 2006
Eventful June till now!!
June first week - This went off for me in movies on all alternate days!!! (fri, sun, tue, thur).... davinci code a couple of times, X-Men 3 and Pudhupettai all in PVR...plus a friend's farewell, so nothing else could I think off...
June second week - My sister's wedding, the first major function in my family!! Me, was the most important person in the wedding after the bride and bridegroom ( because of the rituals we have in our religion) so was completely busy the whole week!!!....It went off very well...and we are happy with the way the week passed off...a very eventful week and a very memorable one at that!!!!..will never forget the week in my life time!!...
June third week - just now clearing the backlog of all the blogs that I usuallly read...and some more orkutting... and some work if time permits....so my week is full!!!....
Lets see what's in store for the Fourth Week of June - I will complete 3 years of work officially during this week....I am getting older...my receeding hair line is a proof for that!!!...
June second week - My sister's wedding, the first major function in my family!! Me, was the most important person in the wedding after the bride and bridegroom ( because of the rituals we have in our religion) so was completely busy the whole week!!!....It went off very well...and we are happy with the way the week passed off...a very eventful week and a very memorable one at that!!!!..will never forget the week in my life time!!...
June third week - just now clearing the backlog of all the blogs that I usuallly read...and some more orkutting... and some work if time permits....so my week is full!!!....
Lets see what's in store for the Fourth Week of June - I will complete 3 years of work officially during this week....I am getting older...my receeding hair line is a proof for that!!!...
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Orkutting (verb)
Like all the populistic, geekism propelled lingo, the latest entrant also earns respect among the nerds/geeks of today...
Orkutt ing (V.) - to connect with friends (long lost or otherwise); networking
I have been in orkut for quite some time, but haven't used it as much as I have used in the last week. I have also been with Hi5, another way of friend networking, but could benefit, because, I didnt have anybody to network with...and also because orkut was using gmail IDs then, when not many were having gmail IDs..now gmail id has more or less become like a household thing, so that has as well propelled things to new levels... Though orkut isn't a messenger, it is much more than the messenger thingie....
I am able to see a huge network of people from the time I started to till now...wow..so many people, unimaginable...the beauty of this thingie is that even if you hang out with this orkut for hours together, you never get bored...which I found yesterday after spending close to 7 hours in Orkut..:-)...
Orkut is fast becoming the Google of Personal Information Networking Industry...there seems to be a community for virtually everything on earth, much like getting a search result from Google for almost anything under the sun and over the moon...
I see literally everybody using it...Its like this...even if you have an MSN ID and your friend also has one, you still tend to use Yahoo for instant messaging, because you can network to a wider gamut of the society if you have Yahoo... Orkut is synonymous to what I said just now...because everybody is already onto orkut...Hi5 and others will find it difficult to catch up....
The best part is orkut is as fast a using an intranet page, it never feels like internet portal...A note of appreciation is due to the adminstrators of this wonder thing...:-)
ok...time to check my scraps again...c yaa in orkut....
Happy orkutting!!!!
Orkutt ing (V.) - to connect with friends (long lost or otherwise); networking
I have been in orkut for quite some time, but haven't used it as much as I have used in the last week. I have also been with Hi5, another way of friend networking, but could benefit, because, I didnt have anybody to network with...and also because orkut was using gmail IDs then, when not many were having gmail IDs..now gmail id has more or less become like a household thing, so that has as well propelled things to new levels... Though orkut isn't a messenger, it is much more than the messenger thingie....
I am able to see a huge network of people from the time I started to till now...wow..so many people, unimaginable...the beauty of this thingie is that even if you hang out with this orkut for hours together, you never get bored...which I found yesterday after spending close to 7 hours in Orkut..:-)...
Orkut is fast becoming the Google of Personal Information Networking Industry...there seems to be a community for virtually everything on earth, much like getting a search result from Google for almost anything under the sun and over the moon...
I see literally everybody using it...Its like this...even if you have an MSN ID and your friend also has one, you still tend to use Yahoo for instant messaging, because you can network to a wider gamut of the society if you have Yahoo... Orkut is synonymous to what I said just now...because everybody is already onto orkut...Hi5 and others will find it difficult to catch up....
The best part is orkut is as fast a using an intranet page, it never feels like internet portal...A note of appreciation is due to the adminstrators of this wonder thing...:-)
ok...time to check my scraps again...c yaa in orkut....
Happy orkutting!!!!
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Pudhupettai - A Movie Review
The first Selvaraghavan movie, I have ever seen...had never wanted to watch his genre of films...but for a change, had revisted the logic and...went to the theatre..but somehow I feel, my senses weren't wrong all these days...I always felt for the most part of the three hours, that I am into some psycho's life....so deep it was...that I am doubtful if I would choose to watch one more of the director's films again...ohmigod....
ok...on to the movie...Dhanush is the self-proclaimed "Kokki" Kumar..witness to his father murdering his mother..escapes away from home and incidentally gets caught into the mire of goondas...who are into everything you ain't do.....drugs,girls,assault,mattai...and what not....once during "DUTY"..is surrounded by the rival group....and to survive,
he starts attacking and the force within him surfaces for the first time...after this it "erumugam" for our hero...who rather resorts to silencing his detractors/opposers by killing them, whoever it maybe...inbetween, he also runs into the warmth of a relationship with Sneha (krishnaveni) who is a part of the girl-business they do...and gets to wade through rough weather trying to protect her...his brute force along with his gut instinct....take him to the echelons of politics....and thats where he stumbles...it seems so for a brief period...but that is enough to ruin his personal life...and then the hero emerges from the bloodshed and kilings as the "THYAGA SEMMAL" KOKKI KUMAR.....the so-called Pazhutha ARASIYALVAADI...of the politics of today....
One can nominate the last 10-15 minutes of the movie...for the Number 1 spot for COMEDY TIME....:-)
The story looks like a cliche'd DON storyliner...but the clinching factor is Selvaraghavan's take on this. He has given his best...I should say...but sadly his best...is too extremist in approach....I felt...
Agreed realism is the best way of reaching out to the audience in the movie...but there is a limit...to which movies can go with a U/A censor certificate...this has crossed that line...and the movie stands out bare in this zone...too much of
bloodshed....was unwarranted...too much of delving into the "detailed" bedroom life of the protagonist was also unwarranted...for this theme...people might argue that "this is what is happening...so what's the big deal in showing it on
screen???", but the same question would have applied to both Virumandi and Boys...which were trying to show realism...albeit in a subtler way...which met with stark criticism and widespread anti-movie protests.....I wonder why this movie doesn't raise those same questions on the protestors this time around...???food for thought ??? yeah...
Dhanush...I should say is director's material...if you know how to mould your hero, then Dhanush would fit your bill perfectly...but the pity is nobody other than his brother has been able to pull out better things out of this lean chap...post Pudhupettai...Dhanush definetly would get a new lease of life...very good performance...though slightly loud at times....
Sneha...I wonder why would one choose to do such a daring role...unless you have scope to perform..which sadly the movie hasn't provided to sneha...alright the character has so much depth and impact on the movie....but why would you take up such a sensitive role..unless you can't pull it off with a stellar performance....I would say Geetha's character in "Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu" is much better etched than sneha's... I pity sneha...but she looks ravishing in the movie....:-)
Sonia Agarwal...is not worth a mention of more than a line...as she has just a couple of lines to emote in the whole movie...would have been better if they could have roped her in as a GUEST PERFORMANCE...:-) :-) hehehe....
All the Rowdies..round up the rest of the movie...yes that much is the number of fat guys you get to see in the movie..surprisingly every single baddie....pulls off his role..without trouble...every single person looks natural...wow...realism in display for you....
All said and done...if movies were not for storylines and for background credits..then this violent flick has & does very well behind the screens....
The top credit goes to Arvind Krishna, the cinematographer....the handycam shoot to 70 mm screen conversion hasn't gone unnoticed...it is quite beautifull..an art on screen..so to say...very good light themes for all the scenes...which graft wavering audience if any....
Yuvi..or YuvanShankar Raja's background score is very good...songs...as usual churning out the best for Selvaraghavan movies...the "Enga Area Ullavarathe.." song bringing nostalgia of the PETTAI RAP song of Kadhalan...very good beat number...
The Director...needs a special mention for managing the ship quite adeptly....he definetely is a huge talent...but I wish he reaches greater heights....by touching on subjects ala Cheran style...which when combined with selvaraghavan's attitude, would bring great cinema to the world.....let's wish....
And one last disclaimer....please....for heaven's sake...dont take kids with you for this movie...it is not worthy to be called a family entertainer...not the kinda movies you take your kids this summer....I actually saw a kid sitting next to me in the theater..questioning his dad on all the controversial scenes...:-(...still wonder what rules / conventions does the Censor Board follow to classify "THE DAVINCI CODE" as suitable for only for Adults & "PUDHUPETTAI" as suitable for a U/A audience....politics sucks in this country...
ok...on to the movie...Dhanush is the self-proclaimed "Kokki" Kumar..witness to his father murdering his mother..escapes away from home and incidentally gets caught into the mire of goondas...who are into everything you ain't do.....drugs,girls,assault,mattai...and what not....once during "DUTY"..is surrounded by the rival group....and to survive,
he starts attacking and the force within him surfaces for the first time...after this it "erumugam" for our hero...who rather resorts to silencing his detractors/opposers by killing them, whoever it maybe...inbetween, he also runs into the warmth of a relationship with Sneha (krishnaveni) who is a part of the girl-business they do...and gets to wade through rough weather trying to protect her...his brute force along with his gut instinct....take him to the echelons of politics....and thats where he stumbles...it seems so for a brief period...but that is enough to ruin his personal life...and then the hero emerges from the bloodshed and kilings as the "THYAGA SEMMAL" KOKKI KUMAR.....the so-called Pazhutha ARASIYALVAADI...of the politics of today....
One can nominate the last 10-15 minutes of the movie...for the Number 1 spot for COMEDY TIME....:-)
The story looks like a cliche'd DON storyliner...but the clinching factor is Selvaraghavan's take on this. He has given his best...I should say...but sadly his best...is too extremist in approach....I felt...
Agreed realism is the best way of reaching out to the audience in the movie...but there is a limit...to which movies can go with a U/A censor certificate...this has crossed that line...and the movie stands out bare in this zone...too much of
bloodshed....was unwarranted...too much of delving into the "detailed" bedroom life of the protagonist was also unwarranted...for this theme...people might argue that "this is what is happening...so what's the big deal in showing it on
screen???", but the same question would have applied to both Virumandi and Boys...which were trying to show realism...albeit in a subtler way...which met with stark criticism and widespread anti-movie protests.....I wonder why this movie doesn't raise those same questions on the protestors this time around...???food for thought ??? yeah...
Dhanush...I should say is director's material...if you know how to mould your hero, then Dhanush would fit your bill perfectly...but the pity is nobody other than his brother has been able to pull out better things out of this lean chap...post Pudhupettai...Dhanush definetly would get a new lease of life...very good performance...though slightly loud at times....
Sneha...I wonder why would one choose to do such a daring role...unless you have scope to perform..which sadly the movie hasn't provided to sneha...alright the character has so much depth and impact on the movie....but why would you take up such a sensitive role..unless you can't pull it off with a stellar performance....I would say Geetha's character in "Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu" is much better etched than sneha's... I pity sneha...but she looks ravishing in the movie....:-)
Sonia Agarwal...is not worth a mention of more than a line...as she has just a couple of lines to emote in the whole movie...would have been better if they could have roped her in as a GUEST PERFORMANCE...:-) :-) hehehe....
All the Rowdies..round up the rest of the movie...yes that much is the number of fat guys you get to see in the movie..surprisingly every single baddie....pulls off his role..without trouble...every single person looks natural...wow...realism in display for you....
All said and done...if movies were not for storylines and for background credits..then this violent flick has & does very well behind the screens....
The top credit goes to Arvind Krishna, the cinematographer....the handycam shoot to 70 mm screen conversion hasn't gone unnoticed...it is quite beautifull..an art on screen..so to say...very good light themes for all the scenes...which graft wavering audience if any....
Yuvi..or YuvanShankar Raja's background score is very good...songs...as usual churning out the best for Selvaraghavan movies...the "Enga Area Ullavarathe.." song bringing nostalgia of the PETTAI RAP song of Kadhalan...very good beat number...
The Director...needs a special mention for managing the ship quite adeptly....he definetely is a huge talent...but I wish he reaches greater heights....by touching on subjects ala Cheran style...which when combined with selvaraghavan's attitude, would bring great cinema to the world.....let's wish....
And one last disclaimer....please....for heaven's sake...dont take kids with you for this movie...it is not worthy to be called a family entertainer...not the kinda movies you take your kids this summer....I actually saw a kid sitting next to me in the theater..questioning his dad on all the controversial scenes...:-(...still wonder what rules / conventions does the Censor Board follow to classify "THE DAVINCI CODE" as suitable for only for Adults & "PUDHUPETTAI" as suitable for a U/A audience....politics sucks in this country...
Friday, May 26, 2006
The DaVinci Code - A Review
Cannes was right....I was wrong.....or was I wrong..???? divided..huh?? exactly....thats what I am thinking...has never occured to me in the recent past of movies.....atleast I would say the hype around the movie was pointless...and now I understand why the censor certified the movie without a fuss..precisely the movie is a NEAT and FAITHFUL reproduction of the DAN BROWN special...just that...glittering at places where it should and also failed to glitter at places where it should have....
The movie opens with Jacques Sauniere getting murdered....so the first half hour looked almost like the visualization of the book....a touch disappointed I should say, but then the movie picks up with interesting juxtapositions of scenes of Fache and Langdon....and I expected a bit more elaboration of the treasure hunt Agent Neveu & Langdon embark on..before reaching the bank.....the book exhumed so much of interest out of these sequences....which hardly had a mention here....I felt disappointed....but enter Sir Ian Mckellen, as Sir Leigh Teabing...the movie makes you sit up as it is incidentally the part of the story that gets to business, so a stellar performance I should say for the Ian Mckellen...the story picks up speed and goes on at that pace...and on and on..until the climax...so in effect, the movie shores up to its elder brother, but doesn't somehow have the poise and silken feel the big brother gave for readers....
reasons if we ponder,
one, I thought was Dan Brown, the way too much of information he packed into the novel, without breaking the pace, was difficult to capture in a 2.5 hr motion picture....that apart, no credit stealing from the makers...Ron Howard and Goldsmith have done a great job..taking liberties at will at places....and choosing not to take rightly at places....Appreciated....
two, because of lack of time, none of the characters have any depth in them...except for Teabing's...only he manages to make an impact with the viewer...otherwise...everybody..including Tom Hanks suffer from lack of depth in characterisation....I felt Tom Hanks was wasted in the movie....felt sorry for this versatile artiste...less talked about Agent Neveu, the better....she was unconvicing to say the least...I am sorry...:-(....
three, irony that this caption turned out to be.... "A picture can say a thousand words" has gone wrong...in this case....the movie couldn't successfully say what the book could....One felt that the movie makers had a presumption that every viewer would have read the book, so they take a liberty of skipping some links here and there...without which any first time davinci decoder...would feel alien....and thats what it looks like....
All said and done, a very good job done on the historical overttones...and the depictions of the history looked convincing the least to say.....
I would say I enjoyed the book more than movie...but nevertheless a Very Good Effort from Ron Howard and team..trying to match the sensation and fame of the book three years into the market...tough it is as one finds out at the theater....
How right was cannes?? !!! how wrong was I ???!!!!
The movie opens with Jacques Sauniere getting murdered....so the first half hour looked almost like the visualization of the book....a touch disappointed I should say, but then the movie picks up with interesting juxtapositions of scenes of Fache and Langdon....and I expected a bit more elaboration of the treasure hunt Agent Neveu & Langdon embark on..before reaching the bank.....the book exhumed so much of interest out of these sequences....which hardly had a mention here....I felt disappointed....but enter Sir Ian Mckellen, as Sir Leigh Teabing...the movie makes you sit up as it is incidentally the part of the story that gets to business, so a stellar performance I should say for the Ian Mckellen...the story picks up speed and goes on at that pace...and on and on..until the climax...so in effect, the movie shores up to its elder brother, but doesn't somehow have the poise and silken feel the big brother gave for readers....
reasons if we ponder,
one, I thought was Dan Brown, the way too much of information he packed into the novel, without breaking the pace, was difficult to capture in a 2.5 hr motion picture....that apart, no credit stealing from the makers...Ron Howard and Goldsmith have done a great job..taking liberties at will at places....and choosing not to take rightly at places....Appreciated....
two, because of lack of time, none of the characters have any depth in them...except for Teabing's...only he manages to make an impact with the viewer...otherwise...everybody..including Tom Hanks suffer from lack of depth in characterisation....I felt Tom Hanks was wasted in the movie....felt sorry for this versatile artiste...less talked about Agent Neveu, the better....she was unconvicing to say the least...I am sorry...:-(....
three, irony that this caption turned out to be.... "A picture can say a thousand words" has gone wrong...in this case....the movie couldn't successfully say what the book could....One felt that the movie makers had a presumption that every viewer would have read the book, so they take a liberty of skipping some links here and there...without which any first time davinci decoder...would feel alien....and thats what it looks like....
All said and done, a very good job done on the historical overttones...and the depictions of the history looked convincing the least to say.....
I would say I enjoyed the book more than movie...but nevertheless a Very Good Effort from Ron Howard and team..trying to match the sensation and fame of the book three years into the market...tough it is as one finds out at the theater....
How right was cannes?? !!! how wrong was I ???!!!!
Monday, May 22, 2006
Is The Davinci Code getting released in India after all????
What the hell is happening to THE DAVINCI CODE in India....why this protest.....I am clearly confused as to why the sudden outburst against the movie .....when the story is atleast 3 years old....
If the authorities feel Damage might be done because of the sensitive issues touched in the movie.....then the damage has already been done, by way of the book.....so why crave about the movie....worse...the book is getting translated in various languages....so where is the case of dis-allowing information in visual format....
after all the movie is a fauithful replica of the book, so what you get to read in the book, is what you get to see in the movie.....and according to the critics in Cannes, the movie is anything but controversial.....
then why all the fuss about the movie....???? It is uncomprehendable for me.....It has of late become fashionable to raise flags against movies at will and the freedom of expression is at danger ......more so evident, because the movie didnot jump out of Ron Howard's brain...it was the brainchild of Dan Brown, whose original THE DAVINCI CODE, book is still among the top sellers in the country..well into the 3rd year of sales......If the damage is the serious concern, then the remaining books of the author, should be revoked ala Kaavya Vishwanathan's issue, but no signs of that......
I really dont see the movie getting released in the next week...simply because, SONY pictures is stead-fast in providing its only disclaimer, while the govt & censor board are forced to order an additional disclaimer just because powerful houses from the country have raked up the issue, If the damage was so serious, I would have been happy if the govt was just enough to have banned the movie in India, but the authorities, know that there is nothing new that is shown, so they have given an "A" certificate, clearly winning the consent of the censor and the govt....just that the fuss is around who is going to budge now.....:-(.....
pity, we have been disallowed the right to watch the movie along with the rest of the world....
If the authorities feel Damage might be done because of the sensitive issues touched in the movie.....then the damage has already been done, by way of the book.....so why crave about the movie....worse...the book is getting translated in various languages....so where is the case of dis-allowing information in visual format....
after all the movie is a fauithful replica of the book, so what you get to read in the book, is what you get to see in the movie.....and according to the critics in Cannes, the movie is anything but controversial.....
then why all the fuss about the movie....???? It is uncomprehendable for me.....It has of late become fashionable to raise flags against movies at will and the freedom of expression is at danger ......more so evident, because the movie didnot jump out of Ron Howard's brain...it was the brainchild of Dan Brown, whose original THE DAVINCI CODE, book is still among the top sellers in the country..well into the 3rd year of sales......If the damage is the serious concern, then the remaining books of the author, should be revoked ala Kaavya Vishwanathan's issue, but no signs of that......
I really dont see the movie getting released in the next week...simply because, SONY pictures is stead-fast in providing its only disclaimer, while the govt & censor board are forced to order an additional disclaimer just because powerful houses from the country have raked up the issue, If the damage was so serious, I would have been happy if the govt was just enough to have banned the movie in India, but the authorities, know that there is nothing new that is shown, so they have given an "A" certificate, clearly winning the consent of the censor and the govt....just that the fuss is around who is going to budge now.....:-(.....
pity, we have been disallowed the right to watch the movie along with the rest of the world....
Ahhhh....the davinci code !!!!
Must be one of the latest reviews ..;-) for the BOOK...THE DAVINCI CODE.....atleast 2 years after it came to the bookstands....see I am so optimistic a person as ever.....hahaha....
As i have mentioned, earlier, I am not the Novel guy....never read Novels...but that was history, before April 2006....In the space of a month..I have read two astonishing novels....both completely unrelated to each other...but both closely related to my heart...agreed, as matter of fact, I never went to these novels, the novels found me...akin to what the davinci code says...."You dont find the Holy Grail, the Holy Grail finds you!!", Yep....I have been attracted to these two novels..(by the way they are "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life" and "The Davinci Code")...mainly due to the media hype that has surrounded these novels...albeit for not so happy reasons...the former for pliagarism charges and the latter for defamation charges...:-|.....
The Davinci Code movie was due to be released on 19 May 2006, all over the world...but it wasn't to be...atleast in India, Pity, I can't comprehend what these people in India find don't deem fit in the movie...that people in UK, the US and rest of the world find less amusing...If the movie is to be banned...the book should have been in the first place...but I still see the book being one of the best sellers of all time in India....so I was deprieved of the right to see the movie along with the rest of the world....YES...I would put it that way...
After getting to know that the movie is due to be released on May 19 2006, knowing of Ron Howard, I hurriedly got hold a copy of the book and started reading it avidly..at first...just to get the thrill and content intact, before watching the visual....but alas...my world has changed after the book read....my views on a lot of things in the world have atleast taken a beating, leave alone the change of opinion, which I can acknowledge only later....:-(....the book has left me with a lot of unanswered questions...simply because, I am just unfamiliar about ARTS and the religion in question....
So the book has opened new avenues to read on and get knowledgeable for quiet sometime to follow.....the book has been both informative and thrillerish at the same time....wow...I have never seen or heard of such things in movies...before....just can't wait to watch the movie...which I know is just a few days away.....huh....will definetely feel like an eternity....
The intrigue that is raging in my heart is more of the knowledge or rather the lack of it, that the book has left, than the thrill of story....amusement is defintely a needed feel for novels, but this one I feel has given some food for thought....I dare say / comment on the facts brought out in the book, I am literally unequipped to speak of them...
The book....the least to say....has thrill almost in every chapter...which if I were to statistcally speak has to be atleast 105 times....:-).....Starts off with the murder in the Louver in Paris, moves along at steady pace(and so many interludes of equal importance, I atleast I had difficulty in keeping things in my cache to relate to), moves to the Depository Bank of Zurich, then to Chattue Villete and then airbone to London, and then back to ground zero, the Louvre in Paris....phew....what a whirlwind tour for the reader....simply artistic, religious, seat moving stuff all at once,
though Robert Langdon would be the heart throb(even for me), I felt Manuel Aringarosa to be very good sketch, the equal blend and ideal human, good and bad in equal mix...My heart goes out for this character...not sure how much people would go with this....I atleast feel vindicated with my feeling, atleast looking at the star who has been cast as Aringarosa....; Tom Hanks....Robert langdon, not sure if anybody else could carry the role, seems to be a fitting choice for now...
The mixed feel coz of the movie teasers and the Novel's pomp have raised my expectation levels like no other movie has raised barring an exception for Shankar's blockbusters...which equate to this movie.....
I am restless....-like Robert Langdon's quest for the Holy Grail- for the movie's release date in India....
Meet you with a review of THE DAVINCI CODE...the movie....:-)
As i have mentioned, earlier, I am not the Novel guy....never read Novels...but that was history, before April 2006....In the space of a month..I have read two astonishing novels....both completely unrelated to each other...but both closely related to my heart...agreed, as matter of fact, I never went to these novels, the novels found me...akin to what the davinci code says...."You dont find the Holy Grail, the Holy Grail finds you!!", Yep....I have been attracted to these two novels..(by the way they are "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life" and "The Davinci Code")...mainly due to the media hype that has surrounded these novels...albeit for not so happy reasons...the former for pliagarism charges and the latter for defamation charges...:-|.....
The Davinci Code movie was due to be released on 19 May 2006, all over the world...but it wasn't to be...atleast in India, Pity, I can't comprehend what these people in India find don't deem fit in the movie...that people in UK, the US and rest of the world find less amusing...If the movie is to be banned...the book should have been in the first place...but I still see the book being one of the best sellers of all time in India....so I was deprieved of the right to see the movie along with the rest of the world....YES...I would put it that way...
After getting to know that the movie is due to be released on May 19 2006, knowing of Ron Howard, I hurriedly got hold a copy of the book and started reading it avidly..at first...just to get the thrill and content intact, before watching the visual....but alas...my world has changed after the book read....my views on a lot of things in the world have atleast taken a beating, leave alone the change of opinion, which I can acknowledge only later....:-(....the book has left me with a lot of unanswered questions...simply because, I am just unfamiliar about ARTS and the religion in question....
So the book has opened new avenues to read on and get knowledgeable for quiet sometime to follow.....the book has been both informative and thrillerish at the same time....wow...I have never seen or heard of such things in movies...before....just can't wait to watch the movie...which I know is just a few days away.....huh....will definetely feel like an eternity....
The intrigue that is raging in my heart is more of the knowledge or rather the lack of it, that the book has left, than the thrill of story....amusement is defintely a needed feel for novels, but this one I feel has given some food for thought....I dare say / comment on the facts brought out in the book, I am literally unequipped to speak of them...
The book....the least to say....has thrill almost in every chapter...which if I were to statistcally speak has to be atleast 105 times....:-).....Starts off with the murder in the Louver in Paris, moves along at steady pace(and so many interludes of equal importance, I atleast I had difficulty in keeping things in my cache to relate to), moves to the Depository Bank of Zurich, then to Chattue Villete and then airbone to London, and then back to ground zero, the Louvre in Paris....phew....what a whirlwind tour for the reader....simply artistic, religious, seat moving stuff all at once,
though Robert Langdon would be the heart throb(even for me), I felt Manuel Aringarosa to be very good sketch, the equal blend and ideal human, good and bad in equal mix...My heart goes out for this character...not sure how much people would go with this....I atleast feel vindicated with my feeling, atleast looking at the star who has been cast as Aringarosa....; Tom Hanks....Robert langdon, not sure if anybody else could carry the role, seems to be a fitting choice for now...
The mixed feel coz of the movie teasers and the Novel's pomp have raised my expectation levels like no other movie has raised barring an exception for Shankar's blockbusters...which equate to this movie.....
I am restless....-like Robert Langdon's quest for the Holy Grail- for the movie's release date in India....
Meet you with a review of THE DAVINCI CODE...the movie....:-)
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Black May Day
DISCLAIMER: My Views and only my views !!!!
Yeppu..Tamil Nadu and its most literate(or otherwise) have done it...have shunted between DRAVIDIAN PARTIES.....I was so optimistic that atleast this time people would reverse the trend and vote for the incumbent...but they have not failed to disappoint....
just in case, any one is inquisitive abt the reason behind my laments...
a) atleast Jayalalitha (called as J from now) would have continued what she has done...because I am 700 % sure..kalaignar henceforth called MK in this writeup, will scrap, undo, dismantle anything she has started...so the reality is TN is going to come back to square one as far as development is concerned...at the courtesy of mindless voters... MK will have tough time fulfilling his promises...that is IF at all he plans to fulfill them. so mistake 1 according to me...
b) If they had voted J back to power, the famed politicians of TN would have learnt a million dollar lesson, to not underestimate the voter public and do something so that they stay back in power, but alas, the message that is coming thru now is "WHATEVER I DO or NOT DO, I AM NOT GOING TO STAY FOR MORE THAN 5 YEARS....so let me atleast fill my pocket and not do anything"... will be the mindset...people could have avoided that....coz this was the closest any incumbent could have got to returning to power..in all these years in TN political history after MGR. so mistake 2 according to me...
c) by voting DMK+ to power, no doubt MK is returning to the helm, but how long will he / will he be able to continue....??? is the biggest question...everybody has...coz..his health not withstanding / Family pressure not withstanding MK will for sure step down and pave the way for MK Stalin to power, with which I can't imagine the "state" of the state....omigod....he has earned so much of disrespect and hatred just within DMK, think of the whole state of TN, plus he does not have the charisma or the skill levels of his legendary father....so mistake 3 according to me...
d) Politics of the Famed familiy will cut loose, and we as the people of the state should be ready to believe in and accept the OFFICIAL NEWS CHANNEL, the OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER, OFFICIAL ENTERAINMENT MAGAZINE, et all from the family...I am not going to be surprised if SUN TV is going to be the official channel of enterainment for TN and every advertiser will be forced to pay a royalty for SUN TV for any advert they are planning to play in the state...
e)And who out of the whole lot is going to pay for the increased power consumption & cable charges due to the FREE COLOUR TV that MK has promised..and who will get all the revenue for the cable TV..the omni present SCV (Sumangali Cable Vision)....mistake 5 according to me....
I can go on and on....but it will become more of a finger pointer than a lament of a helpless guy....
Anubavinga ellarum .... 5 varusam ("Reap the benefit for 5 years from now" is what it means)
Yeppu..Tamil Nadu and its most literate(or otherwise) have done it...have shunted between DRAVIDIAN PARTIES.....I was so optimistic that atleast this time people would reverse the trend and vote for the incumbent...but they have not failed to disappoint....
just in case, any one is inquisitive abt the reason behind my laments...
a) atleast Jayalalitha (called as J from now) would have continued what she has done...because I am 700 % sure..kalaignar henceforth called MK in this writeup, will scrap, undo, dismantle anything she has started...so the reality is TN is going to come back to square one as far as development is concerned...at the courtesy of mindless voters... MK will have tough time fulfilling his promises...that is IF at all he plans to fulfill them. so mistake 1 according to me...
b) If they had voted J back to power, the famed politicians of TN would have learnt a million dollar lesson, to not underestimate the voter public and do something so that they stay back in power, but alas, the message that is coming thru now is "WHATEVER I DO or NOT DO, I AM NOT GOING TO STAY FOR MORE THAN 5 YEARS....so let me atleast fill my pocket and not do anything"... will be the mindset...people could have avoided that....coz this was the closest any incumbent could have got to returning to power..in all these years in TN political history after MGR. so mistake 2 according to me...
c) by voting DMK+ to power, no doubt MK is returning to the helm, but how long will he / will he be able to continue....??? is the biggest question...everybody has...coz..his health not withstanding / Family pressure not withstanding MK will for sure step down and pave the way for MK Stalin to power, with which I can't imagine the "state" of the state....omigod....he has earned so much of disrespect and hatred just within DMK, think of the whole state of TN, plus he does not have the charisma or the skill levels of his legendary father....so mistake 3 according to me...
d) Politics of the Famed familiy will cut loose, and we as the people of the state should be ready to believe in and accept the OFFICIAL NEWS CHANNEL, the OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER, OFFICIAL ENTERAINMENT MAGAZINE, et all from the family...I am not going to be surprised if SUN TV is going to be the official channel of enterainment for TN and every advertiser will be forced to pay a royalty for SUN TV for any advert they are planning to play in the state...
e)And who out of the whole lot is going to pay for the increased power consumption & cable charges due to the FREE COLOUR TV that MK has promised..and who will get all the revenue for the cable TV..the omni present SCV (Sumangali Cable Vision)....mistake 5 according to me....
I can go on and on....but it will become more of a finger pointer than a lament of a helpless guy....
Anubavinga ellarum .... 5 varusam ("Reap the benefit for 5 years from now" is what it means)
Monday, May 08, 2006
In Defence of Kaavya - How Opal Mehta Got into Controversy
Deeply saddened, is what I could muster up for what has happened to Kaavya Vishwanathan's Literary Career...The fledgling career has been faced with rough weather...It all happened like a hazy dream...She shot up to fame first with her novel, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got A Life, then soon after, not even a month into her popularity, she was stripped of all her popularity...the reasons given were, some paragraphs of her work had striking resemblance, hard to ignore from another popular writer's couple of novels. People started publishing similarities as if that was their favourite past time of late....
Agreed plagiarism is not a very kind act....one needs to be very vigilant on acts like these...but please spare a thought to what kaavya should be going through, because it has become very evident that it was pressure from the publishing and packaging house that has had a major say in the released version of the book, but all said and done, it is the author who is targeted for all of the remarks...fair enough....but at the behest of the background activities, the question that is becoming conspicous is "Is Kaavya really responsible for all that happened ??"
I have read a lot on the online stories after the controversy and these seem to outnumber the lines written by kaavya in the book....surprising isn't it??? yeah but thats the truth....amongst the heap of stories that I have read on PLAGIARIST - KAAVYA, I could spot out three interesting stories IN DEFENCE OF KAAVYA... and I do second...rather fourth these articles....and Kaavya, I stand by your side, I feel after all noobody is original and can be original as a matter of fact of nature.....
1)IN DEFENCE OF KAAVYA - http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003068.html
2)IN DEFENCE OF KAAVYA - http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/08guest.htm
3)IN DEFENCE OF KAAVYA - http://www.sulekha.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?cid=48893
Spot me a person who can vouch for originality in thought, word and action, in any work of theirs....IT SHOULD HAVE HAD AN INSPIRATION FROM SOMEWHERE....there is no escaping that....just that the source does not complain about Plagiarism
As one of the links say, the so-called copied content, doesn't in any way
a) affect the original work
b) amount to even 1 % of the derived work, which automatically means the copied content is an insignificant part....
c) Does not create any twists to the plot of the story, which has affected the story significantly...
so why make all the fuss about lifting lines, from another work.....as the second link states, Kaavya has not been skillfull at copying...had she been, she would not be into this situation now.....
I am certainly not of the opinion that plagiarism is acceptable and should not be condemned..but all that I am lamenting over here is one should not be prejudiced to cases of plagiarism.....the cases should be opinionated on an individual basis, if any body with their senses ON, reads the whole book of Kaavya and gets to the paragraphs in question....they would readily agreee "SO WHAT????", believe me, these paragraphs are that insignificant and the pity is Kaavya has had to pay the price of the two-book-deal being scraped and her novel revoked from book stores....
So I feel one should support this girl during this time of distress....and emotional block-out.......
my 2 cents.....
Agreed plagiarism is not a very kind act....one needs to be very vigilant on acts like these...but please spare a thought to what kaavya should be going through, because it has become very evident that it was pressure from the publishing and packaging house that has had a major say in the released version of the book, but all said and done, it is the author who is targeted for all of the remarks...fair enough....but at the behest of the background activities, the question that is becoming conspicous is "Is Kaavya really responsible for all that happened ??"
I have read a lot on the online stories after the controversy and these seem to outnumber the lines written by kaavya in the book....surprising isn't it??? yeah but thats the truth....amongst the heap of stories that I have read on PLAGIARIST - KAAVYA, I could spot out three interesting stories IN DEFENCE OF KAAVYA... and I do second...rather fourth these articles....and Kaavya, I stand by your side, I feel after all noobody is original and can be original as a matter of fact of nature.....
1)IN DEFENCE OF KAAVYA - http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003068.html
2)IN DEFENCE OF KAAVYA - http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/08guest.htm
3)IN DEFENCE OF KAAVYA - http://www.sulekha.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?cid=48893
Spot me a person who can vouch for originality in thought, word and action, in any work of theirs....IT SHOULD HAVE HAD AN INSPIRATION FROM SOMEWHERE....there is no escaping that....just that the source does not complain about Plagiarism
As one of the links say, the so-called copied content, doesn't in any way
a) affect the original work
b) amount to even 1 % of the derived work, which automatically means the copied content is an insignificant part....
c) Does not create any twists to the plot of the story, which has affected the story significantly...
so why make all the fuss about lifting lines, from another work.....as the second link states, Kaavya has not been skillfull at copying...had she been, she would not be into this situation now.....
I am certainly not of the opinion that plagiarism is acceptable and should not be condemned..but all that I am lamenting over here is one should not be prejudiced to cases of plagiarism.....the cases should be opinionated on an individual basis, if any body with their senses ON, reads the whole book of Kaavya and gets to the paragraphs in question....they would readily agreee "SO WHAT????", believe me, these paragraphs are that insignificant and the pity is Kaavya has had to pay the price of the two-book-deal being scraped and her novel revoked from book stores....
So I feel one should support this girl during this time of distress....and emotional block-out.......
my 2 cents.....
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
How Opal Mehta got Kissed, got Wild and got a Life - A Book Review
My First Ever Book Review....and the first ever Novel I have read outside of academics
For a eighteen year old....this is too good an attempt....Actually, I got into this only because of a interview with Kaavya Vishwanathan in The Hindu, that I read. It was refreshing and kindled interest in me, basically because, I have gone through this admissions things much before this....
so...goto-> Landmark -> get the book -> the guy at the counter gave me a smile suggesting me the popularity of the book...!!!!
The story looks to be a leaf taken out of somebody's life...and it can't be any other way...coz...its so realistic.....thats the one reason I was attracted to this novel....basically I am not a story reader guy, am always attracted to only reality writings...and I thought for the first time, I am detouring from that, but at the end, somehow, my choice of hooking on to this book, wasn't very different from my genre of books, just that it is a very popular one, that I am reading.....
The opening chapters of the book, straight take you into the groove, which was very well done, so that people dont be slack at the book, at the very beginning itself, interesting the tempo is maintained at the jet speed one is used to in the beginning, I was more amazed and amused at the language and the contemporairiness of the story and the author's dictum of the same....It was fun all the way....
The middle of the novel, is well in the expected levels, and one is taken into too much of details, of each of the exploits the protagonist, which I felt was lil too much, coz If I were the author, I would have trimmed those to nicety, but maybe I am not aware of the modalities of novelists...and maybe, this is how novels are written...it would take another novel of this kind for me to realize it.....
the mind for detail is very evident in the places when Opal goes to the hair stylist; the proud Mehtas planning HOWGAL with all the music CDs, recordings of The O.C et all, are very interesting....actually catches the pulse of youth in the United States today...
So the story goes ,like this,
Opal Mehta, a Desi teenager, whose only aim all her life has been to enter Harvard, which according to their parents, the ebullient Mehtas, will secure a future for her, for which she has been working meticuluously and following the plan HOWGIH (How Opal Will Get Into Harvard) crafted by the Mehtas, only to find it isn't enough , harrowingly at the near end of the admissions, when the interviewer Dean Anderson in Harvard laments on the need of well rounded people into harvard, and not Automatons......All hell breaks loose when Opal returns home, only to comforted by her parents with yet another plan HOWGAL ( How Opal Will Get A Life). Here goes the second innings, where Opal tries to be the cool girl and makes her best with the tryst to become the Hot Commodity in school. In the process of HOWGAL, she befriends the very few people she thought, she could talk meaningfully to in school, the science group...In comes her changed persona...and along with it numerous new situations...the parents arranged date with Jeff Akel, the peer-counselling sessions with Sean Whalen, the escapades with HBz, the act of getting wild with a party at home, kissing Sean Whalen, after seeing Jeff with another girl, swapping blackberries with Prsicilla Ming, which turns out to be her undoing tearing her image to pieces, when priscilla bulk-forwards her HOWGAL plans in an email to the whole class, How Sean Whalen breaks up with Opal and so many other things...which are literally fun and frolic...Then she meets her cousin which turns out to be for the better, then the second chance at Harvard, which quite ironicaly she flounders in a pool of tears, unknowingly blurts out the fermiculli theorem she is trying to prove, and after much trauma of waiting for the Harvard admission letter, it comes as a huge relief and all ends well....
Hopping onto the characters other than the Mehtas that really need a mention are Jeff Akel the School Students Union president, with political aspirations, the HBz ( Haute Bitchezzz) complete with the Asian Sensation Priscilla Ming( the cool girls in school) are very well knitted into the story, I thought the physics partner Natalie, could have been deliberated a llil more, considering the fact that she plays a great part during the closing stages of the story, the little cameos by Dean Anderson, the interviewer at harvard, the harvard host for Opal the second time around, med dropout cousin sister Kali, all do their bit. I have seen Dean Anderson ish people during my US Student Visa interview...and infact I was interviewed by a guy similar in sketch to Dean Anderson who rejected my student visa petition..:-(....so I was moved by Opal's situation and could readily relate to it....:-)
Sean Whalen, the love interest of Opal, what a character he has been in this story, starting from a no hope guy to the main love interest of Opal Mehta, his character was well etched, I should say.....the desi effect of the story was very evident and enjoyable, much like what we are used to in movies like Bend It Like Beckham & Bride and Prejudice...funny..I should say....the never say die attitude of the Mehta's was very inspiring...the cousin Kali..the dark horse of the story I should say, the fulcrum behind the change of attitude in Opal was a real smash of a charcter...
True to being a reviewer, only when Opal meets Kali at the Market place, does the USP of the story spill out...coz...I was wondering why Opal Mehta was just obeying her parents, when she didn't love doing what she was doing, I am talking abt HOWGAL....so Kali's character is a revelation both for Opal and for the readers....do what you think you will suceed in...... How many of us get that option, mainly because any caring parent like the Mehta's would want their kids to do nothing different from Harvard...rite????
Though Funny and amusing all the way, the understone has been staunchily put up..DO WHAT YOU LIKE and BE WHO YOU ARE...is the success recipe in life......infact, the story would have been a paradox if Opal hadn't toured HARVARD the second time around, when she got to know that's where she wanted to be, so in a way, she wanted to be in Harvard and she has been.....so I liked the way the story was summed up...though a little cinematic..like THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.....;-)
Eager in seeing how the movie shapes by in the hands of Dream Works....:-)
Good work...over all...I should say....a vibing teen author's bubbling book, its a fun ride, thoughout.....
For a eighteen year old....this is too good an attempt....Actually, I got into this only because of a interview with Kaavya Vishwanathan in The Hindu, that I read. It was refreshing and kindled interest in me, basically because, I have gone through this admissions things much before this....
so...goto-> Landmark -> get the book -> the guy at the counter gave me a smile suggesting me the popularity of the book...!!!!
The story looks to be a leaf taken out of somebody's life...and it can't be any other way...coz...its so realistic.....thats the one reason I was attracted to this novel....basically I am not a story reader guy, am always attracted to only reality writings...and I thought for the first time, I am detouring from that, but at the end, somehow, my choice of hooking on to this book, wasn't very different from my genre of books, just that it is a very popular one, that I am reading.....
The opening chapters of the book, straight take you into the groove, which was very well done, so that people dont be slack at the book, at the very beginning itself, interesting the tempo is maintained at the jet speed one is used to in the beginning, I was more amazed and amused at the language and the contemporairiness of the story and the author's dictum of the same....It was fun all the way....
The middle of the novel, is well in the expected levels, and one is taken into too much of details, of each of the exploits the protagonist, which I felt was lil too much, coz If I were the author, I would have trimmed those to nicety, but maybe I am not aware of the modalities of novelists...and maybe, this is how novels are written...it would take another novel of this kind for me to realize it.....
the mind for detail is very evident in the places when Opal goes to the hair stylist; the proud Mehtas planning HOWGAL with all the music CDs, recordings of The O.C et all, are very interesting....actually catches the pulse of youth in the United States today...
So the story goes ,like this,
Opal Mehta, a Desi teenager, whose only aim all her life has been to enter Harvard, which according to their parents, the ebullient Mehtas, will secure a future for her, for which she has been working meticuluously and following the plan HOWGIH (How Opal Will Get Into Harvard) crafted by the Mehtas, only to find it isn't enough , harrowingly at the near end of the admissions, when the interviewer Dean Anderson in Harvard laments on the need of well rounded people into harvard, and not Automatons......All hell breaks loose when Opal returns home, only to comforted by her parents with yet another plan HOWGAL ( How Opal Will Get A Life). Here goes the second innings, where Opal tries to be the cool girl and makes her best with the tryst to become the Hot Commodity in school. In the process of HOWGAL, she befriends the very few people she thought, she could talk meaningfully to in school, the science group...In comes her changed persona...and along with it numerous new situations...the parents arranged date with Jeff Akel, the peer-counselling sessions with Sean Whalen, the escapades with HBz, the act of getting wild with a party at home, kissing Sean Whalen, after seeing Jeff with another girl, swapping blackberries with Prsicilla Ming, which turns out to be her undoing tearing her image to pieces, when priscilla bulk-forwards her HOWGAL plans in an email to the whole class, How Sean Whalen breaks up with Opal and so many other things...which are literally fun and frolic...Then she meets her cousin which turns out to be for the better, then the second chance at Harvard, which quite ironicaly she flounders in a pool of tears, unknowingly blurts out the fermiculli theorem she is trying to prove, and after much trauma of waiting for the Harvard admission letter, it comes as a huge relief and all ends well....
Hopping onto the characters other than the Mehtas that really need a mention are Jeff Akel the School Students Union president, with political aspirations, the HBz ( Haute Bitchezzz) complete with the Asian Sensation Priscilla Ming( the cool girls in school) are very well knitted into the story, I thought the physics partner Natalie, could have been deliberated a llil more, considering the fact that she plays a great part during the closing stages of the story, the little cameos by Dean Anderson, the interviewer at harvard, the harvard host for Opal the second time around, med dropout cousin sister Kali, all do their bit. I have seen Dean Anderson ish people during my US Student Visa interview...and infact I was interviewed by a guy similar in sketch to Dean Anderson who rejected my student visa petition..:-(....so I was moved by Opal's situation and could readily relate to it....:-)
Sean Whalen, the love interest of Opal, what a character he has been in this story, starting from a no hope guy to the main love interest of Opal Mehta, his character was well etched, I should say.....the desi effect of the story was very evident and enjoyable, much like what we are used to in movies like Bend It Like Beckham & Bride and Prejudice...funny..I should say....the never say die attitude of the Mehta's was very inspiring...the cousin Kali..the dark horse of the story I should say, the fulcrum behind the change of attitude in Opal was a real smash of a charcter...
True to being a reviewer, only when Opal meets Kali at the Market place, does the USP of the story spill out...coz...I was wondering why Opal Mehta was just obeying her parents, when she didn't love doing what she was doing, I am talking abt HOWGAL....so Kali's character is a revelation both for Opal and for the readers....do what you think you will suceed in...... How many of us get that option, mainly because any caring parent like the Mehta's would want their kids to do nothing different from Harvard...rite????
Though Funny and amusing all the way, the understone has been staunchily put up..DO WHAT YOU LIKE and BE WHO YOU ARE...is the success recipe in life......infact, the story would have been a paradox if Opal hadn't toured HARVARD the second time around, when she got to know that's where she wanted to be, so in a way, she wanted to be in Harvard and she has been.....so I liked the way the story was summed up...though a little cinematic..like THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.....;-)
Eager in seeing how the movie shapes by in the hands of Dream Works....:-)
Good work...over all...I should say....a vibing teen author's bubbling book, its a fun ride, thoughout.....
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Dishoom - Movie Review
"Impressed" is the solitary word I could pick out from my vocabulary.....I have already mentioned the fact that new directors, particularily in tamil movies...make great impact..and sasi is no exception......An excellent movie...I am amazed at the fact that freshers...can indeed bring refreshing ideas....
A novel idea, like what if a Fight Choreographer gets caught in the mire of love...and what the parties at stake go through...told in the most realistic perspective one can think of....thats when one gets involved in the movie....and is sensitive to the ups and down of the characters..thats the victory for the movie, director..et al,.
If one song can summarize the movie...and make a mark for itself in all aspects like lyrics, music, and picturisation..it should defienetly be "Nenjangootil Neeye Nirkirai..", such soul searching music, is rare to come by, and lyrics..which are intune to the whole theme of the movie, asthetically picturised....
Agreed Dialogues being the strong point is one point, but plugging them in at the right scenes...to make an impact, is another art which the director seems to have perfected...Every dialogue is important, and crucial dialogues do make an impact on the viewer..and he is made aware that it is a crucial dialogue by its depthness...hatz offf....
Jeeva, looked to tread the chocolate boy hero..with his initial couple of movies...and I felt that he will become the grist of the mill stuff..but starting with RAAM, he has made a conscious effort to break even and does well in the act...emoting comes naturally to him, and his dialogue delivery doesn't stick out, which is very important for an actor...am sure he will make waves as an actor, by his choosy way of picking roles, what with his "E" promising much more...Lets let this young lad go places..and he sure deserves it...
Everybody literally everybody have essayed meaningful roles, including the under-nourished comedian, have been useful..I appreciate that....I thought Nasser was wasted in his role...but good twist at the end courtesy his role....
Overall, a pleasurable experience watching this movie...
I would give 8 out of 10 for this refreshing story line...
-Rajesh
A novel idea, like what if a Fight Choreographer gets caught in the mire of love...and what the parties at stake go through...told in the most realistic perspective one can think of....thats when one gets involved in the movie....and is sensitive to the ups and down of the characters..thats the victory for the movie, director..et al,.
If one song can summarize the movie...and make a mark for itself in all aspects like lyrics, music, and picturisation..it should defienetly be "Nenjangootil Neeye Nirkirai..", such soul searching music, is rare to come by, and lyrics..which are intune to the whole theme of the movie, asthetically picturised....
Agreed Dialogues being the strong point is one point, but plugging them in at the right scenes...to make an impact, is another art which the director seems to have perfected...Every dialogue is important, and crucial dialogues do make an impact on the viewer..and he is made aware that it is a crucial dialogue by its depthness...hatz offf....
Jeeva, looked to tread the chocolate boy hero..with his initial couple of movies...and I felt that he will become the grist of the mill stuff..but starting with RAAM, he has made a conscious effort to break even and does well in the act...emoting comes naturally to him, and his dialogue delivery doesn't stick out, which is very important for an actor...am sure he will make waves as an actor, by his choosy way of picking roles, what with his "E" promising much more...Lets let this young lad go places..and he sure deserves it...
Everybody literally everybody have essayed meaningful roles, including the under-nourished comedian, have been useful..I appreciate that....I thought Nasser was wasted in his role...but good twist at the end courtesy his role....
Overall, a pleasurable experience watching this movie...
I would give 8 out of 10 for this refreshing story line...
-Rajesh
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Deep Impact - Weekend
Little did I expect that my weekend would be one of such deep impact...not too serious though....I unexpectedly got to watch three movies ...over the three
days...which were the cause of the deep impact....the effect....I have had is getting translated into this weblog.
Three different genre movies..in three different languages...from directors of different statures.....doesn't look like any of the strangest coincidences..but I cant help thinking of them that way!!!
On friday I got to watch TROY on VCD(original VCD ofcourse..:-D )...the greek epic..etched on screen, with the aid of the likes of Brad Pitt and Eric Bana....
On Saturday, I watched BEING CYRUS...in theatre, a offbeat theme told in a non-chalant way with the definite aid of CYRUS MISTRY...aka Saif Ali Khan...
On Sunday, I got to watch a Tamil Movie...alas an Old one...4 years old...called VIRUMBUGIREN....a Prasanth and Sneha starrer....
Troy, I should say had the greatest effect...simply because of the fact that, though I have grown up with the greek mythology of Troy and Odessey tales, I was in a trance all through the movie....eager to see the next scene...the experience was simply exhilarating if I had to put it into 2 words..I rued the fact that I missed watching this movie in theatre....but the screenplay was stunning..coz....people already know what u r upto with the story and
screenplay..in such period films...so it is a herculean task to bring in the thrill and excitiment into a established fact...good work....
Being Cyrus, I expected it to be an offbeat movie..and it was one...but more than what I had expected...the movie once again proved and enhanced my belief that any story line will be effective if it had appropriate and powerful screenplay.....the movie will sail through purely because of the screenplay and saif's screen presence...his english tongue...is anyways very famous..and I can vouch nobody in Bollywood can be at home for such a character...Saif has certainly graduated one level on the up with this piece...I felt the movie was going along the also rans....at half-time...but the next half tossed me up completely...and I felt the impact of the movie..much after the show...literally for atleast 2 hours...it all unfolded very quickly for the viewer...and if u aren't attentive u will miss the belonging for the movie....it is slighlty heavy for the layman...such quick turners....anyways..kudos for the director....good work for a debutant....not more on this..alas...I will spell out the suspense of the movie...huh...
Virumbugiren, a relatively older movie..compared to the other two, but nevertheless, equal in impact...wow...debutant directors..I think...try to put as much effort to prove themselves...and Susi Ganesan is no exemption.....I felt a neat depiction of a simple and no-complications love story!!.. The story is a one liner which goes like this....Love between a Fire-Service man and a village girl..the tact is in the interwining story-plot of the village, their unity is at stake..how they rise in unity to separate the lovers...and how the lovers unite in the end...interestingly told...with chirpy screenplay.....I wish if other directors can take cue of the creativity and freshness of the script...there will be no dearth of love stories...and interesting and successful ones at that.... Kudos again for the debutant.....!!!
I always am a great fan of intelligent screenplay...which makes a movie out of bare land....and if you see the three movies..deep impact candidates...have got stellar scripts....the first one, keeps u interesting even if the story is epic in stature....the next one, keeps u guessing and catches u off-guard with its thriller script...the last one, fresh and subtle overtones to keep the viewer interested in a cliched story line....
For the eternal cinema lover, that I am, u should not be surprised when u see such offbeat movies creating impact on me.....I am a true cinema confidant..and will continue to be one..and keep impacting this weblog with my perspective of such deep impact movies...
-Rajesh
days...which were the cause of the deep impact....the effect....I have had is getting translated into this weblog.
Three different genre movies..in three different languages...from directors of different statures.....doesn't look like any of the strangest coincidences..but I cant help thinking of them that way!!!
On friday I got to watch TROY on VCD(original VCD ofcourse..:-D )...the greek epic..etched on screen, with the aid of the likes of Brad Pitt and Eric Bana....
On Saturday, I watched BEING CYRUS...in theatre, a offbeat theme told in a non-chalant way with the definite aid of CYRUS MISTRY...aka Saif Ali Khan...
On Sunday, I got to watch a Tamil Movie...alas an Old one...4 years old...called VIRUMBUGIREN....a Prasanth and Sneha starrer....
Troy, I should say had the greatest effect...simply because of the fact that, though I have grown up with the greek mythology of Troy and Odessey tales, I was in a trance all through the movie....eager to see the next scene...the experience was simply exhilarating if I had to put it into 2 words..I rued the fact that I missed watching this movie in theatre....but the screenplay was stunning..coz....people already know what u r upto with the story and
screenplay..in such period films...so it is a herculean task to bring in the thrill and excitiment into a established fact...good work....
Being Cyrus, I expected it to be an offbeat movie..and it was one...but more than what I had expected...the movie once again proved and enhanced my belief that any story line will be effective if it had appropriate and powerful screenplay.....the movie will sail through purely because of the screenplay and saif's screen presence...his english tongue...is anyways very famous..and I can vouch nobody in Bollywood can be at home for such a character...Saif has certainly graduated one level on the up with this piece...I felt the movie was going along the also rans....at half-time...but the next half tossed me up completely...and I felt the impact of the movie..much after the show...literally for atleast 2 hours...it all unfolded very quickly for the viewer...and if u aren't attentive u will miss the belonging for the movie....it is slighlty heavy for the layman...such quick turners....anyways..kudos for the director....good work for a debutant....not more on this..alas...I will spell out the suspense of the movie...huh...
Virumbugiren, a relatively older movie..compared to the other two, but nevertheless, equal in impact...wow...debutant directors..I think...try to put as much effort to prove themselves...and Susi Ganesan is no exemption.....I felt a neat depiction of a simple and no-complications love story!!.. The story is a one liner which goes like this....Love between a Fire-Service man and a village girl..the tact is in the interwining story-plot of the village, their unity is at stake..how they rise in unity to separate the lovers...and how the lovers unite in the end...interestingly told...with chirpy screenplay.....I wish if other directors can take cue of the creativity and freshness of the script...there will be no dearth of love stories...and interesting and successful ones at that.... Kudos again for the debutant.....!!!
I always am a great fan of intelligent screenplay...which makes a movie out of bare land....and if you see the three movies..deep impact candidates...have got stellar scripts....the first one, keeps u interesting even if the story is epic in stature....the next one, keeps u guessing and catches u off-guard with its thriller script...the last one, fresh and subtle overtones to keep the viewer interested in a cliched story line....
For the eternal cinema lover, that I am, u should not be surprised when u see such offbeat movies creating impact on me.....I am a true cinema confidant..and will continue to be one..and keep impacting this weblog with my perspective of such deep impact movies...
-Rajesh
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Kalvanin Kadhali - Movie Review
A one liner for the movie would go like this: Story line - cliched; Screenplay - Refreshing !!
To put it bluntly, the prejudice I had before entering the Hall expecting the movie to not be anything but mediocre, vanished into thin air...when I came out of the hall....mildly surprised....with a neat screenplay and clear characterisation.....the movie comes out unscatched with the viewer...which in itself...is a great tribute for the debutant director....
Few from the general public would know that this is not a SJ Suryah directed movie...but he pulls his weight purely as an actor in this movie.....real talent, though without the looks... The movie starts with suryah's now familiar pranks..and to be frank.....the first half hour was slightly uncomfortable with cheap dual tone dialogues and scenes. Agreed that Suryah's character is a womanizer..but the scene's take it too far...
Wading through the first half hour....and then you are made to situp with Nayanthara's entry...wow.....the real star or you can call flag bearer of the movie....she moves around the camera with such poise, beauty, freshness...you feel for nayanthara's portrayal in Ghajini..where she was shown in poor light...photographically..I mean..... Any hero would want to act with Nayanthara after seeing this movie....she carries herself..excellently well...the reason for this is her neat characterisation...one is at home with her portrayal...
The story moves around with beautifully picturised and composed songs....credit to Yuvan..who churns out such tunes non-chalantly like his father...not exactly in his father's class though!!! Songs as well are a major plus for the movie.....actually the director has proved that with neat character sketches, screenplay, music and direction, one can get away with such cliched subjects as well....
Overall an enjoyable movie if you are an youngster !!!
-Rajesh
To put it bluntly, the prejudice I had before entering the Hall expecting the movie to not be anything but mediocre, vanished into thin air...when I came out of the hall....mildly surprised....with a neat screenplay and clear characterisation.....the movie comes out unscatched with the viewer...which in itself...is a great tribute for the debutant director....
Few from the general public would know that this is not a SJ Suryah directed movie...but he pulls his weight purely as an actor in this movie.....real talent, though without the looks... The movie starts with suryah's now familiar pranks..and to be frank.....the first half hour was slightly uncomfortable with cheap dual tone dialogues and scenes. Agreed that Suryah's character is a womanizer..but the scene's take it too far...
Wading through the first half hour....and then you are made to situp with Nayanthara's entry...wow.....the real star or you can call flag bearer of the movie....she moves around the camera with such poise, beauty, freshness...you feel for nayanthara's portrayal in Ghajini..where she was shown in poor light...photographically..I mean..... Any hero would want to act with Nayanthara after seeing this movie....she carries herself..excellently well...the reason for this is her neat characterisation...one is at home with her portrayal...
The story moves around with beautifully picturised and composed songs....credit to Yuvan..who churns out such tunes non-chalantly like his father...not exactly in his father's class though!!! Songs as well are a major plus for the movie.....actually the director has proved that with neat character sketches, screenplay, music and direction, one can get away with such cliched subjects as well....
Overall an enjoyable movie if you are an youngster !!!
-Rajesh
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Internet Explorer 7 Beta - PREVIEW
Was hanging around at Novell's new desktop news site...when they said...Novell will have the edge over Windows Vista by about 6 months..so I went straight to Windows Vista page...I have been having a keen interest on Vista...coz...I alpha tested Vista way back in 2003, when it was doing the rounds....
this time around, the website does look impressive..as always and like any other microsoft page....Got interested in IE 7 beta....Signed up for that...knowing well the alluring danger in Microsoft Beta products...(I had a tough time with Windows Media Player 10, in 2004-2005), the temptation was too much...to resist...
downloaded IE 7 Beta 2,
Installed it...
Took 5 minutes....restarted Windows....
Opened IE....surprised to see IE looking refreshing....with TABS...and the toolbars have been given a face-lift...
A search toolbar akin Firefox, Opera...Finally IE has succumbed to the needs and has followed suit with most of the features that the competitors provide....
Does not look like such a memory hog...except for some javascript pages...the memory usage was pretty ok.....thats until now...only over course it will mature...
Have already suggested three enhancements to the IE mailing list..:-)
Without any outstanding improvements to boast about, IE as standalone will not succeed...but when given with Vista..will sail in as a successful browser...looking to match the advances Microsoft has made to the OS as whole...a significant forward movement from Windows XP...one would say..!!!
More comments after a couple of weeks..when it will be stress-tested...:-))
-Rajesh
this time around, the website does look impressive..as always and like any other microsoft page....Got interested in IE 7 beta....Signed up for that...knowing well the alluring danger in Microsoft Beta products...(I had a tough time with Windows Media Player 10, in 2004-2005), the temptation was too much...to resist...
downloaded IE 7 Beta 2,
Installed it...
Took 5 minutes....restarted Windows....
Opened IE....surprised to see IE looking refreshing....with TABS...and the toolbars have been given a face-lift...
A search toolbar akin Firefox, Opera...Finally IE has succumbed to the needs and has followed suit with most of the features that the competitors provide....
Does not look like such a memory hog...except for some javascript pages...the memory usage was pretty ok.....thats until now...only over course it will mature...
Have already suggested three enhancements to the IE mailing list..:-)
Without any outstanding improvements to boast about, IE as standalone will not succeed...but when given with Vista..will sail in as a successful browser...looking to match the advances Microsoft has made to the OS as whole...a significant forward movement from Windows XP...one would say..!!!
More comments after a couple of weeks..when it will be stress-tested...:-))
-Rajesh
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Thambhi - Movie Review
Thambhi....literally meaning younger brother...but colloquially used to represent any lovable fella in ur neighbourhood....so here is this fella caring about his neighbourhood...that is the crux...a social movie...
A violent movie without violence and blood shed...to sum it up..!!!! aint' different???? True...I was impressed with most part of the movie....which is in itself a credit for the movie, though low key in publicity and openings....:-) The opening sequence of the movie...though remniscent of many a hollywood war movie...was truly impressive...setting the expectation levels for the plot.....and to top it, the title sequences....given as much care as the screenplay & dialogues.... When the title card for the director says...ACTION & IMPACT -- SEEMAN, you would definitely have clap for this thambhi behind the scene for the confidence he had in his plot....I appreciate it !!!!
I read that Madhavan, had foregone his primetime host position in DEAL YA NO DEAL....to concentrate on his career in tamil film industry....Looks true, when one watches the movie...he has shown ample signs of that....Kudos for his commitment to the role -Hardwork..for sure pays off - Such characters are all the more difficult because, madhavan is not the cool dude and heppy guy...he is used to being....so u get to see a rustic madhavan in this action flick... good characterisation....and emotion from Madhavan..this is definetely a break for maddy, the chocolate boy hero....the hair-do has aided and jelled with the characterization..!!!
Enough of bragging about the director and movie....though they are the fulcrum for this movie....the movie in itself..demands some comments....So lets do justice to that part...??? what say..???
The movie...is a classic TAMIL movie...with very little shade of english dialouges and deviod of english music...for once Dr. Ramadoss..and the supposedly Tamil Fanatics cannot complain about this movie....a true TAMIL movie...all characters have been named consciously and carefully... Velu Thodaiman...aka Thambhi....you are forgiven if you have heard that name yet...??? coz....such names are a rarity in movies...hah..one more compliment...these small things...which were appealing..have forced me to write a review for this movie...!!!
Depicting the hero as a Karate exponent and keeping the fight sequence in complete realism to karate needs a pat....but the jarring fact was Maddy's belly...it was lil too much for such a powerful character....people will never know if it was intentional...nevertheless.....stunt choreography is simply stunning....to go with the excellent camera work.....
The story in a nutshell.....The protagonist is a middle class family man...gets pulled into a Dada's trial as a witness..the price he pays for this is the loss of his family...., which forces him to take up to clearing up the mess in the society....not ala the normal hero, who sets out on a holy mission to decimate the villains..... here the protagonist...instead chooses ahimsa and preaches the villain to stop these brutalities...the reasoning sounds logically and need a revisit for the depth of thought that has gone into that...Ultimately though..in reality..how much of this is practiceable is up for dicussion....once the scene gets over....tough actually....
The dada gets pulled into the trap he lays for creating havoc in the city...and here as well, the hero comes to save the villain's family...amidst all the hungama...this rivets the ideas of the hero into the villain, but it is too late...as the hero..is drawn into another trap and killed...taken revenge on..... might not be a fantastic story line, but this story line sails through mainly because of four reasons...
4) Madhavan's acting
3) Dialogue of the movie
2) Impact of SEEMAN
1) Screenplay of the movie
Overall an enjoyable experience for the true cinema lover..who expects substance and clean narration in a movie...I am certainly game for this movie...!!!
See ya,
Rajesh
A violent movie without violence and blood shed...to sum it up..!!!! aint' different???? True...I was impressed with most part of the movie....which is in itself a credit for the movie, though low key in publicity and openings....:-) The opening sequence of the movie...though remniscent of many a hollywood war movie...was truly impressive...setting the expectation levels for the plot.....and to top it, the title sequences....given as much care as the screenplay & dialogues.... When the title card for the director says...ACTION & IMPACT -- SEEMAN, you would definitely have clap for this thambhi behind the scene for the confidence he had in his plot....I appreciate it !!!!
I read that Madhavan, had foregone his primetime host position in DEAL YA NO DEAL....to concentrate on his career in tamil film industry....Looks true, when one watches the movie...he has shown ample signs of that....Kudos for his commitment to the role -Hardwork..for sure pays off - Such characters are all the more difficult because, madhavan is not the cool dude and heppy guy...he is used to being....so u get to see a rustic madhavan in this action flick... good characterisation....and emotion from Madhavan..this is definetely a break for maddy, the chocolate boy hero....the hair-do has aided and jelled with the characterization..!!!
Enough of bragging about the director and movie....though they are the fulcrum for this movie....the movie in itself..demands some comments....So lets do justice to that part...??? what say..???
The movie...is a classic TAMIL movie...with very little shade of english dialouges and deviod of english music...for once Dr. Ramadoss..and the supposedly Tamil Fanatics cannot complain about this movie....a true TAMIL movie...all characters have been named consciously and carefully... Velu Thodaiman...aka Thambhi....you are forgiven if you have heard that name yet...??? coz....such names are a rarity in movies...hah..one more compliment...these small things...which were appealing..have forced me to write a review for this movie...!!!
Depicting the hero as a Karate exponent and keeping the fight sequence in complete realism to karate needs a pat....but the jarring fact was Maddy's belly...it was lil too much for such a powerful character....people will never know if it was intentional...nevertheless.....stunt choreography is simply stunning....to go with the excellent camera work.....
The story in a nutshell.....The protagonist is a middle class family man...gets pulled into a Dada's trial as a witness..the price he pays for this is the loss of his family...., which forces him to take up to clearing up the mess in the society....not ala the normal hero, who sets out on a holy mission to decimate the villains..... here the protagonist...instead chooses ahimsa and preaches the villain to stop these brutalities...the reasoning sounds logically and need a revisit for the depth of thought that has gone into that...Ultimately though..in reality..how much of this is practiceable is up for dicussion....once the scene gets over....tough actually....
The dada gets pulled into the trap he lays for creating havoc in the city...and here as well, the hero comes to save the villain's family...amidst all the hungama...this rivets the ideas of the hero into the villain, but it is too late...as the hero..is drawn into another trap and killed...taken revenge on..... might not be a fantastic story line, but this story line sails through mainly because of four reasons...
4) Madhavan's acting
3) Dialogue of the movie
2) Impact of SEEMAN
1) Screenplay of the movie
Overall an enjoyable experience for the true cinema lover..who expects substance and clean narration in a movie...I am certainly game for this movie...!!!
See ya,
Rajesh
Merger Announcement
This is a formal announcement that involves the merger of my other blog, http://reviewkorner.blogspot.com, with this weblog. The blog "In Perspective", has been in operation since September 1, 2005. The Initial idea behind the blog was to dedicate one for movie reviews....but I never had any traffic interests..then....so didnt care to make it public....but my friend sujay, has conciously sowed the "traffic...and counter funda" into my mind....so I have decided to make the merger, after ..................."much thought"..you would have thought, but in actuality, "without an after thought"....so you would be able to see my reviews....in this web stop itself......what with everybody going in for convergence.....I didnt want to be left behind....hahaha...;-)
Saturday, February 11, 2006
An Incredible Experience
Yeah.,..that's what I should say of what I have had today...!!!! the 30th of December 2005......coz....today will go in MY history as the day when I have had my first flying experience..!!!! Yes....my first flight...certainly not a la THE AVIATOR, but a domestic flying experience... from Bangalore to Coimbatore... an exact 50 minute flying experience.....incredulously incredible..............
It all unfolded rather unexpectedly....I had tripped on the road...on road to office...yesterday...morning....and it was diagonalized as a marginal hairline fracture...and I couldn't keep continuing at my house in Bangalore due to logistics..:-) so had to rush to my residence in Coimbatore at the earliest. For all the logical reasoning I had reasoned and scored in GRE...during my college days...I couldn't find a better way than traveling by train....and that too right on new year's eve...with this fractured leg..but for my friend Sriram, who sparked off the idea that I could travel by air, provided flights are available to Coimbatore...I knew they were available and got it checked by one of flight travel savvy friend Pankaj......So he had booked an online ticket for me in AIR DECCAN, which boasted of 2.5 Grant as its worth in Rupees...so I had finalized the travel...but was little concerned and slightly remorse that my first flying experience had to be so quick, unplanned and at a not so happy moment...when I am left limping...but regrouped myself..and called up the customer service of Air Deccan and checked if I could use the services of a wheel chair till I board the flight ...
I waited patiently for 15 minutes and then got a friendly sounding lady online, told my situation, for which she readily identified a work around, and said would cost another half a grant...and I could do nothing but to oblige for it....
So came the moment, at 5.30 AM, on 30th December, my kind room-mate Lakshmi Narasimhan, had given me hand (literally) till the airport in Bangalore from where a courteous Air Deccan employee reassured that he would help me until I take my seat in the flight...........huh... I was relieved....had already checked in at 6.10 AM...so started my 2 Hour wait.....my iPod came handy here...so never felt lonely...couldn't even call any of my friends...coz....It was still early morning for my ilk of people....got to see Bappi Lahiri, Mahesh Bhupati and Shabana Azmi...during my 2 hour long wait..and finally got to the moment when the clock showed 7.50 AM......I was allowed out of the waiting space of the bangalore terminal. While others got into the Air Deccan shuttle, I was special....;-D.........was taken straight to the airbus in my wheel chair on the runway.....was the first to get into the flight....
It was quite a small ferry, relative to what I had seen in movies...:-)...was greeted by a couple of amicable air-hostesses.....and escorted to my seat..which was just near the exit..to ease my movement ... I wasn't exactly surprised with the hospitality...because we indians are also getting used to such world class hospitality elsewhere outside the airport cordons as well.....but nevertheless good customer care is always pleasant...so was I..pleased with Air Deccan's hospitality....though it was short-lived..just 50 minutes..
Yeah..the flight started at zero eight zero zero hours..... I was preparing myself mentally for the first up-lift..........and it came 7 minutes later..and when the flight lifted into the air....blup.........butterflies fluttered in my stomach......and my ears got locked out..............and then bailed out of the lock, by my cap...It was extremely good to see myself in the ranks of the clouds...and above them as well....the cliched, “ I am on top of the world”...was the only thing that came to my mind...laughed it off....hehehe...
Then before, I could recuperate from this incrediblity....I could see TN government buses on road..below me....and I was amazed...in short...and when I looked at my watch..it showed 8.50 AM and then thud.............the flight landed in the civil aerodrome in Coimbatore, the landing---pulled people in front..and it was as though, I would fall in front of th vechile's wheels...:-)....and in another 5-10 minutes....the flight came to a grinding halt...and another courteous (customary trait of any native coimbatorian) gentleman escorted me in a wheel chair till the car at the entrance of the airport....my parents had mixed feelings while seeing me, happy to have me back in Coimbatore, but sad to see me in a wheel chair...:-I.......
yeah....this brings the 1 hour long episode to an end...rather naturally............ and see you sometime later.. with some other experience...............
Cheers,
Rajesh
It all unfolded rather unexpectedly....I had tripped on the road...on road to office...yesterday...morning....and it was diagonalized as a marginal hairline fracture...and I couldn't keep continuing at my house in Bangalore due to logistics..:-) so had to rush to my residence in Coimbatore at the earliest. For all the logical reasoning I had reasoned and scored in GRE...during my college days...I couldn't find a better way than traveling by train....and that too right on new year's eve...with this fractured leg..but for my friend Sriram, who sparked off the idea that I could travel by air, provided flights are available to Coimbatore...I knew they were available and got it checked by one of flight travel savvy friend Pankaj......So he had booked an online ticket for me in AIR DECCAN, which boasted of 2.5 Grant as its worth in Rupees...so I had finalized the travel...but was little concerned and slightly remorse that my first flying experience had to be so quick, unplanned and at a not so happy moment...when I am left limping...but regrouped myself..and called up the customer service of Air Deccan and checked if I could use the services of a wheel chair till I board the flight ...
I waited patiently for 15 minutes and then got a friendly sounding lady online, told my situation, for which she readily identified a work around, and said would cost another half a grant...and I could do nothing but to oblige for it....
So came the moment, at 5.30 AM, on 30th December, my kind room-mate Lakshmi Narasimhan, had given me hand (literally) till the airport in Bangalore from where a courteous Air Deccan employee reassured that he would help me until I take my seat in the flight...........huh... I was relieved....had already checked in at 6.10 AM...so started my 2 Hour wait.....my iPod came handy here...so never felt lonely...couldn't even call any of my friends...coz....It was still early morning for my ilk of people....got to see Bappi Lahiri, Mahesh Bhupati and Shabana Azmi...during my 2 hour long wait..and finally got to the moment when the clock showed 7.50 AM......I was allowed out of the waiting space of the bangalore terminal. While others got into the Air Deccan shuttle, I was special....;-D.........was taken straight to the airbus in my wheel chair on the runway.....was the first to get into the flight....
It was quite a small ferry, relative to what I had seen in movies...:-)...was greeted by a couple of amicable air-hostesses.....and escorted to my seat..which was just near the exit..to ease my movement ... I wasn't exactly surprised with the hospitality...because we indians are also getting used to such world class hospitality elsewhere outside the airport cordons as well.....but nevertheless good customer care is always pleasant...so was I..pleased with Air Deccan's hospitality....though it was short-lived..just 50 minutes..
Yeah..the flight started at zero eight zero zero hours..... I was preparing myself mentally for the first up-lift..........and it came 7 minutes later..and when the flight lifted into the air....blup.........butterflies fluttered in my stomach......and my ears got locked out..............and then bailed out of the lock, by my cap...It was extremely good to see myself in the ranks of the clouds...and above them as well....the cliched, “ I am on top of the world”...was the only thing that came to my mind...laughed it off....hehehe...
Then before, I could recuperate from this incrediblity....I could see TN government buses on road..below me....and I was amazed...in short...and when I looked at my watch..it showed 8.50 AM and then thud.............the flight landed in the civil aerodrome in Coimbatore, the landing---pulled people in front..and it was as though, I would fall in front of th vechile's wheels...:-)....and in another 5-10 minutes....the flight came to a grinding halt...and another courteous (customary trait of any native coimbatorian) gentleman escorted me in a wheel chair till the car at the entrance of the airport....my parents had mixed feelings while seeing me, happy to have me back in Coimbatore, but sad to see me in a wheel chair...:-I.......
yeah....this brings the 1 hour long episode to an end...rather naturally............ and see you sometime later.. with some other experience...............
Cheers,
Rajesh
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Thavamai Thavamirundu - Movie Review
Thanks to Cheran,.....let me tell it upfront.....It was and is a scintillating experience to watch this movie and write about it as well. If Autograph was any indication of Cheran maturing...this is proof that he is one of the best movie makers in the business in Tamil Nadu....or better known as Kollywood......more because he does films that he loves doing....and gets critical acclaim for his movies...plus gets the return in terms of the success of the movie with the masses....this last one is the most elusive, missing link for almost all directors...which Cheran seems to be making with a child's ease...atleast in his last two movies.....both have been declared as commercial successes now...
Onto the movie.....real good selection for the storyline....not delved into such detail..in movies..prior to this. And I read in a magazine that Cheran, briefed Rajkiran the story and said, if and only if you are ready to don the hero's role would I be interested in making this film, else would take up some other storyline for a film. Such was the trust that the director had in Muthiah's character, for which he firmly believed, only Rajkiran would do justice.
Yes, you guessed it right...Rajkiran is delightful, refreshing and picture perfect for the role...all at once...it is so natural for him to do this role....he can rest assured that he had donned a life-time role for the better. It would take a political imbroglio or a geographical bias to stop him from getting the national award for his role in TT.
Getting down to the hero of the film, the storyline and the deft handling of the story with apt screenplay and direction, one cannot stop admiring the director for his skill. The best part is that.. the director has not succumbed to the guile of making a screenplay out of the story line, rather he has allowed the story to take center-stage and made the screenplay an ally for the story, which is rather unusual in the grist of the mill stuff, prevalent at present which mainly harps on fast screenplay. He has never cared to bring in startling twists at interval time, another one just before the climax or any stuff of that sort, which is the bane of modern day film makers.
Each character in the film does exactly what it has been created for.......not doing an inch extra...that's where the movie scores. Be it Sathyapriya as the courteous daughter-in-law or Saranya as the caring, understanding house wive, Cheran as the repenting son, or Senthil as the elder son, wow..the characters have not been created, rather just picked out straight from any tamil family you can choose. This is not a surprise considering what Cheran says about his subjects.....” I dont create stories...I search for stories from our tamilian life styles”...Hatz offff to Cheran for his bold foray with such subjects......
One more interesting filmi stuff I saw in the movie....If I am right, is the first for any tamil film. It goes like this:
We are used to seeing flash-back narrations in BLACK-AND-WHITE, while the current narration in COLOUR, just to make the needed difference for the viewer. This movie made this difference with a difference..yes..you are reading it right. BLACK-AND-WHITE scenes are those which are not very happy even though they happen at present, while scenes in COLOUR are those, which you can associate with bright moments in the movie...which I thought was new, very relevant and worth mentioning... Good work...TT team.. !!!
Gosh,....It looks like more of a Cheran's appraisal than the review of the movie Thavamai Thavamirundhu... That must be telling you in summary about the movie...It is an out-and-out a cheran show.... Fantastic....!!!!
Onto the movie.....real good selection for the storyline....not delved into such detail..in movies..prior to this. And I read in a magazine that Cheran, briefed Rajkiran the story and said, if and only if you are ready to don the hero's role would I be interested in making this film, else would take up some other storyline for a film. Such was the trust that the director had in Muthiah's character, for which he firmly believed, only Rajkiran would do justice.
Yes, you guessed it right...Rajkiran is delightful, refreshing and picture perfect for the role...all at once...it is so natural for him to do this role....he can rest assured that he had donned a life-time role for the better. It would take a political imbroglio or a geographical bias to stop him from getting the national award for his role in TT.
Getting down to the hero of the film, the storyline and the deft handling of the story with apt screenplay and direction, one cannot stop admiring the director for his skill. The best part is that.. the director has not succumbed to the guile of making a screenplay out of the story line, rather he has allowed the story to take center-stage and made the screenplay an ally for the story, which is rather unusual in the grist of the mill stuff, prevalent at present which mainly harps on fast screenplay. He has never cared to bring in startling twists at interval time, another one just before the climax or any stuff of that sort, which is the bane of modern day film makers.
Each character in the film does exactly what it has been created for.......not doing an inch extra...that's where the movie scores. Be it Sathyapriya as the courteous daughter-in-law or Saranya as the caring, understanding house wive, Cheran as the repenting son, or Senthil as the elder son, wow..the characters have not been created, rather just picked out straight from any tamil family you can choose. This is not a surprise considering what Cheran says about his subjects.....” I dont create stories...I search for stories from our tamilian life styles”...Hatz offff to Cheran for his bold foray with such subjects......
One more interesting filmi stuff I saw in the movie....If I am right, is the first for any tamil film. It goes like this:
We are used to seeing flash-back narrations in BLACK-AND-WHITE, while the current narration in COLOUR, just to make the needed difference for the viewer. This movie made this difference with a difference..yes..you are reading it right. BLACK-AND-WHITE scenes are those which are not very happy even though they happen at present, while scenes in COLOUR are those, which you can associate with bright moments in the movie...which I thought was new, very relevant and worth mentioning... Good work...TT team.. !!!
Gosh,....It looks like more of a Cheran's appraisal than the review of the movie Thavamai Thavamirundhu... That must be telling you in summary about the movie...It is an out-and-out a cheran show.... Fantastic....!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)