Kandaswamy

Of all the movies I have seen this year, I will definitely remember Kandaswamy.

When I heard that Kandaswamy was going to release, I did my google research on where all in the US the movie was going to release. I found out that Kansas City, 220 miles from my place was the closest. I got excited. I knew that it would take the whole day but what the hell. Can't I do this much to see a blockbuster tamil movie!

And boy, the movie was worth every mile and every penny I paid for the trip. It was a GREAT ENTERTAINER


When Kandaswamy begins, you feel a little bit annoyed because of the attire and the funny actions that Vikram makes. But thats only the beginning. The story immediately takes a turn and gets only extremely interesting.

Kandaswamy is like a lot of other movies. Themes are heavily borrowed from Ramana, Sivaji and then Chiyaan's own Anniyan, Gentleman of course - basically a lot of movies that put a question on stopping corruption, black money and helping the poor.

Vikram plays the role of Kandaswamy, an IPS officer with the CBI. Kandaswamy is also the main deity of the temple in Thiruporur (Kanchipuram district). Kandaswamy helps the poor. Anyone who needs monetary help, writes a request and ties it on the tree and Kandaswamy helps.

Vikram plays his role with ease. As the CBI officer, he acts very polished and smart. I would appreciate the director for using the stunts as and when necessary. It really shows that the protagonist is much like a common man. Vikram singing all his songs is quite a big thing. I dont think anyone has tried anything like that. And I can only appreciate Vikram for this.

Shriya - what can i say about this piece of beauty! Right from the beginning till the end, you cant take your eyes off her. Pretty, vibrant, bold and magnetic - thats how she comes across throughout the movie. Her coiffure is so sexy. Lip syncs did not work well. Suchi did a perfect job in the dialog bit. Emotions came out extremely well. But Shriya didnt learn her dialogs. Costume selection are a 150% above the mark. Very Chic and suit Shriya's personality.

Prabhu plays an important role in the movie. I am sure that he will be appreciated a lot. Ashish Vidyarthi has Shriya's dad and YG Mahendra as his secretary - both of them play the bad guys. The two of them have done a wonderful job. Towards the end, we dont see Ashish. God knows what happened. There is one more bad guy. I dont get his name. He is the one who gets the song. This is one movie in which the bad guys dont fight with the hero directly. In fact, there are hardly any fights. I could count three I think. There is less emphasis on the Dishyum and Kaboom stuff. More work for the brain.

Comedy by Vadivelu is definitely a treat. Its a separate track. After a long time, comedy gets its place in the film. Usually heroes do a bit of comedy as well and sometimes it doesnt go too well. And then heroes join with the comedian too. But in this movie, I think it made a lot of sense to keep the hero in his serious mood and leave the job to Vadivelu. Tremendous effort to keep the audience laughing. Connecting to previous movies during the comedy track is fantastic. Mansoor Ali Khan is back in this movie and he does some light comedy as well.

Music by Devi Sri Prasad is actually amazing. "Excuse Me", "Meow Meow", and "Mambomamia" have been favorites for a very long time, topping all charts. I liked "Mambomamia" the best, for the choreography and setting. This song was taken completely in Mexico and its just beautiful. Background score just gives an amazing lift to the whole movie.

Its almost towards the end of the movie and somewhere the bad guy has to get caught. And like any other tamil movie, the bad guy gets an item song and then the hero enters. So, "En peru Meenakumari" doesnt really come as a suprise.

Susi Ganeshan needs to be congratulated for giving us a total entertainer. His story may look like the ones from before, but the entertainment value is very high. The storyline has been handled with meticulous effort. Everytime you see that the bad guys and the police get this close to catching Kandaswamy and then the story takes a small turn. Which is good because the director has understood the mood of the audience well and planned the twists in the story accordinly. This is not some movie where the hero keeps flying in the air. The director shows that its actually science and engineering that makes it happen. Well, its not 100% believable but its still a great attempt.

I think Kalaipuli Thanu will make a lot of money.

OVERALL: GREAT ENTERTAINER. MUST WATCH

The Natural State

For the next 8 weeks, I will be stationed in the Natural State. I didnt know that this American state was called the Natural State. When you look around, you'll definitely feel so. Nothing much around other than lots of empty tracts of grassland. And then some buildings just to show that its not a forest reserve or something.

My flight to the US was quite exciting. The chennai to bombay flight took almost 3 hrs. After a point, I was wondering what the pilot was really doing. the next leg to frankfurt was sleeping time. in frankfurt, i met prof rakesh vohra - our ISB Eco prof from Kellogg. it was very nice to talk to him after almost 2 yrs. we were talking about consulting, ISB, the mohali school, the placement scenario, my new client and all sorts of stuff. i got into the flight to chicago and then figured out that my seat was also allocated to another german girl. knowing this, the air hostess gave me a business class seat. it was a pleasant shock. maharajah seats that turn into a bed at the touch of a button, all sorts of controls, special treatment from the staff, amazing food spread - i had a wonderful time.

then the wait in chicago was terrible. my next flight was only after 6 hrs. so i had to literally waste time. one thing i noticed at the domestic terminal 3 in chicago was there is only one payphone that allows you to use a credit card. for everything else, you need to put coins.

the next flight was for 1.5hrs. when the flight reached XNA (the airport in Arkansas), i was really tired. there were less than 20 ppl who came with me. my luggage had already arrived on a previous flight.

my hotel was like a 30mins drive from the airport. on my way, i figured out that walmart, jb hunt and tyson foods are the only big employers in this state. and in bentonville, where i was going to work, its was just walton's world. i noticed a delivery center that was as big as an international airport. there must have been a thousand trucks waiting to load goods.

office is very strange. everyone here comes to work at 7am!!! and then they leave only by 5pm. do they really have that much work to do? also, this place is a real factory. we've heard of factory model in IT, but here i saw it live. there are thousands of people around you working for the same company. everyone walks in a line. when they reach a junction (inside the office), they slow down to see oncoming traffic and then they proceed. especially during the lunch hours, if you tried to jump the line or go on the wrong side, you'll create chaos maybe. it feels as if you are in the middle of programmed employees. Like the ones in i-robot.

on friday, i got a car as well. when i entered the rental car office, they showed me PT Cruiser. I had no intention of taking that. Then they showed me a Chevy HHR which was an extended version of the Cruiser. I was definitely not taking that too. Then I noticed a Pontiac G6 in the garage and I asked them about it. Apparently it was available and they had no idea that it was there in the garage. I signed up and took the car.

so thats the travel update and i hope to write more about the natural state and maybe from the factory as well.