mmm...this is the most interesting aspect for a movie buff like me...deciphering information about the movie with just a sneak-peak at the movie album and the photos, teasers and the track lyrics...
i am back at that for Endhiran - Audio released today - and I had my share at The Odyssey - Adyar, where a sales personnel greeted me with a Thalaivar Autographed Endhiran poster...! would I disapprove?!!
Now the mega movie..what would it look like?
* One of the stock posters where Super Star has a metallic finish look-alike overcoat on...gives the impression of a machine man - ala - The Terminator
* looking at the first track lyrics and the images associated with it, i see traces of the Al Pacino starrer - S1m0ne - where Al Pacino creates a new avatar of his own!!
* the eternal story rounds that this movie is an adaptation of En Iniya Iyandhira - by the legendary (late) Sujatha Sir...which I was also believing until seeing the credit for Story going to Shankar in the audio CD..!!!
Onto the tracks,
a) Pudhiya Manitha - the snaps looks like this mostly a background song like the *vetri nichayam* song from Annamalai!! The bearded looks of Thalaivar is making him look erudite..nice persona selection!
b) Kadhal Anukkal - wow! I dont know where Mr. Shankar was able to find such a large oasis and a desert!! Looks to be a song for the Scientist Dr. Vaseegaran. Stunning and Glossy visuals I should say!
c) Irumbile Oru Idhayam - Wow! Familiar yet enterprising Shankar Trade like *Azhagana Ratchasiye*, *Randakka Randakka*, but the only difference is, this is the uber cool version of the same and Thalaivar looks stunning and atleast 10-15 years younger....Shankar should have directed Thalaivar atleast 10 years back and would have made him look like a college goer..:)
d) Arima Arima - I suppose is the signature song where the sequence of the stock audio cover comes up. As glossy and inline with the budget of the movie I should say!!
e) Kilimanjaro - Shot in the latest wonder of the world featuring on the agreed wonders of the world...(Aishwarya!) is the Uppu Karuvaadu version as far as I see...:D
whatever the movie says and does, i believe this is a landmark movie in Indian cinema ala THE AVATAR of the Hollywood. Pathbreaking is my impression!!
I have consciously avoided my Audio review of the album in this as I wanted to dedicate this post only to the maker and the product....
Audio review of THE MASTER's composition is coming soon...:D
C Ya,
Rajesh
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
My take on Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya
I was genuinely disappointed inspite of judiciously avoiding pre-judice…and I felt
a) VTV took a plaintiff story and made it look even more plaintiff thinking *yet another love story* tagline would work!
b) And VTV sucked-up the viewer’s patience big time with a huge hole after 2/3rd of the movie and I was literally counting for the climax!
I am neither biased against love stories nor against Gautham Vasudevan Menon (GVM). I can explain!
The movie starts off with usual boy meets girl stuff. We think, okay, this is fine, nothing overboard or askance…let it go!...
The movie continues to be the same…we still are fine…just that some of the dialogues under the guise of falling for the girl looking 3rd grade…though it is simbu who utters them, I can see GVM behind each of them. This I thought is not what you expect from a director of GVM’s caliber. This was exactly like how Shankar posed himself as *youth* and did stuff in Boyz…which wasn’t warranted for a Shankar film, leave along a youth film…!
There is no major substantiation/reason to say why Simbu falls for Trisha except the *attractive girl* logic…which doesn’t make it look like the Love that the movie advertises that it portrays! I for the little cinema that I know of, would have expected substantiation of the love factor with prudent scenes or instances which were missing!
Onto the next irritating piece in the puzzle…Trisha…I feel it an irony when people say Trisha is good looking. Bull waste! Good looking aint just good costume. It is personality, attitude, the character weight… If it was not for character depths / attitude / personality, Mallika / Gopika wouldn’t have even made a mark in the movie *Autograph*. Their characters are stil vivid in memory 6 years on now, without Nalini Sriram’s costumes…J…Agreed Nalini shouldn’t be credited with this folly. It is the Invoicer. When Shankar could invoice so well from Nalini for Sivaji – The Boss, we tend to feel GVM played a tad too deep on the good looks aspect. Even so, the half-straight, half normal hair looks completely unkempt, a diagonally opposite personality feel for what Jessie is portrayed to be!...Instead there could have been a half normal and half curly hair which would have suited the oomph factor which seems to completely surreal…!
On the dialogues again, they have been the biggest down-ing factor for this movie… they are sooo long and so draft-verison-ish. I always got the feel that it was the first cut version of dialogues that it made it to the re-recording…because, I for most of the scenes felt the dialogues except for a countable few lacked finesse and the crispness of *potato chips*!!! This costed dearly for the movie’s feel good factor as you always end up irritated what with few 3rd grade lines interspersed!
Music as perceived on screen…my goodness…the less spoken the better! Music, per se has been reviewed at length in my previous blog entry – simply put – it is godly, except for the comment that I had earlier on – there could have been more variety in the music that was invoiced..! I stand by that. I also read in some place that ARR should have been on hurry to catch a plane on his way to completing the re-recording. I would second that. Where are the beautiful interludes juxtaposed in the story, that would tell a story on its own!!...If re-recording was second-class, the song picturisation was definitely third grade.
For the lovely song that Hosanna is and for the lovely impact it had on your ears, it seldom is remembered in the movie primarily due to a basic cinematic fact that viewers are less attentive in the first 20 mins or so and that’s why screenplay pundits clearly demarcate the lighter stuff and intro stuff for this time. What was the logic to put the best song of your album in the first 10 mins?!!! Man…criminal waste, according to me..:(
Omana penne – Simbu’s attire never fitted the hats / hoods he had on…! I thought the hat never fitted with the rest of the costume, neither did the hooded visuals of the song which also looked very casual. It is 300 % more responsibility on the director to ensure that such master piece sound tracks are given due supporting credit by way of fitting visuals. Because master piece sound tracks have their powerful / potent story telling capacity, if the movie differs from the initial feel that the audio release brings in, the viewer is disappointed and is beginning to get disinterested. And boy, that final Malayalam interlude of Kalyani Menon, who on earth would shoot a bathing scene that too on some exotic western world beach for an authentic Malayalam lyric replete with fitting instrumentation. If it was any solace, trisha emerges with a bath robe that is Malayalam looking silk! That’s the remotest close encounter that this song had with God’s own country other than the verse – Omana penne!
Oru Naal Sirithen – what a number it was shaping up to be on headphones…The song was completely misplaced wrt feel. Any sane person who listens to the audio can figure out the feel the song conveys… that too on a platter. Angst, a lightly haunting feel, painful at that! Alas, the song is placed at an exactly opposite sequence in the movie when Simbu successfully meets up with Trisha in her house after the marriage and they kind of formally complement the love they have for each other – mutually. Rahman’s passionate rendition fitted Simbu’s lips only the first time when Simbu reacts with a lot of zeal on the tiny boat which is almost rocked by his enthusiasm! For whatever little knowledge that I have of cinema, if I can churn up so much of filmi gyan, I would expect that GVM knows this on Day 1 ! Why am I having to key such long statements for so basic an aspect!
Un Nanban illai – I thought the song did not have contrasting aspects like the ARR song nor did it have anything great to rave about! I don’t remember a thing about that song now…hahaha…J. Good for GVM!
Aromale – I thought this song was pretty nicely fit into the scheme of things in the movie…! For a moment if I can juxtapose this with the fact that GVM mentioned in the audio release that this was a Free supplement volunteered by ARR, I wonder how this aspect would have been shown on screen by GVM without this song! Anyways, what is good should definitely be appreciated! And GVM deserves a pat for this song and it picturization
Anbil Avan – equally fitting was the placement of the song in the movie and it was very obvious that it should have been the marriage song like my comment in my audio review. What irked in this piece though was the dance by people on the park. How many more movies would GVM use the same clichéd technique. Sir, please improvise!
Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya – the feel of the song was snugly captured in the sequence and the song / video did mutual justice!
I have endeavour-ed a music-video review above purely, because this was touted to be a *Academy award winner’s musical, fitting rewarded with a genuine love story*! I now feel tired of this!...and few more milstones to comment on before I retire on this topic///
If there were a few good things in this mediocre love story it was
a) Simbu – Simbu has been stellar in his performance, the least to say! rightly like GVM’s comment in one of run-up shows, Simbu walks away with more than 2/3rds of the credit in the movie. I would have to admit that 1/3 of this 2/3rds credit should be GVM’s for etching the character, but the bigger aspect of essaying the same needs mention. TR’s blood is alive and kicking (!!) in simbu who has been able to bring in a fierce yet completely subtle performance on-screen. Appreciate it!
b) Climax – This is probably where I realized I am watching the movie of a film maker who gave us Vettaiyadu Vilayadu / Vaaranam Aayiram / Pachai Killi Muthu Charam. None of that wizardy was evident until the fag-end of the movie when he played us upside down with the Real Life – Reel Life mix-match, though it was predictable at the Brooklyn bridge sequence!! Hatz off GVM!
Sorry, I was long and hard here, but so many mistakes cannot happen in a critically acclaimed director’s movie. Most of my comments are not my observations (which could be questioned, btw)…but are basic aspects any movie maker should care to cover!
Good Luck with *the* Asal Hero movie next! Hope we don’t have as many things to feed-back to you on!!
Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya - Vinnai Thaandi Varamudiyavillai !!
a) VTV took a plaintiff story and made it look even more plaintiff thinking *yet another love story* tagline would work!
b) And VTV sucked-up the viewer’s patience big time with a huge hole after 2/3rd of the movie and I was literally counting for the climax!
I am neither biased against love stories nor against Gautham Vasudevan Menon (GVM). I can explain!
The movie starts off with usual boy meets girl stuff. We think, okay, this is fine, nothing overboard or askance…let it go!...
The movie continues to be the same…we still are fine…just that some of the dialogues under the guise of falling for the girl looking 3rd grade…though it is simbu who utters them, I can see GVM behind each of them. This I thought is not what you expect from a director of GVM’s caliber. This was exactly like how Shankar posed himself as *youth* and did stuff in Boyz…which wasn’t warranted for a Shankar film, leave along a youth film…!
There is no major substantiation/reason to say why Simbu falls for Trisha except the *attractive girl* logic…which doesn’t make it look like the Love that the movie advertises that it portrays! I for the little cinema that I know of, would have expected substantiation of the love factor with prudent scenes or instances which were missing!
Onto the next irritating piece in the puzzle…Trisha…I feel it an irony when people say Trisha is good looking. Bull waste! Good looking aint just good costume. It is personality, attitude, the character weight… If it was not for character depths / attitude / personality, Mallika / Gopika wouldn’t have even made a mark in the movie *Autograph*. Their characters are stil vivid in memory 6 years on now, without Nalini Sriram’s costumes…J…Agreed Nalini shouldn’t be credited with this folly. It is the Invoicer. When Shankar could invoice so well from Nalini for Sivaji – The Boss, we tend to feel GVM played a tad too deep on the good looks aspect. Even so, the half-straight, half normal hair looks completely unkempt, a diagonally opposite personality feel for what Jessie is portrayed to be!...Instead there could have been a half normal and half curly hair which would have suited the oomph factor which seems to completely surreal…!
On the dialogues again, they have been the biggest down-ing factor for this movie… they are sooo long and so draft-verison-ish. I always got the feel that it was the first cut version of dialogues that it made it to the re-recording…because, I for most of the scenes felt the dialogues except for a countable few lacked finesse and the crispness of *potato chips*!!! This costed dearly for the movie’s feel good factor as you always end up irritated what with few 3rd grade lines interspersed!
Music as perceived on screen…my goodness…the less spoken the better! Music, per se has been reviewed at length in my previous blog entry – simply put – it is godly, except for the comment that I had earlier on – there could have been more variety in the music that was invoiced..! I stand by that. I also read in some place that ARR should have been on hurry to catch a plane on his way to completing the re-recording. I would second that. Where are the beautiful interludes juxtaposed in the story, that would tell a story on its own!!...If re-recording was second-class, the song picturisation was definitely third grade.
For the lovely song that Hosanna is and for the lovely impact it had on your ears, it seldom is remembered in the movie primarily due to a basic cinematic fact that viewers are less attentive in the first 20 mins or so and that’s why screenplay pundits clearly demarcate the lighter stuff and intro stuff for this time. What was the logic to put the best song of your album in the first 10 mins?!!! Man…criminal waste, according to me..:(
Omana penne – Simbu’s attire never fitted the hats / hoods he had on…! I thought the hat never fitted with the rest of the costume, neither did the hooded visuals of the song which also looked very casual. It is 300 % more responsibility on the director to ensure that such master piece sound tracks are given due supporting credit by way of fitting visuals. Because master piece sound tracks have their powerful / potent story telling capacity, if the movie differs from the initial feel that the audio release brings in, the viewer is disappointed and is beginning to get disinterested. And boy, that final Malayalam interlude of Kalyani Menon, who on earth would shoot a bathing scene that too on some exotic western world beach for an authentic Malayalam lyric replete with fitting instrumentation. If it was any solace, trisha emerges with a bath robe that is Malayalam looking silk! That’s the remotest close encounter that this song had with God’s own country other than the verse – Omana penne!
Oru Naal Sirithen – what a number it was shaping up to be on headphones…The song was completely misplaced wrt feel. Any sane person who listens to the audio can figure out the feel the song conveys… that too on a platter. Angst, a lightly haunting feel, painful at that! Alas, the song is placed at an exactly opposite sequence in the movie when Simbu successfully meets up with Trisha in her house after the marriage and they kind of formally complement the love they have for each other – mutually. Rahman’s passionate rendition fitted Simbu’s lips only the first time when Simbu reacts with a lot of zeal on the tiny boat which is almost rocked by his enthusiasm! For whatever little knowledge that I have of cinema, if I can churn up so much of filmi gyan, I would expect that GVM knows this on Day 1 ! Why am I having to key such long statements for so basic an aspect!
Un Nanban illai – I thought the song did not have contrasting aspects like the ARR song nor did it have anything great to rave about! I don’t remember a thing about that song now…hahaha…J. Good for GVM!
Aromale – I thought this song was pretty nicely fit into the scheme of things in the movie…! For a moment if I can juxtapose this with the fact that GVM mentioned in the audio release that this was a Free supplement volunteered by ARR, I wonder how this aspect would have been shown on screen by GVM without this song! Anyways, what is good should definitely be appreciated! And GVM deserves a pat for this song and it picturization
Anbil Avan – equally fitting was the placement of the song in the movie and it was very obvious that it should have been the marriage song like my comment in my audio review. What irked in this piece though was the dance by people on the park. How many more movies would GVM use the same clichéd technique. Sir, please improvise!
Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya – the feel of the song was snugly captured in the sequence and the song / video did mutual justice!
I have endeavour-ed a music-video review above purely, because this was touted to be a *Academy award winner’s musical, fitting rewarded with a genuine love story*! I now feel tired of this!...and few more milstones to comment on before I retire on this topic///
If there were a few good things in this mediocre love story it was
a) Simbu – Simbu has been stellar in his performance, the least to say! rightly like GVM’s comment in one of run-up shows, Simbu walks away with more than 2/3rds of the credit in the movie. I would have to admit that 1/3 of this 2/3rds credit should be GVM’s for etching the character, but the bigger aspect of essaying the same needs mention. TR’s blood is alive and kicking (!!) in simbu who has been able to bring in a fierce yet completely subtle performance on-screen. Appreciate it!
b) Climax – This is probably where I realized I am watching the movie of a film maker who gave us Vettaiyadu Vilayadu / Vaaranam Aayiram / Pachai Killi Muthu Charam. None of that wizardy was evident until the fag-end of the movie when he played us upside down with the Real Life – Reel Life mix-match, though it was predictable at the Brooklyn bridge sequence!! Hatz off GVM!
Sorry, I was long and hard here, but so many mistakes cannot happen in a critically acclaimed director’s movie. Most of my comments are not my observations (which could be questioned, btw)…but are basic aspects any movie maker should care to cover!
Good Luck with *the* Asal Hero movie next! Hope we don’t have as many things to feed-back to you on!!
Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya - Vinnai Thaandi Varamudiyavillai !!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya - Sound Track Review
The double-bill kid kept the home crowd waiting for close to a year before he could unleash some of the Oscar magic. Quite frankly, Jai Ho is surely a parody to identify the master's musical prowess. There have been much much classier and maestro-personified compositions even in 2008, but then it requires that missing link of Kamal Haasan's movies...THE ENGLISH FACTOR that sealed a couple of pages in Indian Cinema History to the credit of ARR. Yeah, understand, bragging abt ARR and Oscars will need a bigger platform, lets get back to what I intended here....
terse, the album is neat and has the Grand stamp that one recognizes as *an ARR musical*, nevertheless, not delving into details of the individual sound tracks means I am doing injustice to my feelings. So here is justice to my feelings and injustice to your time...!
Omana Penne: Benny Dayal at his usual best and i believe he becomes more pepped up when the composition is of the Master. He has done hara-kiri with his voice and all of that sounds very good though digitized at places...the malayalam interlude in the song though not fitting into the groove the first time you listen to it, finally nails the song to its glory. Maybe all of this is an expectation from the script penned by Gautham Vasudevan Menon (GVM, hence forth here), but still trying to drive-away the sheen would be far-cry when it comes to The Boss. Instrumentation is gala in this song and I believe this is one of the personal favourites of mine. 4/5 for this song according to me.
Anbil Avan: Have been reading about this song from @chinmayi and was expecting Chinmayi to sound differently here as well as has been her pattern in ARR's songs. But to my pleasant surprise, she sounded 100 % herself and it does sound cool...with an aura of western tint and contemporary appeal! The orchestration in this song sounds like a marriage song and Devan's voice jels very well with Chinmayi's and makes for a good duet. The best part for me in this song is the place where the Christian choir music slowly transforms itself into the Murhurtham music of Hindu marriages. Again, though this seems to be the theme of the song, setting such high standards for musical genius is hard to ignore wrt credit! I for all of my gumption reward this song as well to the Mastery of ARR rather than to GVM who has pitched for this in the first place!! Super is just an understatement for this song and I wouldn't hesitate a 5/5 for this song. Excellent!
Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya: Maybe I am ill-equipped from a musical perspective to appreciate this title song which typical bodes to be a constant background score rather than an individual track, however I haven't been able to appreciate this track one bit, Sorry! 2/5 is benefit of doubt for the musicality that is un-perceivable to the simpleton that I am in music!!
Hosana: Wow! That should have summed up my thought about this song. Probably the most popular song of the year as yet and should be a chart-buster (as if the other tracks aren't going to be...:)...) Though the first lines in the song remind you of a *Vaaname Yellai* song of the yesteryear, it quickly fades out when you hear it again. The orchestration here again comes to the fore and I can assure you a trip to Pandora if you listen to this song (start-to-finish) with your eyes closed and with a good set of headphones. I did that and can see how Pandora looks alluring though I havent had a dash with AVATAR yet!! The Blaazee's bit is his usual and has contributed on the positives for the track. Can I say, 4.5/5 for this song. Yes, it is! And of-course, enroute, Thamarai's excellent lyrics have been eclipsed!
Nee Nanban Illai: A very Robaroo-Rehna Tu kind of a composition (I thought!) so typical of Rahman and so fresh I should say. Nacchunnu irukku...vera enna solla?! Some of the orchestration reminded me of similar stuff in *Good-Bye Nanba* of Ayutha Ezhuthu, anyways that was only for the first time and you get lost into the maya of the contemporary. Stuffy song I should quote. Def. 4/5
Oru Naal: With the little musical knowledge I have, I believe this song fits the bill for the word *QUIRKY MUSIC* as used / uttered by the master himself in the Audio Launch function. I thought this was a nice experiment. The male and female tracks crooning to different genres of music, but still keeping up the same overall integrity in the song, I thought was excellent finesse! As usual ARR picks a winner of a song to sing in any album, and this sure is one!... Quirky is the factor that makes me feel a 3/5 for this song, though I believe it to be outstanding!
Aromale: The Boss has graduated from debut-ing singers and is now debut-ing Music Directors as singers!! I heard ARR say that GVM had shot this song in a very subtle way on-screen and hence ARR thought it would even out if the music score is exotically extreme! It certainly is even by Alphonse's passionate rendition. Add on the chorus by the leading singers and you have a true winner of a song in hand. This exotic mix is the oomph factor i should say in AR Rahman's music. I wouldn't hesitate a 5/5 purely for the passion and energy the song carries in addition to being closely knit to the storyline (seemingly so!!!)
As an aside, I am RT-ing a tweet that I posted recently on my twitter account. - Here it goes,
@prakasr - my wife complains - ARR undermines the lyrics in any song with superlative music. Proof... Thamarai's usually glowing lyrics, are hard to notice in the soulful music of VTV. I tend to agree.Boss, talent does draw such flak.:)
this should explain how things are slated when it comes to brushing with such himalayan talent and its more of a trade-off for people to get to work with the maestro!! I think GVM has been damn lucky and smart enough to cash-in on the Academy Award winner tagline for the sound track credits. But I thought GVM should have ordered for some variety in the stock he invoiced from the Academy Award Winner. Almost all songs, get the same feel and I only pity GVM for going overboard with the love feel. I personally would have expected some variety in the album, but that puerly my take, maybe the movie demanded this, lets wait and watch the stuff unfold on the screen. I am reminded of how bold GVM has used the tag line - * love story... Yet another time *...
Keep hooked on you guys! Yet another medal onto the captain's uniform!!!
P.S.: I wouldn't feel embarrassed for this thingy being branded as a Rahman Glorifier and my praises being unwarranted. If that's what you call, so be it...I would simply smile and say, Sir Ji / Mademoiselle - please get hold of Jodhaa Akbar's sound track and listen to all of the tracks if time permits and if you are really struck for time and have to rush, just listen to *Khwaja mere Khwaja*. There ends the argument in my favour...:)....:)...!
terse, the album is neat and has the Grand stamp that one recognizes as *an ARR musical*, nevertheless, not delving into details of the individual sound tracks means I am doing injustice to my feelings. So here is justice to my feelings and injustice to your time...!
Omana Penne: Benny Dayal at his usual best and i believe he becomes more pepped up when the composition is of the Master. He has done hara-kiri with his voice and all of that sounds very good though digitized at places...the malayalam interlude in the song though not fitting into the groove the first time you listen to it, finally nails the song to its glory. Maybe all of this is an expectation from the script penned by Gautham Vasudevan Menon (GVM, hence forth here), but still trying to drive-away the sheen would be far-cry when it comes to The Boss. Instrumentation is gala in this song and I believe this is one of the personal favourites of mine. 4/5 for this song according to me.
Anbil Avan: Have been reading about this song from @chinmayi and was expecting Chinmayi to sound differently here as well as has been her pattern in ARR's songs. But to my pleasant surprise, she sounded 100 % herself and it does sound cool...with an aura of western tint and contemporary appeal! The orchestration in this song sounds like a marriage song and Devan's voice jels very well with Chinmayi's and makes for a good duet. The best part for me in this song is the place where the Christian choir music slowly transforms itself into the Murhurtham music of Hindu marriages. Again, though this seems to be the theme of the song, setting such high standards for musical genius is hard to ignore wrt credit! I for all of my gumption reward this song as well to the Mastery of ARR rather than to GVM who has pitched for this in the first place!! Super is just an understatement for this song and I wouldn't hesitate a 5/5 for this song. Excellent!
Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya: Maybe I am ill-equipped from a musical perspective to appreciate this title song which typical bodes to be a constant background score rather than an individual track, however I haven't been able to appreciate this track one bit, Sorry! 2/5 is benefit of doubt for the musicality that is un-perceivable to the simpleton that I am in music!!
Hosana: Wow! That should have summed up my thought about this song. Probably the most popular song of the year as yet and should be a chart-buster (as if the other tracks aren't going to be...:)...) Though the first lines in the song remind you of a *Vaaname Yellai* song of the yesteryear, it quickly fades out when you hear it again. The orchestration here again comes to the fore and I can assure you a trip to Pandora if you listen to this song (start-to-finish) with your eyes closed and with a good set of headphones. I did that and can see how Pandora looks alluring though I havent had a dash with AVATAR yet!! The Blaazee's bit is his usual and has contributed on the positives for the track. Can I say, 4.5/5 for this song. Yes, it is! And of-course, enroute, Thamarai's excellent lyrics have been eclipsed!
Nee Nanban Illai: A very Robaroo-Rehna Tu kind of a composition (I thought!) so typical of Rahman and so fresh I should say. Nacchunnu irukku...vera enna solla?! Some of the orchestration reminded me of similar stuff in *Good-Bye Nanba* of Ayutha Ezhuthu, anyways that was only for the first time and you get lost into the maya of the contemporary. Stuffy song I should quote. Def. 4/5
Oru Naal: With the little musical knowledge I have, I believe this song fits the bill for the word *QUIRKY MUSIC* as used / uttered by the master himself in the Audio Launch function. I thought this was a nice experiment. The male and female tracks crooning to different genres of music, but still keeping up the same overall integrity in the song, I thought was excellent finesse! As usual ARR picks a winner of a song to sing in any album, and this sure is one!... Quirky is the factor that makes me feel a 3/5 for this song, though I believe it to be outstanding!
Aromale: The Boss has graduated from debut-ing singers and is now debut-ing Music Directors as singers!! I heard ARR say that GVM had shot this song in a very subtle way on-screen and hence ARR thought it would even out if the music score is exotically extreme! It certainly is even by Alphonse's passionate rendition. Add on the chorus by the leading singers and you have a true winner of a song in hand. This exotic mix is the oomph factor i should say in AR Rahman's music. I wouldn't hesitate a 5/5 purely for the passion and energy the song carries in addition to being closely knit to the storyline (seemingly so!!!)
As an aside, I am RT-ing a tweet that I posted recently on my twitter account. - Here it goes,
@prakasr - my wife complains - ARR undermines the lyrics in any song with superlative music. Proof... Thamarai's usually glowing lyrics, are hard to notice in the soulful music of VTV. I tend to agree.Boss, talent does draw such flak.:)
this should explain how things are slated when it comes to brushing with such himalayan talent and its more of a trade-off for people to get to work with the maestro!! I think GVM has been damn lucky and smart enough to cash-in on the Academy Award winner tagline for the sound track credits. But I thought GVM should have ordered for some variety in the stock he invoiced from the Academy Award Winner. Almost all songs, get the same feel and I only pity GVM for going overboard with the love feel. I personally would have expected some variety in the album, but that puerly my take, maybe the movie demanded this, lets wait and watch the stuff unfold on the screen. I am reminded of how bold GVM has used the tag line - * love story... Yet another time *...
Keep hooked on you guys! Yet another medal onto the captain's uniform!!!
P.S.: I wouldn't feel embarrassed for this thingy being branded as a Rahman Glorifier and my praises being unwarranted. If that's what you call, so be it...I would simply smile and say, Sir Ji / Mademoiselle - please get hold of Jodhaa Akbar's sound track and listen to all of the tracks if time permits and if you are really struck for time and have to rush, just listen to *Khwaja mere Khwaja*. There ends the argument in my favour...:)....:)...!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Way to Wave - welcome NexGen!
Just an hour into the 1 hr 20 min presentation and 5-10 mins into fiddling around with Google Wave, tells me that Google has ushered in a new era which other tools and 2.0 apps seem to be aiming at...but never were!...
Wave is a new definition of doing productive work and for the first time I would say, has a large potential corporate market rather than an internet audience by way of Wave....
let me go with the wave and see some more tides before I can wave about it....:)
Bye for now...and happy waving!
Rajesh
Wave is a new definition of doing productive work and for the first time I would say, has a large potential corporate market rather than an internet audience by way of Wave....
let me go with the wave and see some more tides before I can wave about it....:)
Bye for now...and happy waving!
Rajesh
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
A dash with the mystic
I should say i have always been circumspect with mystics and *Saamiyaars* due to obvious reasons....but went into Isha Yoga centre with an open mind and just to improve by physical self....it was a packaged 7 day course and we had a very good dash at the Master fondly called *Satguru*, known to the world as *Satguru Jaggi Vasudev*...!!
I should say I am amazed at the credibility he brings to his talks....purely because he has experienced it. There is a lot of science in his thought process and he exuberates them in each of his musings!!
I should say the world of inner-self is very profound and unfathomable for the un-altered person..!! One should experience the Isha yoga courses for the dive with-in...
You can talk to me if you want a first hand experience of how this initiator course *Sambhavi Maha Mudra* was...upfront Answer is excellent!!...
-Rajesh
I should say I am amazed at the credibility he brings to his talks....purely because he has experienced it. There is a lot of science in his thought process and he exuberates them in each of his musings!!
I should say the world of inner-self is very profound and unfathomable for the un-altered person..!! One should experience the Isha yoga courses for the dive with-in...
You can talk to me if you want a first hand experience of how this initiator course *Sambhavi Maha Mudra* was...upfront Answer is excellent!!...
-Rajesh
Saturday, August 08, 2009
truly a rage! - twitter...by an old-skool guy
initially I was all cynicism about twitter for it microblogging purely because I was an old skool guy and a blogger since 2004!
I thought *why wouldn't I blog 20 times a day but choose twitter to do the same?*
yeah. there is a difference! nobody has the time in the world to compose a blog post and tell a storyline! all they have time is to impress their feelings in some social web 2.0 medium..
and blogging even when integrated in god-knows-where applications/widegts isnt followed that efficiently as you would have expected....
but stuff ala twitter are designed with minute-made tracking at the unit level. Why twitter has become popular is parallel to why orkut became more popular than something like Hi5. Because more people are on Orkut, its easy to network. Same is the case with tweeter.
plus one more point i have observed is that there are a lot more credible celeb accounts in Twitter than in orkut, dont catch me saying I am reviewing twitter with orkut, just a similar line note...thats it....
i think more credible accounts is mainly due to the nature of usage that people envisage out of twitter!
I just read through Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Shashi Tharoor, Rasmus Lerdorf and a hand full of opensource geeks around the world!!! its real and you feel you are in striking distance of getting a peek at the lives of these people!!
i am actually getting engrossed into twitter much like how i spent 6 hours a day in orkut back in 2005!!!
at the same time, I dont think blogging the old-skool way (through blogger, live journal, word press) would lose its sheen. a proof is I can express so much of what I think about twitter, only in my blog and not through a tweet....hahaha... i like the way I put this!!!
twitter to its credit is also doing a lot of simplification to make tweet-ing much like a *sipping a glass of water*....and mobile technologies and mobile versions of twitter make life-infiltration more prominent!!...
web 2.0 is right here for our grabs! lets enjoy!
Godspeed.
I thought *why wouldn't I blog 20 times a day but choose twitter to do the same?*
yeah. there is a difference! nobody has the time in the world to compose a blog post and tell a storyline! all they have time is to impress their feelings in some social web 2.0 medium..
and blogging even when integrated in god-knows-where applications/widegts isnt followed that efficiently as you would have expected....
but stuff ala twitter are designed with minute-made tracking at the unit level. Why twitter has become popular is parallel to why orkut became more popular than something like Hi5. Because more people are on Orkut, its easy to network. Same is the case with tweeter.
plus one more point i have observed is that there are a lot more credible celeb accounts in Twitter than in orkut, dont catch me saying I am reviewing twitter with orkut, just a similar line note...thats it....
i think more credible accounts is mainly due to the nature of usage that people envisage out of twitter!
I just read through Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Shashi Tharoor, Rasmus Lerdorf and a hand full of opensource geeks around the world!!! its real and you feel you are in striking distance of getting a peek at the lives of these people!!
i am actually getting engrossed into twitter much like how i spent 6 hours a day in orkut back in 2005!!!
at the same time, I dont think blogging the old-skool way (through blogger, live journal, word press) would lose its sheen. a proof is I can express so much of what I think about twitter, only in my blog and not through a tweet....hahaha... i like the way I put this!!!
twitter to its credit is also doing a lot of simplification to make tweet-ing much like a *sipping a glass of water*....and mobile technologies and mobile versions of twitter make life-infiltration more prominent!!...
web 2.0 is right here for our grabs! lets enjoy!
Godspeed.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
KA vs KL
My proficiency and the influential infiltration of the kannada language into me displayed itself in its full foray this weekend when I visited Kerala. For the fact, my understanding of the malayalam language is pretty decent and the thought of phrases in malayalam in my thinkbox is quite natural I thought until now....but when I tried to blurt out / ask anything to the all-helpful public in Kottayam district, all I could think of, in my mind was kannada phrases like 'illva', 'hege hogbeku?', 'elli idhiya ?'.... For once I thought I should have toured in kannada heartland rather than God's Own Country....but is there an equal to plush green upholstery that God flaunts in his courtyard...! All that in a dedicated push!... For now I am going to bask in the glory of my kannada prowess and memory power which has stood a test of more than 2 years!!!
Godspeed & Shabba khair!!!
Godspeed & Shabba khair!!!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Digest for May 2009!
A lot of news has flown into my head over this month for no particular reason (I suppose) because,
a) I listen to FM Radio regualrly now!
b) I also *regularly* peek at slashdot and CNET news for technology updates which was previously like the frequency of australian cricket team losing matches
c) plus a lil less pressuring situation @ my work place!!!
A few stuff which I definetely wanted to share are,
a) Google is launching Google Wave a next generation collaboration app, whcih combines, email, chat, file share and a few more things. I read that this is touted to gain attention as much as iPhone launch!!
b) Microsoft is launching *bing* a purportedly serious contender to Google Search. MS Live Search fell flat on face in comparison to Google I remember searching my name in livesearch and google. Google in addition to giving every detail about my online presence, delivered 55 relevant results, while live search could muster up only 5 results, and none of them being a direct link to my blogspot (my most prominent online presence)... such performance has triggered MS to buy acquire a search company and do a serious soul searching, I should say! And having read previews about bing, it is definetely encouraging!!! lets see if my name returns atleast 50 of those entries that Google could figure out!
c) I curse myself for being lazy...which has become a daily aspect of my life of-late. I should have registered online, and would have atleast had a shot at getting selected for the workshop called *Thiraikathai Ezhuthuvathu eppadi*..conducted by none-other than Mr. Kamalhaasan! and a couple of other people!! starting yesterday for 4 days in Madras!
and a few more news items I wanted to share but dont remember ontop of my head now!!lets see if they can form another digest.
C Ya, Rajesh Prakasam
Friday, May 08, 2009
My Salute to Mr.Dhoni!!
First time ever, do I feel that Dhoni had captaincy talent!...all along I strongly beleived it was lady luck that smiled on him non-stop, 24x7....I still maintain that, but i also add that he definetely has picked up a trick or two from smart people...
he bringing on Suresh Raina in the Match 34 of IPL v2 in the match against KXI from over n. 15 of the chase was smart....or should it be called gut?!
either way, it was beneficial, lucky or smarty....
but my conscience still stays it was luck that made Dhoni look smarter today!
anyways thats my take! the cynical me....:)
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Khwaja Mere Khwaja!!
எல்லா புகழும் இறைவன் ஒருவனுக்கே !!
இது நம்ம அல்லா ரக்கா ரஹ்மான் சொன்னது, ஆஸ்கர் விருது வாங்கினபோ. மனுசனுக்கு எவ்வ்ளோ humbleness!!!
ஷால் வீ லர்ந் ஃப்ரம் ARR ?
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Saturday, January 31, 2009
அக்ஷாராபியாசம்
தமிழில் என் முதல் இணை பதிவு. உண்மையில் நான் சில பல வருடங்களாக தமிழில் இணை பதிவு செய்ய வேண்டும் என்று ஆசை பட்டிருக்கிறேன், ஆனால் முடிந்தததிலை..ஏனென்றால் இந்த http://www.quillpad.com/tamil/ இருந்ததில்லை.
என் தாய் மொழியாம் தமிழில் படித்து பரவசம் அடைந்த இணைய பதிவுகள் இரண்டு.
http://vanthithevan.blogspot.com
http://www.vettipayal.com/
இவ்விரண்டு பதிவுகளும் என்னை ஏங்க வைத்தன. நானும் தமிழில் ப்ளாக் செய்ய வேண்டும் என்று. ஆனால் அது இன்று தான் *tangible stuff* ஆகா மாறி இருக்கிறது.
விரைவில் எதிர்பாருங்கள் உங்கள் கணினி திரையில் *.* வின் புலம்பல்களை.
வழம் பெருக
பின்னுரை: இப்பதிவில் குற்றம் குறை இருந்தால் மன்னிக்கவும். நான் சிறுவன்
என் தாய் மொழியாம் தமிழில் படித்து பரவசம் அடைந்த இணைய பதிவுகள் இரண்டு.
http://vanthithevan.blogspot.com
http://www.vettipayal.com/
இவ்விரண்டு பதிவுகளும் என்னை ஏங்க வைத்தன. நானும் தமிழில் ப்ளாக் செய்ய வேண்டும் என்று. ஆனால் அது இன்று தான் *tangible stuff* ஆகா மாறி இருக்கிறது.
விரைவில் எதிர்பாருங்கள் உங்கள் கணினி திரையில் *.* வின் புலம்பல்களை.
வழம் பெருக
பின்னுரை: இப்பதிவில் குற்றம் குறை இருந்தால் மன்னிக்கவும். நான் சிறுவன்
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Who the save Super Singer???
A hopeless Airtel Super Singer for the first time ever according to me...
I felt for once that along with the hostess, the creative head of the SUper Singer team as well swapped loyalties....
The latest of the triplet show of Super SInger in the first week after CHinmayi's exit was the worst orchestrated of all...sadly the stalwarts (tridevs of Super Singer lately) had also taken a stroll in the park and three listless judges...I wouldnt comment on their personalities.....but their judgement...I would say was listless...
I would have expected that CHinmayi atleast hosted this episode as a tribute to her master...but was it also the part of the plot??....we wouldnt know forever....
But what we know for sure....is that Chinmayi will always be missed for her suave compere-ing, Sujatha, Srinivas and Unnikrishnan are actually keeping the show alive rather than the singers...:)...which I realized yesterday!!....even the singers are egged onto perform at their best in front of the best of the judges..
It was a rude realization for Super SInger viewers like me...and I couldnt believe my hands that they tuned to a different channel mid-way the show....goes to show how boring yday's part was!!!!!
God Help Super Singer..
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
A Letter to Padmhasini
This is addressing Padmhasini (as a fall-out to Chinmayee's post on her blog)
You have been very prolific in your show (Airtel Super Singer)!! And you have built a special niche spot for yourself in the show particularly when the show is all about abundance of talent...contestants, judges....where the level of talent is of the next level. I think you have kick started a new clan of MC / Compere / on the tele who are suave, swift in reaction based on the mood of the show, very very competent with the stuff that you are appointed for!!
We appreciate all of this and have started to expect more of this professional MCing from other so-called comperes / glam girls and felt sorry for them. Similar shows in other teles have sloppy compereing....which made me feel that you though being an amateur in Compereing; have brought a breeze of professionalism to this art, be it dress-sense; be it cheering the contestants; be it franchising the tag-line of the show in different tones in differing situations to suit the mood of the show!!; be it jelling well along with the contestants and singing along with them, playing pranks with the terror trio!!; be it the minimum amount of interference with the judgement inspite of being an authority in music yourself; be it the quality of being leastly jarring by way of an MC; be it the poise with which you have been using your bi-linguistic skills equally competent; be it the use of godspeed and shabba khair!!
All of this are the ones that we have felt along the journey called Airtel Super Singer along with you in the past year or so!!!
Its a shame that you are having to part with the show at this peaking part of the show..We will miss you....and yes, needless to say the remaining 8 contestants would miss you as well!!!
Wishing you good luck and we look forward to seeing you in some other show very soon!!!
-Rajesh Prakasam
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Blogging Reloaded.....
This has been the longest break I remember to have taken from the Internet since I first took the tide. More so of a Sabbatical!!!
I believe its definitely
6 months now since I last blogged.
7-8 months since I orkutted
6 months since I last used Flock
Flickr, Slashdot, are long forgotten incidents in my life...
Wonder why..???
Its because, I have had a bigger, rather the biggest commitment one should and can pick up in life....Marriage..!!!
Yep...I have been married to Gayathri since June 25, 2007.
http://25june2007.googlepages.com gives you some fall-back of the details!!!
(at least that kept the blogger in me grinning for the last few months, for the quantity that has gone into the page!!!!)
I believe only things of such magnitude can pull me out of the web...and I am *for the record*, assorted a way to get back into this viscious web of blogging inspite of my commitments...after all blogging and all other netizen stuff were so dear to me once upon a time...and are still !!!!
Me would continue this lost trade...let me see if I am able to pick it up frm where I left...!!!
have definetely lost the audience, which in originality was like finding an Oasis in Thar Desert!!!!
Shd build back with renewed vigour...and I hope I can catch up...
Good for a comeback blog I suppose!!!!...:-)
Cheers,
Rajesh
I believe its definitely
6 months now since I last blogged.
7-8 months since I orkutted
6 months since I last used Flock
Flickr, Slashdot, are long forgotten incidents in my life...
Wonder why..???
Its because, I have had a bigger, rather the biggest commitment one should and can pick up in life....Marriage..!!!
Yep...I have been married to Gayathri since June 25, 2007.
http://25june2007.googlepages.com gives you some fall-back of the details!!!
(at least that kept the blogger in me grinning for the last few months, for the quantity that has gone into the page!!!!)
I believe only things of such magnitude can pull me out of the web...and I am *for the record*, assorted a way to get back into this viscious web of blogging inspite of my commitments...after all blogging and all other netizen stuff were so dear to me once upon a time...and are still !!!!
Me would continue this lost trade...let me see if I am able to pick it up frm where I left...!!!
have definetely lost the audience, which in originality was like finding an Oasis in Thar Desert!!!!
Shd build back with renewed vigour...and I hope I can catch up...
Good for a comeback blog I suppose!!!!...:-)
Cheers,
Rajesh
Blogged with Flock
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Yaro Yuvan-ukkul Raja-voo!!!!!
This is my version of the popular Chennai-600028 song...Yaro Yaroukkul Ingu Yaaro...!!!!
It aint NEWS when I say that Yuvan Shankar Raja is one of my all-time favourite musicians....coz...thats an established fact....yeap...and you should have noticed me telling that Yuvan is fast becoming a benchmark for Like Father--Like Son....and time's up it seems for the apprentice-ship....
I dare say that Yuvan has indeed graduated to the standards of his father.....People may say that this is controversial...but put this in perspective....And lets try answering a few questions and may be we figure out the fact...
a) Is it because Yuvan is a major-hit like what his Dad used to be in his Heydays..???
Agreed Yuvan has been a hit with every movie of his..!!!! and mass-hits at that ...plus critical acclaim...not the typical remarks you associate with a millenia music director in Tamil Cinema.... but does just that propel him to Dad-dom...which is as elusive and not even ARR has reached at... NO...not the reason for Yuvan -> Raja transition...
b) Is it because of the family-blood...???
Partly YES...:)...Should be hereditary I thought..without which such talent is hard-to-come-by and genius personified....
c) Is it because of the class of music...that Yuvan churns out movie after movie...???
YES...this is the reason...I would say, that he graduated to his father's place...not just hereditary...but on pure merit....Reasons you might be interested...??!!!!
Answer: Have you heard the 4 songs in Chennai-600028, ??!!! *Vazhkaiyai Yosingada*, *Vazhkaiyai Yosingada - Remix*, *Yaaro Yarukkul Ingu - Version 1*, *Yaaro Yaarukkul Ingu - Version 2*....
when I first got to hear those songs....which was by the way pretty late after the song release....*I* for the first time felt that I was indeed listening to The Master(Maestro) instead of his musical-heir....
yes...the instrumentation...the melody component....the SPB -ism....the SPB Charan-ism....and the chitra-ism....the haunt factor...all made all the four songs a Illayaraja treat to me rather than a Yuvan roll-out...
I have enjoyed these songs for the *whole* of last week...and I know how enjoyable...and heavenly they have been and I still relish the experience...and the feel I went through after relishing them....I would wish everybody had that oppurtunity...time...and the eye for detail...that I enjoyed in that last week....
The raison d’être for this blog...is to
a) Sensitize people of the exhilaration I went through with these songs...
b) Wish everybody goes through
c) Self-declare unofficialy that the heir is well...already there....and the music world wouldnt repent throning the heir with the crown that the Maestro Illayaraja held proudly...and one we for sometime in between felt would be un-occupied for a generation at-least...
YES...this is it...Yuvan is the true;worthy;logical;biological heir/successor to the Master/Maestro Illayaraja....and
detractors/disapprovers/aruguers...please..please listen to those four songs...*with a pair of good quality headphones*...then you know what I am blah-blahing....:-)
It aint NEWS when I say that Yuvan Shankar Raja is one of my all-time favourite musicians....coz...thats an established fact....yeap...and you should have noticed me telling that Yuvan is fast becoming a benchmark for Like Father--Like Son....and time's up it seems for the apprentice-ship....
I dare say that Yuvan has indeed graduated to the standards of his father.....People may say that this is controversial...but put this in perspective....And lets try answering a few questions and may be we figure out the fact...
a) Is it because Yuvan is a major-hit like what his Dad used to be in his Heydays..???
Agreed Yuvan has been a hit with every movie of his..!!!! and mass-hits at that ...plus critical acclaim...not the typical remarks you associate with a millenia music director in Tamil Cinema.... but does just that propel him to Dad-dom...which is as elusive and not even ARR has reached at... NO...not the reason for Yuvan -> Raja transition...
b) Is it because of the family-blood...???
Partly YES...:)...Should be hereditary I thought..without which such talent is hard-to-come-by and genius personified....
c) Is it because of the class of music...that Yuvan churns out movie after movie...???
YES...this is the reason...I would say, that he graduated to his father's place...not just hereditary...but on pure merit....Reasons you might be interested...??!!!!
Answer: Have you heard the 4 songs in Chennai-600028, ??!!! *Vazhkaiyai Yosingada*, *Vazhkaiyai Yosingada - Remix*, *Yaaro Yarukkul Ingu - Version 1*, *Yaaro Yaarukkul Ingu - Version 2*....
when I first got to hear those songs....which was by the way pretty late after the song release....*I* for the first time felt that I was indeed listening to The Master(Maestro) instead of his musical-heir....
yes...the instrumentation...the melody component....the SPB -ism....the SPB Charan-ism....and the chitra-ism....the haunt factor...all made all the four songs a Illayaraja treat to me rather than a Yuvan roll-out...
I have enjoyed these songs for the *whole* of last week...and I know how enjoyable...and heavenly they have been and I still relish the experience...and the feel I went through after relishing them....I would wish everybody had that oppurtunity...time...and the eye for detail...that I enjoyed in that last week....
The raison d’être for this blog...is to
a) Sensitize people of the exhilaration I went through with these songs...
b) Wish everybody goes through
c) Self-declare unofficialy that the heir is well...already there....and the music world wouldnt repent throning the heir with the crown that the Maestro Illayaraja held proudly...and one we for sometime in between felt would be un-occupied for a generation at-least...
YES...this is it...Yuvan is the true;worthy;logical;biological heir/successor to the Master/Maestro Illayaraja....and
detractors/disapprovers/aruguers...please..please listen to those four songs...*with a pair of good quality headphones*...then you know what I am blah-blahing....:-)
Saturday, May 05, 2007
*Sivaji - The Boss* -> An Audio Review
<>This originally was started on Apr 8 and then I left it to rest...and wanted ARR's tunes to set in..sink in...to give quality review...so here it is...more than a month from the day the audio was released!!!! < >
The Boss driving the Boss....dancing to the tunes of yet another Boss...might sound as a sure shot anti-therapy and as a recipe/treatise for the *Too many Bosses Spoil the broth* idiom.....but hold on....
naaah....that's not happening with Sivaji....that too when the Big Boss Shankar drives Bigger Boss Rajinikanth....both dancing to the tunes of yet another Big Boss AR Rahman....SuperStar Rajinikanth, the mass-man is pipped to succeed the umpteenth time....if the tunes are any indication....this Sivaji....is expected to be the boss in collections as well...a truly mass mania of an album I should say...very enjoyable if u r a true tamil cinema fan!!!!....
not withstanding the insider-leak of three songs, half a week before the audio release....(actually adding to the curiosity of the actual product....)...the audio sales was frantic on day 1....and I was personal witness to that....
the best part of any shankar movie audio release is the audio CD cover which has the song lyrics....and a snapshot of what each song has in store for us...and that's the current trend of biggies like Mani, Shankar, et all.....and Shankar didn't disappoint one bit with his visuals....breathtaking I should say....I was glad to see the lyrics sheet...but not so glad with the cover design...which was at best looking AVMish...rather thaan Shankar-like or atleast Superstar alike....it was plain...SUN TV serial look-alike....I mean how could one think such a plain looking cover suit a movie of such a stature....anyways..,.I could attribute only AVM for this folly....ok...lets move on.... :-)
One refreshing aspect if you had noticed... is that the entirety of the album indicates more of a Shankar SHOW rather than a SuperStar SHOW...the latter was the case for most of his yesteryear films. Except for the first song...which is more like a GREEK tradition or so to say!!!.....hahaha...and rightly like the movies...lets get started with the *Intro* song review....
1) Balleilakka - SP Balasubramaniam, Raihanah, Benny & Chorus
My first reaction to the song, was it seemed a look-alike to *Devuda Devuda* of Chandramukhi , also an intro song, I was disappointed....a bit....but that vanished much before the song actually finished its first run of 06:06 run.....ARR showed what a master he is ...as the tempo of the song picked up quite remarkably....and reaches a class of its own....though the content quotient of the song is straight forward...there was a whiff of fresh thought in Kavignar Na. Muthukumar's lyrics...interestingly talking about Ideal Tamilians....and for the first time not an encomium for our thalaivar's deeds.....interesting lyrics...actually adding to the appeal of the song...
two stand out lyrics that I loved here were....a) Aadu Maadu mela ulla paasam, veetu Ration Card-il serka solli ketkum and b) Pangaali.... Pakkathu veetukkum Serthu samaikira anbu ingu vaaazhum...
commendable...that too confidently plugging them into a SuperStar song...and an intro song at that....
I guess this song shd serve as the Intro...when our Thalaivar returns from America...if the lyrics are any indication to go by!!!!
My personal best rating is reserved for this song... though this might not be the purist's bet....:)
2) Style - Rags, Tanvi, Suresh Peters, Blaaze
The old horse for ARR has returned with style, I should say...I am referring to Suresh Peters here...how many songs have we heard from the vocal chord of Suresh Peters in the formative years of ARR, the legendary Chikku Bukku Rayile...and helluva songs....good to hear him back...:)
What do I say about this song...the current lip-catcher of the youth...(not necessarily Thailaivar fans!!!!)...u instantly feel this song is meant to tear the chart-buster lists...what with the picturization being nothing less than sparking...
I believe Shankar wanted to do a tribute to Rajni's Style...albeit in his and ARR's style...so here comes the brain-child of Shankar and ARR....which is so apt for Rajini....in the lines of *Alagu...nee nadanthaal Nadai Alagu*...
Paa.Vijay can seriously start looking at advanced english courses...cuz...If he wants to continue this way of writing English poems...;)...interspersed...with GOD-KNOWS-SPANISH..he would benefit from a lil more of english...;)....I wonder how this *vithaga kavignar* is churning such stuff....multi-faceted..value add for his employer...:))...hahaha....
truly the song is too kewl if you want to indulge with the passion it was made...no point in complaining that the song looks alike present genre of songs...wait for the picturization...you will be blown over by the master shankar...rest assured... :-)
The Boss driving the Boss....dancing to the tunes of yet another Boss...might sound as a sure shot anti-therapy and as a recipe/treatise for the *Too many Bosses Spoil the broth* idiom.....but hold on....
naaah....that's not happening with Sivaji....that too when the Big Boss Shankar drives Bigger Boss Rajinikanth....both dancing to the tunes of yet another Big Boss AR Rahman....SuperStar Rajinikanth, the mass-man is pipped to succeed the umpteenth time....if the tunes are any indication....this Sivaji....is expected to be the boss in collections as well...a truly mass mania of an album I should say...very enjoyable if u r a true tamil cinema fan!!!!....
not withstanding the insider-leak of three songs, half a week before the audio release....(actually adding to the curiosity of the actual product....)...the audio sales was frantic on day 1....and I was personal witness to that....
the best part of any shankar movie audio release is the audio CD cover which has the song lyrics....and a snapshot of what each song has in store for us...and that's the current trend of biggies like Mani, Shankar, et all.....and Shankar didn't disappoint one bit with his visuals....breathtaking I should say....I was glad to see the lyrics sheet...but not so glad with the cover design...which was at best looking AVMish...rather thaan Shankar-like or atleast Superstar alike....it was plain...SUN TV serial look-alike....I mean how could one think such a plain looking cover suit a movie of such a stature....anyways..,.I could attribute only AVM for this folly....ok...lets move on.... :-)
One refreshing aspect if you had noticed... is that the entirety of the album indicates more of a Shankar SHOW rather than a SuperStar SHOW...the latter was the case for most of his yesteryear films. Except for the first song...which is more like a GREEK tradition or so to say!!!.....hahaha...and rightly like the movies...lets get started with the *Intro* song review....
1) Balleilakka - SP Balasubramaniam, Raihanah, Benny & Chorus
My first reaction to the song, was it seemed a look-alike to *Devuda Devuda* of Chandramukhi , also an intro song, I was disappointed....a bit....but that vanished much before the song actually finished its first run of 06:06 run.....ARR showed what a master he is ...as the tempo of the song picked up quite remarkably....and reaches a class of its own....though the content quotient of the song is straight forward...there was a whiff of fresh thought in Kavignar Na. Muthukumar's lyrics...interestingly talking about Ideal Tamilians....and for the first time not an encomium for our thalaivar's deeds.....interesting lyrics...actually adding to the appeal of the song...
two stand out lyrics that I loved here were....a) Aadu Maadu mela ulla paasam, veetu Ration Card-il serka solli ketkum and b) Pangaali.... Pakkathu veetukkum Serthu samaikira anbu ingu vaaazhum...
commendable...that too confidently plugging them into a SuperStar song...and an intro song at that....
I guess this song shd serve as the Intro...when our Thalaivar returns from America...if the lyrics are any indication to go by!!!!
My personal best rating is reserved for this song... though this might not be the purist's bet....:)
2) Style - Rags, Tanvi, Suresh Peters, Blaaze
The old horse for ARR has returned with style, I should say...I am referring to Suresh Peters here...how many songs have we heard from the vocal chord of Suresh Peters in the formative years of ARR, the legendary Chikku Bukku Rayile...and helluva songs....good to hear him back...:)
What do I say about this song...the current lip-catcher of the youth...(not necessarily Thailaivar fans!!!!)...u instantly feel this song is meant to tear the chart-buster lists...what with the picturization being nothing less than sparking...
I believe Shankar wanted to do a tribute to Rajni's Style...albeit in his and ARR's style...so here comes the brain-child of Shankar and ARR....which is so apt for Rajini....in the lines of *Alagu...nee nadanthaal Nadai Alagu*...
Paa.Vijay can seriously start looking at advanced english courses...cuz...If he wants to continue this way of writing English poems...;)...interspersed...with GOD-KNOWS-SPANISH..he would benefit from a lil more of english...;)....I wonder how this *vithaga kavignar* is churning such stuff....multi-faceted..value add for his employer...:))...hahaha....
truly the song is too kewl if you want to indulge with the passion it was made...no point in complaining that the song looks alike present genre of songs...wait for the picturization...you will be blown over by the master shankar...rest assured... :-)
Stand out lyrics here are a) the male voice saying *Oh, let me say something*..:-)...and b) *Eiffel Tower ithaythil Nattai*...:))
3) Vaaji Vaaji - Hariharan, Madhusree & Chorus
The theme-catcher...and the primary duet song of the movie I suppose...in the likes of *Ayyengar Veetu Azhage* and *Mudhalvane..Mudhalvane*....has the traditional setup...and matching lyrics which is at best.. classical tamil...from none other than a master himself...Kavignar Vairamuthu...
super melody should be a gross understatement for this song...and I believe this guy HariHaran reserves his best for the master ARR...I have not seen Hariharan's voice so good in any other creator's product.....An instant hit with the masses....and also with the RJ-mania crowd....radio stations would compete within to get it on air...
the lyrics are of a high-class is just another complement to vairamuthu and not *the* complement..the standout lyrics for me were a) Anbaaa Vaalai Yedu...Alagai Saanai yidu... b) Muranpaatu Mootai nee... c) Seyyal Puyal Naanadi...
4) Athiradee - A R Rahman, Sayanora
Uff....does the start raise your BP..??? Yes...the pick-up tempo is super fast..as if ARR is out to prove that he is still as young as in Kadhalan, when you got that *Muqqabula* from the then wonder-whiz kid....:)....
Again a typical youth flick...and suprised at the *Balls of Steel* that Shankar has to bring in two (rather three such songs) in a thalaivar film...when he is groping at getting to fatherly-elderly roles...ala the Big B...ohmigod... I love such guts...and the attitude of *NOT* to be a Roman in Rome....;-)...
Lyrics from our eternal Dev Anand of Tamil lyricists....you definetely can't ASS U ME his age with his lyrics for 'Athiradee'. If you were held captive in Zion all through and just been taught Tamil and then u get to listen to this song and if you are queried to predict the age of the gentleman who wrote this piece-meal thing...you would be shocked to that you just listened to a gentle-old-man...who is just 76 years young...:-)...
And the grapevine/Page 3 has it that Vaali has been offered Rupee 1 Lakh for this non-tamil song...:-)...maybe that required more effort from Vaali to string in Eddie Murphy / Sten Gun / Roger Moore / Love Fun / Naughty / Man / N.R.I. / Cuba / James Bond / Spy / Spider Man / Pistol / Shock / Flataaa / Don / MidNight / Superman / eye / Tension / fast / Castro / Maestro / First Night / Waste / Sweet Bun / Butter Jam / My Fair Lady into a 5 minute 45 second song....which by now you should understand requires herculean effort from a Master tamil Lyricst who could write Krishna Vijayam....Such is the versatility of the man...:)....Amazed is just the word...
I believe the song atleast at the Audio stage is all-about Vaali...Only the Visuals are expected to bring the real master Rajini Kanth to the forefront....:-).... A peppy number with ARR at this crooning best!!!!!....pretty normal and enjoyable stuff for the 2007 guys..:)
5) Sahana - Udit Narayanan, Chinmayi
First things first....Mr.Udit Narayanan please pat your back on my behalf...you have come a long way from the *Coimbatore Maapilaikku Ponnu Kedaichaaa* days...(arguably one of his first songs....)...the lyrics have been delivered admirably..in close-to-authentic pronunciation....which is commendable..for both Udit and ARR.....
To be frank...on the first run, I was disappointed with ARR for having chosen Udit for such a classical outpour from the class-act Vairamuthu...the song had so much of feel and soul....I felt, a better tamil renderer would have done great energy levels for the song, just like what Vijay Yesudas does to the Pathos (or rather the derivative)....but on repeated runs, I realized that Udit has used the language with great meticulousness..and his diction was event-free...so to say...:-)....
Again, the contender for the TOP slot out of the album...even after 30 days of listening to these songs....I am unable to choose the best song of the album...Balleilakka, Vaaji and Sahana....reach up there for various reasons....
Melody wise...I should say the best...of the album....soul-searching music and the tempo is equally supported by the vocalists Udit and Chinmayi....I believe Chinmayi should be on top of this world...she seems to get the best numbers out of ARR's albums recently...and I know how she would feel...knowing her reasonably - as a blogger-friend-cum-orkutter....:-)....Good Luck Chinmayi....YOU ROCK in Sahana...!!!!...
I am not sure how this young-looking-feeling song would fit-in with the stature of our thalaivar...but we are missing the linchpin in the equation....Director Shankar...who has already spiced up and made RajiniKanth look atleast 10 years younger...so expect something special for this rather special piece of the Album...:)
Striking lyrics here for me are a) Orayiram Aandugal Semitha Kaathal ithu b) Noorayiram Aandugal Thaandiyum Vaazhumithu
6) The Boss - Blaaze, Naresh Iyer, Raqueeb Alam
mmmm....I believe this is for the next-generation youth....that is present-generation kids...:-)...yeah...atleast the lyrics indicate that....I expect this to be used as an interlude to thalaivaar's entry into a scene...or might be used as a clever intersperse within other background score....or who knows...maybe a full-fledged song...but more of the yawning stuff this song...I loved *B-A-B-A...Baba thats what they say* than this....Sega Fightaaaa thing.....looks kinda cheap....but anyways....a thrusti pottu for the whole album...with sick lyrics....almost looked like a song from an Ajith film...:)...okok...not much....
next....
7) Sahara - Vijay Yesudas, Gomathi Sree & Chorus
wooww...is just the word for Vijay Yesudas' lilting voice...true inheritance from his father...;-)....Doesn't really look like a pathos song, contrary to public expectations....
cuz...the tempo is as equal to the original Udit-Chinmayi number..just that Sahara Pookal Poothatho...precedes Sahana Saaral Thoovuthoo....which I believe is the crux of the song....which might be unravelled to the onlooker only in the movie....
A classic remix atleast....:-)....
Overall....An excellent winner material from A R Rahman....if Guru was stellar for the instrumentation.....Sivaji is a true commercial winner albeit not degrading to the levels of a potboiler...Its classical....and Illustratable SHANKAR material.....:-)
Friday, May 04, 2007
Happy Birthday Trisha!!!
Here's wishing Trisha Krishnan a very happy birthday...and let this year bring you
more of popularity and less of notoriety.....
more of tamil movies & more and more of telugu movies...
more of news and less of controversies...
more & more of your art form for die-hard fans like me...!!!!
Happy Birthday Trisha...!!!!!
Cheers,
Rajesh
Technorati Tags: general, trisha, birthday, may4
more of popularity and less of notoriety.....
more of tamil movies & more and more of telugu movies...
more of news and less of controversies...
more & more of your art form for die-hard fans like me...!!!!
Happy Birthday Trisha...!!!!!
Cheers,
Rajesh
Technorati Tags: general, trisha, birthday, may4
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Wednesday, May 02, 2007
UBUNTU for DELL-ians
"oh...yeah....its been there for long...."...I hear people grunting...!!! but nevertheless this news piece i thought needed a feature in my blog at least...considering DELL's widespread audience...and UBUNTU's recent success...
DELL...as you all know is this sturdy notebook provider, proof *yours truly*....who has been using a DELL inspiron for close to 2 years now...and its battered to the most at my hands....and has traveled a hell lot more than what business executives do.....and has also hosted tea-parties....for ant families...and other smaller reptile families for last two years in its keyboard!!!!....and motherboard...is rock-sturdy and executes commands as good as a faithful servant..!!!! I am lovin' it!!!!...
UBUNTU is this *Linux for Human Beings* thing that became popular by mid 2005 or so I suppose -at first I scorned this tingy....as I felt it was more of an insult for all linux users all-along (the fraternity I have also been part of since 2003) -...and people were ordering free copies of UBUNTU 5.01 in bulk...me included...and surprisingly, I got 10 DVDs...and gave off 9 sets to my friends...the true spirit of Linux, I was practising at that instant..I was proud...and little did I know that this UBUNTU thingy would pick up so much steam that it is touted to be the easiest to set-up and use Linux, closely on the heels of SuSE Linux (after Novell Acquisition)..Ironically, SuSE picked up and also lost steam because of Novell...(picked up becuz Novell pepped up the UI, lost because of the MS-Novell deal many were skeptic about!!!!)..so UBUNTU was again the fore-runner for pure linux distros....in usuability... ...and man u should admit, UBUNTU has indeed come a long way from the 5.01 days...I hear, its a breeze to setup and use, faring up on ease of setup and use to Vista....so you know people don't fudge data when they talk in terms of Vista comparison...;-)....
so...UBUNTU being endorsed by DELL...will actually work out better for DELL rather than UBUNTU....:-)...surprising u might say..but the fact is YES....ubuntu is already there as a popular distro for quite some time now....and when DELL endorses, it really doesn't add face-value as far as corporate usage is concerned....*after all, when has Linux community been concerned about corporate or brand endorsements..???*....its always self-existent among the nerds, geeks...and lesser mortals like me who stick to the idealism it proposes rather than anything else..!!!!! so DELL branding would do lil in terms of raise in ubuntu popularity.....but the other way out pretty damn YES.....
DELL, I suppose will benefit and cash-in on the following segment....people who want to buy a laptop and use linux on it...(there are hordes of people who want to and are doing that already...)..and when u know that *LINUX WORKS FOR SURE* on DELL....(borrowing M$ terminology)...people will be all the more ready to go for DELL..knowing well the reliability thing I told earlier...that is already a factor for siding with DELL...
so its more of a popularity puller...and a marketing stunt to up the DELL force in this MATRIX rather than anything else...
and as usual...this gladdens the grey cells...and the hearts of so many linux believers...and we know we will win the war...finally, just like Morpheus believes in the ZION's freedom and victory...;-)
cheers,
Rajesh
Technorati Tags: news, linux, ubuntu, dell, laptop
DELL...as you all know is this sturdy notebook provider, proof *yours truly*....who has been using a DELL inspiron for close to 2 years now...and its battered to the most at my hands....and has traveled a hell lot more than what business executives do.....and has also hosted tea-parties....for ant families...and other smaller reptile families for last two years in its keyboard!!!!....and motherboard...is rock-sturdy and executes commands as good as a faithful servant..!!!! I am lovin' it!!!!...
UBUNTU is this *Linux for Human Beings* thing that became popular by mid 2005 or so I suppose -at first I scorned this tingy....as I felt it was more of an insult for all linux users all-along (the fraternity I have also been part of since 2003) -...and people were ordering free copies of UBUNTU 5.01 in bulk...me included...and surprisingly, I got 10 DVDs...and gave off 9 sets to my friends...the true spirit of Linux, I was practising at that instant..I was proud...and little did I know that this UBUNTU thingy would pick up so much steam that it is touted to be the easiest to set-up and use Linux, closely on the heels of SuSE Linux (after Novell Acquisition)..Ironically, SuSE picked up and also lost steam because of Novell...(picked up becuz Novell pepped up the UI, lost because of the MS-Novell deal many were skeptic about!!!!)..so UBUNTU was again the fore-runner for pure linux distros....in usuability... ...and man u should admit, UBUNTU has indeed come a long way from the 5.01 days...I hear, its a breeze to setup and use, faring up on ease of setup and use to Vista....so you know people don't fudge data when they talk in terms of Vista comparison...;-)....
so...UBUNTU being endorsed by DELL...will actually work out better for DELL rather than UBUNTU....:-)...surprising u might say..but the fact is YES....ubuntu is already there as a popular distro for quite some time now....and when DELL endorses, it really doesn't add face-value as far as corporate usage is concerned....*after all, when has Linux community been concerned about corporate or brand endorsements..???*....its always self-existent among the nerds, geeks...and lesser mortals like me who stick to the idealism it proposes rather than anything else..!!!!! so DELL branding would do lil in terms of raise in ubuntu popularity.....but the other way out pretty damn YES.....
DELL, I suppose will benefit and cash-in on the following segment....people who want to buy a laptop and use linux on it...(there are hordes of people who want to and are doing that already...)..and when u know that *LINUX WORKS FOR SURE* on DELL....(borrowing M$ terminology)...people will be all the more ready to go for DELL..knowing well the reliability thing I told earlier...that is already a factor for siding with DELL...
so its more of a popularity puller...and a marketing stunt to up the DELL force in this MATRIX rather than anything else...
and as usual...this gladdens the grey cells...and the hearts of so many linux believers...and we know we will win the war...finally, just like Morpheus believes in the ZION's freedom and victory...;-)
cheers,
Rajesh
Technorati Tags: news, linux, ubuntu, dell, laptop
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Friday, April 27, 2007
Amazed...is not the word!!!!!
seriously.....this incident has forced me to wield my fingers back to blogging, inspite of the pressure-cooker situation I am in currently at workplace....!!!!!!
On a normal, eagerly awaited friday morning...I was at my normal self, reached office, had breakfast, and was reaching down to the ICICI ATM @ office to withdraw cash....
There wasn't a queue as such, with one ATM kiosk unmanned!!!!...so reached the spot, did the rituals....and entered the amount to be withdrawn.....
and the machine was dutifully counting the notes to be dispatched and I was waiting....and suddenly my mobile beeped for the familiar SMS tone...
and I being a person who hates calls / intrusions when I am at something else which is more time-constrainted....like getting down a bus, or auto, paying the auto-wallah, talking to somebody in office even leisurely.....and I thought.....who the f*&k is sending me an SMS this morning morning!!!!!.....
and all this happening before the notes arrived at the gateway of the ATM machine....and as soon as it arrived....I was all the more pissed off...as the machine, as dumb as ever, disposed all the 100 rupee notes it had for the 5K cash that I requested....and I was bulked-out with fifty 100 rupee notes.....sulked....I picked up the notes, side-stepped and started counting the notes...and once I was done, I picked up my mobile to see who that gifted soul on earth is... to get my blessings early morning!!!!.....
and to stun me up, and rev up the day for me and make me do my favourite act (blog)...was this Short Text Message that I received.....It was from ICICI bank, to alert me on the CASH WITHDRAWAL that I made moments ago..!!!!!!
agreed that it was close to 2 mins since I withdrew cash from the ATM, but think of this, my mobile beeped for the SMS, even before the machine finished counting the notes...leave alone pushing all those 100 rupee notes to me..!!!!!!
thats why I said...AMAZED is not THE WORD!!!!!......
if you can analyze this situation a lil deeper, you understand....that....
a) its not the ATM machine which sent me a line-of-sight communication SMS...!!!!! straight to my mobile!!!!
b) Who says ICICI bank's processes sucks..!!!!!
c) Who says HUTCH doesn't deliver SMS messages on time...can somebody get better at all ??? for ON-TIME definition....!!!! that too at the remotest of places for HUTCH-TamilNadu -- Chengalpet!!!!!....which was until very recently considered a ROAMING network for Hutch-Chennai.....wowww.....I am proud to use HUTCH...!!!!! ;-)...
Again...as a side-story....:-)
a) Amazed at my blogging ability to churn out so much of junk with just a 1 minute issue...
b) Amazed at people's benevolence and patronage on me to read through this junkie with ultimate patience...expecting some *amazing experience*....!!!!! Thanks a lot, Homo Sapiens!!!!! You Rock!!!!
-Bye,
Rajesh
Technorati Tags: amazed, SMS, experience, fun
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On a normal, eagerly awaited friday morning...I was at my normal self, reached office, had breakfast, and was reaching down to the ICICI ATM @ office to withdraw cash....
There wasn't a queue as such, with one ATM kiosk unmanned!!!!...so reached the spot, did the rituals....and entered the amount to be withdrawn.....
and the machine was dutifully counting the notes to be dispatched and I was waiting....and suddenly my mobile beeped for the familiar SMS tone...
and I being a person who hates calls / intrusions when I am at something else which is more time-constrainted....like getting down a bus, or auto, paying the auto-wallah, talking to somebody in office even leisurely.....and I thought.....who the f*&k is sending me an SMS this morning morning!!!!!.....
and all this happening before the notes arrived at the gateway of the ATM machine....and as soon as it arrived....I was all the more pissed off...as the machine, as dumb as ever, disposed all the 100 rupee notes it had for the 5K cash that I requested....and I was bulked-out with fifty 100 rupee notes.....sulked....I picked up the notes, side-stepped and started counting the notes...and once I was done, I picked up my mobile to see who that gifted soul on earth is... to get my blessings early morning!!!!.....
and to stun me up, and rev up the day for me and make me do my favourite act (blog)...was this Short Text Message that I received.....It was from ICICI bank, to alert me on the CASH WITHDRAWAL that I made moments ago..!!!!!!
agreed that it was close to 2 mins since I withdrew cash from the ATM, but think of this, my mobile beeped for the SMS, even before the machine finished counting the notes...leave alone pushing all those 100 rupee notes to me..!!!!!!
thats why I said...AMAZED is not THE WORD!!!!!......
if you can analyze this situation a lil deeper, you understand....that....
a) its not the ATM machine which sent me a line-of-sight communication SMS...!!!!! straight to my mobile!!!!
b) Who says ICICI bank's processes sucks..!!!!!
c) Who says HUTCH doesn't deliver SMS messages on time...can somebody get better at all ??? for ON-TIME definition....!!!! that too at the remotest of places for HUTCH-TamilNadu -- Chengalpet!!!!!....which was until very recently considered a ROAMING network for Hutch-Chennai.....wowww.....I am proud to use HUTCH...!!!!! ;-)...
Again...as a side-story....:-)
a) Amazed at my blogging ability to churn out so much of junk with just a 1 minute issue...
b) Amazed at people's benevolence and patronage on me to read through this junkie with ultimate patience...expecting some *amazing experience*....!!!!! Thanks a lot, Homo Sapiens!!!!! You Rock!!!!
-Bye,
Rajesh
Technorati Tags: amazed, SMS, experience, fun
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Tuesday, April 10, 2007
WoUSB (World over USB)
ohmigod....this USB never ceases to fascinate...
the other day...I heard my manager complain...that the USB ports that he has in his lappie isnt enough...and needs a USB hub...to fill-in things....
that set me thinking...I know...I use quite a few USB devices...and when I connect my IPOD, Web camera, Bluetooth Dongle, and 80 GB USB harddisk, I am also running out of ports in my Inspiron...but that complaint of his set me thinking....as if to, if this USB device freaky world is taking over our senses....I mean its so convenient, fast and plug-and-play...too easy to ignore...
I have been fascinated by the design creativity with which USB devices have been made in China...My friend carried a Make-up kit like box, when he came back from china...and he had a box full of USB devices each half-a-thumb size...solving various purposes....and it was sleek and sexy to look at....USB memory card readers, flash drives, bluetooth dongles, MP3 players, huh....and to add to all this, even charging mobile phones is USB enabled....u know this last thing is f_____ing convenient....super cool....u dont have to run around for electric sockets...which strangely seem to be diminishing in office interiors nowadays...(maybe the decors are too smart and tech-savvy that they figure USB is the next coolest thing, even before DELL / IBM figure out and add more USB ports to their PCs...;-)....)
and with all this in perspective, this news bit that you are going to read is least surprising but nevertheless worth a moment's extrapolation as to what all will this USBed world could do???....and thats what I call WoUSB (World over USB)...hear some synonyms...yeah...it was meant to be...hahaha....:-))...
http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/gadgetbuzz/0,39041749,61954501,00.htm
-Rajesh
the other day...I heard my manager complain...that the USB ports that he has in his lappie isnt enough...and needs a USB hub...to fill-in things....
that set me thinking...I know...I use quite a few USB devices...and when I connect my IPOD, Web camera, Bluetooth Dongle, and 80 GB USB harddisk, I am also running out of ports in my Inspiron...but that complaint of his set me thinking....as if to, if this USB device freaky world is taking over our senses....I mean its so convenient, fast and plug-and-play...too easy to ignore...
I have been fascinated by the design creativity with which USB devices have been made in China...My friend carried a Make-up kit like box, when he came back from china...and he had a box full of USB devices each half-a-thumb size...solving various purposes....and it was sleek and sexy to look at....USB memory card readers, flash drives, bluetooth dongles, MP3 players, huh....and to add to all this, even charging mobile phones is USB enabled....u know this last thing is f_____ing convenient....super cool....u dont have to run around for electric sockets...which strangely seem to be diminishing in office interiors nowadays...(maybe the decors are too smart and tech-savvy that they figure USB is the next coolest thing, even before DELL / IBM figure out and add more USB ports to their PCs...;-)....)
and with all this in perspective, this news bit that you are going to read is least surprising but nevertheless worth a moment's extrapolation as to what all will this USBed world could do???....and thats what I call WoUSB (World over USB)...hear some synonyms...yeah...it was meant to be...hahaha....:-))...
http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/gadgetbuzz/0,39041749,61954501,00.htm
-Rajesh
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Thursday, April 05, 2007
*Sivaji* Vaaaram
This has been a week full of Sivaji-ness for me...knowing fully well the me....you would understand why I am so pepped up on Sivaji....why not u would ask..???? "The world of tamils is anyways pepped up...whats the big deal in U" .....Yes...The tamil-speaking lore is pepped up I know...but I have a couple of personal reasons...
a) Shankar - the eternal perfectionist...is the director...backed by his Anniyan Success...( u know what... Shankar steels thoughts from minds of people like me...who are hardcore cinema fans...(not the entertainment ilk...who goto movies for their entertainment quota)...people like me go with the same vigour what people like shankar share on cinema...!!!!) )....
b) Haaa...the Thalaivar effect...definitely...this one is enough reason for the whole of Tamil Nadu to be ebullient...yep...thats reason two...and the DON-Down South is ravishing in all visuals one can see...and me being as hardcore a Reality Cinema fan....am a fan of fantasy...and ready to handover my logicspace for rent to the movie maker....if and only if he can draw confidence on me in the dark-room called *theatre*....and I would love to delve in such fantasy...truly and fully.....and Rajinikanth is fantasy fantastic...again courtesy the master called Shankar....so....u see reason two is also different from the Rest of the World XI....;-).....
so....why is it Sivaji Vaaram for me...???? Yep...it started off with the rumour of Sivaji songs released on the Internet....which I was frantically searching for the songs on the internet ...(now...now....dont catch me on the wrong foot....I am not the guy who sits up late night and scouts for downloads from P2P sites ....and relishes in illegal music....I always believe in original CDs for songs and movies....)......my gumption not withstanding, I downloaded the songs, three in number....(U C... temptation to have a first cut before the D-Day took the better decision..!!!)...and as usual fell for the music...though I was skeptical of the life of these songs in the original CD and the film eventually.....Cut the Songs for RingTones...had them on my mobile as well....saw a few faces go askance in the office lift when my mobile went out free of inhibitions...singing *Vaaa Jee Vaa Jee Vaa Jee...En Jeevan Nee Sivaji...* in the voice of MadhuShree....hahaha...*thats the effect I have on the peoples...*.. :-)...
This illegal copy of the songs did the round and filled my personality for three days.....and when this excitement was up in the Air.....I saw *Kumkumam* ( the best kanna best... book....)...flashing a front pages story of a Rajini Interview....and before I could realize...I had bought the book.....and when I opened...the first facing page of the book rightly had the rajini cover story...and i was surprised...and by the time I finished reading the page....was pleasantly angry at the Kumkumam team...for they have made the whole of TamilNadu APRIL FOOL...by running this thing...when they didn't have a story to go with it....now...with a pleasing and reasonable explanation....was amused and laughed at myself...and was pleased...instead of being pissed offf at spending 10 bucks for being an April Fool....SO One more day of Sivaji for me in this weeek....:)
This Sivaji craze failed to die down on me....and I was waiting for the audio CD release of April 4....and to make matters easy on me....the AVM Management and Shankar seem to have decided on an earlier date...as Apr 2...and I was restless @ office...the whole day....and was desperate to get into the first bus back home in the evening....and was longingly looking at the posters of the Audio Release....and when I reached city limits...started looking for shops selling the CDs... from the bus....and people around me in the bus..unaware ( or maybe restrained emotions, basically)...of the turmoil within...were thinking that I am acting sheepishly...and to the extent of looking childish...but I didnt mind....I was high on octane....to the state of being inebriated..when u don't know what happens around you....(Shankar has that effect on me...unfailingly though with his last three releases...huh....)
so the next two days went with the songs and me....and innumerable thoughts about how each song will be a visual candy....so....a well rounded week of Sivaji Dose...( an audio review of Sivaji is impending here though!!!)
*I wonder what I see* when I get to the movie hall in a couple of weeks time....somebody please take care!!!!
Cheers,
Rajesh
a) Shankar - the eternal perfectionist...is the director...backed by his Anniyan Success...( u know what... Shankar steels thoughts from minds of people like me...who are hardcore cinema fans...(not the entertainment ilk...who goto movies for their entertainment quota)...people like me go with the same vigour what people like shankar share on cinema...!!!!) )....
b) Haaa...the Thalaivar effect...definitely...this one is enough reason for the whole of Tamil Nadu to be ebullient...yep...thats reason two...and the DON-Down South is ravishing in all visuals one can see...and me being as hardcore a Reality Cinema fan....am a fan of fantasy...and ready to handover my logicspace for rent to the movie maker....if and only if he can draw confidence on me in the dark-room called *theatre*....and I would love to delve in such fantasy...truly and fully.....and Rajinikanth is fantasy fantastic...again courtesy the master called Shankar....so....u see reason two is also different from the Rest of the World XI....;-).....
so....why is it Sivaji Vaaram for me...???? Yep...it started off with the rumour of Sivaji songs released on the Internet....which I was frantically searching for the songs on the internet ...(now...now....dont catch me on the wrong foot....I am not the guy who sits up late night and scouts for downloads from P2P sites ....and relishes in illegal music....I always believe in original CDs for songs and movies....)......my gumption not withstanding, I downloaded the songs, three in number....(U C... temptation to have a first cut before the D-Day took the better decision..!!!)...and as usual fell for the music...though I was skeptical of the life of these songs in the original CD and the film eventually.....Cut the Songs for RingTones...had them on my mobile as well....saw a few faces go askance in the office lift when my mobile went out free of inhibitions...singing *Vaaa Jee Vaa Jee Vaa Jee...En Jeevan Nee Sivaji...* in the voice of MadhuShree....hahaha...*thats the effect I have on the peoples...*.. :-)...
This illegal copy of the songs did the round and filled my personality for three days.....and when this excitement was up in the Air.....I saw *Kumkumam* ( the best kanna best... book....)...flashing a front pages story of a Rajini Interview....and before I could realize...I had bought the book.....and when I opened...the first facing page of the book rightly had the rajini cover story...and i was surprised...and by the time I finished reading the page....was pleasantly angry at the Kumkumam team...for they have made the whole of TamilNadu APRIL FOOL...by running this thing...when they didn't have a story to go with it....now...with a pleasing and reasonable explanation....was amused and laughed at myself...and was pleased...instead of being pissed offf at spending 10 bucks for being an April Fool....SO One more day of Sivaji for me in this weeek....:)
This Sivaji craze failed to die down on me....and I was waiting for the audio CD release of April 4....and to make matters easy on me....the AVM Management and Shankar seem to have decided on an earlier date...as Apr 2...and I was restless @ office...the whole day....and was desperate to get into the first bus back home in the evening....and was longingly looking at the posters of the Audio Release....and when I reached city limits...started looking for shops selling the CDs... from the bus....and people around me in the bus..unaware ( or maybe restrained emotions, basically)...of the turmoil within...were thinking that I am acting sheepishly...and to the extent of looking childish...but I didnt mind....I was high on octane....to the state of being inebriated..when u don't know what happens around you....(Shankar has that effect on me...unfailingly though with his last three releases...huh....)
so the next two days went with the songs and me....and innumerable thoughts about how each song will be a visual candy....so....a well rounded week of Sivaji Dose...( an audio review of Sivaji is impending here though!!!)
*I wonder what I see* when I get to the movie hall in a couple of weeks time....somebody please take care!!!!
Cheers,
Rajesh
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Google - The new Free Wireless Service Provider
Yes...you read it right...and read it on time...or rather after time!!!!...
This was the prank that google played...(which google is getting better every year!!!!) on 31 march this year....infact they have an archive of what they did each year.....
maybe knowing what google can comeup with on Apr 1, I wasn't amused / amazed at this (which I was three years back)....but it was good fun seeing the passionate people google has....!!!!
such should be the ideal company i would own one day!!!!!
Read through the prank-y apr fool bit they played this year @
http://www.google.com/tisp/
hahaha....as I told you....I was amazed @ their *romance* prank which was a yesteryear business which they wanted to...atleast earnestly for April Fool's day!!!...
http://www.google.com/tisp/notfound.html
Read thru these links and have fun....and yeah...Happy Fooling around on Apr 1!!!
-Rajesh
Technorati Tags: google, april 1, technology
Powered by ScribeFire.
This was the prank that google played...(which google is getting better every year!!!!) on 31 march this year....infact they have an archive of what they did each year.....
maybe knowing what google can comeup with on Apr 1, I wasn't amused / amazed at this (which I was three years back)....but it was good fun seeing the passionate people google has....!!!!
such should be the ideal company i would own one day!!!!!
Read through the prank-y apr fool bit they played this year @
http://www.google.com/tisp/
hahaha....as I told you....I was amazed @ their *romance* prank which was a yesteryear business which they wanted to...atleast earnestly for April Fool's day!!!...
http://www.google.com/tisp/notfound.html
Read thru these links and have fun....and yeah...Happy Fooling around on Apr 1!!!
-Rajesh
Technorati Tags: google, april 1, technology
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Monday, March 12, 2007
ThiruMagan - A Movie Review
People...especially film makers should remember we are in 2007 and they should be atleast aware if not abreast of what kind of films that are made world-over and not the least in Kollywood.... man....we are moving to Dasavadaram, Sivaji and we still see archaic pre-independence kind of scripts for movies...still...and that too completely lifeless...
There is nothing wrong in dusting old-swords...but atleast make sure you are able to weild the old sword judiciously...which is where the director has failed miserably....and if it is the directors first movie( I donno...and don't really care)...and if he feels its his best shot...then I am sorry, I suggest some other profitable profession for the man....I am sorry the movie can be sloppy, listless and lifeless, scriptless...but not cinema-less....:-)...
Yes...it was as though some radio-drama unfolding.....and it keeps on unfolding, scene after scene, without a pre-conceived direction...and though we know the ultimate end...there seems to be no plotline to take it to that level....and only until the last 15-20 minutes...do we get the heck of what that was aspired but never attempted to be told...was a pure love story and not action based...as lot would have suspected as the story(...ooops...there wasn't one) / movie proceeds....:-).....
There are a host of heavy-weight actors...VijayaKumar, RadhaRavi, Ranjith, Meera Jasmine..and our hero SJ Suryah (who can also act...if he knows his limits).....with such acting talent, even if 10% of screen space was dedicated to each of these people, we should have had a pretty good movie to contend with...and the pity was only 10% of the total movie time was devoted to some emoting and all these stalwarts...shared their screenspace and did some work only in the last 15 minutes....which was pathetic...considering the rich talent one has at his disposal....
Each character in the movie is disjoint and hangs on Trisangu Swarga....and nobody knows the reason of existence....the three part premise of story/screenplay writing seems to have absconded from the director's mind....and the last 15 minutes is what one can take back from the movie....and after all the lifeless show for the previous 2 hours...one loses complete interest in the proceedings...and looks for the exit....:-)....
There was no real purpose in what the director wanted to say....The hero shown as an innocent villager...defies logic....what with the Hero's face-make over, his ageing stature, and to top-it-all that he studies Standard X+2....this is first rate slip-shoddiness....
Adding a masala character to the movie is an archaic trait...of the 80's....which is sour as a bitter-guard...and with every heroine pressing on the oomph-factor these days...having Malavika do that masala character is pointless...and to put it blunt....It was cheap....
Every damn character in the movie....is non-original...and save originality...atleast it should have been unique....which wasn't the case...Had this movie been made in 1980's....which is typically 25 years REWIND....there could have been a case of sensibility for the plot....nevermind it suceeds or not....
Now onto the characterization follies....a) RadhaRavi's character...was like a dormant volcano...and it was like...he is gonna explode anytime....and that never happens...particularily after how virile his brother is.....that is a mistake in screenplay...YOU shouldn't mislead your audience...and you should establish the credence of a character...be it positive or negative beyond doubt in the first few scenes....unless you have a story based on the camouflage you are planning with the characters ( ala thriller/murder mysteries)....neither of which is Thirumagan....:-(.....
b) Meera Jasmine's character is a criminal waste...I would say....what did she get to do...???except for emoting a couple of dream scenes...where SJ Suryah sizzles with her dreams..???? I wondered how National Award winning actors like her choose to and continue acting like these....which are nothing but "I am sorry".....bullshit....
c) Even the eternal goodie of villlage films....Nattamai Vijayakumar lacks poise in the movie...for no fault of his....and is just a pawn in the hands of the floundering director and his screenplay....
d) Only Ranjith, according to me...got to do some decent acting in the movie...and he excels as usual at that...emotionally correct ( but a villain for the story ) role....:-)...good...:-)
e) Actors like Illavarasu should be used to the fullest...see what Cheran did with him in *thavamai thavamirundu*.....particulariuly considering the potential of his character in Thirumagan.....
There were shades of *Mudal Mariyadhai*, *Kilakku Seemayile*, *Pandavar Boomi*...and innumerous Village movies of yesteryears....but the worst part is...nothing has been used to get some quality work done....:-(......pity......
Double entenders in the movie I think are to please the hardcore SJ Suryah fans...who I think wouldn't be endorsing such stuff otherwise....And also these should have been influenced by the man SJ Suryah himself....I dont understand how long SJ Suryah can sustain the *NEW* innoncence in his characters.....which is by the way pathetic exhibition of emoting-on-screen....I am sorry ....it was so irritating to see his character on screen....yuck...:-(.....
Songs, background score...and re-recording are all pretty sub-standard ...just as the movie is...
And Lyrics....???!!!..Its amusing to note if the lyricist was caught in a time-machine or something like that....!!!! cuz...the lyrics didn't suit the rustic looks that the film portrayed.....this is again a major flaw in reasoning.....cuz....visual / logical flags as to which time frame one is in...is very important for the present-day cinema audience...he/she is no gullible self to blindly accept what is on offer in a dark room, unless you make them believe in what they see by spellbinding display on screen....:-))....which wasn't a remotest possibility for Thirumagan....
There is nothing wrong in dusting old-swords...but atleast make sure you are able to weild the old sword judiciously...which is where the director has failed miserably....and if it is the directors first movie( I donno...and don't really care)...and if he feels its his best shot...then I am sorry, I suggest some other profitable profession for the man....I am sorry the movie can be sloppy, listless and lifeless, scriptless...but not cinema-less....:-)...
Yes...it was as though some radio-drama unfolding.....and it keeps on unfolding, scene after scene, without a pre-conceived direction...and though we know the ultimate end...there seems to be no plotline to take it to that level....and only until the last 15-20 minutes...do we get the heck of what that was aspired but never attempted to be told...was a pure love story and not action based...as lot would have suspected as the story(...ooops...there wasn't one) / movie proceeds....:-).....
There are a host of heavy-weight actors...VijayaKumar, RadhaRavi, Ranjith, Meera Jasmine..and our hero SJ Suryah (who can also act...if he knows his limits).....with such acting talent, even if 10% of screen space was dedicated to each of these people, we should have had a pretty good movie to contend with...and the pity was only 10% of the total movie time was devoted to some emoting and all these stalwarts...shared their screenspace and did some work only in the last 15 minutes....which was pathetic...considering the rich talent one has at his disposal....
Each character in the movie is disjoint and hangs on Trisangu Swarga....and nobody knows the reason of existence....the three part premise of story/screenplay writing seems to have absconded from the director's mind....and the last 15 minutes is what one can take back from the movie....and after all the lifeless show for the previous 2 hours...one loses complete interest in the proceedings...and looks for the exit....:-)....
There was no real purpose in what the director wanted to say....The hero shown as an innocent villager...defies logic....what with the Hero's face-make over, his ageing stature, and to top-it-all that he studies Standard X+2....this is first rate slip-shoddiness....
Adding a masala character to the movie is an archaic trait...of the 80's....which is sour as a bitter-guard...and with every heroine pressing on the oomph-factor these days...having Malavika do that masala character is pointless...and to put it blunt....It was cheap....
Every damn character in the movie....is non-original...and save originality...atleast it should have been unique....which wasn't the case...Had this movie been made in 1980's....which is typically 25 years REWIND....there could have been a case of sensibility for the plot....nevermind it suceeds or not....
Now onto the characterization follies....a) RadhaRavi's character...was like a dormant volcano...and it was like...he is gonna explode anytime....and that never happens...particularily after how virile his brother is.....that is a mistake in screenplay...YOU shouldn't mislead your audience...and you should establish the credence of a character...be it positive or negative beyond doubt in the first few scenes....unless you have a story based on the camouflage you are planning with the characters ( ala thriller/murder mysteries)....neither of which is Thirumagan....:-(.....
b) Meera Jasmine's character is a criminal waste...I would say....what did she get to do...???except for emoting a couple of dream scenes...where SJ Suryah sizzles with her dreams..???? I wondered how National Award winning actors like her choose to and continue acting like these....which are nothing but "I am sorry".....bullshit....
c) Even the eternal goodie of villlage films....Nattamai Vijayakumar lacks poise in the movie...for no fault of his....and is just a pawn in the hands of the floundering director and his screenplay....
d) Only Ranjith, according to me...got to do some decent acting in the movie...and he excels as usual at that...emotionally correct ( but a villain for the story ) role....:-)...good...:-)
e) Actors like Illavarasu should be used to the fullest...see what Cheran did with him in *thavamai thavamirundu*.....particulariuly considering the potential of his character in Thirumagan.....
There were shades of *Mudal Mariyadhai*, *Kilakku Seemayile*, *Pandavar Boomi*...and innumerous Village movies of yesteryears....but the worst part is...nothing has been used to get some quality work done....:-(......pity......
Double entenders in the movie I think are to please the hardcore SJ Suryah fans...who I think wouldn't be endorsing such stuff otherwise....And also these should have been influenced by the man SJ Suryah himself....I dont understand how long SJ Suryah can sustain the *NEW* innoncence in his characters.....which is by the way pathetic exhibition of emoting-on-screen....I am sorry ....it was so irritating to see his character on screen....yuck...:-(.....
Songs, background score...and re-recording are all pretty sub-standard ...just as the movie is...
And Lyrics....???!!!..Its amusing to note if the lyricist was caught in a time-machine or something like that....!!!! cuz...the lyrics didn't suit the rustic looks that the film portrayed.....this is again a major flaw in reasoning.....cuz....visual / logical flags as to which time frame one is in...is very important for the present-day cinema audience...he/she is no gullible self to blindly accept what is on offer in a dark room, unless you make them believe in what they see by spellbinding display on screen....:-))....which wasn't a remotest possibility for Thirumagan....
ala SUN TV if I had to summarize with a one-liner....it would be....
THIRU MAGAN...THIRUNTHATHA MAGAN.....:-)
Saturday, February 03, 2007
HOWTO-SCREW-A-SONG-WITH-JUST-1-MINDLESS-DIRECTOR....-PORI-
haven't quite got what I meant in the headline tag????...i am duty bound to put that term into proper explanation....:-))...
I remember seeing the "Making of the Song - Pori"......aired on TV, a special programme for Diwali...what stuck chord in the program and made me yearn for this song was the supreme novellness of the lyrics....
the theme of the song is to list out all small moments of joy-abound that one gets like...
a) getting a Window seat in a bus,
b) A hot tea on a rainy afternoon,
and the lyricist YugaBharathi goes on...and lists around 20+ such niceties et petite titbits...and compiled a song out of it...
The novelty doesn't end there...the song was composed on the fly with the director of the film, the music director Dhina and the lyricist YugaBharathi...in one sitting!!!...on TV...:-)
The song had a good soul-searching tune...and was quite hummable the instant you heard it...and to top it...the song-recording of it was also picturised for the 30 minute TV show....which generated quite an interest for the song...atleast in me....and I waited for the film PORI (a Jeeva Starrer) to get released...ever since I saw this 3 months back..
And..now when I see the song on screen in TV...I was filled with nothing but a pathetic feel....simply pathetic to say the least....what a good theme-lyric...had defintely demanded a innovative picturisation....the song was picturised as a run-of-the-mill duet...which it wasn't atleast by the merit of the lyrics that went behind it.....
I wonder where these people...that is directors..who completely screw up such good songs....learn their trade from...Sorry...this is listless a show....which I bet, even I had pictured a much better way in my mind as soon as I saw the show on TV.....
and lemme tell you..this is not the first song that I get this paranoia feel...there have been numerous songs where I have felt the video to be a major let down for the actual merit of the audio....A prominent example being....
PUSHING IT HARD from the film Kanda Naal Mudhal.....wow...what a song it was to listen in the album...and my jaws dropped onto the floor when I actually saw the video in the movie....simply shameless picturisation....
atleast the Music Directors...would definetely have a feel of how a song should be ...be it Yuvan who was the loser in the later example...and Dhina the loser in the former example....they should be able to suggest the director before hand about how he picturised the song, while composing.....that would give a good measure of the life in the song for the director....
thats where directors like Shankar score double hundreds..who work the other way...by clearly spitting out what they want out of the song, from both the lyricist..and the music composer...so you atleast dont have the imbalance of who screwed things...its invariably the director if at all it screws big time...which hasn't been the case with Shankar till date...
need to meet shankar one day and discuss such things all day!!!!...will wait for the day!!!!..
But Sorry, Pori-Folks....I am disappointed to say the least..please put a blog on HOWTO-SCREW-A-SONG-WITH-JUST-1-MINDLESS-DIRECTOR....
technorati tags:pori, review, movie
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Tuesday, January 30, 2007
this is it..I love you Shahrukh...:-)
mmmm.....I was actually forcing myself to hold back this review from Day 2 of the KBC-Reloaded...yeah..thats how I choose to call it!!!!...I wanted to give it some more time...cuz...I didnt want the review to be just based on the hype and hoopla and the initial surge in interest....
but...now..let me tell you....Its absolutely enjoyable.....definitely more charismatic than should I say *The KBC*....I am a great fan of The Big B...but that shouldn't take the sheen and credit out of SRK...cuz..he is doing an absolutely fabulous job as the Game show host
....man.... isnt he charming..I mean with his personal demeanour....definitely this is a huge..huge...huge booost to a career that is already on The Petronas Towers..yep....with The Don..he showed he could get into the Big Shoes.....and here...he furthers it by showing he can even replace the Big Shoes...cuz...this is a younger domain...and he can install his hold quite authouritatively and i believe -by the way he did today's show with the Navi-Mumbai lady...-he would soon remove the thought that there was another host for this show before him....he is so..at home with the show....that it feels so right now this show...
I love you shahrukh as always!!!!!
technorati tags:KBC, Shahrukh, review, gameshow
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