Marudhamalai and Malaikottai

Saw two action packed movies over the weekend. absolutely no logic and totally hero centric movies. By the way, when have tamil movies focused on giving more screen presence to the women folk? Maybe, one in fifty movies?



Marudhamalai - action king Arjun comes back with yet another police story, but this time there is a change. and you'll realise that when you watch the film. every hero who plays a police is usually an assistant commissioner or an IPS or an Inspector. In this case, our hero is a simple constable. He joins at the lowest ranks and hence, there is a lot of scope to move away from the larger than life image, at least for the initial parts. after that it gets to the usual - crouching tiger type stunts. the story starts off with a very light mood - enough room for comedy. Vadivel is at his best again as Encounter Ekambaram. He is actually a senior in the police station, in comparison with the hero. At a number of instances, we can see him use his superiority as a tool to initiate a comedy track. Nila who supposedly plays the female lead gets side-lined big time. For once, this story does not involve the bad guy abducting the girl to take revenge. Love and enemity are two different tracks in this movie. A good decision by the director to keep them apart. In tamil cinema lingo, there is a new term called "build-up". This movie has got enough of that right from the beginning. Songs are below average - i dont think anyone would want to hear to them more than once. Laal plays the bad guy. The scope for performance in his role is very less. Most of the time we see him behind the bars. The one part that I liked other than the comedy is when the hero takes action against false claims made by a politician. This is very much in reference to what happens today. A number of people (mostly politicians) make public statements without any evidence or reason. The media takes notice, but after a few days, it just dies out. No one is bothered.



Malaikottai - action youth Vishal comes back. Offlate, all of his movies have been anything related to just ruthless fighthing - Sandakozhi, Thimiru, Tamaraparani, and Sivapathigaram. Female lead is Priya Mani. Priya is very pretty when she wears short tops and mini skirts. If you'd noticed her in Kangalaal Kaithu Sei (the Bharathiraja movie), then you'd go agape. In this movie, she is usually wearing a salwar that doesnt suit her appearance well. Rather the character is like that - a pious engineering student in Trichy. You can't expect her to be in tank tops! Anyway, she is totally side-lined. No scope at all. Few lines here and there, just to justify the need for a female lead. Vishal plays the jobless youth. The only impression I get, from seeing him in this movie is that he can just jump around and get a few kicks. More fight sequence means less scope for displaying acting talent. Standard expressions - you can make out that the Vishal in Sandakozhi is the same as Vishal in Malaikottai. The getting into character aspect is very less. Ashish Vidhyarthi and Urvashi have been roped in for the comedy but it doesnt stick well. There is nothing special that I can remember about this movie. I still wonder how cinema halls are managing the cost by running this stupid movie. Oh yes - The remix version of the "Ae Aatthaa" song. That was just awesome. Maybe that's the reason!

Surutapalli

So, during our trip to Kalahasti last weekend, we decided to go to this place called Surutapalli. This small temple town or lets call it village, is on the way from Chennai to Tirupati. On the route to Tirupati from Red Hills in Chennai, you will reach a point called Periyapalayam. Take a diversion from there and you will head towards a place called Uthukottai. A few kilometers on the highway that leads you away from Uthukottai is this place.

The specialty of this place is that its the only Siva temple where the Lord is in a Sayana position (sleeping). In every other temple, you will find Lord Siva in the form of a Linga, but in this temple, you will find Siva sleeping on Parvati's lap.



Story goes like this - on the advise of lord vishnu, the devas and the asuras were churning the ocean of milk. the mandara mountain was used as the churn stick and the serpent vasuki was the rope. when the mountain sank, lord vishnu supported the mountain by taking the tortoise incarnation. this was the kurma avatara. the first item that emerged from the churning was a pot of poison. the devas and asuras rushed to lord siva and pleaded with him for protection. Lord Siva then swallowed the poison, but before it could go further, Parvati pressed his neck and the poison remained there permanently. That is why we know Lord Siva by another name -- Neelakantha (blue throated).

It is believed that Lord Siva, after consuming the poison, was very tired and drowsy. So, he lied down to rest on Parvati's lap at Surutapalli.

This place is famous for so many other deities. Here, the Dakshinamurthy is seen along with his consort Gowri, which is something you don't see in any other temple. There is also a Durga sculpture where the goddess is holding a parrot in her lower hand and the other lower hand is resting on her thigh. This is very rare for a Durga sculpture.

Another rare feature is at the entrance. The doorkeepers on either side of the temple are also with their consorts. In every other temple, you will find the doorkeepers alone.

Holiday round-up

Last few days have been really crazy. On Friday I left to Sree Kalahasti - one of the Pancha Bhoota Shrines of Lord Shiva. The deity here is represented as Vaayu Linga, which is Air. On the way, we visited another temple called Surutapalli, which has got a very special story. My next post would be on that, since I need to upload a photograph too. Saturday morning darshan at the temple was very good. At the same time it was surprising to see that a lot of people now have started visiting temples. 10 years back, the story was different. The people who were going to temples were traditionally going to temples - i mean every year or through generations. But now, there is a lot of belief in the boxes that are part of the horoscope and the planets that reside in the same. People are ready to spend any amount of money as grants to temples or do any kind of puja. Its a totally new phenomenon.

This got over on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning was fun game in the rain. Then the next trip started. To Bangalore. Another ISB wedding. I caught the afternoon bus in great hopes to reach the reception early. But you can never rely on these people. The road was amazing. But the average speed was just over 65kms per hour which sucked big time. Sunday evening was a great day to catch up a lot of friends. Around 20 of them had come down from various other cities. There was food and booze - since it was in the army officers mess. The next day was a traditional Iyengar wedding. I was done with everything by 11am. In between all this I had to attend a few phone calls from my client, answer a few questions and ensure that my project was running on schedule. (These people never leave me alone!)

Caught the afternoon bus back to Madras. On the way stopped at a small eating joint and bought some pirated dvds. I havent checked whether the dvds play but I got 4 latest movies. This place is a few kilometers before Krishnagiri on the highway, when you are coming from Bangalore and the guy has any latest movie you ask for - hindi, english and tamil. If you are a cop reading this blog, then this a tip for you. There is a huge business that is thriving and perhaps a huge network of people are happily earning. Whats the point in catching the ones in the city. India's strength lies definitely in its villages.

Rushed to Courtyard Marriott for a team dinner. The buffet sucked. They served continental food. Some of the items were okay. The starters were extremely bad. No variety at all. Even in the main course, it wasn't anything worth mentioning. For the price that we paid, I felt that Residency Towers was a much better deal. Coming to the desserts, there were six ice cream flavors and JUST ONE SCOOP. On asking, the guy told me that the kitchen has only one scoop. Wow, thats something for a five star hotel! Ambience was good. I liked the live music concept.

Had another day off yesterday - a trip to Coimbatore. It was My Best Friend's Wedding. Still was bombarded with phone calls from office. Now I am back here waiting for the Saturday Game.

Fiction: Missy on the Bus

At quarter past seven, the neighborhood is bustling with activity. There is atleast one person in every house that is getting ready to leave - to the office, to the school, to the college. The road, even though its one of the inner roads in the area, is constantly used by School and college buses. People are never tired of honking. By the time its close to half past, you can definitely hear to a multitude of sounds - you cant even guess which vehicle crossed your gate. Its a busy day everyday and sand particles start picking up with the wind.

He walked across all the inner roads. It was brisk 5 minute walk. Soon he reached the main road. Quickly he walked over the small median to the other side. It was the usual point. The same people were there. Nothing was different. This was an everyday affair and had a strange monotony attached within. He thought about the long journey he had to take. Even though he didn't have to drive all the way, it was quite a tiring journey - the morning sun shone right through the window making the insides feel like an oven. During all this, the bus arrived. The loud but sweet FM music was playing. It was time to get to that second row seat, recline and sleep. A good 40 minute sleep in the morning would always keep him refreshed for the rest of the day.

The bus started in its own pace. It reached another destination. More people finding their way to the empty seats. Then his eyes spotted the last person entering the bus. Dark lavender colored top embroidered with white flower patterns, plaited hair, a small black bindi to rightly decorate the forehead and a bright morning look on her face. From her looks and the way she walked, he could guess that she was very simple and innocent. She never looked up - perhaps it was the South Indian style, the women when they are outside never lift their head up and walk. It was more a precautionary thing. She sat right in front of him. It was the usual seating order. As the vehicle moved to the next stop, she looked out. Her eyes displayed an expression of expectation and eagerness. The moment her friend entered the bus she changed into a quick smile. "How are you Akka*" - she said as she saw her friend taking the seat beside her.

A small conversation started between them. The loud music coupled with the hustle and bustle on the main road completely cut them out of the world. From looking at them, he could sense that they were enjoying every bit of what they were talking about. Girl talk! he thought. Why bother. He closed his eyes. He wanted to go into sleep mode.

The power nap didn't last for long. He woke up. This wasn't any sharp turn or a sudden breaking. He looked around. Some more people had taken seats. The bus was full now. He looked at her, not through the gap between the seats, but on the window pane. The dark glass had become like a canvas and was reflecting a nice portrait of her face. He could see her eyes - they discoursed a flurry of thoughts. She spoke nothing.

She took a pet bottle in her hand. Holding the bottle in one hand at the base, tapped the cap of the bottle with her palm. She looked at her friend and chuckled. He understood what she did. It was an imitation from the movies about how the men opened whiskey bottles in Tamil Nadu.

He smiled and went back to sleep mode.

"Characters on this post do resemble people in real life, but as readers you don't have to come to any conclusions. This is just another attempt to make the blog a nice place to visit."

*Akka - tamil word for elder sister

Where do you live?

Blog Action Day

October 15th is Blog Action Day. On this day, more than 15000 bloggers all around the world would write their views on the environment. This could be anything - from new technology to create a cleaner and healthy surrounding, to avoiding some things that you have been doing to make this world a better place.

In a developing country like ours, we cannot afford to let the environment go to the dogs. But what can you say or what can you do - the sheer number of people around you are perhaps the problem. America is clean and clear because there are less than 400 million people for a land mass that is almost the size of India or perhaps more too. And we are just proud of having more than a billion. On the other hand, China, having a population as much as ours, is getting ahead in no time.

Before you address the environment, its important that you address WHY THE ENVIRONMENT? To get an answer to that, we'll have to work on education. Everybody needs access to a school which would teach them about working towards protecting the society they are part of. That's when they will realise. there is no point in telling people not to use plastic bags when we are not investing in an alternative - right? Its the same thing here. If we need people to follow something, then we'll need to facilitate the same. They always say - put the people first.

You might just argue - what about the people who are already educated. They themselves are doing things that are causing environmental damage. This is just a vicious circle. First of all, we do not have strict laws that protect the environment. Even if you claim that there are a few laws, the other problem is that we do not have people to enforce these laws. The people to policeman ratio is pretty bad in our country. There are more people who say - WHY SHOULD I CARE. Someone will fix it. With such elements, its difficult. Sometimes I strongly feel that we need a one party rule in India - like its in China or how it was in Germany. In such situations, rules will be rules. They will not bend to become policies. The same educated lot, when they go the US or Singapore to work, ensure that they dont do anything of the sort they do in their home country. WHY - its only that FEAR FACTOR. A fear that they will get caught and that will be the end. Over here, the attitude is - who cares, nobody is there to question. So yes, we'll need to get a bit of that fear here too. Maybe we'll have to introduce incentives to enforcement agencies for helping to protect the environment - like collect the fine from the individual and provide a share of that to the enforcer and the rest to the government. This way, people wouldnt even dream of violating a rule.

In a huge country like ours, we need investment to protect the environment. for that we'll need money. and money comes only if the system has revenues. and we know that most of the money that is available, gets squandered.

so here comes the bottomline: if every government employee and member of state just takes home only his or her salary and nothing else, then the system will have enough funds.

every home should grow atleast one tree. we know that we cant depend on the council to plant tress on the road. so its better we do it on our own.

if you have open space at the back of your house, then create a dumping pit for the biodegradable waste. atleast the soil there becomes fertile enough to grow more trees.

oh my god.. what have i written?

The Both Room in Besant Nagar Beach

Another Classic Find

Shantaram - Book Review

This was long due.

I read Shantaram months back. And since, then I was waiting to write a small review and never found the opportunity. So here it is.

Shantaram is a colorful novel right from the beginning. Every emotion that you look for, from the human heart, is packaged in the 900 odd pages. An ex-junkie and robber enters India after escaping from an Australian prison. That first bit itself raises your expectations of the whole - I could call it thriller too! This guy is the author and his photo reminds me of Liam Neeson. Lin enters hot Bombay - the maximum city. And his experiences in Bombay are not comparable to a travelogue. Rather a handbook for fake passports, drugs, stolen medicine, weapons, money and what not. Amidst all that Lin makes a local best friend - Prabhakar who helps Lin start an enchanting life in Bombay between 1981 and 1987 starting with learning Marathi.

"And I did--I liked everything about her. I liked the Helvetian music of her Swiss-American English, and the way she pushed her hair back slowly with a thumb and forefinger when she was irritated by something. I liked the hard-edged cleverness of her conversation, and the easy, gentle way she touched people she liked when she walked past them or sat beside them. I liked the way she held my eyes until the precise moment when it stopped being comfortable, and then smiled, softening the assail, but never looked away."

He falls in love with Karla - beautiful and enigmatic. Its amazing to see how her character has been sketched. She shows strength, determination, and confidence under various circumstances. "Heroes comes in three types - dead, damaged and dubious" . This is one dialogue I remember from the book that Karla made. Karla is Lin's connection to Bollywood, prostitutes, smugglers, police officers, afghans and iranians.

Further, its just unbelievable to know what all happened with Lin during his life in Bombay. He sets up a clinic in the slum, hooks up with local mafia to fetch medicines, ends up doing money laundering and fake passports. Over the seuqnce of all these events, Lin ends up at the Arthur Road prison. I cannot say that he gets beaten up black and blue. When you read those chapters, you'll feel miserable. Is prison that worse? Nothing like what you see in the movies. Its painful and traumatic. You start thinking - will he die in prison? what will happen next? will someone save him? why is he getting tortured for such a long time? (this, mainly because the prison chapters run for quite long).

Khader, the savior, gets him out and brings him back to business. Then comes another episode - the trip to Afghanistan.

Discussions about life, metaphysics, morality, death - at some places in the book, you kind of get this feeling that its not at all done reading this once. You need to mull over it again and again. Thats when you see the light behind the curtain.

Some of the characters like Qasim Ali, Johnny Cigar, Didier, Lisa, Abdullah are very lively and whenever you read parts involving them, you get a feeling like watching a western movie.

The main theme, as I could understand, in this book, is Lin's pursuit to find out the finer details about green eyed beauty Karla and the muslim don Khader. When you read this book, you definitely get thinking - Wow, I really wonder if I can see a Bombay like this.

what you'd like in this book is perhaps the amount of authenticity that it contains. although some parts have been dramatized to make the flow interesting, it still is an account from Lin's life. there is realism and richness. you also come across a tough world.

and i hope, i have inspired some of you to pick up that book.

The Hindi Class

Mahesh was more than elated. It was his first Hindi class in that term, right after quarterly exams. 11th standard was a joyous year and he was determined to take the best of every minute in being a teenager. He knew he had to attend the class in another section.

The school was quite small. The administration had opened the matriculation branch for the first time and they had been given just 3 classrooms to start with. Hindi class was a combined class. Combined - that term brought smiles into the eyes of the boys. That was the only time they could enter the girls class. Officially! Otherwise it was impossible. The girls class was sandwiched between the Principal's office and the teacher's room. Nobody could walk across, unnoticed between these two rooms. Attenders kept moving continuously between both rooms and occassionally into the girls classroom too, just to give a notice. The boys used to hate this. Sometimes, life could have been better as an attender. To get past them and take a quick look into the girls class was a big challenge. Mahesh, in fact, kept numerous bets with his friends. Pepsi at the roadside store in the evening was the most wanted.

Less than 10 minutes for the bell to ring. Science class was getting over. Mrs. Malathi was talking about Fraunhofer. But Mahesh's concentration and thoughts were completely off. He was glued to his watch. Every minute was important. Students had less than 5 minutes between each class. And especially for Hindi class, a lot had to be done. Pack just those two books and keep them ready. You dont want to carry your duckback school bag and pencil box. What will the girls think of me? One stylish writing instrument to grab their eyes. Rush to the rest room to wash your face. Tuck your shirt. Parallel trouser was the vogue then. He had stitched one very recently. One of the girls actually made a casual offhand comment. From then on, he made sure that he wore it to the Hindi Class without fail. Comb your hair properly. It was the only chance he had. He had to be impressive. The boys were not allowed to sit along side the girls on the same bench. They had to sit in different columns. But still, they were less than 2 feet away.

One glance from her and that tired look on your face? he couldnt let that happen. He quickly put some powder and tapped it into his face. Musk fragrance - he had read about it in the weekly teenage plus magazine. Musk was a fragrance that men preferred. Mahesh wanted to present that bold character in himself.

Science class got over. He was all set. Ahead of time. But still there was one thing he always wanted to do. Arrive late to the Hindi class. He thought he could make that classic late entry and do that ramp walk into his desk. But then he remembered Mrs. Vandana, his Hindi teacher, who always mandated talking in Hindi during the class and made comments in front of the girls.

"Aaj kaunsaa perfume lagaake aaye? Lip-stick lagaana bhool gaye kya?" (what perfume are you wearing today? have you forgotten the lip-stick"

"Jitna preparation tum log ladkiyon ko pataane ke liye karte ho, usse thoda kam bhi exam ke liye karte tho acchhaa rank milega." (the amount of preparation you guys do to impress the girls, if you did even half of that for your exams, you will get better grades)

It was such an embarassing moment and it wasnt just for Mahesh, but the whole boys contingent who did no want to be there in that situation to hear to all that. But still, Hindi Class was fun and memorable.