Summer time in Chennai. To beat the heat, I decided to join swimming classes. Today was my third class. I am still learning to float properly. My body has become very stiff - I guess its mainly because of going to the gym. Quads are not moving as required. Shoulders are also quite rigid.
Anyway, today the instructor was watching me do the float drill for sometime. And then he also asked me to do the float and kick drill. While I was doing that, (obviously I wasn't doing it right at all), he tried to help me. And then he started.
First, you should take a deep breath. Then push the wall with your legs; go inside the water, keep head down, touch chest with chin and keep your hands straight. You should loosen your body and try to float. While doing all this correctly, you should also start kicking with your legs straight.
The moment he finished this and I started my first try at what he told me, I remembered this sequence below (starting at the 55th second) and I just went straight inside. Took me a few seconds to come back on my feet and bring up head out of water. In process drank some as well. Enjoy
Showing posts with label cinema. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cinema. Show all posts
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Monday, April 13, 2009
Anandha Thandavam
Theory: Aascar Ravichandran profited a lot from his last movie. So he decided to fund some of that on a project that wouldn't really take off well.
AR Gandhikrishna, who shot to fame with Chellame; thought that he could turn a Sujatha novel into a fantastic movie. But the movie was too late to the audience.
Sujatha's novel - Pirivom Santhippom was based on situations that were perhaps a decade old. Affluent NRIs marrying innocent pretty girls; going back to US to lead a luxurious life. The girl never realises that she is being ignored. Emotional drama, but not suited to how things are at present. Especially, when everyone is talking about RECESSION!!!
Anandha Thandavam (dance of ecstasy) is a movie that failed to capture the characters that Sujatha had created in his novel. In between, we also have a hero who is the most vulnerable character I have seen, maybe in years. The director, even after sticking to the novel, could not create the right impact.
Pathetic Editing - We see a car getting onto a highway in the US. In seconds, the same car is hit by a trailer in Malaysia and then the next minute, everyone's in KL Airport.
Great locations near Tirunelveli and Tenkasi. Bana Theertham is a place to visit. The cameraman has captured some wonderful landscapes in interior Tamil Nadu.
I must definitely talk about the music. An amazing rendition by Shubha Mudgal and Nithyasree Mahadevan. Kanaa Kaangiren (see my previous post) is a brilliant song with splendid choreo. Worked well for Rukmini. GV Prakash's music is just getting better and better. Poovinai sung by Srinivas and Shreya is also a great song that is shot in Atlantic City. These two songs will stay on your mind for a while.
Tamannah plays the innocent pretty girl. A mix of the child and woman - young at heart and mind too, she plays silly pranks with her brother, listens to her parents and doesn't have a clue of the outside world. If this was what the novel wanted from her, then she did 125% of what was required.
Siddharth (a newbie), does exactly what a newbie is expected of. Everything goes belly up for him - acting, dance, delivery, emotions. Totally shreds up into pieces.
Rukmini is another actor we have to watch for. She scored pretty high in Bommalattam. In this movie, she definitely strikes a chord. Her character and then few others (eg. Kitty and the US Uncle) bring a lot of direction into a screenplay that just goes astray every now and then.
This movie is a pot pourri. Its about love at first sight through the eyes of an unemployed youth who has no direction in his life; parents wanting their daughter to live a rich life abroad without understanding what could be in store; a father who gets blamed and ignored for being concerned about his son's life; a loser who cannot come to grips with what is not his own. There are too many characters who in their own way impact the storyline, but I am thinking that these characters would have been carved well in the novel.
Overall: Fails to deliver.
AR Gandhikrishna, who shot to fame with Chellame; thought that he could turn a Sujatha novel into a fantastic movie. But the movie was too late to the audience.
Sujatha's novel - Pirivom Santhippom was based on situations that were perhaps a decade old. Affluent NRIs marrying innocent pretty girls; going back to US to lead a luxurious life. The girl never realises that she is being ignored. Emotional drama, but not suited to how things are at present. Especially, when everyone is talking about RECESSION!!!
Anandha Thandavam (dance of ecstasy) is a movie that failed to capture the characters that Sujatha had created in his novel. In between, we also have a hero who is the most vulnerable character I have seen, maybe in years. The director, even after sticking to the novel, could not create the right impact.
Pathetic Editing - We see a car getting onto a highway in the US. In seconds, the same car is hit by a trailer in Malaysia and then the next minute, everyone's in KL Airport.
Great locations near Tirunelveli and Tenkasi. Bana Theertham is a place to visit. The cameraman has captured some wonderful landscapes in interior Tamil Nadu.
I must definitely talk about the music. An amazing rendition by Shubha Mudgal and Nithyasree Mahadevan. Kanaa Kaangiren (see my previous post) is a brilliant song with splendid choreo. Worked well for Rukmini. GV Prakash's music is just getting better and better. Poovinai sung by Srinivas and Shreya is also a great song that is shot in Atlantic City. These two songs will stay on your mind for a while.
Tamannah plays the innocent pretty girl. A mix of the child and woman - young at heart and mind too, she plays silly pranks with her brother, listens to her parents and doesn't have a clue of the outside world. If this was what the novel wanted from her, then she did 125% of what was required.
Siddharth (a newbie), does exactly what a newbie is expected of. Everything goes belly up for him - acting, dance, delivery, emotions. Totally shreds up into pieces.
Rukmini is another actor we have to watch for. She scored pretty high in Bommalattam. In this movie, she definitely strikes a chord. Her character and then few others (eg. Kitty and the US Uncle) bring a lot of direction into a screenplay that just goes astray every now and then.
This movie is a pot pourri. Its about love at first sight through the eyes of an unemployed youth who has no direction in his life; parents wanting their daughter to live a rich life abroad without understanding what could be in store; a father who gets blamed and ignored for being concerned about his son's life; a loser who cannot come to grips with what is not his own. There are too many characters who in their own way impact the storyline, but I am thinking that these characters would have been carved well in the novel.
Overall: Fails to deliver.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Kuruvi - Will never fly
Vijay works for a courier service company. A smuggling group has been using this courier service to deliver goods. Unknowingly, Vijay delivers a packet to someone and gets caught. How he escapes from the hands of the police and brings the bad men to the light is the storyline.
Well, this is what I read from some random website when I was browsing about Kuruvi.
Anyway, even though the movie turned out to have a different storyline, it was equally bad.
Dharani-Vijay combination did not create the Ghilli impact this time. I still think that Ghilli was a much faster movie and kept your thoughts racing.
Vijay lives in a huge but dilapidated bungalow. From the information we have, its somewhere on the banks of the Buckingham canal. Vijay and whoever is living with him in that house is dependent on dad Manivannan who has supposedly gone to Singapore for work. But its surprising that with no news from dad, no one is bothered or worried. When someone knocks at their door for a hefty sum of money - everyone wakes up.
Kuruvi by name is a tribute to all those people who make day trips to Malaysia and Singapore to buy electronic goods - to sell the same back in the bazaars here. Vijay dons the role of a Kuruvi to find his dad.
Vijay - I wonder how he keeps getting younger by the movie. He has done amazing work on ensuring that he is the king of kollywood dance. Beginning from the first song, Dandaana, then Palanathu and a little bit in Mozha Mozhanu. Surprising how the dance masters come up with crazy steps tailor made for the Ilaya Thalapathi. All that keeps you engrossed to a great extent.
Acting - I am really sorry sir. Nothing is natural. The scenes in Cudappah - every artist in soaked in dust and dirt - its a quarry, whereas you are sparkling clean wearing timberland boots. Ok, I don't have any proof for the brand, but still!!! And trying a mask of Zorro act from the Petronas towers. Reminds me of the old MGR and Saroja Devi movies where they keep sitting in a chariot, shaking their heads and hands. The background keeps moving. All that is such a cartoon. Heroes are supposed to be larger than life. Agreed. But a reasonable attention to detail always helps.
When it comes to the storyline, its a huge let down. A son goes in search of his dad. That's all. During the second half of the movie, I felt as if someone was pulling a chewing gum for 3 miles. Totally frail and lacking believable content. We've had enough heroes missing an axe, spade or even the bullet. Why do directors still think that people will be fascinated by the same crap again and again?
Trisha - wow. This 83 born beauty will never stop. Her style is amazing and ever since Laysa Laysa she has been that cute damsel with sharp looks. Colors go well with Trisha. And she is not a totally fair skinned person. She sports a sexy light tan that makes her a perfect choice for Tamil cinema.
Vivek as the comedian. No great shakes. He imitates a whole lot of stars. That's interesting. Otherwise, he makes some kind of unnecessary punch dialogs that doesn't gel too well.
Suman and Ashish Vidhyarthi are the bad guys. Suman ends up being a comedian cum villain. Ashish is okay. Its hard to believe that someone owns a diamond mine / quarry in Cudappah without the knowledge of the government. That too, employing more than 200 people as bonded laborers. By the way, Kuruvi also gives you a hint about how you can upload files to the Central Bureau of Investigation India. You'll need to watch the movie to get that.
Vidyasagar's music - painful to the ears. I don't know what on earth is wrong with the music directors here. Just because a few confused Malaysians have landed up in chennai calling themselves tamil rappers, doesn't mean that you have to give them a chance to murder a song in every film that is getting released. Enough is enough. Lyrics is also equally bad. Almost every song sounds like a remix number.
Overall: Expect nothing.
And here's a cartoon on Kuruvi. Picked it up from the web. Click on the image to read it clearly.
Well, this is what I read from some random website when I was browsing about Kuruvi.
Anyway, even though the movie turned out to have a different storyline, it was equally bad.
Dharani-Vijay combination did not create the Ghilli impact this time. I still think that Ghilli was a much faster movie and kept your thoughts racing.
Vijay lives in a huge but dilapidated bungalow. From the information we have, its somewhere on the banks of the Buckingham canal. Vijay and whoever is living with him in that house is dependent on dad Manivannan who has supposedly gone to Singapore for work. But its surprising that with no news from dad, no one is bothered or worried. When someone knocks at their door for a hefty sum of money - everyone wakes up.
Kuruvi by name is a tribute to all those people who make day trips to Malaysia and Singapore to buy electronic goods - to sell the same back in the bazaars here. Vijay dons the role of a Kuruvi to find his dad.
Vijay - I wonder how he keeps getting younger by the movie. He has done amazing work on ensuring that he is the king of kollywood dance. Beginning from the first song, Dandaana, then Palanathu and a little bit in Mozha Mozhanu. Surprising how the dance masters come up with crazy steps tailor made for the Ilaya Thalapathi. All that keeps you engrossed to a great extent.
Acting - I am really sorry sir. Nothing is natural. The scenes in Cudappah - every artist in soaked in dust and dirt - its a quarry, whereas you are sparkling clean wearing timberland boots. Ok, I don't have any proof for the brand, but still!!! And trying a mask of Zorro act from the Petronas towers. Reminds me of the old MGR and Saroja Devi movies where they keep sitting in a chariot, shaking their heads and hands. The background keeps moving. All that is such a cartoon. Heroes are supposed to be larger than life. Agreed. But a reasonable attention to detail always helps.
When it comes to the storyline, its a huge let down. A son goes in search of his dad. That's all. During the second half of the movie, I felt as if someone was pulling a chewing gum for 3 miles. Totally frail and lacking believable content. We've had enough heroes missing an axe, spade or even the bullet. Why do directors still think that people will be fascinated by the same crap again and again?
Trisha - wow. This 83 born beauty will never stop. Her style is amazing and ever since Laysa Laysa she has been that cute damsel with sharp looks. Colors go well with Trisha. And she is not a totally fair skinned person. She sports a sexy light tan that makes her a perfect choice for Tamil cinema.
Vivek as the comedian. No great shakes. He imitates a whole lot of stars. That's interesting. Otherwise, he makes some kind of unnecessary punch dialogs that doesn't gel too well.
Suman and Ashish Vidhyarthi are the bad guys. Suman ends up being a comedian cum villain. Ashish is okay. Its hard to believe that someone owns a diamond mine / quarry in Cudappah without the knowledge of the government. That too, employing more than 200 people as bonded laborers. By the way, Kuruvi also gives you a hint about how you can upload files to the Central Bureau of Investigation India. You'll need to watch the movie to get that.
Vidyasagar's music - painful to the ears. I don't know what on earth is wrong with the music directors here. Just because a few confused Malaysians have landed up in chennai calling themselves tamil rappers, doesn't mean that you have to give them a chance to murder a song in every film that is getting released. Enough is enough. Lyrics is also equally bad. Almost every song sounds like a remix number.
Overall: Expect nothing.
And here's a cartoon on Kuruvi. Picked it up from the web. Click on the image to read it clearly.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The name is Rajnikanth
I was quite reluctant to buy this book, the first time I saw it on the stands in Landmark.
Then later I decided, what the hell, let me see what's in there. I picked it from a local music-world and started reading.
The book, as everyone can guess, is totally about what Shivaji Rao's life has been till now. It creates a perfect blend of what the times were during the pre-filmy years and after entering into films.
There is more emphasis on the journey, which is something that most people dont know and are not aware of. A journey of how a mischievous shivaji rao, who was roaming the streets of bangalore with his friends, wasting time and money, not thinking much about his poor family, to becoming a superhero.
The whole story is quite simple - I mean, the way its represented in the book. No bombastic words. Language is quite simple. Sometimes it feels like as if you are reading through a collection of random blog posts by the same person.
The book takes an interesting journey. There is no chronology as such. We get into the past where Shivaji is a child and then in the next one we suddenly leap into, for example, a chapter about how he got married to Lata. So, in way, even if you think that you are going to get bored reading about someone's life, you'll be kept at a reasonable pace because of changing moods.
What I could learn after reading this book is that most of what we see about Rajni in his movies is perhaps a reflection of what his life has been. He put in efforts towards making a movie on Raghavendra or Baba was only because he strongly believed that these two people make a great impact on his religious sentiments.
The most important part of this book is stories about hardships, economic dependance, friendship, struggle, hope, confidence, crisis etc. I think I can just go on. Frankly, thats the truth. There is a lot of unknown stuff about Rajni and his early years in Madras (much before he met KB for Apoorva Ragangal) and this book simply gets all that to light.
The book also tell us stuff about politics in Tamil Nadu and even the Centre, how Rajni got himself involved unnecessarily and burnt his fingers. Incidents such as the elections, Veerappan's escapades, Cauvery issue are highlights.
Coming to stuff that cant be avoided. This book could have been edited with maybe a steady mind. Its so full of mistakes. And mistakes when done on facts really irritates anyone. Especially when movie enthusiasts read this book, they'll probably want to just throw this book into the trash can for such bad editing. Most movie names are quoted wrong - dont know if there was any intention. At some places, even the connections with dates and movies are wrong. After seeing so many mistakes, I strongly felt that the book shouldnt be selling for even half the price.
Verdict: If you are a hardcore Rajni fan, then its worth a buy.. Dont buy if off the stands, its very expensive. Get it on the web. Its a lot cheaper. Or even a pirated version would do.
Then later I decided, what the hell, let me see what's in there. I picked it from a local music-world and started reading.
The book, as everyone can guess, is totally about what Shivaji Rao's life has been till now. It creates a perfect blend of what the times were during the pre-filmy years and after entering into films.
There is more emphasis on the journey, which is something that most people dont know and are not aware of. A journey of how a mischievous shivaji rao, who was roaming the streets of bangalore with his friends, wasting time and money, not thinking much about his poor family, to becoming a superhero.
The whole story is quite simple - I mean, the way its represented in the book. No bombastic words. Language is quite simple. Sometimes it feels like as if you are reading through a collection of random blog posts by the same person.
The book takes an interesting journey. There is no chronology as such. We get into the past where Shivaji is a child and then in the next one we suddenly leap into, for example, a chapter about how he got married to Lata. So, in way, even if you think that you are going to get bored reading about someone's life, you'll be kept at a reasonable pace because of changing moods.
What I could learn after reading this book is that most of what we see about Rajni in his movies is perhaps a reflection of what his life has been. He put in efforts towards making a movie on Raghavendra or Baba was only because he strongly believed that these two people make a great impact on his religious sentiments.
The most important part of this book is stories about hardships, economic dependance, friendship, struggle, hope, confidence, crisis etc. I think I can just go on. Frankly, thats the truth. There is a lot of unknown stuff about Rajni and his early years in Madras (much before he met KB for Apoorva Ragangal) and this book simply gets all that to light.
The book also tell us stuff about politics in Tamil Nadu and even the Centre, how Rajni got himself involved unnecessarily and burnt his fingers. Incidents such as the elections, Veerappan's escapades, Cauvery issue are highlights.
Coming to stuff that cant be avoided. This book could have been edited with maybe a steady mind. Its so full of mistakes. And mistakes when done on facts really irritates anyone. Especially when movie enthusiasts read this book, they'll probably want to just throw this book into the trash can for such bad editing. Most movie names are quoted wrong - dont know if there was any intention. At some places, even the connections with dates and movies are wrong. After seeing so many mistakes, I strongly felt that the book shouldnt be selling for even half the price.
Verdict: If you are a hardcore Rajni fan, then its worth a buy.. Dont buy if off the stands, its very expensive. Get it on the web. Its a lot cheaper. Or even a pirated version would do.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Bringing back
I don't know how, but suddenly I remembered this song out of the blue. I was telling myself - Its such a beautiful song.
After searching on YouTube and on the internet in general, I was able to download an mp3.
I am not going to introduce the song to you. Listen to it and enjoy the feeling. If you know what movie its from, and the singer - then you can choose to leave that piece of information as a comment. People who visit will benefit from the knowledge transfer.
powered by ODEO
After searching on YouTube and on the internet in general, I was able to download an mp3.
I am not going to introduce the song to you. Listen to it and enjoy the feeling. If you know what movie its from, and the singer - then you can choose to leave that piece of information as a comment. People who visit will benefit from the knowledge transfer.
powered by ODEO
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)