Scribblings Unlimited

Slumdog Millionaire - more disappointing

2009-03-08T08:11:00.005+05:30

Let me be frank and honest - the best thing, to me, about Slumdog Millionaire was that it was Siddharth's first ever visit to a cinema hall. My wife and I were so excited about taking him to the theatre, once we decided to do it with Slumdog Millionaire. We are also victims of the hype. Now I think we could have done with some other movie to mark his debut. One of my friends has been telling me that this movie getting so many awards is a con job. Today, I can't agree with him more.

Infact, I am shocked that it has won so many awards. Yes true, I don't know anything about the technical aspects of the movie. But, if it has won the Best Movie award, I have every right to doubt the other awards as well. By no means, this can be the best movie. Either all the awards were made-up or all the judges were completely blind and deaf. I was so happy for Rahman & Resul, but now I have second thoughts. I have no clue of why they have to make this up, but definitely this movie doesn't deserve so much. I myself have seen many more movies much better than this one - in terms of story, screenplay, music, etc., etc. You can't even dismiss it as 'D. It's written'. I am fairly sure Rahman himself would be baffled thinking why for this, when he has delivered many more marvellous songs and some extremely awe-inspiring background scores recently.

All in all, Slumdog Millionaire was very mediocre to me and you will agree if you think outside of all the hype and more so if you have listened to many more Rahman's scores. Not worth it!

Wastelentine

2009-02-12T12:36:00.003+05:30

I think, Sri Ram Sena or not, all is not well with Valentine's Day anywhere in the world - not just India. Thanks to Prabhu, I happened to read this commentary by Roland S. Martin and I have to agree with each and every word of his. A relationship, if its dear to your heart, has to be cherished all through the year - all through life, infact - and not just on one particular day. Definitely not on an universal day.

படிக்காதவன் - half nice

2009-01-16T10:02:00.001+05:30

I had high hopes on Padikkaadhavan after the recent performances by Dhanush and decided to watch it even ahead of Villu. The first half of the movie had a very good mix of comedy, fun, twists and action inflating the expectations, but only to disappoint terribly in the second half.

Dhanush has not disappointed, but the screenplay has let the movie down. The so-called comedy track of Vivek slackens the movie to the extent that it completely makes you forget the good start and irritates you to the core making you look for the end. Suman & Atul Kulkarni have been wasted like rotten food, when a lot could have been made out of them as worthy villains. Dhanush going to the villain and requesting to excuse him for a mistake without any beatings is a repeat from his earlier movies and can't stand it anymore. Anyway, he beats the baddies finally - so, why go for non-violence especially again and again.

If you can afford to spend the full money, spend it. But go back home during the interval.

அம்மா, you are the best

2009-01-03T18:43:00.003+05:30


Uyirum neeyae udalum neeyae unarvum neeyae thaayae  than
udalil sumandhu uyiril kalandhu uruvam tharuvaay neeyae
un kannil vazhiyum oru thuli poadhum kadalum urugum thaayae
un kaaladi mattum tharuvaay thaayae sorggam endbadhu poyyae
(uyirum)
vinnaip padaiththaan mannaip padaiththaan
kaatrum mazhaiyum oliyum padaiththaan
boomikku adhanaal nimmadhi illai
saami thaviththaan thaayaip padaiththaan
(uyirum)

I follow தமிழ் movie songs and I have liked most of the அம்மா songs. Somehow I have been missing this song - best of them all from the movie Pavithra - probably because I usually hate anything associated with Ajith. But, this one has been a revelation in terms of lyrics and the rendition by Unnikrishnan and of course, the Rahman music too. I have loved Unnikrishnan's voice, ever since என்னவளே, but this song has been beyond all superlatives. I think it has been the singer who has given the most life to this song, with due respect to the lyricist and the musician. I don't know if there is a better அம்மா song on earth. Simply the best - can't stop thinking of my mom.

A www holiday

2008-10-17T15:27:00.007+05:30

Simple - along with my wife & son, we set out to Munnar in Kerala and got what very few can get - a holiday with home food. Yes, we happened to stay at our friend's house in Munnar and at the same time enjoy the beauty and nature of Munnar. It was such a huge bungalow and going around it seeing the plants, trees, flowers, mountains and smalls streaks of waterfalls was a separate holiday in itself. The mist covered mountains and the carpet-like tea plantations were a delight to watch. Before getting into the actuals of our holiday, it was really a much-needed break as I had really worked for almost 9 years now without a real long break. Needless to say, I was extremely excited. More so because, I was going to be driving my SX4 all through the kilometres we cover. I compiled a lot of song collections, hindi and tamil, and got them ready on CDs for the travel. Also, this was the first time I was going to drive in the ghats. More tension for my wife, but more excitement for me and it was all safe and fine in the end. Sid was also extremely excited about going to Munnar, though he had no clue of what he was going to see and enjoy - just a new place away from the routine for him. After a very good drive almost throughout the day, we reached my friend's bungalow towards the end of the day and had a good rest after a sumptuous home made dinner.

We spent the next four days at Munnar visiting various places which usual tourists don't get access to, thanks to my friend. We drove to the Kundale Gold Club amidst the picturesque tea-plantations, forests and waterfalls - more importantly away from the crowds. Enjoyed fresh carrots and the best part of the trip was yet to come. It came 2 days later when we drove deep into the forests, beyond Eravikulam National Park, on really very special permission to reach Gravel Banks. The drive was just fabulous - up and down the hills - sunny at times, misty at times, dark & shady at times - overall a superb experience to add to your holiday CV. Absolute solitude for the three of us as you could hardly see anyone. Infact, we came across more leeches and we had one getting onto each one of our legs. A scary place to go to, in terms of leeches, but worth the time and drive as the nature we got to see there was beyond words. Green grass, pristine waters, birds chirping, forests all around - I have seen these in movies and cartoons only before. This time it was all real, in front of our eyes and we couldn't even pinch ourselves as we were sure we weren't dreaming - we had to be alert to keep away from the leeches in the meadows. There was a hanging bridge too, though a small one, it was so nice to walk on it with water flowing below - again something I have seen only in movies until then. We also spent some time in the freezing waters and infact Sid even managed to catch a cold. We were lucky to catch hold of a tea-plantation employee there and got to know that bisons and ibexes can be sighted after late evenings there, even some wild monkeys and may be some elephants. Not a safe place to stay on and on, I had to drive back and I did, but honestly I did not feel like leaving the place at all. It was complete nature wherever we turned around, except for that little Sunlight Copper colored car which took us there. My soul still remains there, but the body is back to the concrete jungles to feed stomachs.

And I also had the privilege to visit the tea factory and saw the entire process of making tea from those green leaves. The shredding, fermenting and the various other processes were very interesting to know, but the overdose of tea smell was something that I didn't cherish much.

After Munnar, we drove through the beautiful landscapes watching more tea-plantations & waterfalls to reach Thekkady and enjoyed the exciting Elephant Ride and the boring boat ride in the lake to supposedly see a few wild animals, but just caught a few deers here and there. The Elephant Ride was worth every rupee spent, though you can argue better rides in Pattaya. Inhouse, this was fabulous and it was all the more exciting to see Sid enjoying thoroughly. We were taken for a ride on a male elephant for about half-an-hour and Sid also got to feed a pregnant elephant and took some photos very close with her. Spent the night at Hotel Ambadi after a delicious buffet at Cardamon County. Woke up for some shopping and
headed to Madurai to visit a cousin for a day, before we got back to routine at Bangalore. After a lot of nature, met some loving people and also went into the Madurai market area just for the heck of it and I was reminded more of my beloved Trichy as I walked through those crowded streets. Spent two nights and then fastened our seat belts for the drive back home - home is home always, wherever it is. The drive back was a pleasure too accompanied by rains for most of the distance. The car looks like a dust-bin inside which would be cleaned only this weekend.

Obviously, I really had to push myself very hard to work on Monday when my mind and heart were refusing to come out of those pleasant green memories, infact still is. Probably for the first time in life, I took a long break and definitely for the first time since 1999, I was away from emails for 9 full days. Life was very different as I was in a www - world without www.

Try to believe this

2008-07-14T16:08:00.002+05:30

I am humble, but I can't hide this video.

தசாவதாரம் rocks

2008-06-18T19:56:00.002+05:30

You would have, by this time, heard a lot about the Magnum Opus Dasavathaaram. Though Kamal's brilliance is showcased yet again in a lot of ways, one thing he has missed out on this movie is getting a Rahman or Ilayaraja to score the music. Yes, the storyline isn't strong enough, but Kamal makes it up in ways more than many. Not many understand Kamal's abilities and are very happy to point fingers at him. The ten different avatars, he has donned, are classy atleast in terms of the differences he has been able to render to those roles. The body language, the dialgoue delivery, the slangs - all these make you feel as if you are watching 10 different people. Not once, you feel its the same person doing it.

The movie definitely rocks and Kamal saved everything for the final punch when he utters that he doesn't say that God doesn't exist, but it would be nicer if he existed. But, he could have avoided the love exchanges amidst deadbodies. Whatever, don't waste time reading reviews - just don't miss the movie on the big screen, especially the first 20 mins. You may not get to see such a movie for a long time to come.

A real shame

2008-04-16T22:03:00.006+05:30

In London, my company had a corporate box at the O2 arena and we were invited for a WWE showdown (I consider it a disgrace to link their website from my blog). Though, I completely hate the event, I just decided to go to have a nice evening with my English colleagues and compatriots, outside of the wrestling which cannot be termed sport or entertainment in my dictionary.

We were a group of 16 people and the only part of the evening I enjoyed was over when we reached the O2 arena. It was the boat ride on Thames. We passed below quite a few bridges and it was so nice to see the city of London from being on water - a mixture of the old architectural buildings and the new skyscrapers. It was a cold ride, though I managed to take the fleece off for a few clicks. The London boat ride gets ticked in my London to-dos. After that, the experience I had was a shame. Firstly, I firmly believe that going to a WWE event was a shame in itself. The box had complimentary food, drinks & snacks. I managed to grab little vegetarian dishes and since I don't drink alcohol, I enjoyed more than one round of my Diet Pepsi. After I was done, it was such a tough time for me as I could watch neither WWE nor the drunkards. Some of my compatriots reached a real high and were blabbering with the Brits. I couldn't stand it at all and all I heard from them was rubbish, rubbish and more rubbish. I am not against people who drink as its completely their personal wish, but not knowing one's limits isn't acceptable to me - atleast from those whom I have to go out with. I have been out with friends many times when they drink their alcohol while I feast on the side-dishes and some coke. Never have I felt so embarrassed about my countrymen for behaving in such a clownish way - definitely I am being a bit polite to some of my friends(!!) here. I am sorry, if I am hurting anyone here, but we can't make a fool of ourselves in front of people from another country, especially when you are there on an official trip. I wouldn't want to do injustice to the person who preferred to keep quiet once he realized that he has got a high by drinking more than usual - I appreciate!

I did not repent for opting to go there, as I loved the boat ride and it was nice to visit the O2 arena. More than the WWE, it was the behaviour of my compatriots which disturbed me, more so, infront of the English who also drank as much, but held on to themselves mostly. Everyday is an experience and that's what makes this life a learning curve all the time.

Photographs here and here.

I was there!

2008-04-16T14:03:00.006+05:30

I am still extremely excited that I have set foot at Lord's. Thanks to my new job, I am in UK for a few days. This gave me a chance to visit the Lord's cricket ground, which was my first priority here at London, apart from work. I wanted to do a shirt-waving, standing at that corner of the balcony, but unfortunately couldn't get there as a match was going on. OK, here's the proof...

This also means that my Visited Countries map gets updated.

I love Chennai

2008-04-03T14:34:00.002+05:30

But, I have moved out of Chennai with regrets, after quitting my job with CSS Corp. Leaving Chennai was such a tough decision to make, but since it seemed to have a few advantages, I decided to give it a go. I really hope to come back to Chennai after 2 years or even earlier, if possible - my blogger profile will continue to show me in Chennai, as I hate to change it. And also, as of now, I am not a great fan of Bangalore. Let me keep you posted on what time has in store for me and family. As of now, I am pushing time here in the Kannada metro, waiting for my wife and son to join me soon. Looks like, another 2 more weeks.

It was tougher to leave my team in my earlier company. Whatever anyone thought, my team was an extended family to me and I am missing them here definitely. Can't take them with me to the new job. Anyways, the memoirs, more good, less bad, will stay on forever. By the way, just thought of some self-boasting too by giving you a snapshot of what one of my team members thought about me.

Jodhaa Akbar - Stunning Grandeur

2008-02-16T19:34:00.004+05:30

Don't even think of missing Jodhaa Akbar. I was lucky to watch the first show on the day of release. Ashutosh Gowariker has come out with yet another marvel on screen. Hrithik fits into Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar so aptly that I can only map his face to the Mughal Emperor from now on, though all the images I have seen in old history books were completely different.

Everything is splendiferous and dazzling about the movie except the fact that there could have been a few catchy face-offs between Jodhaa & Akbar....oops....Aishwarya & Hrithik. The battlefield cinematographies are worth a mention anywhere and Rahman has given the perfect foil with his background score. But, I would definitely believe that he has hasn't done the justice he did to Lagaan with his music for the songs. Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah is worth watching on the big screen even if you had to travel miles.

It is neither a commercial movie nor an art movie, but an inbetween which has been rendered almost perfectly by all those involved. One can look at this aspect as the negative about the movie, but having taken an historical, the portrayal is superb having touched all aspects without going too much in depth.

All the support cast have done a commendable job as you would expect from an Ashutosh movie. I don't want to write in length about the movie as I want all of you to watch on the big screen, without fail - even if you can't understand Urdu/Hindi.

Kaalai - a bull wasted

2008-01-17T19:13:00.000+05:30

Another mass movie with Simbu. Tharun Gopi has tried his best to cash in on the Simbu antics and the regular masala mix in giving an usual commercial movie. In the bargain, he has failed to latch on to a storyline which is where he has gone wrong awfully inspite of roping in people who can deliver like Sangeetha, Seema & Simbu. One thing is that the movie never seems to drag at anytime and the tempo is maintained. Since the movie would have been terribly short, the director has tried to place the name confusion wherein for sometime you think that everyone is called Jeeva in the movie, irrespective of sex, age or color. Tharun Gopi has used similar things like in his earlier movie Thimiru - a tough lady, the lady burnt by fire and you are kept guessing why everyone looks for Jeeva (Ganesh in the earlier movie). And also a Nila-song, like the Kiran-song in the earlier version. Too many shades of his earlier movie and I definitely feel that a talented person like Simbu is being wasted by many directors when he can surely take up meaty roles and do justice too. Vedika, the heroine, is pretty much similar to the audience as she doesn't even know what's happening and why. Overall, the movie didn't disappoint me as I didn't have any expectations and also I enjoyed the comedies like Simbu's introduction, the way even politicians and police revere him, the title song and the muted gross dialogues.

Definitely deserves a miss.

Stating the obvious...

2008-01-09T16:39:00.001+05:30

...with the help of MyHeritage.com

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Azhagiya Tamizh Magan - not as beautiful as expected

2007-11-08T20:20:00.000+05:30

Twice on the same day and I liked the movie better after the second seeing. Still, it's not a complete satisfaction for all I expect from Vijay. But, I heard some cribbing from people in the theatre and they don't like Vijay doing something different from his usual masalas. It's these same people who never stop complaining when Vijay comes up with similar movies one after the other. Can't they see him differently, especially for a talented actor like him should be breaking monotonies and do a lot of variety.

The movie surely hasn't lived up to the expectations it has created, more so after the song release. The songs have been a whopping hit already (Rahman super!) and movie may not be close to that. It's a bold initiative to break Vijay's sameness, but the screenplay lacked the grip that people expect all the time from Vijay, but not from many others. First time in dual role and Vijay has done very well in different style of dialogue deliveries and body language though the appearance isn't any different. Shriya & Namitha are the ladies and the latter is literally seen on only one song. Shriya isn't looking as beautiful as she was in Sivaji, but still has nothing much to do as the usual tamil heroine. There are some good comedy shots from various actors. After Pokkiri's dance let down (inspite of Prabhudeva & Vijay), the choreography for Azhagiya Tamizh Magan is splendid and we have got to see new steps mostly which is very refreshing. Though, one can feel a little disappointed about the picturization of Valayapatti... One other glaring mistake in the movie was that there were a few scenes which were shown on the wrong side, ie, like printing a photograph from the wrong side of the negative, showing mirror images of the real picture. Vijay's dances have been fabulous as usual and he has started to look more and more gorgeous - really azhagu!

All in all, with ESP and a look-alike double role in your hands, you definitely expect a much better screenplay and some real nach scenes. The director has missed it totally there inspite of having a lot of scope to keep the viewers captive. A completely different Vijay movie, not handled that well. Importantly, the fans should also learn to see Vijay in such movies too rather than the usual flat movies and roles. I wouldn't want to miss any of Vijay's movies anyway.

Pitaya - the dragon fruit

2007-10-09T12:11:00.000+05:30

Even I didn't know what Pitaya was until 2 days ago. It was wikipedia which helped me figure out that name. The shop-keeper sold the fruit as dragon fruit and I was enticed by the looks of it and bought it, inspite of the price. I wanted to write about it here really because I have never heard of such a fruit and I was so surprised to see it in Chennai. My wife & son didn't like it and I am finishing the cut fruit slowly. I have to accept it doesn't taste great, at the same time its not very bad either and its definitely eatable considering the positives of Pitaya. Some clicks of the Pitaya I bought.

Corporate - comedy or crime?

2007-10-09T10:07:00.000+05:30

Far away, in some corner of the world, there is a company which is too worried about the corporate image and wants to insist many policies on the employees and project a very good face to clients. One such initiative is wearing shoes and formal wear all the time. Personally, I may not advocate to the idea, but can let it go as any company can have it own policies. But, forcing the policy on employees who work in EST hours from India (630pm to 330am IST) is going a bit overboard and infact I even heard someone say that its inhuman. On the other hand, one of the friends was extremely delighted that he was not asked to wear shoes while sleeping at home.

To project a decent work culture and corporate image, men are asked to wear formals and shoes to work, irrespective of the timings while the women project that corporate image through sleeveless tops.

Ridiculous movie

2007-09-27T12:20:00.000+05:30

Yes, we have done it at last. But, it was definitely not worth it. Literally, we were there for the very last show of Sivaji at AVM Rajeswari yesternight. Even if I had watched it in the first week, I wouldn't have bothered to come out with my version of the review as the movie doesn't deserve one. It was a huge disappointment from Shankar & Rajini - making huge profits is different. Infact, I would attribute the profits to the hype.

Shankar should have stuck to his style or resorted to Rajini-style. Instead he has tried to blend both or has tried not to make it in the Rajini-way and in the process has failed to follow his way too. The result is gimcrack. Rajini, inspite of all the efforts, is losing his charm and the worst part is his dialogue delivery in this movie which didn't have the usual flavour or vigour at all. To me, it was a real letdown.

Just couldn't digest that this is a Shankar-Rajini movie, but the songs deserve a positive mention, thanks to Shankar, Thotta Tharani & AR Rahman.

A lovable weekend

2007-09-18T15:39:00.000+05:30

This time, we decided that we are not going to waste the weekend in Chennai and set out to Yelagiri on Saturday morning. My wife & son, along with 6 of our friends hired a Qualis for the trip which had a very friendly driver too. The road towards Bangalore was a pleasure from Chennai and my hands were itching to hold the wheel. I resisted and sat behind having all the fun with friends and Sid. We stopped at Vellore for the breakfast and some of us ate as if that was our destination. Finally, we managed to stop it and set out again towards Yelagiri. My famous nausea didn't haunt me all through the 14 hairpin bends (why are they named after Bharathiyaar, Valluvar, Paari, Ouvaiyyar, etc.?) as we stopped half-way on the hill to catch come nature in our cameras. After driving a little more, we reached Hotel Hills where we had hurriedly booked the rooms on Friday night.

After some rest & refreshment, we just walked across to the boat club and park to have the first glimpse of Yelagiri. Before anything, we munched on some chips and some really sour star-fruits. We took a row boat and went through the circumference of the Punganur lake which was quite scenic, even if you didn't go from Chennai. After the boat ride and some photos by the lake-side, we went into the park to get back to the child inside us along with Sid. Enjoyed the swing and a few other nursery games and walked around the lake and had some nice clicks. We then walked back to the hotel for the lunch which was good enough at a hill station. After that, the child inside us wanted more as we saw a play area inside the hotel. All of us had a whale of a time there for about an hour as we saw the clouds settling down for a pelt and pushed us indoors. Some Twenty20 cricket and some movies helped us for a while, as the pack of cards took over till late in the evening. We then moved to our respective rooms for a break and since my little son slept tired, we had to use the room service for dinner. Some more card games followed until midnight and some nice sleep without an air-conditioner after a long time. The one thing that we missed was the movie in the open air theatre inside the hotel premises, due to the rain. But, for someone from Chennai, the cool weather mattered much more than anything else.

Sunday morning - woke up early by 6ish while some took time till 8am to get out of bed, rushed a bath, broke the fast and drove to the trekking point. We missed the road and travelled a little bit extra, but we couldn't complain as it was picturesque and beautiful. We stopped by a lotus-pond and it was such a rare sight for us from the busy & hectic city life. We then proceeded to the trekking path on Swamimalai. The path was extremely green and the climate too helped us by carrying a lot of clouds. We came across very nice grasslands, huge trees, pretty & tiny flowers and some weird little insects & worms. The plants (or small trees) bearing guavas and custard apples gave us a nice feel of the nature, more so because, there was no one to restrict us from plucking them. We came across an old man, after living there for many years, gave us the information that we could bump into bears though its rare. But, he was forthright when he said 'don't worry, it will run away if you throw stones at it' and we were wondering if he was talking about dogs or bears. I am sure its fortunate that we didn't happen to see a bear on our way. All of us enjoyed the trek, though we didn't reach the top to see the shivalingam. Huffing and puffing, we decided to trek down after some time and we have carried back a lot of digital memories along with the ones at heart & mind.

Drove back to the hotel and enjoyed a good lunch before we checked out. We had the time and so decided to drive to the Jalagamparai waterfalls, before driving back to the polluted city. Inspite of such a nice waterfall, thanks to the people, the place looks extremely untidy and I think these temples & waterfalls should never go together. Just a little blot in an otherwise wonderful weekend. I slept for a little while on the way back and had some fun with all, only to come home and have a good sleep and rest.

It was such a refreshing break after a long time and the weekend still lingers. Personally, it was beyond words to see Sid having all the fun and he can claim that he has trekked now and he is not even three. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this nice memorable weekend.

One more...

2007-08-23T12:18:00.001+05:30

Bangladesh & New Zealand have had it in common for some years now. In July 2007, the United States of America joined them. Can you guess what is it?

I got this map from here.

And by the way, the answer to the trivia is that all three of them have hosted me (poruma Prabhu).

Pratibha or not?

2007-06-27T18:02:00.000+05:30

While a lot have been written against Pratibha's nomination to be India's next President, there is someone who thinks that she will definitely win too. There have even been banners against Pratibha, like this one here.

I am not a politics person and I may not be right in passing any opinion, but I feel that such campaigns should be raised against a lot of ministers and officials too and not only when it comes to the country's top-post. Even when she was a governor, such campaigns should have been up and running. Truth may or may not triumph for the time being, but I believe that truth will always have the last laugh, come what may.

On the other hand, just because a woman is nominated for President, it does not mean that women get a lot of respect in this country. Infact, its the women who demean themselves most of the time, though there are some women-crushing males too - ok, that's a separate topic which I am thinking over for a long time.

Stoopid? Me?

2007-06-15T17:23:00.001+05:30

Another test, another result, another image...

Canna

2007-06-15T16:58:00.000+05:30

Have beeing doing too much of work and hence decided to do something for me today and I got this url from one of my url holding notepads and decided to check what flower I am. Why a flower? Because, that's the url I got to and see below for the flower in me.

Yetho perisa ninaichaen, paartha namma kal vaazhai. Vittu thallu...

Check yours.

Sid Slide

2007-03-02T12:59:00.000+05:30

Got to know about slide.com through Maya and tried my first slideshow there. I tried with Sid to make sure that it looks good irrespective of the features.

Paruthi Veeran - realism overdone

2007-02-28T16:18:00.000+05:30

Somehow, village based movies have never attracted me. I don't have a definite reason, but I couldn't recollect any such movie which I love. Paruthi Veeran looked like coming quite close, but fell apart towards the end. I have liked Ameer's earlier movies which drove me eagerly to this movie. The director has once again made his mark in many ways. The way he has chosen people for every character in the movie is commendable. Each and everyone fit the respective role aptly and makes you feel like living inside the screen.

The movie is a typically realistic village story and every character is completely villagish. Their language and body language are also taken proper care of and the accent is excellent. The realism is so much that it hurts us back towards the end by being coarse and as a normal human you wouldn't want to see some of those scenes. Yuvan's background music is too good to suit the village moods, but disappoints when he has used a similar tone from his recent Thaamirabharani. The maestro has done his bit for his son by voicing a super melody.

Veeran & and his uncle Sevvaazhai fear towards nothing and are even willing to kill anyone who come against them. Going to jail and coming out in bail keeps happening one after the other and they aren't ashamed of it. They have no boundaries in life and lead an absolutely carefree life. Muthazhagu, who has been friends with Veeran since childhood is madly in love with him and is willing to do anything to marry him though Veeran resists and later accepts her love in the second part of the movie. As you would expect, her father is against this citing his character and more importantly caste. The movie moves very fast and in no time you are at the tragic scenes towards the end which are overdone and as I have said earlier, it definitely hurts the viewer.

Karthi does not look like a debutant at all. He is so much at ease in a demanding role, especially in his first movie. Ameer has to be credited for extracting so much out of him who hails from a family which already knows the nuances of performing well on screen. Saravanan, as his uncle, is unexpectedly refreshing after all the dullard in the few movies he has done till date. Karthi & Saravanan have taken care of some comedy as well which makes us laugh well. But, the graamiya songs and the beats are a bore and you want it to stop soon, though it doesn't. Priyamani fits the best for a village girl, being stubborn to her parents as well as to her lover. She has been given good dialogues which reflect a dogged village girl and comes out shining all through.

Overall, it's a good effort from Ameer & co. in breaking the shackles and giving an entertaining movie but for some crudeness later in the movie. When you look at the flow and depiction, it may be unavoidable, but a good film-maker has the responsibility of not hurting the common-man. The tragedy runs in you for a longer time even after the movie.

Pachaikili Muthucharam - very different

2007-02-20T18:54:00.000+05:30

All of us know Gautam Menon's film making capabilities and he has just added another feather to his cap with Pachaikili Muthucharam. Before watching the movie, I heard mixed reactions from friends - some saying that the movie is excellent and some saying its crap. I could sense that the movie's opening hasn't been great, but there is something different about the movie which has made people pass extremely opposite judgements. This made me so open about the movie and I watched it with clarity without any bias.

The movie wasn't anything great as hyped, but definitely very different and made me watch with awe. It wasn't slow as some suggested. It was not fast, but brilliantly paced for such a story. Its not a love story, not an action movie, isn't a thriller - but a good movie worth watching at the theatres. Nothing is overdone, but I wonder how a few unparliamentary words escaped the censor. Harris' songs are mellifluous as you would expect. Aravind Krishna's camera should be one of the top highlights of the movie. Inspite of giving us a lot of close-ups, he doesn't hurt us in the eye. People have been shown so real, adding a huge tinge to their performances.

Venkatesh leads a happy and contended life with his wife Kalyani and a school-going son, Nanda. He isn't too ambitious and works for a pharmaceutical company and is stuck to Chennai and even avoids promotions to stay back there. Suddenly, the couple face a huge setback when their son is diagonised with diabetes and he has to take insulin injections daily. Venkatesh, though worried inside, is brave enough to continue the life confidently while Kalyani is downhearted and the beauty of their lives is thrown out of the window. This is when, Venkatesh meets Geetha and their friendship grows, though he is a bit guilty about the friendship. Before the relationship could shape up into an affair, he faces another blow and he loses all the money he had saved all these years. Gautam has moved the play exceedingly well as the hero uncovers some mystery and gains back all that he lost.

All these years, Sarathkumar does well either with a gun in his hand or some grey hairs on his head. Gautam has brought out the best in him without the gun or the grey hair, though he wields the gun towards the end. His skills come to the fore in many scenes like travelling in the call taxi with Jothika, finding his son and giving him an injection (starting scene), pleading with Andrea and many more. Andrea as Kalyani is not a let down. She does well when she is unable to forgive her husband and also later when she forgives and probably forgets. Jothika, I read, was the best part of the movie - but I have to disagree. The director has to be appreciated, yet again, for moving Jothika out of her usual stereotyped roles. But, Jothika was nowhere near the best she can normally deliver. She wasn't looking very pretty too - may be a deliberate attempt to portray her character. Milind Soman doesn't have much to do and one thing Gautam should stop is dubbing for the villain. Its too predictable and not at all gratified. Larger-than-life heroism is absent in the movie which makes you feel like watching the happenings next door and another good aspect of the ending is that the boy's disorder doesn't disappear cinematically.

All in all, I wonder why some people don't like the movie as its definitely a very different and bold movie which has been rendered extremely well by Gautam Menon with the help of Sarathkumar and Aravind Krishna. Though not a great movie superficially, don't miss it as the handling makes it a distinguished one.

Insulting commercial

2007-01-29T13:21:00.001+05:30

Nimbus' Neo Sports have the rights of telecast of the India-West Indies & the India-Sri Lanka ODI series in India. By watching the channel, I realize that they are so proud of having the rights. Good, its all fine for the monies they would be making and the immense joy they would be carrying into the houses of millions. Infact, having watched the match(es), I think they are doing a decent job in the telecast than many other channels who make a mockery of cricket telecast.

All these doesn't mean that they can stoop down to any level. There should be some standard for their inhouse commercials. The commercials for the Pepsi cup and that they would be showing them live are so filthy that I switch channels whenever I see them. Usually, during cricket matches, I don't switch channels at all for the entire duration of the match, unless there is another exciting match going on in another channel.

It's tough being a West Indian in India - this may be true if India crush them and it should pertain only to the cricket and only on the field and nothing should be taken outside. But the commercial they show is so unhealthy that a West Indian eats something spicy and runs around for water when none of the Indian folks give him water. It's even more irritating to see them do dirty things like putting their artificial teeth into a tumbler of water or diping their dirty hands into it, just to make sure that he suffers.

India is a land (atleast) known for warm reception and hospitality. The commercial just leaves a very bad taste about our countrymen in the disgusting way a guest is being treated. Being a West Indian should be tough in that centre where they take on Dravid & Co. Though, that's what they are trying to convey, the way its shown is sickening. When we have committees and revolts for useless things, why not have someone to monitor these and make sure such commercials are avoided.

Cross-posted at Cricket24x7.

A first today

2007-01-22T20:23:00.000+05:30

Today was the first time, Siddharth was in school all by himself for three hours. It wasn't actually long for me, but too long for Laks who was almost in tears when we left him inside the play-school and escaped before he could realize that we are gone. Unfortunately, he knew it within a minute and rushed to the gate crying. But, we had to keep our hearts tough and turn back as he has to get used to it. Its already been a enough of play-schooling for Laks, as she was with him there for a week.

Laks kept calling the mobile of the lady who takes care of Sid there, but unluckily, the mobile was never picked. Later, we understood that he had stopped crying in a while and has gone to play with the kids. Again, he has spilt his snacks from the box and has eaten from another child. Since he was doing it last week, we decided to send him what the other child brought. But, that child also changed the snack and Sid was attracted to the new snack yet again. Now, I understand why some big branded schools don't allow snacks from home and provide their own stuff to all children. Later, we learnt that he has enjoyed his day there and the irony is that he wasn't willing to come back home when Laks went to pick him up at 12 noon. It seems, he was so engrossed in playing outdoors and even bid a bye to her as he wanted to continue playing with the kids.

I just couldn't imagine that Sid has grown up so much that he has started to go to a play-school. The nurse holding him and me seeing him for the first time is still fresh in my minds and its been more than 25 months since. Time flies, but with Sid, time rockets even faster.

Pokkiri - next only to Ghillli

2007-01-22T15:49:00.000+05:30

After hearing nice reviews, needless to say, I was so excited to watch Pokkiri on saturday and the movie didn't let me down. No doubt, the movie has been made for Vijay, but its a lot more sensible than a lot of other movies. Vijay detractors keep talking about the movie being a remake and not a original. But, what's the point of giving original flops? It's better to give remade hits. After all, even Sholay is being remade in the same language. All said and done, Vijay's charisma and his screen presence make this movie a good-watch.

The movie opens with a fight, a regular punchline and the usual Vijay intro song. One of the good things about the movie is that the punch dialogues aren't overdone inspite of having a lot of scope. Prabhudeva, as the director, has done well to keep the screenplay moving fast and the viewers don't feel a lag anywhere, unless you are there to find some fault with any Vijay movie. Generally, movies defy logic - Pokkiri also has some of those. Otherwise, even small things are paid attention to and there is no goof-up to be pointed out majorly. There are some gory killings and some adult scenes which could have been avoided, given the children following for Vijay. The Vijay-Asin scenes/dialogues and the "Yen Chella Paeru..." songs are definitely a bit too much considering the recent Vijay movies which have been decent to watch with the family. Vadivelu's comedy is good, though its not rib-tickling except the Surya impersonation. With Prabhudeva & Vijay together, if you expect some fine dances, you would be disappointed. Mani Sharma hasn't let down the Vijai fans with his tunes and all the six are already super hits.

Stay away from hearing the story, as the suspense would definitely thrill you. But, I was thrilled inspite of knowing the storyline, but you see, I am a proud Vijay fan. If you liked Ghillli, you will like this too, but this is not as racy as that.

Thaamirabharani - flows quite well

2007-01-19T15:34:00.000+05:30

A typical Hari movie with his usual ingredients, but a good one to watch this time around. Let me not get into the storyline as it isn't anything excitingly new. The director has to be praised for handling the many characters he has twined into the tale. With every movie, Vishal keeps getting better which is definitely a scary news to those whose performances and movies keep hitting the bottom. As all of us know, action & stunts come easily to Vishal. In this movie, he has done a good job at sentiments too, especially in the latter part of the movie. Such elderly roles suit Prabhu very well and he has outdone anyone else in the movie and Nadiya also has played her role to perfection. Nasser, Rohini and others too contribute well, though Rohini still doesn't look like Vishal's mother. There are a few dragging instances in the first-half but the director wakes up and makes up for it in the second-half. Yuvan's music isn't great, but nothing to complain as well.

The two definite negatives of the movie are the heroine and the comedy. Vishal's pair Bhanu, atmost, looks suited for a weighted sister role or maybe a heroine in one of those everlasting serials on TV. Ganja Karuppu is yet to graduate to be a prime comedian for a movie - he can play the second comedian's role to perfection. But here, he has bored the watchers with atrocious comedy sequences. Hari could have done better on both these aspects.

Alwar - please don't go

2007-01-15T16:13:00.000+05:30

I live in Alwarthirunagar and my workplace is in Alwarpet and hence I feel the responsibility to pass you all the message that Alwar sucks bigtime and please don't waste your time going to a theatre for that movie. Yes, I have done it already and that's probably what you call fate. If you still want to take the risk, go ahead and do it, but I will have enough room to tell you "I told you" with a wry smile.

A different 'train' and a wonderful experience

2006-12-27T16:16:00.000+05:30

At this moment, I am definitely proud to say that I was the first member of the Chennai Swift Club, though less active. Infact, the logo for the club was decided based on my say, only my say. As the first activity of the club, we had a Swift 'train' organized on Dec 24, 2006 and it was a wonderful experience. A separate report is available here. I wanted to write about it in detail, but my dear friend Pradeep has done it and I prefer not to project my writing skills in front of it. Hence, I am giving his writeup below. It was definitely a wonderful experience, especially getting to drive 3 laps in front of Narain & Karun at the Irungattukottai racetrack was something I would have never even dreamt of. Thanks to all those who made it possible.

For some photos click here and if you are looking for professional photos, click here.

Rendu - doubly disappointing

2006-11-30T12:57:00.000+05:30

Nothing to write about the movie - such a bore. It was very disappointing that it has come from Sundar C and especially Madhavan. Even Vadivelu & Santhanam's comedy isn't anywhere near what they can really do. It just deprived us of some sleep. But, in hindsight, I would have anyway kept myself awake and watched the yet another embarrasing loss to South Africa. In that way, I am sort of happy that I didn't watch the loss, but don't ask me about rendu too - intha padathukku website onnu thaan kaedu.

Sivappathigaaram - yethaavadhu seyyanum saar

2006-11-27T14:49:00.000+05:30

Starts like naattupurapaatu and ends with a very good message, but the screenplay definitely lacks the vigour to make it racy. The opening village shots are very exciting and green which make you (atleast me) feel like being at those places sometime in life.

The voluntarily retired professor Ilango (Raghuvaran) comes and settles down in his native picturesque village along with his daughter Charulatha (Mamta). His best student Sathyamurthy (Vishal) also joins him as they both settle down to do some research on folk songs in the country side. Later we realize that they are against bad politicians/politics. Infact they go about killing them and the killings even postpone the elections in the state. The police eventually close in on them and Vishal has a good lengthy talk in the climax which seems to have valid points. A lot of people would have thought all these, but taking the next step isn't possible in reality and hence we can atleast see it on screen. On the other hand, its a bit deadening that some things only get worse in this society. The ending rightly says - Yethaavadhu seyyanum saar. But, who? where? when?

Needless to say, Raghuvaran has played his role to perfection with subtle smiles and dialogues. Vishal also gets better with every movie, but seems to imitate Vijai more often. Mamta looks good at times and not-so-good at times, but definitely, just a normal heroine in the movie and has nothing to do, except for two songs. There are many eye-pleasing natural village scenes as the movie moves slowly. There is also an unnecessary kuthu naattupura paatu, while the hero is introduced, with a damsel in very little clothes. Atrai thingal..., which is a superb pleasing song to hear has been videographed horribly indoors with a sexy theme - a huge disappointment to those like me who were eager to see the song on screen. The comedy track is taken care by Ganja Karuppu and he hasn't let us down badly. Showing the blood in black when the politicians are murdered conveys the message clearly.

Karu. Palaniappan has definitely done a good job in opting for this message, but hasn't been great in dealing with it - be it the first half or the second. He has only bored the audience in trying to bring up the crux a bit late in the movie and when its in, he has missed the ~~bus~~ flight, as such should have been the speed of the movie.

Scribblings Unlimited

2006-11-20T13:12:00.000+05:30

Yes, the name of this blog is changed from today. Thanks for all your overwhelming responses, but I have gone with the name that my heart and mind told me.

Plastic money

2006-11-17T13:26:00.000+05:30

Yesterday's newspaper showed me that creditcardvictims.org existed and I was so eager to see whats in there and hence checked it when I got online later in the day. The tagline tells me that the website was a project of centre for social and economic justice. A credit card swallows you up, only if you are not judicious enough of you spending powers. There would be no need for such websites, if everyone can think and spend. The interest rates on your lavish spending cannot be termed injustice by any means.

Having a credit card does not mean that one can buy the world. He still has to keep it within his monetary powers. An adult should be mature enough to evaluate it and make sure that he spends only for what he wants. Man has become extremely greedy and is so much behind money and pleasures. With a credit card, he is not bothered to look at the price tag, if he decides to own something. When you swipe your card, at the back of your mind, it should ring that I should pay it by this month or the next maximum, depending on the credit days you are allowed. If you decide to keep paying the minimum amount due, its only going to make you MAD. I have told this to many of my friends to use a credit card sensibly and I hope they have understood what I wanted to mean.

There is no point in blaming the banks for the interest rates, after we spend exorbitantly. I understand that at times there are some false promises made by brokers when selling the card, but you can be wise and check with the bank for the right info. There are also times, when you get to face some billing problems and some overcharges in your statement, but with proper proof you should be able to come out of it as well.

If you think that you can't keep things under control with a credit card in the wallet, atleast be firm in your 'no' to the banks when you are offered a credit card. There is nothing wrong in not having a credit card. Only ~~wth~~ with love, "it's better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all", not with debts.

Change of name...

2006-11-15T12:09:00.000+05:30

For the last 2 weeks or so, I have been contemplating a change of name to this blog. Probably because I am a bit bored with Happily Haphazard. While I am continuing to zero in on something, if there is anyone willing to help me, feel free to email your suggestions to goodganesh at yahoo/gmail dot com.

The world is not so diverse!

2006-11-13T17:13:00.000+05:30

Munnaal Iraq athipar Saddam Hussain-kku thooku dhandanai!

America athipar George Bush-i kandithu Chennaiyil Thol. Thirumaavalavan thalaimaiyil aarppaattum.

I happened to see a poster today which had the above words and I couldn't stop this post.

Drama for dummies

2006-11-06T15:21:00.000+05:30

I vaguely remember attending 1 or 2 SVe Shekar/Crazy Mohan dramas long back. I, somehow never got the chance to see dramas or rather, I never took the initiative to go and see dramas as much as I took for pethal movies. Thanks to Anandhi, I happened to be part of the audience at the Museum auditorium yesterday for the stage drama Lifeline: ICU-2 by dummies drama. Though it started about 15 minutes late, I definitely enjoyed the show. To me, all the actors were unknowns as I was completely new to stage dramas. Still, I thought most of them did a good job at keeping the audience enthralled for the one-and-a-half hours. I thought Dr. Sudharsan & the administrative officer Reddy really did a very good job, though an earlier review of the drama seems to disagree. The drama had the right mix of sentiment and comedy. Also, there was more than one message in it - the nobility of a doctor's profession (irony that I saw E just the previous day), unwanted political violence, lack of medical equipment amenities in our country and more social help from superstars.

Now, I look forward to attending such plays. Hopefully...

E - just short of Excellent

2006-11-06T11:19:00.000+05:30

Online ticket booking again and a different disappointment this time. I booked tickets for row G and as I expected it was the seventh row from behind. But, to my shock, it was also the third row from the front and that's Studio-5 for you. Definitely, the audio effects and visuals were not as bad as I thought. Anyway, this movie was the closest to me in terms of seating.

Getting to the movie, I, personally, had a lot of expectation about E, due to Jeeva & director Jananathan. I started to develop a liking for the director from his first movie Iyarkai as it was completely realistic and it even won the national award. Again the director lives up to his reputation of showing reality in his movie, but for the last 20-30 minutes where he gets carried away by the latest graphic effects.

The hero is not a do-gooder like all heroes are. He is just an important character for the story and Jeeva excels in that role. The characterization is splendid that the hero does not turn good, for the sake of anything - even for his lover (played by Nayantara). Infact, he is not even too committed in his love. The scene where he casually says "yaarukku theriyum, nee kooda yengappana irukkalaam" sums up his character. Though a bit slow, the movie moves realistically as the ruffian hero leads his driveless life. He accidentally, saves the life of doctor Ramakrishnan (played by Ashish Vidyarthi) from Nellai Mani (played by Pasupathi) at the mortuary. The doctor thanks him and tells him that he could make a lot of money if he killed Mani. The hero is enticed by the offer and goes to get Mani who is in police custody. There he realizes that he is not a normal rowdy and decides to stay away doing his petty crimes. After a while, Mani dodges the police, but couldn't dodge their bullets and is severely wounded and falls in Jeeva's hands, who is delighted for the money he can make with Mani. Jeeva does not realize that its the doctor who is the criminal who tests banned medicines on the poor from the slum and makes a lot of money from alien hands. Jeeva develops a relationship with Mani and understands from him that the doctor has even used his grandma for the test. I feel, there is a deviation from reality here when Jeeva understands and turns over a new leaf. The movie has a very nice unexpected ending, but for the graphics. Not a great suspense, but I wish you watch it on the screen.

One could easily say that Jeeva is the most improved actor currently, be it acting or dance. Nayantara appears with more flesh in some scenes and with a nice slim structure at times. She has done her part well too, but doesn't fit into the slum as Jeeva does. Karunas plays a good friend to the hero with some comedy as well. I think, it's Pasupathi who is more important to the movie than Jeeva in a lot of aspects. The movie also has good camera, decent background scores and songs which are neither bad nor good. One refreshing thing is the absence of a duet. There is not a lot of negatives to talk about, but the utterance of a gross-word, not once, but twice could have been avoided. I don't understand why such words are muted in some movies and not in many others. Also there are no boring flashbacks even though there was good scope to insert one or two.

As said here, E is definitely a very bold attempt with a new concept and it makes us wonder about going to doctors for treatment. A completely fresh movie worth going to the cinemas to watch. Don't miss it.

Why not be more responsible?

2006-10-30T17:02:00.000+05:30

My wife and me generally love to go for a slow and cautious drive during rains. We decided to do it on last saturday as well, when the clouds seem to open up heavily. Not just a drive, we decided to dine out also, in one of our favourite restaurants, along with the drive. A friend also accompanied us there and we had a nice time with some sumptuous vegetarian food, inspite of the kids not behaving at their best. By now, the rain had started and it was pouring down when we started to drive back home.

We had to pass a fairly big junction with properly working traffic signals and it was about 10'o clock in the night. I am sure it was green for me and it had 3 more seconds to go which is completely good enough to pass through. There came the Qualis, obviously driven by a complete moron who drove across with red for him. I had to apply the brakes quickly and managed to let that felon go. I was now stranded almost exactly at the centre of the junction. I was not in a position to go back and hence released the brake, reduced the gear and went ahead just as the green was about to go off for me. Now, because of that Qualis, a young couple in a bike decided to go ahead and unfortunately, it was my way and my car. There is no way I could have avoided hitting them, but I am proud to say that I made the collision as minor as possible. The pillion girl was down on the road with the guy just managing to hold on to his bike. I crossed the junction, parked the car and got out of the car when my wife shouted at me "don't fight", because people believe that I am known for it. I ran to the spot and lifted the bike and helped him to pull her along to one side of the road where she can sit. The girl was slightly hurt on her leg, but more shocked due the accident and was feeling very hard to stand. The guy was also shocked that he wasn't making too many efforts to make her feel comfortable. I made her sit and bought her a glass of juice and she was feeling alright and they left the scene in about 15 minutes.

By this time, the downpour has only gotten more and I was completely drenched when I came back to my car and noticed a few damages. I had to pacify my wife too who was a bit worried as I had left her and my little son in the car hurriedly. But, when I drove back for the pleasure of driving in the rains, there was nothing that prick me inside as I was absolutely not at fault. This is not just the statement made by anyone who is involved in an accident. Even now, 2 days later, when I rewind and go over it, I still see the green signal on for me. I was only being the human that I should be and helped another human who was in pain and did not bother about the material damage (to me).

More than anything, what hurts me most is the negligence and irresponsibility that is dwelling inside our citizens. Why don't we all respect traffic signals, even if its raining? I make sure that I don't disrespect them, even if someone is honking from behind and I am not a fresh driver - I have been driving for atleast 10 years now. If the Qualis and that biker had some sense of responsibility, they would have waited for me to pass and then went on. Now, the Qualis is gone happily and the girl in the bike had little bruises which, I am sure, she will forget in 2-3 days. Please note that those two were the ones with lesser sense. For the responsibility and cautiousness, I am forced to spend a few bucks to set my car right. I, honestly, don't care about spending that money. But, I would be greatly relieved, even if one person decides to be a human and also not disrespect traffic rules from the time he reads this. Its not just about seeing movies with social messages and appreciating them. Its about how we take it into real life, atleast some of them.

Federer feller?

2006-10-25T18:13:00.000+05:30

This is the era where a loss to Roger Federer is a positive point on any tennis pro's resume. Everyone watching the game see him with awe and are still figuring out the opponent who could beat him. Rohit Brijnath has tried his best to build a superman to beat Federer. He has also got opinions from Ramesh Krishnan and Nirmal Shekar for the construction work. He has discussed various aspects like forehand, backhand, first serve, second serve, return of serve, volley, speed and mental toughness. I enjoyed reading the entire piece, more about the second serve. Rohit keeps it the shortest, but the sweetest - it made me proud to be a Sampras fan long before I became a fan of Federer, obviously. With Federer murdering just about anyone on the tennis court, this may be a hard statement to say, but this is my piece of the internet and I can scribble anything - I am afraid that so much hype might bring an end to Federer's dominance sooner than later.

Vallavan - what's that?

2006-10-23T14:33:00.000+05:30

It's official now that any movie will fail badly or atleast fall short of expectations, if I watch it on day one, with Vallavan being the latest addition to that list. After Manmadhan, I have always thought that Simbu is a talented actor and hence my expectations for this movie was more. I tried online ticket booking for the first time and I thought that I was lucky enough to get the tickets, which I later realized was a mistake.

Simbu, a (rich?) college student, is introduced with a song along with hundreds of kids. He has his own friends circle and they have their own fun. Sandhya is one of those close friends and hence goes out of the equation for Simbu's romances. Nayantara enters as a lecturer in the same college and Simbu does all sorts of things to make sure that Nayantara loves him and he succeeds as well. All this happens without her knowing that he is student of the same college. When she comes to know of it, she rejects him as he is three years younger to her.

Now comes the much needed/awaited interval where I sip my cup of pepsi and then back to the movie to find out if there is any storyline hidden somewhere. Simbu walks past his school and there comes the flashback where he, Sandhya & other friends, supposedly, studied. A useless song to start the flashback with too much noise and you hardly know if there was any lyric in that. Simbu bumps into (literally) Reema Sen in an inter-school culturals and believe me, she is also a school student wearing pinafore uniform. Both of them fall in love, but soon he realizes that she is a selfish girl. She inflicts a lot of pain to him which the hero bears easily as he is in love with her. But, it crosses the limits one day and he discards her which she is not able to bear at that point of time. Out of the flashback and Reema again meets Simbu. She is very happy this time as he has been deserted by his lover (Nayantara). Reema wants him back in her life while Nayantara is engaged to another bulb-person. Simbu manages to change Nayantara's heart and she now ditches the engagement and comes back to the hero. This is where I thought the movie could end, probably in another 10 minutes. But, the director (Simbu himself) decides against it and goes on to make us restless in the seats, for another 30-40 minutes. Reema kidnaps Sandhya and pushes her down from the mottai maadi and the doctors are helpless. But, God Simbu doesn't allow his friend to die by pleading, scolding, etc. And you thought they happily lived ever after? NO! Reema is treated in a mental aslyum and after three years she looks neat and the doctor says that she is alright and can get out from there. As she trudges out, she removes her hairband to leave the hair flowing (like Anniyan) and then says that she would never relent (like Neelambari). As you are so keen to see 'The End', this flashes on the screen - 'to be continued...'

Santhanam, as usual, has done good comedy on his part. S Ve Shekhar has been wasted, to say the least. Nayantara, who has reduced a lot of flab & Sandhya don't have much to do, especially the latter. Reema has done a commendable job in demanding scenes as an egoist. The vulgarity in the movie is also as much as you expect in a Simbu movie. Simbu has shown glimpses of his acting talent in some of the scenes, but there is not much of a scope. I still believe he can do far better than this as he has let himself down with such a storyless movie - I have confirmed with my friend as well that there was no trace of any story in the entire 3 hours and 15 minutes. I am not sure of what Simbu has got against some girls - he continues to convey that all women aren't worshippable. Like in Manmadhan, this movie also does not have a villain, but for Reema's sadism. The music is also a let down by Yuvan with just one or two songs good enough. There is too much of noise on the others and the background score is also not anywhere near his previous efforts.

The movie comes with the byline "He knows what to do". If you think that you know what to do, stay away from this cinema.

Update : I got this Tamil review of Vallavan in one of the forwards. Read this and then this.

The difference six days can make

2006-09-28T13:40:00.000+05:30

This was the news item on the front page of The Hindu on Friday, Sep 22, 2006.

This was the news item on the front page of The Hindu on Thursday, Sep 28, 2006.

I was stunned to see the newspaper this morning - more so because The Hindu had published the story at almost the same place as last week. Perhaps a clue...

Helps me in my self-belief that I should never vote in my lifetime.

Sillunu oru shock!

2006-09-19T13:10:00.000+05:30

To say the least, I was definitely shocked on seeing the below ad in The Hindu's Metro Plus yesterday.

How could that movie ever run for 100 days? Even if it does, for other reasons, how can a person watch it every day? That public who gave that opinian, is definitely something.

Boring mistakes

2006-09-14T17:48:00.000+05:30

I know, better than many people, that live ball-by-ball text commentary is a very tough and thankless job. But, if that's your job, you need to stop glaring mistakes just like the one we had today during the Ind v WI match.

Gayle got out and Lara came in for him, but still Gayle managed to bat out the rest of the over and infact he scored some boundaries in the next over too.

[Archives]

Sillunu Oru Kaadhal - a complete crap

2006-09-12T12:56:00.000+05:30

I restrained myself from writing this review yesterday as Surya & Jothika got wedded yesterday and on such an important day of their life, I wasn't willing to give such a bad opinion about their latest movie.

After all the hype, even before the movie's release, I was skeptical about the movie and it exactly turned out the way I had doubted. Some months back, when the shooting of the movie started, there were posters all around with Surya, Jo, Bhoomika. One of the posters which caught my eye had AR Rahman in it - I think sitting with a guitar. I was wondering why so much publicity for a man of such fame and calibre. Only now I realize that they did it because they were sure that he was the hero of the movie as there was nothing more in it. If the songs are removed, the movie itself isn't there. Infact, not all songs are enticing. The movie absolutely has no aim in it - and its a let down with such cast.

Surya (Gautham) & Bhoomika (Ishwarya @ Ishu) love each other while in college and they even marry in the registrar's office, but the very next minute they are separated by her politician-father. Surya is beaten up badly and isn't out of bed for sometime. Meanwhile, we understand that she is moved to some far away place out of Surya's reach. And then, to fulfil his uncle's wish, Surya (a bit reluctantly) marries Jothika (Kundavi) from a village and settles down in Mumbai. The couple get into a very happy life with their daughter, Ishu (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai connection?). Jothika happens to read her husband's old diary and comes to know of the Bhoomika-Surya relation. Without revealing to Surya, for all the love he has on her, decides to give him a day with Bhoomika. Goes around and finds her and invites her home without Surya's knowledge and then leaves both of them together and goes out for a day. A torrid bore gets even worse at this point of time for about 20-25 minutes and then she comes back home to realize that they both spend just an hour together as Surya loves Jothika more these days and there is no place for anyone else in him.

I wonder why AC Durai's name was mentioned as there is absolutely no story whatsoever. And the screenplay and direction have wrecked further havoc. As you would expect, there are scenes and some lyrics relevant to Surya-Jo's real life wedding. Munba Vaa... comes out as a wonderful melody, while Kummi Adi... is a nice country-side mix. Rahman's voice in Newyork Nagaram... is so captivating with some nicish and innovative picturization. Cinematography deserves a good mention definitely for being bright and colorful all through the movie.

One thing that was nice to me was that Surya drives a car that I own, though a different colour.

Wishing an eonian life

2006-09-11T10:36:00.000+05:30

Romba sokkaanathu intha jodinnu thaan, antha aathaa thaan serthuputtaa...
That's a lyric from the song Kummi Adi... from the movie Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. Whether it was deliberate or not, it suits the occasion very well today as Surya & Jothika get married for real. I happened to catch a few shots of the marriage on TV and they once again looked made-for-each-other. Generally, girls are made to look horrible with the bridal makeup, but Jothika was sparkling while Surya was smart as usual.
As most of Tamilnadu is doing, I also wish them a very happy & everlasting married life.

An alternate climax

2006-09-08T19:37:00.000+05:30

With Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu turning out to be a disappointment, lets rewind a bit as I managed to get this video which shows a different climax for Gautam Menon's Kaakha Kaakha. Though his justification for the original climax sounds good, I would have preferred to leave Maya alive.

A tribute to Steve

2006-09-08T13:22:00.000+05:30

With all due respects to Steve Irwin, I boast myself to be a smaller Steve - to my friends.

Steve feeding a croc with his 1 year old infant and that's me holding a croc with my less-than-two-years old son.

Holding a croc.

Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu - a definite disappointment

2006-08-29T21:38:00.000+05:30

Caught up with Gautam Menon's Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu (VV) on the second day after its release at Albert cinemas. Heavy rush as you would expect and it took a long time to get a parking space for my two-wheeler. The tickets were ready the previous day itself and so I was delighted to watch VV so early.

The start and the Karka karka... song along with the titles were very striking and I was happy again that I was inside the theatre watching them all. The movie seemed to move fast as a girl (d/o Prakashraj & Rajashree) is kidnapped and one of her fingers is sent to her house later. DCP Raghavan (Kamal) comes into the scene to investigate and figures out that she has been raped, murdered and buried. This happens in Keeranur in Tamilnadu. The DCP vows to catch the crook, though the motives are unknown. After 6 months, the girl's parents move to New York for want of peace of mind and soon they are murdered too in the foreign land, but not buried by the killer.

Now, the movie takes a different turn with Kamal going to New York. The most significant turn is that it gets slower and boring. Probably, Gautam Menon was so overwhelmed by Kamal, thought his presence would do wonders and didn't bother to handle the screenplay better. You even press that button in your watch to check the time and the interval is not there yet. There is a flashback which shows Kamal's bond with Prakashraj (who is also a police officer) and more importantly you also hear the excellent Paartha Mudhal... song. Kamalini Mukherjee appears just for the song and is killed by the villain immediately, who is later encountered to death by Kamal. As Kayalvizhi, Kamalini looks very cute, but too little time on screen to pass any judgement on her skills. As you would expect, there is no finding fault with Kamal's acting - romance, action, grief - his versatility is underlined every now and then. How could a man of his age look so jaunty and fit into any role? To me, he is the greatest ever actor and I don't even want to talk about any doubts. With such a genius at his disposal, Gautam has let everyone down with this product, especially after the Kaakha Kaakha success.

In New York, Kamal saves Aradhana (Jothika) who tries to commit suicide and gets to know that she has had a bitter broken marriage. Later, he accepts Jo and her 11-month old daughter as any hero does. He also investigates the murders along with a NYPD officer, played by Lev Gorn. Both of them find more buried dead bodies, all females - raped and murdered in similar styles to the one found in Keeranur. Now you think, "Oh ok, there's something here and it should be a nice suspense until the hero eventually grabs them by the collar". This is when the greatest disappointment shows. The culprits are shown to us and they kill two policemen as we get the much-awaited snacks break.

Soon after the break, Kamal & Lev zero in on them and enter their locked house. The culprits also come home later and during the confrontation, they accept all their misdoings, but aren't willing to give up. This completely results in tortoising the movie. Then, the villain's justifications, not-so-unusual hero-villain challenges, kidnapping the heroine, chases, some fighting and shooting and finally the villain is killed.

Harris Jeyaraj, somehow has the knack of giving very good tunes for Gautam and has not disappointed. The background scores are laudable and the songs are very good too. New York has been visualized beautifully. Other than that, not many positives to drive home about - atleast nothing that comes to my mind right now. Worthy of waiting for the DVD instead of rushing to the theatres.

Sporting Brilliance - Adore or Scorn?

2006-08-17T15:05:00.000+05:30

Rohit Brijnath's lesson on today's The Hindu was a very nice read. In a nutshell he says - Sometimes it's good to halt for a moment, inhale athletes' brilliance, and marvel at what they do.

But, as always there are two sides to any coin. Some would agree to his words and believe that the internationals are a class apart and we should admire them even when they fall at some hurdles. On the other hand, one can also argue that we, as fans, have the right to complain as they are international stars only because they are equipped to avoid those hurdles. Also, they let down the faith of millions of people when they fall. Still, there are some people whom we love despite their failures - Sampras, Schumacher, Tendulkar,...

Whatever stand one takes, I just loved reading these lines - may be because I am a Dravid fan, as you may already know.

Cross-posted at Cricket24x7.

Blogging Personality

2006-08-14T12:29:00.000+05:30

I don't know how far it's true - but something for each blogger to read. Check yours.

Your Blogging Type is Pensive and Philosophical

You blog like no one else is reading...

You tend to use your blog to explore ideas - often in long winded prose.

Easy going and flexible, you tend to befriend other bloggers easily.

But if they disagree with once too much, you'll pull them from your blogroll!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Long live military hospital!

2006-07-11T13:43:00.000+05:30

Ever since I moved out of Trichy, my cricketing activities have diminished - playing & umpiring. This, inspite of me spending most of my career till date very close to cricket. I have been longing to play cricket atleast during the weekends - but haven't found out good company and/or good grounds. Last week, I managed to find a group of friends who play cricket on saturdays and decided to try playing with them. Hence, I joined them to play, early last saturday at a ground adjacent to the military hospital near Nandambakkam. More than the cricket, I was pained by another act which has really disturbed me for the past 3-4 days and I hope that someone really sets these stupid things right in our country, very soon.

We started playing and we had almost finished an innings when one guy turned up late. When enquired, he had overslept and also had had a fall just before getting into the ground. A stray dog has ran amok and he couldn't apply the brakes in time and hence had a lot of bruises, a real lot, all over his body and his pant was torn too. Needless to say, the vehicle had its own share of bruises which can be set right at any mechanic shop. Immediately, one of the kinder souls took him to the nearby military hospital to get some first aid - primarily to get the bleeding bruises to be cleaned up and possibly get an injection, if need be.

After a very short while, both of them returned and I was shocked to hear their words - "Not for civilians". This is what they have heard from the people at the hospital. I agree, the injury was not life threatening, but still, one expects some humanity atleast in hospitals. I expect it to be more in military hospitals given that they really know (?) the value of lives - be it civilians or military men. Do we need this partiality in our country where we keep saying that a man in Kanyakumari sheds tears for someone totally unknown in Kashmir for sacrificing his life for the nation?

There is definitely a need to repair some rules for the sake of humanity, atleast. Upgrading hospitals aren't of any use if they don't attend to the needy.

US visa from the Brits

2006-07-06T13:07:00.000+05:30

From when did the British High Commission start to issue US visas?
PS: Thanks to Shreedharan for noticing this.

Year 0000

2006-06-06T12:52:00.000+05:30

Long time, no see? Here you go.

New logo for Anil's Reliance

2006-05-18T16:32:00.000+05:30

I happened to land here and know that the Anil Ambani group of reliance has got a new logo with an emphasis on A.
It looked fine until I read the below...

I wasn't aware of the fact that the English language decided to make e as a capital letter.

Thambi - a violent plead to end violence

2006-05-17T18:00:00.000+05:30

I may be very late to comment about this movie, but I got the time only yesternight to watch it and I was very surprised when I noticed that almost 90% of the theatre was filled up for a week-day night show especially after so many days of its release.

To start with, Madhavan has done a commendable job in doing the character of Thambi Velu Thondaiman. As usual, he fights against the social evils. But, he has been portrayed well here who thinks before he acts. He is not just a action hero who goes about ruthlessly killing the villian's henchmen. The hero's parents and sister fall prey to the villian's revenge for Thambi's act of identifying a murderer. Thambi gets angry and rushes to kill the villian. But, changes mind on seeing a family for the villian and doesn't want to continue with the violence and hence starts the full-stop by pleading them to give away the violent ways, but in vain. He is beaten up and thrown with garbage and that's when he decides to oppose the villain in all his acts and from then on Thambi is a big thorn in their flesh. Finally, he helps even the villain's family in riot-time and makes the villain change his mind and then the climax follows.

Director Seeman clearly conveys we people are afraid of some acts around us and we don't have the guts to question them or oppose them, fearing life. As Manivannan's character utters, though some of us have the strength to question evils and rowdyism, we don't do it due to family ties. It reminded me of many instances when I have wanted to fight and didn't actually - there is a life to be led trouble-free as there are stomachs to be fed. At any cost, rowdyism & violence should not continue and its not a good sign for the future is what Seeman has conveyed and has done a cracking job at that.

The songs aren't bad either. Ennama Devi... is quite nice and Sudum Nilavu... rendered by Unnikrishnan and Harini is the best.

Of courses, there are some blips too. Some scenes make you think that this movie is a poorman's Anniyan, though there is no connection to split personalities. Vadivelu has been wasted as there is not much of comedy in the movie. And Pooja, though looks cute from some angles, is clearly a misfit as of now. She has just appeared on screen and has forgotten to act. The director was probably so engrossed in the subject that he didn't bother about making her act. At times, Madhavan's rotund stares and screaming dialogues upset you a bit, but its worth taking it for such a good movie.

Official Website

Me?

2006-05-12T13:48:00.000+05:30

I was just browsing through the internet when I came across this site which had something to say about me.

The Pilgrimage

2006-05-02T13:11:00.000+05:30

I was forced to agree to one mottai for my son, though I was against the idea initially. Along with the mottai trip, I had promised to take my wife to as many temples as possible, as she has never travelled much before and hasn't seen places. This year, we decided to dedicate the outing to temples and make it a pilgrimage. Again, I am not a very religious/pious person - infact, I am agnostic. I was completely comfortable with the tag of a glorified driver for the entire trip and I loved to drive my new Maruti Swift all along the 1018 kilometres we travelled to visit many temples, which actually counted up to 34 temples. Many friends & relatives wondered (still wonder), how did Ganesh visit so many temples. I should attribute it to my wife, as I was happy to take her wherever she wanted to go.

Though, I didn't do the real worship as others do in those temples, I enjoyed all those stories in the form of sthala puranams. Almost every priest in each one of these temples seemed to say that their temple was the most sacred of all and you get to wash away all sins by offering prayers there. Oh, what an easy way to wipe off our faux pas. Let there be Gods or not, but I certainly believe that going to many temples and by offering prayers and money, one will not be relieved of their sinful acts.

I should also not forget to tell you that I relished the calm and quiet atmosphere and tranquility of some of those temples along with the ancient architectural beauts.

Couldn't resist this time...

2006-03-28T16:36:00.000+05:30

Its been a long time since I spotted these, not just they have learnt, but I was getting fed up. I generally don't bother about the mistakes in the live ball-by-ball commentaries as I personally know how difficult it is to keep up with the happening, especially when all you have to depend is the television with those numerous ad-breaks. But, today the master really got to my nerves when I wanted updates from 3 good matches and the disappointing aspect was that not even a single match was getting updated properly.

Lot of traffic and the servers couldn't hold up, but why not the commentators too - just as Jagadish pointed this out about getting the rules right, I still could not figure out whether it was Clark or Kasprowicz (see pic. below) who got rid of Gibbs at Durban today.

Blogs are certainly a boon!

2006-03-22T17:25:00.000+05:30

I had voiced my views sometime back and The Hindu was generous enough to publish it today in Chennai's Metro Plus. View my voice here - its about blogs' usefulness.

Did we all wait for this?

2006-03-03T17:06:00.000+05:30

I am not a great politics person and I don't care about who's ruling my state or the country - this definitely does not mean that I don't care for my country. Of course, I do. But, I just couldn't care about these people who hardly do any good and never fulfill their once-in-five-years promises. Hence, I have never voted in any elections till-date and also have been very firm in my thought that I should never vote in my lifetime. I am sure there would be a few people against this notion of mine. My logic is simple - if I have to select someone as my leader, I would have expectations from him and I am sure they cannot meet even the most fundamental of those expectations. But, from this morning, I have started to contemplate about voting for a 'young' party which might contest in the forthcoming elections. Though, I am not sure, as yet.

A refreshing news piece caught my eye in The Hindu this morning and it really fascinated me and hence the above change of thought. We have all seen a lot of movies where the politicians do a lot of good to the people and even some young learned people taking up politics for the sake of society and not for their family. The Lok Paritran party could make that a reality, if everything goes well. I sincerely hope that good politician isn't an oxymoron, probably a few years down from now and I wish the new party all the very best.

PS: Is that you who said "nee vote potta yenna, podaatti yenna?"

Bissextile day in 2006?

2006-03-02T16:37:00.000+05:30

Even before US and India finalized the nuclear deal, there were lot of hopes raised as it was Bush's first visit to India. Infact, workpermit.com started to have hopes about getting one extra day in the calendar even in a non-leap year.

Proof of Marriage

2006-02-22T20:23:00.000+05:30

If you people remember that I was married again earlier this month, here's the proof.

Any of you reading this want to check if your wedding has an online presence, try this page belonging to the registration department. But, I already know a friend who's marriage isn't getting listed there for some reason known to no one. Ironically, he was the one who showed me this website.

Longing to watch RDB

2006-02-03T12:28:00.000+05:30

Its been a long time since I wanted to watch a hindi movie. The last one I remember was Lagaan, though I have seen a few inbetween. Ever since I read the synopsis of Rang De Basanti, I have been eager to see the movie. Today, the review on the movie in The Hindu has increased my urge. For now, let me just hope to see the movie soon and come up with my version of the review. Probably this was the sentence that has pushed me.

Got married again!

2006-02-02T13:47:00.000+05:30

It has been 3 years and 210 days since I got married for the first time in this life. It has been great to live with my first wife and my life has completely changed for the better. We even have a son who is just more than a year old who has further illuminated our lives. But, we both decided that we have had enough and wanted to re-marry and I didn't trust Feb 2, 2006 would be the date for it. What a surprise? It happened today. Yes, we got married again today officially at the registrar's office. My son has had the privilege to witness his parents' wedding.

It was partly my mistake too as I never bothered about getting my marriage registered, though it happened with consent from all sides. It was about 2 years after my marriage that I realised that I should register it for various reasons. Knowing our government office formalities and also concerned about the delay, I was wondering how to go about it. I was very careful as I didn't have proper address-proof documents too. But, to my delight, there was someone (a close relative), who offered help and said that he can get it done in no time through his contacts. So, we filled up the form and attached our wedding invitation and even a photograph. I, honestly, don't remember when was this as it was long long ago, so long ago, nobody knows how long ago. After that I have been asking my wife to follow it up with that relative (obviously related to her) and have been hearing 'very soon' 'very soon' for a long time. As I took more than 2 years, he also took his own sweet time and finally made it to happen today and I certainly owe a big thanks to that relative. Right now, I have to go to that office again this evening to collect the marriage certificate.

We got married, lived happily, were blessed with a son, got re-married and hope to live happily forever.

The Golden Tooth

2006-01-31T13:13:00.000+05:30

My wife is so delighted on seeing gold jewels which obviously doesn't fascinate me so much, especially when I see the rates. She gets excited everytime some gold is added to our household. Today, I added some gold, but not to the great excitement of my wife. Yes, today, I got a golden tooth fixed in me. To be exactly right, its just a golden coloured crown placed on a half-decayed tooth after filling it up and thus preventing further damage to that tooth.

This is just a simple root canal treatment but the reason for the mention this time is that about 10 days ago, I happened to swallow the earlier crown on the tooth made of Nickel and Chromium. My wife obviously was scared as it had sharp edges. Somehow, I wasn't entirely scared and I was right when my dentist confirmed that its nothing to worry. The last words from my dentist to me today still rings in my ears - "Don't swallow it this time. Though its not extremely dangerous, its not nice to do it twice."

2482 > 2500?

2006-01-30T16:59:00.000+05:30

After the Lahore & Faisalabad Tests, this is the time to talk and write about huge partnerships as the batsmen have had a merry merry time. And so, last week's Numbers Game talks about Prolific partnerships and there's no surprise that we get to see the prolific mistake this time also.

How did Inzamam & Yousuf get in that table there if the minimum qualification was 2500 runs? Keep up the great work, my dear friends.

Work is worship, holiday isn't.

2006-01-26T16:28:00.000+05:30

Its extremely hard for me to understand the reason for getting a holiday on January 26, though I have enjoyed it while in school. I can understand Independance Day because lots of people fought for it and died for the cause. I did some Googling and got to read the origin of Republic Day - "India had become a geographical entity on August 15, 1947, but it was on January 26, 1950 that it became a nation in the true sense, with a constitution and elected representatives of the people."

I agree, its a day of high importance. Doesn't it mean that we should all be working to show the respect for our country. On any day, I think the best way to show respect is to work sincerely and that would help you become more socially responsible which would inturn help the country.

I had anyway decided to work on this day this year and hope to do so in the forthcoming years too. I couldn't let my team go too, as my non-Indian client expects us to work. But, the most irritating aspect at work today was the way my team and I had to park the vehicles behind the building so that it doesn't show off that some people are working. We also had to go out for lunch - if the lunch vehicle comes in, someone might smell that there are people working inside. The reason I heard was that the company had to shell-out some bribe or fine if some officials found out that people are working today. I think this is entirely nonsensical. The government may have every right to declare a holiday, but cannot coerce anyone not to work, if they wish to work.

This does not mean that I am not patriotic. I am proud to be an Indian every day, not just Jan 26 or Aug 15.

Aaru - Review

2006-01-19T11:16:00.000+05:30

Surya has tried to do a Vijay in his latest film Aaru. His last effort at that was a flop with Sree. This time, its better than the last time but still needs a lot of tuning. Director Hari is becoming too predictable and you get to see a ratha aaru very often. This time, he has given quite a racy entertainment, but with a few glitches and drags.

Surya doesn't fit in the shoes of a rowdy role yet - probably a few more miles to go. A Sanjay Ramaswamy or Anbuselvan suits him much better. His tone and dialogue delivery isn't good enough for the local slang and he doesn't get that Vijay-like style in uttering those slangs. Aaru would have been a wonderful script for Vijay and his fans, but it is not bound to be a great hit with Surya playing Aarumugam. Surya shines in the stunt sequences and has the physique to fight those gundas and its not looking like a joke.

What is the Censor Board doing for obscene dialogues? There seems to be too many in this movie and its muted only at very few occurences. A few years back there was a huge roar about the usage of vakka** in a Bharathiraja movie, but this time no one seems to talk about the usage of *tha in this movie - does this mean that the public has improved and don't bother about such language or has such language become way of life? If not the censor board, I think the directors and heroes themselves have a responsibility and they shouldn't invest in such lewdness. More irritating when it is mouthed by women, by Ishwarya in this case.

One good thing about the movie is not using Trisha as just a glamour-doll as she has something to do too. Though, she hasn't done complete justice to it is another matter. Its high time she improved her acting skills and dancing - dance isn't just about moving the limbs. But I feel, she looks her best paired with Surya - Mounam Pesiyathey and this one. There is senti mix also to the movie through Malawika Avinash, but with her good looks and her decent acting abilities I think that she's been wasted for such a trivial role.

Devi Sriprasad's tunes are quite hearable but not great hits. Those who like the kuthu songs will like Freeya Vudu... and Soda Bottle... and the picturisation of Dhurogam... is nice, but reminds you of a song from Ghillli.

Overall, the movie isn't as bad as some suggest, but not a great movie too. Good enough to watch it once for the entertainment, but could have abbreviated the violence.

What else...?

2006-01-19T10:01:00.000+05:30

Aren't you fed up with this? But, they aren't and they continue with their usual bugs and it really makes me wonder if anyone checks anything there before it goes live to millions of users across the globe.

This time its on a newsletter which is sent out to watch the Ind-Pak series on Dish Network - actually it should have been sent *only* to subscribers who live in North America, let's forgive that atleast. But, wouldn't they notice the image flip on the newsletter which is archived here.

Thavamaai Thavamirunthu... - a rush review

2006-01-11T16:12:00.000+05:30

A movie from Cheran shoulders a lot of responsibilities, especially after Autograph. As far as the titles go, Thavamaai Thavamirunthu... is my favourite. I could feel something inside whenever I hear/read that title. But, as far as I can see, the movie could have been lot more better. It doesn't need me to say that this movie won't be a big hit as Cheran's earlier movie. Probably because, almost everyone was able to see an 'Autograph' in their life while only a few can see a 'Thavamaai Thavamirunthu' in their life. At the same time, I also feel that Cheran could have given something more to the movie. Can we call it complacency on his part after his whopping success with Autograph?

* Toooooo slow, yes emotional dramas can't be fast-paced, but this one just tortoises its way all over
* Autograph effect can be seen in too many scenes and shots and you could not think that this is a different movie
* Cheran's acting seems to get monotonous - many of his scenes remind me of Autograph. My opinion of him being a very good actor is slowing fading as I could sense the staleness
* Yenna Paarkkirai song picturization - slightly crossing the lines in a Cheran movie
* Music - such sentimental fares touch you more with better background scores

* Rajkiran - too realistic acting
* Saranya - realistic again
* Cheran - wonderful screenplay for a very simple theme and superb characterization
* Padmapriya - fits perfectly into the role
* Senthil (Radio Mirchi RJ) - does not seem to be new to acting

What is a hundred?

2006-01-09T17:07:00.000+05:30

I have been, right from childhood, taught that '100' is hundred. If anyone who has been taught '87' is hundred, please contact me immediately. Incase, if you are also taught in the same way as I have been, you would be wondering what on earth did I see/hear to get this doubt, its from our same old beloved Mistake Master.

The headline on the homepage...

The actual scorecard...

Sivakasi - a quick glance

2005-12-29T19:42:00.000+05:30

Managed to sneak into Sivakasi last week. Being released for Diwali and Standard Fireworks being a major sponsor, the movie was totally like an electric cracker. Not any 1000 or 5000 wala, but a two-and-a-half hour wala with a short break inbetween - once its over, you forget it, go and fetch another cracker to have the fun. While watching the movie, you could sense the Vijay aura all through the movie. It had the usual mass entertaining stuff and nothing more. I think, Vijay is getting a little monotonous by giving very very similar movies most of the time in wanting to just satisfy his mass and keep up his image. I am sure, he can do much better roles where he can do full justice to the character which needs some acting talent and not just do some gimmicks and fight the evil doers or just dance for a few songs or take great oaths to destroy evil or pacifying the crying female folk of the family. Though he is enjoying superstardom and his films are huge hits irrespective of the story, screenplay, etc. But, being Vijay, he has to break the sameness and give us more justice.

Yet another editorial slur

2005-12-21T12:22:00.000+05:30

Just yesterday, I was wondering why I haven't been able to spot mistakes and today it comes. Both ICC and Ponting have condemned the racial remarks against the touring South Africans by some spectators, I would like to condemn the editorial policies of our dear friends on reading the Ponting news item. They might realize and add an 'against' in the last sentence, but I have caught it before they do.

Happy Birthday to the cute little prince!

2005-12-13T19:16:00.000+05:30

Very quietly, Siddharth got past his 1st birthday last week. There were no parties, no cake-cuttings, no special sweets - though my wife took him to the temple in the morning. I had time to write about him reaching 100 days on the day he reached, but now work has increased and I don't find much time to blog. The Ayush Homam happened on Nov 29, though the real birthday is Dec 9.

Our lives have really changed in the last one year. We have enjoyed a lot of joyous & happy moments during this time. When I am very tired and really want to take rest and sleep is when his playtime starts and it is such a wonderful feeling to sacrifice rest and play with him - it helps me burn calories too. Whenever we are out, just the thought that Sid is back home when we get back brings smiles in the heart. The way he smiles on seeing me when I am back from office, even late in the night is divine. To call him paapa sir is something I would love to do all the time. The different postures of his sleeping, his playing with the red helmet and there are lots & lots more, which I may fail to key down right now, but they never cease to fascinate & mesmerize me when Sid does them. The way he gets destructive with his toys and the tub and the way he throws all the toys insouciantly is a delight to watch. I am still not able to figure out if he is left-handed or right-handed, as he uses his left hand when he throws with disdain. If someone who reads this know when a person becomes a particular handed, please leave a comment.

Sid started of with Jaagruthi's dresses and now thankfully, Prabhu and Madhuri send a lot of dresses for him from the US of A and Sid looks exceedingly cute and precious to our eyes atleast. I, infact, have a separate day-wise blog for Sid and there is already some pressure on me to stop it to be a daily.

Read the title again, it (in)directly would tell you that I am the King!

ABCD - Review

2005-12-08T21:44:00.000+05:30

Got time to catch up with ABCD on tuesday night. The director has tried to redo Azhagan, but with quite some changes and has its own positives and negatives. I couldn't see the movie as an emotional or sentimental fare as some newspapers reviewed.

The story revolves around Anand (Shaam) & Chandra (Sneha), though it is said to revolve around Bharathi (new-face Nandhana) & Divya (Pudukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan Aparna) as well. One guy and three girls, all have their own share of problems and letdowns in life. All the three women get to meet the hero and happen to fallen in love, as you would expect. The hero falls in love with only one of them though he is very friendly with the others and finally manages to get away from two of them and joins hands with the one he loves.

Voice modulation is one big problem in Sharavana Subayya's movies - do you remember Ajith saying "ithu kathaialla, karruppu sarithiram"? This time, its a bit of an overdose with Sneha's father character having a totally irritating voice all over the movie and Shaam's low tone also is a bit disgusting at times. Sneha and her father, being an orthodox brahmin family, could have spoken the brahmin language properly all through the movie. The mother character doesn't do any damage as she hardly has a dialogue to utter.

The Bharathi character fails to impress in many ways. In an attempt to project her as being bold, one could just end up listening to some gross dialogues. Her reasons to fall with love with Anand is also not so convincing. Divya's portrayal is the biggest question mark. I could not understand the job she is into - one could see her in front of the computer and can very well think of her as a support executive or something similar. Suddenly, she is shown as a girl working in a pub and has to bear the brunt of some drunkards. Being an orphan and having been grown up in the church and being so daring, why should she be working in a place which warrants her to expose herself?

Vadivel's comedy isn't exactly enterprising - the director has tried well to make it blend with the movie and has failed miserably. The songs are a complete misfit, though the picturisations have been innovative.

Sneha has done a commendable job as usual. Many say that Shaam carries the 'unlucky' tag. He would continue to carry it, as long as he doesn't make more efforts to improve his acting skills. Somehow, I feel that he can improve and he is not a man who cannot improve like some other so-called 'heroes' in the trade. He has failed in this round though there was a lot of scope.

Not a great movie, as I expected it to be - but wasn't a bore too.

Invisible Disappointment

2005-12-06T09:38:00.000+05:30

Yesterday evening it was, when our company recognised employees with awards for the last 2 quarters. As our team had won the Best Team award last time around, guys were very confident of defending it successfully. But, I always felt that we wouldn't defend our award and it happened that way. Still, I personally feel that we, as a team, have done a few million times better than what we did last time. Still, the award has eluded us. The closest our team came this time was when we were in the last four nominee list of teams. Another small consolation is when our CEO mentioned that it was very difficult to leave out our team.

Surprise, Surprise - in the Best Manager category, two names were shortlisted and I would be dishonest if I say that I wasn't delighted to see my photo and name flashed on the big screen. But, (un)fortunately the other person won the coveted award.

I still feel that I went to the ceremony without expecting anything. But, when I rode back home, I started to have the empty feeling. Is it because of not being able to defend a title or is it because of seeing another person win a personal award from the closest possible position or have I let my team down? The mind would have a few equations for the next few days after which I would forget and get along with the normal routine. Should I say that I have expected something without even knowing it and hence the disappointment?

Finally, the satisfactory bit was the Best Employee awards for two of my team members - exactly as I had nominated.

Incredible Illusion

2005-11-10T18:55:00.000+05:30

If you watch the above images from your seat in front of the computer, Mr. Angry is on the left, and Mrs. Calm is on the right.

Get up from your seat, and move back 12 feet, and they switch places - SURPRISE !

I believe this illusion was created by Phillippe G. Schyns and Aude Oliva of the University of Glasgow.

Does this prove that we may not be seeing what's actually there, all the time?

Thanks to someone, who sent this 'forward' to me.

Laziness? No, No.

2005-10-31T16:13:00.000+05:30

Some years back, I used to write down the list of people to whom I have to send a Diwali greeting card and then estimate a reasonable amount and manage to get some money from amma/appa and buy the cards and patiently write their addresses, stick the necessary stamps and post it. All this atleast a week before Diwali. In the recent past few years, I have been promptly going to e-card sites and sending Diwali wishes to friends/relatives those who bothered to have an email address and more importantly passed that on to me. But now, even going to e-card sites and sending wishes to everyone has become a big work. To make things more simpler & easier, here it is
Wish You All A Happy & Safe Diwali !

After London, its New Delhi

2005-10-29T20:07:00.000+05:30

Happened to surf channels as usual and managed to catch the unfortunate news of bomb blasts in Delhi. Logged on to the net immediately and came to know that it could be as much as 4 blasts at 4 different places. The number of casualities being said right now would certainly increase by tomorrow or even late tonight.

The next thing I did was to check about the relatives in Delhi and was relieved to get an all safe message from them.

Settled down to hear more news on TV and saw the Delhi CM's message - "Sad day for Delhi" - this, to me, was absolutely intelligent and infact a great eye-opener to many people in the world. Next came the other fabulous message. This time, from the PM stating - "People should stay calm and terrorism cannot defeat the people of India". As the PM's message flashed on the TV screen, the visual showed a man down in tears and crying quite vociferously, probably having lost one/some of his kins. How can you make him think that terrorism cannot defeat India and India will surely win the war against terrorism?

Till this point of time, no terrorist group has claimed to be responsible for this mishap. Stay tuned to a lot of TV channels and websites to know more details.

One last question to the President - if incase the people responsible for this are spotted, should we pardon them without a death sentence? Probably, yes, we should give them death, as sentences seem to be pretty long these days.

Some things don't change

2005-10-26T13:46:00.000+05:30

There has to be room for mistakes, or else this world would become ideal. But, there should be an effort to curtail mistakes. I am still confused as to where the 3rd ODI between India & Sri Lanka is scheduled (see images below) - courtesy, who else!

IMDb extended

2005-10-19T19:48:00.000+05:30

As usual, thanks to Jagadish, I got introduced to an addictive game using IMDb. Though there are some round about routes to some links, its really interesting. If you are really wanting to do something and kill time, but not work, go ahead and try it.

What's in a name ?

2005-10-18T15:03:00.000+05:30

Almost everyone whom I knew was against me when I wanted to name my son, Dravid. Eventhough my wife agreed to it (probably for my sake), we went with the name Siddharth which was 1 on her list and on my brother's list, but last in my list of 2. Now, Siddharth/Sid has fit him and he is a delight to be with. As any parents would, we love him for whatever he does and the name isn't a worry at all and don't complain about my son being Siddharth, though I would have loved it to be Dravid still.

Isn't in my mind too these days much, but was reminded of it when I read about Walid Elias Kai who lives in Sweden who has named his son after something he really adores. Probably, the company can start to pay royalty to them. Some pictures of Kai's son here. Hats off Walid !

2005-10-07T12:15:00.000+05:30

Another mistake by the leaders, but you can call it a small one. This week's friday column gets the chance to carry it this time. In the table showing the 'Best bowlers in wins for a captain' the second column says batsman - you need not laugh for it as there are a lot of other things to laugh about.

They had bothered to change it in the first column (Bowler/Captain), but had missed in the second.

Not from the home of cricket on the internet, especially with two people working on one piece.

2005-10-05T18:22:00.000+05:30

Personally, I am a believer in a home-maker wife/mom. I happened to come across this post by an ex-lawyer which spoke about leaving the child with a baby-sitter and the mom going to work. I enjoyed reading it as she had described every detail extremely well. But, what hurt me was when she looked upon herself as a (mere?) baby-sitter instead of a mom, by saying...

I strongly feel that however good the baby-sitter is, he/she cannot be a mom. I am not blaming moms who go to work as there would be several reasons and justifications for their respective cases. Most cases, it may turn out to be money and in some cases the woman feeling empty by sitting at home. But, I feel (you agree or not) that children who have a working mom miss something invaluable in life. I agree with grown-ups, but when they are less than 8-9 years old, the mom is very essential. These are exactly what I wanted to convey with my comments to Sujatha's post. I don't know as to how she took my views. I was extremely lucky to have a home-maker mom. I am not a male chauvinist and you can check with my wife on that. Most luckily for me, my wife agrees with me in this issue and she is a perfect home-maker and spends all her time with our almost 10-month old son - Thanks Laks !

I have read somewhere that God made moms as he cannot be there with everyone all the time. Incase, if any of you happen to email or call or write a letter or sms him, please convey that he now needs to look for better alternatives as all moms are not able to replace his role in their child's life.

2005-09-24T16:04:00.000+05:30

Yet another hot day - felt it very badly today as we just now came back home after some shopping. My wife is infact very tired and sleeping and this internet mania especially with the broadband being the pudhu pondaatti keeps me in front of the computer and type this for a few people to read or may be even just me reading it again in the black background and white font. I need to make sure that I pass this post URL to some of my friends atleast and threaten them to read it and make them believe that good luck would be on their side if they passed this URL to 10 people within 24 hrs. and of course bad luck, if they didn't do it.

A weekend is always great especially when you have a 5-day week. You would hardly notice the sunday passing by in a 6-day week. I am happy in that way. But, the week that passed by was a bit extra strainful with some extra load - probably even God doesn't know about the existence of some clients, but I know and I handle them. Does this mean I am greater than God? No, not for this, but for putting up with some people and things daily. May be not, as everyone has problems with people around them and all of them continue to live in harmony, and fight. Yennada thathuvam pesaraannu yosikeereenga, theriyuthu..summa oru bandha thaanga - forget it. Ippo kooda paarunga, I finished a tin of Diet Coke. Ithu bandha illavey illeenga, less than 1 calorie - athaan!

One of my friends is leaving to the US tonight and so I have go and meet him now and have to hand over a few things to reach my people in the US. Prabhu & Madhuri, hope your are listening, when my friend returns, you have to send back stuff from the US for me.

I have one more day left in the weekend, when I have to go and pay the metro water tax. Yes, you read it right - metro water! We have hardly got it or used it in this house but still end up paying those taxes on time. Sheesh, don't I pay income tax too when I am not entirely happy about my income - manager listening? Then what, spend some time with my wife & little Sid and watch some Indhiya tholaikaatchigalil mudhanmuraiyaaga.. and then that bad sunday night when I have to wake up to the same one year old work. Anyways, I start the week expecting that next friday evening!

Read the entire post? Cursing yourself - don't do it yet, I would transfer this to another blog where just the name would be ample proof of what this is.

2005-09-20T09:52:00.000+05:30

Its been a year since I moved to this work and I have seen lots of ups and downs in this one year here. New responsibilities and new letdowns - its all been there. I love it for some reason beyond explanation though my complaints supersede everything at times. Yes, as I had said last year, the world has been slightly different with respect to work, but my personal world has completely changed since the arrival of Sid.

2005-09-14T18:33:00.000+05:30

For once I had popups enabled after a long time in my browser and the first pop I saw was this and it links to this page.

With popups already being irritants to the users, the message and the graphic should be really catchy to get 'that' click. Simple, Super, Special Sixers!!! - why three exclamatory marks ? Its an ad promo for a Test series' six zone and both the players are shown in ODI attire. Forget clothing, but it could have been a batting image of Taibu atleast. Incase you click and get into the six zone, the first thing that strikes you is - what's the point? Is it the website's fault of selling such pointless features (if I may call it) or is it the advertiser/agency at fault for sponsoring 'anything' to just be on the net. I hold Cricinfo & Maruti at high esteem and so I have bothered to scribble about it.

The second one I saw was this.

What's the name - Sachin's Spin or Sachin Spins? The promo is clearly ambiguous. Such a leading site cannot afford such slipups.

With online advertising reaching greater heights, some people really forget the term quality in pursuit of money. I agree everything boils down to money, but I don't think a site can afford to lose users with cheap ads. In such cases, where would the money come from in the long run ?

2005-09-11T19:12:00.000+05:30

Having heard a lot of thoughts about the various broadband service providers, I safely decided to go with the known devil - BSNL's Data One. I got it installed at home yesterday after filling up the online registration atleast 3 to 4 months ago. But, it has got materialised only after submitting a request in person at the BSNL office last month. In this 24 hours or so, I am very satisfied with the speed though I still hear people crib about BSNL's service. From what I have heard, it seems that BSNL is the best amongst the lot. I can only hope that the speed remains good most of the time and I stay satisfied.

2005-08-30T14:56:00.000+05:30

Thanks to Jagadish, I happened to go to this link (should have been this)and its the best match report I have ever read, though no one can question the factuality of it.

2005-08-30T11:26:00.000+05:30

As Hurricane Katrina hit the US Gulf Coast and with New Orleans floating, I felt very sorry (what else can I do) for the affected people and started wondering why the calamity causer was named Katrina ? Is there any underworld hand in it, influenced by Salman Khan? On Googling, I realised that the naming of hurricanes started in 1953, although hurricanes have been around for a long time. At first, they only used female names. People would use the names of there girlfriends, wives, and daughters. One hurricane was named after Bess Truman, the first lady of president Truman. In 1979, a woman's organization started protesting that men's names should also be used to name hurricanes. Since then, six lists of names have been created. Now at the beginning of each season, a new list is drawn up. They start with names that begin with "A" and slowly go down the list. When a hurricane has caused enough damage and destruction, its name is retired and never used again. More elaborate story here and the list of hurricane names here.

2005-08-23T11:34:00.000+05:30

After more than 2 months of its release, I obliged director Shankar's request and watched the much hyped Anniyan in the theatre yesternight. The message this time from Shankar is about each and every individual realising his social responsibilities and be more humane. He has used Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) to make his case more interesting and confusing. On the whole, though you could sense that its a Shankar movie, even if you miss the titles, there are enough scenes which don't carry the Shankar stamp. Even MPD isn't handled as well as Sidney Sheldon did it in 'Tell Me Your Dreams'. Needless to say, it was a remarkable effort by him to characterise split personality with words. Who can forget Ashley Patterson ?

Coming back to the movie, the songs also aren't as great as you expect from a Shankar movie, clearly placing the Harris-Shankar combo at a lower step than the Rahman-Shankar combo. Kumari..'s visuals attract very much, but I feel the song (lyrics/music) and the video does not go well together. Andangkaakka.. is a good hit though it reminds you of some Shankar's earlier songs. Iyengar Veetu Azhagey.. could well have been Iyengar Aathu Azhagey.., as there is so much emphasis on brahminical talk all through the movie. Talking about the language and accent, Vikram has done quite a good job at it whereas Sada (or her dubbing voice) very clearly could not get the iyengar accent right. I was really shocked at Shankar not taking much care about this.

Is it mandatory that the lead female character of such a action movie should always be insane ? How can Sada, hailing from such an orthodox family, attend a show like that (where Remo is introduced) and even more baffling is how can she fall in love with Remo ? There is no scene explaining that she hates orthodoxy and wants to be an ultra-modern girl. The crazy modern bits-and-pieces outfits don't fit on Sada. There seemed to little sense on her part, when she asks about Remo's background before completely loving him. But, how does just a blind back-walk across heavy traffic make her accept him ? Another blunder, I felt was how can you set a time for an alter ego to appear, when they announce that Anniyan would appear at a particular time/date ? And also, I could not comprehend why Prakash Raj & Vivek always arrived at the murder spot in disguise.

The positives about the movie is the fast-paced screenplay after the interval, Vivek's comedy and of course Vikram's amazing acting talent. Prakash Raj interrogating Anniyan and that sequence of dialogue delivery by Vikram where the personalities Ambi and Anniyan surface one after other is genuinely awesome. I would love to watch that scene a few more times. Though the iyengar get-up doesn't suit him well, he has done a commendable job with that character too in terms of accent.

The movie is surely a disappointment coming from the Shankar stable.

2005-08-18T14:47:00.000+05:30

Thanks to William, I happened to get into Charlie Sutton's Flickr photographs. The below snap really attracted me, probably because I could feel shades of Sid in it. Whatever it is, I think its a fabulous click.

2005-08-10T10:28:00.000+05:30

Lot of my MSN contacts have messaged me (even those who don't do often) over the last week mainly to check if I was still in India or gone abroad because they were misled by my display name - 9054 miles away ! I am very much in India and don't see any chance to go abroad in the near future too. Then, what's this 9054 miles? That's the distance between Chennai and Memphis and here are the people whom we miss as they live 9054 miles away from Chennai.

2005-08-03T19:02:00.000+05:30

We all know this is Rahul Dravid and Cricinfo also seems to agree today. But, they didn't quite do it last week (see pic. below). I surely believe that a website of this stature cannot afford to slip-up in such things quite often. [Archives]

2005-07-01T16:00:00.000+05:30

Last weekend, Sid experienced his first train journey as Laks, Sid & I accompanied Madhuri & Rahul to Bangalore. All of us left on the Friday (Jun 24) night and spent five good days there. We happened to do a lot of shopping, eat out and also spent an evening with Jagadish, Krithika & Jaagruthi. Everything was so pleasant with Anu and Abhi playing the perfect courteous host by tolerating the chaos and pandemonium we were creating at their home. Amidst all this, Sid quietly got past his double century on Sunday (Jun 26) - here is how he got to his hundred.

When we left, the biggest worry to Laks & me was how would Siddharth cope with the train travel. What if he cries all night? What if he doesn't sleep at all? We were anyway prepared to sit up all night if he refused to sleep as long as he doesn't cry and make us a big disturbance to the other passengers. Sid, being such a nice child that he has been all these days, never troubled us and slept all night peacefully in the train eventhough the train was late by more than an hour to reach Bangalore. It was a great relief to us and we didn't worry at all about the return when he again zero-troubled us. It was actually, Laks, Madhuri & me who didn't sleep for a long time in the train as we were very busy talking, talking, talking,...

The apartment where we stayed and the Bangalore climate fascinated us a lot - not a drop of sweat was felt, though it was quite sunny at times. Needless to say, that we enjoyed Madhuri's company and were laughing happily making all the fun in the world. It was wondrous to have Rahul & Sid together and enjoy their childics, though Rahul's possessiveness hurt Sid at times. We also spent a day at The Forum where Shankar also joined us for the lunch and fun.

It was very tough for me to get out of the holiday mood and get back to work on Thursday. But, I have lived up and has spent 2 good days at work though I am waiting for the weekend to come sooner.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I have now started to wear a five face rudraksha which I bought in Bangalore.

2005-05-24T16:23:00.000+05:30

Years roll by and yet another birthday just passed by last saturday. Happened to be at my birthplace for the birthday this time. Yes, at Pondicherry for two successive weekends. Lots of fun among relatives, balloons, decorations, cake cutting, etc. - wait, wait - not for me, but it was for the 3 year old Rahul, who happens to share his birthday with mine.

One nice birthday gift this time might have come two days late, but it came totally unexpected and surprised a lot including me. The team that I head in my workplace has been awarded the best team for the last 6 months, ie. from Oct 2004 to Mar 2005. Not just an award, there is a cheque too. Obviously, I am elated at the award as most of the team members are. As expected, a few mails have been flying around wishing us and hoping to continue with this award during the subsequent quarters too. The award was collected by some of my teammates as I couldn't attend the function, again due to work. Probably, it was this commitment from me and the others too got us this award :) To be very honest, I have no regrets whatsoever, in not being able to collect the award in person from the Founder & CEO for various reasons. Ok, its time to get into a team discussion to decide on what to do with the prize money.

2005-05-17T16:14:00.000+05:30

Last weekend, Sid had his first long outing as we went to Pondicherry to attend Peripa's Sashtiabdhapoorthi. It was a good get-together of all cousins and relatives. The only noted absentees were Prabhu and Madhuri, who couldn't make it from the US and I felt they really missed a lot of fun - actually, it would have been more fun had they been around. Anyways, it was a nice little break from the normal Chennai weekends, though it was a bit tiring in the heat and sweat. Almost everybody there was fascinated by Sid as most of them were seeing him for the first time. People are infact asking us to come to Pondy again this weekend. Vijay is even prepared to bear the cab expenses. We haven't decided yet, though.

One glaring change was that I used to be running around along with kids at such get-togethers, but now the times have changed and I was a bit old watching the next generation run and play around.

2005-05-03T13:30:00.000+05:30

The state of living in India has improved, many NRIs return, mostly from US, and settle down in India. They get a high-paying job in some leading IT company and happily spend their time with the usual yearly vacation at resorts which can't be afforded by the rupee-earning Indian. But, these prodigals (is it porukkis in tamil?), instead of keeping their mouth shut and lead life, unnecessarily come out and say that India is the best and its better than the west in lots of ways and so I have decided to be here forever.

I was just wondering how and when did India become a better place to live than the US. Though I haven't been to the US, I have heard a lot from many friends and relatives who live there and I am fairly sure that living is much better there than in India - more than the living, the amount of money you make is bountiful. When you come back to India, you pack your bags with dollars and have a bank account with 7-digit (or 8-digit) balances and when you have so much money, obviously your motherland is the best place to live.

I am not against people going to the US for money - even my brother lives there. Even I would go there, if my job asks me to. These people who return have made their monies for the next 2/3 generations in that long stint at US and now show off as if India is best blah blah. Would they have said it if they didn't have all those dollars? Would they have said no to an abroad offer if they were just starting their careers? Wouldn't they be queueing up outside the American embassy for visas, not just for himself, but for the entire family.

Our country's true hypocrites - even worse than some of the politicians.

Added to these so-called Indians, even US nationals want to retire in India.