Ghajini - In Hindi

Prayer to God - SRK please dont watch Vaaranam Aayiram and ask Karan Johar to copy the movie for you.

When I walked out of the movie hall, that was the feeling I had about Aamir Khan's Ghajini - a remake of the tamil version. Comparing two movies is not the way to go, but what the hell. I think this way I can represent my thoughts better.

Two hours of this movie is just the same. Copy Copy Copy. This is Bombay and that was Chennai. The last 30 minutes was dealt with concentrated effort to make it look professional.

Aamir Khan has done a lot of hard work in this movie, but gets distinction only. You have to give it to Suriya for his outstanding performance in the tamil version. Khan looks very royal in the first bit. So its a bit difficult for a third tier model to visualise him as an aspiring model. Surya does that part well. He looks pro when he is a CEO and he appears very down to earth during his part with Asin.

Props look more sopihisticated this time. A posh apartment in Hiranandani Gardens is too much to ask for. That too, well laid plans and pictures. Everything looks clean and doesnt look like a house that belongs to someone who suffers from short term memory loss.

Asin steals the show. She is the same Kalpana we saw a few years back but what an amazing performance. Bollywood lassies - beware! Miss Thottumkal has already established her position with class.

Ghajini might be a hit in Bollywood because Bollywood has not seen movies with meaningful scripts for a very long time. Most movies are luxurious commercials. So this movie will definitely go a long way.

Jiah Khan plays Nayantara's role in the movie. I thought Nayantara was such a waste of time in the movie. Jiah says - No, how can that be! I will prove that I am the worst for that role.

AR Murugadoss has done a great job. He has ensured that the second version is much better and cleaner than the first one. As a director he scores more points for the hindi version.

AR Rahman's music. I seriously could not appreciate the songs. Background score was mindblowing. Songs - sorry. Sanjay sees Kalpana and falls in love with her. "Oru Maalai" in Tamil was such a fantastic representation of the mood. Here in the same situation, the song sucks. And then Suttum Vizhi - it was another mega hit song. Perhaps Rahman thought that he shouldn't bring the same mood inside the hindi version but these songs in tamil gave such a boost to the storyline. It didnt do that much impact in Hindi.

Overall: A new experience for hindi movie lovers.

Silambattam - Little Star Rises

Little Star does it again. A complete entertainer. A bit of everything that you would expect in a excessively commercial movie.

I think the main highlight of this movie is Yuvan's music. I should talk about it before anything else. Yuvan has given the best again. The music is well aligned with the commercial aspect of the movie. Dont expect the song visuals to be aligned to the script. NO WAY. The songs are just to enjoy. 'Vechikkava' - a remix and mega hit from Simbu and Suchitra, after 'Dandanaka' in Kaalai. This song sets the mood for all the songs to follow. 'Vechikkava' also reminds you a bit of 'Maarugo maarugo' from Vetri Vizha. 'Nalamthaana' is also a cool one. Yuvan has made ilayaraja sing for one of his songs and its come out really well.

Story - well, its again related to revenge and gory fights between two families. They just keep killing each other and then you know what happens in the end. but still, there is a reasonable twist in the story and its quite nice as it generates enough masala content for the audience.

Simbhu does the role of a priest in the temple. What I dont like here is the way they have portrayed the priest community in the movie. They just make a lot of fun and its not good. I mean, I haven't seen a lot of movies that make fun of the christian nor the muslim community. In fact, I cant even think of one where they made excessive fun of these two communities. Even for that matter, a chettiar or a nadar or those deep down south ones. most movies take a dig at brahminism and this movie takes it to an unbearable level. So, Simbu's characterisation is quite nice. He has acted well, the typical styles follow. He has also worked well on the song sequences.

Sana Khan - major time pass girl in the movie. she is best used only for the songs. exposure - yes. that element is there too. lip sync is quite bad i thought. dont know whether she will go a long way. but definitely item number material.

Prabhu does a character role in the movie and it goes quite well for him. Sneha is also around for a while. She plays her part with elegance.

Action is an important element of this movie. Rather the main element. Kanal Kannan manages to pull it off again. Very skillful and neat.

Comedy by Santhanam and Manobala in the Brahmin setting really sucks. They just take a dig at multiple people and sometimes sound quite offensive. Karunas in the second half of the movie makes you laugh naturally.

Overall: Mass entertainer. Try once if you have time and money to waste.

Weekend Well Spent

My weekend started on Thursday evening when I boarded the train to Kodai Road. It was a fun filled three day weekend. Highlights as follows:

1. Ran to catch the moving train. I was actually sitting inside another train on the opposite platform until my friends came and told me that I was sitting in the wrong train.

2. Was forced to listen to a torture conversation from a supporting actor by name Y.Vijaya. She always comes in the tamil movies as someone who belongs to the bad guys family.

3. Got to see some of the spots where the movie Subramaniyapuram was shot.

4. Awesome breakfast at Sholavanthan.

5. Got to check out the Vadipatti artifical turf ground. Apparently, Vadipatti churns out the maximum enthusiasts for hockey from Tamil Nadu.

6. Tried Paneer Soda after almost a decade. God, it was so refreshing. And then, Bovonto, another amazing drink.

7. Took a small walk in Kodaikanal on Friday evening. Visibility was like 2 feet.

8. Saturday morning was bright and sunny. So, we ended up doing a 30 plus km cycle ride in the hills. Went around the lake and took the upper lake view road straight to the golf course, then Pillar Rocks and then the Berijam Checkpost. From there headed down another hill for about 15 kms.

9. Amazing uphills and downhills. Downhill speed of atleast 35-40kmph. Got knackered completely on the uphills. Every hill was a challenge. There was always this tendency to give up and get on to the support truck. But, giving an extra mile of effort is such a pleasant feeling and it gives you a great feeling at the end. So I kept riding the cycle until the guys just forced me to stop.

10. Bought half a kilo of home made chocolates from Kodi - Raisins, Dates, Butter Scotch, Almonds. Every possible flavor.

11. Took a scary ride back to Sholavanthan. The driver drove the Omni at 60kmph through the hills. He reached the foothills in about an hour. Every minute, I was fearing whether I was going to throw up.

12. Reached Madurai on Sunday morning and tasted the world famous Jigar-Thanda. There are only 2 shops in Madurai that are famous for this. Every other seller is trying to fake it.

13. Visited the Thirumalai Naicker Mahal, which was under renovation. So nothing much to see, other than concrete, cement and paint all over the place.

14. Silambattam - the best thing to happen in Madurai. Totally Simbhu style and killer movie.

15. A mindblowing concert by Vedanth Bharadwaj at the INTACH Madurai to end the holiday.

Just heard

One of our relatives came home on Sunday evening. They had something to tell.

Someone in their family was the Revenue Manager(RM) at the TAJ. He was leading a team of 5 people. They were holding a meeting at the TAJ about the arrival of a cricket team for the ICL. After a while, they got news that the cricket team was going to get delayed indefinitely.

The team plus RM was reporting to a General Manager(GM), who had recently joined the TAJ in Bombay. He still hadn't found a place to live, so he was living at the TAJ with his family as well. After this meeting, the GM asked the RM to leave since the cricket team wasn't going to come to the hotel.

So, our relative, who was the RM, left the hotel. He was just 10 minutes away from the Hotel, when he heard the news. Obviously he couldn't get back to the hotel to see what was happening. But he got the news three days later.

The 5 people who were in the meeting room with him that day were brutally shot by the terrorists.

The GM, who heard the news of the attack in the Hotel, was getting down the elevator. There was so much commotion that he could not get to either the team nor his family. He wasn't allowed to go anywhere, rather. But the mean terrorists had entered in multiple places. The family was shot as well. It took them three days to get the bodies out. The mother had been holding the child locked in her arms when they were being shot by the terrorists. After three days, the rescuers could not even unlock the hands to separate the bodies.

Just hearing to this was so painful. I seriously cannot imagine what the immediate families would be going through.

Mumbai Storm Chasers

WOW, Ultimate scene in India IS really getting bigger and better. Check out the news video on the Mumbai Team. These guys will be here in Chennai over the weekend for the tournament.

Chennai Beach Ultimate Championships 2008

Click on the image to view in full resolution mode.

SEE YOU THERE

Malayalee Pennae

I was watching Kiran TV today and I came across this totally beautiful song. Its called "Malayalee Pennae" - translates to "Malayalee Girl".



I think this song is perhaps the best non-film malayalam song I have heard in recent times. And maybe one of the best to come from the Malayalee Youth as a dedication to the women folk.

If you are Malloo reading this, enjoy the feeling !!!

Connect 101

Hey Readers

See the picture below.. if its not clear, then click on the picture to see a better size. After you've carefully looked at all the pictures, let me know what connects these pictures. There is ONE SINGLE THEME.

I'll buy you beer and dinner if you get the right theme.



Please use the comments section to give me the answer.

Vaaranam Aayiram - life must go on

Varanam Ayiram Suzha valam seithu; naranan nambi nadakkinran enrethir
Purana porkudam vaitthup puram engum; toranam nattak kanak kanden thozhi nan

Life is a box of chocolates - happiness, love, affection, success, good friends, etc would add sugar to your life and make you cheerful. But, life is not just a box of chocolates - fear, failure, diffidence, sorrow, separation, etc would add the salt and bring those tears. Come what may, LIFE MUST GO ON. For every individual has his share of ups and downs in his life. He needs to see what he can do for the future that awaits him.



Gautham Vasudev Menon's Vaaranam Aayiram sends home this simple message with a plethora of emotions that any individual can relate with. The movie literally takes you through high and low tides - you walk out with mixed feelings but generally good.

The story is about a son who, after the demise of his father, reminisces the time of his life when his dad was around. Right from birth till the stage he is currently in, he tries to bring back all the incidents; sees how his dad has been a great motivator and a role model who influences his life in every small way possible.

Not every actor gets to play a role, which is almost something like a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity. Suriya is the crux of this movie. The movie revolves around him and his relationship with his dad (another Suriya). I could clearly see that Suriya is getting better at every film as an actor. People say that he is following the foot-steps of Kamal Hassan. Quite true. As an actor, Suriya is giving everything he can to bring completeness to the director's vision. Suriya's escapades with love reminds you of Madhavan in Minnale. Suriya's deep low voice and reactions, background vocals in some situations give you a feeling of the Suriya we saw in Kaakha Kaakha.

Simran - oh, what a comeback! She initially plays the lovely lady who steals the heart of the Dad Suriya. Her predominant role is a mom character who tries to be a good support for her family and ailing husband.

Sameera Reddy - she is definitely going to go places in the industry. What an amazing character - full of life. I think she deserves a big applause for having done a wonderful job in the movie. She takes the movie to a different high and the 20-30 minutes of Sameera and Suriya on the screen keeps you in the best of spirits.

Divya Spandana - she comes into Suriya's life during the second half of the movie. Although she doesnt have a bubbly role, she gives meaning to her character by doing absolute justice. Too bad, she doesn't have the best songs in the movie.

Harris Jeyaraj's music and background score is amazing. All songs are topping every chart in South India. A good part of the movie is based on music, since son Suriya plays the guitar. Right from wooing his girlfriend by strumming the guitar to entertaining his mom and dad with his music, there is music everywhere. "Adiyae Kolluthae" is a total highlight. Shot completely in Berkeley, this song is an energy booster.

The movie has an overdose of English. Too many "Daddy"; "I love you dad"; "I love you mom"; "I miss you dad" phrases and then conversations between the family dominated by english words in between. I wonder why Gautham imposed this on a simple middle class family? Did he plan to appeal to the current generation of youth?

Cinematography handled by Rathnavelu is above all. Starting from the 80s themes, the train journey of Suriya and Sameera, and the shots of Golden Gat Bridge where Sameera proposes to Suriya - all that is mindblowing.

Overall: Another great movie by Gautham

Trek 3700

I finally bought myself a TREK 3700



I wanted to get a nice road bike for a very long time. Over the last six months, I did a lot of research on different bikes available in the Indian market. Went through product brochures of BSA, Hero, Hercules, Avon, Firefox, Lumala, LA Sovereign, TREK, Merida, Raleigh etc etc.

All the Indian brands are mostly priced below 10K. But the build quality is not good. There is always some stiffness with the bike and the gear shift mechanism is not very smooth. I have tried the BSA ones very often. Even the latest one called ACT 105 isn't that great. There is something that makes the imported ones feel better during the ride.

Lumala is SriLankan. They are good, but very heavy. And there is no guarantee for good service. And also difficult to get spares. LA Sovereign is a joint venture with a Thai firm. They have good alloy bikes, but not that great for the price that you pay.

Then I checked Merida through a dealer in Bangalore. Great bike, but the logistics of getting the bike to Chennai and then servicing it here. Its not easy.

Raleigh - amazing bikes from the UK. These are produced right now in Asia. The Hypercity in Bombay has stocks but they dont ship to other states. If you have anyone in Bombay who is willing to ship it for you, then the Explorer and the MTRAX models are absolutely great bikes.

Firefox Target and Firefox Reloaded were also in my budget. I was almost buying the Reloaded, when the guy suggested the TREK. I had a look at the bike and it suited my requirements better than the Firefox. The Firefox has tyres that are better suited for the flat roads. So, for off-roading, you'll need to have another set of tyres. The TREK comes with the tyres used for mountain biking, but the best part is that the TREK on a flat road with such tyres is as good as the Firefox. Also, the Shimano gear system that is used on both these bikes is different. That enhances some quality of the product as well.

Anyway, now I am all thrilled about my new road bike. I am just waiting to hit Kodai in December for that wonderful cycling tour.

And if you need any help on buying road bikes, do feel free to reach out to me. I'll be glad to help.

Support for Srilankan Tamils

For quite some time, a number of groups in this side of the country have started raising their voices for the Srilankan Tamils.

I really don't know why. Srilankan Tamils may be connected to the Indian Tamils or the Dravidians through history. But that's like so many hundred years before. Those guys decided to move to a different country for a living. They are of a different nationality. Why do these political outfits here cause trouble for us citizens?

The other day, last week. There was a human chain staged by the DMK. Rain was already causing enough havoc all over the city and these guys added more fuel to the fire. There was complete chaos in major parts of the city. People were stranded at most places. It took at least 4 hours for the traffic to clear and find some breathing space. And on the next day, there was no news about the situation. Most newspapers were celebrating the success of the human chain. WTF.

Today, I hear that there is a trade closure. Most shops, rather all shops are closed today for supporting the cause of Tamils. But what the hell again? Why should these people disturb public life? Like actor Vikram says in the movie Saamy, all these political outfits should go to Marina Beach or Island grounds and do whatever they want.

What a waste of resources? When will these fellow learn to think objectively? Beans is selling for 80 rupees a kilo and most vegetables are above the Rs.30 mark. Not too far before we hit a crisis and someone here is worried about a bunch of Tamils. I can agree to this agitation if the Indian Army was involved in the firing of Tamils. Instead of supporting, we should be more careful about these people entering our land and causing trouble for us. There are so many hundred thousand Bangladeshis inside our country who are illegal immigrants. We have enough trouble from our neighboring countries. And we also have so many outfits within the country who keep bombing cities day in and day out. And here in Tamil Nadu, we have a bunch of stupid fellows who are busy supporting rather than safeguarding.

If the Tamils don't have food, then send them food supplies or whatever you can to support them. Why trouble me to support them?

Oasis 2008

WOW, this is such a wonderful coverage of Oasis. We never had so much publicity. These guys are talking of thousands of students and we used to celebrate when the registration crossed 1000. The guys are mentioning about a budget of half a crore and I still remember that we had a budget of less than 20 lacs. If everything else in pilani is working like before, then this year, a lot of people in SUB and StuCCA Body are walking away with a huge bank balance.

Aegan - Diwali Show-gun

The man who is known for his luck at the box office is back again. Yes, its none other than our THALAI. He has done it again! Truly this is THALAI-DEEPAVALI.



Aegan - meaning the one and only one, also referring to Lord Shiva, made a gala opening on Saturday the 25th of October 2008 all over.

Ultimate Star Ajith, whose screen name is Shiva (in line with the theme Aegan), has given a great light hearted movie for his fans, this Diwali.

Aegan is a cool copy of Main Hoon Naa - the SRK movie that made wonders a few years back. The movie has all elements of entertainment that anyone would look for. Even though it was a copy, the script and the screenplay was done really well.

Ajith is back to make you laugh after his success with Billa. He is fat and not agile at all when it comes to dance. That shows clearly. If he had lost like 5 kgs of weight, mostly at the belly and a little on his face, then the impact would have been much better. Considering that SRK looked quite trimmed in the original, Ajith here looks totally like UNCLE. Some of his actions are also remind you of his style in Billa. Maybe he is still not out of the Billa Superhit Hangover. Having said all that, Thalai still rocks.

Comedy comes out really well. With stalwarts like Cochin Haneefa, Jayaram and then support from others like Sathyan and Nasser, every moment is quite enjoyable. The Jayaram-Sathyan combo during the first half is simply mindblowing.

Nayantara is the Professor at the college. The HOT PROFESSOR. Not just hot, but too hot to handle. Continuing after Billa and Satyam, she takes glamour to the next level. Nayan dons sexy outfits in the movie. Even the saris would make you go agape. As usual, there is not much scope for acting. More for singing duet songs in the Alps and some romance filled brushes with Ajith, just to set the ball rolling in the college.

Piya (from Poi Solla Porom) and Navdeep (Arinthum Ariyamalum) are the other important characters in the movie. They have done a good job. Nothing different from how it happens in Main Hoon Naa, but they have given enough justice to their role in the movie.

Yuvan's music is good. Background score is just GREAT. Especially the AEGAN Beat. Some songs would remind you of previous compositions. One actually reminded me of Michael Jackson. But a borrow from here and there but not exactly a true copy is warranted i guess. Check the trailer for the initial beat (starting at 00.34). Its going to be the ringtone of the quarter.



Raju Sundaram, another well know choreographer, has tried his hands at direction. For a first timer, he has played it safe and chosen a proven script. Taking less chances for experimentation and more emphasis on maintaining the script originality, the director makes a good start. We can hope to see more movies.

What didnt gel too well was the villain trying to do some comedy. It was ok to begin with but then it got too irritating towards the second half of the movie.

Overall: Nice timepass.

Beautiful Karnataka

So here is a full set of the photos that we took during our trip.. Enjoy and do let me know if you liked them... Mama



Beautiful Karnataka

Sringeri, Horanadu, Belur, Halebid, and Shravanabelagola

So my amazing trip to all these places began on Friday when I took the bus to Bangalore. By the way, never take SHAMA SARDAR Travels to Bangalore. Its horrible. The drivers are totally drunk and very customer unfriendly. They let people sleep on the aisle for half the money and some of them would just walk away with your luggage. Lucky, my luggage was safe.

At around 9am on saturday, we (myself, Abhinav Shankar - my frisbee mate and his mom) left Bangalore on NH4 and took the road to Hassan via Nelamangala, which is NH48. On the way, we made a stop at Chennarayapatna (CR Patna). There is a Kamat Restaurant just after the town on the highway. Next to that is a Cafe Coffee Day as well. After about 3 hrs of driving, this place is perhaps the best place to make a halt.


Our next stop was Belur - an important city of the Hoysala times. We spent about an hour there taking photos. If you have more time to spend, then best take a guide. We hit the road again to this place called Baalehonnur via Mudigere. We took a tea break here and then started again to Sringeri.

Sringeri is a temple town at the banks of the river Tunga. Adi Shankara selected this place to stay and teach his disciples. This place is of great importance for people who follow the Yajur Veda. We reached Sringeri around dinner time. There are very few hotels in Sringeri that provide accomodation. Most people stay with the Mutt's lodge. Very basic accomodation and just enough for one night. Advance booking is always appreciated. Now that a lot of people have taken to religion and belief in God, its better to play it safe. We showered, had food at Hotel Guruprasad and attended the Chandramouleeswarar Puja. The Puja was done by the Acharya himself. After that, we had a quick darshan of him and came back. Next day morning, we visited the Mutt again for a Paadha Puja (Feet Puja). They have a sandal made of silver worn by the Acharya, rather several copies, and the disciples do Puja for the same. Once that was done, we proceeded to Bhikshavandanam, where we get to meet the Acharya and seek his blessings. Remember, for all of this, you have to get tickets at the temple's desk at around 10am in the morning. Next stop was the Thorana Ganapathi (Its a Ganesha on a silver door frame. There is no temple, but its just on a door and frame.), where we did another special puja. Yes, you have to get tickets for this as well.

Next was photo time. We came back and took pictures of the temple and the surrounding areas of the Mutt. At the banks of the river Tunga, the devotees keep feeding the fishes. That's almost customary these days. The fishes were HUGE. Each one should have weighed like atleast 5kgs. Also, on the steps is the place where according to history, Adi Shankara noticed the cobra giving shelter to a frog. Then we had lunch at the Mutt. The Mutt provides free food to all devotees and let me tell you, the lunch is amazing. You should never miss it.

Post lunch, we left Sringeri and took the road towards Horanadu. Horanadu is about 60kms from Sringeri. The road is scenic (you can spot many lakes and waterfalls) but very bad for your car. An SUV is a better choice. Annapurnaeshwari is the main deity at Horanadu. She is made completely out of gold and her smiling face gives you such a blissful feeling.

From Horanadu, we took the road to Kalasa and then drove straight to Chikmagalur. This town is an estate town, dominated by coffee growers. We stayed the sunday night at an awesome place called the Kadur Club. Next day, after English breakfast, we headed towards Halebidu. The route was first to Belur and then 16kms to Halebidu. This city was also part of the Hoysala kingdom. Architecture is very similar to what we saw in Belur. Some of the important statues that we noted here was Krishna carrying Govardhana Giri and Ravana carrying Kailasa mountain.

Shravanabelagola was our next stop. We drove from Halebidu to Hassan and then stopped at the Kamat Hotel before CR Patna for lunch. We parked at the foothills and walked to the temple. A steep walk of about 650 steps leads you to the top for a view of one of the worlds largest monoliths. A view of the town surrounding this hill is brilliant.

From here, it was just back to Bangalore. We took the road to Kunigal and then to Nelamangala.

Au Kate

Siren is the name of this statue. Sculpted my Marc Quinn, its none other than one of the top international supermodels in the world - Kate Moss. Pure 18 carat gold - weighing 50 kgs. Thats exactly what Kate weighs in real life. This is a yoga pose and its supposed to depict the modern day Aphrodite.

One thing I really wonder... Did she actually pose like this for Quinn? Then she is really Kate Flexi Moss.

This statue cost 1.5 million pounds to make and is expected to fetch atleast 10 million pounds when it goes for the auction in January 2009.

More and more research on the topic led me to some interesting websites.

One is called Body Casting (explore this website a bit and you'll get to see some of their wonderful projects) and then the modern day Picasso called - Pricasso.

Leave the Dow and Bourses aside for sometime and learn to appreciate ART.

Old Ads

Saw a few ADS on a British Newspaper - really old ones. Not in print anymore. And yeah, they are quite alarming.

Do click on the picture and check them out.

The ET Madras Plus Coverage: Today

THE NEW BEE IN TOWN!

This bee is buzzing. And has people leaping into the air with excitement. Ultimate Frisbee is here!

Deepti Sivakumar

Come sunrise; the Elliot's beach springs to life with people. There are the aspiring cricketers, the joggers, yoga practitioners, laughter club members, the bluegreen health concoction vendors… Amidst these groups, there is one more. One that has people cheering excitedly. Ultimate Frisbee. As even a quick internet search will tell you, the sport is mostly called Ultimate since frisbee is a trademark brand name for the discs.

Chennai Ultimate Frisbee (CUF) is a group of individuals who are passionate and committed to the cause of turning unsuspecting beachgoers into Ultimate addicts. For the uninitiated, it is a lot like playing rugby or American football as far as the game-objective is concerned. Teams have to score points by passing the disc between its members in the opposing end zone. But unlike rugby or football, Ultimate is a nocontact team sport, which means if you have a broken nose, you can have no grudges.

Though Ultimate's origins can be traced all the way to North America, the sport is gaining popularity in many parts of India too, courtesy the people who fly to the US for education, and expatriates. Ultimate is only about four-years-old in India, but the national teams are already gearing up for one of its biggest tournaments. On November 29 and 30, Chennai will play host to around eleven teams; ten from across India and one from Sri Lanka. "There have been national tournaments before, but participation from ten national teams makes this Ultimate Frisbee's biggest so far," says Narayan Krishnan, one of the founders of CUF.

What's interesting about this game is that even at the international competitions, there are no referees; the game is self-refereed.

Ultimate is a sport that believes in fostering the player's sportsmanship over everything else. That explains the total absence of sledging or heckling on the Ultimate grounds. "We will win because we are better than the other team in skill, speed and stamina; and not because we can cheat, bully, sledge, trip or push them around," explains one of the Ultimate pamphlets. "Sometimes people get too caught up in the competition and they forget the spirit of the game. We're just a bunch of people who have got together for the love of the sport," trails off Manu Karan, CUF's pillar of support.

The CUF members meet four times a week to practise their dives, catches and throws. But besides that, they also teach Ultimate to children from the underprivileged sections of the society. In fact, in cities like Ahmedabad, Ultimate is being adopted by NGOs as a method to inculcate confidence, teamwork and leadership qualities among different communities. As a sport, Ultimate is associated more with the sheer joy of playing more than the "win at all costs" spirit, and the focus is more on team work and camaraderie between the players.

The fitness angle cannot be ignored too. Ultimate goes a long way in giving the players something to look forward to, at the end of the day. "Most of us have full-time jobs; some of us are techies, some business analysts. But the work-home-work rut is a little difficult to break away from, once you get sucked in. Ultimate is my breakaway from the rut, even if it means waking up earlier on the weekends," says Manu. For some, the game is that last push one needs to make or break a habit. Muthuraman, an Ultimate lover, can't wait for the tournament to begin. "Ultimate helps me take my health seriously," he says.

Currently, CUF has around 35 members. "Newbies come over weekends to watch us play and some of them become regulars," says Manu, but he does add that the awareness levels are still low. For a game completely devoid of on-field cursing, Ultimate is surprisingly competitive, and even after the game is over, you can always catch the players practising their catches and throws. What's also unique about Ultimate is that it's unisex. Regardless of your age, sex, height and weight, you can play. Go on, be a part of the frisbee experience!

PS: By the way, the man leaping in the air to catch the disc was a photography trick!

Kadhalil Vizhunthen - Review

Everyday for the last two weeks or so, in fact, every 20 minutes or lesser, all the SUN NETWORK tamil channels (SUN TV being the producer for the movie) were showing the trailer for Kadhalil Vizhunthen(KV).

The music was pre-released on the Internet very long time back. The famous Naka Muka song was topping the Kollywood music charts for months. No one had a clue about this movie and the songs were already a treat to the common Chennai listener.

The run up to this movie was quite good. I was impatiently waiting to see the movie.

Before we go the movie, I should definitely praise Vijay Anthony - the music director. What an amazing score!!! Simply superb. Peppy numbers that would make you remember. And not just one song. Every song in this movie has been composed carefully. With so much effort and thought, the songs bring a whole new life to the movie.

KV is a movie about obsessive love. The first half of the movie is extremely fast. I really meant it. There is enough entertainment that you dont realise the passage of time. The storyline has been dealt with so much skill that you are just wondering as to whats going to happen. The second half gets SERIOUS. So much that you get tired and disgusted; just waiting for the movie to get over. The entertainment value curve gets to the third quadrant and remains only there.

The story at the base level is the usual poor boy - rich girl love story but it does get disturbing to the eye and I would defnitely not recommend watching this with your family. School children - definite NO. The suspense in the movie starts off quite well and then gets so much out of control that it becomes just a waste of time. Turns out to be a bug drag.

Screenplay, script, dialogs, direction - all these aspects are absolutely worthy until the Intermission bell rings. Second half is disastrous.


Nakul - the fat guy with spiked hair in BOYS movie is the hero. Being half his size and for a first movie as hero, he has done really well. The best part is dance. It looks like this guy is going to have a good future. But he could have chosen a much lighter subject to start launch his career. After a point, his actions in the movie just intolerable.

Sunaina - simple and pretty. A newcomer gets so much screen presence. Quite commendable. In tamil movies, that too in recent times, female leads have just been for time-pass. Sunaina as Meera is quite an angel in the movie.

Sampath - the bad guy in SAROJA, has an important role to play in this movie. He has done well. Two good movies in a row for him. We'll see more of him I guess. Livingston does a good role too. All other characters are very random and not worth any special mention.

KV comes across as a movie that has borrowed/copied themes and ideas from so many other movies in the past - GUNA, Kadhal Kondaen, 7G Rainbow Colony. By this time you should have guessed the outcome of this movie. Yes, its a major TRAGEDY.

Overall: First Half - Wonderful. Second Half - Super Torture

Marc Faber on US Economy

Investment analyst and entrepreneur Dr. Marc Faber concluded his monthly bulletin (June 2008) with the Following:

”The federal government is sending each of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China. If we spend it on gasoline it goes to the Arabs. If we buy a computer it will go to India. If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.

If we purchase a good car it will go to Germany. If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy.

The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in US. I’ve been doing my part.’

Sakkarakatti - Damn Shitty

Let me ask one simple question. Do sons and daughters of actors have to necessarily become actors as well? Can't hey just study and do something else? And why completely tarnish the image of their parents who probably did really well during their time in the film industry.

Such is the case with Bhagyaraj's children. His daughter screwed up big time, in a movie a few years back and now its his son Mr. Shantanu. Like Vadivelu asks in one of his movies - YAEN !!!!

Shantanu - please! I am very sorry for you, son. I can already see your career plummeting. Unless you do something phenomenal. There should be a director and a producer who never heard about or saw this movie and they should cast you back in a movie. Thats your only hope. I dont know whether its your inability or the script, but this never worked for you. Your ratings - sorry, I dont think anyone would want to rate at all.

The movie is a crappy love story. During the movie, my friends and I were wondering whether its something wrong with the movie or we have grown out of such stupid ways of showing love. The way the movie treats love and relationships is absolutely at gutter standards. I wonder if college going people nowadays are like this.


AR Rahman - why Sir? Why did you do this to yourself? Did you really hear to the script before composing? Did someone influence you politically or catch you by the neck? Songs are nice but could have been composed for another film. For these films, it would have been good to have some random amateur music director. I am not taking any names.

Picturisation for songs - what a disaster! Too much of graphic effect that doesnt even gel with the movie. Themes copied from famous Hollywood movies. Learn guys. Learn.

What I am feeling is - Kalaipuli Thaanu made a lot of money with Dasavathaaram and maybe a few other movies previously. So he gave some black money to his son Kalaaprabhu and told him to just spend it with no sense whatsoever.

Shantanu's friends in the movie - what a bunch of losers! I hope I dont get to see any of those guys on the road. I dont think they'll come out too. They have lost even a crowd role in any south indian cinema.

Ishita - I think thats her original name. Screen name is Deepali. Whatever. How did they find her. She has no idea what she was doing in the movie. Did she act for free?

Vedika - remember the Kutti Pisaasu in Simbhu movie Kaalai. Yes, thats her. She is the one who does a reasonable role in the whole movie. Some good acting compared to everyone whho screwed up. Someone in the team had a mind to give her a good role. He/She definitely needs an award for having thought so much because no other person involved in this movie gave a thought about anything while making this movie.

I can just see the movies' revenues taking a downward shift right from day one. The van driver at Sathyam Cinema in Chennai told me that someone influenced the cinema management and made this movie run in a big hall. Pity Sathyam.

Overall: Worst movie of the year!!!

Funny Browser: n resworBynuF

unlmehg g amitgogn ttonog. i nkftmy oardoilagleuwhtry oissea u elithcnntn o sthehellhai ? gnnepp si t ahw .ihtfo drwadnatsredu oa i .si ek nercs eht nopswohsdna delbmrcs steg rworb ht nept i evea tb goo ro lzm ro byek hiw siht i won t'od elog gniahc dnawo thir eciff eht ni nits i.nineppahsiynnufnitos yedds

suddenly something funny is happening. i am sitting in the office right now and chatting on google. i don't know if this is with my keyboard or mozilla or google but whatever i type on this browser gets scrambled and shows up on the screen like this. i cannot understand a word of this. what the hell is happening?

Like they say in X-Files, ARE THEY HERE NOW?

SAROJA

Ok, no critical review about this movie. SAROJA, an adaptation of the english movie "Judgment Night (1993)" is a great movie. Its a must watch. WHY?

Venkat Prabhu - the director, has done a NEAT job. For a person who is quite new to the art of direction, he has proved himself.

A very successful low budget movie. More than 70% of the movie has been shot outdoor with minimum requirements. A run down factory is the main place of action. Best use of available resources. No money for costumes as well. Its pretty much the same throughout the movie.

Most of the people in the cast are ones you see everyday in all the mega serials on SUN TV and other TV Channels. And since the movie particularly runs around these four friends and some key characters, I am guessing that most of the others made just a guest appearance. If thats the case, then so much money saved as well.

Movie is never serious. Comedy kicks in every now and then. So, you don't get tensed, get to the corner of your seat or bite your lips as to whats going to happen next. Even if you tried doing that, a unexpected Premji Amaran's dialog or expression will totally put you off-track.

Ok, one thing I don't understand is why did they give a name called SAROJA to that girl. I mean, its such a prehistoric name. Whatever.

Movie Team takes a dig at some Kollywood stars after their first attempt in Chennai 28 became immensely successful. Here its on Vijay's dialog "Evlovo Pannittom, idhu pannamattoma" and Rajni’s "I was helpless; I was kaarnered"

Nobody is a HERO in this movie. So, there is no one man beating 20 people phenomenon. Every thing is quite natural and acceptable to the mind. What would you do, if you are in trouble. You wont fight or fly in the air. You'll think and act. Thats what happens here as well. So, its a good reflection of a normal person.

Yuvan's music is very youthful and apt to how the story flows. "Dosthu bada dosthu" may end up being the latest friendship anthem and perhaps beat "Mustafa Mustafa".

You Knew?

Stunning
Beauteous
Ravishing
Graceful
Bonnie
Comely
Lovely
Attractive
Pulchritudinous
Exquisite
Resplendent
Splendiferous
Gorgeous

GOD, I never knew that the word "Beautiful" had so many similar words. Well, a few months back, everything in this world used to be Good and Pretty. It was so simple. Now those two words seem to have no meaning.

By the way, the image here is called "Aquarian Awakening". It was quite a surprise for me to find a picture like this.

Stylish Coke Ad

This is such a cool ad. I liked it a lot.

Dham Dhoom

Dham Dhoom is one movie from which you can learn a lot. Such as:

1. Toyota Innova is a great car for sensual love and romance.
2. In a foreign land, everyone around you, even your own country man, is a stranger.
3. A pole dancing stage in a bar is usually for women strippers and not men.
4. Don't get carried away by pretty women in a new country. Known devil is better than unknown angel.
5. Gut feeling can do magic.

Gautam (Ravi) is selected to go to Russia for a medical conference. He gets into trouble there and how he manages to set himself free is all what this movie is about. Jeyam Ravi's performance is quite good. As a stranger in a new land, he acts well.


Late Director Jeeva, who had worked with Director Shankar for a lot of movies and also independently gave hit movies like Ullam Ketkume and Unnale Unnale, had begun this project and was later completed by his team due to his sudden demise during the journey of this movie.

The first 20 minutes or so has almost 3 songs. That was like a shocker. In a way, its good too because later we will not have songs to distract us from the pace of the movie. As the movie gets to Russia, one of the guys from the Indian doctors team shows extreme emphasis about being careful in a new place. This gives enough ideas that in the next few scenes, our hero is going to have big trouble.

What I wonder is how Russian Immigration allows the Indian team to just enter without clear immigration checks. Also, why would you want to help some random woman in a foreign land, when you know that you are going to get married in like 15 days. Why try last minute flirting.

Harris Jeyaraj is back again with some numbers that are melodious. Background score reminds you of the Bourne movies. Its quite a straight copy.

Kangana Raut as Gautam's ladylove, Senba, is extremely skinny for a village girl and its completely unacceptable for "Tamil Nadu Village Girl Standards". Some flesh, especially near the hips, is required. Also, lip sync is bad.

Lakshmi Rai, supporting actor, is the advocate who helps Ravi in Russia. After a few glamorous roles, Lakshmi is back with character and substance to prove herself.

Malayalam actor Jayaram plays a very important role in this movie as an official from the Indian Embassy. When you closely observe his dialog delivery in the beginning, you get a feeling as to why it lacks assurance or assertiveness. Later, when things unfold you understand this well.

Overall: Good time pass

Jeyam Kondaan - Doesnt Win

Satya Jyothi films is back again helping director Kannan make it big.

Jeyam Kondaan takes us through few incidents in an ambitious young man's life. At the outset, its a brother-sister movie. So, this movie is somewhat like a re-jig of the Mani movie Agni Natchathiram. Definitely not any close.

Vinay returns from London to start a venture in India. After he lands, he finds that the money he had sent to his dad is missing from the bank. His quest to find out what happened to the money and then solving all the problems connected is the rest of this movie. A group of close friends, a step-sister with whom the sibling rivalry begins, a house in Madurai and its tenants, a local goon, are the main characters that shape this movie.

Vinay, as the lead role, in this movie, has done his part quite well. Most of his expressions remind you of his previous movie Unnale Unnale. His work on the songs part is hopeless, but what can he do. You just have to blame the choreographer.

Lekha Washington is the pinion of this movie. This is her first here and she has performed like a seasoned actor. Her arrogant and adamant nature reflects the generation of headstrong people whom you'd come across. If there is anyone who deserves credit for this movie, its Lekha.

Bhavana's performance is nothing to mention. She is just a supporting actor in this movie. Yeah, she has a few songs with Vinay. Otherwise, her role is very restricted to cute talking and she has no scope. The director has tried a "Dum Dum Dum Jothika intro song" similar with Bhavana in this movie. It hasn't worked well.

Vidyasagar's music doesn't deserve a clap. Songs like "Athai Koodava" and "Adai Mazhaikaalam" are melodious but don't strike a chord with the audience. You wouldn't want to hear to these songs again. The background score isn't any effective either.

Comedy takes two separate tracks, one with Vivek in the city and another with Santhanam in the suburbs. Both do well. In a certain instance, Vivek travels into a serious note which is quite commendable.

The movie comes with a host of extra characters who try and make as much impact as possible. Thalaivasal Vijay, Nizhalgal Ravi, Megha Rajan, Cochin Haneefa are a few to name. Krishna, who is Vinay's friend in the movie, has given an excellent performance. I would also appreciate the director for showing some depth in Krishna's character.

Overall: Watch it only for Lekha

Learnt

THERE WAS A GIRL
WHO WAS
TALL THIN AND FAIR

HER HAIR
HER HAIR
WAS VERY VERY LONG

Invitation Fiasco

I suppose, the idea of a perfect wedding never works that well with the men.

So I spent like one or two weeks deciding how to send an engagement invitation to my friends - BCC them on an email or send them a prepared invitation from an external site. There was a need to know the numbers, so the best way was to get people to reply on a page that was available from a site. I started searching on the internet. Narrowed down a few sites, created login ids on all those sites and also got a few templates shortlisted.

As this needs suggestions and validations from you know who, I spent considerable amount of time on chat, discussing what needs to be done. My initial research was well appreciated. Then, she rejected two top priority sites of mine and came up with another site that she had seen. Later, she told me that all the templates that were available on the sites I suggested were hopeless. So she spent some time creating a new template. It came out really well. We spent a few days making some final changes. It was good to go.

She had decided how she wanted to send the invitation. She did that. In fact, she sent me a test invitation as well to see whether everything worked fine. Field Engineer's mind works with precision. Like everything you do on the rig is important as the operating cost is extremely high, same principles worked with the invitations. Extra care and attention was given.

I took extra time and finally realized that it was high time to send the email out. Last minute pressures. I created an account in a site that I liked (actually it was the one she had used. you know how easy it is to copy-paste) and started preparing the invite. While adding email ids to the address list, I did an overconfident import from my gmail account and 1500 plus email ids were added to the address list. Until then it was okay.

Something funny happened. I was on some screen on that website and then I saw a button which said "PREVIEW and SEND". I clicked that and then it started showing me an hour glass button on the screen. For about 10 seconds I didnt know what was happening. Suddenly it struck me. I knew something was going wrong and then I pressed the "CANCEL" button on the page.

By that time, the deed was almost done. The system had already started sending emails to my friends. Worst, it sent emails to some yahoo and google groups that I had subscribed to, as well.

Sometimes its typical IT Industry mentality. Do something called development and send it. When it bombs, we will do maintenance and support. And thats exactly what I have been doing. I have no clue as to how many people have got this invitation email. Every reply is like a support call now. I am answering back with thanks and letting them know about the incomplete invitation. I hope I dont spend the whole of tomorrow doing this.

What a fiasco !!!!
Enna Kodumai Saravanan Ithu

Trip to Rameswaram - Part 1

On a Friday evening; especially when the saturday is a no-moon day; you definitely don't want to take a train to Rameswaram from Chennai. The average age of the passengers is 50 or even more. All through the train, you get the smell of onion or tomato chutney. Let me not forget to mention the amount of home cooked food as well. These are some routes where the railway catering probably makes no money. And then you have a bunch of people singing songs in the name of God.

And fortunately or unfortunately; a bunch of us, office friends, boarded the Rameswaram Express at 5pm from Chennai Egmore station. 12 hours to reach the temple town. What a painful journey! And guess what, everybody on that train is going to be at the temple in the morning. Thats like a lill more than 1200 people. Dont forget the people who are going to take vans, buses and all other forms to transport to the town. Moreover, this weekend was after the no-moon day when the eclipse was also around. So according to some priests, there is more reason to crowd around Rameswaram.

At 5 in the morning, the typical smell of a fisherman's town woke me up. At that time, the train was just going to enter the Pamban Bridge. In about 25 mins, we reached the station. Our rooms were booked at the Tamilnadu tourism hotel which was near the sea shore. There arent too many hotels here. Only a few good ones. If you plan to be here during a festival or any important weekend like this one, you better book rooms. Otherwise no chance!

Agnitheertham is the point to start your tour of Rameswaram. This is the spot on the sea right opposite the east tower of the temple. You need to take a dip in the sea and then walk to the temple. There are 22 sacred wells inside the temple where you have to shower as well (not really shower, but a guy will pour some water from a bucket on your head). If you take the standard temple queue for this, then the rates are very nominal, around Rs.17 i think. If you use an agent; of course, they will come and find you, then it varies between Rs.50 and 75 a head. Definitely, an agent does a good job. So, dont mind the money at all. Once this is done, you have to get back to your room, change into dry clothes and come back for darshan. Ramanathaswamy (Lord Shiva) is the main deity here.

After darshan, you can go around the hallway of the temple and see the architecture and paintings. There is also a shrine for Parvathy, Lord Rama and Hanuman. This temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlingam temples in India. Some of the other things about this temple is the Palliyarai Darshan you shouldnt miss. At around 8.15pm, the puja for the Lord ends and the lord is brought by the priest to the Palliyarai near the Devi Shrine. The Palliyarai has a golden cradle where the lord and the goddess rest. A special puja happens and then sandalwood paste is given as prasadam to every devotee present. At a Shiva temple, its usually Vibhuti (ash) and never sandalwood paste. So this is also different. Next day morning (5am to 6am) is the Spatika Linga Abhishekam. This is the only time when the Spatika Lingam is taken out and bathed with milk. Just before this happens, you can watch the priest bringing the Lord back from the Palliyarai to the main shrine.

This temple also has a nice legend associated with it. Click here to read about that.

After completing our morning dips, we went back to the lodge. I had my breakfast at a hotel near the temple. The roads on the east and west side of the temple are the only ones that have decent hotels. Don't expect great service. They serve good vegetarian food. Thats all.

Our next trip was to Dhanushkodi. We hired a jeep. A jeep can take 5 people and it will cost you Rs.950. This place is about 20 kms away from Rameswaram and its the point of confluence for the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. The ride was extremely tiring, but the views we got of the seas was amazing. On this picture, you can see one of the islands. Jump a few of those islands and you are in Ceylon. On the way back, we visited the Kothandaramswamy Temple - the place where Lord Rama crowned Vibhishana.

Independence Day Frisbee

Chennai Ultimate Frisbee conducted an Independence Day bootcamp. We made a poster and invited people to join us at the beach.

Network 18 group was very keen on covering this event. Divya, an ultimate player, who also works with Network 18 covered our camp live from Besant Nagar Chennai at about 7am. Here is the video (not edited).

Ramadass attacks CII’s Chennai version 3.0

So, today, our ever-revolting friend Ramadass has opened his mouth again. Read that here

I have observed this for some time now. For anything that is aimed at development or industrialization, our man is the first person to protest.

This time its against Chennai 3.0 - the CII conference.

When some people are dreaming of making Chennai like one of the top cities in the world, this guy is speaking of driving away the middle class and the poor sections.

The last time I took a walk around Parrys Corner in Madras, I was thinking to myself - "Wow, Madras would be such a beautiful place if Parrys Corner was converted to look like Manhattan or Nariman Point. With high rise buildings on that side of the city, it will be a whole new transformation"

Obviously, when cities grow and become important for business, people will have to move out to the suburbs. We still cant have the same auto rickshaw guys loitering around and creating a traffic menace. Things have to get organized at least some day. To this day, when we speak of having visionaries and thought leaders amongst us, we have some thoughtless leaders like this one.

What are you?

So let me know what kind of a person you are - Left or Right? I am hoping to get some thoughts about this before I post more information.

By the way, an explanation for FONDU is available here

Sathyam - Tries Hard

I found some time yesterday evening. So I decided to catch up on the latest police based movie - Sathyam.

Sathyam - starring Vishal is what I would call as "yet another police story", but definitely not a very successful attempt.

The film begins by mocking a few themes portrayed by previous police movies - Kaakha Kaakha and Saami but still doesn't fare well. Even after seeing so many mature police movies through directors in the past, Sathyam's director still shows his IPS officer has a super hero, which is truly unbelievable.

Vishal has toned his body a lot, to look like a completely athletic police officer. The six pack craze has come to everyone now after King Khan displayed his. Sad, every other officer around him, sports a reasonable "tamil nadu police belly". Obviously, we know that Vishal cannot dance well. And that clearly shows in the song sequences. Dialogue delivery is okay but needs some clarity and thought. Vishal has performed quite well, otherwise. His portrayal of an honest police officer is quite commendable but that doesn't last for long.

We know that there are only some things that a policeman can do. There have been too many movies in the past and some have actually hit reality quite well. Sathyam is quite out of sync that way. Especially the fights. Totally insane. No police man can fight 20 plus people at a time. Its stupidity. I mean, why keep fighting. If you have to get them out of your way, then shoot below the waist and get going. Why waste your script on stunts.

Script and Screenplay takes a downward turn from the beginning. Encounters are done at gangsters or criminals not because politicians are bored of giving them cover. Its another way of eliminating people who repeatedly commit crime. We know that justice is in the favor of the advocate who argues convincingly. Encounter eliminates a chance for the advocate. That's all. And like they say in the movie Kaakha Kaakha, encounter is not done on any tom, dick and harry. When the criminals don't fear about shooting cops, why should the cops shoot below the knee? Sathyam movie takes you to a car chase. The background is the court near Egmore but the car chase happens on the highway to Andhra Pradesh. Vishal surviving and trying a monologue even after a bullet is fired at his chest. Too much love in a police movie kills the momentum. Sathyam does that as well. Finally, "mother sentiment". Can't we just get rid of this? Why do you have to portray heroes as "mamma's boy" - so loving, caring and all that bulshit. For god's sake, this is not a family story.

Upendra - the kannada hero, in his first tamil movie has done a wonderful role. Until a certain point in the movie, he keeps you wondering about why he is doing what he is doing. He definitely turns the movie around a bit. His thoughts in the movie totally reflect a resonably educated man and I do agree with him.

Nayantara - again, a waste of time. Her try with comedy is sick. Her moves in the songs are quite sexy. The introductory scene is quite interesting. After that the love scenes start dragging. In of the songs, it looks like Vishal and Nayantara are totally in love with each other. One police story in the past, with such scenes, ended in a wedding. Let's see if this one does too.

Harris Jayaraj's music hasn't lived upto the expectation. Background scores clearly show that he cannot try something new. Even the songs. The last one reminds you of "Kalyanam Thaan" from Saami. The rest also have deep connections with songs he has composed before and other tunes in the market. Composing music is a really tough job - agreed. Safe bet is to try an existing formula. Doing that again and again is a very bad idea.

Work on the camera is very good. For whatever script and screenplay was decided by the financiers and the director, the cameraman has done an amazing job. Scenes are very crisp and have a touch of perfection.

Overall: Moderate.

Insights

I ran into this piece of information on the web. And I was surprised.



If you think, you can give an explanation to this one, then please add your comments.

Kuselan - somehow friendly

What happens when a Malayalam movie is made in Tamil with a different set of actors and technicians? you'd rather call it a new Tamil movie.

I have strong reasons to believe that Katha Parayumbol - a great Malayalam movie starring Srinivasan got a similar treatment by the director P.Vasu. Commercialization. That's the only word to describe.

The story is about the life of a barber who lives in a town; and his superstar friend, with whom he had studied in school. The superstar comes to his village to shoot for a movie. The whole village is in a celebration spree to get a glimpse of the star. The moment they get to know about this connection, everyone in the village treats the barber and his family like how they see a person who has won the lottery. In that way, this film is a great representation of how behavior changes. But very soon, the movie starts focusing more on the superstar and the barber goes out of focus.
Pasupathy plays the role of a barber and Meena plays his wife. They try very hard to make ends meet. They don't have money to pay fees for their school going children; live in the most run-down house of the locality and don't even have food to eat, but Meena manages to wear starched saris and foundation / rouge for every scene.

Pasupathy does an excellent portrayal of a poor barber. His expression and dialog delivery is superb. I think he has studied Srinivasan's role from the original movie; in detail. But what to do, commercialization of the movie has erased the main theme and his presence. He gets sidelined and then the director suddenly remembers - oh my god, we forgot about this barber guy and then gets him back to focus again. This sequence keeps repeating.

Nayantara - total time pass I would say. No scope for acting. Actually she does nothing worthy in the whole movie. I wonder why she accepted to do this role. Too many close up shots on her body is definitely some eye candy. Rain dance and song is hot. Just before that song everyone wonders, rather they panic, where Nayantara is. Then they show the song. After that no one is bothered about Nayantara.

Coming to the comedy tracks. Vadivel - the vaigai puyal. Although he spends a lot of his screen time beating up his employees, his comedy concept is nice. Santhanam, Livingston, Santhanabharathi, Manobala and a lot others who are part of the comedy really keep you rolling in laughter. At least comedy is what sells in this movie through the first half. It really saves the movie.

Music by GV Prakash Kumar. Quite good but reminds you a lot about songs that you have heard before. One song (Perinba) reminds you about the title song in Veyil. Another song (Nayantara's rain dance song) looks like a slight lift off from a song that was composed by one of the bands in AR Rahman competition "Mirinda - Ooh La La La". The Shankar Mahadevan song about cinema, the way filmdom works and about Superstar, all in a song, is beautiful. The Egyptian theme based song sounds very much like "MJ's Remember the Time".

Last but not the least. Superstar. He is at his best. Apart from the usual scenes about fans and stardom, he comes across in the movie as such a simple person, which is highly commendable. If you've read the book, "The Name is Rajnikanth", then you'll be able to closely relate the last scene of this movie with superstar's life. There was actually a Kuselan in superstar's life; because of whom superstar managed to leave Bangalore and reach Madras in search of a future. But, what the hell. This movie still largely glorifies superstar and not Kuselan.

The message that comes out towards the end is about friendship. At the end, the producers could have made a witty remark saying "Happy Friendship Day" considering that the movie was released in August.

Overall: Good time pass for the family.

Friendship Day

NO greeting card 2 give, NO sweet flowers 2 send, No cute graphics 2 forward, Just a kind heart of an ever loving friend wishing u advance "HAPPY FRDSHIP DAY"

So thats the first SPAM I got today morning for Friendship Day. And then few more started coming in. But they weren't as funny as this one.

Anyway, I always believed that after a point in your life, you kinda feel weird rather funny about these things. I mean, there are so many other things to do than buying an elastic friendship band or some filigree stuff that you can tie to your wrist or pin up to your shirt or bag. God knows who came up these ideas.

You know what - Friendship Day and all those Days dedicated to Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Dog, Cat, Neighbors are all for the West. Ok, we have Rakshabandhan. That's a different story altogether. But why I connect this to the west is mainly because of the magnitude they attach to these relationships. Children are so independent at young age. They are left to decide what they want to do. They marry. Not once, but quite a number of times. Also do several other things that we may not do. So, for them, relationships are just like written on paper. Ok, I am not telling that the people in the west do not have values. Their bold thinking about what they want to do in their life takes more gets more preference. That's all. So, they need such days to periodically remind them. And during such moments, they do everything they can to make that day special for that person in their life.

We Indians are not like that. When our friend calls, we have all the time in the world to spend with him or her. Sometimes, we go over and above the limit to do anything. Same goes with the values that we attach towards our immediate family and relatives. At least its been like that. I don't know how much of this "me and my space" concept has influenced us lately.

So the one thing I remembered distinctly among several others about Friendship and Friendship Day was this video. Wait! don't go and click immediately. So, I managed to find this on You Tube.

Closely watch the dialog at 1:32 about Friendship. Now that's simply amazing I say.



But don't be surprised if I go ahead and write a poem on friendship or maybe an icky sticky mindlessly sentimental post on the essence of friendship. I am capable of doing that. Just for the sake of writing another post; fill space you could say. That's all.

Wonderful

I was super impressed after seeing this on the web. I really wish I could write stuff like this and send it to you know who.

I hope you like the video.

Swipe for lunch

From tomorrow, we have something different to look forward to, at the office. MEAL CARDS.

So, it used to be like this. We paid 15 rupees for lunch and the organization paid the same. Now that's not there anymore.

We got this new thing called a meal card. One more extra card. Amidst so many credit cards, debit cards, fuel cards, MTV card, dhaba express discount card, oh yeah, access card; now we have this card to used at the cafeteria.

Company will not pay that 15 rupees. They have brought this new scheme called Flexible Benefit Plan. I seriously don't know how flexible this is. If I end up paying more tax by July next year compared to this financial year, then I'll know about the inflexibility of this flexible plan. Company will top up a fixed amount every month on this card and then you can swipe this card for lunch.

Previously you just paid 15 rupees and it was the hassle for the accountants in the finance department and the guys from the access card department to figure out how many ate or how many swiped twice, whatever that maybe. Now all accounting headache has been shifted to the employee. Every time you swipe, you have to ensure that the person at the counter enters the right amount and if you need to track the account, then you need to keep the bills and later claim if you need to reconcile. There is also an online account tracker.

But you know what? Having been here for about a year, I am sure my company will tell me to scan the receipt and send it via email to a given email address and raise a query in a new system.

By the way, this card can be used in other retail outlets within the city as well. Other than the big names, I really don't know where else you can use the card.

One of the names I saw on the list of outlets in Chennai said "PADMA STORES" and that's it. That was effin crazy!!! I guess there are enough surprises like this.